The labor advocate. [volume], August 28, 1915, Page 6, Image 6

About The labor advocate. [volume] (Cincinnati, Ohio) 1912-1937

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THE LABOR ADVOCATE
NEW ORDER HITS
THE EXPRESS BUSINESS
Washington. The United States
treasury department lias announced that
plans have been perfected by which,
after August 10, all government money
and securities will be transported by reg
istered man. I lie express companies
have handled this business for yj years,
and their revenue from that source
amounted to approximately $500,000 an
nually. Despite claims first made by
postofficc officials that the parcel post
system was only intended to be a com
petitor of the express companies, it is
now agreed that the companies have been
injured and the end is not in sight. One
company the United States Express
lias already gone out of business. This
concern had the contract to transport
money for the government.
The charge was 20 cents a thousand
dollars from Washington to Philadel
phia and other nearby places, and ranged
up to $1 a thousand to San Francisco,
in the earlier days of the contract the
company was paid si. so a iliniismwi t,.
carry money to the Pacific Coast. This
contract alone netted $375,000 in three
years, of which $245,000 was reimburs-
.iihi: ii)- me national hanks.
NEW VOTING SYSTEM
IS DECLARED ILLEGAL
St. Paul, Mini,. The State supreme
court has declared unconstitutional the
system of preferential voting prescribed
ny the Dulutli city charter. Several
.Minnesota cities that are considering
uwjhiuk mis system will lie forced to
change their plans because of the court's
ruling.
Supreme Court Judge Ilallam dis
sented from the majority opinion.
J he Dulutli Labor Wnrl.1 line d,; i
say of the decision:
"It is not a question of whether the
preferential system of voting is a good
thing. It is a question of whether or not
a community of 00,000 people shall have
its judgment overthrown by any four
men after it has solemnly decided by a
vote of the only people affected by the
preferential ballot that such a system is
what they want.
"We hope the effect of the decision
will he to overthrow a system under
winch such a decision is made .possible.
Home rule will be a joke so long ;,s any
four men in St Paul can overrule !IO,0()0
people in .Dulutli. The people will not be
tree until they can determine questions
of public policy finally for themselves,
unvexed by the possibility of judicial
vetoes, judicial legislation or absentee
court guardianship."
AIR AND SUNSHINE
BEST DISINFECTANTS
The statement given out recently that
boards of health are giving np disin
fection after contagious diseases has
caused some astonishment among the
old-rashioned persons. Hut a knowl
edge of how such diseases are trans
mitted from one person to another
makes the futility of such disinfecting
processes as fumigation evident. The
Scientific American give a succinct and
accurate description of the way in which
diseases are "caught."
"Yellow fever is contracted only
through the bile of the Stegomyria mos
quito, malaria only through that of the
Anopheles, typhus fever only through
that of the body louse. Cholera and
typhoid fever are not contracted
through miasms; but solely by swallow
ing the essential germs of those dis
eases in food and drink thus contami
nated. Diphtheria is probably not com
municable through the air; but by direct
contact with the sick, as in kissing; or
by contact of one's nasal passages or
throat with the diphtheria germs as
contained in the handkerchiefs, dishes
and Hie like used by patients.
"The safest place in the world as to
diphtheria is the properly conducted,
well-aired ward of a diphtheria hos
pital. Hospital doctors, nurses and
others, careful in their ablutions, are
in constant attendance the year round
on diphtheria, scarlet fever and measles
patients, without contracting those dis
eases or being in any fear of them. The
surest place not to contract consump
tion is a well-managed tuberculosis
sanatorium.
"Nor are scarlet fever and measles
transmitted through the 'peeling' or the
skin eruptions in those diseases. And
measles is infectious anyway only dur
ing the first several days of the disease,
generally before it is recognised, and
from the germ-laden discharges from
the nose and throats of sufferers."
Disinfection certainly destroys the
germs of these diseases, when it reaches
them, but the germs perish almost as
soon as they leave the patient's body
The best disinfectants ever invented
arc pure air and sunshine. A sick room
well ventilated after the close of a case;
the bedding, carpets, rugs, and so on
exposed to the blessed sunshine: plenty
of soap and water for scrubbing up.
