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The Atlanta Georgian
the: home rarer
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EDITORIAL RAGE
Atlanta Must Get Oglethorpe as a Christmas Present
Atlanta must ^ive herself a Christmas present this year—and that present must he
Oglethorpe University!
Atlanta is going to raise the money necessary to insure the establishment of this
great institution—that is settled. Atlanta never has failed in matters of this kind---
good old. brave old Atlanta! And Atlanta isn ’t going to start now.
It is Atlanta’s way, however, to do big 1 hings royally, and at psychological moments—
i
wherefore Atlanta must inak'o herself a Christinas present of Oglethorpe!
It is the holiday season—the people of Atlanta are busy with their Christmas shop
ping. The stores are thronged with happy, laughing, eager, and good-naturedly crowding
men and women.
Santa Claus is on his way to Atlanta—and he is in fora right jolly welcome!
The holiday feeling is in the atmosphere—it is the season of giving and receiving, of
smiles and song, merrymaking and sunshine!
Atlanta can raise the remaining fund necessary to complete the $250,000 needed. At
lanta is going to do that—so, why not make a quick job of it, and put Oglethorpe University
in Atlanta’s otherwise bulging Christmas stocking 1 ?
Think it over—and then come along with your subscription.
Remember, in giving to the Oglethorpe fund, you are helping in a magnificent
work, and for all time. You are splendidly emphasizing the genuineness of Atlanta’s
oft-repeated claims to real greatness.
Let’s have Oglethorpe University as the crowning climax of Atlanta’s happiest, best,
and very brightest Christmas!
The North Side of Atlanta
MUST Be Protected From Fire
The burning of the Winecoff home in Ansley Park brings
up a warning to the city that must not longer be ignored. Be
yond North avenue Atlanta can not boast of a single fire house.
That means that the district from North avenue to Brook-
wood is dependent on one fire engine.
It also means, invariably, that a fire in a home on the North
Side, where many of the finest residences in the South are lo
cated, results in the complete destruction of the house.
Downtown Atlanta is splendidly protected against fire.
The force is efficient and the apparatus is up to date. But the
city has not kept pace with its growth. It must protect its tax
payers everywhere, and fire and police protection are essential
safeguards.
The North Side must have a fire house, and it must have it
without delay.
The city’s added revenue for the coming year puts these
improvements easily within its means.
President Wilson's “Watchful
Waiting’' in Mexico
President Wilson’s message to Congress is characteristically
direct and simple in style and substance.
Unfortunately, in the matter of public concern which he
recognizes as of prime importance by putting it first in his mes
sage—the Mexican situation—the President has no triumphs to
report, no well-defined policy to urge.
Nothing in the paragraphs of the message dealing with this
subject gives any indication that the President is in possession
of any information denied to the general public that may justify
his policy of inaction—or, as he describes it, of “WATCHFUL
WAITING.”
“Mexico has no government,” says the President. Quite
true. There being no government there to protect the lives and \
property of American citizens in the chaotic country, where shall !
they turn for protection?
To their own country? Not so. The President of the United j
States has for the citizens of this country resident in Mexico no j
guarantee of protection, no word of promise save the vague as- I
surance that the collapse of Huerta's power is not far away.
Failing to secure safety for Americans to day, the President
advances not the faintest hope of their protection in future. No
where in the message does it appear that our fellow citizens in
Mexico are entitled to or will receive any protection from their
Government. If upon the fall of Huerta worse government suc
ceeds, which is by no means improbable, they need not lift their
voices to Washington in an appeal for aid. The policy of
“WATCHFUL WAITING” is not fatiguing—except to the suf- [
ferers in Mexico—and nothing in the message of President Wil
son suggests any end to it.
Hated by the Mexicans, looked upon askance by other for
eign residents as partially responsible for the general peril, and
deserted by their home Government, the Americans in Mexico
are pathetic specimens of men without a country.
