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About The Omaha morning bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 1922-1927 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 16, 1924)
Omdhd-VhPfethe^st is d( its Best IMPROVING THE BIBLE. Once upon a time Robert G. Ingersoll was quoted as saying he could write a better book than the Bible, whereupon Rabbi Wise remarked: “Well, Bob never has.” It is doubtful if Colonel Ingersoll ever said it, but there have been men of every gen eration who thought they could improve upon it. Of such the same remark could be made that Rabbi Wise made when he heard of Colonel Ingersoll’s boast. One of the most remarkable literary feats of all times was the Translation known as the King James Version. Later version have shown but little change from that remarkable translation, and no percepti ble change in the beauties of its .language. Just why anybody should attempt to “put the Bible into modern language” is difficult to understand. They ran in no wise add to its literary beauties, and in every case they have detracted therefrom. Imagine !f you can some man daring to attempt any improve ment upon the incomparable Sermon on the Mount, or adding to the parable of the Good Samaritan. No lawyer with any regard for his reputation would at tempt to improve upon the masterly pleading Paul made in his own defense before Agrippa, and no logician regardful of his fame would attempt to Improve upon the Apostle’s sermon when he saw the nltar erected to “the Unknown God." The man who would try to polish up the Parable of the Sower would have the temerity to try polishing refined gold •ind painting a lily. The literary beauties of the Bible have been at once the admiration and despair of modern writers. Its character sketches have never been equalled, its poetry has never been approached and its imagery has never been touched by men. Whether looked upon as an inspired book, or merely a collection of myths and fables, the one fact remains undiluted that as literature it stands unequalled. It sounds all the heights and depths of humanity and touches man from every standpoint of his nature. Certain portions of the Book of Books may be put into simple language for the very young, but no one who does so does it with the idea of improving upon the original. He who attempts to improve upon the book that has stood the test of the cen turies merely indicts his owif intelligence. SOME MIGHT NOT HAVE HAPPENED. A statistical report on the number of fatal ac cidents during the year in the United States shows the number occurring in Nebraska to be low. Dur ing the year 1923, 766 persons met accidental death In this state, which places us second to Mississippi, which state has the lowest ratio per 100,000 popula tion. This fact, of course, is very gratifying. But the record is not complete, and will not. be until the causes of these deaths have been passed in review and some conclusions drawn from them. How many could have been prevented? A safe con jecture is that a very large proportion of the total number would not have happened had ordinary pre cautions been taken. Coroner’s verdicts to the con trary, a fatal accident is seldom unavoidable. Such en event implies carelessness on the part of some body. Often the victim is to blame, but more often it is some one else. The work that is being carried on by the safety I committee will dc much to minimize the appalling toll that is annually taken because of the great American habit of not thinking. One of the first 1 efforts of the committee is to induce people to think, to watch, to “stop look, and listen.” A melancholy consolation is afforded by the report which states that only one-fifth of the total fatalities were caused by automobile accidents. That relieves to {! some degree the popular vehicle. In Springfield, Mass., for the month of November it was found . more people were killed by falls than by motors. One sure way of reducing the total is for every * body to exercise more care in proceeding about or dinary business. This may cause slowing up a lit tle, but a moment’s delay here may purchase im munity from an eternity somewhere else. Most fatal accidents are unnecessary. AFTER THE OIL IS GONE. One group of oil men asserts that America’s sup ply of mineral oil is rapidly being exhausted. An other group, probably as well informed, tells us the oil will last another hundred years at present rate of consumption. Probably neither knows a great deal about what is underground. All that is certain is that each year sees an increased demand for oil, while it is a fair presumption that In time the end