These factors will, for most infectious
diseases, be all the disinfection necessary."
XKKD XOT TAKK It I. SIC.
Teuton, N. J. Justice Kalisch of the
btate Supreme Court has ruled that a
human being is not compelled to take a
risk of death, however slight, in order
that the money obligations created by
law in a workman's favor may be mini
mized. This decision was made in the case
of a worker who was injured while" in
the employ of a railroad. A serious
case of hernia developed and in the suit
for damages the worker was only allow
ed parting compensation by the lower
court, which sustained the company in
its claim that an operation would cure
the worker in six months.
The case was appealed to the Supreme
Court and the railroad attorneys again
quoted medical reports to show that out
oi .'.1,1)1)11 operations for hernia only 48
have proved fatal. Justice Kalisch dis
sented from the views of the lower
court and rejected the company's posi
tion, The court ruled that even though
the peril to life seems slight, the worker
is not required to submit to an operation
to minimize the liability of the company
under the employers' liability law.
I.OSSKS IX TIMKS OK PKACK.
San Francisco. "While we stand an-
palled at the enormous loss of life and
treasure which has been going on in
Europe in the past twelve months, we
should not forget the victims of the
deadly conflict constantly going on in
our own peaceful land," declared Presi
dent Willet to the National Association
in i.ue underwriters, in convention in
this city. "Statistics tell us that 050,000
lives are annually destroyed in the
United Stales by diseases of the pre
ventable class. The annual economic
loss front this source is estimated at
$1,. -1)0,000,000, or six times the amount
of our fire loss."
.IPIK.IXC A liAIIOK IMSPIJTK.
San Francisco. Under the above cap
tion the Ilulletin of this city makes the
lollowmg point that can well be remem
bered by those who sit in judgment on
labor disputes :
"In general, it is obvious that work
ingnien whose hours anil conditions of
labor are what they should be, and who
have been treated by their employers
with fairness and respect will not, in a
moment, go mad with resentment and
rush upon the revolvers of policemen or
lite bayonets of militia. A corporation
which is hated by its employes cannot be
guiltless."
sictiriti: KiraiT-iiont iuv.
. Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh trade tinion
ists have won an important victory in
their long light with the Ohio and Pitts
burgh Milk Company, which has agreed
to place its plant on an eight-hour basis,
livery engineer, fireman and helper is
to become a member of their respective
unions. Main- of these workers were
formerly employed twelve hours a day.
A Oueer Marriage Custom.
In the l.ooclioo islands there are some
curious marriage customs. One consists
in the bridegroom going around to all
his friends' houses and permitting them
to dress him up in any ridiculous style
that they fancy. Sometimes the happy
man is arrayed in a gavlv painted kim
ono, the sleeves of which are tied tip
with a string laden with bells, toys and
trumpets. A mask is then put on and a
red hat, the "rigottt" being completed by
an empty kerosene tin, whjch rattles
noisily along as he walks.
Kislt Killing Ponies.
"The Shetland peasants, as soon as the
cold comes on, turn their ponies out to
shift for themselves," said a horse dealer.
' On those high, rocky, barren islands,
amid the powerful ami cold winds of
winter, the ponies live on heather and
seaweed, and it is indubitable that in
their hunger they even scour the wild
coast for dead fish. It is this life of ex
posure that gives the Shetland pony his
shaggy coal. What gives him his kind
and gentle disposition is that fact that
he is brought up with the dogs and chil
dren. Mist itkes.
like war, is a series of mistakes,
is not the best Christian nor il...
Life,
and he
best general who makes the fewest false
steps, lie is the best who wins the most
splendid victories by the retrieval of
mistakes. Organise victory out of mis
takes. F. W. Robertson.
Sodium Compounds.