The policy of WATCHFUL WAITING” may be popular in
Washington, but it is heartbreaking in Mexico. Those to whom
it is applied are a little band of true men, beset by robbers and
assassins, barracaded and defending themselves against hopeless ;
odds, but ever watching and waiting for the gleam of their
country s flag and the blare of the bugles telling of relief at hand.
But tc such the President's message holds out no ray of hope.
Questions Answered
MONROE DOCTRINE.
S. D.—Briefly, the Monroe Doc
trine is the contention of this
Government that al! foreign pow
ers who attempt to establish
themselves on American territory
are to be regarded as unfriendly.
In the Mexican tangle It operates
10 keep other nations from
n to intervene on behalf of their
<>wt\ citizens, thus placing on the
States the burden of po-
■ mg this continent.
COLUMBUS.
D. R. O'G.—Columbus first
landed on an island of the Ba
hama group off the coast of Flor
ida. which was named Ran Sal
vador. He afterward made explo
rations among other of the West
Indian Islands and along the coast
of Cuba. He died, however, with
out ever knowing that he had dis
covered a neu continent. T ?e
lands he had found he supposed
were the outlying islands of the
East Indies.
Is This a Pretty Picture?
NO. But it’s a picture that will be realized in thousands of instances if you put off your Christmas
shopping until the last moment. SHOP EARLY and give the girl behind the counter a chance to
enjoy the holiday.
Radium as Disease Victor Bars Monopoly
I N Tie* of the growing belief
that radium holds out the
promise of victory over some
of the most terrible and intract
able diseases that afflict human
ity, such, for instance, as cancer,
there will be rejoicing over the
news that a new sonree of supply
of this puissant element has
been found and is being devel
oped in the United States
The first radium ever known
was discovered in the mineral
pitchblende, a blue-black, heavy
substance, found in considerable
abundance at the mines of Joach-
imsthal In Austria, and formerly
thrown aside as waste. Until
recently Joachimsthal had a vir
tual monopoly in the production
of radium because pitchblende
itself is not very widely distrib
uted over the earth, and no other
mineral was known from which
radium could be extracted. More
over, the Joachimsthal pitch
blende is extraordinarily rich in
radium, containing about one
ten-millionth of one per cent!
It will be observed that the chem
ist's idea of richness Is widely
different from that of the gold
miner.
Now, however, this monopoly
has been broken, for it has been !
found that a new mineral icaruo-
By GARRETT
tite, named in honor of a for- |
mer President of Prance, al
though discovered In the United
Statesl, Is st least as rich as
pitchblende in radium, and easier
to work.
The greatest deposits of car-
notite yet found are in Paradox
Valley. Colorado, but it also
exists in paying quantity in Utah,
especially near Green River.
Naturally, miners are beginning
to prospect for it, and the Denver
office of the Bureau of Mines has j
issued a circular describing the
appearance of carnotite and the
method of testing It for the exist
ence of radium.
in view of it* color, and of the
enormous value of its hidden con
tents, it might be called the gold
of science. It is a lemon-yellow
mineral, generally found in pock
ets of sandstone deposits. Some
times it forms yellow specks dis
seminated through the sand
stone, and at other times it is
teen as yellow incrustations in
the cracks. Occasionally it Is
found in a more massive form,
associated with vanadium ores.
The prospecting, says Dr.
Charles L. Parsons, is mainly !
carried along the sides of can
yons. where the stratum contain
ing carnotite has been eroded, i
and wherever vanadium and ura
P. SERVISS.
nium stains are seen on the rock
the prospector blasts his tunnel,
hoping to come upon a pocket
of carnotite ore.
The testing of the ore for the
existence of radium within it 1b
a process that would have ap
pealed to the mysticism of the
old alchemists and magicians.
The test consists in making the
ore take a picture. The official
directions say:
"Wrap, in the dark, a photo
graphic plate in two thicknesses
of black paper. On the paper lay
a key, and then Just above the
key suspend two or three ounces
of the ore. and place tile whole
in a light-tight box. Pressure
of the ore on the key and plate
should be avoided. After three
or four days develop the plate
in the ordinary way, and if the
ore is appreciably radio-active
an image of the key will be found
on the plate."
