The Topeka state journal. [volume], December 02, 1905, LAST EDITION, Image 6

About The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980

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TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL, SATURDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 2, 1905.
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HE recent death of!
Midshipman James;
Robinson Branch, Jr., j
who was one of the j
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nrincipals in a fatal
Wvs pugilistic duel at the
i'i- yV I United States Naval
sufficient refutation
cf the assertion that the code is extinct.
Drivoa from ncrth to south, from re
publics to monarchies, from civil life
to army camps, from civilization to
semibarbarism, the so called "code of
honor" which made it necessary for the
simon pure "gentleman" to wipe out an
insult with blood seems to have taken
refuge in the Military and Naval aca
demies of the United States.
It is true that Paris is still the scene
of an occasional farcical duel in which
no one is injured and mighty satisfac
tion is obtained, and that the students
of German universities still swathe
themselves in the leather armor that
robs their midnight encounters of any
danger more thrilling than a scratch of
the countenance, but at "West Point and
at Annapolis, where the ambitious
young American is supposed to be in
training to become a gentleman and an
officer, the relic of barbarism seems to
have taken refuge and is nourished
tenderly.
According to recent developments, it
appears that the cadet of today must
bo prepared at any moment to refer
a formal challenge to ceremonious sec
onds and, obedient to their opinion as
to what honor demands, must face un
flinchingly a fellow cadet in the time
honored pugilistic battle to a finish.
The scratch of a rapier is not deemed
sufficient to satisfy the demands of
outraged honor. Nothing will wipe out
the indignity save a fight to the bitter
end, even though that end prove to be
very bitter indeed.
"The honor of the corps" comes as
S
ANT cities
in
the
United States are now
engaged in making
preparations for the
celebration, on Jan. 6,
1906, of the two hun
dredth anniversary of
the birth of an Ameri
can who figured more prominently in
the building of the republic than any
other man save Washington Dr. Ben
jamin Franklin, born in Boston, Jan. 6,
1706. The briefest and most brilliant
biography ever written of him contain
ed only five Latin words "Eripuit
coelo fulmen, seeptrumque tyrannis."
"He snatched the lightning from the
skies and the scepter from tyrants" is
about the best that can be done for it
in English. No loftier or more com
prehensive tribute has been accorded
any man and no one has ever risen to
controvert its truthfulness.
Mankind has every reason to be
grateful to Dr. Franklin and to hold his
name in perpetual veneration. He en
larged the scope of human knowledge
by revealing mysteries of nature never
before understood and by applying the
results to the service of man. That
alone would entitle him to eternal fame.
But that was only one manifestation of
this many sided genius. Besides all
this and infinitely more than this, he
stands second only to Washington in
thf.t heroic list of those who stood for
those fundamental principles of liberty
which culminated in the foundation of
the American republic.
Franklin was born a British subject
in the year made famous by the winning
of the battle of Rarnillies by the Duke
of Marlborough, a time when every
New Englander was proud of being
ruled by Queen Anne. Even at that
tender and irresponsible age he must
have excited the admiration of those
who, like President Roosevelt, were not
converts to the Malthusian theory
he was the ntteenth child, two more
HE recent Isle of Pines
incident, precipitated
by the American in
terests which have de
veloped on the islet
and manifested by a
vigorous protest
agtist the ratifica
tion by the United States senate of i!is
treaty giving the island to Cuba, has
revived the public curiosity concerning
this fertile spot. All the trouble seems
to have arisen from the various in
terpretations that have been made of
the second article of the treaty be
tween the Unite 3 States and Spain.
The article over which so much con
tention has arisen declares that "Spain
cedes to the United States fhe island
of Porto Kico ana other islands now
under Spanish sovereignty in the West
Indies." The status of the United
States in reference to Cuba was clearly
that of trustee. In respect to Porto
Rico it was unmistakably that of sov
ereign. Thus far it was plain sailing.
But how about the phrase "other is
lands now under Spanish sovereignty
In the West Indies?" The ambiguity
of this expression has been the cause
of great confusion.
American promoters in the Isle of
Fines, who very greatly desire its an
nexation to the United States, did not
hesitate to discover a meaning in the
words of, the article which certainly
never entered the minds o? the peace
commissioners who formulated them.
The Isle of Pines had always been re
garded as a part of the province of Ha
vana. Ail the maps of Cuba in which
the provinces are distinguished by col
ors confirm this. The island lies so
near the mainland that the channel be
tween might almost be crossed by an
adventurous swimmer. To insist upon
its separation would be like exempt
ing Lor;g Island from' any conveniion
In which the United States was a party
concerned.
