Newspaper Page Text
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fOVER 100,000
the SUNDAY AMERICAN'S
| net paid circulation
7 he National Southern Sunday Newspaper
The Atlanta Georgian
Read for Profit—GEORGIAN WANT ADS—Use for Results
VOL. XH. NO. 119.
ATLANTA, GA., THURSDAY,
DECEMBER 18, 1913.
Copyright. 1906. o OU\ Tf TC PAY NO
By The Georgian Co. ^ X O. MORE.
HOME
EDITION
PROBERS GRAPPLE WITH MILK EVILS
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raw
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Congress to Tal^e Up U. S. Wire Ownership
S
*2,
[DEATH BARES SECRET
OF RICH CITY HERMIT
Mayor Sees Corporation Plot Against Him
I
ivises Destructor aru) Fire Alarm
Companies Against “Spend
ing Money to Beat Him,”
Mayor Woodward practically placed
himself squarely in the race for re
flection Thursday when he told of re-
, ,rtg of sinister efforts to oppose him.
I have been informed from several
good sources that the Destructor
■ ompany of New York, the builders
of the crematory, and the Okonite
- ompany of New York, the builders
„f the new Are alarm system, don’t
intend to try to make any settlement
with the city during my administra
tion. but are endeavoring to get out
some other candidate who would ap
prove the contracts.
Then, when my administration is
over they would get their contracts
approved without friction.
His Advice to Companies.
T have not said whether I would
or would not run for Mayor. I can
toll those companies, though, that if
they will use the money it would take
to heat me with a candidate who
would approve their contracts, in re
ducing their prices I will approve the
purchase of their plants at once, and
everything would be settled without
further worry of taking any chances.”
Mayor Woodward said that while
the last crematory contract had been
approved, no effort had been made by
the Destructor Company to get a final
settlement with the city. He said
tie plant was not coming up to speci
fications and it would do no good to
apply to him for money until it did.
The plant is completed and has been
burning garbage for several months.
Likely To Be Big Issues.
Mayor Woodward has refused to
recognize the $106,000 moral obliga
tion contract for the fire alarm sys
tem. has intimated that he -would
pay a lump sum of $85,000 for the
system, but the Okonite Company
refuse* to make a greater reduction
’-ban 2 per cent.
Unless these two contracts are set-
Lerl before the next election they un
doubtedly will be important issues in
the Mayoralty election, without re
gard to the reports heard by Mayor
Woodward.
r ouncll will attempt to make agree-
men!« when the new budget is made
U P in January.
Record Shipment of
Turkeys; 1,200 Birds
Weigh 10,000 Pounds
The biggest single consignment of
turkeys ever received in Atlanta is
expected about next Sunday morning
by a South Broad street dealer.
A solid carload of turkeys from
Rogersville, Tenn , composes the
shipment—10,000 pounds, which
means between 1,000 and 1,200 live
birds.
“Atlanta will consume that in no
time,” said the dealer. “Why, the big
hotels for which we dress turkeys
take 1,000 pounds a day, and one
grocery company will use more than
a ton a week.’
The annual holiday demand for
turkeys is rather heavier than usual,
it was said, and the supply was hard
ly sufl^cient to meet it.
Wilson Will Spend
3 Weeks in South
Three Stamps Found
In Garret Bring $150
OSSINING, N. Y.. Dec. 18.—Three
rt *rn stamps, 80 years old. found in a
P a . r . rot by FTlliott B. Bunt, were sold for
•loo.
WASHINGTON, Dec. 18.—Presi
dent Wilson will take a Christmas va
cation of about three weeks, begin
ning probably next Tuesday. He w T ill
leave Washington for the South as
soon as he signs the currency bill.
“The President has not yet decided
where he will spend his vacation,”
said Secretary Tumulty to-day. “He
will stay away from Washington all
of three weeks, but his plans will
largely depend upon what Congress
does.”
President Wilson was feeling some
what improved to-day, and took an
automobile ride.
WASHINGTON. Dec. 18.—Senator
Hoke Smith, of Georgia, to-day pre
sented to the President and Mrs. Wil
son an invitation to attend the un
veiling of a Civil War monument at
Savannah, Ga., next April.
Scores in Peril When
Floor Sags at Feast
Less than a dozen of the several
hundred persons attending the din
ner after the installation of officers ot
the W. D. Lurkie Lodge of Masons,
in West End Wednesday night, were
aware of the fact that they were in
danger from the near collapsing of
the floor of the lodgeroom.
