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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 S. 1071
Subscription Price—Delivered by carrier, 10 cents a week. By mall. $5.00 a year.
Payable in advance.
i _ _
Help For the Women Who
Need Help
When the restricted district of Atlanta was abolished a few
weeks ago the keeper of one of the houses which had been
closed went to the executive committee of the Men and Religion
Forward Movement and handed them twenty-five hundred dollars
to be used in the work of rescuing and reforming women. The
Men and Religion Forward Movement had made the campaign
which resulted in the closing of the houses. The woman was.
therefore, giving her money, practically her all, to the very
agency that had broken up her business. The act was one of
the most unexpected things that could have happened, and
showed a change of« heart complete and penitential.
To use the words of the woman herself, she desired her gift
used to found and maintain a “Martha’s Home.’’ It was for
this purpose accepted by the Men and Religion Forward Move
ment, which has gone earnestly to work to raise the remainder
of the sum necessary for the efficient, carrying out of this work.
When the men who had waged this campaign saw that the
restricted district had been abolished and “the houses in our
midst’’ closed, they realized that their work had just begun, for
if this evil should be scattered over the city, as frequently oc
curs after such action, the result would only be to confirm the
idea that tolerated segregation is the only practical way to treat
this world-old problem, and the houses would soon be reopened.
It was their duty to assist any woman who could be induced to
quit the life she had been leading and reform to an honest, use
ful. normal life.
They went about this work and have cared for 118 of
these women and girls. Os these 51 were sent to their former
homes. 22 were placed in positions where they can support them
selves, 20 were received and are being kept in private homes,
arid others have been disposed of as circumstances seemed to jus
tify And require. Os all only two have lapsed into their former
mode of life, according to statements made by leaders of the
movement.
The majority of the cases now being handled by the agen
cies of this organization are women who, after warning, have
been arrested and are committed on probation. It is intended
that the “Martha’s Home’’ be used for these, but it will be open
to all who come.
For the present the gift of $2,500 referred to, will be kept,
intact, and only the income from it used. It is, therefore, nec
essary to raise at once $5,000 to be used for rent, equipment, cloth
ing and other expenses. Subscriptions to this fund will be taken
at the morning service next Sunday, December 1, in all of the
churches of Atlanta. Tn each case the plans for the use of the
money and the character of the work will be outlined by the
pastor or other speaker.
The work is classified into these grades, and it is necessary
to have three institutions. These are the Harriet Hawkes Home
for young girls on the brink, but not yet quite over; the Mar
tha’s Home for those committed by the courts on probation, or
for any woman, no matter what her past, who may wish to
come; and a third for the incorrigible, who can now only be sent
with negro women to the county convict camps, where they are
in charge of male guards. It is impossible to mingle these three
Masses, as all would sink to the level of the lowest.
The present Florence Home is for babies. Tt is undesirably
located in a negro district. Three thousand dollars is needed to
remove this establishment to the Florence Crittenton Home,
where there are seven or more acres, and building a permanent
house for the work. Two thousand dollars is necessary to put
in good condition the Florence Crittenton Home, which is prin
cipally for maternity cases. Last year 90 women passed through
it. Subscriptions will also be taken Sunday for these two insti
tutions.
The money subscribed for these three causes will be expend
ed under the direction of the Men and Religion Forward
Movement. The work -will be directly under the supervision of
a committee of experienced and capable women.
The merit of this work is in no sense measured by the wis
dom or unwisdom of segregation or the present policy toward
the problem of the social evil in Atlanta. The work is needed
everywhere, and is to some extent done everywhere. Tt should
be better done in Atlanta, and will be better done.if citizens will
respond to this cause as they usually do to causes that are
worthy, uplifting, helpful and meritorious.
This work extends help to those in need of help, to those
who can not take a step upward without help, but who with
help are in main- cases saved from a life the most unhappy, the
most miserable, the most unfortunate of any class of human be
ings in the face of the earth.
