»f WIL|.»AM ALLEN WHITE
ON CAPITAL'S RIGHTS •.
From William Allen White's "The OKI
Order Changeth."
-Now democracy in America is oat
eelnsmg the capitalist. We are asking
nun to define his uses. We are de
manding that He show cause why lie*
should not follow the soldier, the
priest and the baron. That is what all
this commotion in our polities is about.
0\ff and over we hear this dialogue:
"Where did you get it?" asks" old
Demos, rubbing his eyes.
"I earned it," replies Croesus.
"Jlow'.'"
"1 built a railroad."
"Hut," insists Demos, "the railroad
«nl.v cost von ?20,000,n00 and vou took
$50,000,000."
"Promoter's profits," replies
Croesus,
beginning to move on.
"Stop, thief." cries old Demos, and
hales his friend into court.
Or sometimes the dispute occurs
over the rate charged l'or a given
service.
"This is my business. I have a right
to its prolits," declares Croesus.
"I am your partner." retorts Demos,
"but for
MII
you would have no fi»a'.von-
age. Let's sec the books."
Ami they look at the books and
down come the rates, and old Demos
chuckles. Or if there is further hitch
in the -matter, he says:
"Come now, down with the rate. or
I'll go into business myself."
"Who are you that'you should do
this un-American thing—invude the
domain of private ownership?"
"1." replies old Demos, "am man."
"A mere man," replies Croesus, "and
this is a great mystery—this business."
"Ail right." says th,e catechiscr. "but
I am the man who found that the mys
tery of soldiering was common courage:
that the. imponderable mystery of the
bible which I took from the priest and
opened was common sense and the in
scrutable mystery of government which
I took from the overlord was common
honesty. Behold, I am ready for an
other mystery. Come now—down with
the rates, get your profits down to 6
per cent, or I shall borrow money from
the widows and orphans that support
you at 6 per cent and go into business
myself."
"But the widows and orphans whose
earnings 1 have taken?" whines Croe
sus.
"They are my friends they will take
my notes," replies Demos, and adver
tises for bids for the municipal plant.
But when Demos finds a man who
has invented something, whether a
business system, a telephone, a com
bination of effective men, or a religion,
there Demos stops. That is achieve
ment. All democracy demands is value
received. If the capitalist can show
that, he may have his millions and wel
come to the care they bring him—or
the joy. if he is wise. In this new
definition of achievement which de
mocracy is making for the capitalist,
the first requirement to society value
for the money he gets next that the
money shall be taken honestly. And
now by inheritance tax laws in 37
American states, democracy is de
manding that rewards for achievement
shall not descend until the third and
fourth generation.
A Lady of the Legion.
"From the New York Evening Post.
So Sarah Bernhardt at last shares with
Madame Curie the honor of the right to
wear the bit of red ribbon which she has
coveted and clamored for so long. The
fact suggests some curious reflections con
cerning the significance and value of such
decorations, it is not easy to see in what
way a distinction which of late years has
been bestowed with so little discrimina
tion that it has almost ceased to distin
guish can add to the fame of women
whose reputation is already worldwide.
Sarah probably desired it chiefly because
it had been so persistently denied her. The
reason for the delay is not obvious. She
merited the recognition 30 or 40 years ago,
even more conspicuously than she does to
day. It was in the 70s that she reached
the summit of her artistic achievement,
and the memory of her patriotic services
was then fresh. It will be interesting to
observe whether her triumph will have
any effec upon the fight which her for
mer associate, Mounet-Sully, is making to
secure his election to the institute, lie at
least has devoted his whole life to the
cause of his art. Sarah has somewhat
dimmed her artistic renown by yielding
too readily to the temptations of adver
tisement and the popular demand for the
bizarre. Her genius has not been devoted
to the highest purposes, and much of her
work has been the cause of wonder rather
than admiration. But she has been, and
is, an extraordinary woman and most ac
complished artist, whose name will lend
a new importance to the legion In which
it lias, at the 11th hour, been enrolled.
