Georgia Historic Newspapers

    4
THE TRI-WEEKLY JOURNAL
ATLANTA, GA., 5 NORTH FORSYTH ST.
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THE TRI-WEEKLY JOURNAL, Atlanta, Ga.
Let Justice Prevail in
The State Convention
AN outstanding responsibility of the
State Democratic Convention which
meets in Atlanta next Tuesday to se
lect the Georgia delegation to San Francisco
will be the settlement of certain contests in
volving about twelve counties and some
twenty-six county unit votes. This undoubt
edly is the Convention’s prerogative and
duty, no Executive committee or subcommit
tee having jurisdiction in such matters
either by precedent or by right. Moreover,
Judge Walker, by continuing a restraining
order already granted, has enjoined the com
mittee from any interference with the State
Convention’s selection of Presidential dele
gates. We cannot believe that the commit
tee’s members will seek to violate this in
junction; but if they did, their action would
be. void. The contests are highly important
because not until they are decided can it be
said for a certainty who holds the Convention
plurality. For all three candidates the re
sults of the primary were remarkably close,
there being on face of the returns a difference
of hardly more than thirty-odd unit votes be
tween the highest and the lowest. It is appa
rent that no probable readjustment will alter
the relative Standing in so far as Senator
Smith is concerned, though several counties
not officially credited to him are claimed by
his friends. Between his two opponents, Mr.
Palmer and Mr. Watson, however, the coun
ties and votes for which contests are pending
are such that a few changes would materially
affect the outcome. Hence the seriousness
of the Convention’s responsibility in this
adjudication.
There is but one rule by which the con
tests should be judged, the simple rule of
reason and' fair play. The candidate to
whom the evidence shows , the questioned
votes belong should be awarded them, re
gardless of partisan or personal considera
tions. Each case should be decided upon its
own merits, without reference to ulterior
ends or political fortunes. Not one vote to
which Mr. Palmer is entitled should be de
nied him. Not one vote to which Mr. Wat
son is entitlea should be denied Mr. Watson.
Not one vote to which Senator Smith is en
titled should be denied Senator Smith. First,
last and always let justice be done, no matter
whom it helps or hurts. Proceeding upon
this principle, the Convention will have a
minimum of discord and will emerge from
its difficult problems clean-handed and ap
proved. Otherwise it stands in peril of be
coming hopelessly entangled, anil of sowing
resentments that will yield the party many
a harvest of thorns.
Touching the interests of Thomas E. Wat
son. The Journal’s readers will bear witness
that never in the last fourteen years has
this newspaper been tound accordant with,
the policies of the gentleman from McDuf
fie. Back in what now seems an almost
antedeluvian past, the storms and changes
of the crowded interval being remembered,
Mr. Watson upon one occasion was found
accordant with policies of The Journal; we
mean the campaign of 1906. Necessarily
that was a short-lived relationship; Mr. Wat
son would not tarry with us, and we, of
course, would not go with him. Some said'
we transgressed in even so brief a conjoining.
Howbeit, from that long-gone day to this
our distance from him has been as great r j
that of which the Psalmist spoke in saying,
“As far as the east is from the west, so far
hath he removed our transgression from us.”
Especially marked has been the difference
between Mr. Watson and The Journal on na
tional issues incident to the World War.
Virtually everything we have advocated, from
Selective Service to the League of Nations,
he 4ias Nor can we now concur
in the clean bilTwhich a leading Palmer or
gan, granted him on the morning after the
April primary. Ingratiatingly and with pol
itics aforethought, our contemporary, which
had been vehement in abuse of Senator
Smith, declared:
“While Mr. Watson disagreed with
the Democratic administration concern
ing the League of Nations, his voice and
pen have been consistently arrayed in be
half of every measure necessary to sus
tain the national honor and to support
our soldiers in the war with Germany!”
We frankly marvel at the acrobatics of a
mind which while supporting a Wilson cabi
net member for President can bring itself to
this indorsement! It is worth recalling,
moreover, that in 1912, in the primary pre
ceding Mr. Wilson's first nomination, the
loudest trumpeters in the Palmer ranks to
were leagued with Thomas E. Watson
.—r.-mst the great statesman who became
President despite their bitter efforts to
crush him at Baltimore. They can but re
member those \days and that alliance when
they enter the Convention in Atlanta next
Tuesday to meet again him with whom they
then bargained and whose orders they nim
bly obeyed. We hope they will relish the
renewed acquaintance.
Having had no such affiliation with Mr.
