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EDITORIAL- PAGE The Atlanta Georgian the home paper
THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN
Published by THE GEORGIAN COMPANY
At 20 Eaiit Alabama Street. Atlanta Ga
Rntmd Ntatxl-claM mailer at poitoflw at Atlanta, umltr arl of Marrh 3. 1871.
The Balance of Trade
Four Types of War Have Filled
The Ages With Woe
Will the World 500 Years From Now Find Another Cause for
Conflict T
Few manifestations of medievalism are more incomprehen
sible to modern minds than the Crusades, which occupied the at
tention and took the young manhood of Europe for centuries fol
lowing the year 1000. •
The object of the Crusades was to recover the Holy Land
from the Mohammedans. At various times this object was ac
complished, at a great sacrifice of blood and treasure, but each
time the occupation of Palestine was short, and the land reverted
to the Turks.
At the present time England and Russia are making an ef
fort to recover that region, but not because of religious feeling.
The sentiment is purely political and incidental to greater mili
tary operations. The Turks are fighting for the land, but solely
in political warfare.
The idea of declaring a “Holy War” had some followers
among the Moslems, but the Turkish government has not sanc
tioned such proceedings. If a “Holy War" were declared, the
Turks would be under the technical necessity of fighting their
allies, the Germans and Austrians, for those peoples are as cer
tainly “infidels” as are English, French and Russians. The sec
ond millennium of the Christian era began with religious wars
and seems now to be ending with political, or, to be more exact,
commercial wars.
We of to-day can not comprehend the sentiment of the Cru
sades ; but we can understand, even though we do not sympathize
or admit the arguments, the conflict that is raging in Europe to
day. Even as a nat on we must prepare ourselves to meet a foe
that might assail us as a consequence of the European struggle.
But we find it difficult to understand the dynastic wars that
marred the middle centuries of this millennium—though we have
a counterpart of the struggle in Mexico to-day. Substitute for
York and Lancaster the camps of Villa and Huerta, or whoever
is Villa’s April opponent, and we can grasp the idea of England
in the fourteenth century.
The present European war is not waged for religion nor to
gratify the political ambitions of any faction, but ostensibly for
national purposes. Germany fights to extend its foreign trade,
and England to retain its commerce and colonies.
Now, the inspiration for the Crusades and for the wars of
kings in the latter part of the Middle Ages is inexplicable to us.
But to the people contemporaneous with the struggles those wars
were reasonable and normal and necessary, it would seem; just
as the people of Germany and England, France and Russia to
day declare that their war is reasonable and normal and nec
essary.
Let us project ourselves into the twenty-fifth century. Will
not the people of that period consider the present European war
as inexplicable to them as we find the Crusades and the War
of Roses?
Unquestionably so.
We can go further back than the Crusades and consider the
type of war that Alexander and Julius Caesar waged. Whatever
immediate motives those conquerors may have invented for their
wars, their objects bluntly were to grab as much of the earth as
possible. Alexander frankly sighed for “more worlds to con
quer," as every schoolboy knows. Julius Caesar might have
been more politic in his remarks, but his intentions were the
same—conquest.
So we find four general types of war in the evolution of so
ciety: The war of conquest, the war of religion, the war of
dynasties and the modern type of commercial war.
Interlarded with these in history have been the numerous
wars for freedom, like the Revolutionary, and of political ex
pediency, like the Civil War; but mainly the conflicts would fall
into the type we have named.
Of the first three types, it is probable that we shall have
no more—excluding Mexico from our reckoning of civilized na
tions.
We are now in the era of commercial wars, carried on partly
by cannon and partly by sample cases.
Who Wants to Go to Bed
Early Nowadays?
A gentleman out in the wild and woolly West has revived
with additional directions, Benjamin Franklin's famous dictum,
“Early to bed, and early to rise, makes a man healthy, and
wealthy and wise!”
He does not lay so much stress upon the ' ‘ wealthy and wise ’ ’
end of the precept as he does upon the “healthy” portion of the
same. He states that the “early to bed” idea is one sure cure
for dyspepsia and internal ailments of that persuasion—and
that’s his main point.
Most people who have dyspepsia would rather get rid of that,
anyway, than to be wealthy and wise, and so this Western gen
tleman has grasped the interesting and real worth while portion
of the maxim, of course.
But the ’ ‘ early to bed, early to rise ’ ’ dictum can be overdone,
It must be remembered that when Franklin published the maxim
there was no particular reason for staying up late. The illumina
tion at night was candle light or the pine knot. To read by a tal
low dip was better than to read not at all, but it was not a pleas
ant pastime. To go about the streets before lights were swung at
the corners was a dangerous business at best. So wise people
went to bed, and, having •te.rted their sleep early, naturally fin
ished it early, and got up ’<=ith the sun. That is a wise enough
practice in winter, but one that has little to recommend it when
the dawn breaks at 4 a. m.