The Ucitea States authorities have
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easily today to the lips of a cadet as it
did to the worthies created by Alex
andre Dumas. As late as 1901, the year
in which the Booz investigation was
held, more than a hundred young men
wearing the spruce gray of the Mili
tary academy at West Point stood at
"attention" before the board of inves
tigating generrds and confessed that
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following him. The father of these
seventeen young colonists was a native
of Northamptonshire who had come to
the new world with the expectation of
working at his trade of dyer, but there
was no opportunity in Boston, then a
village of 12,000 inhabitants, and he
adopted the business of tallow chandler
and soap boiler.
Franklin could not remember when
he had learned to read, but he never
forgot that he had attended the Boston
Grammar school two years and that
he had never gone to school elsewhere.
So appreciative was he of those brief
two years of school life that he willed
the sum of $500 to provide silver medals
for distribution to deserving pupiis of
the Boston public schools. Those
Franklin medals are still a feature of
the Boston free schools, and it is re
garded as a special stroke of good for
tune to be given one.
How did this lad without a moment
of tuition after he was ten years of
age come to be the most famous Ameri
can of his day? It was by the most
marvelous combination of force, intel
lect, character, self discipline, indus
try and mother wit ever assembled in a
single individual. His endowment of
common sense amounted to positive
genius. He had a sound mind in a
sound body, and he was apparently
tireless. All this must have been the
lad's equipment when, at the age of
ten, his father bade him put aside his
books and see what he could do at
minding the soap kettle and cutting
candle wicks.
This he did uncomplainingly for three
years and then revolted. At the age of
thirteen he was apprenticed to his
brother, who was a printer and pub
lisher of the New England Courant, one
of the earliest papers on the American
continent. It was thus that the print
ing office became his school and his
university. It probably did more for
him in those days than Harvard or even
Oxford could have done. He had a
THE ONLY CHURCH
never seemed disposed to favor the
theory advanced by the American in
terests. Those interests, however, were
potent enough to get a hearing in con
gress, and the Piatt amendment, which
was afterward adopted as a part of the
Cuban constitution, provided that "the
Isle of Pines shall be omiited from the
groposed constitutional boundaries of
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the cadet who offered an insult or told
a deliberate lie might expect to be chal
lenged to a fistic duel to the finish.
They admitted, furthermore, that no
cadet had ever been able to hold out
against the moral force of the aca
demy's condemnation of a man who
would refuse to send or to receive a
challenge when a formal court of honor.
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Grave of Franklin,
Philadelphia
consuming and insatiate thirst for
knowledge which could have been pro
pitiated in no other manner than by a
study of men as well as books. He
read every book that he could obtain
and was willing to listen to any one
who had any information to impart. He
soon learned the art of printing as it
was known in those days and began to
try his hand at writing. At the age of
ON THE ISLAND.
Cuba, the title thereto being left to fu
ture adjustment by treaty."
Situated a little south of the western
end of Cuba, and about the size of the
state of Rhode Island, the Isle of Pines
would prove to be a valuable accession
to any nation interested in South
American affairs. In the same longi
tude as Tampa, Fla., and the same
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Fistic
Duel.
AX
ANNAPOUS
such as now holds high jurisdiction
among Uncle Sam's gentlemen pupils,
had adjudged that blood alone could
wipe out the insult.
This court of honor is another
mediaeval institution which is still in
force at the national academies. Be
fore the civil war the southern cadet
dominated social matters at the acad
sixteen he was furnishing editorials for
the Courant, his brother being under
an interdict for criticising the authori
ties, ilis brother was an ungrateful
person, for as soon as he was free he
banished Benjamin from the editorial
sanctum and resumed his own blunder
ing pen.
Young Franklin revolted again. This
time he shook the dust of New Eng
GATEWAY AT
latitude as Tucatan, this bit of land is
regarded as a strategic key to the Ca
ribbean sea and the Yucatan channel,
which connects this sea with the gulf
of Mexico. The island is about thirty
miles in length and forty in width, and
at high tide is practically transformed
into two land areas, the sea inundating
a chain of. lagoons across the southern
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emies, as he did at Harvard, Yale and
Princeton. It was in the south that
the dueling code was perfected in its
minutest details, and it was introduced
into the national academies by the
southern cadets. According to the code
a challenge did not compel a man to
fight. In South Carolina there was a
carefully formulated code known as
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land from his feet and landed in Phila
delphia with a dollar in his pocket. He
was used to impecuniosity and did not
worry over it. He soon found good em
ployment and worked diligently until
the governor of the province sent him
to London on a matter of business
which turned out to be an utter failure.
