Atlanta Georgian. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, November 20, 1912, EXTRA, Image 18

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EDITORIAL PAGE J Garbage and Politics M M M Both Are Unhealthy and Menaces to Atlanta. i|- Here are some facts about the quarrel over the garbage disposal plant that J very man and woman in Atlanta should understand: The crematory which has been in use for several years has been condemned g ' by the board of health. An attempt has been made to tear it down, but the destruction of the plant was held up by a court order. Contracts for a new plant have been Lt, and it was the plan of those who wished to tear down the old one to have work on the new building started imme diately on the same site. The new plant is to cost $276,800, without electric appliances. With electric appliances it will cost $378,000. It will consume 250 tons of garbage a day. Ac cording to the contract it is to be completed in “310 working days.” If the old plant is allowed to remain idle while the new one is being erected THIS CITY WILL BE REEKING WITH EILTII AND DISEASE WITHIN A VERY FEW MONTHS. Garbage will be dumped in every nook and corner of the town. Complaints .are already being made, although tin* dumping of garbage has been going on loss than ton days. Residents of North Jackson street and of Luckie street near Hemphill .avenue have declared that filth has been deposited near their homes and that their families are ill as .a result. Experts declare that *3,999 will repair the old plant and that the day before it was condemned it destroyed 159 tons of garbage, although it was originally de signed to destroy only 199 tons in the satin 1 period of time. The same crematory concern that has the contract here began to build one in Paterson, N. J., January 4, 1912. It agreed to turn the plant over to the city in “189 working days.” Thai plant is not yet completed, although it is compara tively small, costing $79,000, and built to consume 60 tons of,garbage a day. Another plant to burn 90 tons a day was started at Clifton. Staten Island, in July. 1911. It was to be finished in a year. Sixteen months have passed al ready and it is not in use. James G. Woodward, regular nominee for mayor of Atlanta, declares that the second credit of tin 1 concern with the contract is rated at between $35,909 and $5(1.000 by R. G. Dim \ <'<»., so that the claims for financial penalties for tardy work would be of little avail. Those are the main facts in the case as it stands. Here are some stern problems for the future: If there is no garbage incinerator in operation here for “310 working days,” what will be the situation next summer? HOW MANY LIVES WILL BE SACRIFICED TO FULFILL THAI' CONTRACT? Who will decide how many actual days ”310 working days” are? As this paper points out every few days, Atlanta is growing faster than any city in the South. Garbage from the outskirts of the city has to be hauled four miles through the streets to the present crematory site. Build a new crematory by all metins, but don’t tear down the old one until the new one is in operation. Don’t count the old plant a waste just because the city needs another one. If $3,090 is all that is needed Io save the old plant, every official in Atlanta should hang his head in shame if he admits that so trifling an amount can not be raised to saleguard the city’s health. The question is resolving itself into a matter of measuring $3,C00 against the lives of women and children. Repair the old plant to be operated al least until the new one is com pleted and you will have no garbage in dumps In hind your house so that your wives and children will constantly be breathing foul odors and deadly germs. City garbage and city politics are Atlanta’s greatest menace. It’s a pity one incinerator can’t effectually destroy both. I The Wilson and Roosevelt Speaking Governor Wilson gained fourteen pounds in the three months us his campaign. Naturally. There is no exorcise so wholesome to the stomach and the digestive organs as public speaking or public singing when it is properly done. When a man or a woman learns to use the muscles of the diaphragm in making sound and to use the throat only as a medium of expression, public speaking or singing is the best of exercises. Governor Wilson speaks easily and naturally from the dia phragm without strain, and in consequence his voice never failed him and his health constantly improved. On the other hand. Colonel Roosevelt, intense and eager in ' temperament, used his throat unnecessarily, rather than his dia- ; phragm. and was in frequent trouble with his voice. The superb health of opera singers is a further illustration. Girls’ Canning Clubs We have always known that girls are clever, and the depart ment of agriculture proves it. and here is the proof. “*■ row years ago the late Professor Knapp began forming girls’ tomato growing clubs in the South. There are now about 25,000 girls enrolled in twelve states, and in Oklahoma alone their efforts have been worth a million dollars. The girls were taught canning by experts and the results have i astonished lhe government officials. Here is an instance: A farmer who had a fine orchard could not sell his fruit to advantage. He happened to. visit one of these canning exhibitions, and invested $l5O in a home plant and canned all the fruit on his [dace at a profit of $6,000. So far the figures from Oklahoma are the only ones available, but indications are that in Alabama and Mississippi the girls have done even better. This is the kind of thing that will help to reduce the high cost i vs living. The Atlanta Georgian The Correspondent By PERCY SHAW. HAVE vou ever‘stopped to pon llCr ' Now a war is raging yonder, !ln the valleys of the Moslem vVhere the cruel Crescent gleams. That the correspondent waiting With his heart strings palpitating, Is the most supremely envied of the heroes of your dreams? ■ You can see him, tense, ambitious, ; Just a trifle surreptitious, I Standing on a mighty mountain with a glass before his eyes. Taking in the line of battle, iAH unheeding of the rattle Os the shells and bullets dropping like raindrops from the skies. You can view him quickly writing In a ciper code inditing Tlte onslaught on a fortress and the 1 charge of naked steel; You can watch him prone and sighing, I With a wounded finger trying To paint a wondrous picture with a humanesque appeal. ' Do not let your castles crumble IWhen hard-hearted cynics grumble That they know the correspondents have to trail along behind; Put it down to jealous longing ! Which is scheduled as belonging To a certain class of doubters who are often short on mind. I Just combine imagination S With a genius for narration. I And you'll see that an eyewitness needn't be upon the spot; J Take a chance, it's worth the try ing, J And you'll find there’s no denying ' That there's nothing in the papers that you haven’t more than sot. