Newspaper Page Text
PAGE TEN
That's What the People of the
United States Are.
AMERICA’S GRAND BONFIRES
Are Looked Upon With Awe by
Europe. Every Year We Burn Up
Over $250,000,000 Worth of Prop
erty. In the Last Census Year
6,772 Lives Were Sacrificed.
Last year the American people,
mdhering scrupulously to their es
tablished rules of building construc
tion, managed to burn down $199,-
383,000 worth of property. It was
2 disappointing record. The average
per year for the last five years has
heen $251,000,000.
This year, however, has done fair
ly well in the property-destroying
line, for it has furnished such rw-ord;
conflagrations as the Atlanta fire and
the Chelsea blaze, the latter involv—l
ing insurance amounting to $8,846,-
879.
Europe gazes with awe upon the
lavishness of the United States when’
it comes to grand bonfires. Some
Furopean countries are so envious
that they profess to regard us as a
peculiar breed of lunatics, unique
tn our ambition to possess the con
tlnuous record for unparalleled fire
losses in life and money, as we are
;'apidly acquiring world records in
most other forms of human—and in
buman—endeavor.
Building experts, insurance under
writers and specialists in public safe
1y at home are more moderate. They
class us simply as idiots. The differ
ence is that the lunatic originally
nad some intelligence; the idiot had
npne.
Lax Building Laws Responsible.
In 1907 the scant $200,000,000 of
losses included no fewer than 25
fires each of which entailed destruc
tion amounting to half a million dol
lars. There were two. that over
topped the milllon—one of them
purning the street railway car barns
im New York city in April and the
other the great elevator fire at Su
perior, Wis., in September.
Nearly ait of those large fires
were community fires—conflagrations
upreading from building to building
in the various communities where
they occurred, impossible of limita
tion more economical than they re
ceived, even by the fire departments,
which are as much marvels to Eu
rope as are the conditions that foster
ihe fires they fight. i
The building laws and the well
nigh imbecile laxity in enforcement
of the building laws of the differentl
communities that so insanely burned
their money were directly responsi
‘ble for the enormous losses.
. If there. were any one year that
presented other and better conditions
of laws and construction the lurid,
flaring horizon of the chronically
combustible United States present
some safe haven. But the records
of the years are unvarying in their
vistas, as though one could not gaze
across the perspective of the decades
without behclding this huge, new,
rich empire of man the sport of a
race of incendiaries, with a far suc
cession of volcanoes leaping flames
1o the incentive of their torches.
_ A Five Years' Total.
- For the five-year period up to 1907
the destruction by fire in the United
Siates amounted to $1,257,955,000,
an average of $250,000,000 and more
Jer year,
The fire sequent upon the earth
ginake in San ¥rancisco put upon the
vear 1906 the extraordinary burden
of $350,000,000, raising its total to
$518,611,800, an amount which may
not be equaled for ages to come—
which may never bhe equaled if the
American people in the matter of
iheir conflagrations should achieve
sense enough to lock the stable door
pefore the horse is stolen instead of
afterward. That overwhelming fire
Joss of 1906—8518,611,800—with an
earthquake visitation as the occasion
for $350,000,000 of it, has been
zscribed in the cheerful American
fashion of disclaiming responsibility
For an act of Providence. It being
the business of the insurance com
panies to pay the fire losses and of
ithe people to brace up and recoup
the uninsured losses, Providence
might as well bear the blame. Every-‘
hody composedly let it go at that.
Tut the analysis of San Francisco's
punildings made subsequently showed
that America’s building methods,
sather than long-suffering Provi
gexce, were to blame for not only a
Warrenton, N. C.—l was nearly dead
with kidney affection for six months,
growing worse all the time. My case
‘was ho&oelcss—.——was unable to get about
iut little. T had tried everything with
Gittle benefit. I took three bottlés of
Stuart’s Buchu and Juniper and was
-.perfectli cured. Am now well and all
right. I owe my life to Stuart’s Buchu
@nd Juniper.—H. T. Macon.
If you suffer with backache, dull head
ache, swollen feet, stiff joints, and have
no energy and see imaginary specks in
the air, you have symptoms of k%idney
trouble.
Stuart’s Buchu and Juniper will relieve
you. All druggists, $l.OO. Write for
free sample, We will send enough tc
prove its wonderful merits.
Stuart Drug Manufacturing Co.
ATLANTA, GA.
vast percentage of the fire losses,
but also for much of the damage
effected by the earthquake. So even
that exceptional year of disaster
harked back to the people in proving
them their own worst enemies.
Those losses of 1906 cost more
than the nation’s whole wheat crop,
which was $490,332,760; it ap
proached the value of the cotton
crop, worth $641,720,435.
The Loss in Human Lives.
it meant a per capita loss of $6.10
to the entire population of the coun
try. If we disregard 1906 on the
score of long-suffering Providence
and merge it into the losses of the
decade the price which every man,
woman and child still pays annually
on the average of ten vears for the
national bonfires is $2.70.
