Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel], May 13, 1906, Image 46

About Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911

Image provided by: University of California, Riverside; Riverside, CA

                
Sarah Bernhardt: Famous for Her Peculiarly Diversified Accomplishments
Surah Bernhardt V genius la fnnny
elded and the ceanelew activity of her
life ha* contained enough Incident to
fill an ordinary history.
/;?! ( am reproached," she once wrote
' to Albert Mlllaud'-of the Figaro,
. 7wlth wanting to do everything— act-
Insr. painting nnri sculpture. But I gain
.money by It, and it amttM* me— two
'reasons either of which is surely suf
ficient.",
; Bhe tried her hand at authorship In
■ 1888,' when she wrote a play, "L'Avou,"
Which was produced nt the Odeon and
: - met "with ' some success. At lenst one
book Is credited to her pen. In 1878 she
; made* an aerial voyage In company
with George Clairln. the painter, at
first In a captive balloon and later
at the mercy of the winds. Toward
the end of the year she described tlie
! adventure In a little book, "Vera les
: Nuages," which Clalrln Illustrated, and
It ■ had a success due mainly to Its
• oddity and wit. Albert Wolff attacked
, It bitterly In the Figaro and a
I month later Bernhardt wrote him a
■ , : note which he found clever enough to
■print.
. "It has taken •me all these days," It
•ran, "to forget your bad humor, M.
', Wolff; but I cannot forget your wit,
and I. thank you for having lavished
• It' so generously on me."
.j "Adrlenne . Lecouvreur," one of the
• plays she Is using on her present tour.
, ■; is from her own pen and should not
be confused with the old play of the
:• same title written by' Scribe and Le
igouve. Bernhardt was rehearsing the
[old play at the Comedle Francalse when
It occurred to her that the character
'of Adrlenne, who was one of the great
est actresses of her day, had not been
"adequately portrayed by the play which
.bore her name. . For three months she
I worked upon a new play on the life of
.Adrlenne, and then announced -it for
production In Paris.
■^As a writer, Madame Bernhardt has
( toher credit some published volumes,
besides the autobiography which is
nearly ready for the press. The best
known of her books Is an Idyll of thtit
> : portion of the Norman coast where
, Mme.. Bernhardt possesses a chateau.
, Ooe of her famous volumes is pub
lished' under the title of "In the
i Clouds." ■
■As a- painter, Mme. Bernhardt was
'■warmly praised by Sir Frederic Leigh
7.ton, but she herself cares less for paint
t . Ing than for any other line of her ar
? tlstlc career.
I 1I 1 But Bernhardt does take great pride
In her ability as a sculptor and she
'■once forsook the stage entirely for the
. mallet ' and chisel. She made 30,000
-francs a year with her chisel and her
;' brush, and wrote that It was a calmer
I existence than the stage, which she
• had . never really loved. Her bust of
:' Ophelia ls'really famous as a piece of
.-work and. was exhibited in a salon
-, : where It took a prize.
>„In 1878,. what is recognized In France
'.as her greatest piece of sculpture, "Af
ter the Storm," received honorable
I mention at the Paris salon. It was at
• this, time that Bernhardt was very
j large. In the public eye as sculptress
<- and painter, as well aa actress.
Bernhardt Is fond of casting fish in
.plaster molds 1 to form quaint designs
, in the "art nouveau" style. "I work
them," she said, "In marble, bronze,
.' stiver or gold. I am now engaged on
a" decorative fountain in this style.
Some of my designs have been adapted
and used rather effectively, I think, for
Shall We Have Free Lumber?
By Ex-Governor Lionel A. .Sheldon
"Conditions in the whole country are
such as to require that the importa
tion of lumber free of duty should be
made a permanent policy. It is a sub
ject of vital importance to Los Angeles
and all Southern California, where
building has reached mammoth propor
tions, and where there is very little
forest from which lumber is produced.
The disaster 4 to San Francisco has ac
centuated the importance of this sub
ject ' locally, for there a great city is
to be rebuilt. The cost of building ma
terials advances as the demand In
creases. The demand will rapidly be
come enlarged through the growth of
population and development incident
thereto.