Adventures in Cold and Heat.
From the Century.
Melvin A. Hall, the author of "Mo
toring in Japan," the charming article
that appeared in the November Cen
tury, sends a postal card from "68 de
grees 27 minutes N. L., 197 miles north
of the arctic circle and end of the
northernmost road in the world." He
says: "Farthest north ever reached by
motor car. Spent last night in L.app
camp, surrounded by 250 reindeer."
Another friendly letter comes from
near the equator. Mr. Harry A. Franck,
author of "A Vagabond Journey Around
the World" and "Zone Policeman 88,"
writes from the wilds of Peru a cheer
ful letter describing some of his most
recent adventures, in which he says:
"I clawed up and down among cac
tus and wild asses the rest of the day
and finally stretched my frame on some
2x5 feet of cleared ground in the jungle.
Along the middle of next afternoon,
after dragging myself up and down
most of the mountains and precipices
in the vicinity, I at. length discovered
an Indian and a trail some seven inches
wide and got a stew of guinea pig."
Let a Boiled Dinner Settle It.
From the New York Sun.
There seems to be one clear way of end
ing the present trouble in Mexico. It
would be costly, but infinitely less costly
than intervention and wholly humane.
The idea is suggested by the eagerness
with which the Inhabitants of Ojinaga
have taken advantage of the hospitality
accorded to refugees by this country and
have crossed the Rio Grande in their
thousands for the sake of a square meal
at the expense of Uncle Sam. All that Is
required is an extension of this plan. On
the United State3 side of the Mexican bor
der erect huge out-of-door kitchens pre
pared to cook aNew Eengland boiled din
ner on a gigantic scale. Then wait for a
favoring breeze before starting up the
fires. The delicate aroma of the cook
ing wafted over the border to the nostrils
of the starving combatants will prove ir
resistible. They will abandon their blood
lust, rush for the Rio Grande and unite
in a love feast as the guests of Uncle
Sam. This pacific nostrum Is offered
gratis to the consideration of the secre
tary of state, with the added suggestion
that Andrew Carnegie be prevailed upoa
to finance the boiled dinner.
t44+4*+
4
WORLD'S GREATEST BOOK.
The great encyclopedia of
China easily ranks as the
biggest literary undertaking, in
the world, having had over 2.000
scholars engaged in its compila
tion and containing a total of
9t7.4S0 pases and :i66,a92,000 char
acters.
The "Yung-L.o-Ta-Tien," or
Great Dictionary of Yung-LiO,"
comprises, as pointed out by
Professor Giles in The Nine
teenth Century of April, 1'JOl,
22.S77 separate sections bound
up into 11,100 volumes," each
half an inch in thickness, so
that, vrcre all the volumes laid
flat one upon another, the
column thus formed would
reach a height oi l'cet.
The Industrious Frenchwoman
From the New York Sun.
"One of the things that impressed
fnc most during a month just spent ill
Paris," said a New York woman, "was
the ceaseless industry of the Crouch
working woman. Not only was every
minute occupied, but usually these
tireless workers seemed to be getting
double return for their time. Thw
young woman who came for our wash
ing appeared at our apartment door
knitting in hand. She carried the
clothes home on her back, knitting as
she walked along. nir little maid of
all work kept her crocheting" in the
kitchen and while the meals were
cooking on the l'unny little gas stove
she crocheted as though her life de
pended upon it. and so far as 1 could
see neither the cooking nor the lace
work suffered because of her divided
attention. When the doorbell rang she
walked down the little hall, still cro
cheting. I surreptitiously put a mark
in her lace work just to see what prog
ress she made during her two busiest
days, and it was astonishing to find
how much she had accomplished in
spite of almost constant interruptions.
"Then down at the market in the
Place de l'Alma 1 shall never forget my
surprise at watching the market wo
men knitting choclieting- as they tend
ed their stalls. When a purchase was
made the handwork was stopped bare
ly lun^ enough to deliver the goods
and the change.
