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The Atlanta Georgian. JOHN TEMPLE GRAVES, Editor. F. L. SEELY, Preildent. Subtcrlptlon Rites: THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN. Published Every Afternoon Exeept Sunday by THE GEORGIAN CO. it 25 W. Alibsmi Street, Atlmti, Gs. Entered is eeeond.elaes mittir April 25. 1905, it tbe Poatoffic* It Atlsoti, G«, voder let of cooirou of March A 1*79. One Year........ $4.50 Six Montha....... MO Three Months 1.25 By Carrier, per week 10c and grooms nnd brides-to-be, all the happiness In world, but we would like to know what there Is In the mosphere Just at this season to precipitate this epidemic of marriages. THE GEORGIAN COMES TO GEORGIA AS THE SUNSHINE Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind; And therefore Is winged Cupid painted blind. —Shakespeare. An Amcrfcan Vicereine’s Death. The death of Lady Curxon, wife of the former viceroy of India, Is sn event of peculiar pathos, snd touches s responsive cord of sympathy throughout the United States. As Mary Letter, the daughter of a Chicago capi talist, abe was ona jf the most popular young women In the United States. The wealth and luxury which sur rounded her from her very girlhood left her (till un limited when her alliance to George Nathan Curxon, in 1695. while he was secretary of state for foreign affairs, opened up to her a more splendid destiny perhaps than has 'aver fallen to the lot of any American woman. %At the time of her marriage there was no assurance what ever that she would one day be called upon to All the high position which subsequently became hers. But four years later Lord Curxon was appointed to the position of viceroy and governor general of India. Then followed a career for the tactful and lovable Amer ican woman which more than one of the crowned head* of Europe might well hare envied. Sharing with her husband the throne upon which had sat the rajahs of India, surrounded by a barbaric wealth and magnificence which recalled the most luxurious period of the nabobs of that enchanted land, she maintained her composure and Indefinable (avoir falre In such a manner as to en dear her to all with whom she came Id contaot Tbs groat durbar in which ahe participated was con fessedly one of the most splendid In the history of India. We would have to go back to the days of Cyrus or Bar- danaplaut to Imagine anything more Impresslre than some of the scenes which marked the gorgeous festivi ties. But dissension arose between her hnshand and the stern, Implacable Kitchener, who Insisted that the milita ry commander of India should be Independent of the viceroy In military matters. The tension became such that LorCurxon resigned hts position and returned to his homo in England, where he has spent most of the time at the bedside of hla wife, who never fully recovered from the serious Illness of a tew years ago. While she had baen In feeble health for soma time, her doath waa not expected, and was a source of peculiar sorrow. Lost in the pomp and ceremonials of a' land which has long been proverbial for Its oriental splendor and wealth. It teemed strange at times to think of the vice reine as an American woman, but those who are best qualified to know declare that she always retained the simplicity of a child of the people and a daughter of a free republic, so far as her character and conduct were concerned. There may be little to glorify In the conduct of Eng land in India, but there was much in tae life and loving tenderness of Mary Letter to command admiration. The Matrimonial Epidemic. We do not undertake to explain It. but content our selves with recording the fact that the matrimonial ven tures among people of distinction, announced during the past few days, have almost amounted to an epidemic. In nearly erery one of them there waa something of a sen Ration, and the general public feel that thfly have been given an embarrassment of riches. Newport waa duly shocked to learn that Mrs. Burks>- Roche. who was celebrated even before she made her notable complaint that she couldn't live on a moasloy hundred thousand a year, had been married almost a year to a "whip" who actually earned his own firing. The truth bss been divulged In some mysterious manner, and, blnshlngly entering a plea of guilty, the happy pair have sought seclusion, presumably on an ocean liner, to enjoy their belated honeymoon. It will be remembered that the announcement came after the marriage of Mrs. Roche's daughter, who entered Into matrimonial bonds only a short time ago, and It is entirely possible that mother and daughter may meet and spend a pair of honeymoons together on the continent And then came “Zasa” Carter's