Springfield weekly Republican. [volume], March 07, 1912, Page 12, Image 12

About Springfield weekly Republican. [volume] (Springfield, Mass.) 1851-1946

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SCHOOL AND COLLEGE NEWS.
HARVARD HAS NEW PLAN.
WOULD FILL A CRYING NEED.
Denn Smith Shorn What Good Work
Coaid Be Done If Law Were Passed
Permitting the Training of Den
tai Nurses.
Harvard college will establish a school
for "dental nurses” in connection with its
iental college, if a bill providing for such
nurses, which is now* before the Legisla
ture, is acted upon favorably by that body.
Dr Eugene H. Smith, the dean of the
Harvard dental school, is authority for
this statement. Dr Smith declares that
there is a positive need for "dental nurses
to assist the surgeon in dentistry, just as
there is need for the nurse to assist the
physician.
Under the bill now before the Legisla
ture the "dental nurse” may only make ex
aminations of teeth, “wedge” and cleanse
the exposed surfaces of teeth. _ ami insert
or change dressings for the relief of pam,
under the direction of a registered dentist.
The peculiar construction of the laws cov
ering dentistry in this state allow none
but registered dentists to perform the
above work. Dr Samuel H. Durgin, chair
man of the Boston board of health, recog
nized as one of the foremost authorities on
public health in this country, favors the
extending of the nurse s work so as to per
mit her to assist the dentists.
He says: “I can see no reason why the
nurse would not be just as desirable and
efficient in assisting the surgeon in den
tistry as she is in aiding the physician,
and‘l hope that any obstruction which
may prevent the nurse from performing
her duties in the broadest possible sense
will be effectually removed.” The need
of broadening out the dental work. Dr
Durgin illustrates by the recent report of
Dr William J. Galllvau, chief of the bu
reau of child hygiene of the Boston board
of health. This report showed that 65
per cent of the Boston school children are
"defective.” Almost two-thirds of the
"defective” children, the report stated,
were suffering from easily preventable
month diseases, mostly diseases of the
teeth.
A joint committee representing the fol
lowing dental organizations are also urg
ing the passage of the bill providing for
“dental nurses”: The Massachusetts den
'tai society, Boston and Tufts dental alum
ni association. Harvard odontologies! so
ciety. Metropolitan district dental society.
American academy of dental science, and
the Massachusetts dental hygiene council.
Tn discussing Uie proposed law providing
for "dental nurses" Dean Smith said that
the "dental nurse” would prove a boon
to the whole people of the state for the
work she could do in aiding preventive
dentistry alone, particularly in connection
with children. "There is no question but
that if we could take the child at the age
of four years and keep the teeth and
mouth in hygienic condition, and continue
with that child every three months up to
the age of 16, we could prevent the ter
rible condition now existing in the mouths
of so many children growing up,” said Dr
Smith.
"The trouble is this: Dentists don’t
see the children’s months until they are
10. 12 and 15 years old. Their mouths
have been uncared for. The first teeth
have come and gone. The second teeth are
going fast. Generally parents think that
the first permanent molars belong to the
first teeth. They are allowed to decay
and then often are extracted. There lie
gins the irregularity of the teeth. The
vhild is of school age. The nerves of his
teeth become exjiosed. They ulcerate. The
genera! health of the child is impaired by
lus poisoning. Physical suffering reflects
upon the mental condition of the child. In
efficiency follows.
"Most of the treatment for the young
child is the toilet of the mouth. Incipi
ent decay can be stopped by a solution of
nitrate of silver in the hands of a dental
onrse. It would be her duty to examine
the teeth, to report the progress of decay,
to clean them. Cleaning means more than
haring the teeth look well. It is a mas
sage of the peridental membrane, which
is developed and given more resisting
power.
“This is the field for the nurse. There
is a crying demand for the dental nurse.
There are not enough dentists to do the
dental work set before them, to say noth
ing of nursing. The nurse can perform
these simple duties as well or even better
than the dentist. A young woman would
certainly be better adapted for the care
of the teeth of young children than the
average mau dentist. She would be sub
ject to the same rigid inspection that the
dentist, the physician or the medical nurse
has to bear. She would do work that no
dentist ought to be called upon to do.
"Somebody has made the suggestion that
we should try to handle children by den
tal students. We are experiencing some
trouble with that now. If we bad to do
so we couldn’t train our students in den
tistry. The student after a few examina
tions and treatments becomes familiar
with them. He doesn’t want to do any
more of that work. He says naturally
that he is learning nothing new. He is
right. It has also been said that since
there were no dental nurses awaiting regis
tration there is no demand for the bill.
Of course there are no dental nurses. Why
should anybody study dental nursing when
the law forbids it? If the dental nurse
bill passes, however, we shall establish a
training school for dental nurses at Har
vard.”
