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THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN
Published Every Afternoon Except Sunday
By THE GEORGIAN COMPANY
At 20 East Alabama St., Atlanta. Ga
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|| The Idiotic Craze for Ath
letic Supremacy
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In the Schools, at Least, It Ought Not to Become a Menace to
Health.
Thousands of children take pari in school athletics, competing
in the tournaments through which athletic championships are
P awarded.
School athletics, reasonably conducted and competently super
vised. are useful. They teach children Io care for their bodies, and
it is well known that a good mind in a poor body is as bad as a good
; | engine in a leaky ship.
But, unfortunately, the school athletic contests are not always
wisely conducted. The glory that attaches to champions leads hun
dreds of children to take part in them who are not physically fitted
for the contests, and to train energetically that they may have a
chance of success.
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Training, of course, means hard work. It. is often carried to
the extent of limiting a child’s food, which is worse than foolish.
And. in caaes where children have weak hearts, weak lungs, or
under-nourished bodies, the average course of training is so danger
ous as to be criminal.
In the great cities, where the majority of children come from
badly ventilated tenement houses, only about 25 per cent of them
are fitted for school athletics.
Before being permitted to enter any such contests, (‘very child
should be subjected to a rigid physical examination—an examina
tion at least as thorough as that given a prize-fighter before he is
allowed to go into the ring.
In New York, when the Marathon craze occupied the attention
of every child old enough to run a block, hundreds of little hearts
were weakened by overstrain. Naturally in the wake of the Mara
thons followed an increase of disease and a rise of the death rate.
Into the contest went all sorts and classes of little boys, some of
them hollow-chested, others anaemic and half fed, still others with
J inherited tendencies toward disease.
Had every one of these children been examined before he was
allowed to go into even the short school Marathons, needless illness
and unnecessary deaths might have been prevented.
Parents who send their children to the schools, paying rents
and taxes for the support of the schools, have a right to look to the
board of education to protect the health of their children.
Pupils who are not strong enough for school athletics can be
given light exercise, which will be sufficient to develop their bodies
and fill their lungs with fresh air.
Any doctor, after examining a child, can prescribe the exercise
that he needs to build him up—all the exercise that is safe for him
to take.
But no doctor would order a four-year-old child to hammer a
punching hag or swing Indian clubs; nor would he expect an invalid
to run five or six miles to work up an appetite for breakfast.
I Two excellent measures for the promotion of the health of chil-
dren have lately been taken.
One of these is the reduction of the temperature in the school
rooms from 70 to 68, or even lower.
The lower temperature will not in the least endanger the chil
dren. but it will bring cooler and better air into the school room.
In addition to this, dentists are employed to examine teeth of
all pupils, to arrange to have decaying teeth filled or removed, and
to instruct the children how to keep their mouths in sanitary con
dition.
This will be. of tremendous benefit, as three-quarters of the ills
of childhood, as well as of adults, are due to the lodgment of disease
germs in the mouth.
Give every school child good strong teeth, with which thorough
ly to chew his food, and teach him how to keep his mouth free from
dangerous germs, and you will largely reduce the activity both of
the family doctor and the undertaker.
Two measures so good as these should be supplemented by an
order to examine the lungs, hearts and general strength-of children
who go into school athletics.
This done, parents may feel secure that their children, while at
school, are as well eared f«n as they could possibly be at home, and
»g- that the education of their minds will tot be at the expense of their
constitutions.
To Kiss or Not to Kiss
Ladies and gentlemen, is kissing a crime! Echo answers "No!”
And echo must be right, for even Dr. George Bowling, who organ-
T ized the Oklahoma society to do away with kissing, admits that the
practice is nice albeit insanitary.
“Homes have been wrecked, nations destroyed and thrones
overturned, all because of that one thing." he declares, "still that
is not my reason; 1 am enthusiastic on the subject simply from a
sanitary standpoint. 1 believe that when people are educated thev
will eliminate kissing.”