The electric light, making night a pleasant period, brings
dismay to the ‘ ’ early to bed, early to ri$e ’ ’ preceptors.
l HAVE to
hand it to
YOU, SAM!
Famous Surgeon’s Stories of Wounded
How Boulogne's Gay Casino
Was Made Into Military Hospital
—-Rv SIR FREDERICK TREVES
Surgeon to the late King Edward VII.
Folkstone.—Our steamer was
crowded with British soldiers in
khaki, most of whom danced Jigs
between decks to the music of
mouth-organs. They are return
ing to the front after 72 hours’
leave. So spick and span and
cheery are they that one would
suppose they were on their way to
a wedding. With the exception of
a few nurses, with the Red Cross
badge on their arms, this is a ship
of men.
The crowd on the quay, too. has
altered. The gendarme and the
douanier have gone; the custom
house is stocked with stretchers
for carrying the w’ounded; the la
dies’ room is a soldiers' buffet. All
the principal hotels are turned
into hospitals. Strange omnibuses
meet the view, including motor-
omnibuees from London, coated
with mud and grime. They look
as if they had been on the road
for half a century. They convey
soldiers to the front on their re
turn to Boulogne from leave, and
when not so employed appear to
be used as bedrooms and kitchens
or club smoking rooms.
A Stationary Hospital.
At the back of the Maritime
Station the freight sheds have
been converted intap a military
hospital of the type known as
stationary. An uninviting, dismal
and uninhabitable building has
been changed into a series of
bright wards, spotlessly clean,
well lighted, well warmed and
well ventilated. It has been a
marvelous work, worthy of the
highest praise.
This hospital Is perfectly
equipped in every particular, even
down to a special ward for pneu
monia cases. The white walls,
the white sheets, the red blankets
and the gray uniform of the army
sisters, provide a spectacle as far
removed from any conception of
the freight shed as can he imag
ined. There are two ,operating
theaters in the hospital, both up
to date in every point.
The hospital has also a rest sta
tion consisting of a ward of over
BO beds. It is. Intended for the
less serious cases, for men who
may have some time to wait be
tween the arrival of the ambu
lance train .and the departure of
the transport. In a score of
thoughtful ways their wants are
attended to. They are ’‘moth
ered.” This rest station is ad
ministered by Lady Algernon Gor-
don-Lennox and her friends. It is
an excellent and most womanly
mission.
The Converted Casino.
The Boulogne Casino has been
converted into a military hospital.
The building is in a garden by the
edge of the sea. It is composed
of a series of immense rooms,
with fine floors and lofty win
dows, and such an acreage of
window' that it is open from end
to end to the light of heaven.
It is a hospital breathing friv
olity from its light-hearted roof
top to its smiling floor. It is bril
liantly and perhaps even gaudily
decorated, for it aims to express
in stone and plaster, in paint and
filigree, in gilded cornice and
marble pilaster, a conception of
the Joy of living.'
Compared with certain melan
cholic hospitals of certain country
tow’ns, I am half persuaded that it
Is the nearer of the two* to the
right ideal.
The Casino restaurant makes a
magnificent ward, with over 90
beds. <At the bar. where rare
wines were once served out, the
medicines for the ward are dis
pensed. The wine list has been
changed. In place of champagne
there is carbolic lotion, and in lieu
of hock a bottle of boric acid. The
ballroom and th^ room of the
Senator Gallinger’s
Rules for Health
roulette wheels have been turned
into superb wards. But, without
doubt, the finest w’ard Is in the
great baccarat hall, with its glor
ious painted ceiling and its bril
liantly disposed electric lights.
The cashier’s office is now a
nun’s room, on the counter of
which lint and gauze are paid out
in the place of bank notbs and
gold. The American bar has be
come an X-ray room, very dark,
very silent and very mysterious.
Never have the British w’ounded
been so well looked after, never
has the army medical service been
so efficient.
A body of eminent consulting
physicians visits the hospitals
daily to adwise upon any medical
cases of difficulty. No major op
eration is carried out until the
measure has been approved by
one of them. Working with this
exceptional staff are a number of
specialists.
Transport Service.
It is in the matter of transport
that so much has been done for
the comfort of the wounded. The
motor ambulance has gone far to
solve the problem. Some of these
are new and especially built for
the purpose, embodying the latest
refinements in hospital train con
struction. One type of car has on
either side a series of strong
frameworks of iron w’hich carry
stretchers in a double tier. This
can take 35 lying-down cases, and
can be evacuated in less than fif
teen minutes through the great
side doors with which these car
riages are provided. It is per
fectly heated and at night well
lit. In loading and unloading the
car the stretchers are passed
through the windows without the
least discomfort to the patient.