"The Kreneh women whose lives are
spent on the great barges on the Seine
seem to know the art of doing' several
things at once. 1 remember standing
on one of the bridges watching a
young mother at the stern of a big
barge balancing herself as she nursed
her baby and steered the boat under
the arched bridge. An elderly woman,
evidently the grandmother, was get
ting the dinner ready, knitting in
hand, while she looked now and then
tit the work of two little girls whom
she was teaching to embroider. All
the time the three men of the family
were sitting by complacently smok
ing and chatting.
"1 soon discovered that this air of
feminine industry was contagious. I
found myself tucking a little book of
French vrbs into my handbag for
study on the bus. and a. little workbag
made its way into our living room so
that the time given to a chance caller
might he put to good use, in true
French fashion."
Boy Babies Not Wanted.
From the New York Sun.
The State ^hnriiies Aid association re.
ports an mid situation developed in tli
course of its work of finding homes for
orphnn children. Over twice as many ap
plications are received for
4
,4i
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
little
girls to
be adopted as for little hoys. Economic
tradition thai it costs more to tiring up
a. girl than a boy is powerless to stem
the current of preference for
little
in childless families.
The association has been at i:s benevo
lent work of lindlng homes l'or littp» chil
dren who might otherwise have to stay
in public institutions throughout their
childhood for about 15 years. It lias re
ceived -1.754 applications for children tn
adopt, and in ::.i11 cases girl babies were
wanted, and boys were preferred in onlv
1.47S. The records of the association show
that it has found homes for l,01!i girls a::.I
760 boys. In :!7S instances verv you tie
children were preferred- babies between
3 weeks and 2 years old. Onlv ."IK of thos..
adopted were more than 10 v'ears old
It may not be a very profitable studv te
attempt to find the why and wherefor.
of this situation, for its persistence seem."
to show that it is not :.iie passing whim
of a single year or two: the girl
The Versatile Da Vinci.
From the New York Mail.
When Leonardo Ijo Vinci was not
painting Mona Lisa or modeling great
equestrian statues, or inventing cannon
catapults, flutes, mechanical lions lat
ent pumps or scaling ladders, he would
amuse himself by little excursions into
«xnatom. astronomy, physics, chemistry
philosophy dietetics, the philosophy of
dress or city planning.
If all these activities are not enough
Da Vinci was also an author of treatises
on painting and other subjects and even
on many an occasion extemporized
verses.
Memory.
An old lane, an old gate, an old house by
a tree,
A
wild wood, a wild brook—they will not
let me be:
In boyhood I knew them, and still they
call to me.
Down deep in my heart's core hear them
and my eyes
Through tear mists behold them beneath
the old-time skies,
Mid bee-boom and rose-bloom and orchard
lands arise.
I bear them: and heartsick, with longing
in my soul
To walk there, to dream there, beneath
the sky's blue bowl:
Around me, within me, the weary world
made whole.
To talk with the morning, and watch Its
rose unfold
To drowse with the noontide, lulled on its
heart of gold
To lie with the nighttime and dream the
dreams of old.
The old lane, the old gate, the old house
by the tree,
The wild wood, the wild brook—they will
not let me be:
In boyhood I knew them and still they
call to 1Mb
—Madison Cawaia.
girl'.i
a
are the strong favorites. It might point
toward the conclusion that families moved
to adopt children want to get somethin
like the most beautiful dolly in all th?,
world—an engaging little girl baby Th-i
undoubted attraction of a sturdv, thrash
ing little boy is overmatched by tlm
charming grace of a little girl, who can
be uressed prettily and seems at the time
of babyhood, to a little castor to man
age. It would be interesting, however to
know how the little girls and little "boys
measure up in the hearts and minds of
the adopting families as tliev pass th«
10-year-old milestone.
COSMOS ETHER, SAYS
BRITISH SC1EHT1ST
Sir Oliver Lodge Thinks All Mat
ter Is Composed of "Mys
terious Force."