leap Into the great conjugal Perhaps. This marriage, too, was carefully con cealed for some time, and Dave Belasco exclaimed, when he heard o( It, that he would sa soon have expected to hoar the devil calling for holy water as to think of Mrs. Cartpr entering, really and truly. Into a state of double blessedness. Fired by hla mother's example, young Dudley Carter took occasion a few evenings attarward to announce that he waa engaged to marry Norma Hnnro, daughter of the well known publisher, (tnd a young woman of very decided personality. There seems to be some difference of opin ion between Miss Munro*nd the man tn the case, sa she Is reported to have denied the engagement, but per haps this la only a part of the amiable fooling which seems to be a legitimate part of engagements, and It will all come right In the end. Moet interesting of all, perhaps. Is the statement that no less a man than Bonrke Cockran, the great Tammany orator and member of congress, la engaged to marry Mlxfe Ide, of California. It isn't so many moons since It was rumored that the distinguished Irishman Intended to en ter a monastery, but he changed hla mind about that mat ter, at least, for It la since that time that he stood for an other election to congress—which of course meant hla election. He la one of the real forces In the Democratic party. There Is not much likelihood that he will ever succeed to the presidency, for there seems to be an unwritten law that no great otator shall ever be chosen to the chief magistracy of the republic. But be will always be a power In the counsels of the party and on the floor of the house, so long as he remains there. But the applause of listening senates to command Is not enough to satisfy all the cravings of bis soul and lie feels that hla life should be rounded out by such a companion as be appears to have found. We wlih him, and all the other brides and grooms The Tipping Crusade. We have no desire to be flippant at the expense the unfortunste, but It would hardly be natural to pass over without comment the fact that a waiter out Indiana dropped dead from heart falluro when he was I handed a flve-dollar Up by a man from Cripple Creek who had Just made a lucky turn.. The melancholy fact lg that If a waiter In the east had been banded a Up like that, particularly In one the fashionable restaurants along the Great White Way, be not only would not have dropped dead, but In all prob ability he wouldn't have turned a hair. He would have looked upon It as entirely a matter of course and It the dinner party had been large and he bad been a bit more atteoUre than the rules and reguIaUons call for be prob ably would have been actually Insulting If he bad been given anything leas. As It was, It was rathar a small town In which the Incident under discussion occurred, otherwise even the new and more or lass unsophisticated weit would have been more accustomed to flve-dollar tips. In Chicago, for Instance, such an honorarium—to dobaso tbe term— would not have been very extravagant The occurrence will serve at'least to call attention to the crusade which a few xealous people are still mak ing against the tipping evil everywhere. It Is one of our foreign ImportiUons which has flourished mightily In our American soil. As usual when we take up a matter, we have gone further than the people we Imitate. It has becoma a nuisance and it Is hoped that tbe crusade.will be effective at last Somebody Is liable to drop dead at'any time. St. Swlthin and the Rain. Will It rain for 36 days more? People who believe In signs and omens will take something more than passing Interest In the question, for last Sunday was 8L Swlthln's day. On that day It rained and every day since, so, according to the supersti tion which has obtained for nine hundred years, we should have rain every day for tbe next 38 days. Swlthin was an English ecclesiastic of the ninth cen tury. He was chaplain of King Egbert and finally bish op of Winchester. It Is he who la said to have estab lished tbe tribute known as “Peter's Pence,” and the regular contribution of tithes. At hla death be was buried, by hla own desire, in the churohyard of the cathedral of Winchester, so that “the sweet rain of heaven might fall upon hjs grave.' A hundred years later he waa canonized, and the le gend goes that when an effort was made to remove his body and bury It In the church, on Jnly 16, It began to rain. This continued for 40 days, daring all which time the removal of the body had to be deferred, and the pro ject was finally abandoned. True or legendary, something of the kind gave rise to one of the most generally accepted superstitions In the world. The “oldest Inhabitant" In every Chris