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IMPOSING OF DEAD.
.-HE CLAIMS OF CREMATION AS
“ a HEALTH MEASURE.
I t!' Trcsen* Tim About 2.000 TSoillos
trt . Annuullr Cremated In the United
Bettsioas and Other Objactions
jo Cre*w*Uon. fl
Tli question cf disposing of the
todies of the dead by cremation is an
interesting one, and it is not surpris
ing that insurance societies and re
)jglous associations are giving it their
Rendon, says the San Francisco Bul
letin. It will probably startle the aver
se reader to learn that at the present
time about 2 f ooo bodies are annully
-rmated in the principal cities of the
.{juited States, and according to data
recently published for ths years 1876-
li;98 there were cremated during this
period 8,885 bodies in the various cities
cf this country. While there were but
jgo cremations during the year 1888,
je n years later, that is during 1898, the
lumber had reached 1,699. Since then
then there has been a further increase,
but the complete returns for the past
year are not yet available. This in
trease has probably been contributed
, to by San Francisco in quite as large
\ percentage as any of the other large
cities, for inquiries at the health of
fice here brought the reply that every
fear finds cremation in excess of the
previous year, The insurance compan
ies object t this process of disposing
of the dead on the ground that incin
eration serves as an incentive to crime,
particularly that of poisoning, in view
of the increased opportunities of des
troying the evidence of guilt. The re
ligious element, however, objects
whv.ly upon the ground that the Scrip
tines require the body to be buried in
tAe ground. The objection submitted
by the insurance companies presents a
new phase of the question. It is easy
to conceive how the insurance fraud
( may be encouraged in his conspiracy
A FORTUNE IN
OLD OUILTS
In Georgia a mother and daughter
have earned enough money by the
making of old fashioned quilts to pay
off the mortgage on their farm and re
stock it with the best blooded animals
and the most approved implements.
The mother had received among her
wedding presents forty years ago near
ly half a hundred beautifully made
iiuilts. Only a small number had ever
been used, and when the rainy day
tame these wedding presents were as
good as the day when they had first
been stored away in the various cedar
chests of the garret.
At a loss to know how they were to
tarn money for their daily bread the
mother at last thought of the quilts.
Fancying that some of her country
neighbors might be willing to buy
them at reduced prices she took them
from their hiding places and suggested
it to her daughter. Fortunately the
daughter had learned that such things
were in demand among the northern
Afoo\it
Toothpicks
New York city consumes 700,000,000
wooden toothpicks annually. Nearly all
of these come from Japan, Portugal
and Maine. Five thousand cords of
wood are used for the industry in the
United States each year, and 95 per
cent of it comes from Maine. The tim
ber used is mostly white birch, with
some maple, and most of it comes from
Franklin county. Outside of the Pine
Tree state, the Industry is confined to
Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and New
York. When the lumbermen in their
ynter camps find a fine white birch
‘fee, its choice portions are laid aside
for toothpicks. The logs, after being
seasoned in the open air, are taken to
the factories, stripped of their bark,
automatically cut into veneers about
as thick as toothpicks and as wide as
•oothpicks are long. Another oper-
SUN’S POWER.
rt ** th Greatest Heat That nas Been
Produced.
The problem of lipping the giant
strength of the sun, of controlling
some portion of the y,swer and heat
so freely given to n'.r.n, has been
Passed from the ancients to the mod
erns through the hands of the great
est men of learning of all times with
out any adequate solution until the
flawn of the twentieth century. The
Grecian Archimedes, the Edison of his
dsy, was perhaps the first to handle
the Question, and to set it traveling
d '^’ n the centuries; Ericsson, the
and Mouchout, the French
man, were among the last to seek the
solution, and both succeeded in mak
'u? the sun operate small motors.
Nothing more was done, says Pear
son’s Magazine, until Dr. William Cal
'er, Washington invented the pan
p!iomotor, and can now control a
heater degree of heat than man ever
grated before. The fiercest degree
eat that any one has hitherto been
a ole to make is the 6,000 degree that
33 bee n registered in the Electric arc.
