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EDITORIAL RAGE
The Atlanta Georgian
THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN
Published Everv Afternoon F'xrpni Sunday
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She Said White Bulldogs Were
White Rats
She Also Told the Judge Their Whereabouts Was None of His
Business. And Tley Could Not Jail Her.
(Copyright, 1913.)
A lady in Chicago ( her name is Mrs. Anna Beymer, and her
address No 10812 Hoxie avenue) owns a white bulldog—female.
This ownership she admits.
She also owns six small white animals besides the bulldog.
Enveloping these animals is a mystery.
The dog man said that they were and must necessarily be
bulldog puppies, offspring of the white bulldog.
Mrs Beymer had not paid do? licenses for these six white
animals, and when she WOULD NOT pay, she was “dragged
before Judge J. J. Sullivan.
To him she said, much to the surprise of all concerned,
“They are not bulldog puppies, they are white rats. The big
bulldog is not their mother. She ,is their policeman. I keep the
bulldog so that the cats won’t come and kill my white rats.”
Dooley, the dog man, looking for license money, said, “I
saw the puppies with my own eyes.”
Judicial wisdom sent Policeman John O’Brien to the home
of the six little white mysteries to investigate, and to report as
to their canine or other nature, and as to the white bulldog’s re
sponsibility for their being.
When the policeman got there the white bulldog was alone, j
The six little white ones had vanished. The judge asked Mrs.
Beymer, “Where are they?” The lady replied:
“What business is it of yours? I don’t have to tell you, and
I won’t tell you.”
There was much searching of the authorities by judicial as
sistants, and it was discovered that, as a matter of fact, Mrs.
Beymer DIDN’T have to tell the judge where the rats (or dogs)
were, and that there was no way of putting her in jail for re
fusing to tell.
It is an interesting little story all by itself. It is especially
interesting because it makes it appear as though an ordinary
human being, owner of one bulldog and 3ix white rats (?), has
rights even in a court of justice.
We are accustomed to see the ordinary citizen in a court
insulted by the attormys on both sides, if that happens to please
them, reminded severely of dark dungecns by the judge on the
bench, and generally made to feel that the ccuris of the country
are established chiefly in order to enable lawyers to make
money and ask insulting questions of citizens in order to save the
judge as much trouble as possible.
£o along comes a simple woman, owner of one bulldog and
six rats—(so she says)—and shows that it is really possible for a
humble lady to tell the jud^e “It’s none of your bus^ss.” and
in the language of the outside street, “To get away with it.”
It is very interesting, quite apart Irom the unsolved bulldog-
white rat mystery, which is also interesting.
Such things as this are a pleasant change from the Thaw
case.
“Children, I Am Through With
Life and Seek Rest"
I essa^e Left by an Old Woman, Mother of Ten Children, in a
“Gvilized” Land.
(Copyright, 1913.)
Niels Pearson is “caretaker” in a cemetery.
Early in the morning, going his rounds to make sure that no J
one had dug up a body, defaced a monument or otherwise mis- j
behaved in the quiet dormitory of the dead, he saw what looked !
like ”a big bundle” lying on the yellow earth beside a grave just I
dug. It was an old woman, not quite dead.
A bottle from which she had drunk poison was in one hand,
and in the other a short written message of farewell: “Children,
I am through with life, and seek rest."
She was old, poorly dressed and badly fed, of course. She
had had ten children, was tired, and her mind did not work very
well. She had said to herself, “If I die right beside this new
grave they will put me in it, cover me up, and it will be con
venient for everybody and give very little trouble.”
But the woman was not to escape so easily.
Civilization had not cared much about her as she brought
her ten children into the world and struggled for seventy-odd
years against poverty and cruelty.
But having swallowed poison and tried to die, she found
herself suddenly very interesting and important.. Suicide is a
crime—she was now ”a criminal.” Criminals are interesting.
Niels Pearson ran for a policeman.
The policeman ran for an ambulance.
The ambulance came, banging and clanging.
The hospital worked at the poison and at the old woman.
Soon they had the poison and her life story out of her—both
very simple.
The poison was the cheapest she could get, and, like other
cheap things, it didn’t work very well.
Her life story was poor and cheap, and it had not worked
very well.
Her husband was dead and could not help her.
Her ten children were living, but they WOULD not help her.
