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Journal says: "Prof. Roentgen has never been
interviewed, has never been banqueted, and is oven
said to have refused immense sums of money of
fered him by American publishers for a book on
what ho himself modestly styled 'a new kind of
ray.' Like many other investigators of his race,
ho carries his years gallantly, and though 60,
looks more like a man who has led a healthy,
outdoor life than one who has spent the wholo
of hl3 manhood in investigating strange physical
problems."
A WHITER in Leslie's Weekly thinks that tho
world is growing better and gives the fol
lowing reason for so thinking: "A sure indication
that tho world is growing better is afforded in
tho change of public sentiment not only in this
country, but in other lands, with reference to tho
lottery business. Less than half a century ago tie
lottery device was frequently resorted to in tho
United States for tho purpose of raising money
for educational and charitable purposes, and fam
ilies of tho most respectable sort thought nothing
ot patronizing lotteries for the chances offered in
tho way of prize dinner sets and other articles
for household use. But an enlightened public scn
tlmont, backed up by tho law, has done away with
all these gambling enterprises, except as they are
suffered to exist, under some transparent guise, in
church fairs and government land distributions.
The lottery has long been in favor in Spain and
also in the Latin-American republics as a means
of raising government funds for -various pur
poses, but President Palma of Cuba promptly and
indignantly refused to approve a scheme of tho
kind adopted by tho Cuban legislature a few
months ago, and thereby gave new and gratifying
evidence of his American training and inherent
moral sense. Tho new Panama government, we
uru yieusea to oDserve, nas also refused to sanc
tion a lottery scheme for adding to the public
revenue.
FRANCIS JOSEPH, emperor of Austria, is said
to be a great disciplinarian. Referring to
this ruler a writer in the Kansas City Journal says
"Although 74 years old ho watched this year's
xnilitaiy maneuvers closely from beginning to end
with the keen eye of a military expert. Four
o clock was the hour at which tho veteran awoke
without being called, to take part in the maneu
vers, which lasted each day from 6 a. m. until
2 p. ra., when a truce was concluded until the next
morning. The emperor, in spite of his advanced
ago, was in the saddle from 5 a. m. until 3 p. m.
each day, as long as the maneuvers lasted. He
showed no signs of fatigue after these exertions,
-and at lunch time he munched hi3 sandwiches and
drank his wine from a flask like the youngest lieu
tenant on his staff."
THE Indiena supremo court recently held that a
married woman can not be held on a contract
to repay money she borrowed for her husband's,
benefit unless the lender tried to find out what sho
wanted with the money and unless sho deceived
him a3 to her purpose. The Indianapolis corre
spondent for the Cincinnati Enquirer says "In
the case decided the wife told the lender that she
wanted the money for her. own use, but he was
her husband's uncle. The husband was in danger
of prosecution for embezzlement of money that
came into his hands as treasurer of Washington
county. He died sbon after the loan to his. wife
was made, and she disputed the validity 6fthe
uncle's mortgage on her property. The supreme
court says that if thelender had used ordinary
vigilance ho would have known, that the money
was borrowed to pay the husband's debts, although
tho wife assured him it was not."
-$
V
The Commoner.
suit in certain states being obliged to pay repudi
ated bonds issued in reconstruction days. Speak
ing to tho Washington correspondent for the Louis
ville Courier Journal, Senator Foster says: "As you
probably know a few Now York speculators, under
pretense of performing a charitable act, recently
donated to tho state of South Dakota a few bonds
of tho state of North Carolina, issued during tho
reconstruction days and subsequently repudiated
by that state when the people gained control of
their government. Tho supremo court has decided
that North Carolina must pay these bonds and
accrued interest, estimated at 170 per cent. It is
claimed that a coterie of American and European
capitalists have acquired obligations which the
southern states repudiated more than twenty-five
years ago, and which, with accumulated interest,
now amount to more than $200,000,000." Mr. Foster
thinks, in view of the Dakota-Carolina decision,
the pending arbitration treaties may be made a
means of saddling this debt upon the southern
states.
