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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. IS7>
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Senate’s Fine Action the
Model in Canal and
Navy Legislation
» V IS
The Question Will Come Up Again at This Session of Congress
and Should Be Acted Upon Speedily and Properly.
L
The United States sennle. speaking through the majority of its
members without regard to party, has illustrated a fine resolute
American sentiment in more than one great national and interna
tional measure of the last congress.
When the house was standing in narrow and stolid opposition
to the preservation of the American navy in its high status among
the nations, the senate majority of both parlies stood steadfast for
the two battleships and an ample American navy, until the trim
mers' compromise cut us down to one battleship in conference.
When the interstate commerce commission reported its Pan
ama canal bill without recommending any privileges or exemptions
for American vessels, the house amended it by exempting American
coastwise vessels from toll
Then the senate majority added an amendment granting FREE
TOLLS TO ALL AMER l< AN SHIPS, as red-blooded and vigorous
Americanism would prompt American statesmen to do.
But again the house cut down American rights timidly to
coastwise ships, and the compromising conference committee
agreed.
President Taft also started out in the canal matter with the
splendid American assertion: “THE ('ANAL IS OURS. WE
OWN IT OUR MONEY BUILT IT. WE HAVE THE RIGHT
TO CHARGE TOLLS EOR ITS USE.’’
But “the legal mind’’—the timid mind—got in its work The
president began to balance legal points, to split hairs and be un
certain and afraid, lie considered arbitration with apprehension.
He wanted to provide away for foreign countries to enter suit
against us in the courts. The lawyer debilitated the executive
American. He would give to all nations the right to tight the canal
act in the United States courts. He emphasized by repetition that
“this country has no desire to repeal any part of the Hay-Paunce
fote treaty." Whereas this country has a distinct desire to repeal
any part of the Hay-Pauncefote treaty that interferes with the
rights or interests of the country.
This question will come up again during the present session.
It is a question of simple common sense and of simple American
spirit and courage. We have had a full summer to think of it. and
a presidential election Io clear our view of its relations.
The house of representatives branch of our statesmanship has
triumphed in the grave blunder of permitting England, all alone,
to interfere in a canal built entirely with our money AND EN
TIRELY LN TERRITORY WHICH WE OWN AS ABSOLUTELY
AS WE DO THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA !
Statesmen as wise and experienced as any that we have declare
that this new question of territorial ownership destroys any con
flict which free American tolls might make with the Hay-Paunce
fotc treaty. Other wise and experienced statesmen have declared
that even if we had not acquired the territory the terms of the
treaty no more interfere with our free control of our own canal
than England's control of Suez.
Between the two lines of opinion any resolute, high spirited
congress of American statesmen ought to follow straight in the
line of American national rights and American interests.
The senate has frankly and resolutely done this all along and
has commended itself to the country by doing so. The president
in case of further consideration of the matter has an opportunity
by aggressive and progressive courage to redeem the last months
of his administration.
And so has the house.
San Francisco’s Needs Are
National
What would the world think of a goAernment that would
permit its exposition city—the beautiful metropolis of its Pa
cific coast—to suffer for a lack of water for drinking and bath
ing “
The time is rapidl.v approaching when San Francisco is to be
the host of all nations behind the swinging gates of the Pana
ma Exposition.
People from every country—and in millions from the Orient
—are coming to see this marvelous American city, the type and
the glory of the ever growing American republic.
These people will think our government a niggard in enter
prise and a dullard in policy if they should find a water famine
in San Erancisco. perpetuated by the skillful lobbyists of cor
porations and by the apathy of the department of the interior.
The present conditions appeal to the common sense and the com
mon humanity of the department.
In the outlying districts there is not enough water even for
household needs. Hundreds of women have not water to bathe
their babies. No water is obtainable in the daylight hours when
the downtown consumption is heavy. Householders have to set
their pans and buckets under the faucets at 1 o'clock in the morn
ing. Other busy housekeepers are forced to carry water four or
five blocks away. a> their ancestors did in the primary davs of
“ ‘49."