Work was easy to obtain in England,
and he kept at it eighteen months, then
SANTA FE.
part of It. The northern part, facing
Cuba, is mountainous, with peaks more
than 2.000 feet above the sea-
In this northern part are gathered
almost ail of the 3,000 inhabitants,
among them about 400 Americans who
have been drawn thither by the won
derful fertility of the soil and the rich
ness ol the natural features of the is
the "Smith code" which settled many!
quarrels without the principals appear
ing on the field. It provided for a court
of arbitration made up of three promi
nent gentlemen who decided on the in
sult and whether or not it necessitated
the "calling out" of a man. No one
ever thought of disputing the fiat of
this court.
This is the court of honor which still
obtains at Annapolis and at West Point.
There is only one appeal from its ver
dict and that is to a class meeting, be
fore whose ruling even the officers of
the academies are alleged to bow in
submission. So lofty are the standards
of honor among Uncle Sam's embryo
heroes that an upper class man who
has been convicted of lying is not per
mitted to fight, but is ostracized with
out further opportunity, although a
"plebe" or lower class man is allowed
to retrieve his damaged reputation by
the ordeal of combat. It is a fact well
known and acknowledged among United
States officers that this mediaeval code
cannot be disregarded by any man, be
he professor, officer or cadet, who ex
pects to retain his connection with
these government institutions.
More details concerning the working
of the code have become public through
West Point investigations than from
those at Annapolis. The recent lament
able disaster at the naval school Is un
doubtedly the most powerful argument
for the abolishment of the code that
has ever been found. The horrified
public is still gasping over the knowl
edge that such a calamity was possible
in the light of modern civilization. It
must not be too hastily concluded, how
ever, that the code of honor known to
the national academies will fall into
immediate desuetude. The practice is
too well grounded for that and too
strongly fortified by the tacit approval
of the academy authorities and those
who have had the opportunity of wit
nessing its effect upon the cadet body.
5
Frankun's Birthplacej
BOSTON
falling desperately ill. On his re
covery he returned to the Quaker City
and for twenty years followed the
printing business with diligence.
In a few years he became a person of
importance not only in Philadelphia,
but throughout the thirteen colonies.
Two literary ventures in which he had
engaged extended hi3 reputation very
widely. He purchased the Pennsyl-
land. Potatoes are raised which bring
a higher price in the Havana markets
than those from the United States.
Tobacco grows even too luxuriantly for
quality's sake. Sugar cane is culti
vated at a satisfactory profit, and the
pineapple, which seems to be native to
the soil and once grew in such abund
ance as to furnish a name to the island,
is being produced in quantities for
American tables.
The chief industry of the Island, how
ever, is citrus fruit culture, and this is
almost entirely in the hands of the
Americans. More than 150,000 trees
have been planted, and they are now
beginning to yield abundantly. Cuba
has a distinct advantage over the little
Island in the cultivation of pineapples
for the foreign market in the fact that
the fruit ripens earlier in the Cuban In
terior, and the transportation problem
Is less complicated. More recently the
American residents of the Isle of Pines
have turned their attention to vegetable
growing for the winter market. Toma
toes, eggplants and cucumbers are ship
ped in immense quantities to the north
ern markets of America.
The population of the Isle of Pines is
distinct from that of Cuba and seems
to be a mixture of the native Indian,
the invading Spaniard and the negro
slave. Among the American portion of
the present population there are more
persons from Iowa than from any other
state. Several colonies of Iowans have
located on the island and many others
are prepared to go there as soon as the
matter of ownership is settled. These
Iowa pioneers are from Spencer, Fair
field, Ottumwa and Creston, and they
already number upward of 200. Some
time ago there was organized at Fair
field a company to develop a plantation
and build a town in the island, and the
outcome is the health resort of Al
maciges Springs, which bids fair to
become exceedingly popular as a win
ter home for northern invalids. Colum
bia is another American town which
has roseate prospects as a health center.
