Newspaper Page Text
Thursday, Jan. 16, 1913.
"On Board the Good Ship Earth" *&*
(Copyright, 1913, by Herbert Quick.
They say the chameleon feeds on atr, Well, bo do we. And this
calls to mind a true story.
Once there lived on the good ship Earth —and still lives for
aught 1 know —an Englishman named North —Colonel North, "The
Nitrate King." Of all the earth-beings who have gained dominion
over their fellow-passengers on this great globular Zeppelin, Colonel
North once seemed to have the greatest dominion— greater than
that of Rockefeller, or Cecil Rhodes of South Africa, or Clive the
Conqueror of Hindustan, or the "Gentlemen Adventurers" of the
Hudson's company. Greater than the dominion of Genghis Khan of
Tartary, Attila the Hun, Alaric the Goth, or Genseric the Vandal.
For it seemed at one time as If Colonel North the Nitrate King and
his descendants would be able through their ownership of the nitrate
beds of Chill to make all their fellow Passengers buy nitrates of
them, until the beds should be exhausted—and then all the Passen
gers of the good ship Earth—after moving about from one nitrogen
. exhausted place to another, and warring and wasting and ravaging
as peoples always do when they move—were to starve together for
lack of nitrates!
What greater deed could a monopolist hope to achieve than
to get hold of something which God made for all of vs —who are
nil in the same boat remember —sell it to us at starvation prices
and lord it over the rest of us; even though at the last we should
• use up the supply, and all starve? Truly, a gigantic and charac
teristically nineteenth-century conception!
The thing the Colonel had cornered was nitrogen for the growth
of crops. What is nitrogen? It is one of the ten elements of plant
food that must be found by the roots of the plants or they die. And
all animal life is based on plant life—-and we Passengers arc ani
mals. So there you are! Of these ten elements, only three or four
are often scarce in the soil —nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and
probably sulphur; and the Colonel had the nitrogen—or so he
thought. For though 75 per tent of the air in which every plant
grows is nitrogen, the crops cannot u«e it. It is "free" nitrogen,
and the crops can't eat it unless it is "fixed" —that is, tied up with
Borne other chemical element. There are 75,000,000 pounds of ni
trogen in the air which rests on every acre of land; and the crop
dies for wnnt of it unless it is "fixed" or tied up with something
else in chemical bonds! A soil is in good condition for crops if it
possesses two tons of this 75,000,000 pounds per acre —but how to
get it?
Sdience was in despair. But Colonel North, I suppose,, was
in high feather. For in Chili nitrogen has accumulated in the form
of nitrates in the soil until that dry region is the great storehouse
of the fixed nitrogen of this great airship Earth in which we are
all Passengers, going we know not where. Sir William Crookes
♦•put on his black cap and gave out the sentence of science. This
was the verdict:
A good soil possesses only from 2500 to 10,000 pounds of nitro
gen per acre. A good crop takos from this store from 75 to 400
pounds per acre, depending on the crop. Call it 75 so as to scare
ourselves as little as possible, and give every acre 10,000 pounds,
■which is twice what we can count upon, and where are we? Why,
we can see our way to 134 crops, and a part of another. But there's
m Colonel North with his paper title to the nitrate parts of the decks
" of the ship God gave us all—how about Colonel North and his nitrate
beds? Well, said science, at the present rate of shipments, they
will last only a few decades, at most—some said 30 years, some 300
—because nobody knows lust how much Colonel North had. And
then? Why then, with that illimitable sea of nitrogen about our
heads, we shall all gradually die of starvation! There was no way
out of it —human life is based on plant life, and plant life on nitro
gen, and the fixed nitrogen supply is approaching exhaustion. So
said science through Sir William Crookes.
Hut the good farmers of the world always felt that Sir William
■was a bit off. They know that when they planted clover, beans,
vetch, peanuts, or any other leguminous—that is pod-bearing—crop,
and plowed it under, the soil seemed richer in nitrogen afterwards.
Science said that that couldn't be. "For," said science, "all the
nitrogen the legume gets, it gets from the soil, and you can't get any
more by plowing back what you've just taken out! Moreover, the
scientists "proved" by experiment that the pod-bearers don't secrete
nitrogen from the air.
». "liut," said the good farmer, scratching his head, "it IS richer,
for all that!"
"Nonsense!" said science.