Watson as these gentlemen sought and sus
tained as long as they could serve their
political ends thereby, and having no pot of
its own to boil at the forthcoming State Con
vention, The Journal feels that it can speak
impartially of the contests awaiting settle
ment. We differ as emphatically as ever
before with Mr. Watson’s views on the. up
permost issues of the time; we censure as
emphatically his attitude toward certain
great war measures; we regret as deeply that
he was ever brought into the Presidential
primary—and in all likelihood he would not
have been, if enemies of Hoke Smith had
THE ATLANTA TRI-WEEKLY JUUKSAL.
not published the false report that the Senior
Senator had held a Kimball House confer
ence with Reed, of Missouri. But one’s
antipathy to Thomas E. Watson cannot al
ter the fact that two/and two make four, or
suspend the commandment, “Thou ehalt not
steal.” If upon full and fair investigation
it should develop that he is entitled to coun
ties which have not been credited to him,
then the Convention would have no honora
ble alternative but to correct the mistake
and give him his due. Having been admit
ted to the primary and having received up
wards of fifty-two thousand votes, he should
be given a scrupulously fair deal in the con
vention. This is incumbent upon all dele
gates, regardless of whom they personally
are for. It is incumbent upon them primar
ily as a matter ot political integrity. There is
the further and cogent consideration of polit
ical expediency. As well wishers of the party
in this Commonwealth and throughout the
country, no participants in the Convention
can afford to leave Thomas E. Watson any
ground whatsoever for charges of injustice.
Much less should they give the more than fif
ty-two thousand votei-s who supported him at
the polls any cause for grievance. We have
nothing to fear for Georgia Democracy as
long as it walks uprightly: let us see to it
that its ways are ever above suspicion or
reproach.
These are the convictions, we doubt not, of
the great rank and file of delegates who
are to foregather in Atlanta next Tuesday,
whether they come as supporters of Mr. Pal
mer, or of Senator Smith or of Mr. Watson.
Some players of politics there may be who
in the heat of the game and the pursuit of
coveted spoils will forget that honesty is the
best policy; but for the most part, we believe,
there will be a disposition to deal fairly to
all concerned and to work out a solution that
will make for the good of the party and the
honor of the State. Certainly, this is the
spirit and purpose which thoughtful Demo
crats all hope will prevail.
Progressive P 7 ar chousing.
Georgia bankers and warehouse own
ers are showing a most commendable
public spirit in the movement to place cot
ton warehouses on a uniform basis by means
of the United States warehouse act.
Recently the State Superintendent of
Banking, Hon. T. R. Bennett, addressed a
letter to the State banks of Georgia request
ing them' to use their good offices in bring
ing to the attention of their local' warehouse
owners the great advantage of bonded ware
houses as distinguished from non-bonded
warehouses. Immediately there came a gen
eral response.
Now it developes that the bankers of Bu
ford in Gwinnett county, Lexington in Ogle
thorpe county, and others, are going so far
as to organize companies to build ware
houses which will be bonded under the terms
of the -federal law. In other words, they are
not only interested to the extent of being
ready to assist in bonding their local ware
houses; but further than that, are taking the
lead in building additional warehouses to
supplement the storage facailities already in
existence.
Superintendent Bennett’s letters show that
the movement is well under way already in
more than fifty counties, which certainly is
a most encouraging start. The probabilities
are that bonded warehouses will be estab
lished in a hundred counties by the opening
of the fall season when the farmers begin
to gather their crop. In today’s issue of The
Journal is published a notice by the otton
Warehouse Company of Atlanta that they
are applying for bond under the of
the federal act.
As pointed out by Superintendent Bennett
and others who are co-operating in the bond
ed warehouse movement, the conditions im
posed by the federal law are not difficult
to comply with. The rate of premium for' ,
the bond is quite moderate; the require
ments as to construction of the warehouse
are not at all difficult; the book-keening
involved is nothing more than the book-keep
ing involved in 'fne conduct- of almost any ;
smaJl business. The inspections made by the
federal inspectors: are not in any sense med
dlesome, but are merely such inspections as
any warehouseman would be glad to have
made. . „ . , ,
A very strong point in favor of bonded
warehouses is the lower rate of fire
ance which they can obtain. Recently the
Southeastern Underwriters association, as a
means of encouraging warehouse owners to
bond themselves, authorized a general re
duction of 25 per cent in fire insurance rates
for bonded warehouses. This is an item worth
considering from the warehouseman’s stand-
P From the farmer’s standpoint, al! argu
ments favor the bonded warehouse. The
standard receipt issued by a bonded ware
house is a much better class of collateral for
a bank loan than the non-standard receipt
issued by a non-bonded warehouse. A bankei
handling bonded warehouse receipts is abie
to carry a much larger volume of loans. His
bonded -warehouse receipts are approved
without further investigation by State bank
examiners, whereas it may be necessary in
certain cases for State bank examiners
check up the actual cotton covered by non
bonded warehouse receipts. A bonded re
ceipt therefore, enjoys the same recognition
as the very highest class of inking secur
ity. It places the farmer s loan on a strictly
business basis. . In „ Tor rasp
Whether the farmer is given a lov.ei rate
of interest or not, these other
advantages and benefits are all on the side
of the bonded warehouse. The
interest rate is likely to come when the waie
Iwuses are bended. Efforts already are un
derway in that direction. But the main thing
now is to'get the warehouses b°nd.
and get the advantages over and abo<e the
consideration of interest rates.
