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EDITORIAL PAGE
THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN
Published Every Afternoon Except Sunday
By THE GEORGIAN COMPANY
At 20 East Alabama St , Atlanta, Ga.
Entered as seccnd-rlass matter at poatoff at Atlanta, under act of March 3, 1379.
Get Out Into the Country
NOW
•t » M
Gc, if You Can Stay Only a Few Hours. See Nature Waking and
Rouse Yourself to New Ideas.
Those that wait for hot weather and then leave the city for a
period, short or long, miss the country’s real beauty.
NOW is the time to take yourself, your family, the shildren
especially, to the place where green things grow and where the
earth is real
Some early flowers are out, decorating nature's early tvork.
Millions of flowers are in bud. And every bud is an education
and an inspiration for the mind of a child.
The trees that were dark, hare and dead only a few weeks
gtnoe are alive and producing the leaycs that are the ideas of a tree.
Some of the trees are masses of vivid green. Others, higher types,
that develop more slowly, like tho oak and the hickory, are just be
ginning their spring work, with faint, reddish indications of life
in the branch tips
Birds, beetles, rabbits, turtles, frogs—everything that lives in
the gjeen country has a new interest in life. Young calves take
their first look at the sky, their second look at the natural dining
aar so-white and inviting beside them, and decide that a very nice
world has been prepared to make them happy. Knowledge of the
Mdeous slaughter house is far away.
Th* small black mule, just bom, stagge-rs about on the grass,
puteone long ear forward and the other backward to get some idea
of the universe nd folding
Little does he and little does hie pmud. misguided mother
know that he represents nature’s protest against miscegenation,
and that-film *> among all the happy beings around him he is MOR.
TAL. forbidden to perpetuate his funny form.
There is education and Inspiration in the mother chicken
watching the fluffy little yellow balls How beautiful is her power,
her capacity for excitement and enthusiasm every time she hatches
an egg' What a world this would be if men could gn at their work
as the ben goes at the business nf setting, and if men could super
vise the work as the hen supervises the chickens hatched out!
This is th* time of year to study the sky-—the light, thin
clouds and the big, blue spaces, and the heavy gray clouds when
the slow wind carries the rain and fertility across the fields
The summer is beautiful, and the, autumn and the winter, but
the spring. THIS TIME OF TEAR, is the happy time, the time of
hope, inspiration.
Go to the country when it is very hot if you can. and stay as
long as you can BUT GO TO THE COUNTRY NOW, TF ONLY
FOR A FEW HOURS.
Trolley cars, short rides on the railroads—many means of
transportation will get you away from the cobblestones, the dust
and the bricks to the green fields, and let you study for a mo
ment with your children man’s home, the earth, as it ought to be
and forget the hideous, man-made cancer called the city.
Is It Illegal For a Man-
Dead—to Commit
a Crime?
*t * «e
It la a Grime for Mr. Astor or Any Other to Say That a Young
Woman Shall Remain Single or Forfeit a Great Fortune.
And the Law Should Forbid This Clause in a Will as Against
Public Policy.
«IJ I WlTH—m nw ■ni ir nri 1 ~~t tt i n .u iwnrj-n in ■ ■■■■mi rwiyw ■ »
John Jacob Astor did what many men have done wheji he left
a large inoome to his wife and stipulated that she must lose the
income should she marry.
Mr. Astor, dead, leaves a widow barely twenty years of age.
He gives to this wife only a small fraction of his great fortune, and
of that small fraction the income alone is given to her while she
lives She has nothing to give to others when she goes.
And the conditions of the will forbid her to lead her own life
in her own way while her life lasts.
The will says, “An income for you while yon live if yon spend
the time regretting ME Nothing if yon forget me and think of
another. - ’
No especial blame attaches to Mr Astor, who simply did what
others have done He followed in a groove, doing about as his an
cestors had done before him He left some mone> for cups for a
vacht race and asked his son to do the same He left the greater
part of the fortune to one boy, paying little attention to the other
children
A will such as that of John Jacob Astor is against, public
policy
Tt would be well now to test—if it hasn't been done already—
the right of a husband to rule his wife after death, with threats
of poverty
No one need ask how the dead man would have resented con
ditions forbidding him to remarry bad bis wife died when he was
barely out of his childhood- or at any other time. He had already
married twice before he died.