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, in a will dated in. 1789,
gave one thousand pounds to the town, of
Boston. This .fund was to bo managed by the
selectmen and the pastors of three churches. Tho
purposes of the gift and the expectations of Mr.
Franklin are described by a writer in the Louis
ville Courier-Journal in this way: "The money
was to be loaned in small sums at 6 per cent to
young married artificers who had served an ap
prenticeship in the town, for whom two responsible
citizens would become sureties. By adding Interest
to principal it was estimated that in a cenury the
fund would amount to 131,000 pounds. Of this
100,000 pounds was td be used in work of general
utility and the remainder used as in the original
bequest. At the end of the second' century the
fund was expected. to amount to 4,061,000 pounds,
of which $1,061,000 was to be at the disposal of the '
town and tho remainder to go to the state'
.VOLUME 4. KUMBBR 5q
ting themselves for hard work mf
'able citizens are to coml wf at hV0? vaIn'
only those who show Intense dSS-a ??, h
determination to Kelp themselves-th. nd, StronS
worth hewing; the only cSSSt toShfta"
help to any great extent' " Possible to
AT A MEETING of physicians held recentw i
Chicago, tho opinion was very gSnSSh I 5
that consumption can be successfully Si d
Illinois and that it Is not necessa to Sen? V
tients out of the state for treatment , CommSf"
upon his fact; a writer in the Chicago H?
says: "This will be good news to the neZ ?
southern California, Arizona, Colorado andX
places where consumptives resort in great nuX
to the detriment of those who are In good heath
an.d,per1maient homes with business woU
established, Emphatic protests have been madi
by. residents of these states and territories against
the sending Into their midst of consumptives and
other invalids who, are practically past the chanco
of recovery. According to the Medical Record out
of a population of 15,000 in Phoenx, Ariz, fully
5,000 are health-seekers, and the streets are filled
with them thin, wretched, homesick, and in many
cases utterly destitute. Severe comment is deserv
edly made on physicians who recommend a chango
of climate without first knowing what new ills the
patierit will bo exposed to from want of means or
tyuouuci uo win Bureau ratner man cure his dis-
yQ
:vr
A.N INTERESTING feature of the Franklin be
. quest, as. pointed out by the Courier-Journal
writer; is the failure, of the fund to realize expecta
tions in the way. of growth. -This writer explains:
"When Boston became a city the aldermen acted
on the theory that they could officiate in place of
the selectmen, and some years ago were preparing
to spend a good deal. of money. The ca3e Went
Into court, and it was decided that the aldermen
had no authority to act. A new board has. ac
cordingly been constituted, and has been giving
hearings to determine how the money is to b'e ex
pended. At the end of the first century it was less
than $400,000. Young artificers were not anxious to
- borrow money at 5 per cent as was expected, not
more than 400 loans of that sort having been made.
Other investments were made, howaver, and the
growth of the -fund .was very considerable. It now
amounts to $411,847.68 in cash deposited in a single
bank. The question what to do with it naturallv
attracts a good deal of attention. , Under the will
it may be expended in any sort of public works cal
culated to make living in the city more convenient
to its people or attractive to strangers. Franklin
wa3 a man of great sagacity, but he was not able
to foresee either the growth of his fund or'.that of
the town :to which he bequeathed it." vW .
x-v
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ABOUT 1,000,000 messages are sent over the
world's telegraph lines every 24 hours, ac
cording to a writer in Leslie's Weekly. This writer
says: "Reports recently issued show that tha-num-ber
of telegrams dispatched in all countries in 1903
reached the enormous total of 364,848,474. Great
Britain heads tho li3t with 92,471,000 dispatches,
the United States is second with 91,391,000, and
Franco comes third with 48,114,151. Germany, Rus
sia, Austria, Belgium and Italy follow in the or
der named. " It is 60 years since the .first tele
graphic message was sent by the Morse system
from Baltimore to Washington."