.. In the destruction of forests Ameri
cans ' from the beginning have been
vandalic. From the Atlantic sea to
the Mississippi river the country In the
main was covered with a dense growth
of trees, and the first great work was
to get rid of them In the cheapest and
most expeditious way In order to fit
the country, for population. Little or
no thought was given to what the fu
ture would require, and hence denuding
the country of forests proceeded with
nonchalant Indifference. That spirit
did not stop at the Mississippi river,
but Its presence l.as been manifested
in the onward march to fee Pacific sea
wherever there have been valuable for
ests. The disposition to destroy has
only been lessened as the lumber pro
ducing areas have diminished.
,-The owners of timber lands have
always been selfish and have imposed
burdens on consumers whenever they
could. In that they have not been un
like those who in other fields have
possessed advantages over their fellow
men.
After the great Chicago fire in 1871
a bill was introduced in congress to
suspend the duties on imported build-
Ing materials In Chicago's behalf, the
Item most stoutly resisted being that of
removing the duty on lumber, and the
resistance came from Maine, Michigan
and Wisconsin. They were then the
great lumber producing states, though
Maine, the pine tree state, had little
lumber forest remaining except hem
lock. At that time also there were
• large lumber producing forests in the
south. .
Since that time Maine has ceased to
be a lumber state, Michigan and Wis
consin have substantially exhausted
, their forests, and in.the south lumber
producing forests have largely diaap
, reared ' in .- the rebuilding ' and upbuild
ing of that section of the nation. To
,the sections specified a duty on lumber
is of : no practical benefit. , There are
now no large. lumber producing areas
except in the mountain ranges In the
vicinity of the Pacific coast, and from
those areas the people of the Missis
sippi valley are obtaining no incon
siderable part of their lumber supplies
It Is this demand quite as much as the
local; that causes an advance in the
prices of lumber. '
; i From the. duty on lumber the govern
jrent derive* little revenue, . but 'the
tariff tax put*' large sums into .the
jioi-ketß of the owpers of timber lands,
and but for the act of the government
In creating foregt reservations the prl
vate owners of lumber producing
forests would have become an lnsuffer- <
able monopoly, one that- would rival
others thut receive government encour
agement'and protection. Los Angeles :
and its vicinity keenly feel the oppres
sion from the high prices on that im
portant building material.' The prices
that our people are compelled to pay
check enterprise and the upbuilding of
a conspicuous section of the nation. '
Removal of the lumber duty would
be a material benefit locally and to all '■
non-lumber producing sections 'of the
nation. It is partiality to grant favors '
to a class, especially to a small class,
to the detriment of the masses, a viola- i
tion of the principle of "the ■ greatest
good to the greatest number." ! The '
possessors of timber lands have all the
advantages .that humane men should
desire without the addition of a duty ;
en the products of foreign competitors.
The only competition in the lumber ,
trade from foreign sources worthy of
mention is the Canadian. If the people
of that dominion are willing to strip
their country of forests It is their busi
ness and not ours. They labor under
the disadvantage of distance in sup
plying this country, which should as- .
sure a fair profit to our own lumber
producers. . . . , ,, • '
There is another feature, however",
that Is worthy of consideration,' and it:
Is that In ten or fifteen years we will 1
be obliged to seek foreign supplies at'
the rate that lumber consumption Is
going on; and for the reason that do
mestic resources will approach exhaus- !
tlon, we had better save something
for the future.
Americans have not only been van
dallc in destroying forests, but negli
gent in promoting renewal. Arbor day
I has but of late been Introduced and
I however much the planting of -trees
I may be done the growth will not ma
terially benefit the present generation.
It Is not humane for one generation to
disregard the welfare of succeeding i
generations.
In Japan it Is a law that when a tree |
!Is felled another shall be planted. In,
the annals of Tacitus. we read of the
| splendors of the Black Forest near
twenty centuries ago, a forest thnt
still 'is preserved substantially in Us
I pristine magnificence, thnt it has con
itlnually yielded liberally to the wants ;
lof the country. It has been kept up
Iby requirements of law. Other, cases
might be cited showing the forecaßt!
and wisdom of the old world people. |
An important subject before the
American people Is that of reforesting
the sections that have beeen denuded
and afforesting those that have; been
barren. This is a matter quite as im- .
portant as that of irrigation, because
I the plan applies to the whole country,
while Irrigation is practicably only in.
a part of It. Forests are inspiring be
sides affording what Is substantial in
contribution to human welfare.