The San Erancisco people ask leave to build a magnificent
reservoir in the Hetch Hetchy valley, in Yosemite park. It will
be a perpetual ornament to the park, and a perpetual supply of
crystal water to San Erancisco and other cities of the coast.
Secretary Garfield gave San Erancisco leave to build, and
ihe city appropriated $45.0(M).000 and expended $2,000,000 in
preliminary work.
I hen came Secretary Ballinger, who. for reasons of his own.
which were evidently not of sound public policy, suspended the
order. The matter is now again before Secretary Fisher. of the
interior, with the clamorous necessities of San Erancisco opposed
by the lobbyists <>f ihe Spring Valley Corporation that wishes to
sell its water to the city, and by certain irrigation interests in
the Sierra foothills.
Ihe time is all ton short Io finish this Yosemite reservoir and
be hi lime for the World s Fair within our W. •stern gates
The mayor and his experts know bettor what they wish and
what San Erancisco imperatively needs than the interested eor-
B poratmns that would exploit the city for gain.
The Atlanta Georgian
Nature an Imitative Artist &
/?«/ She Only Mimics Her Own Forms, and Usually For a Purpose Easily Understood
l
The "Map” Butterfly of India, showing the lines of The "Shawl” Butterfly, which is said to have suggest
“latitude” and “longitude” on the wings. ed the pattern of famous silk shawls.
By GARRETT P. SERVISS.
N ATURE is a great imitator
blit only of herself. When she
‘ has done a good thing she
sometimes does it over again, with
variations Some of these self-imi
tations, or repetitions of nature, are
apparently purely capricious, or
even accidental. while others seem
to have a definite purpose, and then
they lead to very interesting- scien
tific theories.
The illustrations that accompany
this article appear to belong to the
class of capricious, or accidental
imitations. There is no evident rea
son why the wings of one species
of butterfly should bear markings
recalling the lines of latitude and
longitude on a chart, as happens
with the "map butterfly" of India,
or why the wings of another spe
cies. in the same country, should
closely mimic a beautiful lacework,
as occurs with the "shawl butter
fly.” Yet there may be a meaning
behind it all which we do not com
prehend.
Wonderful Deceptions.
it often happens that animals
imitate the forms and colors of
plants, and the plants frequently re
turn the compliment. In the case
of animals naturalists call this
"protective mimicry,” because it ap
pears to serve as a means of con
cealment from too powerful ene
mies. It is at least conceivable that
a plant, which looks like an animal,
may also find protection in the re
semblance.
It is not only human beings that
are deceived by looks.
Tlie more the deceptions of na
ture are studied, the more wonder
ful they appear. There are insects
The Evils of Today i 3
By ELLA WHEELER WILCOX.
Copyright, 1912, by Star Publislfing Co.
A YOUNG woman writes to me
that she is worn out by mental
work, and she wants to inter
est some people with money, who
will send her away to recuperate
her strength.
Almost every post bring* letters
similar, and innumerable are the
inquiries regarding the possibility
of influencing Mrs. Sage. Miss
Gould, Mr. Carnegie and Mr. Rocke
feller to hand over money for the
benefit of needy individuals and
worthy causes.
It does not occur to the writers
of these letters that a hundred
thousand other people ami caused
all look toward the same golden
goal, and that all these millionaires
are hemmed in by an army of sec
retaries. who read several hundred
begging letters each day and al
low them to go no farther.
It is said that each week Miss
Gould is asked for a million dol
lars in charity by different people,
and that were she to respond to all
the requests for aid she would in a
seat's time be penniless.
Meanwhile all these people are
giving generously, and many of
them hate agents employed who
distribute money in various quar
ters
Miser Almost Extinct.