HARVARD SUMMER SCHOOL.
tew and Interesting Courses Offered
Thim Year,
The Harvard summer school this year
offers several new courses which will espe
cially appeal to teachers, physicians,
nurses and those having to do with the
training or care of young people, or with
abnormal children. The course in voca
tional guidance, by Meyer Bloomfield, first
given last summer, attracted much atten
tion and the students who took it in 1911
found that it was of great assistance in
helping them to solve the problems which
arise in giving advice to young people
about to start out on their careers. A
second course of special nature will bo
given by Dr William Healy, the director
of the juvenile psychopathic institute of
Chicago, which will deal with the practi
cal training of the mentally and morally
abnormal, with special reference to ebif
, dren. Both of these courses, tn order that
the classes may be small enough to re
ceive the individual attention of the in
struetor. will lie limited in number, and
only those students will he admitted who
have already had some training or prep
aration for the work.
High school and grade school teachers
will find many courses especially adapted
to meet their needs and problems, such as
those in English composition. French for
teachers, civil government, ancient his
tory, Latin for teachers, logarithms and
trigonometry, aud educational psychology.
The courses in design, given for many
years by Dr D. W. Hoss, have gained a
high repute throughout the country and
are particularly intended for teachers of
drawing, while the shopwork courses are
of great assistance to manual training
teachers.
Two new courses which have never been
offered before in the summer school and
which are of unusual literary significance,
are a course in Shakespeare by Prof Neil-
son and a course in the history aud theory
of English poetry by Prof Alden of the
' university of Illinois. Courses are also
I offered in many other subjects of general
interest.
I But the summer students receive in
i spira tiou from their work not only from
the lectures in the courses, but from many
other sources, such as the special even
ing lectures, given by various well-known
men of the regular teaching staff of the
university. A few which may be men
tioned are: “Colonial architecture in New
Englund. ’’ by Prof Warren of the depart
ment of architecture: "The historical
i environment of Harvard university, by
Prof A. B. Hart of the department of
government: a lecture on the Montessori
methods, by Prof Holmes of the depart
ment of education; a lecture by Dr Fer
nald of the Waverly institute for the
feeble-minded, showing the relation be
tween the methods employed there for
many years and the school system of tbe
Countess Montessori: and the readings
from English literature of Prof Copeland.
There will also be a series of outdoor
plays by the Coburn players, now fa
miliar among many summer schools for
their open-air performances.
As the snmmer school begins early in
July, there is yet time after the close
of the session on August 13. to spend
' part of the vacation in the mountains, on
the Maine lakes, or on the seacoast. The
Berkshire bills, the White mountains, the
Raugciev lakes, are all within a few
hours’ ride of Boston. For information
with regard to the courses, and requests
for pamphlets, application should be made
to the secretary of the summer school,
IDA University hall. Cambridge. Mass.
HARVARD ALUMNI BANQUET.
The annual meeting and banquet of the
Connecticut Valley Harvard club was held
February 28th at the Hotel Kimball, and
was attended by about 30 members from
the different cities and towns in the ter
ritory of the club. The speaker at the
banquet was Prof Clifford H. Moore, pro
fessor of Latin at the university, mid a
well-known figure in scholastic circles all
over the country. Both the meeting and
banquet were distinctly informal in thetr
nature and were the occasion more for a
general good time than for any set busi
ness matters. The annual meeting was
held in one of the rooms on the second
floor of the hotel and consisted in the
reading of the repons of the secretary
treasurer. the re-election of the officers of
tiie club for another year, and the adop
tion of a constitution.
SPRINGFIELD CLUB AT YALE.
Organization Completed on Wednes
day Night—F. Elbridge Brigham
President.
The organization of a Springfield club at
Yale took place at a meeting held last week
Wednesday night, and marks the first or
ganization of the sort that has ever exist
ed at the university. The formation of
the club augurs well for Springfield at
Yale, since it indicates that there is an
increasing number of Springfield men at
th.e college and that a new care is to be
taken for their interests there and also
to get them together in a social way. The
first purpose of the club is to aid Spring
field high school boys to learn about Yale
and her requirements, and the organiza
tion will be similar to the clubs of the
larger preparatory schools, such as An
dover, Exeter or Hotchkiss, and of such
clubs as the Hartford club, which have
existed at the university successfully for
a long period. F. Elbridge Brigham of the
class of 1909 at the central high school
and of 1913 at Yale, unanimously was
chosen president of the new club. Mr
Brigham is at present a member of the
university track team. Malcolm B. Ross
of the class of 1910 at the technical high
school was made vice-president. Mr Ross
is in the class of 1913 at the Sheffield sci
entific school, and is also a member of
the university track team. Chandler Ben
nitt, a member of the class of 1911 in
the central high school and a son of Dr
Francis M. Bennitt of the school com
mittee, was made secretary and treasurer
of the club. Mr Bennitt is in the class
of 1915 in the academic department and
is the second highest scholar in his class.
He is also stroke of the freshman crew.
The membership of the club will include
all the men in Y’ale who have ever attended
one of the Springfield high schools, all men
who have gone from Springfield to other
preparatory schools, as well as the men in
Y’ale who come from towns near Spring
field. The present number of these men at
the university is about 38 or 40. the largest
from this section in the history of Yale. In
addition to the big things that are planned
for the club in the way of encouraging
Springfield men to go to Y’ale and helping
them there, the organization is to be of a
social nature, and it is at present planned
to hold the first banquet on the 15th, when
many Springfield alumni of Yale will at
tend to congratulate the organizers of tie
club on their new movement.