Tendon. Special: Sir Oliver Lodge
this week inaugurate, the new lec
ture theater of the Med ford t'ollcgc for
Women with an add res.-, on that "F.tlier
of Space," which has been a puzzle for
all philosophers since Newton and
which promises to play a leading part.
In scientific discoveries the future.
"We have reason to believe." said
Sir Oliver, "that the density of ether
would be the equivalent of 1.000 tons
per cubic millimetre
of
terrestrial mat
ter when compared with it. It is of
a gossamer-like structure, a mere cob
web. What appears to us to be a solid
Is a mere floating aggregate of distant
particles when compared with ether
itself."
There was. Sir Oliver continued, a
mysterious force, which lie did not un
derstand in the least, the. force of
gravity, which put the force of cohe
sion, absolutely to shame. This force
was binding the cosmos together. If
tile earth had been held to the moon
by a metal bar instead by gravity, as it
was held today, that bar even though of
the finest drawn steel, would have to
be 400 miles thick in order to avoid be
ing pulled asunder by the strain. Its
equivalent strength must, said Sir
Oliver, be transmitted by tho ether of
space. Kther, in fact, was far stronger
than any kind of force that could be
Imagined.
What, said Sir Oliver, wjis the rela
tion of ether to matter? The ponder,
ous earth traveled through ether at the
rate of 19 miles a second without any
perceptible friction. By precise experi
ments which he had conducted, he had
been able to show that there was no
friction whatever between ether and
matter. If there were any friction, as
tronomical motions would sooner or
later como to rest.
There was he continued no me
chanical connection between ether and
matter, lie believed the connection to
bo electrical, and he finallv expressed
tho opinion that it would be proved
later that all matter was composed
of ether.
Sir Oliver concluded by suggesting
that in the study of ether there might
be found an understanding besides
which all present knowledge would
shrink to a pin point.
WHITE COAL ON ST. PAUL SYSTEM
Big Experiments in Electrification and
Good Results Expected.
From the Philadelphia Public Ledger.
Interest in the Chicago. Milwaukee &
St. Paul railroad is perhaps greater in
Chicago just now than in any other
road centralized there, for the possi
bilities of good or ill are larger than in
the case of any other road. Tho I'uget
sound extension has proved a success,
after much doubt had been expressed
by observers, but the challenging thing
now is the electrification of something
like 400 miles of the line in the moun
tain country, which is now in progress,
a small part of the electrical service
being actually in operation. The gains
out of the Puget sound extension and
the application of electricity as motive
power are held to be an offset to the
reduction in the dividend from to 5
per cent early in 1912.
The estimates of reduction in cost
through the use of eleciricity are al
most startling. For example, on one
portion of the line where ch cost has
been $27,000 per' month for coal, it is
figured that the cost for the same ser
vice by use of electricity will be only
$9,000 per month. Probably this ratio
cannot be maintained throughout the
whole stretch of road to be served by
current.
It is highly interesting, however, to
see that the mountains, which have
heretofore been such a tremendous
problem to the railroads, are in this
Instance to be more than helpful. It is
the snow in the mountains, plus the
Missouri. Madison and other rivers In
Montana, that afford this opportunity
for such a vast cheapening of the cost
of operating the roads. The Montana
Power company makes the conversion,
and so complete is its work that it will
lift copper from the mines, place it on
the trains and carry it to its destina
tion. And the company works the same
water seven times over by having that
number of stations along these streams.
Moreover, provision has been made
for any possible interruptions through
a shortage of snow in the mountains by
the construction of a reservoir some
thing like 10 miles long and constitut
ing the sixth largest lake in the United
States. It would seem, therefore, that
the St. Paul road and all the indus
tries served by the power company are
well protected against aftv probable In
terruption of the service. The safe
guard of a steam plant, to be used in
case of need, was provided early in the
initiation of this enterprise, but it has
not turned a wheel for six years.