The 801 l Weevil Menace.
THE cotton (jrop is late in Georgia,
likewise is late all over the cotton
belt. The weather has been unfavor
able. Planting has been out of the
The bloom and the boll on the cotton w
be necessarily late. The elements have play
ed into the hands of the boll weevil. The
menace of this pest was never more P l ® B '
ing. It is a matter of far more importance
dhan the average person realizes. borne
farmers themselves are deceived, biu they
are not many, only those who m past hate
been favored by the absence of the weevil.
Except for the boll weevil the lateness ot
the cotton crop in Georgia and elsewhere
would be a matter of little consequence
more a question of inconvenience than any
thing else. But the boli weevil is a parasite
that thrives only on the cotton boll. Ex
perience has developed that the most effica
cious means of circumventing the weevil is
through the early maturity of cotton. The
weevil is propagated by summer showers arid
cloudy skies, and if the cotton has not ma
tured in the meantime he makes a harvest
on the unopened bolls.
With the cotton crop four or five weeks
late, owing to unavoidable circumstances,
the menace of the weevil is obvious.
“We are certain to have very little cot
ton this year unless something is done to
meet the situation.” writes a traveling sales
man, who has been all over the cotton belt.
The Journal’s correspondent commends a
recent editorial warning against the weevil
menace, and adds that “every remedy
known and every agency possible should be
used to meet the acute situation that con
fronts Georgia and other States of the cot
ton belt. The remedies recommended by the
Department of Agriculture should be re
sorted to without ’stint, for even so the late
crop is going to suffer irreparable damage
through the ravages of the boll weevil.”
YOUR USE OF WORDS
By H. Addington Bruce
JS your vocabulary extensive or narrow
ly limited? Whether extensive or lim-
• ited, -have you a clear understanding
of the words you used? And are you
careful to use them with due regard to their
precise meaning?
These are not academic questions. Jhey
are questions of practical significance to you.
Men and women who use words carelessly
are at a disadvantage both rtl business and
social intercourse. Their lack of word power,
handicaps them seriously in several ways.
This chiefly because it prevents them
from communicating their thoughts effec
tively to other people. As a consequence,
no matter how able tjiey may be, they are
sure to be underestimated by others.
'And, indeed, their carelessness in speak
ing is likely to have a damaging effect on
their ability itself. As one language au
thority rightly warns:
“Realize the prime importance to you—
for its effect on your mental development—-
of an accurate knowledge of the meaning
and use of words and of the possession of a
large vocabulary.
“Words are necessary aids for consider
ing and solving mental problems, and the
more right words you have to call things by
the more competent you are to consider
those things. Word-building is inseparably
connected with thought building.”
If, on reflection, you feel you must admit
that your vocabulary might well be larger
than it is and that your mastery of even
your present vocabulary is not wh,at it ought
to be, for your own good make a systematic
effort to grow in word power. As a first
means to this end buy a dictionary and a
good book of synonyms.
Do you know what the word “synonym”
means? If not, look it up in the dictionary.
Make it a point to look up in the diction
ary every word of uncertain meaning to you.
And consult the book of synonyms whenever
in doubt as to the usage of a particular word
to express the meaning you have in mind.
For example, “abate,” “lessen,” “dimin
ish,” “decrease” may now be used by you
as identically applicable. Your books oL
synonyms will give you the discriminating
grasp you should possess by their usage.
To enlarge and refine your vocabulary no
less than for general cultural development
you will also find it helpful to devote at
least half an hour daily to the reading of
some master of style—such as Hawthorne,
Stevenson. Ruskin, Emerson, Goldwin Smith,
F. W. H. Myers. Read these slowly, thought
fully, and for inspiration as well as instruc
tion.
At times, too, read them aloud. Reading
aloud has a peculiar virtue in the way of
developing a keen word-sense and facility of
expression.
And, fully as helpful to you as anything
suggested above, make it a frequent practice
to set down in writing your own thoughts.
With the dictionary’s aid study and re
vise what you have written, in order to se
cure greater clarity and ease in presenting
your ideas. Emphatically I agree with the
assertion:
“Frequent use of the pen in original com
position is one of the most practical means
of developing vocabulary, diction and style.”