Two common household essentials,
salt and baking powder, are very closely
related, the latter depending upon the
former for its existence. In other words,
without salt, or sodium chloride, as it is
technically termed, we could not manu
facture baking powder, sodium bicar
bonate, and would be sans biscuits,
bread, cakes, etc. There are many and
diverse uses, however, for sodium com
pounds other than the common use in
baking, some of them being soda-water,
soap and soap powder, quinine, oxalic
acid, starch, paper, naint. class, altnn
and in silk bleaching, cleaning and treat
ing skins and wool, in dynamite and tex
tiles, as well as in many chemical compounds.
MHU HH HM
i HOLDS COMPENSATION
X IS CONSTITUTIONAL X
Sacramento, Cnl. The State X
J, Supreme Court litis upheld the
i workmen's compensation act. T
X ine industrial accident board
f item a private Indemnity coin
T puny Habit! for damages to a
I railroad worker and the coin
4 puny appealed on the ground
J that the law deprived the etti
X ployer of liberty without due
process of law and an equal
f protection of the law us guar-
niiteed by the United .States
f constitution, and that the art
T Is Invalid because It eveiiinls
I agricultural and d o in e s 1 1 e t
j workers. I
.i. Justice Sloss wrote the ma- T
4- jorlty opinion, which holds
f that the; law Is not a violation
ot tlio federal constitution,
and that the enactment substi
tutes a new system of rights
and obligations for the com
mon law rules governing the
liability of employers for in
juries to their workmen. Jus
tice Sloss declared this was
perfectly legal, (!Veii though
"the change thus made is rad
ical, not to say revolutionary."
Justices Shaw and two col
leagues accepted the law only
ii-L-imx!; oi me insurance pro
vision of the act. If this were
not Included, tbev iiitliimtf-il
I they might bold different
T views.
J list let; llensbaw was aloftc
in bis opposition to'the act.
..;:
l' to llllll.
Coyly the hltisliinir eirl mmm-iM,...!
n"i,cras lc sal.at casc aftcr ''""".
Daddy, she sun eoaxinek- "U U
i.m: ui.il iwo can live as cheaply as
one? ' '
"Tliat's an old saying, dearie."
I ut do you believe it?" she persisted,
fondling the bald patch on the top of
his head.
"Well, perhaps it can be done," sail
father doubtfully.
"Then if George and I get married,
lo you think you can manage to support
both of us on as much as you spend on
me every year?" New York Journal.
A Korgetful Poet.
....... .i...! . .. ": "
Arthur Coleridge related that the jloctl
v.wiL-iiuKi: uuee journeyed irom lligh
Kate to Ifollmrii to visit a nephew, Sir
William If. Coleridge. It was very cold
weather, and the poet had on a double
breasted waistcoat which met just below
his neck. It was discovered that he had
got no shirt. His nephew remonstrated
with bun, to which the poet replied, "I'm
very sorry, William, very sorry, but I've
forgotten my shirt." Upon this Sir Wil
liam kindly lent his uncle a shirt, "and "
said the speaker, "I regret to say that
very necessary garnicn' was never re
turned to its original owner." London
btilimhy AYj'iVk'.
When Von Can't Sleep.
There is an odd theory, which many
people believe and which is certainly
harmless, that sleepiiessness may often
be cured in the following odd way:
Move your bed out into the room so
that no part of bed or covers will touch
the wall. Then place under each caster
of the bed a piece of rubber or a rubber
overshoe or set the caster in a thick
glass dish. Then go to bed, making sure
the covers do not touch the wall. Thus
the bed and yourself will be cut off
trom all electric contact with floor or
wall, Such absence of electric contact,
it is claimed, will make you sleep better.
It is said to (lave cured stubborn cases
of insomnia.
.Mild Itesult.
The courtroom was crowded. A wife
was seeking divorce on. the grounds of
extreme cruelty and brutally abusive
treatment.
The husband was on the stand under
going a grueling cross examination.
The examining attorney said : "You
have testified that your wife on one oc
casion threw cayenne pepper in your
face. Now, sir, kindly tell us what you
did (in that occasion."