"o she decided, as her brief note put it, “to seek rest.”
owever, was one of many things that civilization would
her Lave.
tl ing happens in a land well provided with churches,
ers, editors, statesmen, public libraries and money,
if we read of an old gorilla killing herself in the jungle
.cause her ten young gorillas wouldn't help to feed her, we
s tut’ say, "That sounds improbable, Surely they would at
least keep her alive.”
juut we are not surprised at ten human gorillas that let
their mother seek death and rest in the graveyard in the early
morning.
And we are not surprised at the weak, suffering, old wom
an's reply to the doctor who asked her name;
“No, I will not tell you ui) name. 1 don't want to disgrace
my ohudua.” ^
- --- -M
The Last Day of Vacation
1
The Wort
elling tl
i “Gas” and
and Have
le Truth About Ghosi
“Ghost” of Similar Anglo-Saxoi
Been Proved Actually Identical.
ts
a Meaning
TAN BAPTISTA VAN HEL-
I MONT (1578-1644). the
* Flemish physician who In
troduced the word “gas” in the
terminology of the science of
chemistry, said "Hunc splritum,
tneognltum hactenus, novo no*
mine gas vooo.” which In plain
English means: “This vapor,
hitherto unknown, I call by a new
name, gas.’ ”
Now the word “gas" in Anglo-
Saxon mean* “ghost,” and the
appropriateness of VanHel-
mont’s definition Is singularly
shown by certain researches of
Franz Schneider, Jr., sanitarian
In the department of surveys and
exhibits of the Russell Sage
Foundation. It was while Mr.
Schneider was connected with the
Massachusetts Institute of Tech
nology as a biology and health
expert chat he was called upor to
investigate a so-called “haunted"
house in - oston.
Frightened Children.
He found the ghost, removed
the troublesome guest and
brought Joy and courage to a dis
tressed and unharoy family. The
house, a large, handsome four-
story structure in the fashionable
Back Bay district, for many
months had borne the disagree
able reputation of being tenanted
by unearthly midnight visitors
Servants who slept on the top
floor said it was a common ex
perience for them to awaken at
night “as If someone were touch
ing me.” i with a "creepy feeling
going all over me ,a though I
were being paralyzed."
Children of the family were
similarly affected; one of them,
a little boy, rushed screaming
into the nurses room one night
crying ^hat a man was waking
him up and asking why she let
him be frightened so Previous
occupants of the building had
been troubled In the same way.
some of the servants actually
declaring they had seen walking
apparitions. Sounds were also
heard as If some one were walk
ing about the house or overhead,
and these sensation* continued
after the sleeper was thoroughly
awake and even after the lights
had been turned on.
Pathologists often have traced
mental disturbances. anemia,
malnutrition, loss of psychic pow
ers and diminished vigor to the
vitiated air of sleeping rooms.
Bearing this in mind. Mr. Schnei
der sought at once to ascertain
if the uncanny conditions In the
upper part of the house were not
due to a defective furnace, sewer
gas^s or leaking gas Jets, and soon
found that his suspicions were
correct.
He traced the trouble to the
heating apparatus, and found the
separation between the hot-air
ducts and the fire-box (upon
which the Integrity of a hot-air
furnace depends) w as badly brok
en. as a result of which the whole
household was bathed In an at
mosphere of diluted flue gaaes.
Worst Upstairs.
Conditions were worse on the
upper floors, where the fumes of
sulphurous oxide and carbon
monoxide w^ere sufficiently heavy
to produce the most serious
svmptom*. Including sensations
of oppression, hallucinations and
overwhelming fear.
Carbon diox'de or carbonic acid
gas acts as a narcotic poison
when present in the air to the ex
tent of only 4 or 5 per cent. It
constitutes ibe choke damp' or
coal mines. Monoxide Is even
more poisonous and more subtle.
It Is produced when a coal fire
burn* v;!th a smokeless, pale-
lavender flame. Sulphurous ox
ide, a gas formed by the combus
tion of sulphur In the air, ha* a
suffocating odor. Is fatal to life
and very Injurious to vegetation.
It tarnishes silverware and Is a
plague to the housewife, who finds
her geraniums and other plant*
dying from this unsuspected
cause.
Time to Inspect.
These gases, then, were the
"ghosts" that were frightening the
members of that Boston house
hold. The trouble was made even
worse by the presence of a small
steam-heating system which had
been placed within the Are box
directly over the Are, the effect
being to cool it and so cause in
complete combustion. When the
furnace was repaired the servants
and children were restored to nor
mal health, and they were never
again awakened by their imagi
nary tormentors.