Finally, keep as much as possible in the
company of those who speak well. Like
breeds like, and their influence will uncon
sciously strengthen in you both the wish and
the power to be yourself a good user of
words.
(Copyright, 1920, by The Associated News
papers.)
♦
SHALL METHODISM BE A
CHURCH OR A SOCIETY
By Dr. Frank Crane
The Methodist Episcopal church holds its
quadrennial general conference at Des Moines
this May.
The Methodists comprise a evry large part
of the citizenry of the United States. They
have always been deeply in earnest, combin
ing a sound common sense with great enthu
siasm, and their influence upon the commu
nal life has been wholesome.
This general conference is its supreme law
making body. It may be compared to our
national congress. Its book of discipline
may be said to resemble the constitution.
It is about as hard to alter the disciple as
it is to amend the constitution. The senti
ment must be immense and the process slow
in both cases; and the reactionaries have the
decided advantage.
One question will come up at this general
conference which affects the very character
itself of the church.
There is a provision in the discipline which
prohibits certain acts, as dancing, card-play
ing and theater-going, and directs that those
indulging in these amusements be expelled.
A considerable element in the church has
always opposed this rule as being unwise, but
it has been retained owing to the powerful
conviction among the church people that no
action should be taken that might be con
strued as “compromising with worldliness
or “lowering the standard” of righteousness.
It is to be hoped that this conference will
remove the obnoxious paragraph, and for this
reason: The organization if it calls itself a
church ought to be a church, not a society.
A church must be universal in its scope, a
society may be limited.
This prohibition might have been useful
so long as the organization was merely an
order, or a brotherhood, a group inside of
th£ church, which is exactly what Methodism
originally was, a society of certain members
of the Established Church of England.
Now, however, if. has taken its place beside
other organizations—the Episcopalians, Ro
man Catholics, Presbyterians and the like—
in friendly competition for the service of
Christianity. The language of Mr. Wesley,
its founder, was “the world is my parish.”
This being true, the petty regulations
about dancing and card-playing, applicable
to the English working class and to the pio
neer Westerners of America, where Method
ism made its start, become absurd when ap
plied to Japanese, Chinese, Norwegians,
South Africans and Russians.
What might have served a good purpose
in a restricted, disciplinary order is entirely
out of place in a church.
People are born into a church. It is un
fair to tell them to get out if they don’t like
it, unfair to them and to the institfition.
A church, coterminous with the world, has
no right to make a test of membership of
anything but principles. Rules are for groups
which mature persons join and resign from
at will.
(Copyright, 1920.) by Frank Crane.)
QUIPS AND QUIDDITIES
A teacher of English in one of our col
leges describes a money lender as follows:
“He serves you in the present tense, lends
in the conditional mood, keeps you in the
subjective and ruins you in the future.”
He was the last survivor of the ancient
type of idiot who found it difficult to ad
dress the ordinary soldier otherwise than
patronizingly. When a touchy English pri
vate of a provincial regiment bungled with
his kit into the same compartment of the
train the condescending one masked loftily:
“Where are you going, my man?”
The soldier gathered up his trans, made
for the corridor, and replied: “Next door.”
WHAT TIME IS IT?
By Frederic J. Haskin
vt t ASHINGTON, D. C., May 13.
\'i/ The answer is that scarcely
y V anyone knows just what time
it really is.
It is a curious fact that in this
country, where nearly everybody car
ries a watch, very few know the time
or how it is determined.
This is emphasized by the great
confusion which attended the day
light saving experiment, and by the
still greater confusion •which has
been caused in some states which
have tried to keep daylight saving
after the rest of the nation has drop
ped it.
The daylight saving law saved us
a little daylight, caused a great
many arguments, and then perished.
But it also visited a boon upon this
country of which very little is
known. The law provided that the
United States should be divided into
five standard time zones, and that
the limits of these zones should* be
defined by an order of the interstate
commerce commission, and that all
interstate common carriers should
conform to those zones.
The Time Line
The interstate commerce commis
sion is still at it. That is, the lim
its of the zones were fixed some time
ago, but various localities are not
satisfied with the time they have
been given, and are petitioning the
commis'sion to change the lines. The
state of Idaho, for example, is cut
in half by one of the zone lines. It
is half in Pacific time and half in
mountain time. It wants the line
changed so that the whole state will
be in mountain time and the cas eis
still pending. Other such objections
to the time zones are brewing. It will
be some months or possibly years
before everyone is satisfied, but all
are agreed that the new time zones
are vastly better than the old ones,
which sometimes made local time dif
fer by more than an hour from sun
time.