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 1912. Are We a Nation of Snobs? S Copyright, 1912, by International News Service. ■ i WkU WffiA W ™ / ' MW F PEERAGE.. I I S r mfe? te: I I■ | 9 I aigL*** H USED 13 Y T*' »O' ■ls a 1 III&■F Hl rar Wn Gustavus Adolphus By Rev. Thomas B. Gregory rp HE death of Gustavus Adolph- | us, which took place in the midst of victory on the field of Lutzw, two hundred and eighty years ago, was one of the crown ing calamities of history—a calam ity not only to Sweden, but to all the world. As regards the renown of its principal contestants, Lutzen was easily the star battle of the cen tury, Gustavus and his opponent, Wallenstein, being the first cap tains of Europe. When the memorable morning of the sixteenth was ushered in. the battlefield was completely blanket ed by a cold, heavy fog. which did not lift until high noon, at which hour the sun burst forth in all its splendor and glory. It was the Sun of Lutzen! Which the Swedes welcomed by singing the famous battle song that had been composed by Gustavus him self: "Virzage Nieht an Hautlein Klein" (Fear Not. Little Flock, the Foe), to the sound of which they charged down up the enemy. Long and hot was the struggle, . I but finally the valor of the Swedes .1 Enterprise in Politics EMERSON says in one of his essays—quoting from the Persian poet Hafiz-—that, "on the brow of the young man there sparkles no jewel one-half so gra cious as Enterprise." Now, democracy is the spirit of youth. It has made its difficult way over the thrones of monarchy and monopoly, not by the caution of age. but by the valor of youth. Perhaps it is not too much to say that democracy has never won a battle by Fabian tactics, never gained an inch by the exercise of that passive and balanced intellec tualism which is called the "judi cial temperament." As a matter of history, democ racy is in its very nature a revolt from the rule of cold and passion less intellect. It is the protest of humanity against the scribes and doctors. This protest has been justified in philosophic terms by the pro foundest of modern thinkers—such as Kant or Goethe. These have tried to teach the world that the abstract Intellect is barren and fu tile, and that men are truly wise only when they give up the attempt to think out away to right living and determine to commit them selves to the current of experiment and adventure—to live and learn. and the brilliant tactics of their leader won the day. Wallenstein was beaten to a finish. At last he had met, not only his match, but his master. But it was a dearly fought vic tory for the Swedes, for in win ning it they lost the life of their great commander and king. In the thick of the fight, just as the last line of the Imperialists was being broken, Gustavus received the wounds from which he was to die in the field he had so gloriously won. "Lead me to the rear,” said the dying man, "but not through tile lines, lest it should discourage the men.” The words were scarcely spoken when another volley from the enemy emptied the royal saddle and tile mighty captain was dead. Although finishing his career at the early age of thirty-eight, Gus tavus had already won the renown that can never grow old. In the elements of his character and in his genius as a military man. Gustavus may well be called the Epaminon das of modern times. Like the il lustrious Theban, he was a pur and noble man, "without fear and Thus Democracy ia no fool in its striving and daring, its urgent pressure for progress. It is on good terms with the best that lias been thought. Perhaps Thomas DeQuincy was not quite right in saying that "the intellect is the meanest of all hu man faculties.” But he was a real democrat in his perception of the truth, that the intellect should be the servant, not the master, of the creative will of man—that the will must bridle and bestride the intel lect if It would ride to its heart's desire. The present point of these re flections is that the Wilson admin istration can not succeed by the methods of caution, circumspection and delay that have brought such pitiful ruin upon the Taft adminis tration. Indeed, titere is ample warrant in the character of the president-elect, as show n in his past career, to say that he will not try to succeed by such methods. Wilson is a scholar—but not a pale scholar. In him "the native hue of resolution" lias never been "sleklled o'er by the pale -e u»t of thought." He loves action and events. In all of Governor Wilson's say ings and doings there is an accent of youth and faith—a spirit like THE HOME PAPER r without reproach.” guileless, hon orable, kind and true. And like the victor of Leuctra and Mantinea again, he was matchless as a dis ciplinarian, organizer and tactician. Among the battle winners of the ages he holds a supreme place. He I created a “new deal” in the game of i war, and may be said with perfect i justice to be the father of modern i warfare. It was Gustavus who first taught | cavalry the most effective way of charging; he revived and gave new emphasis to'the idea of Epaminon das —that of the heavy column brought suddenly and powerfully to bear upon some single point of the enemy's line —and he completely