Mrs. Sage does her charitable
and educational work in the most
systematic and liberal manner, anti
the benefit of her deeds will be felt
by generations to come. She has
able men and women studying the
problem of poverty, its causes and
Its possible line; and sin is help
ing educate poor women to be good
homemakers, and good mothers, by
having them taught hygiene, and
cooking, and the care" of children.
All our millionaires today seem
to have a sense of the responsibility
o; riche.-, and misers are becoming
an < xtinct specie- It is a grout
and glorious age, and never wore so
mani people doing good, altnfistic
acts and thinking high though..'
and seeking the best gm d of the
race as now. despite aJ' we tend
MONDAY. DECEMBER 9. 1912.
which so exactly resemble dried
sticks that you can not recognize
their real nature until you feel them
squirm under your fingers. But
some of the largest animals also
exhibit "protective mimicry” In as
tonishing ways. Tlie beautiful ze
bra is a striking example of this.
I The black bands that mark its
tawny skin so closely resemble lines
of shadow cast by brilliant sun
light shining through the branches
of a thicket that a group of these
animals standing motionless in an
African forest may escape the no
tice of their sharpest-eyed pur
suers.
Tiger Possesses This Power.
Travelers have recorded the fact
that a band of zebras standing In
the midst of a sandy plain, where
stunted bushes are scattered about,
and where the color of the soil
closely resembles that of the skin
of the animals, will sometimes be
unrecognizable, as long as they re
main motionless, the black bands
on their flanks looking exactly like
.shadows,
i
But the tiger, too. possesses this
power of concealment, although in
his case the purpose is rather to al
lay the fears of his victims than to
hide himself fiom his enemies. The
color of his skin and the shadowy
| outlines of his markings enable him
to lie in wait close to his quarry
unnoticed bv the poor beasts that
are about to feel the weight of his
ciaws. Adventurers in tropical for-
I ests sometimes .almost put their
feet upon a huge vari-colored ser
; pent before recognizing it.
, In many cases the resemblances
are so arbitrary that no reasonable
theory of a definite purpose seems
■E to fit them. The wings of some
*” and hear and know of graft and •
dishonesty and murder.
In the days of George Washing
ton and his successors graft and
dishonesty were just as rampant as
now, and there were a greater num
ber of individuals engaged in it. ac
cording to population, if we take
I f _'7ltßl. ”~x\
4 jl
Lv' W ■
• - ■» - '£
<> . -s"
Ik "*"s l l2_/3 'W.
A
ELLA WHEELER WILCOX.
into consideration the amazing in
crease of the race since that era.
in America. And there were no
such organizations as exist now sot
the distribution of healthful ideas,
and no such armies of workers for
the public -well being
Children and animals were not
then protected b\ law from brutal
treatment or neglect.
Whatever you know of the pres
ent age that is evil and ignorant,
and selfish, and bad. if you will in
vestigate the conditions which ex
isted 100 years ago, you will find
they were tenfold worse, when you
take into consideration the im
proved laws and the active bodies
of men and women w ho are work
ing today for human betterment.
Alcoholism has decreased, knowl
edge of hygiene has increased, and
the old epidemics of smallpox and
other plagues, which used to sweep
over the land periodically, tarrying
oiT hundreds and thousand, of hu-
tropical moths are adorned with
appendages which look like the
drooping buds of small plants. The
tips of those of others have a
startling likeness to the head of the
deadly cobra, uplifted to strike.
The back of the "death’s head
moth" bears an image that sends a
chill to the heart of the observer.
Animals Look Like Plants.
On the other hand, some of these
mimic forms and colors are so ex
quisitely beautiful that they afford
suggestions to artists. This is es
pecially true of the “shawl butter
fly" of India, shown in one of our
illustrations, which is said to have
suggested the pattern of 1,11 e fa
mous Indian silk shawls.