The supports of the floor gave way
and sagged a slight distance, but few
noticed it The information was com
municated to officers of the lodge, and
the room was emptied without al
lowing anyone to become aware of the
danger.
Suffrage League to
Probe Atlanta Vice
Headed by Mrs Amelia Woodall,
the Atlanta Equal Suffrage Associa
tion soon' will prosecute a searching
probe into vice conditions in Atlanta.
Prominent vice crusaders and po
lice officials will be called upon to as
sist.
NEXT
Sunday’s American
IS BARRED FROM THE
»
Atlanta Penitentiary
Because it contains an expose of that insti
tution, written by Julian Hawthorne, but
Atlantans can secure this great story by or
dering from a dealer, or by phoning Main
100. There are dozens of interesting features
in it.
Noted Suregon Declares Eugenic
Test Will Soon Rule All
Marriages.
The coming of a virtually 'love
less” age, when the doctrine of eugen
ics will be in general application and
when marriage contracts will l.e
based more on the laws of health
than on sentiment, was predicted
Thursday morning by Dr. A. J. Oseh-
ner, of Chicago, one of America’s
most noted surgeons, who is in At
lanta attending the convention of the
Southern Surgical and Gynecological
Association at the Georgian Terrace.
“Mankind is unmistakably drifting
toward an era when health will play
a most important part in marriage,"
said Dr. Oschner, "and it is not im
probable that there will come a time
when sentiment will be a minor fac
tor in the formation of marriage con
tracts. The doctrine of eugenics is
rapidly coming into greater favor 8.11
over the world, and the trend of mod
ern thought is certainly toward its
general application."
“Is it not possible that there will
coma a time when love will be elimi
nated altogether as a reason for mar
riage?" Dr, Oschner was asked.
Tells of Stride of Eugenics.
"That is something I can not an
swer," he smiled, “because I do nut
know. It would seem only logical,
however, that such would be the ul
timate result of the doctrine, in view
of the strides it is making.
"Eugenics,” Dr. Oschner continued,
"is but an outgrowth of the health
awakening which is general through
out the world. It is a recognition of
the fundamental principle that an
ounce of prevention Is worth a pound
of cure, and an admission of the truth
that the health of a child is deter
mined largely by the health of its
parents.”
Dr. Oschner declared that the
"loveless” age will be accompanied
by the “operatfon-iess” age, the ar
rival of this latter era being wholly
contingent upon the progress of man
kind in acquiring jts education, in
becoming thoroughly acquainted with
the fundamental laws of health and
in applying these laws to its daily
life.
“Surgical operations for the cure
of disease will decrease in the ratio
that the knowledge of mankind in
creases,” said Dr. Oschner. “The
more knowledge mankind has of how
to prevent disease the less disease
there will be, and consequently the
less need there will be for the use of
the knife. It is but logical to suppose
that man will continue to enlarge his
knowledge of the fundamental laws
of health as he progresses in civiliza
tion, and it is probable that there
may cofnc an age when a surgical op
eration will be rare, as there will he
few diseases that will require the
knife.
Operations for Disease Decrease.
“This decline of surgical operations
does not, of course, include those that
are the natural and necessary con
sequences of accidents or wounds.
There are some surgical operations
that will always be necessary as long
as there are accidents, and as long
as men shoot and stab each other.
But the number of surgical opera
tions for disease is certainly decreas
ing, and this decrease certainly must
continue in at least the same ratio
as man progresses."
Kenly New Head of
Atlantic Coast Line
NEW YORK, Dec. 18.—J. R. Kenly,
of Wilmington, N. C., to-day was
elected president of the Atlantic
('oast Line to succeed the late Thom
as M Emerson, whose unexpected
death last month followed an attack
of illness while near Waycross, Ga.,
on a tour of the system.
Mr Kenly has heretofore been
third vice president in charge of the
operating department of the Coast
Line. - _ - — .
Hearst Bill of 8
Years Ago Urged
U.S.Wire Control
EIGHT YEARS AGO almost to a
day Representative William Ran
dolph Hearst introduced in the
Fifty-ninth Congress “A bill to
enable the United States to ac
quire, maintain and operate elec
tric telegraphs,” etc. The bill pro
vided a specific method of fair,
legal purchase of “any or all ex
isting lines,” and their operation
for the benefit of the people as the
postoffice is operated.
