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EDITORIAL PAGE The Atlanta Georgian THE HOME RARER
THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN
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Christmas Is Coming
The Wonderful Magnet
How Wild Suprrutition .Settles Down Into .Scientific Reality.
Oapjrrifbt. 1918. ty Th« Ht«r Company.
Everybody knows something of the peculiarities of the mag
net. As a boy you led tiny painted ducks around the water basin,
held ng a magnet in your hand, or you owned a horseshoe magnet
that would pick up nails and needles.
You know now in a general kind of way that the magnet is a
very useful as well as a somewhat mysterious thing.
The old Greeks and Romans simply knew that some remark-
sble iron ore found in Lydia, near the town of Magnesia, and
hence called magnet, was capable of drawing and holding pieces
of metal.
The ancients had the wildest theories concerning the magnet,
just as we have wild theories about things that are new and strange
to us to-day.
They thought that the magnet could be used in cases of sick
ness, that it could attract wood and flesh, that it influenced the
human brain, causing melancholy. They believed that the power
of a magnet could be destroyed by rubbing garlic on it, and that
power brought back again by dipping the magnet in goat's blood.
They believed that a magnet could be used to detect bad conduct
in a woman; they believed that it would not attract iron' in the
presence of a diamond. They believed much other nonsense quite
as ridiculous as the nonsense that we believe to-day.
It must have seemed a great waste of time in wise men in the
old days to discuss the magnet or think about it at all. Please
observe how the apparent nonsense of early speculation finally
ripens into actual utility, and learn to respect those who deal as
best they can with questions that seem beyond our comprehension.
First the magnet was made actually and wonderfully useful
in the compass. Who discovered the compass nobody knows. It
was probably invented by the Chinese and brought to Europ •
through the Arabs. Anyhow, some genius found out that a small
needle brought in contact with the so-called lodestone, or magnetic
ore, absorbs the qualities of the lodestone, and when placed on a
pivot will always point to the north.
In the magnet there were and there still are many mysteries.
A form of perpetual motion seems to be embodied in the principle
of magnetism. One strange fact is this, that the weight of the
metal is exactly the same before it is magnetized and after it is
magnetized.
Early students thought that the magnet pointed toward some
particular spot in the sky, perhaps some magnetic star. One genius
felt sure that there must be huge mountains of lodestone near the
North Pole. This suggestion was followed by ingenious yarns to
the effect that in the extreme North ships had to be built with
wooden nails, instead of iron nails, as the magnetic mountains
would draw the iron nails out of the ship.
After this came the more rational conception that our own
esrth is a great magnet, and that the little magnet in the compass
. -inply obeys in pointing the greater force of the earth magnet.
In thousands of ways to-day this magnetic power is utilized.
That the earth itself is a great magnet cannot be questioned.
/."d there’s no doubt that each of us human beings is a compound
magnet on his own account, depending for his welfare on magnetic
fo^ce.
The millions of red corpuscles in the blood, each with its in
finitesimal particles of iron, absorb in the lung3 and distribute
tnrougliout the body the electric forces on which we depend, and
with which we do our work.
When you read of men and women dealing in a blundering ■
kind of a way with abstract, abstruse speculations and problem^ j
do not laugh at them too heartily. They are no more ridiculous
than the old Greeks who thought that a magnet could be regulated j
by garlic or goat’s blood. And their wild theories of to-day may j
settle down into great utility centuries from now. This applies to
Chnstian Science, faith cures, telepathy, and the many other spec
ulations of the present day. There is unquestionably much future
lruit and value in many or all of them.
© Canopus and Sirius
By EDGAR LUCIEN LARKIN.
% Australian friend writes
r\ that Canopus Is more
brilliant than Sirius.
I’leasr Mac- if this is true. In
what part of the world is it visi
ble? Has its parallax been accu
rately determined?”
A. First l fear that your friend
ih in error. The results of that
instrument of precision, the me
ridian photometer, are that Sirius
is seven-tenths of h magnitude
brighter than Canopus, which
• asilv teaches that Sirius is
brighter than any other star.
Second Canopus, next in bril
liancy, is visible from all that
portion of the world south of
north latitude 37 degrees, since its
deelination is south 53 degrees,
and 53 is the complement of 37.
