Newspaper Page Text
EDITORIAL RAGE
The Atlanta Georgian
the: home: paper
THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN
Publish*! by THE GEORGIAN COMPANY
At 30 East Alabama At. Atlanta, Ga.
Entered as *#cond-clasa matter at postofflce at Atlanta, under act of March 8, lt'J
HEARST8 SUNDAY AMERICAN and THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN will
be mailed to ■ubacribers anywhere In tha United States. Oanada and Mexico,
ana month for $.60, three months for $1.76; change of address made aa often aa
Jasfred Foreign aubacrlptlon rates on application
Atlanta Is Learning to Cele
brate Christmas in the
Proper Spirit
* * *
In a Few Years We May Have an Opportunity of Declaring the
Holiday "Perfect” in Every Respect
Aside from the mere matter of the weather—which really
does not figure necessarily in the make-up of a safe, sane, happy
and merry holiday season—Atlanta more nearly approximated
the ideal Christmas this year than ever before in her history.
People seem to be thinking more of others than of them
selves this year, and this, of course, has produced most pleasant
and significant results.
Because of this, Christmas rowdyism was reduced to a mini
mum in Atlanta, unnecessary and useless noises were suppressed,
labor was laid aside, and sweet Charity was nobly enthroned,
that she might scatter her largess with lavish hand!
There never before was so much giving in Atlanta as there
was this Christinas!
Where a few years ago the day was made hideous with
racket, senseless “boozing," and disorderly conduct, this year
it was characterized by quiet, good order, and closed saloons.
Not that this Christmas was perfect—for it was not alto
gether—but that it was a great improvement over last, and an
amazing improvement over the Christmases of a few years ago.
Behind this changed condition of things is A HEALTHY
PUBLIC SENTIMENT THAT AUGURS MUCH FOR THE
FUTURE!
It means that in a few years more, maybe next year, indeed,
we shall see in Atlanta the ideal Christmas—the genuinely
merry Christmas of perfect sanity, perfect poise, and perfect
pleasure!
When Christ was born, it was heralded as a circumstance
insuring peace on earth and good will toward men! And that
never meant, and never was intended to mean, that Christmas
in any degree might righteously be made a season of license and
looseness!
The Georgian felicitates Atlanta upon its recent happy and
merry Christmas, and wishes for it many more—and even hap
pier and merrier.
Next year, with a little additional effort, Atlanta may make
a complete success of the holiday season.
The Next Step: Public Owner
ship of Railroads?
There is no reason for surprise or excitement in the fact
that the Interstate Commerce Commission in its last report asks
for powers which may empower it “practically to run the rail
roads of the country."
That is merely the natural evolution of a situation which
the railroads have created for themselves. An excited news
paper, commenting upon the report, declares it advocates “a
plan only a step from government ownership.' 1
Even that step may be taken, and will be taken, if such
action is forced upon the public by railroad mismanagement.
Probably recognition of the fact that the public is prepared for
even such radical action has had much to do with the notable
change in the demeanor of railroad managers toward public sen
timent observable of late.
In brief, the Commissioners say that they are tired of in
vestigating and reporting upon the conditions leading up to mur
derous accidents without the power to compel their correction.
They ask that this power be conferred upon them.
Within two months the New Haven road insolently proved
to the Interstate Comme-ce Commission that it had not even the
power to compel the road to hold intact, for examination, the
cars that had figured in a recent fatal accident. The incident
was but one of many in which this road manifested its contempt
for the authority of the Commission.
Naturally this attitude leads the Commission to seek the
extension of its powers. Probably every extension of this sort
every new step toward government ownership, has been incited
by some such act of corporate arrogance.
It was the revelation by the Interstate Commerce Commis
sion December 31, 1912, of the piratical raids of the managers
of the New Haven railroad upon the property of its stockholders
that led Mr. Hearst to reiterate this statement made by him on
an earlier occasion:
“It becomes necessary for the people of this country,
in order to preserve their rights and opportunities and busi
ness advantages, not only to regulate, but TO OWN and
participate in the conduct of such public service monopolies
as are essential to their well-being.
“The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad
situation is peculiarly favorable to governmental action of
this kind. It is within the immediate power of the State of
Massachusetts to take over the Boston and Maine Railroad
and conduct that corporation under State ownership.