A standpat Republican Congress
regarded Mr. Hearst’s bill as dan
gerous, if not revolutionary.
] Mr. Hearst’s bill of EIGHT
YEARS AGO was reintroduced in
substance in the Sixtieth and Six
ty-first Congresses
TWO YEARS AGO Postmaster
General Hitchcock, a Republican,
recommended it in a report to
President Taft and to Congress.
TO-DAY a Democratic Postmas
ter General makes the recommen
dation the principal feature of his
annual report.
BILLION, SAY
LEADERS
Burleson Calls Acquisition by
Nation Only Method of
Solving Monopoly.
WASHINGTON, Dei 18— Govern-
ment* experts estimated to-day that
the cost of taking over the operation
of telegraph and telephonic lines, as
recommended by Postmaster General
Burleson in his annual report, would
be more than $1,000,000,000.
The Postmaster General's recom
mendation projected into Congress an
issue over which there is already
marked difference of opinion and
Chas. B. Gaskill
is shown
with one of his
pets and com
panions, a
chicken. Below
is his flock of
pigeons, which
now coo
mournfully
about their
silent home.
AG
Y
[XPERT’S
The sensational report of Dr. IS. A.
Visanska’s committee exposing milk
supply evils in Atlanta was still th*
object of careful and even cautious
consideration by the directors of the
Atlanta Chamber of Commerce
Thursday.
After another meeting Wednesday
afternoon and a prolonged discussion,
in which Dr. J. P. Kennedy, of the
City Health Office, and Dr. Claude
Smith, City Bacteriologist, took part,
the following information was given
out Thursday morning:
It. was agreed that additional milk
inspectors and a City Veterinariamaro
needed.
In view of the fact that the present
city force pf milk inspection consists
of two dairy inspectors, one sampler
and no veterinarian, and that this
force is expected to look after the
6,000 gallons of milk furnished A Man-
Children Beg Police
To FindTheirMissing
Papa ‘for Christmas'
Chief of Detectives Lanford has
been appealed to by two little chil
dren to find their missing papa be
fore Christmas, so he can tell Santa
dla us to come to their home. They
are the 3 and 4 year old daughters of
S. C. Harrison, of No. 4 Kirkwood
avenue, a clerk in a Decatur street
store. The children came to Chief
Hanford’s o^ice with their mother
Thursday morning to report the dis
appearance of the father.
“Please.” said the eldest of the chil
dren, "won’t you find my papa by
Christmas time? Mamma says Santa
Claus won't come to our house unless
papa is at home. I wrote Santa a
letter, but mamma says he won’t get
it unless papa malls it.”
Mrs. Harrison told Chief Lanford j
her husband has been missing since j
last Sunday, when he left home say- j
ing he would return in a few minutes
U.S. Employees to Get:
Month's Pay Dec. 23 i
WASHINGTON, Dec. 18 A merry j
Christmas to Uncle Sam’s thousands of {
employees is assured by the issuance ol
■ n order permitting them to draw full
December nay on December 23.
THE WEATHER.
Forecast for Atlanta and
Georgia—Cloudy and cooler
Thursday night; Friday fair.
which President Wilson himself may
hkve to determine. A party caucus
may be held for the purpose of get
ting the exact view of the President
and a majority of the party leaders,
Burleson’s report follows conferences j
ont he subject between e Postmaster;
General and President Wilson, and j
reports that the President was about
to make Federal ownership of the
two utilities an administration pol
icy. Mr. Burleson points to the suc
cessful inauguration and extension
of the parcel post system as a guar
antee that the Postoffice Department
is capable of handling further coun
try-wide business of great magnitude
and importance.
U. S. Should Control.
The report asserts that there is a j
surplus in his department for the
year ended June 30, 1913, estimated j
at $3,841,906.78, and that this is the;
first real surplus since 1883.
In regard to taking over the tele
graph and telephone systems. Mr.
Burleson says, in part.
“A study of the constitutional pur
poses of the postal establishment
leads to the conviction that the Post- |
office Department should have con- j
trol over all means of the communJ- ;
cation of intelligence. The first tele- j
graph line in this country was main
tained and operated as part of the
postal service, and it is to be regret
ted that Congress saw fit to relin- !
quish this facility t<> private enter- .
prise. The monopolistic nature of the ;
telegraph business makes it of vital j
importance to the people that, it he i
conducted by unselfish interests, and I
this can be accomplished only
Continued on Page 4, Column 1.