YALE SOLDIERS’ MEMORIAL.
Series of Tablets to Be Used With
Artistic Adornment*.
That President Taft favors "The war
between the states” instead of “the civil
war” as part of an inscription on a
soldiers’ memorial at Y’ale is a fact
brought out by the details of the plans
of the Y’ale soldiers’ memorial. The title,
"The civil war.” will, however, probably
be chosen by the committee. The com
mittee. which has Judge Henry E. How
land of New York as president, has re
jected a plan representing “Alma mater.”
a life-size female figure with a dead Union
and confederate soldier at her feet to be
placed in the Yale memorial hall. The
plan favored is a series of tablets with
artistic adornments at the inner entrance
of Memorial hall.
All military titles of the fallen Yale
soldiers will be rejected and only the
full name and classes of the men who
fell on both sides used. Deaths before
the end of the year 1865 will limit the
names on the tablets. The committee
will report io the Yale corporation next
June. In tbe war 115 Y’ale men died in
the Union army and 49 in the confederate
army.
Honor System in Sheffield School.
The senior class of the Yale Sheffield
scientific school Monday night, by a vote of
132 to 37. agreed to adopt the honor system
in examinations, the same as now in vogue
at Princeton and Wesleyan universities.
The matter will now be taken to the junior
and frenshman classes aud then to the
student council for final action. It is ex
pected that tbe system will be adopted.
WORK OF TALLADEGA COLLEGE.
President Metcalf Tells at the Soath
Church of the Progress of the Negro
Race.
The remarkable development of the
negro race that is possible with systematic
education was the theme of an illustrated
lecture at South church Thursday night by
President J. M. P. iletcalf of Talladega
college, Alabama. The talk, which was in
terestingly illustrated with a number of
lantern slides giving views of the college
buildings and photographs of the faculty
and students, was unfortunately beard by
only a small number, but these were much
impressed with the showing of practical
good that the college has done among the
negroes of a large section of the South and
with the high type of work that its gradu
ates are doing. While not definitely men
tiouiug tbe familiar objection that it is
impossible to educate the negro beyond a
certain point. President Metcalf effectually
THE SPRINGFIELD WEEKLY REPUBLICAN: THURSDAY, MARCH 7. 1912.
answered it with his stories of the physi
cians. teachers, missionaries, ministers and
business men of influence that have been
turned out by the institution aud proved
' beyond a doubt the value of work among
the southern negroes.
VALUABLE BOOKS RECEIVED.
Brown Now Ilan Library of Col
Church.
The books and portrait given to the col-
I lege library at Brown under the terms of
! the will of the late Col George Earl
I Church of London have- been received and
i nre now placed on the shelves in a room
' adjoining the Harris collection of Ameri
i can poetry. Col Church’s library reflects
I the varied interests of his busy life, con
taining books on ail the subjects to which
Ihe gave his attention. It is more espe
; cinlly a South American library. Bolivia.
Ecuador, the Argentine. Costa Rica and
Colombia being represented by many vol
umes of the utmost rarity as well as by
large collections of publications of great
value for the purposes of research. This
gift places Brown among the half-dozen
institutions in the United States where
students of South America can work to
advantage.
Col Church was born in New Bedford
in 1835. passed his boyhood in Providence
aud learned to be an engineer by working
at railroad construction in New Jersey.
lowa aud on the Hoosac tunnel. At the
age of 21. be accepted a position on a
proposed railway in Argentina, but when
he arrived in that country found that the
promoters of the enterprise had been
forced to abandon it. He found other oc
cupation. however, and was beginning to
acquire a local standing when, upon learn
ing of the outbreak of the civil war, he
returned to enlist in a Rhode Island regi
ment. of which he became colonel in 1863.
After the war he was sent to Mexico as
a special correspondent of the New York
Herald, with a private mission to assist
the officials at Washington in learning
what was actually going on in that coun
try. He remained with the patriot army
until the decisive victory of Juarez, and
then hastened back to Washington in an
unsuccessful effort to save the life of
Maximilian.
For the next 10 years Col Church was
engaged in an attempt to overcome diffi
culties in the way of opening the upper
Amazon river to traffic, to connect Bolivia
with the Atlantic, after which he once
more took up his earlier task of building
railroads in Argentina. He acquired tbe
confidence of an important body of En
glish investors, and. although he retained
liis American citizenship, made his home
in London, where he was engaged in many
important negotiations concerned with
Spanish. American, and later with Cana
dian projects. He was for several years
a vice-president of tbe Royal geographi
cal society, being the only foreigner who
has held office in that influential organiza
tion. ———
AN INTERESTING LETTER
Written by George Washington to
Gen Lincoln—To Become Property
of Philips Andover.
George B. Knapp, a trustee of Phillips
academy, Andover, and the giver of Broth
ers’ field, has secured possession of a let
ter written by George Washington in 1795,
a letter introducing his nephew, Col Will
iam A. Washington, to Gen Lincoln, and
asking aid in the "fixing” of his two sons
at Andover academy. Tbe catalog of the
academy shows that the two boys were ad
mitted in 1795. when Mark Newman was
principal. The list gives Augustine Wash
ington. aged 15. and Bushrod Washington,
aged 10, of Westmoreland county, Va.
