The watchman and southron. (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, June 25, 1919, Image 3
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MAKIN G WH<LS.
A New York woman, about to die,
called in a neighbor woman to help
. her make a will. She only had $600
worth of property to leave, but she
wanted to be sure that it went to the
person she wanted to have it?her lit
tle son.
Neither of the women knew how to
draw up a will. And what did they
do? They simply looked.in an alma
nac, found a standard form for a last
will and testament, drew up the doc
ument on a* piece of brown wrapping
paper and signed it, and then the wo
man died. A court has decided that
the will is valid.
This only^goes to show how easy it
is to make a will. Almost anybody
can do it, With a little intelligent or
common sense. And yet the majority
of people pass away without ever hav
ing taken any such precaution, leaving
- their financial affairs in. a tangle and
making it necessary to distribute their
property among various people whom
they never intended it to go to, and
who may have no moral right to it
The only sensible thing for every
body to do who is not a pauper Is to
make a will, and renew it every few
years?not with a long face and a
mournful foretaste of death, but
cheerfully, while in full possession of
health and mental faculties, as a mat
ter-of-fact business measure.
"BED" TERRORISM.
American Bolshevists, or American
Anarchists, or both together?in fact,
it is hard to distinguish between them
in pracdee, despite the difference of
their political philosophy?seem to be
resorting to terrorism to attain their
purpose. The bombs sent through
t^e mails; the May Day riots, the re
cent attempts to blow up the homes
of many public men throughout the
^country whom they regard as standing
in'their way, all this is clear indica
tion of a deliberate resort to criminal
violence.
It is a confesion that the propa
ganda by which/the "Reds" original
ly counted to win converts has failed.
Even Bolshevists or Anarchists do not
go to the trouble of using bombs when
they can make converts by the spoken
or written word. It is prophetic, too,
of the certain failure awaiting this
whole radical movement.
These "Reds" have still to learn
what the German nation has learned
through bitter experience?that civil
ized, strong-hearted people will not be
persuaded by violence, and that every
attempt to coerce or terrify them only
moves them to more relentless oppo
sition. Every bomb drives more thou
sands of open-minded folk into the
ranks of the conservatives and helps
to discredit and destroy the forces of
destruction.
BIG NAVY PLANS.
When Secretary r>anjeis first rec
ommended, last winter, a new naval
bu?ding plan calling for the expendi
ture of $600,000,000 of additional
money in three years, he himself did
not clearly explain the purpose of the
proposal, but there were two explana
tions suggested. One was that the
United States would have to possess
a navy as strong as any other in the
world if the plan for a peace league
and general disarmament came to
nothing. The other was that it was
desired to bring the American navy to
equality with Great Britain's in order
that, when a peace league was form
ed, the two Anglo-Saxon powers, being
also the two foremost naval powers,
might enter on equal terms upon the
task of policing the seas.
It appears now that the former'
supposition was the correct one. The
big navy plan was meant to make the
United States perfectly capable of
taking care of herself if the old in
.?
ternational method were continued,
making it necessary for every nation
to take care of its individual self-de
fense. There was probably something
of the "show-down" spirit in it, too.
It served notice on other powers that
the United tSates could, and if neces
sary would, outbuild any of them or
all of them together.
This explanation, at any rate, seems
deducible from Secretary Daniels' re
cent action in withdrawing his recom
mendation and returning to the com
paratively modest building plan laid
down before the war, His action
suggests that the administration, at
least, is satisfied that the League of
Nations will go through, and that it
will be an adequate substitute for big
naval armament in our future system
of defense.
Whatever anyone may think of
that, there is no question as to the
force of the appeal made just now by
the prospect of saving $?00,000,000 at
one stroke. The nation is getting- rath
er weary of war bills, and the pros
pect of diminished armament by sea
and land is one of the moet telling
arguments in behalf of the League-of
Nations.
COVENANT AND TREATY
Anyone who undertakes to sepa
rate the League of Nations covenant
from the body of the peace treaty,
according to Senator Knox's plan, will
certainly have a big, complex dis-;
secting job on his hands.