will be reached. There will be no more oil. One bit of comfort may be derived from the ! promise that a very good substitute for gasoline 1» derived from coal tar. Other sources of power will be developed. Always there is alcohol, which may be had from any sort of vegetable matter, If only we could trust ourselves to use it in the old ear as fuel and ivnt consume it us a beverage. The 1925 output of automobiles was up to ex pectations, and the maker# are planning on n bigger year in 1925. Calls for more gasoline. New oil homing locomotives and steamships are demanding further supplies of crude oil euch day. Industrial ftnd domoatice use is extending. Whichever way one turns, the increased requirements for oil may be noted. Civilization just now floats on a sea of oil. Will a century be long enough time in which to readjust affairs so that something else may be used in place of oil? The prospect need not worry the owner of an oil well, but it may interest men of science or those who plan on being here after the last drop of gasoline has run through the carburetor and the last drop of oil has been worn out on a fast turhing journal or burned in a Are box. Until then, we might as well go on using the oil we have while it lasts. “THEY HAVE NOT LIVED." O. O. McIntyre, who writes so entertainingly of New York life for The Omaha Bee, now and then injects a great truth into his articles. A day or two ago he wrote a paragraph about the blase children of Gotham millionaires who have exhausted life’s thrills before they arc well into their ’teens. He describes them as children who rarely smile, and says: "Their life Is a round of tutors and well-bred con versational blah. Not to have been chased from a watermelon patch or to have dug a cave In the banks of the creeks means just one thing. They have not lived.” “They have not lived.” All of life’s thrills ex hausted before they have started life. They have everything that money can buy, but the greatest things in life are npt purchasable with money. Money can buy the luxurious bath in a marble mansion, but it can not buy the joy of the swimming hole down in the old creek, where boyhood democracy is at its best. Money can buy the costly electric joy, but that toy can not yield the thrill that comes to the boy who makes his first kite with his own hands and sees it sailing aloft at the end of a string held in his own fingers. Money can buy the choice box seats at the opera, but no amount of money can buy the thrill feft by the small boy who earns his way into the circus by carrying water to the ele phants. Paris, and Rome and Venice can never hold for the poor little rich boys the joys and the thrills that come to the rich little poor boys who roam the woods, gathering nuts, listening to the songs of the wild birds, testing new-found herbs and roots, chasing rabbits, trying to understand the chatter of the squirrels and giving ear to the rustle of the crisp autumn leaves under foot. Money can buy the choicest yiands in Gotham’s cafes, but those viands never taste to the poor little rich boys as do the roasted eggs and potatoes and ash-covered bacon tastes to the rich little poor boys who wander through the fields and the woods, fish the little streams and feel the soothing mud squashing up between their wriggling toes. The boy who never has a chance to run wild and free, who never has a chance to make pals with a yellow dog, who is deprived of opportunity to par ticipate in the democracy of the playground, has been started off wrong. “They have not lived.’’ STATE’S RIGHT TO SELF-DEFENSE. Michigan’s supreme court has upheld the syn- ‘ dicalism law under which Charles E. Ruthenberg i was convicted. The decision virtually says that the 1 state has a right to defend itself against conspiracies aimed at its existence. The so-called Bridgeman conference, for attending and participating in which Ruthenberg was arrested and tried, was not the as- j sembling of a political party. It was a secret meet ing, whose existence was not supposed to be known. Those who attended disguised themselves, assumed names not their own, and surrounded the entire af fair with such an atmosphere of mystery as might have been comical if it had not held the element of criminality. It was in defiance of the authority of Michigan, which had passed a law forbidding such affairs, and Michigan is found to be right in punish ing violators of that law. When Foster, Ruthenberg, and their associates came out into the open with the Workers Party, they lost most of their prestige. Likewise, the ceased to be a menace. Whenever such movements as theirs are brought to light, and