SENATOR FOSTER of Louisiana expresses tho
opinion that tho ratification of pending arbi
tration treaties with foreign countries would re-
T.N CONNECTION with this-discussion -oft the
I Franklin ;fund, an Associated Press -dispatch,
under date of Boston, Dec. 23, will be interesting!
The dispatch follows: "At a meeting of the Ben
jamin Franklin fund managers of this city today
a letter was read from President Pritchett of the
Massachusetts institute of technology, containing a
proposition from Andrew Carnegie to duplicate the
present amount of the fund, $400,000, provided the
total be devoted to the establishment of a school
for the industrial training of men and women along
the line of the mechanics and tradesmen's school
o. New York and the Cooper Union. Mr. Carnegie
further stipulated that the city of Boston should
furnish a site for the proposed institution. The
beard thanked Mr. Carnegie for his offer, and de
cided to give the matter early consideration A
committee was appointed to study the question of
what can be done with the Franklin fund in tho
way of establiahing an institution along tfio HneS
of the Cooper Union. In his letter to Presilw
Pr tchett, Mr. Carnegie said: 'I am a trustee Sf
both schools mentioned, and do noUiesitate o Say
that to the best of my knowledge, no money has
produced more valuable results. I think it Is from
the class who not only spend laborious lights Z-
Nr.nA It
AN. FFORT is being made to reorganize tho
American1 Ice company, commonly known as
the Ice trust.-. -In a letter accompanying a report of
the company's business for the ten months ended
October 31, the shareholders are requested to sup
port the present managers at the national meeting
Jan. lo; and says: "It is clear that the capitalization
is. excessive, that the common stock represents no
earning capacity, even under normal business con
ditions!:'1 ' The New York Commercial, referring to
this 'proposition, throws: donsiderablo light on the
situation -and says that -it was plain, almost from
the very outset of the American Ice company's or
ganization in the spring of 1899, that it was over
capitalized. IN ORDER to sustain its point, th Commercial
says that it is notorious that the ice company'3
capitalization of $40,000,000 $15,000,000 in pre
ferred and $25,000,000 in common stock did not
repressnt uroperties, privileges and business of a
value anywhere nearapproaching that sum. Tho
Commercial adds: "Most or the investors who
bought the common around $47 a share and tho
preferred at nearly double vthat price did so chiefly
because of the dividends that the stocks were then
paying the preferred was a 6 per cent "cumula
tive,' and the common was paying 4 per cent; thu3
a purchaser of the common at $45 at which level
much of it was 'unloaded' drew nearly 9 per cent
a year on his investment, and these 4 per cent
disbursements continued for nearly three years, or
up to February, 1902. So it is strikingly signifi
cant that the ice trust's management now an
nounces with almost brutal frankness that this
common stoclt 'represents no earning capacity,
even under normal business conditions.' "
, Jjj
THE attorney general for the state of New Jer
sey is called uponby the Commercial to in
vestigate tiio ice trust arid to undertake to ohtain
an answer to the questions: "Did the capitalization
of that -trust ever represent an actual earing ca
pacity? Did 'it every really earn a penny of tho
4 per cent dividends that it disbursed for three
years?" The Commercial points out: "Business
conditions in tho ice trade were presumably 'nor
mal' in. 18JI9,. 1900 and 1901; and on December 31,
1900, the Company's officers reported that it had a
surplus of $905,895j that had shrunk to $G58,870 a
year later; and on December 31, 1902, they reported
a deficit of $162,482! Isn't it an altogether reason
able conclusion that those 4 per cent dividend dis
bursements on $25,000,000 in stock were drawn
directly from the company's capital, contrary to
law? It will be recalled in this connection that a
holder of American Ice stock, who is suing a for
mer president of the company for damages, accuses
the lattor of having authorized the payment oc
these common stock dividends when ho knew that
they had not been Earned and the plaintiff's tes
timony appeared to prove the charge, while wo
present management's admission as to tho lacK oi
earning capacity in the stpek is fairly good cumu
lative testimony to the truth of the accusation.
41
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