Fuel and water have been the two
subjects of special solicitude among
the people of the mountain states ever
since the whites lived there in any con
siderable number. In Montana coal is
S15 per ton.- even the inferior article
which is used by most of the railroads
and the manufacturing concerns.
Doubtless a railroad can obtain its
supply at lower figures, and yet. the
cost of fuel is a tremendous item. As to
water, the mountainous and arid coun
try is gradually solving the problem
by means of various devices, such as
irrigation schemes and electrical power
in accumulating and conserving the
supply. The use of these devices is ex
tending rapidly all over the region, and
at the same time many of the growths
which have heretofore been considered
useless or worse, are coming to be ar
ticles of consumption by man and
beast.
All these things are contributing to
enhance the wealth and the import
ance of that portion of our country.
The St. Paul road seems likely to se
cure the first great advantage among
the railroads of the enterprise of the
great promotion concerns now engaged
in the hydro-electric business.
Little Gems.
Grand passions are as rare as master
pieces.—Balzac.
The years between
Have taught m» some sweet, some bitter
lessons none
Wiser than this—to spend in all things
else.
But of old friends to be most miserly.
...... bowetl.
"GENTLEMEN,
LET US
'.N
And Then 6,000 Club Women'
Made Their Cities Fit
to Live In.
WHERE THEY DO .THINGS
Very ft p!e ivaltt'.c that there is
ftn organization of over l.tion.ooo wo
,luen throughout the country who are
members of women's clubs, organized
t» shape legislation and draft laws for
the improvement and betterment of toe,
moral and social side of life. They have
accomplished great tilings. The fol
lowing. quoted from l'ietoria'. Keviow,
gives sonic small idea of wh.it has been
done:
"Vou know when the man kept
liouse'.' Ucmcmbcr the dust on the
piano, the beds unsprcad. the piles of
unwashed dishes? Dear nie, nearly
ever.vthing wrong and awry! Then a
woman enters. Before her gloves arc
oil. the window shades are jerked in
place. With her hat pins in her mouth
she is straightening the table cover.
And as soon as she can get her sleeves
rolled up. the hot water is running in
the kitchen sink. This is the touch of
a woman's hand. And half an hour
later, tho man who made all the disor
der and "didn't see anything the mat
tor." has settled down to soothed com
fort with. "Well, this is better."
"They have to be handled like that.
Just so they are being shown now
about their city keeping. This is the
age when we are hanging up the
broom. The vacuum cleaner is at the
door. It symbolizes the transition from
woman power to machine power in
housework. With many modern inven
tions to help her. the housekeeper who
used to toil from sun to sun and then
have much that was never done, gets
her home tasks finished now early in
the afternoon. Rut she doesn't then
put on a white apron and sit down in
a rocking chair with folded hands. In
stead. she goes to the meeting of the.
woman's club.
"'There was once a mayor of New
York who lighted his cigar with a pe
tition presented to him by a woman's
organization. A mayor wouldn't do
that any more, lie might possibly lose
it or delay it or refer It to some one'
else to get rid of. But anything that
a woman's club has to say to a city
executive today is at least received
with gracious diplomacy. looking
across his roll-top mahogany desk, he
sees the Third House as a power to be
reckoned with.
"The place of assembling of the wom
an's club may still be somebody's front
parlor on Main street or it may have
outgrown domestic hospitality, as so
many of the women's organizations
have done within the past 10 years.
Alva. Okla.. has given over to its wom
en the third floor cf the Commercial
club. The city of Tampa, Fla., appre
ciating Its civic housekeepers' services,
has presented them with a. clubhouse
In a city park. The Denver women
have built for themselves a $30,000
headquarters. Tho Eboll club house
in I,os Angeles is one of the most beau
tiful buildings in the city. The Chica
go Woman's club and the Woman's
City club of Chicago each have a suite
of offices on Michigan avenue, the
maintenance of which costs thousands
of dollars a year. These and scores of
similar club headquarters throughout,
the country have become much more
than places for pink teas and Browning
papers. They are today actually ad
ministrative offices in city affairs that
rank well up in importance with the
city hall. The woman's club has found
its work. It is deftly transforming the
man-made municipality.