Now, this is all very well, but Dr. Bowling may he sure if he
were put up for office on an anti-kissing platform he would go down
in history as the man with one vote—assuming, of course, that he
voted for himself.
In this scientific age. when even our shadows seem to contain a
menace, let us rise in our might and defy the anti-kissers.
The Atlanta Georgian
The Story of Ahab and Jezebei * By Garrett P. Serviss
How the Modern Science of Archaeology Confirms the Narrative of Hebrew Scriptures
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The Remain* of the Jewish Gate at Samaria.
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The 80-foot Wide Staircase in Ahab’s “Ivory House”
WE all like to see the, stories
of the Bible, which tn our
youth, at least, we read
with -wonder and veneration, con
firmed, in some of their most In
teresting details, by the results of
modern exploration, which seeks
only for hard facts, and often ob
tains them in unexpected and sur
prising ways. Most of us, no
doubt, have been better pleased
with the thrilling stories of the
earliest adventurers around the
Dead Sea, who thought that they
had seen the very pillar of salt into
which Lot’s wife was changed, and
had caught sight, deep beneath the
tremulous water, of the walls of
Sodom,
" * * * old palaces and towers
Quivering within the waves’ in
tenser day,”
than -with the more scientific rela
tions of later travelers, who find
only Indications of a great geologi
cal catastrophe there. Yet even
these, in a manner, confirm the
Scriptures, for they show how the
legend of the destruction of Sodom
may have originated.
But lately there has been made a
discovery which offers a more di
rect. if only partial, confirmation
of one of the most fascinating of
the Bible narratives, that which
tells of the wickedness and woes of
King Ahab and Queen Jezebel, and
the adventures of the Prophet Eli
jah.
Explorers, digging on the site of
the ancient royal city of Samaria,
have uncovered what are believed
* The Artistic Temperament *
Bv WINIFRED BLACK.
SHE wants to be an artist’s
model, and she has written to
me asking me how to
work at being one.
"I have an exquisitely molded
form," she says in the letter, "and
an artistic temperament. I am
very talented and have done artis
tic work. My work has been ac
cepted and highly praised in va
rious stores, and 1 would like to
go on with it. but they offer me
such ridiculous prices that I can not
do it. How shall I get into my
proper sphere?”
My dear, sweet, foolish little girl,
your proper sphere is right at home
with your good, sensible mother
“who worries about you.” you say.
I don't blame her.
If a daughter of mine ever got
the idea into her little head that
she had "an exquisitely molded
form" I'd never give her rest, or
peace night or day. till 1 got that
notion out of her brain. If I had to
discharge the laundress and give
daughter the family washing to do
to make her realize that there is
only one thing on earth worth hav
ing. and that is rest.
Artistic temperament I—ls I ever
caught any git! of mine thinking
herself “temperamental” I’d shut
her up in a convent with a wall six
feet high all around the place, and
I’d keep her there till she came to
her senses.
to be foundations of Ahab’s‘palace,
or “ivory house,” containing He
brew inscriptions, with familiar
Hebrew names, and. what seems
especially significant, references to
a “vineyard.” This, it is thought,
can be nothing other than the
vineyard of Naboth, which the Bi
ble says lie near Ahab’s jjalace,
and the coveting of which by the
king, who wished to turn it into a
royal park or garden. brought
about a terrible example of the
wrath of God.
The owner of the palace, some
of whose walls are shown in the
photographs, and which occupied
about two acres of ground, with its
many chambers grouped around
inner courts, “did more,” says the
Bible itself, "to provoke the Lord
God of Israel to anger than all the
kings of Israel that were before
him.”