‘ * This is the way to reach the root of this monopolistic
evil, and there is no other way worthy of the attention of
the earnest and intelligent citizens of this country."
The Interstate Commerce Commission, tired of vainly
recommending to the railroads corrections in equipment and
methods which will contribute to the safety of passengers, now
asks for authority to compel those corrections. Perhaps this is
the next step to government ownership. It all depends upon the
way in which the present railroad managers receive this most
reasonable request.
Telephonophobia===A Curious Mental Disease
By GARRETT P. SERVISS
H ERE is a story of the strange
effects of the telephone upon
the nervous system and
mental state of a woman. From
this story it is possible to learn,
or guess, a great deal about these
curious bodies of ours, with their
five limited senses and their im
prisoned minds, for whose in
finite needs a thousand senses
would not suffice. I get the story
at second hand from two French
physicians.
A young married woman, 25
years old, physically rather deli
cate, but mentally very intelli
gent and very cultivated, has
developed a singular form of what
the physicians call “telephono-
phobla.”
Not New.
Whenever the telephone bell
rings she is taken with a kind of
mental anguish, resulting from
the state of uncertainty into
which she is immediately thrown
as to who the person can be that
is calling. She becomes so par
alysed by this state of mind that
usually she is unable to answer
the call. In case she does take
up the receiver and put it to her
ear she is seized with a violent
oppression in the head and a flut
tering of the heart. Her voice
fails her, or, If she succeeds in
making any response to what she
hears over the wire, it is in al
tered tones, and in broken, dis
connected words. This results
from the fact that her mind is
continually distracted by thinking
about the person at the other end
of the line, and wondering what
that person really thinks of her.
Physicians accustomed to study
the mental aberrations of their
patients will find nothing very
wonderful In this story, which
simply offers one among many
examples that might be cited of
the curious ways in which new
Inventions react upon the human
organism. It is not unusual for
people to be nervously disturbed
by the sudden ringing of a tele
phone bell, which is a sound hav
ing a character peculiar to itself
because of the associations that it
awakens in the mind. Those as
sociations have a certain element
of mystery about them. For
many persons, perhaps the ma
jority, telephoning is still a kind
of scientific magic, and the voices
of the wire vibrate strangely on
the nerves of the hearer.
Every invention that comes into
general use has some effect of
this kind, and thus becomes an
element in the development of the
human race, for man, by the ex
ercise of his inventiveness, Is
constantly changing His environ
ment and thereby directing the
course of his own evolution.
Natural Evolution.
We can see what one result of
this self-induced evolution will
probably be when we notice the
fact that the nervousness inspired
by telephone calls, rushing auto
mobiles in the street, and other
striking phenomena resulting
from the progress of modem in
ventions, usually develops a more
or less complete paralysis of the
will power. The nervous person
who sees an auto speeding to
ward him Is seized with hesitation
and indecision. He can not move,
or he suddenly moves in exactly
the wrong direction, because his
perceptive faculties and his men
tal activity are too weak or too
uncertain to enable him on the
instant to form a sound judg
ment of the situation ajid decide
what should be done to meet it.
The consequence must be pre
cisely what has occurred again
and again in "natural evolution”
—that is, evolution based only on
the slow changes produced by na
ture’s unaided forces. That con
sequence is the gradual elimina
tion of the unfit, and In this case
the unfit are individuals of weak
wills and slow or muddled per
ceptive power. The humanity of
the future, just by virtue of its
Inventions calling continually for
more and more rapidity of men
tal action, will be characterized
by firmness of will, quickness of
decision, clearness of thought and
freedom from mysticism, and
these qualities w ill be largely the
indirect gifts of the telephone, the
automobile, the aeroplane, wire
less telegraphy, and the hundred
other concrete forms in which
human intelligence has crystal
lized itself.
The world spins faster and
faster; it is already going at a
dazing speed which daunts the
faint-hearted and the slow of
thought, but those who ride with
it in future will have to think
faster still and hold the reins
with heart and will of iron.
LOUIS AGASSIZ By Rev. Thomas R. Gregory.
QUESTIONS ANSWERED
I T was just 40 years ago that
Agassiz died, and the sorrow
born of the tidings that the
great scientist and incomparable
man had passed out from the
ways of men is still keenly felt
by the hearts of those who knew
and loved him.