"Right above the seat you occupied
in the street car this morning, is a sign
you're so accustomed to 1 suppose you
scarcely noticed it. The woman's club
in your town put it there. At least I'm
sure enough they did. For I know some
99!) other towns through the United
States where they have hung up that
neat municipal motto. "Expectorating
on the floor of this car forbidden." This
at first, was a woman's notion that
was very hard to get into other muni
cipal heads. In New York, where the
innovation pioneered, whenever the
women would mention it publicly, some
one would write to the newspapers
about their meddlesome interference
with the liberty of the free born Ameri
can citizen. This went on for eight
years until the dawn of a bright Idea.
The women took up a. strip of matting
from a city street car and had a bac
teriologist count the germs. There were
millions: so that at last a halting board
of health agreed to take steps for the
protection of the public health by the
curtailing of the spitting privilege. The
Pittsburgh women had to talk about
this simple sanitary measure fully 10
years before they secured it.
"The Boston women accomplished a
like education of their community in
six years and the Indianapolis women
in three years. So the ordinance went
from the Atlantic to the Pacific coast.
The Seattle women. I believe, had only
to say they wanted it and an obliging
city council agreed. "Why yes. certain
ly." And it's like that now in any city."
Three Strokes by a Man in Yellow.
The story of how Strasburg was lost to
Germany in times of peace through the
treachery of I»uls XIV, is told by S. Bar
ing Gould in "The Story of the Nations."
Ho shows how. 10 years after the peace
of Westphalia, Leopold, son of Ferdinand
II, was elected emperor, and how his long
reign of C0 years was for the most par:
taken up in wars with Louis XIV. who
had decided that the Rhine should he the
frontier of his realm. How through the
apathy and Indifference of some of the
princes of Germany in time of peace, the
welfare of the fatherland was lost sight
of. That when every part of the country
should have been standing together to
frustrate the intrigues of Louis, sowie of
the magistrates of Strasburg were, on
the contrary, in constant correspondence
with that crafty anl powerful monarch.
He says:
One day M. de Liouvols. the French
minister of war. summoned a gentleman
to him named Chamllly, and gave him
the following instructions. "Start this
evening for Basle. On the fourth day
from this, punctually at 2 o'clock, station
yourself on the Rhine bridge, notebook in
hand, and write down everything you see
going on for two hours. Then at 4 o'clock
come back, traveling night and day with
out stopping."
Chamllly obeyed. He reached Basle,
and on the day and at the hour appointed
9
PLEASE
SHOW YOU
stationed himself, notebook in hand, on
the bridge. Presently a market cart drives
by. Thin an old woman with a basket of
fruit passes. Anon, a little urchin trundles
his hoop hy. Next an old gentleman in
him- topcoat jogs past on his gray mare.
Tmvc o'clock chimes from the cathedral
tower, .lust ai the last stroke a tall fel
low in yellow v.aistcoat and breeches
saunters up. goes to the middle of the
bridge, lounges over, looks at the water,
then strikes three hearty blows with his
stick on the parapet. Onwn goes every
detail in Chamilly's hoik. At 4 o'clock
lie juntos into his carriage, and at mid
night. after iwc days of incessant travel
ing, presents liiinsi i! before uie minister,
feeling as*ham-'d of having such '.rifles to
ret ord. M. de I .envois took tin notebook
and vi'eii his eye caught the mention of
the cllow-breeelied man a gleam of joy
Hashed across his face, lie rushed to the
king, roused him from sleep, spoke in
private with him for a few moments and
then courtiers were sent off in haste with
scaled orders.
Might days after the citv of Strasburg
was surrounded by French troops and
summoned to surrender. It capitulated,
and threw open its gates on the IMth of
September. ItiSl. The three strokes of tin
stick given by the fellow In yellow word
the signal that the magistrates were ready
to receive the French.
The Hudson Bay Route.