Of course, some other metalllo
object, such as a coin, would an
swer as well as a key, but prob
ably the key was chosen because
its form is so pronounced and
unmistakable. If the prospector
finds the Image of the key on his
photographic plate, he knows
that he holds in his hands, .m-
bedded in the carnotite. an a!- I
most infiuitcsimai quantity of a
substance which, weight for
weight, Is worth at least a hun
dred thousand times as much as
gold.
Already companies have been
formed for the exploitation of
the American radium producing
ores, and people who have that
kind of mental and moral make
up are debating the question
whether there may not be easy
fortunes for those who promptly
get control of the field. But it
will not be another Standard
Oil monopoly at best—or at
worst—because a very little pure
radium goes a very long way. It
is estimated that all the doctors
in America together do not pos
sess more than a single gram of
the substance.
A few ounces would probably
surflee for all their needs, and
the needs of all the hospitals.
But they do need much more
than they have at present, and
in order to meet their necessi
ties and demonstrate the real
value of radium in medicine,
millions of dollars will have to
be put into the mining and re
ducing of radium-bearing ores,
and in this Carthaginian age the
investment of a million always
means that somebody expects to
get back ten or a hundred
millions.
Feat of New York German
Journal Amazes Berlin
——
By GUSTAV SCHWEPPENDICK.
ISTINGUISHED German j
statesmen and Journalists j
are Interested as well as
amazed in contemplation of the
Journalistic feat of the New York
German Journal In publishing a
complete fifty-two page edition of
that the men who sowed such •
crop had no selfish intention what
ever of staying to reap anything
for themselvea.
"This is admirable,” he said. “TMa
is the most unselfish, really
patriotic enterprise I ever heard
of.”
the New York paper in Berlin tn
the Interest of the San Francisco
Exposition. The consensus of the
comment is that the enterprise of
the German Journal has been at
once of enormous benefit to the
exposition, and an illuminating ob
ject lesson in the making of a
newspaper to the entire German
press, whose editors have been
extreme'y kind in commending the
purpose and the execution of the
project.
When the American Journalists,
bearing the commission of Mr.
William Randolph Hearst to pub
lish a special edition of the Ger
man Journal tn Berlin, reached
the capital, famed for its art, its
science, its literature, its archi
tecture and its own newspapers,
they found that the conception
was astounding to their brethren
of the Berlin press.
Herr Theodore Wolff, editor of
the Berliner Tageblatt, one of the
leading Journals of the city, at
first received the prospect with
surprise.
"Why do you Americans wish to
publish a paper here in Berlin?”
he asked. “The Tageblatt is do
ing all that is possible for the San
Francisco Exposition. You could
not possibly do more. Take my ad
vice and save your money.”
Very gracefully did the noted
editor change his view when, two
weeks later, he saw the special
edition. Then, looking with ad
miration upon the production, he
said:
"You can tell the readers of the
Hearst papers in America that
your Berlin edition has been of
great value in aiding the move
ment for Germany’s participation
in the exposition at San Francisco.
The words of all the great men
and women, speaking through your
columns, will be heard and heeded
by the German people. The Ger
man exhibit at the Golden Gate
will be splendid and worthy of a
great nation.”
There was general incredulity
at the outset over the prospect of
circulating such an edition. When
the leading news company ordered
6,000 copies for the first day,
doubled the order in two days and
continued to buy every day for a
week, the wonders of American
circulation were unfolded along
with the other lessons of the
issue.
The German Journal had to meet
not only the local view of the edi
torial impossibility of the task,
but it had to provide for the un
usual mechanical difficulty of get-
tilng out an American paper. The
Berlin newspaper page is about
half the size of the average Ameri
can daily's page. Combining two
pages Into one was found to be
mechanically impossible, and only
two presses could be found in Ber
lin capable of doing the work re
quired. They could only print four
pages at a time, and we desired
sixteen pages for Exposition mat
ter alone, out of a total of fifty-
two pages.