Two other grandnephews of George
Washington entered in the same year, Cas
sius Lee and Francis Lightfoot Lee. Ten
years before, in 1785, Howell. Lewis, said
to have been the favorite nephew of
George Washington, entered the academy
at the age of 13. Copies of tbe letter are
in the hands of the trustees, and it is un
derstood that the original manuscript is to
become the property of the academy. Gen
Washington himself visited Andover on
November 5. 1789, w hen he was the guest
of Lieut-Gov Samuel Phillips at the old
Mansion house. After breakfasting with
the founder of the academy, he mounted
his horse and, taking a position on the
southwest corner of the campus, received
the salutations of the students and towns
men. In bis diary Washington described
the day’s events as follows: —
Thursday, sth November, 1789. About sun
rise I set out, crossing tbe Merrimack river
at the town over to the township of Brad
ford. and in nine miles came to Abbott's
tavern. Andover, where we breakfasted and
met with much attention from Mr Phillips,
president of the Senate of Massachusetts,
who accompanied ns through Billarike to
Lexington, where I dined and viewed the
spot on which the first blood was spilt in
the dispute with Great Britain on the 19th
of April. 1775. . . .
The letter follows:—
Mount Verxon. 21st Api. 1795.
Dear Sir: This letter will be presented to
you by Col Wlllm A. Washington—a nephew
of mine-who I beg leave to introduce to
yonr civilities.
His intention is to fix two of his sons at
the Andover academy; in the accomplish
ment of which, or anything else he may
stand in need, your aid would be very oblig
ing to, dear sir, your obedt servt,
G. Washington.
P. S.—ls my nephew should desire It. I
pray you to introduce him to the governor,
Genl Lincoln.
WILL BEAUTIFY VASSAR.
Samael Parsons, Jr., Complete* Plan
for Developing-- Campos.
Samuel Parsons, Jr., former landscape
architect of the park board of New York,
has completed plans for the development
and beautifying of the campus of Y’assar
college. That fact was announced recent
ly at the alumnae luncheon in New York
city, and later Mr Parsons said he had
been asked last December by the trustees
to prepare the plans.
“The Y'assar campus,” said the land
scape architect, “is naturally a beautiful
one and lends itself easily to a plan of
development. I understand that several
buildings are contemplated and it is the
purpose of President Taylor and the trus
tees to have some definite plan along which
the future development of the institution
can be projected.
“The Oxford quadrangle is carried out.
A waterway on tbe campus and the valley
through which it runs will be made into a
garden spot between the older buildings
aud the new quadrangle. When completed
the Y’assar campus should be one of the
most beautiful in the country.”
In the last few years the Vassar alumnae
association has, it was announced, given
about $50,000 to the college, and $30,000
or $40,000 of that amount will probably
be expended on the development of the
campus, according to the plans of Mr
Parsons.
NEW ENGLISH REQUIREMENTS.
National Conference Will Make Sev
eral Changes.
Distinct changes—mostly in the direc
tion of greater elasticity and in the line
of approval of Harvard's new policy—are
to be made by the colleges of the country
in the requirements they exact in tbe Sub
ject of English of the men who come to
them for admission. These changes are
now living formulated by the national con
ference on uniform entrance requirements
and will bo formally adopted at a meet
ing on May 3V. This national conference
includes a great majority of the colleges
and universities of the country and its
recommendations arc really binding upon
the constituent memliers. It meets only
once every three years, and after listen
ing tu tbe delegates from all tbe institu-
tions prepares the requirements that are
to be in effect durinp the next three
years. '
EDUCATORS ELECT OFFICERS.
National Assoetattou Convention De
cide* to Meet in Philadelphia Next
Yrar.
The department of superintendence of the
national education association elected these
officers at St Louis last week: President.
Superintendent F. B. Dyer of Cincinnati,
O.: vice-presidents. Superintendent Samuel
1 Hamilton of Allegheny county, Pa., Mrs
I E. C Ripley’, assistant superintendent of
| schools in Boston; secretary, B. W. Torrey
[ son of tbe state department of education
' at Little Rock, Ark. Philadelphia was se
! lected as the convention city in 1913.
Resolutions were adopted urging tbe cre
i ittion of a national children's bureau aud
asking Congress for recognition of the need
of an enlargement of the department of
education. Addresses were made by P. H.
Claxton, United States commissioner of ed
ucation; Mayer L. Bloomfield, director of
the educational bureau at Boston: Owen R.
Lovejoy, secretary of the national child
labor committee of New York, and others.
The national committee ou agricultural
education elected these officers: President.
11. 11. Serley, president of the lowa state
teachers' college at Cedar Falls. la.; secre
tary. E. E. Balcomb of the agricultural de
partment at North Carolina state college
a t G reCnsboro.
Feeble-Minded Children.