And then the most wonderful discovery of agricultural science
convinced the wise men that the farmer was right. Science found
that on the roots of these leguminous plants are little knobs like
tiny potatoes, and in the knobs, millions upon millions of little plants
called bacteria, so small as to be invisible to the naked eye. We
used to think they were disease-galls! Suddenly through the pa
tient researches of science, the mistakes of science were corrected;
and we were informed that these bacteria, unlike the big plants,
have the power to take free nitrogen out of the air in the ground,
and fix it so the other plants can get it!
Science threw up its hat. We needn't starve for lack of nitro
gen! Colonel North's descendants can't look forward to the time
■when the other Passengers on the good ship Earth will come crawl-
Ing on their bellies, begging nitrates, supplicating for the privilege
of living on board a while longer. We can get our nitrogen out of
the air.
When God started to build a world, he started from the bot
' torn. When the first plants were evolved, they had to be plants
•which could get nitrogen from the air, because there was none in
the rocks. The first plants were one-celled plants which could do
this. When the clover began business the bacteria came around
and asked the privilege of building houses in which to live on the
clover roots. "Certainly," said the clover. "Rut you've got to pay
rent." "All right," said the bacteria. "We'll furnish the nitrogen,
If you'll look out for the other taltle board, and the matter of lodg
ing. Is it a go?' "It's a go!' said the legume; and they have been
partners ever since, each living on the other, and all taking nitrogen
out of the air for themselves and other plants.
In the crust of the earth there is only a trace of nitrogen, and
all there is, so far as I know, is in the soil. I suppose that all of
it which is in the soil has been taken from the air by the bacteria
and fungi—Colonel North's and all the rest. If these tiny, tiny pas
sengers had not come aboard millions of years before us, we could
never have come into being. Despise not the day of small things.
The basis of all life is the life which is too 6mall to be seen by the
microscope.
I often wonder what we should have done about North's monop
oly, if Crookes had not been mistaken. Would the other Passengers
have recognized his paper title to the power to starve them? I
wonder! The courts, of course, would have stood up for Colonel
North!
Compare Our $475 Player
Piano With Anything Under
$600 Offered Elsewhere
There is just one way to prove this state
ment—come in and see and hear this $475
Player. We can write pages of description,
but all we might say would not convince
you half as quickly as to see and hear this
instrument yourself. We want you to come
in. You will not be disappointed. Do not
feel that we expect you to purchase—we
want you to hear and appreciate this Player
Piano whether you intend to buy or not.
ShermaniMay & Go.
Mrlnwßjr and Other Planoa—Apollo aad Ccelllaa Playe*
Plaaoa—Victor Talking Machines—sheet Mnale and Musical
Merchaadlae.
928-930 C Street, Tacoma
Getting Food Out of the Atmosphere
See tmorrow's Times for announcement of the next Article in
this great series.
ELY'S PRETTY YOUNG
WIDOW REFUSES $800
A WEEK WITH FLYERS
BLANC HK ELY.
SAN FRANCISCO, Jan.
IC.—Mrs. Blanche Ely, beau
tiful young widow of Eugene
Ely, the aviator who was
killed a little over a year
ago, today refused an offer
of $800 a week to ride aloft
with a troupe of professional
aviators now showing in
California.
Manager Del Hart made
Ely's young widow the offer
believing that her exception
al beauty and the interest
attached to her as the widow
of the intrepid Ely would
justify the big salary of
fered.
The offer as made througth
the parents of Mrs. Ely, who
live in this city, and it was
not considered.
$>^<$<&s><S><S><£<s><s<s><s>s><B><S><B>e><S>,s><£(s><3>,g)<j>,s,<£ < g, < § )< £ ( 3 > <S ><>
♦ <5>
-S> This is the day after. <s>
<S> Every train and boat from Olympia is today bringing a ♦
-$> weary lot of Tacomans tired out from the strenuous celebra- ♦
♦tion at the inauguration of Governor Lister yesterday. 3>
<S> Many came home last night on a special train that left -*>
<$> Olympia about midnight. <j>
<J>
<s><S><s><S><s><S><J><»<3><s><s><S><s><S><S)<}<S><j><S><s><j>^><?>^><j><j.<j>^.^ >^,<j,<5 >
RUNAWAY WIFE CAUGHT WITH
ALLEGED MURDERER IN PORTLAND
PORTLAND, Ore., Jan. 1C. —
On a charge of robbing postof
fices, John Torgerson is today
being held here awaiting the ac
tion of government postal offi
cials. According to the officials,
Torgerson has confessed to ron
bing four postofrkes, three rail
road stations and eight stores, In
southern Oregon between Decem
ber 27 and January 8.