It therefore never rises above
th«- south horizon of an> point 3.
degrees north. The latitude of
this obst rvatory is 34 degrees 17
minutes, hence Canopus ris.-*
vt;nearly 3 degrees above the
watery wastes In the Pacific Sor
Its low altitude makes it much
fainter than higher Sirius, as the
light must traverse layers of dust
and water vapor near the earth’s
surface. Still It magnificent,
especially when standing over a
calm ocean surface.
Third Canopus has no paral
lax that the highest-power tele-
micrometers that can he made ar
able to measure. This Is one of
the most overwhelming facts
within the entire range of human
experience. This means that if
one goes to Canopus with the
most powerful telescope evt r
made, turns and looks hack this
way, the base line, (he entire
diameter of the orbit of the earth
1S5.764.000 miles -dwindles to a
minute point too small to be
measured by an> microscope.
Some idea may be had of the
immensity of the universe by
thinking of this fact during each
spare minute. Better to s.. think
than to waste the precious mo
ments.
Questions Answered
THE GERMAN EMPIRE.
J. TV Since 1871 all the States
of Germany form an “external
union for the protection of the
realm ana tin- care of the welfare
of th* German people.” For leg-
».du: ve purposes, under the I'm
p- or as head, are two Houses of
Assembly, the Cpper House of
the Federated States, represent
ing the individual States and the
Lower House, or “Reichstag.'*
Tin former corresponds very
losely to our Senate, while the
latter resembles our, House of
Representat;lves. Germany, while
heoretically a monarchy, is in
substance and practice as demo
cratic a country as there is on
earth. The Emperor knows, very
well, that it is no longer by “di
vine right,” but by the right of
tiie people that he sits at the
head.
THE CUP RACE.
K. C. 1>.—Sir Thomas IJpton is
now building a yacht to race for
the America cup. He has com
plied with the rather unfair regu
lations of the New York Yacht
Club, and will race for the cup on
their own terms The race will
prohabh hi held in New York
harbor some time next fall.
/% FIFTEEN-GENT pamphlet
/A packed with value comes
from the Equal Suffrage
Association of Chicago. It comes
under the title, “Social Forces.”
and contains a topical outline,
with a lull bibliography, cover
ing government methods and
ideals, together with industrial
and educational types as well as
problems of women and children.
Libraries, schools, clubs and indi
vidual students will find this an
awakening little volume. I cull a
few wise paragraphs:
*‘We should disabuse our minds
of the all-too-prevolent idea that
what we do Is of no value in the
development of the race, tha:
certain reforms are bound to
come anyway, and wo may as
well sit back and fold our arms
and watch them come.
“Can not women, in the larger
field now opening before them,
bring to the world as their con
tribution to social progress an at
titude of mind sufficiently open
and unhampered by tradition to
shorten the process by eliminat
ing at least the time occupied in
• »\ dea arpund t he
block ?’
“As we think back into the hu
man societies that were here be
fore wo came, we see in each a
few great, struggling. lifting
souls; and here and there, among
the satisfied folks, a man or wom
an who saw the way to a freer,
more beautiful social order. And
the question at once confronts
us: Why did Mencius in China,
Gautama In India. Aurelius,
Michael Angelo, Francis Shaftes
bury. each in his time, see so
clearly, try so hard, and succeed
so little, in serving real social
progress? Why. indeed, when
each age has hail Its social re-
deemers. has the household of ihe
world retained so much of .shift
less disorder and dirt, so much of
yesterday's left-over untidiness
and ugliness and disease-breed
ing filth, so much dullness and
wretchedness of children and us
all?
“Edison can work out the plan
of a storage battery all by him
self. and Burbank can produce a
spineless cactus all alone; but
the idea of a society without vic
tims, the plan of Its realizations
and the definite practical program
of what to do next to secure it
may be perfectly developed in the
mind of one of our steady-looking
fellows, and It will never do any
good, It can never be realized,
except through the co-operation
of all of us In seeing what he sees,
in understanding his reasoning,
in uniting with his determining
"This is the distinguishing per
ception of our time-—that we can
have any sort of world we choose,
that we can leave to our descend
ants any sort of world we will,
and that this recreating of social
life can not be achieved except
through our companionship in co
operation, together using all the
facts that any of us has learned.
