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EDITORIAL. RAGE The Atlanta Georgian the home rarer
THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN
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Some Days Must Be Dark and Dreary
A Campaign Which Might
HaveJustified PresidentWil-
son's Gallery Play.
If Mr Wilson has decided upon the Federalist policy of
Presidential interference in purely State matters it is singular
that he should have waited so long before returning to the some
what recent campaign in his own State of New Jersey. There
are some things for which Mr. Wilson was responsible when he
was Governor of New Jersey that would fully have justified an
attempt on his part to remedy after he became President of the
United States
There are some acts which he committed while in authority
in New Jersey that he might properly have endeavored to re->
verse either through his authority at Washington or through
personal participation in the politics of New Jersey.
New Jersey is a State of level railroad crossings, and every
year a toll of death has been taken by the railroad corporations
who would rather sacrifice human life than pay the cost neces
sary to make these crossings safe.
When Mr. Wilson ran for Governor of New Jersey he was
pledged to correct the conditions which caused this yearly toll of
death and to compel the railroads to make their crossings safe.
In accordance with the party’s pledges, the Legislature of
New Jersey passed a bill compelling the railroads either to ele
vate or to depress their crossings, so that travelers by road, on
foot, in wagons or in automobiles, could pass without this con
stant risk of destruction.
But the national convention was approaching, and Mr Wil
son apparently desired the support of the powerful railroads
that passed through New Jersey in his campaign for the Presi
dential nomination.
The bill that the Legislature had prepared in the interest of
the safety of the public was not an unjust bill. It was not a
stringent bill. It was not even a radical bill. It compelled the
railroads to make safe only a small proportion of the crossings
every year. It inflicted no hardship upon the railroads. It called
for no immediate and exhaustive expenditure. IT MERELY
PROVIDED THAT MURDER SHOULD NO LONGER BE PER-
MITTED IN ORDER THAT THE RAILROADS COULD SAVE
MONEY.
But Mr. Wilson vetoed the bill, and out of the veto message,
in full view of the astonished legislators, fell a note from Robert
W. De Forest, the railroad attorney, advising Mr. Wilson how to
act in the best interests of the railroads.
After the veto of the bill the New Jersey Central, the Lacka
wanna, the Lehigh Valley, the Erie and the Pennsylvania rail
roads became peculiarly enthusiastic and active in Mr. Wilson's
support, and A. Mitchell Palmer, the attorney for the Pennsyl
vania Railroad, led the railroad forces in the Baltimore conven
tion in support of Mr. Wilson, and with the aid of ‘ ‘ Tom' ’ Tag
gart, the gambling boss of Indiana, and Roger Sullivan, the cor
rupt corporation boss of Illinois, nominated Mr. Wilson on the
Democratic ticket for President of the United States.
Mr. Wilson has been elected President, and since the 5th of
November, 1912, he need no longer have considered the inter
ests of the railroads in preference to the rights and lives of the
people.
Yet Mr, Wilson did not return to New Jersey in time to par
ticipate in the campaign which has lately been successfully car
ried on to eliminate the murderous railroad crossings. That ob
ject was successfully aohieved without either the influence or
the attendance of Mr. Wilson, and a Democratic Legislature and
a Democratic Governor passed and signed and wrote upon the
statute books of New Jersey the law controlling the railroad
companies and protecting the people, which Mr. Wilson, as Gov
ernor of New Jersey, had vetoed.
Between the time of Mr. Wilson's veto of the bill which
would have stopped these railway crossing murders and the
present day. FIFTY TWO persons have been killed and NINE
TY-NINE mutilated at these level railway crossings in New
Jersey.
Ella Wheeler Wilcox, on Protecting Lives of Birds
By ELLA WHEELER WILCOX.
Copyright, 1913. by Star Company.
The lives of these men and women and helpless children will
seem to many citizens rather a high price to pay even for a nomi
nation for the Presidency of the United States, and an endeavor
to correct this murderous evil would . have appeared to true
Democrats about the only justification for a President’s active
interference in a State's politics.
Intelligent and conscientious citizens—even though State's-
Rights Democrats -would have fully understood and condoned
an impulse on the part of Mr. Wilson to atonement and expi
ation in the matter of these railroad murders.