In order to understand this busi
ness it is necessary to go back a lit
tle. In the first place, you must real
ize that the need for accurate time,
and for a definite and fixed relation
between the local times of different
places came only with the develop
ment of rapid transportation. Back
in the early part of the last century
it did not matter much what time it
was. There were scarcely any
watches, and only a few clocks, most
of which were made of wood. They
were not wonderfully accurate.
Now the correct time, or sun time,
at any place, is based upon the fact
that it is noon at that place when
the sun is due south. Hence, in the
old days, clocks were set for 12
o’clock when the sun was at its
highest, or what the people thought
was highest. Each locality had its
own time, and there being little trav
el between localities, everybody was
happy.
The History of It
But when the sun is at the high
est point in Ohio, it is still an hour
from noon somewhere out in the Da
kotas. With the spread of railroads
these differences of time had to be
adjusted somehow. Accordingly along
in 1884, when both railroads and
watches had become common, and
our own continent had just been
spanned by rails, twenty-six of the
principal nations of the world met
and agreed to take the meridian at
Greenwich, England, as the prime
meridian and to calculate all time
by that. Now the sun moves (ap
parently) toward it" etting at the
fate of fifteen deg. of longitude
in an hour. Therefore, by marking
the world off in meridians of fifteen
degrees each, zones were established
in each of which the time should
differ by an hour from that in the
next zone. Five of these lines cut
the United States, those of 75, 90,
105, 120 and 135 degrees of longitude
west of Greenwich. They divide the
United States into four main time
zones, known as the Eastern, Cen
tral, Mountain and Pacific zones. The
naval observatory in Washington de
termines the correct time, and flash
es it to the various zones. Thus
there is both national and world
agreement as to what time it is.
But this does not provide each
town with ' the correct time, by any
means. The railroads are at once
the determining and the disturbing
factor. They made accurate time
necessary, and to their convenience
the changes of time must be adjust
ed.
It is self-evident that they cannot
run on constantly changing time.
Your time ought to change gradually
as you travel east or west. A town
five degrees of longitude farther
west than a certain other town ought
to have time twenty minutes slower
in order to have exact sun time.
’Too Many Tinies
If each town actually had sun time,
the local time would not correspond
to the railroad time, for the railroads
are bound to agree on certain points
at which they will change time. They
realize that in crossing the continent
they have got to gain or. lose a cer
tain amount of time, and their only
object is to make these time changes
with least possible inconvenience to
themselves.
In the past the railroads determin
ed each for itself at what point it
should 'change its time. Thfey disre
garded almost completely the stand
ard time divisions based on the prime
meridian at Greenwich. What they
did regard ivere their own operating
divisions. It was bad, they said, to
have the train crews changing their
watches in the middle of a run.
Someone might forget to do so apd
cause trouble. So the “time breaking
points” were always at the ends of
operating divisions.
This resulted in confusion in two
ways. In the first place, different
railroads ran into the same towns on
different times. In the second place,
because the railroads disregarded the
standard time divisions, railroad time
was nowhere near sun time.
The first confusion was very se
rious sometimes in the early days of
railroads. Some towns in this coun
try have as much as five different
times at once. But such confusions
as that were eliminated as the rail
roads learned to co-operate better.
The conflict between railroad time
and sun time, however, remained a
serious matter until the recent defi
nition of the zone limits by the com
mission. El Paso was one of the
most unfortunate cities in this re
spect. Certain roads found it, con
venient' to carry central time as far
west as El Paso. It was possible to
go from Savannah to El Paso with
out changing time, and when you
got to El Paso you would have to
change your watch two hours.
El Paso Happy
Roads going west from El Paso
did not operate on the same time as
some reaching it from the east. Thus
there were several railroad, times in
the town, an(i none of them conform
ed to sun time. If the local inhabi
tants had chosen to live by central
time, in order to conform to cer
tain railroad schedules from the east,
they would have been nearly two
hours off sun time.
The people of El found this
even more confusing than you do, if
possible. They welcome the new
arrangement which places El Paso
defnitely in its proper time zone and
compels interstate carriers to “break
time” before they reach there.
Certain other towns have also been
made happy. Cleveland used to have
three times—local time, railroad time
and steamboat time.
In other places, the changing
of the old time lines has caused dis
content and some hardship. Wher
ever this is the case, the commission
holds a hearing and tries to decide,
the matter on its merits. It required
ten thousand miles of travel and mil
lions of words of testimony to fix
these time lines. You would have
to look at them on a map, to appre
ciate the job. They are very crook
ed lines, looping this way and that
to include various towns in the time
zones they prefer, and to cohform to
the convenience of the railroads. But
they are not nearly as crooked as
they used to be. They are triumphs
of the art of compromise.