• Calver is able to generate 24,000
agrees of heat. Of tjiis he is able
®ty, while he is at present at week
when the assurance has gone forth
that a certain person when dead wiil
be cremated. A mercenary wife may
destroy her husband far the insurance
on his life, and vice versa, for almost
as many women are insured in this
age as men. Had the insurance fiend,
Holmes, who was executed a few years
ago, been able to dispose of his victims
by cremation, it is doubtful it the law
would ever have encompassed him.
Numerous other instances might be re
called where cremation would have
saved the murderer from prosecution
and conviction. So that the argument
of the life insurance companies is one
that appeals to the highest interests
of society, to the domestic life of the
nation.
In the argument of the religionists,
however, there is less worthy of con
troversy. It is largely a matter of
sentiment whether a body be burned
or interred in a hole in the ground.
The mere fact that the Scriptures con
tain no record of incineration is a
flimsy excuse for opposing the prac
tice. As well hold that because the
body of Christ was laid in a tomb the
remains of his apostles and of the gen
erations following should likewise
have been entombed. Indeed it may
be suggested here that had the remains
of the Savior been committed to
earth, as other bodies have been, the
world would have fewer doubters than
it has. The Scriptures record earth
burials for the reason that intelligent
cremation was not known at the time.
What matters about the body whether
it lie in the earth fcod for worms, or
be reduced to ashes by incineration?
The bottled ashes should surely fur
nish as much solace to mourning
friends as the meaningless mound in
the city cemetery The argument is
all on the side of cremation. The pub
lic health demands it, and even the in
surance companies may be insured
against loss by advocating in every
city where the practice is permitted a
thorough examination of the body, so
that the cause of death may be ascer
tained before it has been placed in the
crematory.
The Happy Discovery
Made by a
Georgia Girl
boarders of the large hotels in a fash
ionable winter resort near them.
She took a few of the best quilts and
trudging a distance of nearly five miles
offered them for sale to the ladies of
the hotel. The prices they paid made
her open her eyes, and when they ask
ed if she had more she invited them,
with all the unconscious independence
of a Georgia cracker, to call on her
mother and take their pick of the
others.
Her invitation was accepted that
same day, and before the week ended
they had not only sold all the old quilts
that they would part with, but had
taken orders to make others like them
to the amount of several hundred dol
lars. From this beginning they have
worked up a trade that pays them a
snug sum each year, and which, the
daughter declares now that she has set
her farm to rights, she intends pushing
to an established and remunerative
business.
Interesting Statistics
Concerning the Little
Pieces of Wood.
tion cuts these veneers into finished
toothpicks at the rate of a thousand a
minute. As the manufacture is so rapid
the factories run only a few weeks to
prepare the supply for a year. The
best toothpicks come from Portugal,
where they are whittled by hand from
orangewood splints by girls, who re
ceive 10 cents a day for their labor.
These toothpicks are remarkably
smooth and do not splinter. They are
found in first-class restaurants and in
the houses of men who are particular
about such conveniences. Japan comes
next to Portugal in the number of
toothpicks exported to the United
States. They arc cut by hand from
reeds and are sold in close competition
with the American product, notwith
standing a duty of 35 per cent, owing
to the cheap labor of Ja,pan.
constructing an apparatus which will
easily give him the mastery over the
full amount of heat that he gener
ates. With his invention, which, brief
ly, consists of an arrangement of mir
rors to reflect the sun’s rays upon a fo
cusing spot, D,r. Calver could burn
down a rocky mountain and reduce it
to a level plain without as much as
lighting a match. Russian iron, of the
kind so unburnabl? that it extinguish
es the fire in the fiercest furnace?,
melts under the btat at his control
as a wax match ir. melted by tho
flame. Tough silvci coins or stout
glass tumblers become in a moment
running liquid in the heat of the fo
cused rays; while with his apparatus
he will perforate* a soaking-wet plank
of wood with a dozen holes in as many
seconds.
Socialist! Oppose an Italian BUI.
The socialist deputies have been
most anxious to impretß on the peo
ple of Italy that they are not respon
sible for the murder of King Humbert,
yet at a recent meeting they decided
to oppose a bill which the government
intends to submit to parliament on
the lines of the French law against
anarchists, because they consider that
the proposed enactment restricts the
personal liberty of their fellow-citi
zens of the anarchical persuasion.
THE WEEKLY NEWS, CARTERSVILLE. GA.
A FAMOUS OFFICER.
THRILLING SERVICE OF LIEUT.