But his will says to the wife. ‘ Comfort and a good income
while you spend the time mourning me nothing if you live nor
mally and happily, as you have a right to do '
A lawver ought to be able to break this Astor will in the name
of public policy and public decern v, and free tin? young woman,
and every other young widow from pi e-post-tous. humiliating and
immoral control by one dead and gone
The Atlanta Georgian
CITY KIDS
By HAL COFFMAN.
, OG ~°' ' 3,MfAy
& k '-’J BONDER IF I®
They’D. LE t
i ISO.
v-. - - \ ter W
/X rIOK o®
J 3 ’Tt .
A// J J > / / f
HOW ATLANTA HAS RISEN
FROM THE ASHES OF WAR
. (From the Chicago Reccd - Herald)
G T you al! write about Atlanta
as 1t is today do not fail to
speak of another Atlanta,
the city as it was in 1885.”
The suggestion of the old settler
was a good one and I follow it, giv
ing the long-ago Atlanta prece
dence.
The long-ago Atlanta had a pop
ulation of about 15,000, and nearly
all were more or less poverty
stricken There was not money
enough in the entire city to build
an ordinary three-story brick
structure Nearly all the brick
buildings in the business center had
fallen a few months before as the
result of battles and flames, and
the bricks were scattered in shape
less piles in streets and alleys All
the wooden structures had disap
peared. There were hundreds of
bleaching ash heaps, and in resi
dence districts there were other
heaps of bricks and piles of yellow
ing ashes.
Shade trees had bean broken by
shot and she!! or blighted by
flames from burning homes. The
city, from north to south and from
east, to west, extended lass than a
mile and a half It was a city of
almost penniless people But self
respect. spirit, hope, faith and .de
termination had not been shot
away or burned out. That explains
why we see the queenly city of At
lanta as it is today
Give the picture of old Atlanta as
I have painted it as close a survey
as your imagination will permit,
and then compare tt with the other
Atlanta
It is true that to a greater ex
tent than was the case with any
other South«-n city Northern men
and Northern capital have gone to
Atlanta and have been a decided
factor in its upbuilding, but they
alone would never have made such
a city as we see in the Empire state
of the South. The foundation for
the new city was laid by her sorely
stricken people after they had lost
their property, their cause, their
business and their hi'tnes Let me
partly illustrate this by referring to
a few who had a large share m lay
ing that foundation Some of these
I m«t and conversed with during a
recent visit
Th"ee young men who had served
throughout the war in Confederate
reg'ments were ’ypica! specimens
of ths American men of great en-
MONDAY. MAY 13. 1912
terprise and tireless Industry who
saw a future for their city. One of
them died after having had great
influence in the upbuilding of his
city, and still wider influence in ef
forts that resulted in giving-the na
tion the splendid new South. That
was Evan P. Howell, whose long
time associate was the late Henry
W. Grady, who gave his best ef
forts in behalf of Atlanta, the
South and th« country from his
young manhood to. his untimely
death. Captain Howell, bare
handed. went to work with a will as
soon as he had shed his uniform of
gray and tn time found himself one
of the proprietors and editors of
The Atlanta Constitution.
These two men. Captain Howell
and Mr. Grady, a son of a Confed
erate soldier, centered their
thoughts, their hearts and their ef
forts on helping Atlanta. Georgia
and the South. Their work was as
valuable for the nation as the work
of any other two men of their pro
fession North or South They were
a dynamic force in rebuilding the
citv. rehabilitating the South and
strengthening the nation. All At
lanta reveres their memory.
I have space to speak of two oth
ers. I found one of them in a bank,
its president, a leader in city build
ing as'in finances His first task
upon returning to the city after
long service in the war was that
of a carrier nf bricks at 51.50 a
day. It was enough to keep the
wolf from the door and he was
thankful for it
He is worth a million or'more
now,' sajd nly friend.
