EDITOR! AI, 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, 1373.
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The Gunmen of Atlanta
M M M
Any Way You View the “Pistol Toter’’ He Is An Undesirable
Citizen.
There have heen many unnecessary shootings in 'Atlanta
within the past few months—not a few of them fatal in conse
quence.
ATLANTA MUST RID ITSELF OF ITS GUNMEN.
The 'pistol toter’’ invariably is a coward. As a rule he is a
loafer.
Any way one views the “pistol toter,” he is an undesirable
citizen He shoots when he has the advantage, and rarely before.
Nine times in ten his victim is infinitely more worth while than he!
There is a certain quality of manhood in the fellow who, with
a grievance to redress, resorts to his fists. There is no manliness
in the sneak who arms himself with a concealed pistol and shoots
when he thinks it safe—or when he is drunk.
There was a judge in northwest Georgia one'e who made himself
a terror to “pistol toters," and just about put them out of business
in his vicinity hy keeping everlastingly after them. He never
charged a grand jury that he didn’t charge it specifically on the
subject of “pistol toters.”
He never got a chance to sentence one that he didn’t give him
the ultimate limit of the law! He made it plain to juries that he
regarded the crime of “pistol toting” as one much more to be
deplored and sternly suppressed than the crime of “blind tiger
ing." And he was pretty hard on “blind tigers,” at that!
This judge—his name is and he sat on the Rome
bench—had the correct idea.
Gunmen learn to leave their guns at home in communities
where they KNOW the law will be relentlessly applied, if once
they are brought to the bar of justice.
The “pistol toter” has no taste for the judge and the jury,
particularly when he is assured in advance that no quarter will
be shown him at their hands.
Atlanta must not be known abroad as a city where gunmen
ply their calling unmolested, or in any wise unprotei ted. It must
not be known as a city wherein life is cheaply held, NOR ONE
WHEREIN COWARDS RESOLVED INTO WALKING ARSEN
ALS ARE I’ERtfIITTED TO RUN AT LARGE.
Atlanta does not realize, perhaps, how lax it has been with
respect to the “pistol toter”—it has never stopped to count up
the appalling instances of the “pistol toter’s" work in this com
munity.
The courts of Atlanta should let it be known that “pistol
toters" brought before them will be given all the law allows
FROM THE CHAINGANG TO THE GALLOWS!
And they should insist that every ease of shooting—every
criminal incident occurring, in which a “pistol toter” is involved—
shall be brought quickly to trial and severely punished.
The law is ample against gunmen—it should be sternly, im
partially. and impersonally invoked when broken!
THE SUPPRESSION OF THE GUNMEN OF ATLANTA
IS SQUARELY IT TO THE AUTHORITIES.
Doomed to Baldness
It you could open your eyes suddenly five hundred years
Aence you would see many strange things, but perhaps the one that
would cause you the most regret would be the universality of bald
heads. For. according to Dr. Wells, brain specialist, both men
and women will be without a hair on their heads in that highly
developed . ra. and more than that, baldness will be fashionable.
This will be due to the brain activity of the American peo
ple. who. with the French, already take the lead in the number
of hairiess m ad>. As the brain power develops the supply of hair
With '! three centuries the male sex will have smooth
pates, and tw > centuries thereafter a sirgle hair on a woman's
head will bi a sign of lack of mentality.
Merely a Suggestion |
Once a day at least some letter sent to this office causes a
consultation between experienced typesetters and others as to the
.citers contained in the name signed at the bottom of the letter.
ji is possible to GUESS names however interesting and
important.
There is an idiotic notion that illegible writing is a sign of
genius. It is. on the contrary, a sign of slovenly carelessness.
We may not all be able to write interestingly, we mav not
A be able to havi ideas of actual value. BUT WITH EARNEST
F PRACTICE WE CAN AT LEAST SIGN OUR OWN NAMES SO
THAT THEY CAN BE READ.
Please let us do it—at least iu writing to this office.
The Atlanta Georgian
l ire Great Political Show
By HERSHFIELD.
L_Hl
/ >. \\ .Xjmiwirtrtir
'f/eRSHF/£Ll> •
There was an Old Man who supposed
That the street door was partially closed;
But some very large Rats ate his coats and his hats
While that futile Old Gentleman dozed.
:: Phe Decline in Matrimony ::
By DOROTHY DIX
A DISTINGUISHED English
scientist now visiting this
country is much disturbed
over the future of the race, and,
Adamlike. he blames the decline in
matrimony, and consequently the
falling off of the baby crop, solely
on women.
He declares that the most menac
ing portent of our times is the fact
that the educated, athletic, bril
liant. capable woman, who has been
evolved by modem conditions, will
not marry and burden herself with
children and bumble domestic
duties.
This woman isn't a man-hater.