PUNGENT PARAGRAPHS
Do you remember when there were
wooden sidewalks on Main street and
we used to give our old clothes to
the Salvation Army Wichita Eagle.
Ejgle.
i Senator Knox says the whole na
tion is in’ a toil and ferment. We
haven't seen much toiling going on,
but he is right about the fermenting.
—Dalls (Tex.) News.
TCfiSDlir, MAY 18, lUSSV.
DOROTHY DIX’S TALK ON
DANGER AHEAD, LADIES
The World’s Highest Paid Woman Writer
BY DOROTHY DIX
LISTEN, sisters, all ye whose
husbands drive their own au
tomobiles.
The court has ruled that it is
no crime for a man to beat his wife
when she laughs at him because he
stalls hts engine, find can’t make the
pesky oid thing go.
■ A Missouri doctor and his wife re
cently went out for a pleasant spin
in their car. Presently something
went wrong with the spark plug, or
the armature, or the feed pipe, or the
electric what-you-may-call it, or
some of the other million thing-a
majugs with which the little insides
of automobiles are so liberally sup
plied.
Anyway, the doctor got out and put j
up the hood and poked and pried
around, and jammed this, and jabbed
that, without results. His
made fun of him, and he dragged her
out of the machine and beat and'
kicked her, whereupon the lady had
him arrested, when the aforemen
tioned facts were elucidated. But in
stead of sending the husb» nd to jail
the judge dismissed the case, and
handed down this momentous de
cision:
“As a rule,” said he, “I do not in
any sense condone wife beating, but
it appears that in this case the as
sailant suffered great provocation.”
This ruling of the court calls at
tention to a strange phenomenon of
masculine psychology which every
observant woman must already have
noticed, and that is the strange ef
fect that driving an automobile has
on a man’s disposition. No one has
ever attempted to explain it, so far
as I kpow, but the effect of sitting
behind the steering wheel of a ear
appears to be precisely that of the
evil spirit which turned the amiable
and kindly Dr. Jekyl into the cruel
and Brutal Mr. Hyde. Any kind of
a car will do it. men exhibiting the
same curious metamorphosis of char
acter whether they are driving Rolls
Royce or Fords.
When automobiles were first in
vented they were called devil wag
ons. Perhaps this was because we
had an intuitive knowledge of the
malign influence they were destined
to have upon the tempers of men,
and that, like some fabled genii of
old. they were to have the power of
changing lamb-like gentlemen into
roaring lions going about seeking
whom they would devour.
Whatever the reason, it is indis
putably true that the man driving
a car and the man at home are tw.i
entirely different beings. Sitting in
his own library, or on his own front
porch, a man may be the most pa
tient and long suffering of human be
ings. He may be thoroughly house
broken. the kind of a man who calls
his wife "mother,” and asks her ad-
I vice, and .lets her pick out his
clothes, and* go’ with him when he
buys a new hat. The moment be
takes his seat in a car, however, he
is a changed creature.
He, who was a loving husband and
CURRENT EVENTS OF INTEREST
Whether or not the squatty little
home on Farmington avenue, Hart
ford, Conn., with its “ugly roof”—
quoting the Hartford real estate
speculators who want S3OO',DOO for
the property that was sold to them
for $55,000 —is saved as a shrine to
one of this country’s greatest hu
morists, the move by the Society of
Connecticut Artists, which has now
reached nationwide scope, has given
birth to a Mark Twain renaissance
and reminiscence. Libraries through
out New England report increased in
terest in his books, while apparently
every one who ever saw him or heard
him or met him is popping up with
“brand new” anecdotes —the very lat
est being a traffic officer on one of
Hartford’s main corners who mourns
the fact that nobody seems to men
tion the great practical charity of the
alleged cynic.
But the saving of the home is now
virtually assured. The storm of pro
test against destruction of the birth
place of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn
that was born of a bit of newspaper
publicity has swept the country un
til it has enlisted the efforts of Phi
lander P. Claxton, United States
commisioner of education. He hopes
to designate a “Mark Twain week”
in every school in the land, during
which teachers will tell of the life
and books of the humorist, and per
haps instill in the minds of Ameri
ca’s children that poets and heroes
and humorists are more precious to
us than gold.
In Hartford Mark Twain lived a
“happy residence” among such
friends as Harriet Beecher Stowe,
Charles Dudley Warner, Charles Hop
kins Clark and others. He even
tried to bring Thomas Bailey Aid
rich and Howells here, claiming that
in a few years Hartford would be a
suburb of both Boston and New
York. Out in the “ugly roofed
house” where Hartford speculators
intend to build the “Mark Twain
apartment” were born many of that
famous and (immortal troop of boys
conceived in his own experience and
mothered in his brain.