Pure plays of fancy on the part
of nature seem to be such bizarre
creations as the lunqr crescents on
the wings of the Indian "moon
moth" and the miniature human
skulls into which the seedpods of
the snapdragon are shaped. Com
ing upon a group of these one may
imagine himself to have invaded a
cemetery of little gnomes.
But even the most extraordinary
imitations that nature affords serve
only to prove more clearly the
unity that runs underneath all her.
works. That animals should look
like plants, or plants like animals,
strikes us as exceedingly strange
when the mimicking foims belong
to highly organized creatures, but
as we go lower in the scale we find
that both of the two great king
doms of life begin to blend—ani
mals growing on stems attached to
the rocks, and plants moving about
and picking up their living in the
water, or drawing it from the air
alone, and flourishing in green lux
— uriance without roots.
•• man beings, no longer molest the
world, save where ignorance still
1 prevails and the law’s of health are
violated.
Divorce Must Run Course.
Divorce has increased, and must
run its course like any other mal
ady which arises from ignorance.
After two or three generations
there will be a decrease of this
fever, because sex hygiene is being
taught, and young men and women
will not go into marriage ignorant
2 of all it means, as they have done
since the beginning of civilization.
This most important subject of
all has been left in darkness and
silence until the very last, and in
the darkness and silence it has be
come corrupt and caused a pesti
lence in the land.
Light and speech have now come
. to its rescue, but the evils it has
produced can be cured in one
generation.
Men are just beginning to know
that their deeds of lust bring awful
calamities upon themselves,- and
upon their offspring to the third
and fourth generation; and that be
cause the world has condoned their
deeds it does not follow that they
are exempt from penalties.
When all our colleges have a sex
hygiene couise, as they will, and
all youths and young women are
educated in a knowledge of the law
of cause and effect in these matters
marriage will cease to be a prob
lem, and the divorce court will go"
out of existence for lack of patron
age.
A Magnificent Tomorrow.
One hundred years ago these
-objects were not discussed, and
so vast evils resulted; those evils
we point at today, saying the age is
degenerate, but we fo:get that they
are the dire.,* results of the sins of
omission of our forefathers, and
that we are now organized by law
and medicine and common sense to
fight and overcome the evils.
This rs the wisest, the most sane,
the most altruistic, and the most
hopeful era of the world.
And we are on the eve of a mag
nificent tomoirow.
THE HOME PAppu
Inspector McMichael
Writes on
%
Curing the
Smoke Evil in
Atlanta
Too Little Attention
Paid to Proper and
Scientific Construc
tion of Eurnaces to
Get Best Results.
M/riffen for The Atlanta Georgian
By Paul McMichael
City Smoke Inspector.
ARTICLE 111. *
Smokeless combustion does not i
always mean economical.operation,
although highly efficient operation
always means smokeless combus- j
tion. It is possible to introduce a
large excess of air and maintain
‘ furnace temperatures high enough
to insure complete combustion and
so obtain a clean stack, but such a
large amount of the available heat
might be used in raising tlie tem
perature of the air excess from that ;
of the atmosphere to that of the
gases passing out through the stack
that economical results are impos
sible.
Steam jets are often recommend
ed as aids to smokeless combustion,
and some decrease in the density of
smoke emitted is doubtless effected
by their use. This is due partly to
the thorough mixing they bring
about between the volatile constit
uents of coal and the air passing
through the furnace and the con
sequent more perfect combustion,
and is due partly to the resultant
dilution of the gases passing out
tlie stack. The efficiency of steam
jets is, increased if the furnace
construction is so modified that the
gases are protected from any cool
ing surface until they have had an
opportunity to burn completely.
Where steam jets are improp
erly installed, so that they suc
ceed in decreasing the density of
the smoke only because they di
lute the gases passing off. the loss
is the same as before their installa
tion. plus the energy required to
generate the steam used.
The Steam Jet Fallacy.