Lmuber next to food and clothing is
a necessary of life and it should be
made as cheap as possible. There Is
■ force in the proposition that a people
should as far as practicable preserve
1 Its markets to Its own' people, or, at
i least to give them an equal chance with
foreigners/but it Is a proportion that '
• has little force in, respect to lumber, I
> for, the time is near at hand when from
• our own forests an adequate supply
• cannot 1 be drawn. j
t A duty on. lumber In an especial hard
• ship . to the people | r . extensive dli. ;
LOS ANGELES HERALD SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT
trlcts where that material is not and
cannot be produced, like Southern Cali
fornia. To people thus situated $2 per
thousand feet • would be an Immense
Biivliisj In the building of homes, and
structures for business and public uses.
In promoting the happiness and. eleva
tion of the human species the furnish
ing of comfortable and attractive
homes is the largest contribution.
Cheap building' materials are among
the chief elements that make home
furnishing practicable.
. Without immediate sources of addi
tional lumber supply prices will ad
vance and check the growth of the
country. The government has ] acted
wisely In setting apart timber reserva
tions, and why not supplement it by
repealing the duty on Imported lumber?
San Francisco will douotlesu ask con
greßs to grant her free building mate
rials, and in that event It would be a
good time to make an effort to put
lumber in the free schedule perma
nently.
WHY TOE LEFT WEST POINT
Several army officers were sitting in
a New York hotel recently, -discussing
old times at West Point. The talk
turned on the Instructors who used to
put them through their paces/
"I shall never forget old Professor
Church." exclaimed one. "He always
Impressed me as being about a hundred
years old, and I guess he was pretty
well along, because one day, up In the
library, when I happened to be looking
at a portrait of Edgar Allan Poe, he
Informed me that he had taught the
poet mathematics and explained how
the young man came to leave.
"It was as much of a crime in those
Latrunculls Ludlmus
Shakespeare, the great dramatic sage,
Noblest of life's portrayers,
Whoiie thoughts ar« read from age to age,
Hath said, "This world is but a stage.
Its mfn and women, merely players" —
' • What game shall then stand highest, best. , '■
That e'er earth's weary ones possessed?
What royal game crowns all the rest
With intellectual llgnt? . .
No game, our loyal hearts confess,
Hal reached the acme of .success. . ...-".
Or stands "par excellence" like Chess, '
To charm times upeedy flight— !
Through *i-lenre, skill, not chance or fate, ;*s&£)£s£
Comes the denouement called checkmate. ■ ' ■ .
Athletes of mind, their rent abate,
The battle then U ended.
■ ¥ .iV'-'f. 'IIJ.V- :■:'*!- y t'!
The combatant* then cry, ' '"Well done!" /'.■,-'. '■ : ■•
The neld Is gained, the' victory won, '
'f he -whole la comprehended— ' ■ ,
We bow to Thee, O Thou great King, .
Whose fascination* 'round us funs; •
The dews of Lethe's stream. ■ |- • ' .. .' „
,' IV.'
Charmed by the game life's trials, woes,
Dimly recede, their presence grows •
A half-remember«d ilimm.
Then hall to Che»n! L,et Shakespeare tell
lil "Tempest*" of Miranda's apell
That charmed I'rlnre Ferdinand, whose fate
Closes the scene in marilagq — Mate, '
, « Act' V... Been* I.
days as now for a , cadet to be • off •
limits without permission. It meant |
dismissal. Poe, being an untamed
spirit, couldn't restlst the temptation
to take a chance now and then and run
down to a resort at Highland Falls. |
He and four other cadets stole off late
one night and were having a high old I
time when they heard a squad from the
Point coming down the. road. You can
imagine tbe wild scattering. Two ca
dets sought the cellar and two more the
rooms above: Poe was small and wbb
lifted into' a convenient sugar barrel.
The four other fugitives were quickly/
discovered. It|was nn afterthought- on
the part of the lieutenant in command
to' lift- up the lid of the sugar ' barrel.
He dragged Poe out and marched him
with the others oft to the guard house. ■
He had offended, before and was re- '
garded-as the ringleader . in the esca
pade, and so his career as a soldier ;
came .to an end."
"And a mighty good thing It was,"
exclaimed one of the listeners," for the
world of letters."— Success.
