Atlanta Georgian. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, July 31, 1912, HOME, Image 20

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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 second-class matter at postoffice at Atlanta, under act of March 3. 187 S. Subscription Price—Delivered by carrier, 10 cents a week. By mail, >5.00 a year. Payable In advance. Gov. Brown Has Kept Faith In vetoing the Tippins bill. Governor Joseph M. Brown did the expected thing. He was elected while lhe bill still was pending in the legisla ture, and one of his direct and specific platform promises was that he would withhold his approval from this very legislation, unless it carried with it express provision for a referendum to the people. That referendum was proposed by amendment in the house, hut it was rejected, and by the people in the main uncompromisingly favoring this bill. In rejecting the referendum the friends of the Tippins bill made it impossible for the governor to sign tjie measure, had he otherwise approved it. Thus challenged to make good his promise, to vindicate to the people his tendered and accepted word of honor, the governor merely did the manly and righteous thing in interposing the executive veto. There may be those who will think the governor has not fought a good fight, there may be those who will think he has run his course —those things are matters of individual points of view. Regardless of the question as to the merits of the bill, there can be no doubt that Governor Brown has kept faith. How We Go to Sleep and ! Wake Up « M M Nature's Wisdom, and Proof of Our Original Primitive Condition. ■ — 1 Every twenty-four hours you go to sleep and wake up. Have you ever devoted thought to the sleeping and waking process? Sleep is a condition of recuperation, and a condition of dan ger. The forces of the body—that protect, us and guide us through our waking hours—all suspend their activities. And each of our vital centers stores up fresh energy for the work of the coming day. We are unprotected and at the mercy of ene mies. Observe how nature cautiously does what she can to protect ua in this sleeping operation. And ask yourself if in going to sleep you do not bring back dimly the forest or cave life of your ancestors? Your guardian senses do not leate you all at once. Each, in turn, succumbs to sleep and gives up its watchfulness. Os all things that protect us from danger, our eyes are most important. But sleep, normally, comes with darkness, when sight is useless, anyhow. Therefore, when we sleep we first of all close our eyes, cutting off sight, and confiding our welfare to the other senses. Next after sight, taste goes. As a man gets drowsy the nerves of taste follow the optic nerves into oblivion. Next the sense of smell goes to sleep. Smell is a protector, but a minor one, especially among us “higher primates.’’ When a man is “half asleep” his sight is gone, taste and smell are dormant. Next hearing succumbs, and, last of all, the sense of touch. The sense of touch, warning us of the closest possible ap proach of danger, stays awake and on guard to the very last. Finally the little nerves lying at the surface of the skin, the nerves that tell when anything touches us, abandon their work; the nervous fluid is withdrawn to the central batteries, and we are fast asleep. When you awake the same process occurs—reversed. The quickest way to awaken a man is to pinch him. The sense of touch acts most quickly. The next quickest way is to shout at him. Hearing wakes him up. The next is to awaken him by putting some strong odor near him; then comes the sense of taste as an awakener. Perhaps you will ask the usual question: “What of it?” We can only answer that it is good occasionally to point out to callous humanity the marvellous wisdom, in the smallest details, of the Providence of laws that guard us. Our senses are our guardians, guides, protectors. And when we sleep the most vigilant and important of them is last to go off duty and first to come on duty again. By considering these little things you become interested in the big things of the universe; you learn to take interest in your self—which is the beginning of philosophy—and you learn rever ence for Divine wisdom, which is the end of philosophy. To prove that small things are important we shall quote to you a part of Socrates’ talk on the wonderful human organism— Socrates’ name is so solemn that you art* compelled to treat it respectfully. Xenophon, who relates the conversation, declares that he heard Socrates discoursing with Aristodemus, surnamed lhe Lit tle—and very well surnamed, by the way. since he (Aristo denius) denied the existence of God. Socrates, as proof of God’s wisdom, points out various fine points about the human being, and continues: “Is not that Providence, Aristodemus, in a most eminent manner con spicuous which, because tile eye of man is so delicate in its contexture, hath, therefore, prepared eyelids like doors, whereby to secure it, which extend of themselves whenever it is needful, and again close when sleep approaches? Are not these eyelids provided, as it were, with a fence on the edge of them, to keep off the wind and guard the eye? Even the eyebrow itself is not without its office, but. as a penthouse, is prepared to turn off the sweat, which, failing from the forehead, might enter and annoy that no less ten der than astonishing part of us." Socrates goes on to admire our ears, which “take in sounds of every sort, yet are not too much filled with them,” and our teeth, the front ones for biting off. the rear ones for grinding, etc. We have quoted enough from lhe wise old man to show that GREAT men observed LITTLE things, and that it is worth your while, Mr. Reader, to contemplate in detail the wisdom that guides you, sleeping or waking. P. H.