tian country la ready to maintain that 40 days of rain ara certain If It rains on 8L Swlthln's day. Hence tho proverb: "St. Swlthln's day, gif ye do rain, for 40 days ft will re main; St. Swlthln's day, an ya be fair, for 40 days 'twill rain nae mnlr." People generally are keeping their eye on the weath er, and the good saint—or at least hla legend—la on trial. Mr. Churchill’s Platform. , Winston Churchill’s race for the governorship of New Hampshire Is assuming definite proportions and the peo ple up that way, Including himself, insist on taking It seriously. On Monday the Lincoln Republican Club met at Con cord and adopted a platform which promises a num ber of reforms. The platform advocates the onaotraent of laws pro hibiting the giving of free railroad transportation; the election of railroad commissioners by the people; the taxation of the property of public service corporations at their true value; prohibition of political contributions by corporations; publicity of campaign receipts and ex penditures; public registration of lobbyists; nomination of candidates for office by direct vote; stringent enforce ment of the liquor lawe and the present laws agtCTnat gambling, Including book-making at the 8alem race track and eliewhere. In bis letter of acceptance Mr. Churchill aaya In part; “I subscribe without reservation to the several propositions today set forth, and would suggest that they be submitted to the other candidates for gov ernor. It they will all assent tbe success of the cause Is assured, and that Is more to mo than any personal conaldaratlon. In such event. It thought desirable. I would gladly efface myself In behalf of such one of the other candidates as the Lincoln Republican Club thought fit to Indorse.” The Indications are that the Lincoln clubs through out the state will be content to have Mr. Chnrchlll ae their standard bearer In the approaching campaign, and that he wilt make It very uncomfortable for the Boston and Maine 'railroad, which Is represented aa dominating the situation In the granite state. Hla success at tbe polls will be even better than dramatising hit book. WANTS. To the Editor of The Georgian: I want to see a sun-tanned preacher with plow- handle corns Ita hla hands. I want to see a national banker hoeing a bean patch. I want to see a politician who says the country Is atl right, and won't go to ruin, whether he Is elected or not, and who Is running for the office and not solely tn the Interest of the desr people. I want to see a man In the Georgia legislature with backbone enough to make an effort to pass an honest election law bill. I want to see some big railroad officials who carry grander and nobler sentiments, and have more feeling and love for their people than Sam Spencer has. I want to see a newspaper printed In Macon that, when speaking of Democracy, It don’t seem to think I am the whole thing, and when speaking of farmers' organ isations won't say It’s a good thing if they will only keep out of politics; and when speaking of Populists will not want them all disfranchised, and let the ring bosses, poli ticians. corporations, their henchmen and the negro vote. I want to see a Judge that will make It aa hard for a millionaire murderer as for a penniless negro murderer, and as hard for a Rockefeller rogue as for a negro hog thief, and treat a firm who administered polaon by means of canned meats, as an Individual who administered it. in wines, fruits or confectioneries. also want to see a United 8tates Judge who will not sell his learning snd honor to the mosey power and throw In a lot of Injunctions. And 1 do really want to see one—Just one—honest, unselfish, truthful, free from greed officeholder, one who Is earnestly and honestly striving to serve his country and people. And then when all these wants are gratified, I shall sarnastly look for tha millennium. J. B. HOWARD. WILLIAM IRA VERS JEROME ADDRESSES GEORGIA BAR; SUBJECT; “PUBLIC OPINION' New York District At torney Leading Speaker. By J. WIDEMAN LEE. Warm Springs, Ga, July 19.