their true nature made clear, the danger is materially diminished. A vast difference exists between Foster openly appealing for support for an impossible political program and Foster plotting behind closed doors to overthrow the “capitalistic" government. Michigan is following the line of reason. Open will be permitted. Secret organizations aiming at. will be permitted. Se cret governments aiming at control of politics or government are not to he toler ated. On this principle all can stand. Even the communists can claim a hearing, but only in the open. Our government is safe so long as it gives all an equal chance. And each state and the nation as well is entitled to act in self-defense. A sociologist insists that the day is not far dis tant when men will work four hours a day and four days a week. When that time comes a lot of men will have to step livelier than they have since we knew them. It will be generally agreed that Dr. Pinto has started something. In fact, it may be said that he has raised something. A word of four letters per taining to punishment, sulphur and demonology. The New York Herald Tribune says the Paris shoemaker who has Innded a painting in the salon just kept pegging till he got there. Well, why not; that was his sole purpose, wasn’t it? The cherry tree story is declared to be a myth. So is the cherry that was wont to repose in the bot tom of the glass. A breed of ducks that can not fly has been dis covered in South America. The breed is not un known in this country. We call them lame ducks. -- Homespun Verse —By Omaha's Own Pact— Robert Worthington Davie _J THE POSTAL C LERK’S DREAM. Yes, hopeful and cheerful! The eyes that were tearful Again wear the gleam of the past The postoffice fellows Pound out of their cellos: "We're out of the darknees at Inst" The ghost of reflection That haunted election- - The Chamlier of Commerce's wild cry— Created commotion Like leaves on the ocean When liners full laden roll hy. The bleak winds are Mowing * 'TIs freezing and snowing. The furnace hurne constant and fast— Hut the)' have arisen From darkness a whlzzln' Cp Into the sunshine at Iasi • • • Dreams aie visions nietemh. Flashing through the endless Idue I’sunlly they’re allegoric, 11 beidorn do they coma Uae 1/--;-; j Oh, the Merry, Merry Christmas Time Approaches Letters From Our Readers All letters must be signed, but name will be withheld upon request. Communi cations of 200 words and less, will be given preference. Mr. Cone Asks Questions. ’ Omaha—To the Editor of The Oma ha. Bee: In your editorial of last eve ning, in advocating the gas tax for road improvements and maintenance, you use the following words: "It is not fuir to lay all the cost on property owners. Users of highways should pay proportionately for the improve ments and maintenance cost ” (You are speaking of roads.) ‘‘This logical sequence leads directly' to the gaso line tax.” As you are one of the main advo cates of this new principle of taxation in Nebraska, a tax by use or on con sumption, will you answer what your position would lie on the following ' Would you apply this principle of taxation to our schools—our first item of expense—by taxing each child its share of wear and tear on our school privileges? Would you charge the parent with nine children, nine times as much as the parent with only one child? Would you extend this principle of taxes by* use to nur courts of justice, by charging those who use the courts sufficient to pay the expense of them? Would you extend this principle to our public institutions and other pub lic welfare expense accounts? Do you understand taxation to be a question of principle, or a question of expediency? I trust you, as one of the leaders of tills new system, will meet these questions and others put to you, for these questions must tie decided by our new lawmakers after due consld eratlon. —TRENMOR CONE. Tribute to a Boy. Omaha—To the Editor of The Oma ha Bee: John Joseph McLaughlin Is not with Ills crowd of boy friends this morning. The silent, pious boy, as he was known. The boy was never known to swear or speak a smutty words. If his playmates would start a smutty story, he would bow his head and walk away. Often have T seen him stand amongst a crowd of boys 12 or IS years old, all trying to talk to him at once. All he would do would tie to answer litem with a smile, which said more and meant more than a boy making an hour speech Ills will power and personal magnetism seemed to tower high. How 1 did like to be with him. Especially on the coasting hill, with that golden pompadour hair, flushed, rosy cheeks, large blue eyes, spark ling like two