The other everybody speaks nf as
one of Atlanta's best men. He was
a lieutenant in a Tennessee regi
ment. Like the banker and Cap
tain Howell, he scrimped, saved,
worked and invested every penny
of his spare means in Atlanta real
estate, and has had a large part in
the building of man.' of the citj's
finest structures. His faith, his tire
less industry, his wise investments
and his good citizenship have
placed to his credit several mil
lions of dollars.
These are only a few specimens
of th» men who have had a part
in tji» making of a new Atlanta.
The banker. Samuel M. Inman,
spoke of the successful leadership
of former Confederate soldiers in
originating, building up and carry
ing on business enterprises of all
worth) characters during the last
40 years. "Thev hat e he’d the front
;ank among men of genius, indus
try and usefulness not alone In
commercial life. but. in the profes
sions, statesmanship, in education
and religion, ' said Mr. Inman.
Instead of a mile and a half it
is now ten miles through the city.
The population has passed the 175.-
000 mark and is rushing on to 200,-
000, with a network of street car
lines that accommodate nearly
every portion of the city and sub
urban lines that go to attractive
cities and tillages in tho vicinitj.
The city is as solidly built as any
to be found in the nation, with a
larger proportion of skyscrapers
than any other city of its size in
the world. A dozen strong banks,
whose buildings alone cost $7,000.-
000. showed clearings for 1911 of
nearly three-fourths of a billion.
Atlanta has miles of paved streets,
several colleges and a public school
system that is a model, buildings
that compare well with those of any
Northern city of its size. 196 miles
of street railway, 24.000 miles of
telephone lines, a school enrollment
of 23,000, S.OOO students in higher
institutions, and pss churches. The
citv is noted for its attendance
upon church It has a better opera
house than most cities of a half
million, hotels that cost from a mil
lion and a half down, and -others
planned to meet the. growing de
mand.
The old Atlanta was almost des
titute of manufacturing industries.
The new- Atlanta has factories in
which nearly fifty millions of dol
lars have been invested-., and w hose
product fop 1912 will reach fully
fift’ millions. Twenty thousand
wage workers are given stead'- and
profitable employment.
This new Atlanta has long been a
leader in the upbuilding and the
transformation of the South. In it,
if I mistake not. was built the first
large cotton factory in the South.
It followed soon after the cotton
exposition in 1881. The enterprise
of the builders of Atlanta has led
to remarkable development in the
state of Georgia, and the develop
ment there has led to development
throughout neighboring states. It
is hard to picture fully what the
building up of the present magnifi
cent Atlanta, and the word magnifi
cent is not in any sense misused,
has done for the South. It has been
like a mighty light set upon a high
hill to give hnp» power, faith and
energy Atlanta has had influence
in building up. strengthening and
beautifying scores of cities and vil
lages m Georgia nm to mention
cities and villages in neighboring
states j A WATROUS
Lieutenant '.''-'.cnel United States
Army, Retired.
THE HOME PAPER
Ella Wheeler Wilcox
Writes on
The Things Which
Lend (. harm
to Life
—and—
How They W iden Our
Power of Enjoyment
Written For The Atlanta Georgian
By Ella Wheeler Wilcox
Copyright, 1912. by Ameriran-rJournal-Examtnw-
IF I had my life to live over
again I would have made a rule
to read somejpoetry and listen
to some music at least once a week;
for perhaps the parts of my brain
now atrophied would thus have
been kept active through use. The
loss of these tastes is a loss of hap
piness. and may possibly be inju
rious to the intellect, and more prob
ably to the mor a i character, by en
feebling the emotional part of our
nature. —Darwin, in his Autobiog
raphy.
THESE words are worthy of
deep respect and careful con
sideration.
Every man and woman who is
not obliged to spend ail of the day
light hours in hard toil for the nec
essities of life ought, to use some
portion of each day in acquiring the
things which lend life grace and
charm.
There was a woman who.attained
a high position in the intellectual
world.
She had studied largely and
' widely; and she was known a,o an
eminent instructor of the young,
from one end of her native land
to the other. She had been reared
by parents who believed in edu
cation, but who thought music was
a frivolity and dancing an inven
tion of the devil. In her maturity
this woman once said to a friend,
as they sat watching the dancers
it a College commencement ball:
"I always feel that I have been
cheated and w ronged when I see
young people dancing.
