TTTE BEE: OMAHA, MONDAY, DECEMBKK G, 1015.
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HheB ees Ho me Maaz i ti e P a
Mighty Swing
of Equinoxes
"M-O-T-H-E-R A Word That Means the World to Me"
By Nell Brinklcy
Copyright. 1916, Intern! News Service.
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By GARRETT I. 8ERV1SS.
"I have read that the tun passes Into
n new tlirn of the Zodiac one In 1.191
years. riMM explain what thla mctiii;
hlso the statement that at each of these
periods aome now phase of religion hat
appeared on earth.
A. T. 8.. Marseille.
Jll."
What you have
encountered la the
nreresslon of the
equinoxes, a ma
jestic and unhaat
Inn phenomenon of
the solar syntem,
from the contem
plation of which
astronomers derive
great Intellectual
pleasure, while It
appears to fill
a s t r o 1 o g 1 e ally
minded persons
with mysterious awe,
' If you will Imagine this earth to he a
huge spherical top, spinning daljy upon
a peg which Is tipped about 2J degree
from the vertical, and also, like any other
top, turning slowly round upon the point
of Its peg, so that the upper end of the
reg describes a circle In the air, you
will have the first conception neceeeary
for understanding the precession of the
equinoxes.
Let the earth's axis be the peg; let
the north; pole be the upper end of the
peg, let (he circle of the ecliptic, which
the sun appears to descrlba ones a year
round the earth, be parallel to the In
visible floor on which the top Is sup
posed to be spinning, and Just so high
above that floor that Its plane outs
through the center of the earth-top.
Then, baok of all, among the stars.
which surround the scene like the
paneled walls of a circular room, let
there be a band sixteen degrees In width.
extending completely around, with the
plane of the ecllptc marking its cen
tral line. This starry band will be the
zodiac. Ilvlde It into twelve eual parts,
each thirty degrees long, and they will
be the "signs" of sod lac.
Now, remember that th top Is spin
ning from Its peg, or axis. Inclined from
the perpendicular. If the peg stood up
right, the central line of the sodlao, or
ecleptlc, would Us In the plana of the
top's equator, and the sun, traveling
around the circle of the ecliptic would
always be directly over the equator. As
things realy are, however. . ,tbe k tUnligV
of the peg, or axis, causes the sun tp
appear above the equator during one
half of Ita revolution, or one-halt of the
yesr, and boUw It during the other half.
The minute Inhabitants of the spin
ning top, being very Intellectual crea
tures, understand that this apparent up
and down swing of the sun. In the course
of every year. Is due to the Inclination
of the equator of their top to the circle
of the ecliptlo, ' and In order to make
graphical explanation of the phenomenon
they project the plane of the equator In
the form of an imaginary circle against
the starry background of the heavens,
and they find that this circle cuts the
circle of the ecliptlo at two opposite
points on the band' of the sodlao.
At one of these points the sun Is seen
tUIng above the eqvator at the beginning
of Its half-yearly course on the upper
side of the equator (t ie summer half of
the year for the northern hemisphere.)
and at the opposite point the sun Is seen
descending below the equator for the
winter half.
The first point Is the most Important,
since It denotes the beginning of the year,
or the opening of the spring season, for
the inhabitants of the upper hemisphere,
and It Is called the spring, or vernal
equinox. When the aodlao was Invented.
Its flr.t sign, Aries, was made to begin
at this point, so that the sun "enters
Aries" at the moment It rises to the
level of the equator at the beginning of
spring.
Then, travelling eastward. It passes In
succession through the other signs Tavt
rus, Qeminl, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra,
eoorplo, Bagtttarua, Caprloornua, Aquarius
and Pisces and, having thus completed
the circle of the sodlao, comes back again
to the spring equinox. At the beginning
of Libra it passess below the equator.
Now, here Is an Important thing to
remember: In the beginning the signs
of the sodlao were visibly Indicated In
the sky by groups of stars called con
stellations, and theee sodlacal constella
tions, not only bore the same names as
the signs, but occupied precisely the same
spaces In the ring of the sodlao.
This state of things would have con
tinued forever but for that slow, swlng-1-g
round of the peg of the earth-lop to
which reference baa been made. The re
sult of this motion, which gradually
changes the direction of the peg, or axis.