The first year of their married life
a man and woman should be left to
themselves. Even where the greatest
love exists, It Is hard for two people
brought up In widely differing atmos
pheres to settle down to each other's
little ways and peculiarities. By the
time Kb. year has passed away they
have learned to appreciate the virtues
and tolerate the faults of one another,
and their little matrimonial bark is
safely floated on the sea of experi
ence. A married woman is supposed
to have arrived at years oT descretlon,
and Is, therefore, allowed certain
privileges which a young girl might
abuse, but no woman of either sense
or Justice should feel that just because
she is a man's wife she has a right
to squander his money. He has worked
hard to make it. It is her duty to help
him keep 'It. As for liberty In con
versation, it Is Inexcusable, and none
but foolish, ill-bred women ever in
dulge in It.
Biggest Men-o'- War in Our Navy
TWO of ' Uncle Sam's first 16,000-ton
battleships are booh to go Into
commission. The Louisiana, which
for the time being will be queen of the
American navy, will' before long share
honorß. with the Connecticut, whose
trial trip takes place within the next
month. • ' ' ■
In tonnage, battery power, speed and
Bafety the Louisiana and Connecticut
will rank with the most effective.war
ships afloat under any flag. They will
embody all the "latest Improvements"
in warship construction,; and are over
a thousand tons heavier than our next
largest ships. Four more of the same
class are building — the) Kansas, Min
nesota, New Hampshire and Vermont.
A description of either the Louisiana
or» Connecticut would do for both, for
they are sister ships. [ Poised on- her
rudder alongside the highest sky
scraper in New York, the Louisiana's
bow would tower 450 feet in the air, sev
enty feet above the Park row building.
In beam these ships are 76 feet 10 Inches,
the width of three ordinary building
lots. This great mass is driven through
the water at a speed of more thun 18
knots an hour by engines of 16,600
horse power.
Can Steam 5000 Miles
For these powerful engines there is a
normal- coal supply of 900 tons, but
one of the factors that will make these
new battleships especially eff.'ctlve en
gines of war is that if necessary they
can carry enough coal to steam con
tinuously at half speed for a distance
of 6000 miles. No battlesHlp In any
navy has ever equaled this record.
Officially the Connecticut and Louisi
ana are known as sea-going battleships
with two 12-inch turrets and four 8-inch
turrets. For their protection and safety
the armoring of these vessels is un
usually heavy and extensive,- while
their bulkhead arrangements are such
as to Insure them against sinking under
almost any imaginable conditions.
There Is a waterllne armor belt ex
tending from stem to stern. For | a
third of the length of this belt arpid
ehlps the armor is eleven Inches thick
at the top and nine Inches thick at the
bottom, taperlngHo four Inches at bow
and stern. Above • the main belt, be
tween the main barbettes, there is a
continuous wall of ■ Bide armor, seven
inches thick, reaching from the main
belt to the main deck. At the ends of
this armor bulkheads . of seven-Inch
steel extend; h thwart ship, connecting
with the main barbettes.
To Make the Ship Unsinkable
The coal bunker and the main pas
sage bulkhead doors on the Connecticut
and Louisiana, as well as the armored
hatches of the protective deck, . are
operated by electricity. Kach of these
doors and hatches has an electrto motor
which Is started from a central emer
gency still Urn on the bridge.
During the engagement or on the ap
proach of danger of any kind the offi
cer of the deck can turn a wheel and
know that every compartment door
vital to the shlb's pufety hua ~ been
closed by Us electric motor. .This la
the "Long Arm" system that the navy
has adopted for nearly all the new
cruisers and warships. It makes our
warships practically unsinkable. by- as
suring that their watertight doors will
be closed in time to keep the ship
ii flout In spi^e of punctures below the
water line. 1
United States naval constructors have
been the, 1 first to learn and apply the
lesson of scores of disasters due to the
fact that bulkhead doors could not be
closed by. hand in time to save the
ship. The naval authorities are taking
no chances with vessels that cost mil
lions and which may some day stand
between the victory or defeat of
American sea forces.