It is reported that the League is
specifically referred to in the treaty
in 72 places outside of the formal
covenant itself, and that nearly all of
these references have to do with the
assignment to the League, for future
settlement or administration, of mat
ters not otherwise disposed of in the
treaty
Only a few of these need be men
tioned to show the big place given the
League in the general scheme of
world-settlement worked out by the
Peace Conference.
All the colonies taken from the Cen
tral Powers are to be administered, by
mandatories acting under the author
ity of the League of Nations and re
sponsible to it.
The "League, through commissions
appointed by it, is to govern the Saar
valley for 15 years and control Dan
zig indefinitely as a free city, thus
solving two peculiarly difficult prob
lems.
The League is to supervise the pre
sentation ^of neutrality in the zone es
tablished east of the Rhine.
It is required to act as a tribunal in
establishing the Belgian-German fron
tier.
It is to maintain the rights of al
lied shipping in German ports.
It is to establish a court of last
appeal to determine rip? ian rights on
the Danube andj other international
waterways.
It is to arrange and conduct an in
ternational labor conference next tall,
and to create and supervise a perma
nent world-labor organization.
So it goes. There is an immense
amount of work, constructive and ad
ministrative, assigned to the League
by a Peace Conference which realized
its inability to settle everything it
self, and realized just as clearly the
need of some continuing body that
could act hereafter with the same au
thority temporarily possessed by the
Conference.
It looks as if cutting out that Cove
nant would so mangle the treaty as to
kill the patient. Most of the experts
seem agreed that the treaty will have
to be accepted or rejected as a
whole, the League of Nations cove
nant standing or falling with the
treaty.
DRUG PROHIBITION.
A nation that prohibits the drinking
of alcohol is surely inconsistent if it
does not also prohibit the non-medi
cinal use of habit-forming drugs.
For most of the deadly drugs be
longing in this class there are recog
nized and legitimate medical uses.
Morphine, most common of the nar
cotics, is properly used, by a physi
cian, in multitudes of cases to dead
en intolerable pain. Cocaine, whose
consumption in the United States
comes second in the list, also has its
proper uses, particularly in medical
and dental surgery.
Third in volume of sales is heroin,
a derivative of opium, closely related
to morphine, which is said by experts
to be the most dangerous drug in the
whole list. It is the most common
"dope" used by victims who' do nn
use cocaine or morphine. It seems
to be especially attractive and especial
ly devastating to boys and girls.
A committee of experts, after a
thorough investigation of the drug sit
uation throughout the United States
made at the instance of the United
States Treasury Department, reports
that in its opinion the medical need
of heroin is negligible compared with
the evil effects of its non-medical use.
The committee therefore suggests "ab
solutely prohibiting the manufacture,
sale, distribution or administration of
this most dangerous drug."
This recommendation surely de
serves serious consideration by the
present congress. The drug evil has
been diminishing of late, according to
the committee's findings; increase of!
drug addiction was reported in only J
14 cities and counties, with a decrease |
in 627. The Harrison anti-drug act,
as amended, is expected to have a
wholesome effect in restricting the
traffic to legitimate needs. There is
general belief, however, that alcoholic
prohibition will result in a greater
demand than ever for narcotic drugs,
and a corresponding stimulation of the
underground traffic. If heroin can be
dispensed with in legitimate medical
practice, as the committee says, it
would undoubtedly be a blessing to
prohibit it a":'ogether.
These 5 substitute drinks haven't
any "kick" in them. The patron is
expected to furnish the kick.
EATING LOCUSTS.
Dr. Ethan Allen Andrews, who is
professor of zoology in Johns Hopkins
University ate a handful of locusts
the other day. And he liked them.
He says the flavor is pleasant, and
they taste like shrimp.
He and some other experts have
-been studying the insects with re
gard to their habits?which are ad
mittedly bad?and their possible
utilization as food. All of them seem
to be enthusiastic about the food pos
sibilities.
