The western sentinel. [volume], February 08, 1910, Page PAGE FOUR, Image 4

About The western sentinel. [volume] (Winston-Salem, N.C.) 1887-1926

Image provided by: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Library, Chapel Hill, NC

                
PAGE FOUR
THE SEMI-WEEKLY SENTIHELi, . WINSTON-SALE M, NORTH CAROLINA
TUESDAY MORNING, FEBRUARY 8
WESTERN SENTINEL
(Established 1855)
SENTINEL PUBLISHING CD.
' Publishers-
TUESDAY AND FRIDAY
J. G. STERLING
Manager
SUBSCRIPTION RATb
One Year, 104 copies . . .
Six Months, 52 copies . . , ,
Three Months, 26 copier ,
Sample Copies Mailed on
. ,.$1.00
50
. s . .25
Ii iquest.
All communications should b ad
dressed to The Western Sentinel,
Win: ton-Salem, N. C.
(Entered at Postoffice at Wins'on-Sa-lem,
N. C, as second-class mail
Matter November 30, 190 f.
OPINIONS.
The morality of woman is related
to devotion to the home, to the hus
band and the children. And she has
been truer to those ideals than man
has. The morality of men is devo
tion to the political unit, which wo
men have not. Dr. Luther II. Gulick.
We build a multitude of statues to
perpetuate the memory of those whose
achievements were human slaughter,
but none to those who saved life or
devised ways to escape pain. The
name of no physician adorns the Hall
of Fame. Poarce Kintzing, M. D., of
T . , A
uaiunxore.
Woman suffrage would largely in
crease the political ignorance of the
nation since women, because they are
women, are inevitably and invincibly
ignorant of many questions which
have to be decided by the ballot. G.
Atherton.
A NEEDED CHANGE.
The Sentinel expressed the hope, a
fr-w days ago, that some way would
be devised in the near future to re
lieve the state legislature of the ne
cessity of passing on a vast amount
of lecul and private business for the
reason that this kind of thing takes
up too much of the legislature's time
and leaves ioo little time for serious
consideration of more important mat
ters. In commenting on this the Sal
isbury Post, whose editor was a mem-
ol the last legislature, has the
Ilowins
to say:
"''Many of these local matters could
,.t handled by the secretary of state
the clerks of the respective coun
ts with expedition and at a great
-living to the state and relief to the
righty questions that present thern-
es to the general assembly.
Senator Ormond, seasoned legis
tr that he is, should be returned to
ileigh next winter to champion this
jform."
The Raleigh Times, in the course of
an editorial endorsing the. position of
the Post and The Sentinel, has the
following relative to the editorial
quoted above from the former:
"There are few men more able to
appreciate this situation than the gen
ial editor of The Post and representa
tive of Rowan. Many days has lie
lounged around the capitol corridors
anxious to dispose of the important
legislation that was of concern to the
people of North Carolina and get
home, when 'hour after hour was
spent in passing some local bill that
only became a burden on the statute
books. There are too many men who
go to the legislature and think they
are adding glory to their names and
-serving their constituents by passing
a lot of little bills that are not worth
a cent to the country. Yet they go
back home and point with pride to
the nunibsr of bills they had passed,
and strut around as though they were
the whole thing. While he was get
ting through his bill for draining
.Mud Pond, ditching John Jones'
spring branch, killing fleas in Jack
Smith's barn-yard, or prohibiting Bill
Brown's rooster from crowing at 4
o'clock p. m., public bills involving
thousands of dollars are left on the
calendar for lack of time. It is high
time that some remedy for these con
ditions be applied. Of the two thou
sand bills passed biennially the state
would be 'better off if. some fifteen
hundred were never introduced. It
would be well to add to Editor Jul
ian's suggestion that Senator Ormond
be returned, that the able represen
tative from Rowan also come back
-and help, the senator in this . reform."
The president 'arid - the1" postmaster
general have had a good .deal to say re
cently about the big postoffice deficit.