—Darwin says the eyebrows are mainly Intended to shield the eyes from too bright sunlight, and Invites us to notice that, like monkoys, we wrinkle our foreheads and project our eyebrows when bothered by the sun's rays. But Bocrnte« and Darwin have probably talked that matter over to (ether by thia time, and, anyhow, it’s too long a subject for discussion hero. The Atlanta Georgian WEDNESDAY, JULY 31, 1912. Death to the Slayer of Young Children New, Novel and Inoffensive Ways of Catching the Fly ■ xvCX v r ’ V ' - " e “Y it dr- *5 K IL* 188 SB M r W. | L % W' % •- 1 ’ * Wwl ■■ t w&W At* a * B /J iI. t ■ Air. / //»& (>■ >/ * tEKv Rhf JgKgHH W/ ' ft \\ Wn i * \ \\ » ;.'E THESE illustrations show a new and effective way to use fly paper, The large picture in the center show’s an inoffensive fly trap for use in the home. This is made of a regular sheet of sticky fly-paper, made into a cone and crinkled, or crepe, pa per around the outside. At the bot- A LESSON FROM THE HILLS Bv WINIFRED BLACK. THE other day, when I went up into the hills, I had a worry, a gnawing, tearing, agonizing worry. It kept me awake at night and it walked with me at noon-day, and when the gray evening step ped. veiled, from the sunset skies, there was the worry coming, too, like the disagreeable cousin that al ways hears of the party and comes “without waiting for an invitation.” I was pretty tired of the worry, but somehow I couldn’t seem to get idd of it. The busier I w’as the busier the worry was. too; and when friends came to see me I heard the worry’s voice above all that the friends were trying to say, and life was getting to be a good deal of a nuisance. And then I went to the hills, and the worry went along, of course. Catch a good-sized, able bodied worry staying at home with the old clothes and the idle fur nace and the empty icebox. Every day in the hills I went walking, short walks at first, then long ones, over sun-soaked trails that led higher and ever higher up the red hills. Shady paths winding among cedars that looked a thou sand years old. Down soft valleys with the green a benediction to tired eyes. Along little streams that laughed and gurgled at the joke of life as human beings live it. always walking, always out under the great dispassionate skies, now blue, now gray, now flecked with foamy white, but always remote, always unprejudiced, always imper sonal. The Worry Was Gone. And one day. all at once the wor ry was gone, vanished, disappeared from view and almost from mem ory. Gone down stream with the lit tle bits of brown bark I learned to sail in the giggling water, gone up the canyon to listen to the croon ing of the wind in the cedars and the gusty sighs of the pines, gone to play with the fluttering loaves of the aspen, in the shade by the turn of the trail, gone forever. For the hills will not lei a worry stay with you. 1 am glad 1 came to the hills. They taught me how little and how foolish and how ungrateful I was. When tin worry bit the deepest, there stood the eternal hills, smiling tom of the cone a piece of meat can be placed, or, if preferred, a lump of sugar. The small draw ing on the right shows a similar fly trap placed out side the house. Both of these de vices are preferable to the exposed fly-paper, which is not only un sightly, but often falls on the floor at me from under the scurrying clouds. “Wait,” they said, “be patient, take comfort: see the little squir rel down there in the shadow’—see how he hurries about his business? He’s worried for fear he won’t have enough to last him through the bit ter winter. He W’ill —I know he will —for I have seen his grandfather _ worry the same w’ay. all for noth ing. “Once, when the season was poor, the squirrel’s great-grandfather did run short of food late in the cold snow, and he died, just as easi ly as he would have died a while later, anyhow, If he had had all the fruit of the great oak stored in his cellar under the cedar roots. What difference did it make, really? Why did he worry’ so, the worst that came was not so bad, was It? It Won’t Make It Better. "The little striped squirrels there on the rocks are quarreling among themselves; they call each other the most awful names. Why do they do it? Life is so short with them. One season we see them and the next they are gone. Just a little season, rain, sunshine, wind, a full stream, low water, hail, sleet, lightning—they are all so wonder ful —and the little striped squirrels there on the rock do not see any of these things; they’ just chatter and scold and tight. For what? We wonder and wonder. “The great mountain there, the king of us all, he never worries; he can not. There is so much for him to do. “There are the clouds always get ting lost and wandering around like white sheep forgotten by the shep herd; he has to call up the wind, the singing shepherd, to whistle them all home again. "There is the sunrise; what would that be without the great peak, and the waters fall and rise, and the sun .sets, and the moon sails in calm grandeur through the glorious sky. "We