—Tbe annual address before the Georgia Bar Association was delivered this morning by William Travers Jerome, district attorney of New Tprk. His address, the subject of which was “Public Opin ion,” was aa follows: Mr. President and my brethren of the Georgia Bar: I am sure I greatly appreciate the honor end compliment of your Invita- tlon to address you on this occasion. When your learned president some months ago extended to me the Invita tion to be present and speak, the pleas ure afforded me—and the distance of the event—mad# It very agreeable to accept and easy to promise anything: but I fear, that as the time approached for m* “to make good” on my accept ance, diffidence effaced pleasure, and as 1 stand before you I feels great deal as I did when ns a lad 1 was making my first argument before an appellate trib unal. And as then I stuck very dose- [ ’ to my brief, I must be pardoned If I o so now. The fundamental and real reason for gatherings such as this la not to listen to the learned papers which may be read. These are Interesting end often valuable contributions to our knowl edge of particular subjects and they serve. In s measure, to characterise our meetings. The real reason, though perhaps not generally recognised and seldom stated, Is deeper and the results are more valuable than the elucidation of aomt abtruse point of law even when It concerns Important questions of the The value of such gatherings la be cause they bring the members of our profession Into closer personal contact and acquaintanceship. They make ue realize our power nnq Influence and our capacity for service, and they develop solidarity and professional unity and spirit which has In It tremendous x>salbllltles for good. I think no re flecting man leaves such gatherings without having hla pride In and love for hla profession Increased and quick ened and a keener sense of honor and responsibility to his professional breth ren gwakened. I cannot bring for your consideration learned paper on some legal subject. The reasons why concern me alone and would not Intaraat you. Moreover, as I looked over the program of your -ex- I saw there waa little need of enlarging tha discussion of purely tech nical subjects. If I am correct In my conception of what the fundamental purpoae and re sult of such meetings as this Is, It may not be out of place at this time to of fer a few reflections upon “Public Opinion, Its Power, Some of Its Evils and Injustices, and Our Duty as Law yer* to It." Of the power of public opinion no one has doubts; of Its evils and Injus tice* few care publicly to speak, but of these every thinking man Is aware, and our duty as lawyers toward It and In fluence over It la little thought of. Difficult to Determine. There Is no mystery as in what pub lic opinion is. It is simply the opint- held by a majority of persons, usually conceived of as a large majority, updn any given subjert at a given time and place. But to determine what Is public opinion upon any particular subject at a given time and place Is often the most difficult task that can bo under taken. Sot again. Is there any mystery as to why public opinion Is so potent. Ultimately no doubt Its power rests on the physical strength of a majority, but Its Immediate motive force Is not found In this. Emerson has touched the prln dple when he says: “Yet we have the weakness to expect the sympathy of people In those actions whose excel lence Is that they outrun sympathy, nnd appeal to a tardy Justice." The men who are doing things, who are thought to have, and often do have and exercise power, no less than the great mass of the people whose Individual opfnlons go to make up public opinion, crave sympathy and approbation. There are men, guided by o high sense of du ty, w-ho will do and continue to do their duty as they see It regardless of this majority opinion which wo call public opinion, but with how much ef- f,.rt :tn-l depression! Tin- man wti'» rle Clares he la Indifferent to public opln Ion, If he be not a fanatic, Is loo often something of n fool and a knave—a knave to lie end a fool to think you be lieve him. To a public officer, the dis charge of his duty with or In the face of public opinion Is like the difference In the running of an engine with oiled or sanded bearing*. How potent public opinion Is In everywhere evident to the lawyer. What more eolemn declaration of Ite will can a people moke then to declare In lte constitution of government that a thing shall not be done and that the legislative. body shall enact eultable lawe to prevent the doing of the pro hibited act? And yet has Maine, foa example, been able to enforce Ite pro-' hlbltlve lawe? Do not Its eworn offi cers almost everywhere fell to fulfill their oaths of office? Like officers do not fall In their duties where crimes ■uch as -larceny are concerned. In my own state the constltutlo titbits gambling and enjoins the l« turn to pass laws to prevent It. legislature, however, has dared to pass a law which while In form aimed to prevent gambling on race track* waa notoriously designed to protect It, and this waa possible only because public opinion permitted. There Is a large group of laws, note, bly those concerning the social evil, restriction on the sale of liquor and Sunday observance, which will Illus trate the power and the evlle, too, of public opinion. It would be