As usual, the blame is placed on the
item of second-class matter and an at
tempt to raise the rate charged to pub
lications of various kinds will doubtless
be made. If the government depart
ments and members of congress would
stop sending so much worthless matter
through the mails. Congressional Rec
ords, for instance, the "situation might
be relieved to some extent at least.
Many Democrats as Weill as Republi
cans -will be glad that 'Mt Thomas Set
tle has landed at last. Besides being
an affable gentleman Mr. Settle is a
man of ability? and has rendered his
: party excellent service 'as a campaign
er. The ' announcement - that he is to
be assistant tothe attorney general of
the United States is peculiarly gratify
ing to those who have had fears that
"he would be left out in th6 cold by the
.'bowers that 'be. , -
COTTON MILL MERGER?
It will he remembered that, a' few
years ago, a number of men interested
in Southern cotton mills, one or two
prominent businessmen: of AVinston
Salem among the number, conceived
,the idea of forming a big merger of
the cotton mills in this section of the
country. In all probability the' plan
would ( have been perfected then but
for the stringency of the money mar?
ket. . The Charlotte News is authority
for the statement that such a move
ment has been put on foot again jvith
good prospects of success. In discuss
ing the matter that paper says:
"The . News learns today on the
most reliable authority that a cotton
mill combination, or trust, is now be
ing formed in the11 South. Three gen
tlemen representing large financial in
terests are now in this section and
have already visited a large number
of the mills and laid before them the
proposed plan. The present combina
tion includes only the mills making
brown sheeting of medium or heavy
weights, but it is intimated that it may
be extended later to include' other
classes of mill products. It is repre
sented that the combination will have
extensive capital and will purchase
the plants outright or on partial stock
basis. The gentlemen working the
combination are New York capitalists,
and are said to have ample capital at
their 'backs. It is understood a large
number of mills have, signified their
intention of joining the combination.
The only difficuty seems to have been
with mills controlled - by commission
houses. The combination will have
its own selling agency, and it is un
derstood, ' head office will be in Char
lotte" While present facilities with refer
ence to railroad travel and similar
matters are being improved it seems
to us that it would be a splendid idea
for the railroads and the transfer com
panies in existence here to get to
gether in some way and follow the ex
ample of such concerns in the larger
cities with reference to the handling
of (baggage to and from trains. In
those cities the transfer company
gives bond to the railroad companies
for th.e faithful performance of its con
tract and acts to some extent as an
agent of the railroads. A representa
tive of the transfer company wearing
a uniform or badge is always at 'hand
and looks after all matters pertaining
to outgoing or incoming baggage, thus
relieving the passengers of worry
along this line. Of course, the trans
fer concern would be bonded and
would be responsible to the railroad
companies for the safe and proper de
livery of all baggage. This would he
an especially great convenience for la
dies and it is something that is need
ed here.
Strange as it may seem there are
some states in which the legislature
meets every year, New York being
among this number. In this part of
the country a meeting once every two
years seems quite enough, and some
people think once in four years would
be ibetter still. We see no reason
whatever for (bringing together a body
of state law makers every year and it
is strange that those states having
this system should cling to it. We
have entirely too many laws on the
statute books in this country now and
too frequent meetings of legislative bo
dies are not calculated1 to correct the
evil.
Internal disturbances in state educa
tional institutions seem to be the.order
of the day. The board of trustees cf
Clemson College, of South Carolina,
have been under fire recently, the
charge having been that they run the
institution pretty much as a family
affair, handing out many college posi
tions to near relatives. Now the con
ditions at the Virginia1 Polytechnic In
stitute are 'being aired, the charge hav
ing been made that President Barrin
ger, a native of North Carolina, has
not been conducting the institution in
the proper manner. It 'is announced
that the board, of visitors of thei insti
tution will make a thorough investiga
tion of the charges.
The maximum and minimum rate
clause of the Aldrtioh-Fayne tariff act
seems likely to provoke tariff wars
against the United States unless the
situation is handled , very diplomatical
ly. Such wars would be: most likely to
be inaugurfated, of course, by the
countries to which the maximum rate
has been applied by the United States,
notably France, Germany and Canada.