As a means of comparison, it may
be remarked that in 1905 the 154
cities having a population of over
130.000 sustained a total fire loss of
$52,797,371, or a per capita loss of
$2.42. The cost of new buildings
erected in 49 leading cities in the
same year was $644,620,873; in 1906
it amounted to $678,710,969, and in
11907 to $661,076,286. It does look
as though the population were in
dulging in all the conflagrations it
can possible afford.
And the total number of deaths
from burns and scalds in 1900, the
latest census year affording figures
fairly reliable, was 6,772—a holo
caust which did not include those
who perished of suffocation in the
nation's innumerable fires. ]
It is all—or nearly all—needless,
those thousands of agonized deaths‘
as well as those hundreds of millions‘
of waste of wealth. .
l JOE BROWN'S GOOD SENSE,
He Was Too Smart to Attend That
“Rally” Gotten Up by Opponents.
From the Dublin Courier-Dispatch.
In refusing to have anything to do
with that rally in Atlanta Joe Brown
showed what a sensible man he is.
At the mention of his name hisses
were heard and otherwise some of
those in attendance showed their
feeling against him. Had he been
present every possible means of hu
miliating him would doubtless have
been resorted to.
The rally was gotten up by those
opposed to Brown, and he did the
proper thing in refusing to be pres
ent. The Atlanta Journal for some
time has been daring him to come
out and show himself. Had he gone
out Friday night he would have been
extremely sorrp, unless he has the
skin of an ele\{hant.
Joe Brown has shown his common
sense a number of times, but that
his head is level was never more |
forcibly shown than in his failure to .
attend that rally in Atlanta Fridayi
night last.
’THE TWENTY-FOUR INCH LAW.
Ilt Is Being Tested in the Supreme
| Court of Alabama.
The “twenty-four” inch law is to
be tested in the Alabama supreme
court. This is the law which pro
vides that it shall be illegal for any
person to carry a pistol that is less
than twenty-four inches in length.
South Carolina has a somewhat sim
ilar law, which, if we are not misg
taken, provides also that the pistol |
must weigh not less than four
‘pounds. In both states the pistol
laws seem to be laughed at rather
than enforced. In Selma last week
‘a negro was arrested for having upon
his person a pistol less than twenty
four inches long. He was convicted
and fined. His lawyer 1s now going
to take the matter to the supreme
court on the ground that the consti
tution guarantees the right to bear
arms, and that the legislature has no
authority to abridge that right. \
FINDS HE HAS TO HUSTLE.
& e
Mr. Taft Abandons His Front Porch
For the Road.
From the Savannah News.
No more folding of the hands on
(and also upon) the front porch for
the presidential candidates! No
more waiting for enthusiastic voters
to come to the front porches to hear
speeches and pledge their undying
affection and wunswerving support:
Mr. Taft has reached the conclusion
that the only way peossible for him
to be elected is to get out and hustle
hard. It is depressing, he says, for
a candidate to be denied participa
‘ltion in an active campaign. Inter
' preted, this means Mr. Taft has noted
what effect Mr. Bryan’s activity is
having, and has became aware of
the fact that his own chances have
been slipping away as Mr. Bryan's
have accumulated. Mr. Taft, there
fore, is going to take to the road.
The cold fact is that the republicans
are awakening to the truth that they
have got a fight for life on their
hands.
They're Many of Him.
The Brooklyn Eagle has coined a
word—"imbibitionist.” It is used
for the purpose of describing a poli
tician who imbibes only water, tea,
coffee and the like at dinners, by
way of attracting attention to his
temperance, while those around him
are drinking wine. The ‘“imbibition
ist” usually is on the lookout for
the prohibitionist vote.
Millions of bottres of Foley’s Ho
ney and Tar have been sold without
any person ever having experienced
any other than beneficial results from
its use for coughs, colds and lung
trouble. This is because the genu
ine Foley’s Honey and Tar in the
yellow package contains no opiates
or other harmful drugs. Guard your
health by refusing any but the gen
uine. Dawson Drug Co. and Peo
ple’s Drug Store.
For a Fine
GHBER 2 TP
w 0 L A 2
O Tl g ‘
““—_—___—_—_?_—M_“
Parents, did your children receive their rightful inheritance of
health? If not, give it to them now. If they did, PERPETUATE it
with fcme Maltale, a pure, non-intoxicating vegetable tonic and food.
It is strongly impregnated with the tonic properties of hops, and con
tains more downright nutrition than malt extracts, or than bread and
meat, AND IN THE MOST DIGESTIBLE FORM POSSIBLE.
It is a delightful, concentrated nutriment, an appetizer and digestant
which brings that healthful, bouyant, abounding vitality which glorifies
in the sheer happiness of life.