His fundamental offense was In
marrying Jezebel, the daughter of
an idolatrous king, and herself a
worshipper of Baal, who steam
rollered the endmies of her religion
with a cold nerve that would have
made even a national committee
man’s teeth chatter. It is true
that the other side had set her
some examples, for Elijah took her
prophets, and "brought them down
to the brook Kishon, and slew
thorn there.” When Jezebel heard _
of this she sent to Elijah a mes- '
sage, which, from the point of
view of literary effectiveness of ex
pression, must be regarded as one
of the most blood-curdling threats
Artistic temperament 1- Yes. there
is such a thing, hut the people who
have it never know it themselves.
The one sure sign that a girl is ab
solutely without what we call tem
perament for want of a better
name, is when she starts talking
about it.
And your work, poor little girl,
that “artistic” work you do so de
light fully, what is it, tatting or wool
work? Perhaps you make doilies
with marguerites on them, or tray
cloths with' poh<i lillies all over the
part where the unoffending cups
ought to sit. or maybe you paint
panels or decorate china, all nice
work; but how can you think that
there is anything serious about it?
They praise you at home and tell
you you are “so artistic." Well,
so you are, no doubt, within the
limits. Why don't you stay in the
limits and be happy?
Some .lay some nice young man
will see you sitting on the, porch
embroidering a bureau scarf and
he’ll think. “There, she is the right
kind of a girl. No tennis for her,
no golf, no running around al!
hours of the twenty-four, but just
a nice, quiet, neat, gentle, little soul
who'll love to darn socks and look
pleasant while she's doing it." And
he'll speak to you w ith a new note
in his voice, ap,d all at once you'll
see w hat nice eyes he has and how
broad his shoulders are. and you’ll
forget all about the “artistic tem-
JULY 6, 1912.
ever uttered: "So let the gods do
to me, and more also, if I make
not thy life as the life of one of
them by tomorrow, about this
time.”
Elijah, who had just performed a
marvelous meteorological feat by
putting an end to a three-year
drouth, quailed at that threat, and,
in the language of the scriptural
writer, “when he saw that (the
queen’s message), he arose and
went for his life.”
But the ful anger of the Lord
was not excited against Ahab and
Jezebel until the incident of the
vineyard occurred. When Ahab
told his relentless wife that Na
both refused absolutely to sell his
inheritance to suit the royal pleas
ure, Jezebel took, charge of the
affair herself. She trumped up false
charges against Naboth, got some
rascals to swear to them and then
had the unfortunate man stoned to
death, by due process of law.
Then back came Elijah with a
message to Ahab from the Lord
God of Israel: “In the place where
the dogs licked the blood of Na
both shall dogs lick thy blood, even
thine!”
It all came out according to the
words of Elijah’s message, out the
wicked queen, strangely enough,
long survived the husband she had
ruined, although she, too, finally
felt the vengeance of Jehovah, for
she was thrown from her palace
window, and when the dogs were
through those who went to bury
her found only bones.
perament" and the things that go
with it.
You’ll find yourself walking up
the aisle of a. quiet little church
some day to the old. old song the
organ sings, and your little head
will be whirling around and around
with happiness, and you will have
"found your vocation and the best
vocation it is on earth, too.
Don't envy the girl with the real
artistic temperament, pity her.
She'll fly farther than you, but oh,
how her wings will ache some
times!
• She'll see the world, shell he
part of it, and half the time she'll
be envying you, just simple, con
tented, Utile wholesome you, with
all her poor, hungry heart.
Oh, yes, they're all right, the
studio teas, ami the Bohemian din
ners, and the "Art for Art's sake”
jargon, for a while, but any one
who really grows up. grows away
from all that sort, of thing some
day, and then what?
You don't belong there, little girl,
at all. Be content in your "com
fy” home, with your mother, the
best and dearest friend you'll ever
have.
And remember that HE is com
ing down the road some time, may
be today, perhaps next week, to
round out and fill in your life.
“Artistic temperament,” “exquis
itely molded form,” forget these
foolish words, my dear little girl,
and some day you'll be quite, quite
ha ppy.