There is one fallacy concerning
the use of steam jets that should
be thoroughly exploded. It has
sometimes been said that the steam
entering the furnace is decom
posed into its components, hydro
gen and oxygen, and that after
ward the burning of the hydrogen
increases the amount of heat set
free. Even though all the steam
entering the furnace were decom
posed into its constituents and the
hydrogen thus formed were after
ward completely burned, there
would be no gain of heat from this
source. The dissociation of steam
into its component parts is an en
dothermic reaction—that is, a heat
absorbing action —and requires just
exactly as much energy to bring
it about as is given up by the exo
thermic—that is, heat-giving—ac
tion, which occurs when the same
hydrogen is burned. If it were true,
as has sometimes been asserted,
that the introduction of steam over ..
The Book Reviewer
By PERCY SHAW.
TJERHAPS you’ve had a yearning
To display your wealth of learning
< In away to win the plaudits of your carping fellow men,
< Mark these rules with nice precision,
Just to clarify your vision.
And start as per instructions with a flourish of your pen.
Take a novel —"tis no matter
If 'tis phychic or mere chatter—
Read it backward, forward, sideways, with a microscopic view.
Make your mind up what there’s in it,
< Think it over for a minute,
< Then procure a dictionary and begin a book review.
> Gather words obscure in meaning
5 With an Anglo-Latin leaning.
And above all else be careful to avoid all hint of plot;
Make long paragraphs, and never
(If you would be known as clever)
Say a thing about the hero, how, or when, or where, or what,
? To be deftly analytic
Is the mission of the critic.
> But to soar to real distinction you must write in such a strain
f That no ordinary being
I Has tlte slightest chance of seeing
The tenor of your meaning or the woikingsof your brain
The world will then acclaim you.
Bunding genius then will name you
As the wonder of all wonders in the literary brook;
But be sure you never, never.
Never, never, NEVER, NEVER
Tell your fondly doting readers what you think about n hook
i iEK
PwW| lb
<g jt
Ml
i. ■
- the fire increased the total amount
of heat available, we would have
an inexhaustible source of energy
in this reaction and perpetual mo
tion would cease to be a dream.
One very serious fault to be
found in almost every boiler plant
in Atlanta is the lack of consid
eration that has been given to fur
nace design and construction. Dur
ing the past ten years vast strides
have been made in our knowledge
of what constitutes an efficient
furnace, but as yet boiler manu
facturers and furnace builders have
been slow to avail themselves of
this information and apply it. Sel
dom does one find a furnace so con
structed as to protect the volatile
constituents given off by soft coal
from the relatively cool surface of
the shell or tubes until combustion
can be completed, although it has
been incontrovertibly demonstrated
that this is essential if combustion
is to be complete.
Poor Draft—Smoky Stacks.
Even in boilers with pour draft,
the products of combustion will
travel at a rate of one and one
half feet per second. This nic ois
that with the usual form of con
struction in less than two seconds
after leaving the fuel bed the gases
given off win bo up against the
shell or passing amongst the
tubes, where they will be cooled
below the temperature (1,480 de
grees Fahrenheit) required for their
burning. Therefore, combustion
stops before it is completed, and
the evidence of this is shown by
smoky stacks.
It has been shown that It Is pos
sible at comparatively -mil ex
pense to build a furnace undei boil
ers already set in which high vola
tile bituminous coal can be burned
smokelessly and with high efficien
cy. The dimensions and full speci
fications for such a furnace will
vary in different plants, and can
only be determined by one familiar
with all the conditions to be met in
each instance, but tlr principles
applied will be the same in every
case.
The present smoke ordinance of
Atlanta is most liberal in its pro
visions, and there is no reason why
each coal consumer can not com
ply with it fully if a little study
is devoted to the question. I,ie
application of a few of the facts
contained in our present-day
knowledge of combustion will en
able one not only to stop the emis
sion of soft coal smoke, but also to
effect tlie saving of many dollars
that today are being needlessly
. lasted.