wonder among ourselves, we hills; we laugh together, we moun tain treams. Why, even the yel low flowers there on the spur of the mountain know enough to smile in the sunshine, and be happy. What poor things you are, you hu mans, you and the squirrels, what good does all the chattering, and the hurrying, and the hoarding, and ’ . i & J? « TlJfi e n==i 1 wrong side downward or brings about other unpleasant mishaps. the worrying do? Tell us that; we want to know, we hills.” And it was while I listened to them that the worry disappeared, -and my heart is light again, for I know that all is well in the end, and that all the worrying in the world will not make it better. And so I live in the sunshine and walk in the rain and rejoice in a little weather just because I am alive, like the flower there on the spur of the great mountain. Alive and part of the great plan. Who am I, to sit and make the day sad and the night forlorn with my moanings? Come up into the hills, the glo rious hills, and learn peace, oh, ye of troubled minds. The hills that endure, and smile, and rejoice that they, too, are part of the great scheme. Come, forget for a while the little frets; leave behind you the small annoyances, put care in the stove and burn it up, and most important of all, leave yourself, your conscious self, at home with the last year's clothes. Pack your self-conscious ness in the garret with the Paris hat that was such a beauty a year or so ago and is such a caricature now. You are out of fashion, too, you yourself. You need a change, a new point of view. It isn’t half so important as you think, whether you make that deal or not. Who will care ten years from now whether you paid $lO a day for your room or 50 cents; you wonit even know yourself. Let Your Soul Keep Pace. The cut of your soul is out of date. It’s too small here, and it bags there, and what a wrinkle right there at the heart line. Dear, M dear, that will never do. Make it over, that soul of yours. You live in town with a thousand people staring at you whenever you try to eat a quite meal? Hie to the mountains, build a shack of boughs, and let your soul grow. The worry that walked with me at noon and wept with me at mid night has gone with the rain of yesterday: the hills have fright ened it away. The poet-king of Israel knew all this, for he sang: "1 will lift up mine eyes to the hills from whence cometh my help.” Psalm 121:6. THE HOME PAPER The Education of the Voter THE FORCE THAT GOVERNS A Great Army of Nearly 325,000 Men and Womei Carry on the Nation’s Business. AT the present moment quite a number of prominent men are being discussed as candidates for the office of president. The final choice next November may be one of them, or it may be a man whose name is at present unknown. When your vote has helped to elect a president he becomes the president-elect until the next fourth of March. Then he is inaugurated and turns his attention to business. His immediate* associates are his cabinet, representing nine depart ments of government. Each mem ber of the cabinet takes up a de partment of necessary work of the government and becomes responsi ble for it to the president. These men help the president, bring mat ters to his attention, and enter into conference with him on all ques tions that arise. About 500 Officers Perform Duties in Washington. This is an important body of men in the public service. But there are two others —the senate, over which the vice president of the United States presides, and the house of representatives. The sen ate is composed of two senators from each state. The house of rep resentatives is chosen from each state on the basis of population, there being one representative to every 195,000 inhabitants, approxi mately. This gives, for example, to Delaware one member to the hopse, while New York has thirty seven. The officers of the government thus far enumerated are about 500 in number, and they all perform their official duties in Washington. But the entire organization of men and women active in carrying on the business o 4 the national gov ernment numbers far above this, the total being nearly 325.000, ex clusive of the army and navy. About 10 per cent of this great army of workers reside in Wash ington. The remainder, nearly 300,- 000 in number, are scattered over the country, and some are sent to foreign countries to represent our government. It is interesting to ask how these 325,000 workers in behalf of the government secure their positions. About 8,000 of them are appointed by the president, subject to confir mation by the senate. Others are appointed by heads of departments. In order that heads of departments may secure the best service for their purpose, there has been es tablished for their assistance a civil service commission. This commis sion examines applicants for posi tions and reports on their fitness. When a candidate has passed the required examination set by the civil service commission, his name is referred to the department head as an available public servant. If he passes with a high average, he Letters From the People THE VETO POWER. Editor The Georgian: From historic instances we are forced to conclude that the veto power should be exercised with great care. Our present governor has explained very clearly, fully and forcibly his view of the only circumstances under which an ex ecutive should exercise the pardon, and there is little doubt that his conception