The witness hesitated and looked con
fused. Every one expected that 'he was
about to confess to some shocking act
of cruelty. Hut their hopes were shat
tered when he finally blurted out :
"I sneezed !" Everybody's.
The Kager Adviser.
Wheufirst a stranger hits the town
He is profoundly moved,
And tells with manv a solemn frown
How it could be improved.
He speaks in generous tones yet grim,
And rcallv seems to think
The town, if it were not for him,
Would be on ruin's brink.
Hut when a while he has remained
He sees how well and long
Its men have struggled and attained .
'Mid difficulties strong.
How oft the man who lost his sleep
That he tuiirht have his say.
Concludes he'll simply try to keep
From getting in the way!
Washington Star.
Bitter Fight Waged in Name of
Prohibition Charged as Scheme
To Save Illicit Distillers
lias the long and bitter fight waged
against the liquor interests in North
Carolina and other Southern States
been based on the high moral grounds
contained in the arguments of politically
ambitious orators, or for the real pur
pose of protecting the illicit distillers?
Among those in a position to know,
it is the protection of the illicit dis
tillers that is responsible for both the
"dry" agitation and legislation in North
Carolina.
This fact is borne out in the follow
ing interview with a native North Car
olinian who had spent a long and ac
tive life in the "Old North State:"
"In the more than forty years I have
lived in North Carolina, I have never
known of a bill in Congress seeking to
protect the revenue and incidentally the
legitimate distiller that has not been
fought and bitterly opposed by the rep
resentatives of North Carolina.
"The latest incident, the defn.nt nf iUn
Outage Pill, by the Senator from North
Carolina, further bears out this state
ment. Protection for Illicit Distiller.
"The history of North Carolina Sena
tors and Representatives in Congress on
this and similar questions speaks for it
self. "I have never had a doubt that a very
large proportion of the prohibition sen
timent in my State has been induced and
furthered as a method to protect the
illicit distiller.
"I think that the same is true, to a
certain extent, in Tennessee, and .ncr-
haps to a slightly lesser degree in Geor
gia.
"At one time North Carolina had a
larger number of registered distilleries
than any other State in the Union, and
goodness knows how many they had
that were not registered.
"The government was lucky if the
registered distilleries split 50-50 on the
tax and the overplus was the desidera
tum of the man that operated the dis
tillery." Evidently the Washington (D. C.)
Herald has made a careful study of
North Carolina's history in its relation
to the prohibition question.
An Old Proposal Revived.
The following editorial under the cap
tion "An Old ProposaURevivcd" is from
the Washington Herald :
A large committee representing a
number of temperance organizations,
met behind closed doors in Washington
to perfect the Hobson resolution defeat
ed in the House last December, with the
hope of making it more acceptable to
the Senators and Representatives.
One objection to the Hobson resolu
tion was that it only prohibited the man
ufacture and importation of alcoholic
liquors for sale.
A good many prohibitionists do not
like that exemption, which only pro
hibits the sale of alcoholic beverages.
If these beverages are poisonous and a
danger to the people, and arc to be pro
hibited, the prohibition ought to be like
that in Russia, complete.
lint it is said that the committee could
not agree to any change in the plan of
prohibition proposed by Captain Hob
son, although it is admitted that it would
Itetween Two Klres.
She was desperately gone on them
both, and she couldn't think which one
to choose. It was rather perplexing, no
doubt, for one she was bound to refuse.
She gazed at them both in despair,
quite puzzled to know what to do. As
soon as she thought about one she cared
for the other one too.
They still remained under her gaze,
little recking the trouble they brought.
It really was hard to decide. They
were both so delightful, she thought.
She couldn't say which one she'd
nave ;
It's
a new
her efforts fell hopelessly flat,
really exceedingly hard selecting
hat.
The Forests on (liu Xiger.
The insects of Africa are expert dis
ease carriers, and they come in such
numbers on the Niger that one hardly
flares to use one's lamp or go too near
a light of any sort at night. These for
ests on the Niger are deadly jilaces for
all their haunting attraction and take
a big toll both of European and native
life. Yet the first three days on the
Niger, with all its mud and its smell and
its mangrove flies and its frogs and its
crickets, are enough to give the new
comer an inkling of the drawing power,
the fascination, of what is probably the
most unhealthy country in the world.