A paper on the question of bow far the
public school system should care for the
feeble minded was read February 28th by
Dr James H. Y’an Sickle, superintendent of
Springfield schools, before the department
of superintendence, held in connection with
the National educational association con
vention in St Louis. Mo. The paper noted
that the real progress in education was in
part indicated by communities that made
the care of the feeble-minded a state func
tion. thus protecting the rest of the com
munity as well as the unfortunate chil
dren. A special class in the schools was
recommended as a solution of tbe problem
of what to do with these children while
they are being taught. Their training
should be along manual lines so that they
may become self-supporting. Dr Van Sickle
held. Details of what Springfield is do
ing in this work, with n description of the
special class maintained here were given
in the paper.
THE COLLEGE MAN’S PAY.
Professor Fear* That.it Will Reach
That of the “Common Workers."
The organization of all college gradu
ates into unions, the prescription of modes
of employment, minimum compensation
and the enforcement of demands by
strikes, was the solution offered Saturday
night by Prof Y’ladimir Karapotoff of
Cornell university iNew Y'ork city branch)
as a means of preventing the average
salaries of college graduates from going
down to the level of common workers, a
condition which, he said, is confirmed by
European experience. Prof Karapotoff
spoke at the annual banquet of the Cor
nell association of eastern New Y’ork. held
at the Mohawk golf club, Schenectady.
HERMON ALUMNI FOR TAFT.
Springfield “Old Boys” Gather nt
Barr’s Restaurant.
Alumni of Mount Hermon school who
live in Springfield or near it met at Barr's
restaurant Monday’ evening for the annual
banquet and business meeting of the local
alumni association. About 25 of the grad
uates gathered for the reunion, and the re
viving of old times and the spirit of the
occasion was set by the verses read by
Gustaf B. Carlson of Middletown. Ct., in
which the graduates were called on to
throw off manhood for the evening and
become Mount Hermon boys again. Some
disappointment was felt that Dwight L.
Kimball, a New York engineer who was
to have delivered the speech of the even
ing. was not able to be present, but it was
quickly dispelled by the anecdotes which
abounded in the other speeches, bringing
up reminiscences of school days and jokes
on the various alumni who were at the
banquet.
One of the interesting incidents of the
evening was the taking of a straw vote
of preferences on the leading presidential
candidates. The result was favorable for
the present administration, for the votes
were 13 for Taft, eight for Roosevelt and
one for Wilson.
COLUMBIA PROFESSOR DEAD.
George N. Olcott, a professor of Colum
bia university at New York, who was tem
porarily attached to the American school
for classical studies in Rome, died Sat
urday night from pneumonia at Rome.
For a considerable time past he had been
engaged in preparing! a lexicon of Latin
inscriptions. Prof Olcott was born in
Brooklyn in 1869.
Negro College* Admitted.
The association of American medical
colleges at its 22d annual convention in
Chicago recently voted to establish an as
sociate membership for negro colleges.
The action was in recognition of the ef
forts of the Moharry college of Nashville,
Tenn., to meet the requirements of the
association. The associate branch will
also take in Howard university. Washing
ton. D. C., the only other institution for
colored students that is a member of the
association. Announcement was made
that the medical colleges of the universi
ties of Pennsylvania, Y’ermont and Y’ale
had been admitted to membership and
that the college of Physicians and Sur
geons of Los \ngeles had been suspended.
Colgate Win* Triangular Debate.
Colgate university won twice Thursday
night in the triangular debate of the ques
tion. “Resolved. That the Sherman anti
trust law should be repealed.” Colgate
defeated Hamilton college at Clinton, hav
ing the affirmative side of the question.
At Hamilton. Colgate had the negative
side and defeated Union.
ONE YEGGMAN KILLED.
Tender Romance Revealed In Bank
Robbery at Montreal West, P. Q.
The only new features discovered in
connection with the safe blowing at Mont
real West, P. Q,, Saturday morning, when
one man was killed by the chief of the
town viligance committee, and four had
narrow escapes, was that a tender romance
will be stopped by the yeggman's untime
ly end. In bis clothes was found a new
wedding ring, wrapped in tissue paper,
upon which was engraved: "Will to Kittle.
March 5. 1912.” This ring wag undoubted
ly meant for the girl whose picture was
pasted in the back of a pocket mirror found
on the dead man. and the wedding ex
penses were probably <o be paid for out.
of the proceeds of the robbery which end
ed—for him—so disastrously yesterday
morning.
The only other clew by which the rob
ber can be identified is the tattoo on his
chest: “Tn memory of mother and father.”
The detectives employed by the Royal
bauk, whose branch was attacked, to assist
the Montreal police in tracking those who
। escaped, think that the party came up
I from tbe United States, though a search
in the rogues' gallery has failed to produce
I a picture of a man like the burglar killed.
< The locality in which the safe blowing
I took place has been thoroughly searched.
, but no sign of the four yeggs has been
found.
MONASTERY OF MONTSERRAT
A WONDERFUL SPANISH SHRINE.
Famou* Place of Pilgrimage on a
Mountain-pile Whose Sheer Cliff
Lift* Itself a Mlle Above the Plain.
DVritten by Elizabeth French for Tbe
Republican.]
YVe went to Montserrat from Barcelona,
oue afternoon in October; we stayed over
night, and returned the next afternoon.