D. H. JARVIS.
He I* lonmmnder of the Unite I State*
Revenue Slfßmer ltenr nn<l CnncrnM
Has Just Ren anted |llm for ISimery
In I.tfo .Savins Within Arctic Circle.
A man upon whose breast there rests
a medal, struck off by congress at the
special request of President McKin
ley, for conspicuous bravery shown in
tile succoring of human life in the Arc
tic circle, is Lieut. David H. Jarvis,
commanding the United States revenue
cutter Bear and whose remarkable ex
periences a3 an officer of the United
States government in the far north
has made him one of the most famous
revenue officers in the marine service.
Although but 85 years old Lieut. Jar
vis is probably more familiar with our
northern territory than any other offi
cer, having spent ten summers in
northern latitudes.
During the past summer Lieut. Jar
vis spent most of his time at Nome
City, where as commander of the U.
S. S. Bear he was the highest officer
of the government in that adventur
ous city and was really the law. The
story of his masterly suppression of
what threatened to be an epidemic of
smallpox in that faraway mining camp
is familiar to all. One of the most
noted accomplishments of this famous
revenue officer was his heroic rescue
SPORTS IN CHURCH.
Rev. Milton R. Kerr, pastor of the
Congregational church at Westville, a
suburb of New Haven, Conn., is at
tracting wide attention by his unique
methods of drawing to his church
those who otherwise would spend their
leisure amid less elevating influences.
By many the methods of the pastor
are warmly supported; by others they
are heartily condemned. A peculiar
feature in the situation is the fact that
the opposition comes largely from
members of the church who are not
blessed with an abundance of this
world’s goods, while the most hearty
commendation comes from the
wealthy, a class the methods of which
meet with Mr. Kerr’s most severe de
nunciation. The poor members are
afraid Mr. Kerr will drive from the
church the necessary support of the
rich, while the wealthy members seem
REV. M. R. KERR,
to agree with the pastor’s idea as to
the failings of the rich in the line of
duty. One thing is certain—Mr. Kerr’s
peculiar methods have succeeded in
enlarging the church membership by
forty within U’o and a half years and
In greatly augmenting the attendance
<it morning and evening services.
DECLINED with thanks.
Famous Writers Who Found It Difficult
to Dispose of Works
Young writers who find it difficult
,o place their work have no cause for
real discouragement. If they have
ability they’ll win in the end. Rider
Haggard is said to have had his enor
mously successful work, King Solo
mon’s Mines, rejected by two or three
publishers before its ultimate appear
ance, when it caught on at once and
was the beginning of his fame. Still,
it is hard to understand how a book
like Vanity Fair could go to twenty
publishing houses, to be refused by
all. However, Thackeray believed In his
own work, and brought it out himseir,
the result being fortune and fame.
Sartor Resartus was rejected by all the
chief publishers of London, who treat
ed it with something approaching
scorn. Tom Jones, the novel which
opened up anew field of fiction, and
to which Dickens acknowledged the
greatest indebtedness, failed altogeth
er to obtain publication until Fielding
had made a name as a dramatist.
Uncle Tom’s Cabin was refused by a
dozen publishers, and it was at length
brought out in serial form by a week
ly paper. Afterward a small firm was
round to publish the tale at the usual
are of percentage. Lorna Doone went
to many publishing houses before one
arm agreed to bring it out. Mr. Barnes
of New York, was rejected by all the
American and London houses alike to
whom it was offered. Mr. Gunter’s
eventual decision was to publish the
story himself. It was an instant of
success, and it is said that out of that
tale and Mr. Potter of Texas the au
thor made a fortune running into six
figures. Even the inimitable Rudyard
Kipling had difficulty in finding a
publisher for his first successful work,
if repoit is true, and now —well, there
is perhaps no publisher in any English
speaking country , who .would not
jump at the chance of producing Qne
of the great man’s books always ?ro-
of a crew of imprisoned whalers
caught in the ice at Point Barrows in
the fall of '97. Starting with a small
party Lieut. Jarvis succeeded in doing
what no white man had hitherto ac
complished—making his way overland
in the fury of an Arctic winter,
through seemingly endless wastes of
ice and snow, and arriving at Point
Barrows in time to save (he lives of
the icebound whalers. It was for that
brave deed that he was awarded the
medal by congress.