revolutionized the artillery arm of the service. That God “moves in a myste rious way His w onders to perform" was demonstrated to perfection when Gustavus Adolphus fell at Lutzen. Could he have lived, let us s-iy. even ten years longer, he would in all likelihood have chang ed the whole course of European history—and changed it tn away that would have been a blessing to . the whole world for ages to come By Charles Ferguson that of Mazzini's “Young Italy" and "Young Europe," a kinship to the vision and venturesomeness of Lammenais. Wilson is keen-eyed and inqui sitive to discover the exact fact. He has the discretion that belongs to builders and craftsmen. He says he knows nothing of agriculture, but he has the patient foresight of farmers. It is because Mr. Wilson is an out-of-doors man in his habits of thought, a man conscious of the ir refragible laws of chemistry and physics, that he strikes hard’when he is ready to strike. He knows that there is in nature no mercy for motionless things, no safety for drifters and derelicts. If one would sail and be safe in collisions, one must sail faster than any other craft. It Is to be confidently expected therefore that Wilson'will put nd mere sinker in hi< cabinet, and no cork-jacket to float with. He will surround himself with counsellors wh > understand that th.- secret of success in modern polities t o keep in motion—that the higher the momentum the greater the securitv and that tht invlnciblt standards Os Democracy, which have been carried hitherto by the drive and ::l " "'orid’s youth, can not get farther bv -anv n ’ Dorothy Dix Writes on Man’s Chief Eart h 1 v Blessing By DOROTHY DIX AWESTERN railroad has de elded to dispense with the services of all o f its em ployees who have not happy homes This is a drastic exemplification of the truth of the Bible axiom that to him who hath shall be giv en, and from him who hath not shall be taken away even tha which he hath. Certainly it is tough luck on the man who has a shrewish and nag ging wife and a slovenly home to have his job taken away fro ra him on account of his misfortunes, and to be deprived of whatever peace and comfort he can get out of ? long run that takes him away from the scene of his misery. Perhaps the reason that trains are so often late is because so many conductors and engineers are not in any 1 rry to get back home. Aside, however, from the s rfaes cruelty of such an order, thei be no question of the wisdom ot ths railroad in making it, for happiness in his home life is an actual tangi ble asset that adds appreciably to a man's efficiency. Interfere With Business. And this applies not only to rail road men, but to men in every walk and calling of life. Between the man who goes forth to his labor from a peaceful, cheerful, well-or dered home, and the one who goes forth from a home that is a well of bitterness, and unrest, and strife, there is not only the difference be tween happiness and misery, but between success and failure. Nor is the reason for this hard to find. We all have just a certain amount of strength anl vitality and nervous force, and if we consume this In fighting home conditions we have not got it to give to our work, and the work suffers in conse quence. At the best, modem life is heart breakingly strenuous. . Corny o., nr in every line is as fierce a among ravening wolves. Every i is forced to work at high pressor with every •nerve and sinew and brain cell speeded up to the limit The Inevitable result is that the end of the day finds him exhausted in mind and body, and whether he goes back to his labor the next day with fresh energy and hope and courage, or exhausted and discour aged and despairing, depends upon the kind of a home that he has. If he goes at night to a home that is literally a haven of rest; if he is set down to a good dinner of whole some and well-prepared food; if lie is petted and coddled, and made much of until the very memory of the rebuffs he has received during the day are wiped out of his mem ory, if he can spend a quiet, rest ful evening over book and pipe, or with the friends he enjoys; If the face of his wife across the hearth stone from him is turned always to him with a look of love, and of un derstanding and appreci there are little children w)..- her on his knee and whose arms are about his neck: if, in a v ■ whole atmosphere of his home is one of sunshine, and tenderness, and sweetness, it works a daily miracle for him and renews his strengtli and ability every time ht touches it. He Hates to Return. Such a man goes back to his "'ork with a rested body and a clear head. His mind is not distractec ■ lorn his business by domestic wor ries and anxieties. He can give the best tjiat is in him to his labor without having to force back into ; corner of his mind the recollection of the last scene at home. More than that, in his love for his wife and children and his desire x make his home even more beauti ful, he has the strongest possible incentive to work harder, and do better work all the time. Ear otherwise is it with the - who, after his hard day’s labor, re turns reluctantly home to a plan that is a perpetual battle gro»" He has to summon up his to put his key In the lock, • he knows the complaints, the <’ reling, the hysteria tl face, or the untidy room in which he must sit and the miserable food on which he must poison himself His home life exhausts him mor' 1 than the most fatiguing labor, and he goes back to his work with stomach upset, nerves on edge, anc a soul surcharged with bitterness He is literally unfitted in mind and body so do good work, or exercise clegr judgment. if you will notice among your acquaintances you will observe tha. when a man breaks down with what we call nervous prostration there is nearly always some ‘l°' mestic tragedy at the back of For one cause or another, his home life is miserable. It isn’t work * shatters health; it’s worry And long as a man has a happy " he can do almost any amount "• labor without collapsing under strain. Happiness itself 1? ■■ that is worth all of the drug« the pharmacopeia.