Agassiz was an extraordinary
man in many ways. His very
make-up was such as is but sel
dom seen in great men. There
are plenty of men with big brains,
there are plenty of men with big
t «r;s. and there is no dearth of
men who possess winsome per
sonalities. along with a keen ap
preciation of what, for want of a
better term, we call the spiritual;
but it is only now and then that a
man combines within himself all
of these gifts. They were com
bined in Agassiz. He could think
straight as the path of a cannon
ball; ne could love as tenderly as
a child; he could astound by the
profundity of his scientific acu
men, and, without the least ef
fort. and apparently without any
consciousness of what he was
doing, he could make everybody
who came in contact with him
love him like a brother.
The name of Agassiz is immor
tal. His labors in paleontology, in j
Ichthyology, in geology- and in
other fields will keep his memory
forever green; but high above
even his splendid fame as a scien
tist looms our recollection of him
a* a Man,
LORD NELSON.
J. J.—Horatio (Lord) Nelson
was hern at Barnham, Thorpe,
Norfolk, September 29, 1758. He
died on October 21, 1805, In the
midst of his splendid victory at
Trafalgar. His remains were con
veyed to England and interred in
St. Paul's on January 9, 1S06.
HONEYMOON AND CHIVALRY.
C. R.—The word- honeymoon
owes its origin to a custom of an
ancient Germanic people who
were in the habit of drinking
mead mingled with honey for 30
days after a wedding took place.
Chivalry comes from chav&iiar,
which is just a « : —ier—a
horseman, from the- i.u i that the
knights-errant rode on horseback.
APELLES' MASTERPIECE.
J. H. R.—The 'masterpiece of
Apelles was the Venus Anadyo-
mene, “Venus Rising From the
Sea.” The falling drops of water
from her hair form a transparent
silver veil over her form. It cost
$121,500. and was painted for the
Temple of Eseulapius at Cos, and
afterward placed by Augustus in
the temple which he dedicated to
their illustrious patron, Julius
Caesar. Part of the famous pic
ture was injured and no one
could be found to repair ip,
The=Mother=in=Law and
the Wife
Answer to a Woman Who Says She Is Un
happy in Her Son’s Home—It Is Sug
gested That She Pack Pier Trunks and
Move Away Immediately.
By DOROTHY DIX ~
T O MY mind the most tragic
thing on earth is the un
necessary trouble that we
poor, foolish mortals make for our-
selve3. It would seem that there
are enough unavoidable griefs
death, sickness, poverty, loss—to
tear like vultures at our hearts
without our going out of the way
to manufacture for ourselves a
million torments that Hay us alive.
But no. We court sorrow, and
out of conditions of life that
should be filled with nothing but
Joy and gladness we make misery
and tears for ourselves and those
nearest to ns.
The best Illustration of this un
accountable human weakness Is
to be found In the relations-in-
law problem, where people who
should dwell together in peace
and amity seem to take a fiendish
delight In quarreling and bicker
ing, although by so doing they
ruin their own happiness and -
make life a hell on earth for all
about them.
It Is literally true that not
drink, nor gambling, nor im
morality, nor any vice whatso
ever, brings a thousandth part of
the misery to humanity as does
the Inability of relations-in-law to
be friendly, or eveii treat each
other with decent politeness, for
pitiful and petty as a family quar
rel seems somewhere in it there
Is always a broken heart.
In the course of a year I get
thousands of letters from women
on this subject. Sometimes it is
a daughter-in-law who is victim
ized by a selfish and tyrannical
and quarrelsome mother-in-law who
feels that she has a perfect right
to run her son’s home and who
i Jealously resents her son’s affec-
! tlon for his wife and the money
he spends on her.
The Mother Who Has
Spats with Her Son’s
Wife.
More often the letter is the piti
ful wair of some poor old mother
who Is made to feel that her
daughter-in-law begrudges her the
very bread she eats, or a daugh
ter-in-law who sets herself deliber
ately to wean her husband from the
mother who bore him. To-day I
have another such letter as this.
It is written by a lovely, cultured,
gentle lady, full of tact and kindli
ness, who asks for help in solv
ing a problem to which no wis
dom has yet found the key.
This woman has a son to whom
*he is devoted and a grandchild
that she adores. She would glad
ly love her daughter-in-law, too,
hut the daughter-in-law repulses
her at every turn. She Is not
even civilly polite to the mother-
in-law, but criticizes her and
sneers at her, and maintains
toward her an attitude that Is a
covered Insult In itself.