If.eut. Jarvis, whose home is ia New
... $
t
LIEUT. D. H. JARVIS.
Bedford, was bern in Maryland in 1862.
He entered the revenue service as a
cadet in 1881, became a third lieuten
ant in 1888, a second lieutenant in
1890 and a first lieutenant in 1895.
vided he possessed the necessary
money.
A SLAVE OF TOBACCO.
Love of the Weed One of the Weak
nesses of the Great Carlyle*
As is well known, Thomas Carlyie,
the great, Scottish essayist and his
torian, was a slave to tobacco. In his
home", his study or out of doors, he was
seldom seen without his pipe, and ho
smoked the strongest tobacco he could
procure. During the last part of his
life he was a sufferer from insomnia.,
and his friend, Sir Charles Gaven
Duffy, once suggested to him that one
who suffered so much from sleepless
ness and indigestion ought not to
smoke so constantly. Carlyle replied
that he had once given up smoking for
an entire year at the instance of a doc
tor, who assured him that his only ail
ment was too much tobacco. At the
end of the year he was walking one
evening in the country, so weary that
he was hardly able to crawl from tree
to tree, when he suddenly determined
that whatever was amiss with him
“that fellow at least did not under
stand it,” and he returned to tobacco
and smoked afterward without let or
hindrance. In his latter days he used
a clap pipe made in Dublin and known
as the “Repeal.” He was unable to
renew the supply and Sir Charles Duffy
assured him that, these pipes were
strictly reserved for beiievers in Irish
nationality and promised him a supply
if he qualified in the ordinary man
ner, Carlyle never qualified.
FUEL FROM SAWDUST.
Austrian Firm Makes a Profitable Busi
ness of It.
The increasing scarcity and dearness
of the ordinary kinds of fuel are lead
ing European manufacturers to the
consideration of various new products
and combinations which may serve in
place of coal and wood. The Ameri
can consul at Coburg reports that saw
dust is being used extensively in that
country for fuel purposes. The saw
dust is impregnated with a mixture
of tar and heated to the proper tem
perature. It is then passed over a
plate of iron heated by steam from
which a screw conveyor takes it to a
press, where it is made into bricks of
the required size. One American fam
ily produced last year over 7,00u,000
of these bricks, costing about 16 cents
a thousand, and selling at from 95
cents to sl. This suggests the ques
tion why the dust turned out in such
vast quantities by the great sawmills
of our lumbering regions, moat of
which now goes to waste, might not
be converted into a salable product
for both domestic and foreign use. If
compressed into hard bricks, as in the
American process, the difficulty of
transportation raised by the bulkiness
of the sawdust would be largely elimi
nated.
Lictnie* Issued to Childrou.
Nearly twelve hundred boys and
girls are licensed by the city council of
Liverpool to sell matches, newspapers,
bootlaces, etc., upon the streets. Be
fore the licenses are granted consent
must be obtained of parents and guard
ians, as well as of the local school of
ficials. The age limit for girls is from
eleven to sixteen years, and for boys
from eleven to fourteen years. No child
is allowed to peddle in the streets ar
ter 9 o’clock in the evening. All must
be decently clad and free from physical
defects. No business must be done dur
ing school hours.
Monologue, Not Argument.
The late Charles Keene, the artist of
Punch, used to describe with great de
light the method of a certain man
whom he called "a pothouse Ruskin.”
This person was sitting with a friend
in an inn parlor and was haranguing
the other man on matters in general.
Finally the friend ventured mildly to
interpose an objection. The speaker
drew himself up with much dignity. "I
ain’t a-arguing with you,” said be, "I’m
a-telling you.”
WOULD SIGNAL MARS.
TESLA SAVS THE PLANET HAS
INHABITANTS.
And Forthf: mow A*f*rt* That ll* Can
Them Fumnih Ulectrlclan hikl
Scientist Declarei That. lie hnouj
How to Attract Their Attention.
Nickola Tesla, the famous electri
cian and scientist, positively states that
he has discovered a means of signal
ing to the planet Mars. "As sure as
there is a divine being.” he says, "I
have found a way of talking to the
people of that planet. 1 made the dis
covery a year and a half ago. Al
though 1 am ready to talk with the
people of Mars, I shall not tell how
soon the talking shall begin. All will
be told later.”