If a tariff war ensues with Germany,
for instance, it "would be likely to have
a very appreciable effect on the com
merce of this country. We import an
nually nearly $150;0W,00O worth of
goods from Germiany; w export to
Germany about twice that amount. It
can readily be seen that this country
tands a chance of losing $150,000,000 in
trade df the tariff differences with Ger
many are not adjusted. Negotiations
have been in progress and it seems
reasonable to believe such an amica
ble adjustment will be "effected
Whether it is effected or not the fact
remains that . our high tariff law caus
es quite a good deal of trouble and ex
panse. " . :. : "
; - A nineteen-year-idd hoy , who was
convicted in Ohio the other day . of an
atrocious nrurder, following ah attempt
at robbery, actually made the startling
confession that he had never read a
dime novel, taken a drink of -whiskey
or smoked a cigarette. .
Everyone who has kept up with, that
Tallman case must feel that they have
Some pretty sorry laws in. South Car
olina, to sy the least. , Hj ; :
The census to be taken" this year is
likely to result in a -material increase
in the number of representatives in
the lower .branch of congress. The
House of Representatives is valready
an unwieldy body and a reduction in
the number of members instead of an
increase would really be better.
The Ashe ville Citizen was considera
bly disturbed some weeks since be
cause the issuance of marriage licenses
there had come to be such -a rare ccaur
rence and asked for expressions from
its subscribers as to the cause. This
reduction in the number of marriages
is, however, not confined to Ashe
ville, just now. It seems to be a gen
eral condition that prevails all over
the country and one that is at least
partly attributable to the high cost of
living, of which we hear so much
now.
In this connection the Washington
Post has the following:
The relation between the cost of liv
ing :&nd the activity in the issuance of
marriage licenses is recognized as in
timate, erven though the economists
may not be able to express the subtle
fact in the mathematical formula But
there can he no doubt that Cupid keeps
an eye on the market prices of pro
visions, even though he may have little
use for the tailor.
There can be no doubt that this
sprightly promoter of felicity ihas
abandoned the old theory, enticing but
illusory, that two persons can live just
as cheaply as one can. Perhaps that
untruth in domestic mathematics took
forjn at a time when gir'ls were differ
ent in some material respects from the
maidens- of today. It was once the
fad that they should be delicate, with
out appetite, taking food after the
manner of birds, with anemic results.
They were more fond of cakes and
sweetmeats than of prosaic bread, po1
taties, and roast beef. In those days
there might have .been more economy
in the feminine menu, even allowing
that cake costs mores than bread. But
the girl of today is brought up to be
buxom and robust. There has been a
reaction both sensible and wide-spread.
She takes proper pride fin her apppe
tite and in her muscles, which she has
learned are not at all inconsistent with
gentle sentiment. She emulates 'her
brothers an fondness for the open air
and for suitable athletics.
There is no longer any reason for
her sentimental setni-starvatiom. If
she likes a ballad to her eyebrow, she
is ready also for a lobster after the op
era. She may approve of kisses from
the one right man, but he must also be
able to provide a menu more extended
than bread and cheese. Hence the
normal and active feminine interest in
the revolt against high prices in the
market place.
BASEBALL NOTES.
The Minneapolis team will do its
spring training at Des Moines, la.
Hans Lobert has signed with Cincin
nati and will play third base for the
Rods.
The Wilkesbarre fans are happy, as
Pitcher Joe Bliss has been turned back
by the Detroit club,
"Steamer" Flanagan, the Buffalo out
fielder, will no doubt prove a "whale"
with Charley Dooley's Utica team.
Hugh Jennings denies that he is try
ing to trade Moriarity tnd Mclntyre
for Ston'e and Wallace, of the Browns.
Dode Criss, the crack pinch hitter of
the St, Louis Browns, may be sent to
Louisville to cover first base for the
Coloneis.
It is said that Manager McGtiire, of
the Cleveland team, is trying to trade
Nig Clark on account of Nig and La
joie being at outs.
Manager Jack Dunn, of the Orioles,
thinks he has something classy in Nai
sel, a third sacker in a Baltimore city
league. '
The Indianapolis team win leave
Key West for Cuba on February 26.