THE HOME PAPER
The Education of the
Voter
PROSPERITY—GOVERNMENT
Prosperity Is Not Dependent Upon
the Election of a President
By THOMAS TAPPER.
A GOOD many earnest people
try to convince us that Pros
perity depends entirely on
who happens to be president of the
1 ’nited States.
When Populism was rioting
through Kansas in 1896, like a
cyclone, William Allen White wrote
. tin editorial on the movement, in
v. hich he begged to suggest to the
Kansan that he ‘raise more crops
and less hell.”
When citizens get down to busi
ness and raise crops, Prosperity
takes care of itself: when they
begin to raise the other thing, it is
impossible even for the president of
the United States to take care of
Prosperity.
The Crop is the thing. Any man
who devotes his days to industry
is a crop raiser. If he cares for his
money, manages himself and ills
household on a wise and economic
basis, he will be prosperous. When,
by careful management, he has
been able to set aside a ten-dollar
bill for deposit in tlie savings bank,
the name of the president of the
United States is not likely to enter
his mind while he is waiting for
the return of his bank book. He
is probably pleased to know that
he has so ordered his affairs as to
have the money for deposit. And
if he thinks further, he may real
ize that while Prosperity in gen
eral is talked of a great deal and
freely argued, it does him no good
until he finds the perspiration of
hard work and careful manage
ment streaming down his own face.
Devotion to Work
Gives Best Results.
Considerable attention has re
cently been given to the point of
view of Mrs. John H. Flagler, in
reference to labor problems in the
household. Mrs. Flagler points out
that when the mistress of a house
begins to recognize a difference be
tween her servants and the furni
ture of the kitchen, there will be
less domestic friction. This all
means careful study of household
management. Politics has nothing
to do with that.
As a man intent on securing the
benefits of prosperity, you will real
ize that loud talk and argument
put no money in the bank. Pros
perity and Politics have a rela
tion, but you will never know much
about it until you fix the mind on
getting all the prosperity you can
OUT OF YOUR OWN INDUS
TRY.
There are countless voters in the
United States who feel that they
could run the government, but who,
very apparently, can not run them
selves. The great value of learn
ing that government means guid-
Letters From the People
DOROTHY DIX AND FLESH POTS.
Editor The Georgian:
The vegetarian Is always a fa
vorite butt for tlfe wit and the
joker. His superior diet enables
him to receive the prods of the
Philistine without an attack of
eholer. So, while enjoying the
laugh, I ask permission to correct
some of the errors of your clever
contributor.
A vegetarian'is not a vegetable
arian. The former term is derived
from the Latin word vegetus—vig
or, strength, vitality. The diet of
vegetarianism consists of fruits,
nuts, grains, roots, vegetables, eggs,
milk, cheese and butter. Some
omit the animal products, but that
is optional.
Delicious nut meats are now
made from all kinds of nuts and
almonds which contain no skin,
bone and fat to throw away, and
whose handling and cooking give
no offense.
Your contributor's ideal husband
is an epicure. But in vegetarian
ism there is much more scope for
palate-tickling dishes, the variety
being greater, more refined, esthet
ic and subtle. And the reformed
diet creates a more sensitive sense
of taste and a finer discrimination
of flavor.
The gormandizing husband, with
his drinks, dopes and smokes,
lolling in his easy chair, too ob
fuscated to think beyond his ani
mal appetites, is not a pretty pic
ture. He is only one type, and
not likely to aid the world in get
ting forrader in the things that
matter. A more likely type to sur
vive is the one that refuses to turn
the stomach into a cemetery by
eating scorched corpses and avoids
al! dangerous dopes, poisons and
stimulants, including the unfra
grant weed extolled by Dorothy
Dix.
I am sure that in Atlanta there
are many ladies who have higher
ideals of a husband than " a nice
fat gentleman, with a pink skin,"
who can digest "steak a vard
square.”
If "a well cooked dinner" is the
main thing to "keep a man in the
strait and narrow path.” then.