. A continuous protective deck from
one to three inches thick, ten-inch
armor for the main barbettes, 12-lncb
armor for the main turrets and eight
inch armor for the four 8-inch gun tur
rets completes the protective features
of these whips. . • , ■
Have Great Gun Power
Offensively as well as defensively, I
the Connecticut and Louisiana will be
splendidly equipped even for this day
of ever heavier guns. They will carry
four 12-inch guns in two turrets fore
and aft and eight 8-inch guns in turrets
two on each broadside.- The emplace
ment of these guns is such that the two
forward :. turrets I have an arc of flre
from dead ahead to a point well aft
of the beam, while from the aft pair
of turrets gun flre may be directed for
ward of beam to dead astern. Firing
through casemates on the gun deck
is a powerful battery of twelve 7-Inch
guns. The 7-inch pieces are something
new in ordnance, having exceptionally
high velocity and penetration.
To this formidable array of heavy
guns is added twelve 3-lnch rapid firers,
the same number of throe pounders,
and fourteen machine guns distributed
on the superstructure, bridges and the
fighting tops. It was not intended ori
ginally that the Connecticut and
Louisiana should carry any torpedo
tubes, but afterwards it wag decided to
add four. such tubes to their equip
ment. '
Protection for Officers
Among the many other lessons of the
Russo-Japanese sea fights, It was
Bhown that better protection was need
ed for officers directing a warship, in
action.' The Connecticut and Louisiana
will be -as safe in this respect as , a
man-of-war can be made. The for
ward conning tower Is protected by
nine - inches ' of ■ Krupp ' steel, and , the
aft conning signal tower, located be
low the aft bridge, has live-Inch armor.
Keen interest has from the first eur
rounded the Louisiana, and Connecti
cut on account of the 'unusual condi
tions under, which they -were built.
What 'developed Into a shipbuilding
race began when the government de
cided to construct the Connecticut at
the Brooklyn navy yard, giving the
contract for the Louisiana at the same
time to the Newport News company.
Records Broken -
The Louisiana was launched a month
ahead of the Connecticut, but the score
between them lately narrowed down to
2 or 8 per cent.' The reason why th«
rac-e cannot be Vleflnltely decided one
way -or the other U that allowance
must be made for a number of fac
tors that do not appear In the official
Jewelry by the famoiid Lallqne. ;I; I
nultfl recently presented Edmond Roi
tand with a fish of my own molding
In gold, with py*>« of opal." ■
The French government has n<»v»r
accorded to Bernhardt the offlrlal
recognition thnt wag bestowed on the
late Rosa lionheur and a few other
famous Frenchwomen-^he has never
b«en given the cross of the Legion of
Honor. America ns are inclined to r«»
gard this distinction with no greater
reverence than we bestow on the south*
crn title of "Colonel" In our own coun
try, for we still recall the scandal over
M. Wilson's Infamous traffic In thfi
decoration that, drove MY Grevy from
the presidential chair.
A determined effort was made to se
cure the cross for her Home years ago.
A magnificent fete wa« organized til her
honor. Performance of the third act
of "Fhedre" and the fourth act of
"Homme Valncue" were given ■at j the
Renaissance; this was followed by a
luncheon for five hundred actors, lit—
eratteurs, artists and politicians. At the
conclusion poems In her honor were
read by Francois Coppee, Edmond
Ttodtand, Andro Theurlet and ,Catulla
Mended, and the fete came to an end
with the coronation of, Madame. Bern
hnrdt br nuern of the drama. The min
istry were then besought to grant the
coveted decoration. But for. once they
were chnry of dispensing the favor, and
Madame Bernhardt's name has never
come out In the lists and she is si HI
without the right to display the "splash
of red" that means no much In France.
WHY HE DIDN'T PftOSPER
John D. Rockefeller, Jr., In an ad
dress on the subject of success, said:
"I will Illustrate my meaning with
an incident that happened in a western
mill.
"A huge, brawny chap applied • to
the foreman of a mill for work.'
Though there were no vacancies, J the
foreman took him on— he told so pit
eous a tale of woe— and ' set him to
shoveling coal in the mill yard.
"In the afternoon the foreman went
to see how the new hand was doing.
He found him in company with an old
hand— a lean veteran of 60 — shoveling
coal Into a cart. But the old ' hand
•worked faster than the new 1 one,
shoveling In two shovelfuls of coal to
the new hand's one.