Interesting and Inatruct- Ive to have some competent person trace the genesis and by comparative study give ue the history of the growth this longing for approbation and sympathy which Immediately give* to public opinion Its power. But whatever Ite cause and whatever Ita history, pub lic opinion stands today as the moet Important single Influence In the Wife of the nation. Pubtlo Opinion Nearly Omnipotent With ue, as perhaps with no other natloa and now aa never before, public opinion Is nearly omnipotent and has largely converted and tends to convert more and more our legislative aaaem- SOUTH’S GROWTH AND PROGRESS HE RECORD IN RAILROAD BUILDING From The Chattanooga Tradesman. T HE most prosperous year In the his tory of railroad* In ths South and throughout ths country. In fact, closed with the fiscal year 1908-1904, on Jane 90. There Is ho better way to Judge the conditions of the country than by the oper- atlona of Its railroads. This being tree, the tetter half of 1906 snd the first tail el 1901 were the banner period of genera business In the South. All previous record, were broken, every railroad In.the Smith sccordli have the aesr laces wee phenomenal, bat. ling to the estimates of officiate carefully looked Into the rondli •w (local year will break the mt record of that lost closed. Darina tea iths of the twelve Just past, the tnr • In the South did a capacity basin < as 'the main lines _ jtMd tY mcttngfretglit end experwaclja the ter*- gr*s» Increase In tonnage ae the mein lines and many of these feeders that bad never before been paying property, earned good dividends for the owners. , The year wae remarkable In many re port*. Freight moved toward every point of ths eoinrass, showing that the peculiar local conditions brought the great reveane* to the railroads. The South produced demanded In other sections did before, and consequently Might more heavily la the Northern and eastern markets. Commercial Intercourse between the cities of the eoutheast end the eoutbweet and northwest wss also greeter, itvlng thousands of tons of freight In eseesa of that ever handled before. The parts on the Gulf of Mexico and the lower Atteutlc developed their commerce marvelously, giving n tremendous Increase In freights hauled. Cub*, the Panama country and Mexico were heavy buyer* In he United State* ami the great bate of his traffic wsa handled by the railroad* the South through Southern porta Everything seemed to work to the band of the railroads resulting In a volume of busi ness that surprised the moat ssngulue. While the South has had a number of en- terprlsln* manufacturing cities, theae and numerous other* earned to uk* cm new life, and many of them have donated their for mer tonnage. l>lver»l8eatlon of crops throughout The South added many more thousands of tone of freight and all these agencies gave the transportstkm business to the Unfit of their capacity. During tea of the twelve months every ear ami loco motive on the Sllrosd* Of 'the South wets ' use constantly with a demand ter ft than the supply. Daring the first. _„nths. Jnly sud August, 194*. busli was very llfrge. but not taxing the ca pacity of the roads. Beginning with the month of September, however, and cootln- nine up to the present, few of tbe rail roads could have moved a grrater Totems of bnnlnesn than was offered them. BIX months of the time, the roads were clear ly unequal to the nsk, and the unsatisfied demand for cure wns general. Few of the railroad* hare been able to losue accurate atntemeutn of the past year a business, but many have Issued estimates which are next to startling. The Nashville Chattanooga and St. Umte raUwgy earned nearly a million .loiters- more than Its capital stock. The. Louisville and Nash ville. Illinois Control. Queen end Creoreat cnpttal stock. The Southern railway en joyed as great or greater lucre*w thin -r reads, ami but for Ita heavy capful- loo Its ahowtag would ha aa good aa result of e^_ petmperity^te eteeedy road circles. . It kan beep provea that South has ooly half the railroad mileage weds and ihcrr la hardly a company rating In the South but la now nr- ring to build maay Bow Hues aad ox- fie"niln.da Central proposes building a ae from Nashville to Jarksoo, Mica., muectlng with tha mala Una to New _Jtj- w line to Jackson, Tenn. The ndngham tnd Atlantic Is new , line* Into Atlanta and one to Birming ham. This company alto proposes build ing over the right-of-way of the Nashville and Hantsvlll* railroad to Nashville. The Southern railway Is building from Steven son. Ate., to Chattanooga, 40 miles, snd Is building another Important line from Wallaad, Tenn., to Anderson. S. C„ form ing 1 more direct line to Charleston and Savannah for Its lines la Trnnmwe tnd Kentucky. Betides these, the Southern will build a score of amtll Up lines. These ara hut a fewhf the numerous reads that are under construction new or prac tical!