No matter how’ long the journey
lasts, the wounded can be well
looked after and provided with all
they want.
BY JUSTIN M’GRATH.
Washington, D. C.
B EFORE Senator Gallinger,
of New' Hampshire, entered
public life, he had been a
successful practicing physician.
The Senator, who is now in his
seventy-eighth year, stood on his
feet for 7 hours and 20 minutes
delivering a speech against the
ship purchase bill. His remarka
ble display of vigor at so ad
vanced an age won the admira
tion even of his political oppo
nents. Vice President Marshall
beckoned him to the rostrum when
he had concluded his great endur
ance effort, and congratulated him
on the marvelous vitality which
he had manifested.
The other day I found the Sen
ator in his committee room im
mersed in work. I told him the
public would be interested in
learning from him as a physician
the rules of living by which a man
might preserve his vigor as well
as he has done to such an age.
‘‘Well, to begin with,” said the
Senator, ‘‘I inherited a fine con
stitution. The father and mother
of my mother both lived to the
age of 100. My father’s parents
also lived .to be well up in the
eighties. So you see I come of a
long-lived family.
‘‘I have never done anything to
• w’eaken the good foundation on
which I had to build. As a young
man I was a wrestler and a run
ner. I have never drunk liquor
nor smoked tobacco. However, I
lay no great stress on my being a
total abstainer from both tobacco
and liquor as one of the reasons
for my long life and perfect con
dition. Particularly as to tobac
co, I would say that if It is used in
moderation I doubt if its use
w'ould tend to shorten a man’s
life or impair his vitality.
‘‘I have always worked hard.
Work, in fact, has been my only
dissipation. When I was a prac
ticing physician I worked eigh
teen hours a day, and I kept that
up for 23 years. It never hurt me.
I don’t believe work hurts any
body. I believe it does one good,
because it keeps one from worry
ing. It Is the idle who do the most
worrying.
‘‘I never worry—not even over
the prospect of death. I regard
death as a part of life. We should
give that no more concern than
we do its counterpart, sleep. It
is foolish to fret over the abso
lutely inevitable.
‘‘My philosophy is the philoso
phy of good cheer. 1 am always
of good cheer myself, and I en
deavor to infect others with my
optimistic germs.
“One should shun the grouch
and the grudge as he would a
plague. They are inward fires
which destroy.
“Besides, life is too short to lose
any of its brightness for the
gloom of a grudge. Amiability is
conducive to both happiness and
longevity.
* * •
“I have never had any fads as
to diet. I generally eat what I
want, but I confine myself to plain
foods.
“During my seven-hours-and-
a-half speech the other day I
drank three glasses of milk.
“When I finished the speech I
felt strong enough, I believe, to
have continued for six hours more
if it had been necessary. The
only place I felt any strain was in
my ankles. Of late years I haven’t
had much exercise. I now weigh
235 pounds, which is too much of
a strain for my ankles.
“When I entered public life I
saw no reason to change the habit
of work I had acquired in my pri
vate practice as a physician. So
I have continued to work from
seventeen to eighteen hours a day.
“Therefore, if my experience
counts for anything in the way of
making a general rule, 1 should
say that the best means to a long
life, with undiminished, or little
diminished, vitality, is to work a
lot and worry Just as little as you
possibly can.”
In-Sboots
When a nagging wife does not
create a thirst for booze, the hus
band is immune, indeed,
• * •
If buttons were the only things
necssary, the valet wo31d be as
imposing as the battle-suarred
hero.
• • •
The good man who has fallen by
the wayside is better than the
carping critic who has never been
good at all.
Great Mysteries of
Nature and Science
The Question Whether Big Battles Have Any In
fluence in Producing Downpours of Rain—When
Uncle Sam Tried to Make Rain With Powder.
By GARRETT P. SERVISS.
A GAIN the question whether
great battles are capable of
producing rain, through the
effects of the shocks imparted to
the air by long-continued and
violent cannonading, is being
asked by many persons, and most
of the inquirers appear to think
that the answer should be in the
affirmative on account of the fre
quent reports of heavy rainfall on
and around the present battle
grounds of Europe. One corre
spondent goes so far as to ex
press the opinion that the com
motion cf the atmosphere over
the European continent during the
last seven months has reacted
upon the state of the weather on
this side of the ocean, and pro
voked here a relatively dry and
mild winter.
But the simple fact is that
neither In Europe nor in this
country has the character of the
weather since the war began been
marked by any abnormal features
that are not likely to occur in any
year. It is the magical effect of
coincidence that has persuaded so
many persons to think that the
battles themselves must be the
cause of the downpours which
have flooded the trenches of the
contending armies, and turned
the roads and fields about them
into morasses. Inasmuch as the
two things have occurred togeth
er, they are regarded as being
necessarify related in the sense of
cause and effect. It is the same
kind of logic which leads to popu
lar acceptance of the claims of
weather prophets, clairvoyants,
chirosophists and astrologers. An
occasional striking hit, or appar
ent hit, is sufficient to produce
conviction, especially in the mind
of a person predisposed to won
der rather than to reason, and un
trained in scientific habits of
thought and methods of observa
tion.