According to a statement made
at Washington the senate adopted
the house resolution prviding for
the apopintment of a commission to
arrange for the tercentenary cele
bration at Plymouth, Mass., of the
landing of the Pilgrims, and ap
propriating $400,000 to be used for
that purpose in connection with, a
similar amount to be appropriated
by Massachusetts. Under the reso
lution, which now goes to the presi
dent, the commission is to consist
of seven members, three appointed
by the president of the senate and
four by the Speaker of the house.
In acknowledgment of attentions
shown the Belgian royal party during
their stay in this country last Octo
ber, J. M. Nye, secret service opera
tive attached to the party from the
state department, received from King
Albert an autographed picture of the
Belgian monarch.
The photograph is in a silver frame
surmounted by a miniature crown.
The inscription reads:
“To Mr. Nye, in memory of a won
derful time in America and with
grateful thanks for Jiis affectionate
care.”
Mr. Nye accompanied King Albert
and his suite on their tour of the
country as the special representative
of the department of state, charged
with the safety of the royal visitors.
Additional taxes amounting to
$267,260,000 have been assessed
against big corporations in the last
nine months as a result of an audit
of their tax returns. Internal Reve
nue Commissioner Williams informed
congress recently in asking for sl,-
300,000 to pay the expenses of this
work.
He said that the audit had not yet
been brought up to date, indicating
the possible recovery of additional
sums.
Dr. Pasticci, a noted chemist of
Rome, Italy, has discovered a meth
od of cheaply producing liquid hydro
gen. It may be used in driving auto
mobiles, one gallon being sufficient
for 250 miles. It may also be uti
lized in railroad locomotives and in
the engines of ocean steamers, he
declares, according to dispatches
from Berlin.
A disnatch from Washington
states that bills authorizing the
treasury to coin special 50-cent pieces
in commemoration of the one hun
dredth anniversary of the admission
of Maine and Alabama to statehood
were signed recently by President
Wilson. ______
Twenty-four hours as Mayor of
Fayetteville with a hostile board
of aidermen was enough for Mayor
Charles Rankin, and after holding
the office once around the clock he
handed in his resignation. Rankin
charged that the board of aidermen
had taken over all of his functions.
Fish freezing is now being un
dertaken in Japan for the first time.
Tiie tremendous rise in the cost of
living is causing Japanese officials
and business men to give serious at
tention to conservation of the food
supply, and the establishment of
three’of these refrigerating plants is
a striking example of how effective
ly they are handling the problem.
The capacity of each of these plants
is about 5,000 pounds daily.
father, snaps and snarls at his wom
enkind if they so much as venture an
opinion about the rate of speed they
are going. He, who never makes a
move in business without getting his
wife’s good, hard, horse sense on the
trade, looks bloody murder at her if
she reminds him that a certain road
is shut off for repairs, or that the
Blue Book says that you turn to the
left instead of the r>sht to to
Squeedunk.
As for making suggestions to a
man who is trying to diagnose the
case of a temperamental machine
that has suddenly stuck, or enter
ing into pleasant and cheerful con
versation with one who is changing
the tire of a wheel —well, that is
something that no sane woman ever
does-a second time. It makes her
shudder to her dying day to recall
the short, sharp, ugly word that her
erstwhile chivalrous and devoted
husband flung x at her, and the baleful
look that accompanied it.
That is why, when you see a ear
in trouble by th« roadside and a
grim, perspiring man with “damn”
written all over him tinkering with
it. you will also observe that the
ladies of his party are gathering
wild flowers, or are gazing raptly at
the view, or 'otherwise communing
in silence with nature instead of
helping the toiler with his task or
sustaining him with their presence.
Safety first. . s
But just as the automobile has a
deteriorating influence on the char
acter of men, it has an uplifting one ■
on that or women. In a few brief
years the motor car has done more
to teach women self control, and pa
tience and humility, and especially to
hold their tongues, than all the mor
alists and preachers have effected in
all the centuries. Indeed, it is not
too much to claim that the auto is
raising up a generation of women
who are as meek as Patient Griselda,
who have learned not to speak until
they are spoken to when they are
out riding with their husbands, and
who have achieved the supreme grace
of being able to refrai nfrom audible
criticism when hubby finds out that
the reason the machine won’t go is
because it is out of gas instead of
having broken some vital part.
The attitude of a man when driv
ing a car, and also the sane and safe
attitude of the woman towards the
man under the existing circum
stances. being matters of common
knowledge, it Is hard to feel any
sympathy for the wife whose hus
band beat her up for laughing at him
because he couldn’t make balky
machine go. Courage is one thing.