- —*- ™ — **-- eat _____ . practically certain to build ehert line* ag gregating 4<X) miles of new track. Tha sarersa of railroad enterprise! In the South has created Intercut throughout the coun try, and In the pant few months a score of to do so ss yet. Several of -r, will probably materialise. most Important trunk line*. The business trunk Unr* has grown In the peat where It can not be handled enc- ceaafully on n single track nnd n number of the roads are now ddbble-tracUng the line*. The Illinois Central Is pushing Tts doable-track work on through Memphis to New Orleans. The LouterlMr and NtshrlUe ■ ». to Birmingham. The Southern rail. ch. / «..WM e K'SSSlu'WWffi town, Tenn., and Is randy to doobto-tmek sain line from Washington to Atlanta, i number of other divisions aome don- rack work wlU be dene. Tha Quean Crescent also propose# building a sec- track from Cincinnati to Chattanooga, — will likely begin tha warh beforetne close of the year 190?. It was compara tively but- a few year# ago whan bank- —„ 1,0*1 J majority of the reu se South. Then when every one declare n handsome dlrldend In —...— — making extensive Improvements It la not strange rkaf Investors throughout x&cusfis&u* tu bile fr-. func c-srntatlve gatherings Ic-legates whose < hl-f raiulate un-I perfect tti detail measure* dictated by the people as a whole. ->r by a majority or sup posed maj-irity of them. This is the natural nnd logical out come --f democracy In large, complex ami intelligent eommunltleo like ours. Whether we like It or not, it Is a con dition which confront** us. It seems to me wise and good men w III not seek to change It, something I believe Impossi ble to do, but frankly conceding the great and, If possible, growing power of public opinion, they will seek to In fluence It, to form and guide It and make It work for higher tilings In the varied life of our people. Correlative to that craving f-.r e- pathy and approbation which la large an element In giving public oi Ion Ita power. Is that principle or trait of httman nature that demand* con formlty and also tenda to yield It. cannot but think that this largely springs from pride of opinion and tellectual laziness. How few* of us hav substantial reasons for the opinions hold on any subject. We have adopted them because nature abhors a vacuum In the mind as In the physical world. head-line In a newspaper; a hasty glance through an editorial; a'blt of In formation or misinformation gathered from a speech or In conversation: our belief that most of our associates hold a particular vb-tv: -iirlv i-dti- itl-n and environment; these nnd such as these arc tho reasons for most of/our opl Ions. Hut having ..ncc uco-pted n be lief nnd provided Or been provided with a formula for It our pride Is enlisted and we are too often ready to condemn the dissenter without any examination "f tti-- t-a-iin* f--r his dissent. Ami thus public opinion Is not Infrequently formed lightly and upright men bent only on public service are made to feel til-- weight ,,f Its ill-pleasure h. Mr MM dared to run counter to and nilveinte mensures -r .i which rest ..II the wisest and most un selfish reasons. - Standpoint of the Individual. It la true enough aa the poet says that “the Individual must wither and the world be more and more" Snd I am now considering the matter from the standpoint of the Individual. But there la a tremendous waste In injustice this kind. It tends to drive and keep the best men out of the public service and to bring Into It a group of time servers who under cover of bowing public opinion seek only their own In i erests. To say that the rule of public opinion has Incidental evils la after all only ' say that It la like all human Irtstitu tlons. My reading and my own obser vatlon and experience make me believe that the people are' never consciously unjust or ungenerous. Indeed they for' give In their public servants everything >ut pecuniary dishonesty and - often overlook transaction! which from moral point of view It la difficult to dl*' tlnguteh from the latter. A public man may with safety oppose If hla views are Well and he can command a hearing for them. MHgH A public officer may, without harm to himself, refuse obedience "to public opinion If he be honest, and has good reason for hla conduct, and can make tho people see why he does not comply with their demand. 