Tesla is a firm believer that the
planet Mars is inhabited and says that
there should be no doubt on that sub
ject. In fact, he speaks with all the
positiveness of one who already has
held intelligent conversation with the
Martians,
Tesla is an interesting man in more
ways than one. He is of striking phy
sique, very tall and slender. His bony
head, the complexion denoting the for-
NICKOLA TESLA.
eigner, and his bright, snapping eyes
attract instant attention. He speaks
more than half a dozen languages with
fluency, although pronouncing with a
slight foreign accent, and his quick
speech attracts and pleases the ear.
Born of humble parents in a Ser
vian village about 35 years ago, Tesla
has climbed the ladder of fame solely
through hard work and ability. His
father was a clergyman of the Greek
church. His mother was a woman
with a distinct gift for invention. It
was from her that Nickola believes he
received his inventive turn. While a
boy he attended the polytechnic school
at Gratz, where he acquired his first
fascination for mathematics and the
study of electricity. Wnile still quite
young he obtained a position as as
sistant in the government telegraph
engineering department at Buda-Pesth.
Later he went to Paris, where his
hard work and studies continued.
Later he crossed the Atlantic and ob
tained employment in one of Thomas
A. Edison’s laboratories. His assid
uousness quickly attracted the atten
tion of Edison, and he received much
valuable aid. his studies were
directed along different lines from
those of Edison and the two separated.
THE HEAD OF THE HOUSE.
Woman Declared to Me In a Decision
of a Federal Court.
The ancient and vtnerable questior
first raised in Adam’s day, and dis
cussed with more or less vigor by that
gentleman’s descendants ever since, as
to who is the head of the house, the
man or the woman, has been settled, it
may be hoped finally, by Judge Pur
nell of the United States circuit court.
The point came up in a case in Vir
ginia, where a woman, a storekeeper,
endeavored to take advantage of the
bankruptcy law, but had her petition
denied by a lower court on the ground
that she was married and living with
her husband, she was not the head ol
the house. Judge Purnell reversed
this decision and rendered n opinion
to the effect that a married woman liv
ing with or apart from her husband is
the head of the household in the legal
sense of the term. As this decision is
rendered in a federal court, it applies,
of course, to the whole country, and
all American women from Puget
Sound to Calais may rejoice that their
status has been fixed beyond further
dispute. Husbands and other mascu
line usurpers may now step down and
out.
Foreigners' Rights In Chins.
At present, by treaty right, foreign
ers are entitled to live and trade in a
few cities of China, generally those
along the coast and on the big rivers,
but it is the intention to revise those
treaties so that foreigners can come
and buy and sells anj where throughout
the empire, engage in all kinds of
business and enjoy all the commercial
rights that are usually enjoyed by for
eigners in civilized countries, to apply
to China the same rules and laws that
govern foreign residents in England,
Germany or France.
Turning a FeU to Gooii A-crounl.
The rabhits are the greatest pest of
New South Wales. At one period over
100,000,000 acres were infested with
them and 25.280,000 were destroyed in
one year and their skint paid for by
the government. It is estimated thai
altogether about 18,000 miles of rab
bit proof wire netting fences have al
ready been erected, and many hun
dreds of miles more are now in course
of erection. Latterly an export trade
In frozen rabbits and in rabbit skins
has sprung up, and it is expected that
by and by it will reach great propor
tions.
TOM HOOD AS A JOKER.
How Hr Oner Go! Hi* Wile Into it Riml
Scrnpe.
It is one of the Ironies of fate that a
wit or humorist is sometimes married
to a prosaic, jest-proof woman or an
imaginative, humor-loving woman to
a literal-minded, matter-of-fact man.
li has been suspected that Laurence
Sterne, the creator of ”My Uncle
Toby” and Shandy and Uorporal Tim,
had such a wife as the former, by
whom his siy, rich bits of Rabelaisian
humor —his mediaeval double enten
dres, his quoilibets and quid pro quos
modeled on Scarron and exploding like
pyrotechnics—were not. only unappre
ciated, but almost unnoticed. How for
tunate <* was for that prince of lesters.
Thomas Hood, that, with his fondness
for both verbal and practical jests, he
was married to a woman of the sweet
est temper, who, though often cheated
by them, conid join in the laugh which
they provoked even when at her own
expense!