Lightning and Forest Fires
j
According to an exhaustive investigation, embracing a five-year
period and an examination of trees scattered over 200.000.000 acres,
the I nited States forest service has been able to throw a good deal
of light on the origin of forest fires.
It explodes the old theory that lightning never strikes twice in
the same place by showing that it often hits the same tree seven
and eight times.
Less common in the Far West than in the East, lightning is
most frequent in Florida and Illinois. The tree is really an efficient
lightning rod, and the popular supposition that most of the persons
killed by lightning have met death while under trees is disproved.
More than halt of such deaths occur in the open and less than one
quarter under trees.
In summing up, the forest geographer says that trees are the
objects most frequently struck and the yellow pine the one whieh
, suffers most, owing to the fact that it grows in open spaces.
The Atlanta Georgian
“Be Good and You'll Be Lonely”
A Melancholy Fantasy Illustrating the Old Saying
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ANEW nation has had its birth,
and if is is not stifled in its
cradle by the crowd of its
would-be nurses, not one of whom
has any very friendly feeling to
ward the infant prodigy, it will
grow up to take an important place
in "the concert of European pow
ers.” There are several of those
nurses who could not be trusted
alone with this vigorous Bulgar child.
They would gladly drop poison in its
milk bottle or smother it in the dark
with a pillow. Fortunately for the
infant, its birth has not been an ob
scure one, and too many eyes are
watching it to make child-murder
safe in this case.
With every possibility that this
new nation will be a lasting one,
the question becomes of universal
interest. "What blood” runs in its
veins, and what is its inheritance?”
Child of the Slavic Race.
It is a child of the Slavic race.
It is akin to the Russian, the Pole,
the Bohemian, and the Slovac. Its
immediate parents are Bulgar and
Serb, but precisely what name it
will bear as it grows up remains to
be seen. Perhaps it will be chris
tened for the country in which it
is born, and be called the Balkan
Empire. That might dispose of any
jealously between its Bulgarian
father and its Servian mother.
Luckily It will not have to learn
two different lanuages. The Bul
gars and Servians, and the minor
people, of the Balkan peninsula
while they have their dialects, all
speak the Slavic tongue, which is
one of the reasons why Russia
would be the head nurse, and the
sole one, for the infant nation, if
she could. But notwithstanding
her blood relationship, even Rus
sia could not be trusted alone with
the child. Blood is not "thicker
than water" when a great inheri
tance is in question. Constanti
nople is a gem that the mightiest
monarch would be proud to wear on
his crown. It would be his chief
mark of distinction.
The Slavs have never yet played
the first fiddle in the orchestra of
the nations, but they believe them
sehes capable of handling it.
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 1912
The New Nation of Europe
By GARRETT P. SERVISS.
Their origin is lost in the.obscur
ity of ancient time. Ethnologists
say tßat they are an offshoot of the
great Aryan race, to which we be
long, and which some aver had its
origin in Asia, while others declare
that it began in Europe. At any
rate the first historic records of
the Slavs place them in central
and eastern Europe.
Brought the Bulgar Name. •
Those branches with which we
are no,w particularly concerned
emerged from the southern ‘stem
of the great Slavic family, the
Servians and the Croatians first
and the Bulgarians, who came
from a region farther east, a little
later. The Croatians t ecame dif
ferentiated from the Serbs, and
were gradually absorbed into Hun
gary, while the Serbs sjet up an
independent nation in the western
part of the Balkan region, and
retained their independence until
they were conquered by the invad
ing Turks in the fourteenth cen
tury.
The Bulgars came from the out
skirts of Russia, pushed across the
Danube as early as the Sixth cen
tury, and occupied the eastern part
of the Balkan peninsula. In the
ninth and tenth centuries they
maintained an extensive empire,
fighting with the Roman Byzantine
empire on the south and the Ser
vians on the west. In the seventh
century a body of Turks or Tar
tars from the valley of the Volga
descended upon them, and ultimate
ly blended with them. These in
vaders brought with them the Bul
gar name. As a separate unit they
were swallowed up, but the mix
ture of their blood apparently had
some effect upon the character of
the people who assimilated them.