"If there were a scarcity of other
foods," says Professor Andrews, "per
sons who had tasted them would prob
ably think nothing of eating them in
darge quantities. Those of us who
have eaten them find them agreeable
and nourishing. It is important, of
course, to pick them just after' they
have come out of their shell, while
they are still white and tender. Af
ter a few days they become hard, and
would be unsatisfactory as food."
The professor is not the first man
to eat locusts, of course. There is the
familiar example of John the Baptist,
who lived on locusts and wild honey.
But it has never occurred to most peo
ple that John might have adopted that
diet from choice.
Unfortunately Professor Andrews
does not tell exactly how he went
about his gustatory experiment Did
he "eat 'em alive," or fry the locusts
in butter, or dip them in honey, after
the biblical example, or bake them,
or make salad of them or what?
In the absence of dependable de
tails, any man is free to experiment
fo rhimself. It may take courage;
but did it' not take courage to eat the
first shrimp?
STARLIGHT BY THE POUND.
Astronomers do queer /things?es
pecially at eclipses. They travel the
earth over to observe the sky wher^
ever a solar eclipse is due, and at
Singapore or the north of Japan, or
out in a desert somewhere, or on top
of a mountain, they set up their in
struments and work and work and
calculate, and look just as hard as
they can, and take photographs as
fast and keenly as they can, for the
space of seven minutes or so while
the conditions are favorable. Then
they go off and study these results
and compare them with those obtain
ed by other astronomers, and after a
few years produce quite amazing
theories to account for the foundations
of the universe.
Lately they have been coming to
the conclusion that light has weight
It seems, according to the Publica
tions of the Astronomical Society of
the .Pacific, "If the hypothesis in one
form or another represents the truth,
then rays of light proceeding from
stars which are seen very nearly in the
direction of the sun should be deflect
ed from their straight-line courses, as
those rays pass close to the sun and
through the sun's gravitational field."!
Two British expeditions which were j
sent out to observe the total solar
eclipse of May 29 devoted practically
all their energies to this one point.'
What they learned has not yet been
given out?but it will be interesting,
no matter what it is.
The time may come when light is
retailed by the pound instead of by
the kilowatt, and eager Jovers may
stop at the drug store on cloudy
nights, on their way to call upon fair
maidens, and purchase a few moon
beams by the ounce.
EMPLOYEES AS PARTNERS.
John P. Frey, one of the most in
fluential leaders of the American
Federation of Labor, has been strong
ly urging that "workers be given a
voice in the determination of their
industrial fortunes." By this he
means giving the employees of any
concern a place on the board of di
rectors or othei ?overning body, and
letting them cooperate with the em
ployers in determining working con
ditions, wages and the policies of the
industry in general.
Mr. Frey was asked whether he
thought the organized workers, if they
were "taken into the business" so to
speak, and given a chance to examine
the books and help run things, would
not take a selfish, one-sided attitude.
"Would they be willing, for example,
to abide by the result in hard times
as well as in prosperous times? Would
they .accept cuts in wages, when pro
tits go down, just as they would de
mand raises when profits went up?''
"Positively yes," he answered. "By
the very fact of the employer granting
a position of partnership in industry
to his employee, the latter is given a
sense of loyalty which he did not feed
before.
"He will stand the gaff as well as
(he employer. If I did not believe this
HARBY & CO., Inc.
COTTON m FERTILIZER MERCHANTS.
If you have cotton to sell, see us, it will pay you.
If you have fertilizer or fertilizer materials to buy it will pay
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9 West Liberty Street
I would not believe in the future of
America. If the character of any
concern's employees is such, as re
0ards intelligence and fairness, that
they will not be good sports alike in
good times and bad times, then the
workers of this country are not worth
bothering about."
Many other labor leaders take the
same position. Their views are said
to be corroborated by the conduct of
the workmen in various concerns j
where such a. policy has already been j
adopted.