A few weeks hence and thou
sands of families will be packing
up their household goods for re
moval to new domiciles. It is well
in renting a new house to pay
particular attention to the plumb
ing and heating arrangements.
A defective flue will surcharge a
big house with deadly gas from
the most perfectly-built steam or
hot-water furnace, and poor b *.th-
room fixtures may Imperil many
lives from noxious sewage fumes.
“Brick sewers have been found
to be permeable to illuminating
gas. May not these poisonous
flue gases sometimes escape into
houses through porous oi* leaky
chimneys?" asks Mr Schneider,
adding that many headaches and
anemlus of obscure origin have
been traced to slight leaks of Il
luminating gas.
On cold nights—when the win
dows are closed and ventilation
is poorest—that is the time the
greatest harm is wrought by these
unhealthful conditions. It is al
ways well to leave the windows
partly open in sleeping rooms at
night; draughts are less danger
ous than these vapors that so
often prove fatal.
The Russell Sage Foundation
expert’s discovery brings with It
certain plain hygienic lessons, but
is none the less interesting to ex
perimental psychologists and in
vestigators of psychic and spirlt-
ual'stic manifestation. It may be
the beginning of a world-wide un
derstanding of the subject of all
•o-called “ghostly" phenomena.
Basis Is Ignorance.
Universal belief in wandering
spirits is a survival of fetlchism.
ancestor worship and demonology
of the primitive savages, accord
ing to Huxley, ail of which are
different manners of expressing
absurd dread of things not un
derstood. Its basis is ignorance
and superstition. Education, he
Insists, will annihilate the Action
of supernaturaiism, the belief In
s mysterious and unnatural Qod
and an all-powerful and natural
devil. The most startling phe
nomena. if baneful, thus may be
han'shed from the domain of
thought and only that which Is
useful, harmless and indestructi
ble remain.
Encouraging, indeed, is the
knowledge that the Russell Sage
Foundation, formed "to improve
social and living conditions in the
United Stales.” Is enlisted In a
scientiAc warfare on common su
perstitions. A grateful public will
accept its expert's truth-telling
about ghosts and beware of the
perils of a tainted atmosphere.
THE home: paper
Elbert Hubbard
Writes on
Fraternity
JpPi
It Lifts Us from Casua’
Acquaintance to Broth
erhood; It Develops anc
Evolves Us.
SPffSi
By ELBERT HUBBARD
*<TT' ellowship 18 heaven ”
H said William Morris;
"lack of fellowship is
hell.”
Therefore was Eve created.
Therefore were so many of us
brought Into this great old wor'.d
together.
And in all our quarrels we still
recognize the bond of fellowship.
Quarreling in moderation may
be a blessing in disguise. For does
it not often reveal to us the value
of a true friend?
There is, however, a higher de
gree of fellowship than the one
usually accepted.
It is fraternity. It lifts fellow
ship from casual acquaintance and
society niceties to intimacy and
brotherhood.
Fraternity Is the banding to
gether of individuals to the com
mon interest.
It is a constitutional and mutual
affection between men.
It Is the law of association, and
is as old as Nature.
As a matter of fact, It is this law
that creates, develops and evolves
us.
No man can live to himseif alone.
And while we have diversified gifts
and peculiar wants and desires,
our general needs are identical.
Happiness is dispensed or re
ceived, according to our ability to
give.
Probably the primary idea of fra
ternity was to insure safety—the
safety of numbers.
The Cities Great.
| Single-handed, man was likely to
i suffer at the hands of nomadic
I tribes or marauders.
His flocks and herds, left • un-
i guarded by reason of his inability
| to be in two places at once, fell
i prey to wild beasts.
I So men banded themselves to
gether in a community or frater
nity for the common good.
The isolated dug-out, the rude
[ cabin, was succeeded by a score
j or more of tents. The fort became
a town, the town a city.
Perhaps some may say that the
city is hideous, noisome and unin-
{ spiring.
Stiil, is it not strange that thou
sands delight in the contemplation
of the beauties of the New Jerusa
lem—the City of God!
Always have the cities been
cited as examples of a country’s
greatness.
We say Rome, Athens, New
York, Chicago, Paris, London.
Visions of beauty, splendor, activ
ity and effort come to us.