Is to cause the points where the sun
crosses the equator to move, or slide,
round the sodlacal ring. In a western
direction, so that the signs of the sod lac,
which continue to be counted from the
spring equinoctial point, are slowly buck
ing around the circle and fait out of ac
cord with the corresponding constella
tions, which retain their places on the
I a ck ground of the sky.
At the present time this motion, which
id the precession of the equinoxes, has
brought the stgn Aries back into the con
ttellatlon Pisces, so that, at the beginning
ef the spring, the sun comes up above the
ciiiator among the stars of Pisces Instead
of among those of Aries, as It did about
1,160 years ago.
The entire time required for en cora
I lete swing of the axis of ths earth is
i bout K.(we years. At the end of that
period the signs and the constellations ot
inc sodlao must come round sgaln into
nlr.rklenc. the signs having backed
through the entire circle.
Tills Imposing phenomenon was dlseov
red In the days of the Greek astronomer
lilpparchue. but its cause was not found
out until Newton bad unravelled the law
i f gravitation. Then It waa seen that the
inaction of the sun and mmq on the
equatorial protuberance of the earth
tauked the Utter to behave exactly like
a spiimlag top whose peg la tipped out
cf the perpendicular, and which, instead
tf falling swings round and round, but
vltl a motion much slower than that of
tle iln.
As to any relation Letweea the preces
sion of the elulnoes and the phases of
rWigious belltf. I must leave that to those
who caa alio a reason for It.
Jfe.". (ft)
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i i ui w x i . iv r,ie'i.M t ii i - u i i i n'.v J i -v r
Th best lov song! About the tenderest gweethert a man mar
hare, Mother." Where now la Sylvia and all the dim, ghostly
parade of maids, pale gold and nut-brown and night-dark, who lean
from the realm of aongsT A thousand songs a year lift choruses to
the grace of a girl a line to her penciled brows, a chant to the blue
of her two eyes, a refrain to the fragrant flower of her mouth, a
waits wherein her twinkling satin feet skim like a wind on the water
always a man In rapturous praise of a maid and singing aloud for
all the world to hear.
And now, at the end of a yeai to crown It soars above the
crowding music a new love song. To an old, old sweetheart, with
the most musical name In the world " 'M-o-t-h-e-r the word that
means the world to me."
Somebody has been clear-sighted enough, understanding enough
of the world's good and still childish heart, and wise enough to put
the feeling of struggling mankind for the tdoliaed name of Mother
Into song. ,
And how understanding that somebody has been Is attested by
the fact that "M-o-t-h-e-r, A Word That Means the World to Me," Is
being sung from hundreds of stages by artists from coast to coast.
And when you hear It you will not wonder. Here Is how the
chorus goes: .
M 'or the million things she gave me.
O Means only that she's growing old. v
T Is for the tears she shed to save me. 1
II Is for her heart of purest gold.
E Is for her eyes, with lovelight shining.
R Means right, and right she'll always be.
Put them all together, they spell M-O-T-H-E-R. a word that
means the world to me. NELL BRINKLEY.
Judging Your Friends
Be Sure You Are Not Too Hasty, for Thus You Condemn Yourself.
By BEATRICE FAIRFAX.
"Judge not, that ya be not Judged.'
How many of us are familiar with thai
quotation from the Book ot Books T How
many of us practice It?
Hasty judgment reflects never so much
Ott the Deraon VOU randamn as An linn,.
self. In every human relationship theie
roine many Instances when one friend
has the choice between giving to an
other the benefit of the doubt or Judging
and condemning him on the evidence in
hand.
If the case were put to you and you
were asked. "If everything looked bla -
against a friend, what would you do
sit coldly aloof in majesty and form your
Judgment without offering a chance ot
defense T Rush to the friend under euspl
clon and revile and abase without wait
ing to hear the defense? Or go u,ultly
to the suspected individual and tell him
that you had beard things which re
flected very much on him, but that you
wanted to hear his aide of the story be
fore you formed your Judgment?" "
The first course Is as self-sufficient as
unfair; the second is as cruel as cow
ardly, and the third represents the only
fair, decent and honorable thing to do.