The Byzantine Romans found them
to be fierce and savage enemies,
witli a tendency to sensuality whieh
made the name Bulgar a by-word
in Constantinople before the Turks
came to carry off that crown of
dishonor.
During the centuries of their
presence in the Balkan peninsula
the Bulgars have experienced many
intermixtures of foreign blood, but,
says Professor Niederle, the ethnol-
ogist of the University of Prague,
“in general it may be said that the
Bulgars were always Slavs.”
Both the Bulgars and the Serbs
are predominantly a dark-hued
people,, although there are a few
blond complexions among them.
They are medium stature, and gen
erally vigorous constitution. They
are by choice herdsmen, farmers
and gardeners. All the world has
heard of the rose plantations of
Bulgaria, where the precious attar
of roses is distilled, and the plains
of Servia are rich with grass and
grain. From 80 to 90 per cent of
the Servians are farmers. The
Bulgarians have developed silk cul
ture on a considerable scale.
The Montenegrins are also Slavs,
closely allied to the Serbs. Inhabi
tants of a country which has won
the name of the "Black Moun
tain Land” (nronte, “mountain” and
negro, "black”), they are noted for
their activity, large stature and
courage.
No Immediate Changes.
The entire population of these
countries probably does not ex
ceed about 8,000,000. But if they
should now absorb the population
of European Turkey they would
make a nation of perhaps 15,000,-
000 souls. Give them free access to
the sea and they might double their
population and quadruple their
wealth.
There is undoubtedly an inter
mixture of the Slav element in
Greece also. But it is probable that
Greece, while willing to enter into
alliance >vith the Bulgarians and
Servians, will always prefer to
maintain its national independence,
through pride in its glorious past, if
for no other reason.
It is not likely that the names of
Bulgaria, Servia and Montenegro
will immediately disappear from the
map of Europe, although their
boundaries will be changed. Theie
are too many dynastic prides and
prejudices in the way to permit of
an immediate absorption of all un
der one head, but the new nation
will stand forth in spirit if not in
name, and eventually it will be
united, for in unity only is strength,
and combination is the order of the
THE HOME PAP[;
DOROTHY DIX
Writes on
Matrimony
Tt ’T
Overworked Hus
bands and \\ ives
Invariably Prove
the Stumbling
Block t o the
Happiness of
Each Other.
IN frank moments we are bound
to admit that matrimony, as a
general practice, is a pretty
dreary affair, and that most hus
bands and wives, if they told the
truth, would confess to wondering
why they let themselves in for a
thing that has so many more kicks
than ha’pence.
The average wife complains that
•she is nothing but a domestic slave.
She spends her days in a dull round
of monotonous duties and in prac
ticing petty economies. She cooks
and sews and cleans and walks the
colic-suffering baby and binds up
Cut fingers and pares and skimps
and saves, week after week, month
after month, year after year.
For reward she has the grum
bling of a husband who is never
quite pleased, who takes all of her
labor and her sacrifices without
thanks or praise, and who doles out
the money for the necessary family
expenses with remarks about her
extravagance that blister her very
soul.
On his part cite average married
man says that he is nothing but a
beast of burden. That he spends
his life slaving to support a family
that can never have enough, and
that all that he gets out of his la
bor are the worst clothes in the
family and the bony parts of the
uhicken, and the privilege of being
bossed by a wife who makes the
czar of Russia look like a liberal
ruler.
For reward lie gets complaints
and nagging at home and the con
versation of a wife who is always
reminding him of August Perkins,
whom she might have married and
who has since made a million.
Lot of Either Is Dreary.
Also, he’s fully informed concern
ing all the good clothes that other
men’s wives have, and that his wife
does not have, and would like to
have.