This dawning of the creative so
cial consciousness Is expressing
itself in many particular direc
tions, political, economic, artistic;
and each of these divides again ‘
like some great limb of a living
tree Into its branches.”
O NE hundred and one years
ago a Berlin publisher an
nounced to the world that
he had just # published the first
two volumes of Niebuhr’s His
tory of Rome—a work that was
destined to play hovoc with many
of the records of the past.
The great German’s book made
a complete revolution In the
method of writing history. In
its wide and all-important field
It did as much as Sir Charles Ly-
ell's book did in the field of geol
ogy. or Darwin in that of biog
raphy. it was, in fact, the his
tory of history, the key that was
to admit us to the temple of
Truth in matters historical.
In Niebuhr's work there ap
peared. practically for the first
time, the exact facts regarding
the Romans and their institu
tions—their population, the foun
dation of their State, the origin
of the Plebs, the real relations
between the Plebs and the Pa-
CONSTANCY ,*
BV LILLIAN LAUFERTY.
I
LOVED you once—I love you still
What soul can bid love nay?
Your memory my heart must thrill
At this sad far-off day.
If ecstasy Is paid with tears.
If Joy must end In sorrow;
And love comes down through weary years
And grim Is each to morrow;
If fancy’s hour is paid in woe.
If bliss must reap in pain.
And still slow days must dully go, I
And yet stale moons must wane—
Why. I, who loved you. love you still
Despite these years apart:
No price too great for that wild thrill
You once taught my sad hearu
Stars and Stripes
Dr.Parkhursts
Article
—ON—
The Churches 1 o-day—
They A re Not Schools
of Theological Dog
ma, as One Critic
Claims — They Are
Dealing Very Directly
with Practical Things.
By DR. C. H. PARKHURST.
How We Can Remould the World
© The Great Niebuhr ©
By EDWIN MARKHAM.
By REV. THOMAS B. GREGORY
triclans, the nature of the public
lands, the character of the vari
ous constitutions, and the true
meaning of the early law's* and
customs out of which came, in
the fullness of time, the all-con
quering Republic which ended
with Caesar.
The myths which, up to Nie
buhr’s time, had dominated much
of our thought about Rome were
exploded for all time, supersti
tions were wiped out, and the
way was cleared for a proper un
derstanding of the great people
who had stamped their genius so
indelibly and permanently upon
the world.
Nor must the fact be over
looked that In clearing up the
Roman field Niebuhr cleared the
entire field of history.
The entire past, beginning with
the dawn of recorded events,
was now to begin to loom up with
something like accuracy of out
line and proportion. Rollin and
his brother dreamers were to
give way to the historians who
could see clearly and report
faithfully. Fables were no long
er to usurp the place of facts, and
old tradition was to take back a
seat for the reality.
And so. what Vico and Montes
quieu did for the philosophy of
history. Nieubuhr wate to do for
Its method, and it is perfectly
correct to say that those who
have, within the past half cen
tury or so, rewritten the story of
the past, have done so largely
along the lines that were marked
out by the great German histo
rian.
Curtiss airship plant will move
to Europe. Rather an unusual
flight.
• • •
That Illinois girl that was jolt
ed into the Governor's lap landed
eoft.
Vaudeville man in "turn " puts
stockings on woman partner. An
extraordinary feat.
C HURCH people, whether of
the Protestant, Catholic or
Jewish type are sometimes
made a little impatient by the
way in which writers and de-
claimers go out of their way to
say ill-tempered and petulant
things about the Church and the
ministry.
It would be in exceedingly bad
taste for us to deny the defects
of an Institution so evidently de
ficient in many of the elements
that make for protection; and In
telligent and generous criticism
will, by every fair-minded and
sincere churchman, be received
with becoming humility and grat
itude; but adverse judgments
when pronounced not only ignor
antly, but with a certain malig
nant reliBh, are a little irksome
to the mind even of those who
are trying to make it part of
their religion to keep even-tem
pered and good-natured.
The simplest thing that, under
the circumstances, can be said, is
that it is much easier to say what
the Church ought to be than it is
to be a member and help make it
what it ought to be.
It would be unjust to find fault
with the ideals that the critic
exploits, but better than to stay
outside and exploit ideals would
be to come in and make them
into reality.