is clear as to when he would be justified in exercising the veto. It is inconceivable that he would feel justified in vetoing a measure passed so deliberately by the legislature as was the Tippins- Alexander bill, and with such de cided majority in both houses. The governor knows full well that the people can not hold him personally responsible for the de liberate acts of the legislature, and that it is simply a duty for him to put his approval on them, just as the approval of the whole legis lature goes with what the legal majority finally agrees to. Os course, the governor does not per sonally agree, In'many cases, with the views of the majority—many of us do not —but we have before hand agreed to act with the legal majority, and, after the vote is taken, if we act in good faith, all then become of one mind, and in dividual differences are lost sight of. There should be a clear-cut idea in the minds of the people as to the conditions under which the veto and pardon powers should be exer cised. JOS. S. COOK. Atlanta, Ga. THE INSURANCE BILL. Editor The Georgian: For the past year a most compe tent committee of the legislature has worked upon the subject of better protection for those who pat ronise insurance companies and or ganizations. This committee has By THOMAS TAPPER. will receive an early appointment. He keeps his position on his mer its and conduct, but he may be re moved by the president at any time, with or without cause. The purpose of the civil service is “to regulate and improve the civil service of the United States.” This means that, by examination, the government tries to secure the peo ple best fitted for those positions that do not fall within the direct appointing power of the president. About 230,000 positions are subject to competitive appointment. These positions carry an aggregate of sal aries amounting to nearly $200,000,- 000 annually. If you want to become part of this executive force and enter a civil service examination, you must first file an application blank. In order to be eligible Tor examina tion, you must be a citizen of the United States and not given to the use of intoidcating liquors. Sex, color, religion and political affilia tion are not considered. Besides the qualification of citi zenship the commission requires the facts as to your legal resi dence, your health and general character. There is a wide variety of positions open to applicants on the examination basis, details of which may be had by application to the civil service commission, Washington. D. C. The commis sion issues a manual of examina tions, a list of civil service rules, an annual report of the work of the commission. In the manual of ex amination you will find a list of places and dates where and when examinations are to be held, and a list of rules by which your paper will be rated if you enter as a candidate. The appointment of so large a number of people to public service on the basis of individual test and record is one of the most progres sive steps a nation can possibly take. “Civil Service” the T , Service of Citizenship. Now, you may be entirely satis fied with your own work and not care to enter the service of the government. In that case stop a moment and think over the ex pression civil service. It means SERVICE OF CITIZENSHIP. This service of citizenship im plies that you give first attention to your business, or your, job, whatever it is, and carry it out to the best of your ability for the sake of the republic at large, be cause, by that very simple process, you not only assure yourself of prosperity, but you contribute it to all. Through this form of service you and your work are stamped with the same legend: E PLURI BUS UNUM, one of many, which means all doing business for one purpose—Common Prosperity. reported, in the shape of a bill, laws to regulate the transaction of insurance business in Georgia; but to a man on the outside it looks very much as if their efforts and the money spent in their investiga tions will come to naught. More than half of the present session of the legislature is history, and house bill No. 752 seems to have been placed in a snug resting place to await its fate. From the report of the comp troller general it will be seen that nearly $1,000,000,000 of insurance !• carried by the citizens of this state. The gross premiums paid for this _ protection is nearly $18,000,000 a year, and yet the same antiquated provision tor taxing care «f the In terest of this vast and growing In dustry is just what it was In 1887, when there was only about $140,- 000,000 of insurance carried In this state. There isn’t a provision In the bill introduced that any agent, man ager, official or institution doing and proposing to do a straight, honest business could object to, and it seems to those who have studied the situation that the gen eral assembly could serve its con stituency in no better way than to see that this bill is enacted into law at as early a date as Is possible. J. E. M’LAUCHLIN. Atlanta, Ga. THE CAUSE OF HUMANITY. Editor The Georgian: When a man writes, as you do on the editorial page of your last issue. I feel like taking him by the hand and calling him brother, because I believe only those who have a feel ing of brotherly love for all man kind can express such thoughts. It is my earnest wish that you miff continue, for many years, to write with Increasing vigor for the chus'’ of humanity. BEN WILSON. Keene, Ky.