Mrs. Arthur Dietz of Vienna,
Cal., who, with her two children,
STAY EXECUTION
OF ALLEN GANG
RICHMOND, Va., Jan. 16. —
Governor Mann this afternoon
gave Floyd and Claude Allen,
Hillsville mountaineers, another
respite. They were to have been
electrocuted at dawn tomorrow.
In a statement this afternoon
the governor announced he had
set February 1 as the date for
hearing arguments and pleas for
commutation of the death sen
tence.
YOUR SOUR, GASSY, UPSET STOMACH
WILL FEEL FINE N FIVE MINUTES.
"Really does" put bad stomachs in order —"really does" over
come indigestion, dyspepsia, gas, heartburn and sourness In five
minutes — that — just that — makes Pape's Diapepsin the largest
selling stomach regulator in the world. If what you eat ferments
into stubborn lumps, you belch gas and eructate sour undigested
food and acid; head is dizzy and aches; breath foul; tongue coated;
your insides filled with bile and indigestible waste, remember the
moment Diapepsin comes in contact with the stomach all such dis
tress vanishes. It's truly astonishing—almost marvelous, and th«
joy is Its harmlessness.
1 DIAPEPSIH I
KM II MAKES DISORDERED STOMACHS | :§&ski2->^\ fTWpf
|a If FEEL. FINE IN FIVE MINUTES. I .■J^Mfcy^^X^KTl^^^
HfJ7 CURES INDICESTION. DYSPEPSIA, I.^j^^^WXC^^^^n
LARGE 30 CENT CASE-ANY DItUG STORE. >10mB*WtW mr
THE TACOBiA TIMES.
were with Toraerson at Rosenurg
when he was arrested, is alleged
to have stated that Torgerson
was responsible for the death of
.lames Miller, a ranch hand w'io
was shot to death at Vienna De
cember 4.
Mrs. Deitz' husband is now un
der arrest at Vienna charged with
complicity in the killing of Mil
ler.
Mrs. Dietz left her husband to
accompany Torgerson.
CITY TO PRINT
ORDINANCES
The city is getting ready to
republish city ordinances and old
ordinances are to be largely re
vised. Yesterday nearly a
dozen of the old ordinances were
introduced to be repassed after
being brought up to date.
It will cost probably $2,500
to publish the book, but the city
will get part of it back selling
copies to lawyers.
- ■ I 111 I "': " I lIIHH^HBB I
B^r^^^^ B ■■1 ' - fIHiBBBHI 111 I ■■ MH I Bl
B 111 II fit■ Ef H llii ■
I I 111 JiALE ' I II II I
B I II wf%lwlmii w B BB B^ B
H 881 Bl^^^" Ob Bb VJIHwOf I
SUPREMACY
■ IN VALUE GIVING |
It christoffersen co.
I§M MONSTER FIRE SALE I
il 925 So. C Street I
The Onslaught Has Been Terrible! But We Refill the Vacated Ranks With New, Better and B
More Tempting Bargains. ■
§1 FRIDAY and SATURDAY I
Will prove interesting days for all in need of Coats, Suits and Underwear; also a special cut in B
all lines of Dresses. Counters piled full with offerings each and every day. ■
■1 | Down goes the prices. Out goes the goods, at yours, anxious to please 9
%[ Patch AlT^^^^mx^^^ Fancy I
2ZJI 925 C ST.TACOMA.WASH. L_Z^_ I
e> <•
•> THEATRICAL <•
(> <J
•> Taeoma — Tomorrow and <!
«> balance of week, African ••
»> Lion Hunt pictures. >?
» 4
i> Princess —All week, with 4
•> matinee Sunday and Wed- 3
nesday, the Princess players <?
> In "In Mizzoura." <$
-> <$
$> Empress—All week, aft- 4
•> ernoon and evening, six <?
•> vaudeville acts. $
•> <$
•> Pantages— All week, aft- <?
> ernoon and evening, six <•
•> vaudeville acts. 4
•> «
AT THE TACOMA
An impression seems to prevail
pretty generally that the Paul J.