W. H. Thompson in lllackwood's.
POVKUTV.
Poverty, my dear driend, is so great
an evil and pregnant with so much temp
tation and so much misery that I can
not but earnestly enjoin you to avoid it.
Live on what you have; live if you can
on less. Do not borrow either for vanity
or pleasure. 1 he vanity will end in
shame and the pleasure in regret. Sam
uel Johnson.
legalize the work of the moonshiners
who have been the most picturesque
lawbreakers of this country since the
Civil War.
The moonshiner insists that he has an
inalienable right to manufacture whisky,
brandy, apple jack, or anything else he
prefers from his corn, rye, apples and
peaches, and that no government has the
right to make him pay a tax on his pro
ducts. He has been going along in this way
for more than half a century, 'and the
great government of the United States,
with a small army of special agents, has
been unable to suppress moonshining.
The Commissioner of Internal Rev
enue admits in his report that this illicit
manufacture and traffic is growing with
the passing of time and the increase of
prohibition laws in the South.
Defending; Illicit Distilling'.
Something like the proposition of Cap
tain Hobson was proposed :i5 years ago,
by. a distinguished North Carolina Demo
crat, who was the father of the Demo
cratic leader in the Sixty-fourth Con
gress. His name was William Kitchin, and
he proposed an amendment to the in
ternal laws providing that GO gallons in
any one year, manufactured by each dis
tiller, should be exempt from taxation.
Some of the Northern Representatives
ridiculed Kitchin's amendment, but it
was vigorously defended as a temper
ance measure by Southern men.
Kitchin said in debate that his amend
ment was to nlace all nroducers on nn
equal footing and added :
"I willtake occasion to say that I be
lieve it is radically wrong and unjust
and in opposition to the fundamental
principles upon which our government
is based, to tax the necessities of life,
to tax that which a man raises upon his
farm for the support and benefit of
those who are dependent upon him
Every man ought to have the right to
use what he raises upon his farm for
the benefit of his family. That is the
intention of government. It will do in
justice no section of the country, and
to no individual, and whatever revenue
the government may fail to derive from
this exemption can be made up by pass
ing a law levying a tax upon incomes,
upon the money and the capital of the
country. Let us put a burden there and
take it off the poor and needy."
Would Legalize Moonsliinlng.
Much of his speech, delivered in Con
gress by William Kitchin, April 29, 1880,
has jx familiar sound today.
Kitchin and those who supported him
wanted to permit each family to have its
own still and manufacture 00 gallons of
whisky or brandy a year for family use,
without paying a tax.
The Hobson resolution makes the ex
emption general, so that each man can
manufacture for family use any amount
of whisky or brandy he pleases and with
out paying a tax.
Hobson's followers also propose to
make up the deficit in federal revenue
by taxing the incomes of the rich.
The Captain and his friends have sim
ply turned the barrel over, and dug up
the old Kitchin plan to legalize moon
shining. Trades Union News.
Cold in Ancient Itome.
William Jacob in his "History of the
Precious Metals," estimates from the ac
counts given by the Roman writers that
in the rcigu of Augustus, the first of the
emperors, when Rome was at the height
of its power, the amount of gold in the
Roman empire was nearly $2,000,000,000.
This vast treasure had been gathered
chiefly by conquest from various nations
of Europe, Asia and Africa. There hail
been extensive mines in Spain and in
the Atlas mountains of north Africa,
but their yield in the wealth of kings ami
of cities in Asia and Egypt had been
despoiled and carried away to enrich the
conquerors.
C.piUl Jl.000,000
Resources over $5,000,000
Second National Bank
Ninth and Main Streets
3 Percent Interest on Savings
We have at
MODEST PRICES
Pianos and Player-Pianos
which are thoroughly
well made and guar
anteed to be entirely
satisfactory in the
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