The plan as yet is still new. It has i
such strong support, however, from |
clear-headed thinkers of all classes,
and is winning its way so rapidly in I
practice, that it will soon be possible
to discuss the matter from the stand
point of actual experience.
It seems quite in keeping with the
American idea of democracy, and
surely will work in America, where
the spirit of fair play is so strong, if
it will work anywhere.
If it does work, it may prove to be
the long-sought solution for the big-!
gest of economic problems, ending the j
century-old warfare between capital
and labor.
FREE TRADE IX LITERATURE.
m Maybe American fiction is not so
hopeless, after all. An Englishman,
writing to a New York newpsaper, ex- j
presses a frank and admiring appre- i
ciation of this much-berated branch of
American literature. "There is a vi
gor and robustness about it," he says,
"which. is refreshing after the inani
ties of some of ou. British novelists."
He pleads for an arrangement by
which Englishmen in general could
be given access to these invigorating
novels. He has something in view
beyond mere entertainment. England
is too. ignorant of American life, he
says. Fiction is a good reflection of a
nation's life. If the English people
would read more American fiction,
they would know and appreciate
America better, and would enjoy the
process of instruction.
It is true, of course. And the thing
works both ways. Americans, though
more familiar with English literature
than Englishmen are with ours, are
pretty provincial and ignorant as re
gards foreign literature in general.
More reading of the past and present
literary productions of England,
France, Italy, Russia, etc., would bring
a far better understanding of the na
tions with whom we must have so
much to do hereafter. And with real
understanding would come real friend
ship.
A general exchange of books.and
magazines among the world-powers
would be a veritable peace league. If
all nations read and appreciated each
others' literature, there would be far
less chance for the basic misunder
standings out of which wars arise..
SWIMMIXG TIME.
"I can't swim! I can't swim!" cried
the panic-stricken bather as he flound
ered in water which he thought was
over his depth. "This," said his friend,
watching his struggles from the bank,
"is a poor time to brag about it."
An ancient story, but one bearing a
moral which renews itself every year
as swimming time comes around.
Every summer brings a record of
deaths from drowning which never
I need have occurred if the victims had -
been taught to swim.
It is just .as easy to drown in shal
low water as in deep if the bather is
subject to the panic which paralyzes-/.';.1
the will and befogs the reason. There
?*s no more need of drowning in deep
water than in shallow if one has' the , .
cool confidence of the swimmer.
Aside from its life-saving value,
, swimming is one of the finest exercis- ?
[fes in the world developing every mus- ;,
cle and enlarging and strengthening,.,
the breathing aparatus.
Wherever there is a place available, .
be it sandy beach or the "ole swim-; .
min' hole," there should be some one: :
installed to teach the bathers to swim:
Anybody can learn who will. It is '"'
not difficult, but just like everything,
else it is learned most easily in youth,
and they are wise parents who en
courage their children to acquire early /
this greatest of athlet.c accomplish-,
j ments. .
The Duroc Bulletin, published in
Chicago, and having a nation wide
circulation devotes at least two :
pages of this issue of June 1st to a' ?
write up of the Duroc Hog farm of "
Mr. George Palmer at Cartersville.
I The write-up is illustrated and shows -V
i the extensive plans in detail. The '
) article was writen by Mr. Robert'
jEvens, Editor of the paper, who
made a personal visit to the farms, v
i having heard of their fame in this
! section of the country. It is the op
j inion of Mr. Evans, as expressed in
j his articles, that Mr. Palmers' farms
are unsurpassed. The enterprise of
Mr. Palmer in establishing the Pal- ;
mer Duroc Farms has been of inesti- -:
mable benefit to South Carolina. '- v
He has blazed the way for pure bred" '"'
i livestock by showing just how pro
j fitable it can be made. It* is hoped
i others will follow his example.
Over One Hundred
Mohair and Palm, Beach Suits
SOLD IN THE PAST WEEK!
Over 300 Left to Select From
Come while we have your size and a color
to suit you left.
Largest Stock in Eastern Carolina to
select from.
PRICES \
$12.50 T0- $22.50
..... .*
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