Montserrat, the jugged mountain, the sa
cred mountain of the Catalans, is about 40
miles from the coast of Catalonia: »ud
here, in the middle ages, was located the
castle of the Holy Grail. It is a mighty
mountain-mass rising in almost complete
isolation from the plateau of Catalonia,
sharply outlined ou every side, diversified
with the most fantastic rock formations,
and from a distance looks like a colossal
castle guarded by the “Gistans.” the
“stone watchmen” of the Arabs. This is
w W- a
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THE MONASTERY OF MONTSERRAT.
one of the great shrines of the world, dat
ing from the Bth century; it bus been a
pluce of pilgrimage for millions, and even
now, over 60,000 pilgrims journey to this
sacred mountain every year; they told us
that in August there had been 1000 there
every night.
We go by train from Barcelona, through
a farming country, towards dull-red hills,
through tunnels, then on higher ground,
and the mountain of Montserrat appears,
the train stops, and we change to the tiny
mountain train which runs up to the mon
astery. This colossal castle, this mountain
mass, rises in almost perpendicular lines
for a little over 4000 feet, and is about
24 miles around the base. The monastery
shows out like a small white patch on a
precipitous ledge about half-Way up the
fort-like walls. It is a little over five
miles above us. and it takes an hour of
changing, ascending zigzags and astonish
ing views, before we reach the monastery.
We find what is really a small village of
a dozen or more large buildings, for the
accommodation of the Benedictine monks
and the never-ending stream of pilgrims to
the shrine of the Madonna. There are
over 1000 cells, containing 2500 beds, for
the use of the pilgrims alone.
We went to the office, gave our names
and addresses, and were handed the key
of a cell. A boy' in peasant costume re
ceived bed-linen and a towel for each,
guided us down a long corridor, showed
us our cell, told us to read the printed
rules which hung on the door, and de
parted. The rules are few, and we read
them with interest. We are forbidden to
throw anything from, or even hang any
thing in the windows, as the distance is
often so great that a small object might
injure anyone walking below. We must
manage for ourselves, and keep the cell
neat and clean. We must give two hours’
notice before leaving. We must give no
reward of any kind to the resident popu
lation of Montserrat.
As for our cell, it consists of two small
bedrooms on a narrow corridor with a door
at one end and a window at the other.
The actual contents are two small iron
bedsteads with ample and perfectly clean
bedding, a strip of matting, two cane
seated chairs, a small table, and a
wall mirror, a light iron wash stand, a flat
brass capdiestick, an earthen pitcher, and
a small iron rack with hooks. The floor
is of brick; the wall whitewashed, and
the window a French casement, opening
like a door. Such is the accommodation
offered at a popular shrine.
We made up the beds with the sheets
they had given us in the office, we went
for water, and set the big jar too sud
denly on the brick floor. It broke into
fragments, and changed our cell into a
lake, and forced us to call on our boy
guide, who swept us clean and dry, with
many a word of consolation. Then we
went forth to buy candles for our candle
stick, in a shop near the office. There is
a restaurant for those who do not care to
buy and prepare food in their cells, but
the majority go to the shop, where all
kinds of necessaries may be bought at low
prices. Many families come in their own
wagons, rig up a cover, and live in and
near them as long as they stay. A special
permission is necessary for a stay of more
than three days.
There are now here about 70 monks, and
their chief occupation is the management
of a school of ecclesiastical music. We
went to evening service in the church, and
saw above the high aitar surrounded by
lighted candles, a wooden figure of the
virgin, blaekeued by age. According to
the legend, it was made by St Luke, and
brought to Spain by St Peter. On the
invasion of the Moors, it was-hidden in
a grotto, and found there by shepherds.
An attempt was made to carry it to Man
resa, but the image refused to stir beyond
a spot now marked by a stone cross, to
the east of the monastery; and it was
this miracle that led to the erection of the
latter. Two choirs, one of monks and
another of 30 gowned and surpliced boys,
sang. sweetest music while standing all
the two hours behind a screen, and the
pilgrims came and knelt, and went quietly
out, until at the very last, they knelt
around the priest on the floor of the
chapel.
Me were wakened by brightest sun
shine the next morning, and saw strange
mountain-forms from our window —a cor
ner of the mountains, cliff over cliff seem
ing to climb up like animals, like an un
wieldy hin—'^otamus. or heavy elephants.
For these rock-forms are round and gray,
they bulge and look soft rather than hard:
some stand up like great thumbs and
fingers; some have eyes, like potatoes. We
spent the whole morning in a long walk,
to the right from the monastery, by a*level
path <m the mountain side. Fifty miles
deep he the 80 towns and villages before
us: a red land, upheaved in waves; a
slender river; the whole of Catalonia and
a considerable part of Aragon; the entire
chain of the Pyrenees from Madetta to the
Canlgou; and the Mediterranean, to the
southeast.