Eighteen exhibition games will be play
ed in Havana by the Hoosiers
Joe Wood, cf the Boston Americans,
is a splendid horseman, a crack shot
with rifle and shotgun, and is clever
both at pool and billiards.-
Jack Horner, the ex-Giant catcher,
has" closed a deal whereby he becomes
principal owner of the Binghamton
c'lub of the New Ycrk State League.
Providence fans will give a banquet
in honor of Hugh Duffy on February 8,
on the eve of 'Hugh's departure for
Chicago, where he is to manage the;
White Sox.
Manager Fred Lake, of the Boston
Nationals," as out to gather a bunch cf
hustling youngsters. Fred says that
the. veterans will have to take the
gate.
In Clarence Short, the' Milwaukee
club claims to have the Champion
strike-out pitcher. Playing with a
semi-professional earn last season
Short whised 264, batters in twenty
five games,
Clark Griffith has a new pitching
machine that he intends to nsei in
drilling the Reds in Matting. The
Giants tried a machine a few years ago
and the gosh-dinged thing came very
near tearing the ibean eff of several
players. .
.. " President Helps. Orphans.
Hundreds of orphans have been help
ed by the President of the Industrial
and Orphans' Home at Macon, Ga., who
writes: "We have used Electric Bitters
in this Institution for; nine years. It
has- proved a most excellent medicine
for Stomach, Diver and Kindney trou
bles. We regard it as one of the best
family medicines on earth." It invigor
ates all vital organs, purifies the blood,
aids' digestion, creates appetite. To
strengthen "and build up pale, thin,
weak children ' or rundown people it
has no equal. Best for female com
plaints. Only 50c, at P. - A. Thomp
son's. ""
L." M.-Richmond, cf Concord, was a
visitor in the city yesterday.
fifiCSet
Take your next load of tobacco to the
GORRELL'S and they will be quick to
get you the highest prices for every
pile of your tobacco. The Gorrell boys
are top-notchers in selling tobacco and
they want to prove it to you. Sell
your next load with them and they
will show
Work of Helen Keller
To Prevent Blindness
Though Blind Herself She Has Waged a Campaign That is
Having Far-Reaching Results.
BY. WALTER PEET, M. D.,
Never in the history of the human
race has a combination of terrible af
flictions upon 'one person so redound
ed to the good of a vast number, and
indirectly to all, as in the case of
Miss Helen Keller. By means of her
vv-bndsrfully developed brain, and
through her own indomitable will
power and courage, she has carried
out successfully a campaign which
will save the sight hereafter of the
class known as the needlessly blind,
which, according to the latest statis
tics amounts to the alarming propor
tion of about 25 per cent of all sight
less people in the country, while in
France it is 33 per cent.
The cause of this blindness is oph
thalmia neonatbrum, i. e., infectious
inflammation of the eyes of the new
born; which is entirely preventable.
Last week the writer, as did every
other doctor in the state, received by
mail from tfie New -York .State. De
partment of Health a little tin tube.
The distribution of these little tin
tubes represents the climax of the
marvelous work of this totally blind
and deaf young woman in that they
contain the prophylactic most easily
and simply applied to the infants'
eyes, which will wipe out one-quarter
to one-third of the entire blindness of
the world.
How Helen Keller Won.
How has Helen Keller accomplish
ed this great work?
To answer this we must go over
briefly .a. part of her life history.
Helen Keller was born June 27,
1880. When a little more than a year
and a half old she lost both sight and
hearing.
It is well known among educators
of the deaf that the loss of hearing
at such an early age is as great a
handicap as congenital deafness, so
far as the starting of the teachng
of language is concerned, which is
paramount.' The interchange of
thought with our' fellow beings
through language, "however expressed,
is much more important than even
speech itself. Language, and speech
are not synonymous.