On one occasion, when living by
the seaeoast. Hood gave his wife some
useful hints on buying fish. "Above
all things, .Jane,” said he, “as they will
endeavor to impose on your inexperi
ence, lot nothing induce you to buy a
paice that has any appearance of r< il
or orange spots, as they are sure signs
of an advanced stage of decomposi
tion,” Armed with this information
and rather anxious to show off he r
knowledge, Mrs. Hood was prepared
to do battle with the cunning fisher
woman, one of whom soon afterward
called. As It happened the woman had
nothing but plaice, which had the
ominous spots, and Mrs. Hood, shak
ing her head, hinted her fears that the
fish wore not fresh. In vain did the
fisherwoman insist that, they were
only just out of the water. Mrs.
Hood, in the innocence of her heart
and the pride of conscious knowledge,
was ready.
“My good, woman, it may he as yon
say, but T should never think of buy
ing any plaice with unpleasant
red spots.”
“Lord bless yer eyes, mum!” re
plied the astonished fisherwoman with
a shout, "who ever seed plaice with
out spots?”
A suppressed giggle cn the staircase
behind her revealed the joke, and,
turning her head hastily, Mrs. Hood
caught, sight of her husband hurried
ly disappearing in an ecstacy of
laughter, leaving her to appease t.ho
angry sea symph as best she could.
llno*in’n Advance In Machine Tool*.
Most Englishmen must feel aston
ishment at the headway made by
France, Germany and Russia in recent
years; it is a revelation which, sus
pected by some and known to a few,
was undreamed of by most. Germany
and France have the largest exhibits
of machine tools at tne Champs do
Mars, Tut if the Vincennes annex at
the Paris exposition is included t.hd
Americans come out a good first, both
in size and in point of interest. Bel
gium. Switzerland and Italy make com
paratively little show in machine
tools, though strong in other produc
tions. A feature that is likely to as
tonish many is the appearance hero
in force ol Russia. In metallurgy
chiefly, in railway plant, and in ma
chine tools, though in a lesser, degree,
she occupies an important position.
And it is not that of an amateur, but
of a people in possession of sound
practical knowledge. That great, and
until recently inert nation, has defi
nitely entered into rivalry with the
western nations of Europe and we may
anticipate that not many years will
elapse before that rivalry will be se
verely felt. The nation that figures s:<>
largely herr in metallurgy and in ma
chinery, and that is able to construct
a trans-Siberian railway without out
side help, is capable of great things—
Cassier’s Magazine. :■ .
The Amricn SohIU r in CTiinit.
In spite of his,many handicaps, the
American soldier has fully held hia
own. He has numerous weaknesses,
but fear of the enemy is not, fortunate
ly for the security of the; republic,
among them. I heard foreign officers
freely criticise his military manners,
and organization, but never,, tys fight
ing qualities, once his burden pf ; anti
quated methods has been cpst asida
and he faces the foe on the firing-fine.
Then he is as he always was, and, let
us hope, always will be. In ,all the
criticism one hears there is, an under
current of respect. 1 never ; see ,him
in a fight but 1 feel, wua absolute, cer
tainty that the American soldier, will
ever give a good account of himself if
not asked to do more than should ho
asked of a man. Other elements being
approximately equal, the stoutest heart
and steadiest nerve will win the most
battles. In uiese qualities IJnole Sam’s
boys are second to none. ’“They'vo
done their share,” is the verdict of
people in China who nave been here
through it all.—-Thomas F. Millard, in
Scribner’s.
Where Pigeon* Were I'le-nlitnl.
The American ornithologist; Alex
ander Wilson, who undertook many
journeys in several parts of the States
to collect knowledge for his great
work on the feathered creation, stated
that near Shelbyville, Kv.. he came
upon a roosting place of the carrier
pigeons upward of 40 miles in extent.
He found the branches of • almost
every tree in the country, which was
thickly wooded, filled with pe,sj.s. . A
marvelous spectacle was presented by
the pigeons in flight, as on rising. from
the trees they formed fluttering multi
tudes, with wings roaring like thunder.
Early every morning the pigeons set
out for their feeding plac e at a dis
tance cf from 20 to 60 miles,away, and
the advanced party generally arrived
back by noon. * ~*.