'But It la this Inability to get a hear ing which enable* public opinion to compel many men to conformity rath than to draw them Into leadership and make them Influential In Its own formation. In many parts of the country, and e*' peclally In our great cities, a men' ability to command a hearing must largely depend upon the newspaper*, and It le by them that the greatest Jus- tlc* and sometimes the greatest Injua ties Is done. Power of the Newspaper, If publle opinion la the greatest sin gle force tn our public life, surely the newspaper Is Incomparably the great- a Choliy Knickerbocker's GOSSIP AboutT People While tbe southeast Is making rapid •trtda# la Increasing it* railroad FadUtlM, It te not area doing aa murh aa the south- ant In Texas and Louisiana, railroads ira building In almost erery direction. The Kunasrvnen va rifle, a division ot the Frisco, Is l- lug rapidly constructed from Ho too Hour. t3 D*Q»ia*y, where It connects with tha Kan sas City Southern to Beanmoot. The Bt. Louis. Brownsville and Mexico Is ni-sritw ->mpletloa from BrownsrUle lo llonstoa, here the Baton Uuuge lias will conflict - llh It over the Beaamoat. Soar lake nnd Western. All of tkeee are known at Yoakum roads and will become a pan of the Frisco System. Mr. Yoakum Is also a toward Unites aad Fort Worth t* t his southwestern linen with tha tnrk letted end Frisco proper. The Sf. mate Southwestern te building from near est factor In its formation and spread. A wise English writer In an acute and friendly criticism of our institu tions ha* spoken of the newspaper ae discharging three functions, via.: "Nar rator, advocate and weather-vane.” It le as "narrator” that it has, I believe, Its greatest Influence. By It* reporting of facta—and too frequently flctlom and private, it fi niehes the material for the formation public opinion »nd gives that publicity without which government by public opinion could not safely exist. The newspaper seeks, or should seek, to discharge its function ae advocate through Its editorial column, but It eeema to me that there Its influence, though still great, has diminished. It is the editorial page which "the man on the etreet” has especially learned to discount, while he too often accepts the ■tatemente of the news columns aa ac curst* accounts of the events they pur port to chronicle. It would seem, more over, aa if the growth of the magoxlne has had something to do with the loss of Influence of the editorial page. Being less ephemeral anfi partisan In char acter, the article*' In the mag--'— have been more Judicial ton*, and their greater length have given opportunltlea denied to the editorial writer, with the result that their Influence on public opinion haa been steadily Increasing and ao far haa been a beneficent one. While Important in this character, it seems to roe that the newspaper Is of least value as a "weather-vane.” This may well be because commonly no more difficult task can be set than to determine what rtally Is public opinion on any subject at a given time and place. After an event, especially such an on* as an election. It I* easy to see what public opinion waa, but before hand It Is different. Its Meat Serious Public Wrong. Ae the most Important function of the newspaper, as It affects public opin ion, Is discharged In Its acts aa "narra tor,” so It le ae "narrator" that It does Ha moat serioua public wrong. When it frankly acta as "advocate. 1 as It does in Its editorial page, public opinion Is helped or harmed aa the .edl* cause advocate good or bad and is J, but public opinion But when under guise accepted or rejectedrbut public opinion Is not deceived. But hear Beaumont tbrough Leak Sow Orleans aa tbe objective point, ac cording to a Ugh official of tkat com pany. Not less Ihsa twenty other Use* ara oullillug throngb Texas aad as many are projected la lemlateaa. Arkansas aad Okla homa. Doubtless, nsdny of them will sc ran pjlsb mat construction this year. Those barked by tha larger companies, however, an practically certain to mate rialise. Every- section of the cooatrv la improving 1a a general way amt the roads are having difficult*- to keep The dnaartxl skies show ao paaicky ■ of reporting facta It wilfully intestates and "fakes” It doe* serioua and, to In dividual!, often Irreparable Injury. Now Is It possible to have a wlae and beneficent public opinion when the sup- posed facta upon which it Is founded are not facts at all but Actions? I am not learned enough In the his tory of Journalism, nor have I been a close enough observer to know whether or no* this evil Is of modem growth, but that It la a real and aerious evil 1s beyond dispute. I am not thinking now ot those mis statements which simply go to make a good story, or which pander to a crav ing for sensationalism. These usually only affect Indlvuduala In their private relation* and not public men and meas ures. I mean those sinister and delib erate misrepresentations which seek, under the guise of reporting the news, to play covertly In tne new* columns the part of "advocate” and to Influence public opinion on men and measures In a way not possible through the edito rial page when the news columns are straight. There la one Injustice which public opinion not infrequently does, and it Is one which lawyer* can do much to cor rect and that la the criticism of judgeh Continued on Opposite Page, By Private I-ea-e-d Mire. New York, July 19.