diamonds, and that smile that said more and meant more than words. There was a mistake made by Hint fan growing monster, “Traffic," which Is , rnwdlng us young folks off onto a w«e corner. My silent friend paid the price with his life, winch was I I ■ What'* heroine o’ th' feller thr‘ lined t’ pull out enough money t' buy a farm ever' time he bought a nickel rigar? Where do honest people git th' idea that ever’huddy vise to hum t ? tWopyrlsbt, iK.t.J i % -napped out with a twinkle of an eye. What a bright light and a moral factor, had he been permitted to live, would he have been In his neighbor hood. I have but one desire, and that Is to meet my dear mother, who passed away a few weeks ago, and my pious, silent friend In heaven. The sweet est and brightest flowers are often plucked first. —MILLIE OARBA, 2921 R Street. •Icrry Files Objection. Omaha.—To the Editor of The Omaha Bee- Notwithstanding that the campaign is over the press is -ivlng the public lots of news both i foreign and domestic. Scandal rela live to the Kori<es-Thompson conspir acy, Churchill's criticism regarding the Interallied indebtedness, Ed P. Smith's address before the_ Rotary club. etc. But lo and behold. Dr. A. 8. Pin to's attack on the marriage sacra ment caps the climax. The vanity of the newly made Mch of New York who have agreed to a realignment of raising their society NET AVERAGE PAID CIRCULATION for the SIX MONTHS Ending Sept. 30, 1924 THE OMAHA BEE Daily ..73,790 Sunday .75,631 Dod not include returns, left overs, samples or papers spoiled in printing and Includes no special sales or free circulation of any kind. V. A. BRIDGE, Cir. Mgr. Subacribed and iworn to befora me tbit 4th day of Octobar, 1024. W. H. QUIVEY, (Seal) Notary Public Shattuck School “Prepares Boys for College and Life'* ENTER AFTER THE CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY* Naw Dormitory anaca raudv January lat. Will accomraodatt thirty additional itudanta jTHERMO SPADRAl 3 Arkansas Anthracite Coal jt i Grate $1^50 Per I | Size | Ton I 1 A High Grade Coal--Clean and Efficient I IU PDIKE * I liU. \\ AN T AOS RKING RKSVIJS, ^ '' ' ‘ ****** * from 400 to 500 to facilitate their re ceptions of kings, queens, emperors, empresses, dukes, duchesses, princes, etc., hurts nobody, but brings ridicule on themselves. But when marriage ts brought down to the level of farmyard breeding it is entirely different because it af fects society. Home of the greatest writers and theologians believe if our beloved na- “ tiun is to endure divorce must tie checked Instead of passing measures to dignify the nasty thing. JERRY HOWARD. Both Happy. Mr. Flubdub saw a poor man. He felt like giving the poor man some thing. So he gave him a Canad.an dime he had been carrying around for a long time. "He may as well have It," said Mr. Flubdub. "I can't work It off on anybody." — Louisville Courier-Jour nal. What Every Tourist Knows. Chinese now use vacuum bottles to - keep their tea hot while traveling — News item. And Americans have blowouts to feep their tempers hot when traveling.—Cincinnati Enquirer. I CHIROPRACTIC 1 Rheumatism, lum bago and sciatica respond quickly to our methods as well as liver, stom a c h , kidney and bowel troubles. For Chiropractic Service see member of the Omaha Atlas Club, Page ad in talephone directory. ■ ■ ... SUNNY SIDE UP |. Hake Comfort, nor forget. . Qhat Sunrise tw/erfailed us^J/eger > ■»?__> ■ - ■■■'— I . "• | ♦ N i UK I I commission ad h Lamia XI V ta fan a d a a t t~ Star Id colony, / brrztlle, ! BtM kit brother Bun. mills, crossed the sea and drepped ancktr in achat s n»m Btisst Bay* I | Set:.cm mis Wer§ created and the flag §f Franca raised at Mabue. Pensacola, Occam Springs. Btiasi, Gnifpart, Bats Chr utica.Baa } IBERVILLE explored the Gulf Coast from New Orleans to Pen sacola on frigates and barges. You, from the cold North, discover its sunny comfort and its romantic old-world in terest, on the excellent through trains of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad. Climate and sport*, sunshine and reat; surfaced road* akirting the tree-fringed Gulf ahore; modern hotel* and hoapita- **" ble people; low round-trip fare* and uni I. . . , , fortnly moderate coat* give charm and riwh”lHr hllfcolli <ArrMtb« lo«ic »o the Gulf Coaat as your winter l. A N. Faat train, are operat'd vacation place. Let the undersigned *Co*af°aod *N»w tlv* you further and complete informs Orleua tioo. Aakor write for illustrated booklet*. p w morrow. ,v. r. r.tt v art. 112 Marcuettc Rid*.. CHICAGO F. M. DITTO. Tree. Pmts'r Aft. Plane Victor 4TT9. 417 Rail »«y Etch. Bid*., KANSAS CITY MO, LOUISVILLE £r" NASHVILLE K.fN.