Lord help all such matrimonial
ventures! JAMES MELDRUM.
Atlanta. Ga.
anee, management and control lies
in settling down to the business
of guiding, managing and controll
ing one’s self. -
You have your crops tn raise and
your money to spend. You raise
crops by being busy arid turning
out as much good work as lies in
you. Most men, like you, think
they know how to spend money.
Rut they do not. There never was
a harder thing to learn than how
to distribute the Income, doing it
with justice to yourself and all
others.
Urges Setting Aside Fund
For Needs of the Future.
Government and organizations of
men become very powerful, but let
every acre of ground in America.
. produce its maximum of crops, and
you will see all the rulers of trie
people standing in amazement at
the vastness of prosperity.
Likewise, let every workingman
work with all his energy, let him
learn how to govern himself,.to ad
minister his family affairs, to begin
to set aside some of his earnings as
a fund for the future, and he will
tell you without hesitation that
while it may pay to argue about
Politics and Prosperity, he, in the
meantime. Is taking care of his own
Prosperity, BY PRODUCING IT.
The gentleman who meanders
through life looking for a windfall
or a pension is apt to get shabby
and to lose connection wltji three
meals a day. Until he comes back,
he is a stray dog without a master.
What he needs is to examine the
power of the Initiative IN HIS
OWN BEHALF. He must set
things going again. The wise advice
of all philosophers,, once expressed
in these words, ‘‘First be sure
you are right, then go ahead,” is
the Initiative in its highest form.
The Successful Man
Is One Who Does Things.
If you are fond of trout, it will
give you only a second-hand form
of satisfaction to sit on the bank
of the stream and see anothi .'
man catch tjjem. If you want
them in your own frying pan, you
know what to do.
Prosperity is the same. If you
want it. go out and get it. The
fact that another man across the
street is making good will not
cheer up your family.
There is a very direct connect
ion between Prosperity and Gov
ernment, but the connection is
first with self-government. Me-t
men are prone to wish that all
things be done for them. But
the man who wins out sees the
joke, in that platform and begins
- to do all things for himself.
SUCCESS OF NEW GAME LAW.
Editor Th? Georgian:
The new game law of Georgia
has proved a success. Jesse Mer
cer, the state game warden, de
serves the honor for this good r> -
suit. Not only has the law pro
tected the game and fish, resulting
in the greatest abundance of both,
but the protecting machinery has
made its own expenses and has
$13,801.78 in the bank to the state's
credit.
Mr. Mercer asserts, and the facts
bear out his assertion, that the ad
ministration of the office has been
definitely economical, not nearly
one-half of the revenues having
been expended for putting the law
into effect and for its execution.
Eor this splendid result the state
has not been taxed one cent and
the department will be able, to con
tribute to the school fund, whence
the excess of the collected funds
goes.
Mr. Mercer calls attention to the
fact that the law has been popu
lar generally with the people, and
that only one clause has been much
criticised—that for the protection
of field latk*. He claims that the
farmers do not like the field larks
and want to have the privilege of
shooting them out of their crops.
He also says the people in general
want to shoot robins about Christ
mas' time, whereas the law finds
no open season for robins.
The state warden stresses the
fact that while Georgia has gen
et ally been in the forefront of
other reforms for the people, she
has lagged behind in the respect
to the protection of her game and
fish until now, arid that Georgia
will soon be abreast of the times
and of those states which have for
years been giving time and thought
and money for this great reform,
the protection of her game and fish.
While the state does not require
a report from the warden, he is
compiling an interesting and in
structive report for the aid of the
legislature in strengthening and
perfecting the law. With the re
sults thus attained in less than
two years of his administration of
this department, it may he said of
Jesse .Mercer that he has proved
himself a mosA efficient, tactful
and worthy public servant and is
entitled to the thanks of the state.
JOHN W. GREER.
Tifton, Ga,