This subject, the possibility of
producing, or inducing, rain by
shocking the atmosphere, has, at
least once, undergone a rather
thorough experimental investiga
tion, and that under the auspices
of our own Congress and Depart
ment of Agriculture, at the ex
pense of the Treasury of the
United States. It was in 1891.
The theory of the productability
of rain by artificial agitation of
the atmosphere having been, at
that time, urged with uncommon
persistence and force, Congress
made an appropriation to pay for
a series of aerial bombardments,
to be conducted in Texas, under
the direction of General Robert
St. George Dyrenforth.
The experiments were made
w’ith giant powder, carried up in
unmanned balloons and exploded
at a considerable elevation. They
were continued for a long period,
and were not confined to Texas.
General Dyrenforth made a report
favoring the view that the explo
sions induced a rainfall, but this
was disputed by others, and one
of the observers averred that the
rain seen to fall had begun in ad
vance of the explosions. The gen
eral conclusion of meterologists
was that the experiments had
failed to demonstrate the possi
bility of making ^rain by explo
sion.
Similar experiments have long
been tried in France and Italy
among the vine-growing districts,
w’hich often suffer terrible rav
ages from thunderstorms accom
panied by hail. Hundreds of “hail
cannon” have been employed to
bombard the clouds of an ap
proaching thunderstorm for the
purpose of preventing the forma
tion of hail stones. The theory
is that the concussions and at
mospheric disturbances set up by
the cannon cause the moisture of
the clouds to condense into rain
and to fall as such instead of be
ing shaped into hail. Many agri
culturists have expressed confi
dence in the efficacy of the hoil
cannon, but the reports of scien
tific investigators have been uni
formly unfavorable.
It is frequently asserted that
great battles are always followed
by heavy rain. If this were liter
ally true it would no longer be a
mere coincidence with which we
had to deal, but, on the contrary,
the burden of proof would rest
upon those who disputed the al
leged effect. In reality, however,
there Is no proof to sustain the
statement. Some battles have been
followed by rain, and others have
not. There has never been any.
attempt made to determine what
the effect of a battle upon the at
mosphere is. Nothing that could
pass for scientific evidence on the
subject exists. A great many cir
cumstances would have to be con
sidered in judging whether a
rainfall after a battle had anv
connection with the shocking of
the air by the guns. Battles oc
cur under conditions which render
it practically Impossible to make
the scientific observations that
would be needed.
Yet so strong is the popular be
lief in this legend that the Eng
lish admiralty ha9 more than
once been petitioned to stop the
firing of heavy guns near the
CDast in harvest weather, because
of the conviction of the farmers
that the concussions brought on
rainstorms and thus indirectly
ruined their half-cured crops.
It may be added that a great
conflagration would be more like
ly than a great battle to induce
local rainfall, because it might
disturb the temperature of the
overlying air, and produce cur
rents and changes of barometric
pressure such as play a part In
nature’s rain-making.
Old Wine in a New Bottle
News of Atlanta Five and Ten Years Ago
APRIL 7, 1905.
Mayor James G. Woodward
leaves for Hot Springs to benefit
his health. Serious problem arises
as to who will throw the first ball
when the Southern League season
opens. Acting Mayor Harw’ell and
Governor Terrell candidates.
• • •
Colonel Park Woodward, su
perintendent of waterworks, ac
cuses the National Board of Fire
Underwriters of plagiarism from
his annual report in making their
recommendations.
Heavy
crop.
frost damages peach
Commissioner of Agriculture
Stevens says more fertilizer sold
to Georgia farmers this year than
ever before.
• • •
Public men say prospects of
State Fair brightest this year in
many years.
APRIL 7, 1910.
Martin W. Littleton, of New'
York, and Hoke Smith plan to
take fight for freedom of Charles
W. Morse, millionaire-convict in
Atlanta Federal prison, to the
United States Supreme Court.
• • •
Fulton County registration fig
ures ofT 4,250 from 1908 record.
• • •
The Rev. A. C. Shuler tenders
resignation as pastor of Western
Heights Baptist Church, but con
gregation declines to accept it,
urging him to remain.
• * •
It is practically assured that
the great General Conference of
the Southern Methodist Church in
1914 will be held in Atlanta.
• • •
Columbus Sally Leaguers get
away with 6 to 6 tie in game with
Atlanta Southern League team.
• • •
Chamber of Commerce urges
more comprehensive and detailed
medical inspections in Atlanta
schools.