The man loves his wife, but he
loves his mother also, and he is
made so miserable by his wife’s
conduct toward his mother that it
has seriously affected his health.
The mother fears that he will die
in the atmosphere of such an un
happy home, and she asks what
I think she had best do.
My advice to her Is to pack her
trunks and leave her son’s house
Immediately. Fortunately, this
woman has plenty of money, but
even If a woman had to go to the
poorhouse from her son’s house
I should still urge her to go
rather than stay in a home where
she was a bone of strife and the
source of discord.
This may seem a hard saying.
But when does motherhood ever
flinch from the cross when, by sac
rifice, it can secure the good of
those it has borne in travail of
body and must so often cherish
In travail of spirit?
And It is the wonder of j,*,
that that which we giv*
keep. The woman who stays in her
son’s home, making perpetual
friction there for him, maj loa ,
some of his reverence and affec
tion, but the mother who sub
limely renounces all for his hap
piness remains forever a revered
saint to his vision. It may seen
hard to her to go away from one
she loves so dearly, bnt In an
other house she will he nearer to
him than she would be under the
same roof with him, with a spite-
ful daughter-in-law always Inter-
posing her watchful suspicions be
tween them.
Mother-in-Law Should
Eliminate Herself from
Home.
Unhappily, there Is no panacea
for changing a selfish, narrow,
Jealous daughter-in-law Into a
broad and noble woman who is
capable of appreciating the fact
that next to her own mother her
husband’s mother is the woman
whom it Is her duty most to love
and cherish. You cannot make a
silk purse out of a sow’s ear,
nor can you convert a stingy,
venomous little woman into a big
and generous one.
So the only thing the mother-
in-law can do under such sad cir
cumstances is to eliminate her
self. That saves her son, at least
from perpetual nagging from his
wife, and the sorrow of seeing his
mother suffer from humiliations
and insults from which he is pow
erless to protect her. Sometimes
when the friction of daily life to
gether is removed it is possible
to establish a truce with the
daughter-in-law, so that it mal;
It possible for the son to visit his
mother in peace and without pre
cipitating a family row. But al
ways it Is best for the two worn
en not to dwell under the same
roof, and wise are those who
never make the foolhardy expert
ment.
There are two strange thlnga
in this antagonistic attitude that
so many women take toward tfielr
husbands’ mothers. The first Is
the Incomprehensibility of any
woman having so little sympathy
toward a fellow woman as to
want to separate her from the
child that she has suffered for,
sacrificed for, and who Is the very
bone of her hone and flesh of her
flesh. Yet you see mothers with
sons of their own treating their
husbands' mothers as they pray
God no other woman may ever
treat them.
Wives May Lose Love of
Their Husbands by
Nagging.
The second thing that Is strange
is that any woman could he too!
enough to take such a risk of
alienating her husband from her
as to be cruel to his old mother
and drive her out of her own son’s
house. A man would have to be
the lowest dastard on earth not
to resent that with every fibre of
his being, and though he may, for
the sake of peace, let his mother
go In silence or sit In silence
while she Is mistreated, it I 9
something that he never forgives
his wife. She has laid the axe to
the root of his respect and affec
tion for her.
Remember that, you young
wives, when you make your hus
band's mother unwelcome in vour
homes. Ten million heautifu.
sirens could not wean your aus-
band from you so quickly, and sc
effectually, as your unkindness to
that poor old gray-headed woman
going with wet eyes and an ach
ing heart from her son's door.
1
STARS AND STRIPES
Yes, gentle reader, the carabao
Is strictly a water buffalo.
* * »
Might call the America cup
defender something like The
Newest Nall.
♦ * *
Experience also teaches us a
lot of things that are of no par
ticular use.
* * •
It may be that the Administra
tion has given Government own
ership the cold shoulder on the
ground that it would violate its
rule of only one ship a year.
If a trust Is just a trust
It’s loved and trusted;
But if a trust does good, it nius
Be busted.
* * *
It is reported that the
Government is studying the u
val policy of Congress as adm;
bly adapted to the needs of t-
country.
* * *
Ex-Presiicnt Taft
Panama Canal is due to H;
Spooner and Roosevelt. H;u •
we heard something of a n
named Goethais?