But if Mr. Wilson's purpose is merely to oppose bosses,
these same intelligent citizens will wonder why he does not be
gin with a campaign against the notorious Tom’’ Taggart, the
gambling boss of Indiana, or a crusade against Jolly Roger"
Sullivan, the corrupt corporation boss of Illinois.
T HAT i« great and good work
which is being done by the
widow of one of America’s
multi-millionaires, Mrs. Russell
Sage
By a special contribution to the
Audubon Society in one year, she
gave systematic instruction to
10,600 children In bird lore.
Here are some facts about
birds and their value to the
world which these children
learn, but which older people do
not know' or else there could be
no such wanton destruction of
our beautiful birds as now exists.
Ninety per cent of the normal
bird life of this country has al
ready been destroyed, and the
other 10 per cent will go in the
next five years unless drastic
measures arc- employed to stop
the slaughter. The farmers and
fruit growers of this country are
losing over $1.000.000.000 a year
by reason of the ravages of in
sects. Here are a few items in
this appalling expense account:
for Paris green to put on their
potato vines. Why? Because the
quail, the natural enemy of that
bug. has been killed off.
Each of the great apple pro
ducing States is paying $1,000,■
Quail Nearly Exterminated
PERTINEN T PARAGRAPHS
Edgar Allan Po*- had coni
able imagination but he is i
or leaguer beside th* man
draws the pictures for seed
logues.
Ider-
rnin-
The scientist who drums
baseball fans do not exercise
npt had the misfortune to sit
side a rooter giving vent to
inmost thoughts.
that
has
be-
ins
The number of cocktails <
auvned in Jack London's la
literary effort causes some dt
as to whether it is a sermon
boast
on*
nibt
Society winner
gowns to match
re Iry,
whereas our classic dancers sim
ply wear jewelry.
It must he comforting for a
sheep to know that when her soul
h ' s passed into the Great Beyond
her earthly remains will be known
on the menu as spring lamb.
It
said that Americans do not
appreciate art. anefyet half a hun
dred of our busy citizens will
pause in their labors to watch
an artist in the act of painting a
A man may he an utter coward
in som< aspects and still be in
ti epic enough to wear the first
straw hat at the first hint of
spring.
The cotton growers of Texa-
are losing 140.000.000 to $60,000.-
000 a year by reason of the rav
ages of the boll weevil; and all
because the quail and the prairie
chicken, the natural enemies of
that bug. have been practically
exterminated In that great State.
The cotton boll weevil is moving
like a great army to the east
ward and to the northward, and
scientists sent down there to
study the situation tell us It will
go to the Atlantic Ocean before
it stops, and as far north as cot
ton is grown. UNLESS all killing
of birds is prohibited. The wheat
growers of the United States are
losing over $100,000,000 a year by
reason of the ravages of the cinch
bug. Why?
Because the quail, the natural
enemy of that bug. has been al
most exterminated. The farmers
of the Middle and Eastern States
are paying out $16,000,000 a year
ELLA WHEELER WILCOX.
000 to $3,000,000 a year for spray
ing apple trees, to keep down the
coddling moth. Why? Because
the woodpeckers, the sapsuckers.
the robins, the bluejays, the blue
birds, the orioles, the tanagers
and other birds that formerly
preyed on that insect have been
killed off. And every man, wom
an and child who eats an apple
or a potato helps to pay for this
poison. Here are a few records
as to the value of certain bug
eaters: A quail killed in a cotton
field in Texas had in his craw the
remains of 127 cotton boll wee
vils. Another killed in a potato
field in Pennsylvania had in his
craw the remains of 101 potato
bugs. Another killed in a Kansas
wheat field had in its crop the re
mains of over 1.20ft chinch hugs.
House martins, swallows and
swifts cat rose beetles. May bee
tles, cucumber beetles and house
flies, practically all of which are
caught on the wing. Otto Widman
says 32 parent martins made 3,277
visits to their young with insects
in one day. C. C. Musselman saw
martins feed their young 312 times
in sixteen hours. Mr, Mosher
made a record of a pair of yellow
throat warblers eating plant lice
In a birch tree at a rate of sixty-
eight a minute for forty minutes.
At this rate, this one pair of birds
would destroy 73,000 of these in
sects in a week.