On tlie contrary, she is fond of
masculine so< icty. but she prefers
man as comrade rather than as a
husband. Above all. says the doc
tor, the young woman of today has
tasted the joy of having her own
pocketbook. ind she prefers finan
cial independence to love. She can
earn as much money as the aver
age young man does and the idea
of living on half that a man makes,
rather than the whole that she
makes, does not allure her. In a
word, she would rather be single
and comfortable, than married and
poor.
This is an interesting, and so far
as women are concerned, a flatter
ing explanation of why people don't
marry as early and as often as they
used to. The learned scientist is,
at least, gallant in attributing the
falling oft' in matrimony wholly to
woman's disinclination to marry.
Every spinster likes to have it as
sumed that there were rows of
suitors sighing at her feet, and that
it was only her disinclination to
ward the hoi) state that kept her
from the altar.
Unfortunately, however, a strict
veracity will not permit us to lay
the nattering unction to our soul
that women are entirely to blame
for the lack of weddings Truth
compels us to admit that men also
share in tlie condemnation. One of
the things that a woman can't
achieve by herself is a marriage,
and either our grandpapas were
much easier to catch than men are
nowadays, or else <Hir grandmamas
were superior to us as fishers of
men.
As a matter of fact, at this pres
ent time, marriage is n d a popula
Institution, and both men and
women are inclined to tight shy of
fl. Old) the young and foolhardy
rush blythely into it, and when
men and women leach the age of
dis etion stil' single, and begin to
lamsidcr me. riag. seriousls . they
a'se begin to .uqui'e col : f, Tlie
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 3. 1912
prospi >f gain, it takes a got■
sport to gamble on a hundred-to
one shot.
Os course, in tlie days when mat
rimony was the only way by which
a woman could make a living, she |
had to marry and to take what she i
could get. Doubtless a kind-heart
ed man thought it his duty then
also to marry and support some
hapless female who but for his
condescension must almost starve.
But now, when women are just as
capable of supporting themselves
as men are, there is no compulsion
toward the altar on either side.
Marriage is a matter of inclination
and pepple are less and less In
clined toward it.
(if course, tlie high cost of living
is the main reason for the decline
in marriage. A man who finds it
hard enough to take care of one
hesitates a long time before he un
dertakes the responsibility of a
family. Boor little Cupid has been
choked to death on beefsteak at 35
cents a pound, and if we want to
promote our most important infant
industry, we have got to find some
way to fill the market basket
cheaper.
Another thing that discourages
matrimony is that under the condi
tions of modern society men and
women are not necessary to each
other. In a primitive state of civ
ilization, a woman had to marry
because she had otherwise no
home, no occupation, no weight in
the community. A man had to mar
ry to get somebody to cook his
meals, and sew on his buttons, and
make him comfortable.
j A Balladette >
By MINNA IRVING.
v t E was a gay young actorette, j
■( i I And met a golden-haired co- ?
Iquette; ?
She wore a stylish turbanette,
They took a motor landaulctte. ?
lb owned a well stocked cellarette, ?
And she diamond hair barrette; 5
They found a youthful parsonette, )
Who soon performed the mar- >
riagette. 5
I They journeyed to a villagette
And hired a house and gardenette, 5
Where they could plant some mig- $
nonette ?
And stand a marble statuette;
But dining in th< kitchenette,
I'poit a little oysterette,
lie learned she was a suffragette, s
Which ends their little storiette.
■ Now the unmarried woman may
set up a home of her own, may en
gage in business or the professions,
or be active in some movement and
have a life overflowing with inter
est and be the most sought-after
person in her vicinity. She has no
necessity to marry unless she wants
to. Nor has the man, whose club
and club valet feed him better and
take better care of him than the
most devoted wife could.
Still another reason that people
do not marry as much as formerly
is that the spirit of luxury has
gotten into our blood, and we find
it easier to deny our hearts than
we do our stomachs or our bodies.
The girl who has been accustomed
to be waited upon by servants, to
riding in an automobile, to having
pretty clothes, is not willing to
marry if marriage means living in
a cheap cottage in a cheap suburb,
doing her own housework and
wearing made-over clothes.
The man who is used to clothes
hy the best tailors, fine cigars, first
nights at the theater and dinners
at smart restaurants doesn't want
to marry if the price he pays for a
wife and family is having to smoke
stogies, wear hand-me-downs and
push the baby carriage when he
goes out on Sunday byway of
amusement.
These men and women ask
.hemsolves if marriage is worth the
crucifixion of every taste and they
answer it in the negative.
Perhaps, though, the final reason
for the decline in marriage is to be
found in tlie fact that people are
not as sentimental as they used to
be. To prove that you have only to
note that the theme of the popular
play and the popular novel is no
longer love. The heart interest Is
an aside. The real problem is the
working out of some sociological or
political question.