From tho Christian Science Monitor.
Canada is working toward the com
pletion of an enterprise that promises
results of vast Importance as regards
her own internal economy and external
commerce, and incidentally of stupen
dous consequence to alt tho other na
tions of the earth. Strange to say, thla
enterprise has thus far been denied
the general attention usually bestowed
upon undertakings of much smaller di
mensions. if there were reasonable as
surance of the early completion of a
railway pier stretching 1.000 miles east
ward into tho Atlantic, from the North
American coast, it is fairly presumable
that tho newspapers of all lands would
give that fact as much prominence an
they give, for example, to the ap
proaching opening of the Panama ca
nal. They would undoubtedly see in
it a means of saving one-third of tho
present distance In water travel and
transfer on tho Atlantic for passeng.rs
and freight, and a corresponding In
crease in speed, safety and comfort.
The Canadian project is of a. different
character, but it is intended to clip ap
proximately 1,000 miles from the dis
tance that must now be covered by
vessels plying between the ports of
North America and tho ports of north
ern .Europe.
Moreover, the construction of a. rail
road to Hudson bay. connecting that
magnificent body of water with the
cereal territory of both the Canadian
and the United States west—in the lat
ter case with Minnesota, the Dakotas
and the Pacific northwest in particular
—will give a. far more direct and a
much quicker outlet to the Atlantic
ocean, for the agricultural products of
those sections than is possible now via
rail and lake.
The railway to Hudson bay, long pro
jected, has now. according to our ad
vices. been actually begun. Hudson
bay will be open but for a brief sea
son every year, it is true, but in this
brief season an adequate fleet of ves
sels. connected with tho railway ter
minal at Port Nelson, can handle the
produce of the wheat country intended
for export., diverting it from the pres
ent routes and making a tremendous
difference in the traffic of the railroads
of the two countries arid in the traffic
of the great lakes.
The resultanL disturbance of present
conditions may be great or small, but
they will be temporary, because better
transportation facilities between tho
grain country and Europe will further
enrich the Canadian west and the Uni
ted States northwest, and this will
mean it compensatory Increase of traf
fic in other commodities. Consequences
at all events can only be speculatively
discussed at present. The point of im
mediate interest is that the Hudson
bay. so long believed to be absolutely
removed from commercial utilization,
is soon likely to play a large part in
solving the problem of food distribu
tion for the world.
The Power of the Hen.
From the Breeders' Gazette.
Governor Major, of Missouri, has had
figured out the dynamics of the Mis
souri hen. If laid side by side, her eggs
in one year would four times girdle the
earth: and most of us know that hens
lay their eggs end to end, not side
ways. Also, the dynamic force latent
in an annual laying of Missouri eggs
is equal to energy enough to throw a
projectile from the earth four times
around the moon. This is counting
only the fairly good eggs.
Governor Major says that this dyna
mic power is far in excess of all the
steam shovels and dredges that ever
were at Panama.. Beginning at the time
of the first digging at Panama, the
Missouri hens have excavated one and
a half times as much material as have
all the dredges and shovels at Pan
ama. and this chiefly in back yards,
gardens and posy beds. And all this
seems only another instance of the
futility of individual and scattered ef
fort. The old I'.rahma hen digs out a
boh-, the little Leghorn with fine con
tempt, fills it up. There is lack of co
operation, of team work with that the
hen would be well nigh irresistible.
5 CHOICE OF MODELS.
Tjouis Napoleon said, when
(•barged with conspiring to be
emperor "There are two fit
models for a man of great
ambition to be found in
Napoleon and Washington—one
representing genius and the
other virtue. To say you will be
a genius is absurd but to state
that you will act as a man of
honor is an honest confession.
How much of this depends on
your own free will? To be a
genius? No. To be an up
right man? Yes. To instil
genius into ourselves is im
possible but to act honorably
is quite possible—Napoleon may
have been tho greater, but
Washington is the better man
and I prefer being a good citi
zen to a guilty hero.