Far up. on the sternest bights, in most
dangerous positions, are the hermitages—
small cells excavated in the flint-like rock
by men of varied sebolnrship and of all
ranks and stations The hermitage of
San Juan is reached by a modern stair
cut in the rock It Jies on tiie side of a
bare mass of rock 401 K> feet above the
sea; and here, according to tbe legend
San Juan died in 898. after having in
flicted the severest penances upon him
self. ,
The pilgrims are expected to leave a
small sum to. pay for the cell, and it. Is
from these offerings that the great es
tablishment is supported. We Carried
back to the office the sheets and pillow
cases which had been ’given us. aud re
turned the key of our cell. Then down
the mountain side we rode in the little
mountain train until we reached the sta
tion of Monistrol and the railway for Bar
celona. But what had we seen, what hud
we found, in our visit to Montserrat? A
view of strange and amazing rock forms,
the panorama, extensive and impressive,
of two great provinces, a short picnic
like experience of pilgrim life: a shore in
solemn religious services anil beautiful
music, an impression of simplicity and
goolueaa in the servants and ofllcers of
the monastery, and a profound sense of
the devotion which moved holy men of old
to seek nearness to God hi the bleak nooks
of this harsh rock, and to found the mon
astery which for cei’turies lias opened
hospitable doors to friend and stranger
alike.
CRITICAL. MEXICAN SITUATION
And the President’s Anxiety Regard
ing It.
[A. Maurice Low's Washington Dispatch to
the Boston Globe.]
No president has ever been placed in a
more delicate position than President Taft
is in regard to Mexico. He is the arbiter
of the lives of perhaps 50,000 or more
Americans. A single incautious or percipi
tate move and many, if not most, of those
lives would pay the penalty. I am no
alarmist, but the dangerous and ex
traordinary state of affairs existing in
Mexico may properly be made public with
out incurring the charge of sensationalism.
It is well that the public should know
the facts, as with the public fully informed
instead of the president being embarrassed
and his burdens increased his hands Mill
be upheld.
There are in Mexico at the present time
scattered throughout the country not less
than 50.000 Americans, and according to
some estimates the number is fully 50 per
cent greater. There are in addition many
thousand English, Germans and French.
The Mexicans dislike all Americans, and
lawlessness in Mexico has gone so long
unchecked that this hatred is liable to
show itself at any moment in a general
and indiscriminate uprising against all
foreigners. To-day the Mexican govern
ment exercises only nominal authority.
Madero’s enemies treat with contempt
the central government, bandits and rob
bers pillage and loot at their pleasure and
Madero is powerless to bring the maraud
ers to justice or to restore order.
Great as is the present peril of Ameri
cans in Mexico, it would become desperate
were the United States to intervene, for
it is believed that the crossing of the
border by American troops would be the
signal for an indiscriminate massacre.
No army, no matter how large, could
prevent the slaughter, for before the army
could move the ghastly work would have
been done. Reprisals could be exacted,
vengeance would be satisfied, justice would
be done, but that would not bring back
to life the victims. These same dangers
threatened when Diaz was overthrown.
It was the knowledge of the slender thread
on which the lives of so many Americans
hung that was one of the reasons why
the president proceeded with such ex
treme caution.
The anti-American feeling, if the re
ports from well-informed persons capable
of reaching a correct judgment can be
relied on, is a great deal more intense
than it was a year ago. If an anti-Ameri
can cry should be started, if the passions
of the people should be further inflamed
by being made to believe that the United
States was coming to the help of Madero,
the bullet, the knife and the torch would
do their murderous work.
When 50,000 or more Americans—
many thousand Englishmen, Germans and
Frenchmen went into Mexico to seek
fortune and to develop the great resources
of that country the world gave hostages
to Mexico, and her people know that. A
war with Mexico, costly and tedious al
though it might he, could have only one
ending. Anarchy in Mexico and disorder
on the border is annoying, but Mexicans
may cut each others' throats and the
United States is not particularly concerned
so Jong as no Americans are the victims.
Death at the hands of a mob is bad
enough, death at the hands of a Mexican
mob is death in its most horrible form.
At the time of the Sepoy mutiny in India
the British kept their last cartridges to
kill their women folks, for death was more
merciful than to allow them to live to
fall- into the hands of the mutineers. If
there- is an uprising in Mexico against
foreigners many Americans and British
will follow the example set in the Sepoy
mutiny.
The situation in Mexico, a supposedly
civilized country, is very similar to that
which has so often existed in barbarous
China. The great powers have frequently
sent troops into China to save lives, the
various nations acting in concert in the
cause of humanity. The Europeans in
China were few and they conld be as
sembled in the ports and protected under
the guns of warships. The foreign popu
lation of Mexico is very much greater
and there are no convenient ports in
which they can seek safety.
The duty devolves upon the United
States to protect not only Americans,
but all other foreigners by virtue of the
Monroe doctrine. European governments
know the conditions existing as well as
does the Washington government, but like
the United States, their hands are tied.
If necessary they would join with the
United States to restore order and protect
life, but it is as dangerous for them to
attempt anything of the kind as it is for
the United States. Mexican hatred of
the foreigner is general. Probably Ameri
cans are more disliked than any others,
but an English or German or French in
vasion would let loose the mob.
Some little time ago the state depart
ment warned Americans that they should
leave Mexico and a good many have left.
It is impossible for the great majority
of Americans to leave, for to leave would
mean ruin and. destrpy their labors of
years. They must stay and hope for the
best, knowing the risks they take.