It Is only natural that man’s di
versities in opinion shall develop
In certain directions. And frater
nity, recognizing free and inde
pendent opinion as sacred, shall
give every one the right to ex
press it.
Variety is necessary to form the
mosaic of life, and fraternity p-1-
justs the fragments to make one
harmonious whole.
Even as that wondrous toy of
our childhood—the kaleidoscope—
formed beautiful designs as we
willed, so the theories and theses
of men fall into place in the hands
of the fraternal orders.
They are adjusted to the needs
of his fellows, and every one is
blessed in proportion to his ca
pacity to appreciate and enjoy
them.
Fraternity, as exemplified in our
great fraternal orders, stands for
helpfulness and progress.
Man looks on man as a brother.
He also becomes brother to the
trees, the flowers and all plants
and animal life.
He reverences the source of all
life.
Thrilling Stories.
He is thrilled with the story of
Calvary, and is filled with admire
tion when he reads how Buddha
gave himself to the famished lion
ess—whose dugs ran blood—so that
she might nourish her cubs.
These thoughts bring about men
tal uplift, give nobler alms and
aspirations, finer Ideals.
Fraternity makes for purity in
thought, word and deed.
Purity, aid, progress are the
watchwords of fraternity.
These, with charity, Justice and
fidelity, from the foundation and
fabric of fraternal orders every
where.
Possibly fraternal orders do in
estimable work toward preserving
universal peace.
War can not take place where
charitableness and brotherly love
are manifest.
“Charity suffereth long and Is
kind; doth not behave itself un
seemly.”
And fraternity is Its synonym.
Fraternity also stands for Jus
tice—for right government
“God give us men! A time like
this demands
Great hearts, strong minds and
trill, ng hands.
Men tchnm the love of office
can not kill.
Men whom the spoils of’office
can not hug.
Men who possess opinions and a
will.
Men who have purpose, men whg
will not lie.
For while the rabble with their
thumbworn creeds.
Their large professions and their
little deeds,
Wrangle■—in foolish strife—lot
Freedom weeps;
Wrong rules the land, and wail
ing Justice sleeps."
Loyalty the Keynote.
Perhaps, however, the keynote
that holds the arch of fraternal
orders together is that of fidelity
or loyalty.
Without loyalty, united effort is
impossible.
The tow-line of progress becomes
a rope of sand.
Loyalty springs from love—the
love that believes in the object,
institution or order you are asso
ciated with.
And so the loyalty of fraternal
order members mirrors their love
for that order and the principles
for which they stand.
Their loyalty is like a cloth of
gold, spread on the altar of their
affections
Each for all and all for each, Is
the slogan of fraternal orders.
To practice this divine selfish
ness is not so simple as it appears.
For it is hard to think of others
and the ultimate instead of the
personal and immediate.
But fraternal orders are teach
ing us that the Brotherhood of
Man is a reality.
The Cavalier Parliament
By REV. THOMAS B. GREGORY.
T WO HUNDRED AND FIF
TY-ONE years ago the
Cavalier Parliament of
Charles Second forced two thou
sand rectors and vicars, consti
tuting about a fifth of the Eng
lish clergy, to leave their par
ishes as nonconformists. The
evicted clergymen were reduced
to dire poverty and distress. This
outrageous business was followed
by the law by which any person
above the age of sixteen who was
present at any religious service
not according to the Prayer Book
was to be imprisoned three
months for the first offence, six
for the second, and to be trans
ported for the third
It was a gala time for the
Cavaliers! Things were coming
their way in great style! The ac
cursed Puritans were at last down
and out for good and for all.
But the trouble with the Puri
tan is he will not remain down
and out. He is the toughest
human proposition on earth, or
that ever was on earth. You can
not annihilate him. Crush him
to-day, and he will rise up to
morrow stronger and more de
fiant than ever. He has the most
virile brain, the most powerful
will, the most unconquerable in
dividuality of any man on the
planet.
Hence It came about that in
turning out the Puritans the
Cavaliers in the end got the worst
, ' - i.iai nine
its history found Itself confron
with an organized body of <
senters without its pale. The
possibility of crushing such
body as this wrested from E
lish statesmen the first legal r
ognltlon of freedom of w orship
the Toleration Act. their ra
growth In later times has by
grees stripped the Church of
most all the exclusive prlvile
which it enjoyed as a rellgi
body, and now threatens what
mains of its official connect
with the State.”