A mystery which has puszled many
Atlantans was somewhat cleared
Thursday by the death of Charles B.
Gaskill, the eccentric and wealthy old
bachelor who lived a hermit in the
heart of busy Atlanta, and who was
found dead 1n the bathroom of his
solitary little home at No. 126 South
Forsyth street Wednesday afternoon.
The Coroner’s jury returned a ver
dict of death from heart failure and
complications. His death was sim
ple and not unexpected by those who
knew him but his ways of life had
been one of the city's strangest mys
teries for many years.
Lived Alone in House.
Alone he had lived in his little
house until the steps had decayed and
the ever closed green blinds at the
front began to rot and fall apart.
People saw him walk out to the gro
cery store and, with a few packages
under his arm return. Sometimes he
would extend his Journeys to a stroll
about town, but the secret of the in
side of that silent house and the cause
for his queer ways he kept a mys
tery.
Some knew him well enough to
know that he was quite sane, but that
was all. It took death to draw back
the veil. He was found dead on the
floor of his home by Mr. Derracote
He was fully dressed. That was cause
for the few who knew Ids history to
talk and for the curious to look into
the house
Around the eaves of the little house
a huge flock of pigeons hovered and
moaned—one would vow—In sorrow.
In a corner- of the living room of the
house sal several cats in uncanny
silence, their green ^: c s gleaming at
the empty fireplace. They were the
mourners The people there were
obeying curiosity.
An acquaintance explained that
those birds and the cats had been
Mr. Gaskill’s only intimate associates
They, he added—thev could reveal
his confidences—could recite a poem
of sorrow and cynicism And they
did tell a story. Between the cooing
of the pigeons and the sinister tread
of the cats in the half light of the
house one felt that there must have
been some tragedy to drive a man to
endure such loneliness.
Gaskill Was Wealthy.
It was well known that Gaskill was
rich. Besides his home, which is a
valuable location, he had other cen
tral property. He was a lawyer, but
had retired a number of years ago.
He did not have to worry about his
needs, hut it was unusual that he did
not surround himself with more com
forts and a better home. He even
cooked for himself, which is not so
bad.on a trail in the woods, but rather
monotonous in a city like Atlanta,
especially when one has money.
One of his acquaintances revealed
why he live 1 this life.
As a young man he liad gone to old
Oglethorpe College He was a class
mate of ex-Governor Joseph M.
Brown IBs instincts there were so
cial and toward good fellowship.
He was a charter member of the
chapter of the Phi Delta Theta Fra
ternity there, and founded the cha*p-
ters at the University of Georgia and
at Mercer. No matter what his views
of the world became later, he held to
that bond of brotherhood. When he
avoided almost all mankind his inter
est in his fraternity still lived, and
Continued on Page 4, Column 6,
ta daily by 700 dairymen and handled
by 235 dealers and 41 dairies In. the
city, the foregoing attitude does not
appear startlingly revolutionary.
New Committee Named.
But further than that the famous
milk report continues to he shrouded
in mystery.
By way of clearing up the situation,
it was decided to try another commit
tee on it, and these were named: Ivan
E. Allen, chairman; J. R. A. Hobson.
V. H. Kriegshaber, John S. Owens and
B. M. Hood.
This combination is now scheduled
to grapple with the milk report,
w hich, dealing with so presumably in
nocuous a fluid, appears to the cas
ual outsider to contain considerable
“pep.” judging by the gingerly way it
is being bandied.
Since the submission of the report
last summer, meeting after meeting of
the directors has approached that for
midable document, and, so far as all
publicity is concerned, has rebounded
in disorder from the attack.
From the known circumstances it
might even be fair to Infer that the
energetic Dr. Vlsanska Is in danger of
deportation for revolutionary- politics,
should the unexpurgated report be
made nubile. Certainly the original
Continental Congress spent a good
deal less time considering the Decla
ration of Independence.
The new committee, by the way, is
expected to bring in its flTst batch of
recommendations devoted largely to
the additional inspection force, which
is one phase of the subject not calcu
lated to cause a rumpus, as everybody
In Atlanta, including the milkmen, is
pretty well agreed that ad ditto nai in«
specUon is needed, ... ...... . +