Foolhardiness is another. Any wom
an who gets funny with a man who
is monkeying with an automobile
does so at her peril and deserves the
consequences.
Dorothy Dix’s articles will appear
in this paper every Monday, Wed
nesday and Friday.
According to a statement issued at
Washington congress was asked by
Governor Harding, of the federal re
serve board, to settle the controversy
between reserve banks and. state
banks as to par collection of bank
In a letter to Chairman Platt, of
the house banking committee. Gov
ernor Harding asked for legislation
which either would compel the uni
versal adoption of par clearance or
would authorize both members and
non-members of the reserve system
to charge collection fees.
The present law, Governor Harding
said, was inadequate and had caused
difficulty because reserve banks had
been obliged to adopt, drastic methods
to make collections of checks drawn
upon non-member banks opposing par
exchange.
Mystery over the prolonged ac
tion of the senate committee on for
eign relations on the nomination of
Henry Morganthau, New York, to be
ambassador to Mexico was partly
cleared recently. Republican mem
bers of the committee have decided
that the nomination shall not be
confirmed for the present. Their ex
planation is that it would be unwise
to send a new ambassador to Mexico
while the country was in its present
turmoil. , , -
Coincident with knowledge of the
decision a report was circulated that.
Mr. Morganthau intended to ask
President Wilson to withdraw his
name from the senate. The nomina
tion has been before the committee
for more than six weeks. .
Mr. Morganthau, however, friend
said, has felt for some time that the
delay has taken on the nature of a
personal fight.
Former Speaker Cannon w-as eighty
four years old recently. Members of
the house gave the Illinois represent
ative an ovation when Representative
Mondell, the Republican leader an
nounced that it was ‘Uncle Joes
birthday anniversary.
Messages of congratulation were
received by Mr. Cannon, Chauncey M.
Depew of New York, who recently
celebrated his eighty-sixth birthdaj,
sent this message: pitrhtv-
“I beckon you on to the eigntj
sixth milestone which I am
for you. It is a beautiful journey
and glorious position.”
Arrangements have just been made
which assure the removal or the
body of the statesman, James G.
Blaine, early this summei, from Rock
Creek cemetery in Washington, w h ‘® r . e
burial took place m 1833, beauti
ful spot on the crest of Winthrop
Hill, overlooking Augusta, Me., and
the valley of the Kennebec.
The body of Mrs. Blaine will al»o
be taken' there, and presumably
that of a son, Walter Blaine, who is
buried beside his parents in Wash
ington.
Because wood is a poor conductor
of electricity, John Eagan’s artificial
leg will have to be unstrapped when
he goes *o his death in the ele p tric
chair at Sing Sing.
Eagan’s conviction for murder was
upheld by the court of appeals.
Eagan’ will be the first man with
a wooden leg to die in the electric
chair.
Dr. John Dill Robertson’s munici
pal reduction plant, Chicago, 111.,
where fat women gather to work oft
their surplus tissues in an eight
week’s campaign, ended iks second
week a few days ago, witir an aver
age net loss of 8.3 pounds per pupil.
Mrs. Hulda Solberg, who tipped the
scales at 224 a week ago, has wasted
away to a trifle under 212, her net
loss of 12 1-2 pounds setting a rec
ord for the class.
Dr. W. A. Riddell, of Toronto,
Canada, announced that he had ten
dered his resignation as deputy
minister of labor in the Ontario gov
ernment and had accepted a position
in the international labor office of
the League of Nations. ,
Dr. Riddell will have charge ft ,’je
immigration and employment ®ec
tion, and will probably make nis
headquarters in Geneva. His resig
nation takes effect next weoi- He
sails from New York on May 15, to
be in Geneva to attend the seamen s
conference next month.
Niagara Falls is not the greatest
cataract in the world. The greatest
cataract is said to be on the Ignazu
river, which partly separates Brazil
and Argentina.
The precipice over which the river
plunges in 210 feet high, that of Ni
agara being 167 feet. The cataract .s
13.123 feet wide, or about two and a
half times as wide as Niagara.
It is estimated that 100,000,000
tons of water pass over Nia.gara in
one hour. A like estimate gives the
falls of Igna-zu 140,000,000 tons.
After the Democratic conference
at Albany. N. Y„ Judge Samuel
Seabury issued a statement in which
he characterized the resolutions
adopted by the delegation an ‘‘ab
surd evasion coflnceived by a group
of artful dodgers.”
•‘The Democratic conference,” he
said, “dodged «V*ry Issue before the
countr a ridiculous
and ’•'heUTlea’ address about the
need for universal disarmament in
order to reduce the high cost of
living. A gathering never convened
more under the control of Tammany
Hall than was the *»ie here.”