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A graduate of the Naval academy
who has been in private life for many
years relates two instances of this for
cible adjustment of class difficulties
which happened during his course, and
they may be taken es a fair sample of
conditions as they exist today. The
first occurred while the academy was
located temporarily at Newport, R. I.,
during the civil war. Oni of the senior
class men, a powerfully built chap
older than most of his mates, an arro
gant and irascible fellow, was on very
bad terms with the lower class men.
One day he was especially offensive- to
a plucky little fellow of the junior
class, and he was invited to settle the
matter by a resort to the code. He re
fused tauntingly and threatened to
spank the presumptuous junior, The
latter, who is today flying his rear ad
miral's flag in command of ona of the
American fleets, laid the matter before
his class, and it was decided that a
man who was more nearly a match for
the aggressive senior should be chosen
to maintain the juniors' honor. The lot
fell to the youngster who is now Rear
Admiral Lamberton. Although Lam
berton was whipped, he made a gal
lant stand and the class honor was
maintained.
The other battle was fought at-Annapolis
in 1866 between a cadet officer
and a first class - man who was the
strong man of the academy. It was the
result of a feud of long standing, the
circumstances being similar to those
which led up to the recent fatal en
counter. The code of honor as it exists in
both national academies must be re
garded as being entirely distinct from
hazing. In 1901 congress prohibited
hazing at West Point by making it
punishable with instant expulsion. Two
years ago it was provided that naval
cadets should be punished with un
conditional expulsion for any attempt at
hazing. JAMES L. TREVATHAN.
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vania Gazette when it was on the verge
of bankruptcy and under his editorship
it became the best paper in America.
His Poor Richard's Almanack, which
he started when he was twenty-six and
continued to publish until he was past
sixty, gave him an international repu
tation and was the source of great
profit. By the time he reached middle
life he was the best known and most
important man in the colonies.
At this time Franklin was an intense
ly loyal British subject. He had done
excellent service for the home govern
ment, and he was well and favorably
known in England. In the wars against
the French and Indians he had been
very active and had been honored with
the doctorate by both Oxford. and Edin
burgh. He visited Great Britain and
was feted and lionized by everybody of
note. He remained abroad several years
and had serious thought of spend
ing the remainder of his life in London.
His scientific discoveries made him
more prominent in European centers
than he had ever been in Philadelphia,
which had not yet learned how to ap
preciate him. His fellow citizens were
quite ready to admit his business and
political sagacity, but they were not so
certain of his scientific prestige.
When the stamp act was first sug
gested Franklin was sent to England
to nip it in the bud. He did every
thing he could to prevent it, even go
ing before a committee of the house
of commons to combat it. This mads
him bad friends with the king, who
manifested his displeasure by profess
ing a sudden unbelief in the philoso
pher's electric discoveries. This was
Franklin's vulnerable point, and it cut
him to the quick. Still, he bore it in
silence and remained in London as the
advocate of the cause of the colonies
until the rupture was inevitable. Then
he resolved to cast in his lot with his
countrymen and landed at Philadelphia
two weeks after the battle of Lexing
ton. TRUMAN L. ELTON.
The American residents own in fee
simple considerably over half of the
island. They have built houses some
of them quite pretentious set out
orchards and prepared the soil for cul
tivation. A company from New Jer
sey has expended over JIOO.OOO on a
plantation, and one tract of land re
cently purchased by an American
brought J 80.000. Another company has
invested $175,000 in a hotel and fruit
farm. At present fourteen states of the
Union are represented in the American
colony.
The southern part of the island is of
coral formation and, strange as it may
appear, is covered by dense forests of
such valuable timber as mahogany,
ebony, cedar, redwood and many other
native hard woods. These rare woods
have long been used with the most
shameful prodigality by the natives,
who did not recognize their value. The
Spanish prison in which political of
fenders were confined in the days when
the island was used as a penal colony
is finished in mahogany and ebony, over
which whitewash has been daubed lib
erally. Marble quarries yielding white,
green and pink stone of superior quality
are now being operated anrt a company
has been organized to exploit the mag
nesia springs which abound In the in
terior. These thermal waters have
long been known to the wealthy Cu
bans, who have for years frequented
the island in large numbers in quest of
health. The water of the springs is
shipped to Havana and sold in the
streets and is reputed to be a specific
for the form of muscular rheumatism
which is so prevalent during the rainy
season in the larger island.
Nueva Gerona has been the seat of
the island government, such as it is.
Here reside the governor, the municipal
judge and several assistants. There i3
also a barrack in which are quartered
about thirty rural guards, who are
supposed to patrol the island in the in
terests of peace. RAMON SILVA.
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