" 'Look here,' said the foreman Ito
the brawny stranger, 'this is hardly
fair. Pete 1s throwing two shovelfuls
Into the cart to your one.' . .
"'Yes, boss,' replied the new hand,
'and I told the fool about it, too." * \ ■
BARKING UP THE WRONG TREE
"I have a confession to make, sir.",,
In the private office of the man of
nffnlrs the suitor for the hand of, his
daughter stood, hat in hand. ■ •
"Well, sir, what Is It?" . :'■,
"Before marrying your daughter • I
feel that I 3hould make a clean breast
of my fallings. The, fact ts I am ex
tremely dissipated. I play the races,
play poker, play faro, dabble in stocks. ;
smoke, drink and raise the devil gen- .
trally when I happen to feel like It."
The man he addressed was thoughtful
for some time, but he spoke at last:
"Young man," he said, "I appreciate
your candor in coming to me, but you
know' things are different fronv'what.
they used to be. Girls do as they'
please. You've come to the wrong per
son. Does my daughter know of this?"
"Does • she! " exclaimed .the ;, suitor,
earnestly. "Why, my .dear sir, ■< that*
why she wants to marry me."— Life. ■■/':
progress figures. The Louisiana is un
doubtedly in the lead,' but the- builders
of the Connecticut have explanations
for this, one being that Congress has
not provided men and material as rap
idly as the builders could have .used
them. . ' ■''.'•
But one thing Is certain— both; gov
ernment and private yards have made
splendid records on the Connecticut
and Louisiana, it Is equally ' certain
that the normal time for the building
of a battleship would not have been
Reduced from 44 to 30 months If there
Had been no contest. This -was , a
world-beating performance until Great
Brltlan launched the Dreadnaught In
four months with every prospect- of
completing this new sea power in a
year and a half. • ..-■....■
PHONETIC PHENOMENON
They were talking about spelling re
form and the Idiosyncrasies of the Eng
lish language in general. ; . ' .. ; .
"There's that very word 'phoentic,'
said one of the "men; "that's a sample
of English spelling. The reformers call,
their system the 'phonetic system,' and
yet they have to spell , 'phonetio' with I
a 'pho 1 . In • order to let' people know
what they mean; The very word that
means 'spelled as pronounced'' is as far .
from It as possible." ..'■■ - *
VNow, now!" drawled his friend,'
"you're too hard on the good old Eng
lish speller. You ought to be - proud* of ]-
'phonetic' "Why, that word Is' so :
trimmed down, und sawed off, and cut I
short, that I wouldn't • know it • whs.
English if I, met It alone on a blank ;
page. You ought to thank the language ,
for that word. It Is a beautiful word.
That 'pho' might, have been '•. spelled
like 'dough,' and the 'net' like • 'ette' \
in 'rosette," and the 'Ic' like the ,'liq' In
'liquor.' That would be a' good old
style English word— 'phoughnettlq.'
But It is coming! Look at that:, word
'phenlx.' It 1b spelled 'phenix' \ every
where now, mid I remember ■ it always
used to be 'phoenix.' The 'o' has gone.,
That shows " ■ '
"Nothing!" said the objector. "What
does it show? That the phenix is- a
bird. Isn't the phenix a bird? Yes!
Well, that round thing you say was an
'o' was an egg. That's all. 'Twas Just
an egg and the phenix laid the egg.
That's all." — Success. ' ■",
SMOKELEBB TOWN FAR OFF
The smokeless city will be the inev-
Hnble consequence of the application of .'
modern science and advanced Ideas
from both an economic- ; and hygienic,
standpoint. '. But the smokeless city >■
must be, by implication, an I electrical
city.
The development of millions of kilo
watts at the coal mining centers of the
country and the' transmission of >. this
electricity to large and Bmall citlea for'
distribution le no more fllllicult to un
derstand than the attitude wo have ac
customed ourselves to .with; regard! to'"
our, water supply. The reaervolr Is in»; :
dispensable, .the pipe Uneß through the
streets and in the ; houses " the ■ same/
Why not coal energy In its converted ,'
form? This 'ln the next ' great ; problem •
of the century, and one not to be too
highly rellßhed by the railroads that'
carry coat. They aa well as ; ourselves ,
must adopt. new standards.. They as
well as < ourselves- hold this power of
transformation.— Klectrlcity. ".