—While it Is "An drew Carnegie, citizen of the world,” these day*, the great iron master haa never forgotten that he made hla money about Pittsburg, and ao.when ever anything happen* In Pittsburg, especially If it bears the name of Car negie. he Is heard from. Twenty of the most notable men In Europe are to !.l- g-i-s-.s VI h.-ri lit., main l.-it: • . of the Carnegie Institute te opened next April. Among them will be Professor Adolph Harnack and Dr. Robert Koch of Germany: M. Deicasse, late foreign minister; Professor Marcellin B. Oule Edmund Rostand, Baron D'Eatour- nelles de Constant and August Rodan of France: Alma Tadema, Lord Hugh Cecil. William H. Preece, Frederic Hardison, Molnerly Bell, William Hug- gins, and possibly James Bryce, of England; Maqsten Maastens, M. Van Karnedeck, director of the Temple of Peace, of Holland; Count Albert Ap- ponyl, of. Hungary. And Pittsburg may be depended upon to entertain them most royally. Great fortunes are hard to estimate It la now said that Alfred Belt, fre quently spoken of as a near-billionaire really left only a paltry hundred mil lion dollars, which. In these days. Is nothing unusual. On the other hand it would seem that the estate of the m ? r ALFRED BEIT. late Marshall Field was under rather than over-estimated. The value ot the property left by him In New York Is appraised at 19,000.000. It la not Im possible that he waa the richer man of he two. Newport has been thrown Into a flut ter of excitement by the report that J. Nicholas Brown, the ”110,000,004- baby," has been threatened with ab duction. The mother of the child 1s )rostrated today. - An extra guard has men placed over the lad. It Is de clared that a band of criminals from New York are here after the million- air* baby. Many New Yorkers will learn with regret of the serious lllneis of Colonel "Bill" Brown, politician, newspaper man and ”man-about-town.” Colonel "Bill” was at one time Joint proprietor. of The Dally News, with the late Ben. Wood, and represented his dletrlct In the state senate. He has a wide circle of acquaintances among public men. Taldor Wormier la the bad boy of this village. He does things that ive would spank our children for doing, and It 1a about time that we condemn him as a nuisance." That Is what T. C, Zinsser, the presi dent of the village of Haatlngs-nn- Hudson, said yesterday, when the young New Yorker, who te a banker at No. 15 Broad etreet, has a town house at No. 24 West Fifty-fourth street and a country residence near Hastings, was brought up before Judge Tomkins on a charge of having ex ceeded the automobile speed limit, sec ond offense, and waa fined $50. GEORGIANS IN GOTHAM. By Private Leased Wire. New York, July 19.—Here are some of the visitor* In New York today: ATLANTA—W. S. Byck and wife, B. . Friend. Jr., J. Hargrave, Miss Kirk- caldle, W. E. Neall and wife, W. Vanes, L. Boynton, P. M. Davis, C. t'- Stovall, C. J. Beasden. J. W. Hlncllffr, R. O. Hitt, W. P. McCord, W. O- Ml- sell, c. L. Moore. . ,. AUGUSTA—C. D. Perkin* and wlf*. . A. Bonner, W. C. Welch. „ MACON—4Mr». L. Dempaey, Mrs. «. \ Wahbury, „ _ SAVANNAH—H. BlumenthaL P. J- Hassen, Jr, M. Lehwald, W. B. Still well. THIS DATE IN HISTORY. D th* JULY 1#. 1203—Fall of Constantinople to Venetlal crusaders. 1333—Edward III defeated the Scot* at battle of Halldon Hill. 1553—Lady Grey proclaimed queen of England by earl of Arundel. 1673—Dr. John Calua, founder of Calu* College, Cambridge, died. 1629—Quebec capitulated to the Eng lish; 110 years before Its fl n “ conquest by Wolfe. 1769—British sloop Liberty scuttled ana sunk by people of Newport. . 1779—American force defeated Britl** at battle of Paulus Hook. 1812—United State* brig Nautilus cap tured by squadron of British frig ttM. . rnff . 1621—George IV crowned king of Eng 1624—Iturbide, Mexican leafier, shot »» Padlllo. . 1840*—Great Are In New York city! $02 buildings destroyed. 1864—Battle of Peach Tree Creek. OJ- 1870—Napoleon HI declared war ™ 1882—Funeral of Mr*. Abraham Llncola at Springfield, III. 1888— E. P. Roe, novelist, died. 1899—Secretary of War Alger re- 1906—Chinese declared boycott af-Hn* American goods.