It would be better, but a great
deal harder.
There are few lines of busi
ness that require so little capital
as that of the fault finder, and
few that involve so little expen
diture of Christian grace as that
of the censorious critic.
Such Criticism May Once
Have Been True, but
It Is No Longer;
An article in the November is
sue of a magazine, entitled “Our
Supervised Morals,” would have
made better reading and more
helpful, if it had not been em
ployed to express a little of the
vicious animus just remarked
upon, for while it says many
good things, it is composed in
rather bad temper and indulges
in two or three slaps which do
not rise to the dignity of an as
sault.
One example is the following.
“Perhaps the churches are con
sidered the schools of morals,
• » • but. no; the churches are
schools of theological dogma, a
matter totally unrelated to
moralB. and only here and there,
sporadically, does one find clergy
men with definite ethical doc
trines. who feel called upon to
teach them.
“The topic uppermost just now
in the ministerial mind, as who
may prove who listens to ser
mons from Maine to Y irginla,
and from Massachusetts to Col
orado, is the supremacy and need
of the Church. That the Church
is not a useless or decadent insti
tution is vociferously proclaimed
from all the pulpits. Well, is it
a school of morals? is it intent
upon a,nice distinction between
right and wrong?”
There was a time undoubtedly
when the criticism passed upon
preaching by the writer of the
article would have been applica
ble to the situation, but she has
not kept up with the progress of
ministerial thought. Is not aware
that the pulpit of the present is
dealing.- very directly and em
phatically, with practical matters
of conduct.
Like other members of her
class, who have a latent antipathy
to religion considered as funda
mental to sound ethics, she harps
upon the old criticism, not hav
ing come close enough to the
spirit of the contemporary pulpit
been in progress, and that the
Ten Commandments now fill a
very much larger place in pulpit
discourse than does dogmatic die
cussion.
She has let her recollection of
what may have been true once,
along with an illy disguised an
tipathy to the whole religious
matter, take the place of an inti
mate acquaintance with what
ministers are now preaching
about (as disclosed by the press
and by printed volumes of ser
mons) in forming her estimate
and shaping her criticsm of cur
rent homiletics.
Had not her article been col
ored by such a prejudgment she
would have been saved from the
violation of one of those moral
principles so ardently cherished
by her—-“Thou shalt not bear
false witness.’’
Just What Is Meant by
“Church?” What Does
It Stand For?
But her condemnation rests
not only upon the clergy but—as
shown in the quoted paragraph-
just as much upon the church.
The writer of the article in ques
tion gives no indication as to
what exactly she understands by
’’Church.”
But if the superficial view she
takes of what the preachers are
saying is paralleled by her estl
mate of what Church denotes,
she probably understands by the
latter an assemblage of people
gathered periodically in the sanc
tuary for religious services and
in their corporate capacity un
dertaking to put some sort of
stamp upon the character of the
community.
There is considerable of that
idea abroad and she presumably
shares In it, and so far as it goes
the idea is not an altogether un
warranted one. But the full
scope of Church is not appre
elated and a just accounting is
not made till there have been
reckoned in the results wrought
by individual members who
gather in the sanctuary and who
receive from its services and
from the inspiration of its fellow
ships that inspiration that sends
them forth iDdlviduaJly to put
their several impulses where op
portunity and the love that is in
their hearts suggests.
Take, if you please, all the nris
sions that are being worked in
this city; add to them the Young
Men’s and the Young Women's
Christian Associations; add still
farther all the purely humanl
tartan efforts that are being put
forth for human saving and up
lift.
They Are Building Men
and Women Into No
bility of Life.
Remember that in almost
erei-7 case the moving spirits in
these enterprises are Churchmen
and Churchwomen that are labor
ing not at all along lines of dog
matic theology but with a direci
reference to building up men and
women into practical nobility of
life.
ln=Shoots
Cold feet never carried a man
anywhere.
• * *
The courage of one’s convictions
Is more apt to invite a swat than
words of approval.
• * •
It is impossible to be real hap
py unless someone is happy with
you.
• * «
If all were forced to practice
what they preach there would not
be so much preaching.
• * *
The girl w'hose face never
changes color is not always
heartless. She may be kaUu-
minad.