Hnrvey found 500 mosquitoes in
the stomach of a nighthawk and
sixty grasshoppers in that of an
other bird of the same species. A
scarlet tanager ate thirty-five
gypsy moth caterpillars a minute
for eighteen minutes; a warbler
ate ninety plant lice in a minute,
and a pair fed at this rate for
forty minutes. A red-winged
blackbird had twenty-eight cut
worms in its stomach.
Birds Eat Caterpillars.
Fifty-one species of birds are
known to eat hairy caterpillars,
and thirty-eight species feed on
plant lice. It is estimated that
during the /stay of the birds in
New York State each season they
destroy more * than 3,000,000
bushels of noxious insects. Think
of the consequences if the birds
were all exterminated. And yet
the slaughter of the birds goes on.
In a single season 40.000 terns
were killed at Gape Cod. Massa
chusetts, in order that their skins
might adorn the headgear of fash
ionable women. The swamps in
Florida have been totally depop
ulated of their egrets and herons.
In one month over 1,000,000 bobo
links were killed on the marshes
near Philadelphia by so-called
sportsmen, who call these feath
ered songsters reed birds. And
besides being one of our sweet
est singers, the bobolink is one of
the most industrious bug eaters
we have. In the Southern States
both the robin and the bobolink
are classed as game birds, and
A Great Work.
WINIFRED BLACK
Writes on
The Forty-Dollar Bill
and the Hat
Wear What You Can Afford, Sht
Says, Look as Nice as You Can:
Tell Your Husband the Trutl
About Your Bills and Let It
Go at That.
By WINIFRED BLACK.
Y OU paid forty dollars for the
hat, and you knew all the
while you couldn’t afford
more than fifteen, and your hus
band laughed when you wore it
home, and didn’t care very much
for it after all. and now the bill's
come home and you are afraid
to *how it to him—and when you
come to look at the hat It isn’t
a thing but a common-place
straw, with a twist of ribbon and
a foolish, lanky feather bobbtng
like something that is breiken
loose from somewhere—and
what, oh, what, shall you do?
Take it to the milliners and try
to make them take it back? Per
ish the thought You bought ft.,
didn’t you. of your own, at least,
.partially free will; they didn't
make you get it. they just flattered
and cajoled and smiled and
tw’itted you into it—eh?
It's a Way They Have.
Well, it’s a way they have in
shops especially at the hat time
of the year; you knew that when
you went, didn't you?
Crow with the girl who made
you buy it, w'hen you really knew
all the time—dear. dear, what’s
the use of that, she s there to do
just that very thing, that’s what
they'pay her for. She gets a sal
ary to make fifteen-dollar women
buy forty-dollar hats, and then
go home and cry about it. Why
not? The girl has to have hats
herself, you know, and she’s got
to earn the money some way to
pay for them.
No, it's your own fault—poor
y6u—poor, vain, foolish, easily led
you: you’ve had your dance, now
pay the fiddler.
T know how you feel, my child;
tnere iwi’t a woman living who
doesn’t know exactly how your
heart beats every time you think
of telling Husband about that aw
ful bill, especially when he doesn’t
like the hat, but don’t try to get
out of that.
She Was Afraid.
slaughtered by thousands all
through the winter.
Mrs. Margaret M. Nice. of
Cambridge, Mass., has made an
exhaustive study of the food of
the Bob White. Instead of killing
the birds and analyzing the con
tents of the crop, she worked by
the living feeding test method.
That is, she has offered different
foods to the birds and has count
ed and weighed the amount eaten.
The total food for a day forms a
natural unit in this work, and
a great many of these daily die
taries have been studied.
The bill is bad enough, it would
be twice as bad to deceive him
about It.
I know’ a man who almost com-'
mitted suicide once because his
wife was deceiving him about a
milliner’s bill. That’s the way it
began, anyhow.
She was afraid to let him 5»ee
the bill and she cried and moped
and acted queer, and one day, *
when he came home and found
her weeping, he had just seen an
old sweetheart of hers going out of
the public door of the apartment
w'here he and his wife lived, and.
he tried to make her tell about'
the old sweetheart and she
wouldn’t, because she didn’t know
a thing about him and cared less,
and Husband was jealous and
cross and unkind, and a»he thought
he found out about the bill and
was taking that way tn frighten
her, and she hated him for it, and
she wasn’t very well anyhow, and
she just ran away home to mother
for a few days, and Husband
thought she was in love with the
other man and. oh, what a time
over just such nonsense as this
very thing, and, when it all came
out, how ashamed they both were
of themselves—and each other.