Now, it is only too true that the
charges of both the husband and
wife are justified. Neither one has
overstated the dreariness of his or
her lot. It takes money to gild the
gingerbread of matrimony, and in a
family where the pocketbook is al
ways lean and empty married life is
stripped of all the gew-gaws and
tinsel that dazzled Its victims be
fore they got a good close view
of it.
For tlie poor map and his wife
married life is one eternal round of
self-sacrifice and privation. Doing
housework and nursing babies IS
dull and monotonous, boing with
out pretty clothes and amusement
and gayetles that all women crave
IS a privation. It IS hard and dis
couraging to a man to see every
dollar that he earns swallowed up
by family expenses and to know
that 116 can never get ahead in the
race of life because of the weight
he carries. It IS hard on a man—
bitter, biting hard—to know that
he must deny himself every diver
sion and that he can not even stop
and rest, because he must keep
the pot boiling on the kitchen
range.
Nothing can be done to alter the
dread situation that tens of thou
sands of married couples face every
day, but it is wortli while calling
their attention to the fact that the
only thing that can lighten their
burden Is the spirit with which they
meet It.
It is thi point of view that makes
tilings easy or hard, and if only
-Sr ■
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Bv DOROTHY DIX.
husbands and wives could put love
enougli into their hearts there
would b'e no further complaint
about what their hands had to do. I
Every young man, when he be- I
seeches the girl he is in love with '
to marry him, does not think of it 1
being an intolerable hardship to i
have to work and support her. |
On the contrary, there is a peculiar j
sweetness to him in the thought !
that his strong right arm will stand
between her and the world, and
that he is going to be able to save
her from the roughness and the
hardship that every woman must
undergo who has to earn her own
living.
Nor does the girl in love shiver
away from matrimony because of
the burdens she knows that the
wife of a poor man must bear. It
fills her with joy to think of mak
ing him a home with her own
hands, of saving for him. of help
ing him rise in the. world.
A Cause for Unhappiness.
It is because they lose this illu
minating thought and purpose that
marriage becomes a failure to so
many people. Just as long as the
man works for his wife because he ,
loves her, just so long is his daily ’
toil not a drudgery, but a glorious
opportunity to prove his devotion in f
us chivalrous a manner as ever q
did a knight of old.
As long as a woman is in love i
with her husband every sacrifice ,
is robbed of its bitterness. She re
joices, instead of complains, that
site has the privilege of doing g
something to make the life of !>:•
adored one softer and easier
It is because husbands ant
wives put no love into what they
do for each other that marriage be-1
comes the irksome bondage that it '
is. in which two unwilling parties |
are forced to extend begrudgei
sacrifices and labor to each other
This being the case, is it not I
possible for disgruntled couples ’
go back and get the old. romantic
view, which was the larger and
truer view, of married life? fan
they not breathe the breath of HL
once more into the fire of love that
has burned down into ashes on
their hearthstone, and put into
their work and sacrifices for each
other that spirit whieh alone can
make marriage worth while?
For we get back again what we
give, and the bread we cast upon
the waters of matrimony returns to
us in angel's food. Let the wife
show her husband that she joys in
her ability to make his home a
place of peace and rest, and that
she would rather be his wife and
wear homespdn than be any other
man’s wife dressed in silks and sat
ins, and that man will not feel that
he is an object of public sympathy
because he has to spend his mone.v
on his family instead of in a poker
game.
Should Be Appreciative.
Let a man show that he still
takes some interest in holding hi*
wife’s rough, knotted hand and she
will cheerfully work it to the bone
for him, nor will she ever utter a
complaint about not being able to
buy a $3.50 hat if she feels that it
grieves him because he cant gl'*
her a dozen $l5O ones.
’ It is the spirit in which we •
a thing that makes it work or fun,
and the difference between the hai '
pily married and the unhapplß ’’
just a question of whether "
love each other enough to g**' ’■
pleasure out of doing sonnet ’tng
each for the other.