Remember that the spiritless, listless children are the ones who
grow up to be the failures and misfits of life.
Give your children this tonic nourishment dur- R
ing their growing years, and you will have done a
noble parent’s part by them and by posterity. /
2~ ’
A RTRN | Acme Maltale is Lgfl ‘Q
TR N < old bottled and on g ) '
m"“”"ml”\'\ \ i z tap by all beverage w o “
NN > oLt dealers, 2 ; :
VY ) ; 23 b ‘ b
;Tfl;ll’;;’ @)&p Q§ c filefg:'artwular to 3] fi » g N
S : Acme Mcitale. ; § s ',‘ .
SEm s > ) RN )
’7‘7>7)'7) ‘r , T e v N ‘?‘%
) j o . (N
N /!,’N“';" Brewed by ]\‘ '%?3\‘(\
T 2V ACNE (AT
3 , ; L A o 1 bl ! %
. | BREWING CO. ”'"UL” nlfl’!!"ll”,”flwm‘"n...;.," H" .
Macon, Ga. R”I [t
=7 / l = / ! ll,l'l'”””"”"!l!!!a””””“l
L. H. Marks, Agent, Albany, Ga. | n
PLENTY OF WHISKY: THE DEMAND 1S LESS
GRAND JURIES USELESS.
Judge Savidge Declares They Are
Similar to a Fifth Wheel.
Judge Savidge, according to an
Altoona, Pa., dispateh to the Phila
delphia Ledger, says there is no use
of grand juries. In one of his re
cent charges to the grand jury he
said:
“I regard the grand jury much as
I would the fifth wheel to a wagon.
By fifth wheel I do not mean the
half-moon on the front axle. I mean
an extra wheel on a four-wheeled
vehicle. This wheel would be of no
use.
“In my opinion the grand jury is
no longer needed in the courts of
Pennsylvania. The courts can take
care af the defendants and see that
‘they get justice. The higher courts
'will surely take care of them if the
ilower courts fail. And the board of
pardons will surely be just.
‘“The grand jury is of value in
these days only when it sees to it
that the little petty cases, which
ought not to come here, are mnot
brought to trial. When you come
‘to a case and find nothing in it
| throw it out. We have no time nor
‘monev to waste on such matters.
| “You serve the county and are of
lsome value when you let the poor
lt‘ellows hauled into court on petty
charges and the poor witnesses who,
in half the cases redeived no costs,
go back to their homes.”
‘ CASTORIA.
Shesi the Ths Kind You Have Always Bought
e (T
| of % o .
THE 'AWSON «EWS.
According to the internal revenue
bureau at Washington there are some
192,321,912 gallons of whisky in or
approaching Attorney-General Bona
parte’s ‘“'semper idem” class, the
“straight goods,” or ‘“‘real stuff,” now
deposited in the govermment ware
houses of Kentucky, Maryland and
Pennsylvania. While some of this is
too young to be called ‘‘semper
idem’ just yet, any of it is good
enough to enter the “E pluribus
unum’’ class of wet goods discovered
by the attorney-general.
The three states named produce
the great bulk of the beverage spirits
made in the United States. In addi
tion to the quantity stated Ohio and
Illinois have 11,000,000 gallons each
and Indiana 4,000,000 or 5,000,000.
This must not be confounded with
the other spirits distilled and
known as alcohol, high wines and
neutral spirits, much of which is
made potable and sold under differ
ent titles more or less obnoxious to
Dr. Wiley, chief chemist of the de
partment of agriculture,
~ The internal revenue bureau state
‘ment just given out for the informa
tion of the trade indicates that the
available supply of whisky at the
close of the fiscal year was 10,000,-
000 gallons less than at the same
period the year before. This, in a
great degree, was due ‘%decreased
production. There also was a ma
terial reduction in the withdrawals
of spirits for consumption, reaching
probably some 16,000,000 gallons.
St g
DeWitt’s Little Early Risers are
small pills, easy to take, gentle and
sure. Sold by Dawson Drug Co.
sA R ...,, \nnlulHl(HHlH(L"“”’”””'%
Builders” Supplies
Don’t Forget Me When You Want
Brick Lime, Cement, Coal, Rough
and Dressed Lumber, Shingles, Etc.,
of the best quality. Prices are very
reasonable. lam located at the yard
formerly occupied by Shields & Cox,
next to the Southern Grocery Co.
Come to See Me. Phone 16
J. A. Shields
&89 PUT IN ATE EPHONE
%\Qc It Multiplies Your Neighbors.
I e GRIE Serves as Messenger Boy.
a 1 B Is a Protector.
| i B Saves You Time and Labor.
}{ 1 Keeps You Abreast of the Times
) In Touch With the Market
MG B And Costg but Little.
. GIVE US YOUR ORDER.
@4 GCEORGIA- ALABAMA
L TELEPHONE CO.
SEPTEMBER o 3 19(.