Love is not the whole of life any
more. People do not die of broken
hearts The maiden who is the
victim of blighted affection doesn’t
go into a decline. She rises up and
goes to a breach of promise lawyer.
I lie jilted swain does not commit
suicide. He takes another think on
the matter and blesses heaven for
his escape.
This practical point of view
makes people look before they leap
into matrimony, and those who
hesitate are apt to stay on the safe
shor. of single blessedness. This
tnay be good for tlie individual, but
it isn't good for the race. So the
danger that the scientist points out
is a very real one. but women are
■m more to blame for it than men
THE HOME PAPER
Ella Wheeler Wilcox
11 T • ■ /•
Writes of
The Blind
© ©
Suggests Giving of Music and
Flowers to Afflicted at
Regular Intervals.
Written For The Atlanta Georgian
By Ella Wheeler Wilcox
Copyright, 1912. by American-Journal-Examiner.
ty/HEN first the shadows fell, like prison bars.
VV And darkness spread before me like a pall.
I cried out for the sun, the earth, the stars;
And beat the air. as mad men beat a wall.
I turned my vision inward. Lo, a spark
A light—a torch; and all my world grew bright.
For God’s dear eyes were shining through the dark.
Then, bringing to me gifts of recompense.
Came keener hearing, finer taste and touch;
And that oft unappreciated sense
Which finds sweet odors, and proclaim them such.
And not until my mortal eyes were blind.
Did I perceive how kind the world, how kind.
THERE is so much we could all
do by a little concerted ef
fort to brighten and sweeten
the lives of the blind.
The benevolent people of wealth
in America are many; and they
give largely of their means to im
prove the condition of the blind,
deaf, dumb, lame, halt and shut
in.
But I doubt if there is any or
ganized plan in America to pro
vide music and flowers regularly
for the blind,
It Would Cost Little.
It would cost little to give these
pleasures once a week to all in
mates of blind asylums; and it
would afford enjoyment almost in
comprehensible to those of us who
possess all our five senses unim
paired.
In Japan blind people alone give
massage.
The business is wholly reserved
for them, and the government pro
vides schools where they are taught
the Swedish movement and all sys
tems of massage.
Good Queen Elizabeth of Rou
'mania has built a city for the blind
in her land; and she has had the
blind people brought there from
every part of Roiimania, and taught
P The School Path
j By WILBUR D. NESBIT.
i In Good Housekeeping Magazine.
< the path and up the path to school he goes today.
? JL-7 Little does he know the path will lead so far away;
i But I linger at the gate and watch him trudge the street,
Sorrowing for all the frets that wait his little*feet.
? Until now he was mine own, his only path led home;
- Now it is a world-old path that he sets out to roam.
'■ He thinks that he will come back, but when he comes again
{ In his eyes will be the light caught in the world of i.;en.
i Always on, and never back, the path he takes must lead
< Ont of all the world of dream, into the world of deed.
? Trials there, and victories, and futile war and quest.
S Now he takes the age-old path that never gives us rest.
i But the wonder of it all! The folk that he shall meet.
? Heroes that are his to know, and royalty to greet;
I He shall sail the sullen seas Magellan-wise and reach
Alien land and barren strand and storm-swept reef and heaelt
He shall fare through wondrous plains and climb the higlest
peaks;
He shall know the wanderlust that comes to him who seeks.
He shall hear the cannon roar and see the saber gleam,
He shall hear the bugle call across the redened stream.
Oh. and he shall brother, too. with all the marvel minds.
Find the hidden truths that only he who conquers finds;
He shall tread the dusty halls where learning has been stored,
He shall share the treasury of learning’s miser hoard.
But he laughs and runs along, nor knows how far it is;
He must plod in weariness upon this path of his.
He hears the music in the tone that urges from the bell,
Yet all selfishly I hear the measures of a knell.
Down the path and up the path to school he goes today,
Knowing not it leads him to a world so far away.
■ He will *?me back home again, but will have left the joy
That wa< mine until today when still I had mv bo\.
ft T W
gEte! B
HB* 1
• « all kinds of occupations possible
for them to acquire.
That was indeed a queenly act.
It is the impulse of every human
being, no matter how ignorant or
how wicked, to be kind to the blind.
But many of us. if not most of
us, fail to do all we could do to
render existence less melancholy to
the sightless ones of earth. If
there is a blind asylum in your
town or county, try and interest
your friends to make up a purse
the next holiday, and buy generous
gifts of flowers to send to the in
stitution. And send one or more
of your friends witli the gifts; else
they may never proceed farther
than the office of the asylum or the
room of the attendants.
Would Make Them Happy.
Then the following holiday ar
range with the officers of the in
stitution to have some of your mu
sical friends sing or give instru
mental music for the pleasure of
the blind.
These little acts will cost you
little in time or money, and they
will not only give others happiness,
but they will sweeten and soften
your own character, and render
you more sympathetic and more
lovable. /
