Newspaper Page Text
EDITORIAL PAGE
THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN
Published Every Afternoon Except Sunday
By THE GEORGIAN COMPANY
At 20 East Alabama St., Atlanta, Ga.
Enters' as second-class matter at postoffice at Atlanta, under act of March J. 1871.
Subscription Plica —Delivered by carrier, 10 cents a week. By mall. 55.00 a year,
u. k Payable in advance.
“r ■
Senate’s Fine Action the
Model in Canal and -
Navy Legislation
V* * »
The Question Will Come Up Again at This Session of Congress
and Should Be Acted Upon Speedily and Properly.
The United States senate, speaking through the majority of its
members without regard to party, has illustrated a tine 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 parties 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 commeroe 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 AMERICAN 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 CANAL IS OURS. WE
OWN IT. OUR MONEY BUILT IT. WE HAVE THE RIGHT
TO CHARGE TOLLS FOR 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. He 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 fight 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 to 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 IN 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
fote 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 government 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 rapidly 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 Ihe 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 Francisco, 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, as their ancestors did in the primarv days of
“ ’49.”
The San Francisco 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 Francisco and other cities of the eoast.'
Secretary Garfield gave San Francisco leave to build, and
tne city appropriated $45,000,000 and expended $2,000,000 in
preliminary work.
1 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 Francisco opposed
by the lobbyists ot the Spring Valley Corporation that wishes to
sell its water to tin city, and by certain irrigation interests in
the Sierra foothills.
I he time is all too short to finish this \ osemite reservoir and
b<- in time for the World's Fair within our Western gates.
The mayor ami his experts know better what they wish and
what Hau Francisco imperatively meds than the interested eor
potations that would exploit the city for gain
The Atlanta Georgian
<§ Nature an Imitative Artist i 3
But She Only Mimics Her Oivn Forms, and Usually For a Purpose Fastly L nderstood
.
The "Map” Butterfly of India, showing the lines ot 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.
NATURE is a great imitator —
but 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 ease,
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 onlj’ human beings that
are deceived by looks.
The more the deceptions of na
ture are studied, the more wonder
ful they appear. There are insects
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 brings 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 and causes
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
year’s time be penniless.
Meanwhile all these people are
giving generously, and many of
them have 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, and
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 cure; and she 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
of riches, and misers are becoming
an extinct species. It is a great
and glorious age. and never were so
many people doing good, altruistic
a< ts ami thinking high thoughts
and seeking the best good of the
nut! is now. despite all we read
The Evils of Today &
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
i exhibit "protective mimicry” in as
tonishing ways. The beautiful ze
bra is a striking example of this.
The black bands that mark its
tawny skin so closely resemble lines
of shadow cast by brilliant sun
light shining through the branches
j 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 bbnd 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. ‘
But the tiger, too, possesses this
power of concealment, although in
his case the purpose is rather to al
i lay the fears of his victims than to
hide himself from his enemies. The
, color of his skin and the shadowy
outlines of his markings enable him
! tq lie in wait close to his quarry
unnoticed by the poor beasts that
are about to feel the weight of his
claws. Adventurers in tropical for
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
F to fit them. The wings of some
By ELLA WHEELER WILCOX.
Copyright, 1912, by Star Publishing Co.
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- 1
ber of individuals engaged in it, ac
cording to population, if we take
- . ' v'
•Os *
' ■ ■
JO L \. Jy
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 for
the distribution of healthful ideas,
and no such armies of workers for
the public well being.
Children and animals were not
then protected by 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
ves’igate the conditions which ex
isted 100 ye yrs 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 who are work
ing today for human betterment
Alcoholism has decreased, knowl
edge of hygiene has increased, and
the old epidemics ot smallpox and
other plagues, which used to sweep
over the land periodically, carrying
oft hundre ,s ,im 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
I 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 the fa
mous Indian silk shawls.
Pure plays of fancy on the part
of nature seem to be such bizarre
creations as the lunar 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 forms 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
— urlance without roots.
'• man beings, no longer molest the
world, save where ignorance still
prevails and the laws of health are
I violated.
Divorce Must Run Course.
Divorce has increased, apd 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
of all it means, as they 7 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
j 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 not be cured Mn 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 course, 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.
j A Magnificent Tomorrow.
One hundred years ago these
subjects were not discussed, and
so vast evils resulted; those evils
we point at today, saying the age is
degenerate, but we forget 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
flgnt and overcome the evils.
This is the wisest, the most sane,
the most altruistic, and the most
hopeful ea of the world.
And we are on the t ve of a imig
uirteeiit tuinv row
THE HOME F’A.PeJ
Inspector McMichael
Writes on
Curing the
Smoke Evil in
Atlanta
Too Little Attention
Paid to Proper and
Scientific Construc
tion of Furnaces to
Get Best Results.
Written for The Atlanta Georgian
By Paul McMichael
City Smoke Inspector.
ARTICLE 111.
Smokeless combustion does not
always mean economical operation,
although highly efficient operation
always means smokeless combus
tion. It is possible to introduce a
large excess of air and maintain
furnace temperatures high enough
to insure complete combustion and
bo obtain a clean stack, but such a
large amount of the available heat
might be used in raising the 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
the stack. The efficiency of steam
jets is increased ff 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
I'he Book Reviewer
By PERCY SHAW.
PERHAPS 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 'tie phychlc 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
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
That no ordinary being
Has the slightest chance of seeing
The tenor of your meaning or the workings of your brain.
The world will then acclaim you,
Bunding genius then will name you
As tne wonder of all wonders in the literary brook;
But be sure you never, never.
Never, never. NEVER, NEVER
Tyour fondly doting readers what you think about a beoi.
reHi
jj|A && j|
Hk 51
■ i
■f the fire increased the total amount
of heat available, we would have |
an inexhaustible source of energy 1
in this reaction and perpetual mo- 1
tion would cease to be a dream.
One very serious fault to be |
■ found’in almost every boiler plant I
I 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
j of what constitutes an efficient j
furnace, but as yet boiler manu
j 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 poor draf'.
the products of combustion will
travel at a rate of one and one
half feet per second. This means
that with the usual form of con
struction in less than two seconds
after leaving the fuel bed the gases
given off will be up against the
shell or passing amongst the
tubes, where they will be cooled
below the temperature (1,480 de
grees Fahrenheit) required forthek
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 small ex
pense to build a furnace under 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 the principles
applied will be the same in every
I 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. The
application of a few of the /acts
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 the saving of many dollar
that today are being needlessly
... wasted.