The president is doing whatever is pos
sible under the circumstances, although
at the present time there is little he can
do. He is watching'the situation carefully
and anxiously, ready to take any steps
that wisdom may advise, but doing noth
ing to endanger tiie lives of Americans.
LODGE SPEAKS ON TREATIES.
The Senator Conjures np Various
Specters.
The perils of submitting to arbitration
questions which affect the vital policies and
problems of the nation, were outlined in
the Senate at YVashington, D. C..
jesterday by Senator Henry Cabot
Lodge, for 14 years a member of
the foreign relations committee; Some
of the senator’s references to the Monroe
doctrine’s relation to the arbitration pro
posed in the pending treaties with En
gland and France caused a stir. He
pointed to the reported efforts of foreign
powers to obtain coaling stations and har
bors near the Panama canal and declared
there was now afoot an effort by a foreign
power to gain possession of Magdelena
bay on the Pacific side of Mexico. Ef
forts had been made, he said, to buy the
Galapagos islands of Ecuador, near the
western end of the canal.
One statement, and one which held the
close attention of the Senate, was that
those who had hoped to profit more than
$10,000,000 by the Hay-Herran treaty, of
1903, were "even now struggling through
assistants in this country who mean tef
share the spoil, to secure by arbitration
what they failed to obtain by blackmail
and could not seize by violence.” The
Hay-Herran treaty was a convention be
tween the United States and Columbia
by which the United States, was to pay
$10,000,060^ for the Panama canal route
and a rent of $250,000 a year. It was
rejected by Colombia. The Panama rev
olution followed. Colombia is .now press
ing for an arbitration of her claims. The
strained situation of eight years came to
a climax a few days ago when Senor Os
pina. the Colombian minister, published a
letter suggesting that Secretary Knox
might find it "inopportune” to visit Colom
bia on his coming tour of Central Ameri
ca. Minister Ospina was promtply re
called by his government.
"The tolls to be charged by us in the
Panama eanal, which we have built at our
own expense, might be brought before a
tribunal, wholly or partly composed of
foreigners, to be fixed and determined by
them,” declared Senator Lodge. "Worse
than this, our title to our own canal might
be called in question. Three successive
secretaries of state have refused, and
properly refused, to submit our title to
the eanal to arbitration, and now under
clause three of article three, as I inter
pret it, we might be forced to submit that
title to the Hague court or some outside
tribunal.
"The men who rejected the Hay-Herran
treaty because they hoped to extort more
than $10,000,000 from us for their own
use, are even now struggling, through as
sistants in this country, who mean to share
the spoil, to secure by arbitration what
they failed to obtain by blackmail and
could not seize by violence. Our title to
the canal, or to our territory anywhere is
not to be dragged before any arbitral trib
unal for examination and determination
and nothing should be subscribed to by us
which by any twisting could be construed
into a promise that we would submit such
a question to any judgment but our own.”
The wide discussion of the pending arbi
tration treaties, he said, had been brought
about by the alleged delegation of the
treaty-making power, in the third clause
of article three. Those opposed to the
ratification of the treaties unamended
claim this clause infringes upon the consti
tutional treaty-making power of the Sen
ate. Secretary Knox and President Taft
hold otherwise and are supported by many
senators. Mr Lodge urged that it should
be clarified by an amendment or an ex
planation in the Senate's resolution of rati
fication.
It was not long ago. Senator Lodge said,
that an indirect movement was begun and
apparently is still afoot to obtain possess
ion of Magdalena bay for a foreign power.
Inquiries had been made of Ecuador, on
more than one occasion, he declared, if
she contemplated selling the Galapagos
islands, which lie not far from the west
ern terminal of the Panama canal, Ecua
dor had replied, he said, that if the islands
were to be sold, only one nation in the
world could obtain them.
“Suppose they should now be offered for
sale and some western or eastern power
should try to buy them. Again we should
intervene and we should find ourselves
discussing before an arbitral tribunal,
whether those islands, essential to the
canal safety could be sold to some foreign
power in flagrant violation of the Monroe
doctrine. Suppose that, in the changes of
European politics, the islands of Curacao
at the other mouth of the canal, should
pass from Holland into the control of a
great military power.”
Asiatic immigration and confederate
states bond claims, he said, were among
questions not arbitrable which would be
imperiled by clause 3. Facts as to
the treaty-making functions of the Senate,
he declared, were too often overlooked by
those “who seem to think that in dealing
with treaties the Senate, if it happens to
differ with the executive, is engaged in a
merely selfish struggle for its own preroga
tives and is even unsurpiug powers which
do not properly belong to it.”
The Susan B. Anthony club of Cincin
nati is to work for a system of bounties
of from SSOO to SIOOO for every mother
who raises a child to the age of 21. Does
the margin between SSOO and SIOOO repre
sent the difference between a poor citizen
and a good one? A bonus for quality
would.be interesting, but who would dare
discriminate?
One solitary bale of cotton out of 56.-
000 escaped being burned in the Houston
fire and was found only slightly damaged
at the bottom of the compress. It will
be sold for the relief fund.