Hardly less of a wonder to the
publishing community than the
magnitude of the venture was the
idea that Mr. Hearst would spend
so much money in getting out an
edition solely for the purpose of
aiding a public movement like the
San Francisco Exposition, with no
hope in the world of getting any of
the money back. Leading men
who were asked for literary con
tributions at first were incredulous
that such a thing could be possible
and then lost in admiration of the
spirit that prompted it.
Kls Excellency, Dr. Otto von
Hentig, former Minister of State,
author of one of the strongest
contributions to the issue, asked
with interest what the American
journalists intended doing after
they published their paper.
“We will take the first steamer
leaving for the United States," he
was told.
His Excellency was surprised
The last four pages of the spe
cial edition were printed two weeks
after our arrival in Berlin. We
obtained contributions from Ger
many’s biggest men and leading
women.
The special edition was most
widely circulated through all Ger
many and Austria. Every German
newspaper, every member of the
Reichstag and the Prussian Diet,
every German manufacturer, everv
hotel reading room; in fact, every
man of affairs received a copy.
Most remarkable, perhaps, was
an article printed in the German
newspaper trade organ. It de
scribed the (for Germane) novel
style and make-up, gave a list of
contributors and reprinted each
and every big "head” our edition
contained. In this connection it
said: "This is the style of heads
that some of our German papers
feebly and unsuccessfully try to
Imitate."
It was a Saturday when the edi
tion was published. On Sunday ths
newsstands are only open for one
hour in the morning. They have
no newsboys and no vender is per
mitted to do business in the streets
on Sunday. Bnt on that particular
Sunday many men and women were
to be seen sitting on benches in
the Berlin counterpart of Central
Park-Thlergarten, reading the New
York German Journal. Some read
articles by noted scientists, 6ome
laughed at T. B. Powers' funny
pictures, and nurse-maids from
the Spreewaid, proudly wearing
their picturesque native costumes,
entertained their little charges
with the pictures or the Katzen-
Jammer Kids.
“It is remarkable that this
change of sentiment should set in
just at the time you are publish
ing your special edition in this
city,” said Dr. Bernhardt, editor of
the Berliner Zeltung am Mittag.
"and I do not blame you for tak
ing credit for It”
The comment followed a great
change in public sentiment toward
the San Francisco Exposition, and
it is evident that Germany will he
splendidly represented.
One of the notable article* tn on?
edition was that of Dr. Otto von
Hentig, who is now president of
the Society for Germans in Foreign
Countries. Dr. von Hentig was
formerly Minister of State. In the
course of his article he says;
"Let us now consider apart from
business considerations the cultu
ral value of the Exposition. Can
our participation In the actual
opening ceremonies at the canal be
separated from our participation
in the Exposition? Will the voice
of the thirteen millions of German-
Americans who Invite us pressingly
and from the bottom of their hearts
and whose Judgment ought to be
with us of weight, fall to gain *
hearing? Are we going to endan
ger the many ties that bind us
through exchange professors,
American institutes, through art
and literature, through scientific
and personal relations? It would
be unwise to undervalue the senti
ment of a great nation, even if no
other factors were to be considered
than mere economic ones.
"The export and import trade of
the United States with Germany
amounted in the year 1912 to the>
colossal sum of 2 billion and 288
million marks. Is It not our duty
to protect and defend this trad*
even at the cost of participating
In an unproritable exposition
against the inrush of East-Aslatlo
goods? For it is sure that the
Panama Canal not only serves the
Americans; It shortens and eases
the route for the Chinese and the
Japanese for whom It opens new
markets where we must meet
them. Can we afford to be absent
when the nations of the world
present to the peoples of Western
South America, of East Asia and
Australia a comprehensive and
impressive picture of their Indus-* 1
tries’”