Itainey African expedition motion
pictures which will be shown at
the Taeoma t,heater four days
starting Thursday, pursued lions
to their lairs without guns or
rifles, depending alone on their
American dogs. But such was
not the case. Mr. Rainey used
bear hounds to trail the beasts
and then unleashed a pack or
Airedale terrierß upon them and
when the battle had proceeded
sufficiently far, he dispatched the
quarry with a bullet. The dogs
gave the lion the fight of their
lives, but in no instance was the
battle allowed to progress suffi
ciently far to ascertain whether
or uot the dogß could kill the
li.i. unaided.
1 AT THE EMPRESS f
•—' •
Most character women, as the
stage i-.-ilis them, must use much
makeup. One of the most widely
known women who plays such
parts boasts of using a quart of
grease paint a season.
M'lss Marie Stoddard, who is ap
pearing this week at the Empress,
1b an exception. With just a
touch here and there of makeup.
Miss Stoddard changes herself
froni a handsome society woman
to a dowdy country girl. She is
doing this thrice daily and there
are many who believe tliere are
two women in her act.
The secret Is facial expression,
she says. By twisting her hair
and putting on her comedy dress,
and "working her face" as she
calls It, she becomes a typical
backwoods girl.
"Makeup Is not altogether nec
essary," she explains. "Facial
expression is everything, and
grease paints are only Intended
to counteract the high lights of
tb« stage."
$400,000
IS STOLEN
CHICAGO, Jan. 16. —ltol>l>ery
of a satchel containg stock which
claimed to have a face value of
$400,000 was reported to the po
lice today by W. D. Wade, presi
dent of the Australian Marten
Fibres, limited. Wade said the
satchel had been stolen from him
at the Northwestern depot, where
he had just arrived rrom St. Paul.
PLANNING MORE
IMPROVEMENTS
Counting the big 11th street
bridge, which is not yet quite
done, there were improvements on
at the first of this year amount
ing to $1,000,000 in Taooma. The
weather has been such the big
paving jobs in the South End
have not yet been finished.
COOK HAS PLAN
County Assessor C. A. Cook is
out with the annual wail from the
county assessors in this county
against the method of assessing
railway property. The plan is
admittedly bad, but it is up to the
legislature to change it.
FOUR DAYS, STARTING TODAY
Matinees Friday, Saturday and
Sunday.
Return Engagement—The Motion
Picture Sensation of the World.
Paul J. Eainey's African
Hunt
New facts about one of the great
est hunting trips of modern times
Prices 25c and 50c. Iteservcd Seats
PRINCESS THEATER
MAIN 7700
THIS WKKK
"IN MIZZOURI"
Bargain Matinees Wednesday and
Saturday, 10c and 25c.
Evening Prices, 20c, 3Oc and sOc.
EMPRESS
NICK'S HOIXKU
SKATING
GIRLS
—Other Big 8. & C. Acts—t
■ BIG HI 1,1, TODAY
ALICE TEDDY
i Melnotte lianolo Troupe
- B—OTHKR I KATIUKS—B
BANKERS TRUST BANK
SHOWS BIG INCREASE
At the annual meeting Tuesday
of the Hunkers Trust company
stockholders, reports showed nn
increase in deposits in five years
from $200,000 to $1,100,0H0. A
new hoard of directors was elect
ed as follows: W. C. Wheeler,
0. P. Danaher, Harry Welty, W.
PRINCESS ™
I I IIIUL.UU Phone Main 7760
THE HOME OF HIGH-CLASS STOCK
C. L. Richards Presents The Princess Stock
Company In
In Mizzouri
Augustus Thomas' Funny Character Play
Staged Under Direction of Wm. H. Dills
NEXT WEEK
McCutcheon's Charming Romance
"Beverly of
Graustark"
Beautiful Costumes and Scenery
First Costume Play Presented by Princess"
Stock Company in 51 Weeks.
■\y LARGE AUGMENTED CAST
Prices Do Not Change.
Bargain Matinees Sunday, Wednesday and Sat
> urday, 10c, 25c. Evenings, ; 20c, 30c, 50c ■
PAGE THREE.
C. Davle, C. W. Morrlll and J. F.
Murphy.
Officials: W. C. Wheeler,
president; R. E. liorgan, vice
president; Harry Welty, cashier
and secretary. C. H. Grlnnell,
vice president; George B. Burke,
manager.