'High strung, of course, they
were; every onP Ls high strung
when every one is in loVe; there’s
nothing sensible about love, you
know, never was and never will
be; that’s what makes it so
sweet. Rut there’s something
honest about it, or ought to be,
and you be honest w ith your hus
band about that bill and get it
off your mind this very day.
Poor Things!
Laying Hen Devours Bugs.
Among them we may quote a
few: 1,350 house flies, eaten in
one day by a laying hen. along
with weed seeds and green food;
also another time 5,000 aphids
and 1,285 rose slugs. 37 grass
hoppers and 2.400 seeds of pigeon
grass, by a six-week-old chick;
also 65 large black crickets.
Fitch once computed the num
ber of plant lice on a single cher
ry tree to be 12,000.000. Chinch
bugs have been found in a small
clump of bunch grass eight
inches in diameter to the num
ber of 20,000. J. F. Parker, of
Manhattan, Kans.. says he count
ed 6.000 under similar conditions,
but had to desist on account of
more pressing duties. Riley once
computed that the hop aphis, de
veloping thirteen generations in
a single year, would, if unchecked
to the end of the twelfth genera
tion, have multiplied to the num
ber of ten sextillions.
Surely it is great work for a
good woman to do, this educating
the growing generation in a
knowledge of the value of birds
to the prosperity of the country.
No little girl so educated can
grow up with a desire to decorate
her hat with dead birds; and no
boy can ask for a gun in order to
amuse himself with killing birds,
if he is taught the industrial side
of this question as well as the
humane side.
L’Envoi of the Tariff
By MILTON GNITT.
W HEN the last tariff schedule is settled
And the bill, duly signed, is the law';
When the final oration’s concluded
On products, both finished and raw—
We shall rest, and. faith, we shall need it.
Lie down for a moment or two,
And dream of the benefits coining.
To me—little Me—and to you.
And they that have tinkered the tariff
Shall rest on their laurels so green:
And they that have not shall he silent—
Shall neither be heard nor be seen.
And the famous consumer ul-ti-mate
Shall wax full of ecstatic joy.
His horizon blossomed with rainbows,
His happiness minus alloy.
And the high cost of living shall tremble
As though it were destined to fafi;
And the trusts, predatory and mighty,
Shall trim all their sails for a squall.
And the housewife shall hike to the market.
Her heart overflowing with glee,
And when she gets ready to purchase—
We THEN shall SEE w hat we shall SEE!
And they that have meat and would sell it
At prices of yore shall be snubbed;
And they that have bread and potatoes
At more than half fare shall be drubbed.
And the milkman shall fill up our bottles
At two-thirds reduction, or more.
Ah. good times not only should reign, sir—
They most pos-i-tively should pour!
For the goat for our troubles these ages
Has been the old tariff—gadzooks!
We’ve cussed it in papers and books.
And if. when we’ve fixed it up proper,
We still have to labor for gain,
We’ll grow pessimistic and scornful,
And be disappointed—that’s plain!
Or. if we should wake up, or waken
(This question of grammar is punk!)
From our beautiful dream and discover
That we have been handed a bunk!
Say. what shall we do for an ‘ issue”
To ginger another campaign?
If tariff revision’s a shamr-Gee!
Shall we ever be happy again?
We’re all gumps about clothes,
we women. We think-they mean
such a lot more than they really
do; clothes are. all right, but the.
woman who wears them is worth
ten times as much as any ab-„
surd hat that was ever sold un
der false pretenses or true ones,
either, for that matter.
It isn’t your clothes your hus
band loves—it’s you. Don’t let
any milliner or dressmaker on
earth make you believe any dif
ferent; poor things, they live in
such an atmosphere of fuss and
feathers, and dingle-dangles and
fingle-fangles that they don’t
know there’s a great big whole
some world outside that hardly
knows or cares whether skirts
are tight this year or ample.
Wear w'hat you can afford, look
as nice as you can, tell husband
the truth about your bills, and
let it go at that. In that road
lies your happiness; take your
husband’s hand and walk in it,
happily and truly.