It matters not through what medi
umspeech, manual alphabet or the
various forms of writing and printing
ideas are received and expressed to
others, language is the sine qua non
of the education of the deaf. The wri
ter has seen many cases in which ar
ticulation has approached fairly to
the normal.when single words or mem
orized phrases were spoken, but in
which the mental ability to form sen
tences independently has been entire
ly lacking. This has been not only be
cause of the intense desire to de
velop speech, with the consequent
neglect of . language, but because
when language cannot be ac
quired through , the ear it is almost
the hardest thing in, the world to mas-.
ter. ' '
Only a small percentage of the con
genially deaf can express themselves
in even approximately correct sen
tences. Helen Keller was not only
under this great handicap of practi
cally congenital deafness, but the one
of blindness was super imposed. She
was deaf, djamib and blind.
As she says in her book:
"A sense of isolation enfolds me like
a cold mist as I sit alone and wait
at life's shut gate." .
In the circumstances it would have
been temerity to have prognosticated
anything .-mudf better than a life of
mental imprisonment. : -
J- Her Wonderful Brain., ;
By inheritance, however, she. had a
latent brain, which was to prove won
derful. Then, when" seven years - old,
she ; came under the instruction and
influence not only of a master mind
but of a character such as is seldom
met . with in the person of Miss Anne
Mansfield Sullivan (now Mrs. John
Albert Macy), who had been in the
Perkins Institution .for the Blind, 'but
who had regained "her sight-not long
before she began to teach 'Helen Kel
ler. After her marvellous awakening to
language Miss Keller decided to learn
to sjeak. and aidedvby Miss Sulivan
she has mastered articulation "to the
extentof "speaking better than most
a
you.
Your Friends,
IN NEW YORK WORLD.
other deaf people." She speaks Eng
lish, French and German.
But Helen Keller has been deprived
of two senses, and the vastly most
important two. The only avenue to
her brain, as concerns language, is
through the sense, of , touch, and this
has been developed to the highest de
gree, - Unfortunately, the diseases that
work such havoc as deafness and
blindness often leave the brain be
low par. Also, very often, the com
mencement of instruction is delayed
too long. Neither was true in the
ca?e of Helen Keller. As she grew
and came into the maturity of her
splendid brain her heart turned to
ward her. fellow beings, and her first
thought 'was of the other blind peo
ple, infinitely less afflicted than she.
Even as a small child she was always
most solcitious about "the little blind
girlsl'.m the Perkins Institution.
Then th3 fight began. She once
said to Joseph Jefferson, "I never fight
except against difficulties." Here was
a difficulty indeed, and she fought and
won.
Forgetting herself and her own af
flictions, she began to interest others
in the cause of the babies that lose
their sight, and who she knew could
be saved from this unnecessary life
suffering. For, as she says, "Silence
sits immense upon my soul. Then
comes hope with a smile and whispers
'There is joy in self-forgetf ulness.' "
if By strenuous individual work on her
part, private and public, lay and pro
fessional interest was aroused. The
following strong plea from her pen
has been frequently quoted:
"In order that this pitiable condi
tion be not allowed to continue, two
things should be done at once. A cam
paign of education should be inaugu
rated, and every expectant mother
should be made acquainted with the
peril which may threaten her child
so that shS' may insist that it be pro
tected. "Then the state should freely and
gratuitously place in the hands of
every accouncheur an aseptic silver
solution that carries with it the as
medical authority as to its necessity,
its purity and its safety.
"In order that necessary and uni
form legislation be secured in every
state efforts must be made. The
mothers in every state must demand
it.- In every cl'ss of society the wo
men should know of the cause and
dangers of this disease." There fol
lowed a literal awakening.
The New York Association fox the
Blind secured money enough to ena
ble a committee to carry: on the work
of prevention, in the state. A com
mission "was appointed 'by the New
York legislature to investigate the
condition of the blind in the state, and
reported a large amount of unneces
sary blindness resulting from the neg
lect of new-born infants' eyes.