"My parents meant well, but
they deprived me of a great ac
complishment. of a great and inno
cent pleasure. And I am conscious
of lacking grace and ease in public,
through never having had instruc
tion in dancing."
Music, Dancing, Poetry and
Drama Aid Happiness. .
Music, dancing, poetry, the thea
ter. all are aids to happiness, to
the prolongation of youth; to the
beauty and charm of life.
Give your children the opportun
ity to understand and love al! these
things.
Take them up yourself, now in
full maturity or middle life, if you
can manage to steal the time from
imperative duties.
Many idle women are bemoaning
the fleeting charms of lost youth
■who might be making themselves
ten-fold more attractive and enter
taining than they were in their
youth, did they apply themselves to
the study of music, of dancing, of
poet ry.
Even one hour a day given to
reading, or practice, will accomplish
miracles at the end of a year's
time.
And the character is strengthen
ed and bettered by the. concentra
tion applied to some one purpose
regularly.
The child who is not given the
rudiments of music and dancing,
and who is not taught to care for
poetry, is being robbed, even as the
great scientist Darwin and the
woman of intellect felt they were
robbed of something which meant
happiness
Simple Matter To Teach
Child To Love Poetry.
A brilliant actress, who was fa
mous for learning her roles quickly
and without effort, said that her
mother began with her at the age
of four to teach her two lines of
verse daily.
At that early period the mind of
a child is like a film of a camera
exposed to the view, and takes its
impressions insta.ntly.
Each day the two lines of verse
were added, until at the age of ten
the little lad? could repeat whole
cantos of verse and acts of dramA.
Her education was furthered, h®?
memory strengthened and taete
cultivated by this method.
One of America’s great scien
tific men began the musical educa
tion of his baby girl when she was
a day old.
He had certain musical chords
struck in the room where she was
lying every day, so that her ear
should become accustomed to har
mony.
And as she progressed sweet airs
were played gently in the room.
Life was never meant for mere
hard work, for mere stern duty, nor
only for the commonplace neces
sary toil which keeps the world go
ing. A skilled chef garnishes his
meats with sprays of green, and
the flowers of the arts should gar
nish the dish of everyday life.
Emerson, our great philosopher
and scholar, lost the powers of his
mind before he reached three-score
years.
Had he given a portion of every
day, or even a few hours weekly, to
something which took his mind
away from the serious things of
life, had he cultivated art, or an
accomplishment, or allowed himself
to become frivolqus as a distrac
tion, there is no doubt he might
have retained his usefulness much
longer.
In Pompeii there are deep ruts
in one of the narrow streets, made
by the passing of chariots centuries
ago.
The passage was not wide enough
to allow the chariot wheels any
margin, and they hollowed out the
deep ruts by continually passing
over the same places.
So do thoughts on one subject,
without any variation, wear ruts
in the brain.
This is an age of specialists.
But while one may specialize on
the principal object of his life,
there remains enough time for him
to gain ornamental graces of mind,
if he understands their importance
and uses his hours wisely.
Music, art. poetry, dancing, phys
ical culture, fashion nad a bit of
frivolity now and then (clean and
moral frivolityl should be respected
by the wisest' philosopher, the most
profound student and the greatest
of geniuses. And they should be
called -fn at times to sweeten life,
prolong usefulness and enlarge the
scope of human enjoyment.
The Truant |
By W. W, WHITE LOCK.
MAMA says the fairies grew -weary
* Os not having people believe
That fairies exist in this dreary.
Sad world, where so many hearts
grieve—
And so their belonging? and fixings.
Their dresses, light, flimsy as air.
In thimblelike cases they packed- with
their laces,
A.nd fled away no one knows where.
Now ever since then we’ve been wait
ing
And hoping to see them return,
Some spring, when the birds are. all
mating.
And violets are under the fern.
But only perhaps a stray fairy
Has ever come back, now and then,
To cheer with its presence the child of
poor peasants,
Then quickly has. vanished again.
But I have been thinking and thinking
That maybe if every one tried
And wished for a year without wink
ing.
The fairies, perhaps, m‘«ht decide
To come back and live as they used to
And help al! the children be goed
We'll wish and believe it so hard they’ll
believe it,
And can t stay away if they would.