But too small a proportion of human
ot-lngs practise the third course.
"Oh. yes." you will say. 'but who
wants to be the dupe of his own weak
liking for an untrustworthy and unre
liable Individual? Who wants to be be
trayed by a friend and thea go to that
Judas friend and say. 'Explain this as
you can and aa plausibly as you may I'll
listen and bvllevsr Who wants to accept
disloyalty so meekly snd humbly as to
Invite a repetition of It?"
Have you never been gailty of anN Im
pulsive action that set free a chain of
dangerous circumstances? Have )ou nexer
said something in all good fVlth to A
which by the time it had passed from
mouth to mouth through an alphabet of
individuals to F looked as If you hadn't
been quite fair to that person?
J'erhape U. C. I) and K unconsciously
exaggerated the atarv in tellmir- n..,,-...
one of them had a grudge against you:
perhaps ore of them used you to gloss
over some offeiue of Ms own.
Would you not have thought it cruelly
unuir of t' to put you down as dUloyai
and untrustworthy merely on the strength
of this much-traveled and oft-repeated
tale? Of course you would. But if the
case were reversed are you sure that
you would give F the benefit of the
doubt?
Kvery time you sit in Judgment on a
friend and condemn him unheard you are
practically acknowledging that you are
capable of disloyalty I None f us can
conceive of anything that Ilea absolutely
outside of his own nature. If you can
suppose that any one has lied to you
It is because you are capable of lying.
Our concept of the world cornea as much
frun within our own nature as from
the Aitslde.
Before you Judge a friend. Judge your
self. If you can think In terms of disloy
alty, untruth and unfairness these qual
ities lie in you. As you give to another
the benefit of the doubt and allow for
the fact that though be acted unwisely
It may have been with decont motives,
you mark yourself out as one whose own
motives are decent and kind.
Whenever you Judge cruelly and un
kindly you judge, first ot all. yourself,
and then the criminal vou condemn un
heal d.
Rise of a Newsboy
By II. II. 8TANSBURY.
WASHINGTON. Nov. M.-'Sammy"
April ie Just a plain, noisy newsboy, but
he enjoys the distinction of serving the
president of the United States with
copies of the dally papers each morning
and afternoon. He also crosses the street
from the White House to the Bute, War
and Navy buUdlng and performs a
similar purpose for the secretary of state
and others. He Is trusted to the extent
that he goea unchallenged Into the of
fices of his distinguished patrons, no
matter what important conference la
going on.
"doing to be a newsboy all your lifer'
I asked tho other afternoon.
"Thomas A. Edison started as a news
boy; didn't he?"
Before I could add a word of encour
agement to such an ambition. Sammy
was half way up the steps of ths somber
gray building across the way. but he had
recalled the story, I have heard the great
Invento tell himself.
Mn Edison began to sell papers In l&s,
when he was 11 yeara old. Later he be
came a train butcher on the Grand Trunk
railroad, running out of Detroit. He
usually said S papers a day. When there
waa big war news he sold more, and he
made an arrangement with a printer In
the office of the Detroit Free Press to
see the proof of the most important
piece of news before the paper came out,
that he might have advance Information.
Edison regulated his orders for papers
according to his opinion of public Inter
est In the news.' Sometimes he sold as
high as 300 copies on the report of union
victories. One night. In the first week
of April, 1662, the printer showed him a
proof of a big story for the next morn
ing. It was the first news of the battle
of Shlloh and contained the report of
,000 casualties.
He straightway telegraphed a brief
bulletin of the news to ths agent at every
place where his train stopped, asking
that it be posted In the station. Then he
endeavored to get credit for 1,000 copies
of the rree Press. The circulation man
ager refused the credit.
Edison then went to the owner and
asked that he be given credit for l.W)
copies, and obtained It. He found mob
awaiting the train at the first stop. He
usually sold two papers there, but his
bulletin enabled him to sell ft at I cents
a copy. He sold suO at the next station
at 10 cents snd at the other stations he
had no difficulty in getting ti cents a
copy, and disposed of his entire stock.
Ur. Edison has said that hs became
so Impressed with what a telegraph mes
sage could do. ho decided to become a
telegraph operator. Next he became In
terested In electricity. And the rest Is
history.
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