Then came the report nf the com
mittee of the" American Public Health
Association on ophthalmia neonato
rum and its prevention, as a result of
which thV New York State Depart
ment of Health has gone into and
systematized the details and tech
nique , of the prophylaxis and treat
ment most thoroughly. . " i
A few months ago every physician
in the state received -a circular letter
giving information as to ophthalmia
neonatorum and "asking the practition
er to sign a pledge to give the silver
solution treatment to every new-born
infant's eves in his practice, and to
'disseminate the information contained
among all having to do with newly
born children. vv . s . : '
And now has . come the crowning
achievement in this campaign of sight
saving. ' , v
The ; state department ' of health is
furnishing the prophylactic solution
recognised as an almost certain pre
ventive agent for -this disease under
the following conditions: Outfits have
bsen prepared containing a small yial
holding an amount of one per cent
solution of nitrate of silver sufficient
for use on one new-born child, a ster
ilized "dropper" and bulb especially
adapted -for making the application
'A
n 9 &
of this solution, and th? necessary di
rections for the use of the preventive
agent. As the leaflet in the little tin
tube says:
"These outfits arc being sent to the
health officers of the cities, villages
and towns throughout the state, and
can be obtained by any physicjan from
these officials without charge."
Compare the two paragraphs in quo
tations in this article and see what
Helen Keller has done. They tell the
story.
.Although Helen Keller, with charac
teristic modesty, refuses to accept the
credit for all this, it is nevertheless
true that if it had not been for her
initiative and following up work the
great mass would be back to the timo
of cruel carelessness, and the brilliant,
experiments of Crede, the celebrated
obstretrician of Leipzig, whose work
brought out the silver solution treat
ment, would have gone for naught for
many years.
POLITICAL CHAT.
Reported That Republicans Are Get
tings Ready for Active Campaign In
Forsyth Tom Settle To Get A Good
Jcb Change In Democratic Plan
of Organization.
"Isn't it getting time for the Demo
crats of Forsyth to begin thinking about
ccrraling their forces for the next
campaign?" asked an euthusiastic
member of the party from the country'
last week.
It is reported that the Republican
leaders are writing letters to the town
ship chairmen advising them to get
busy, telling them that with a thorough
organization the party can sweep the
county next fail.
It is not secret that the Republicans
are wscrking quietly from one election
to another, while the Democrats "rest
on their oars" and take too much for
granted that things will come their
way in due time. Failure to elect ev
ery man on the- ticket two years ago
was partially the result of failure to se
cure a working organizati-n in the va-'
rious townships. The1 Democratic lead
ers may rest assured that the opposi
tion is at wo'iik while the' Democrats
are idle.
Tom Settle to Land.
It is announced that Tom (Settle, one
of the brainiest men in the Republi
can party in North Carolina, is to Se
cure a berth at last. Tcm is well
known in this city, having made sever
al campaign speeches here in behalf
of himself and other candidates for of
fice. The Salisbury Post says it gets
it straight that Mr. iSettle will, within
a few days be named an assistant to
the attorney general or the United
States, a position calling for a high or
der of ability and icarrying a; salary of
$5,000 a year.
Mr. 'Settle's name has been coupled
with the' district attorneyship icf the
Western North Carolina district, but
it appears that both President Taf t and
Attorney General Wickersham were so
impressed with th& .repneseoitations
concerning him and with his personal
ity that they decided he should have
a berth carrying more prestige.
Should no break in the present plans
occur M'iv Settle's appointment will be
made before the first of March.
Changes in Plan or Organization.
iState Chairman A. H. Bller returned
last Friday from Raleigh, where he
attended a conference of several lead
ing members of the Democratic party.
It was decided to recommend to the
full state committee, which he will
call to meet in about thirty days, im-.
portant changes in the party's plan of
organization so as to provide for hold
ing precinct meetings on a common
day the same system as to primaries
and county conventions. Some of the
tomnrittee feel that" -the solution of
the question will be the Enactment of
a legalized primary law, but this will
befor the whple committee to rec
ommend, if it ..sees proper, as
of course1, it requires legislative
action. '-
The) other great change in the plan
of organization . which, the special
committee; -will recommend will be the
adoption of the direct primary plan
as the county executive committee may
determine, endeavoring 'to meet condi
tions. The special committtee has not
yet fully completed its work, but will
continue it at honte and when it is per
fected the report to the whole commit
tee will be made. .
Subscribe for Tho Sentinel $1.00.