The Omaha Sunday
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THE OMAHA DEE
Best West
VOL. XXXVI-NO. 8.
OMAHA, SUNDAY . MORNING, AUGUST 12, 1906.
SINGLE COPY FIVE CENTS.
Bee.
AROUND THE WORLD WITH WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN
Part Played by Greece in Developing Arts and Sciences for Humanity Even More Impressive Than the Physical Beauties and Historio Ruins of Ancient Helos, Says Mr. Pryan
VIENNA, June 3. (Special Correspondence of The Bee.)
Nothing bo impresses the visitor to Greece not the waters
of the Aegean sea. with their myriad hues, not the Acrop
oils, eloquent with ruins, not even the lovely site ot
Athens itself as the part which little Greece has played
In the instruction of the world. Less than 25,000 square miles in
area, less than half of which is productive, and with a population
of less than two and a half millions, this diminutive nation has ft
history without a parallel.
There is scarcely a department ot thought In which Greece has
not been the pioneer, and In many' things she has set an example
which subsequent generations have but Imperfectly followed. If In
Egypt one Is awed by the evidence of antiquity; If In Palestine be Is
made reverent by the spiritual association connected with Judea,
Galilee and Samaria; in Greece he bows with profound respect to the
mighty Influence exerted by this single people upon civilization.
The signs aiding the streets recall the alphabet with which the
student of the classics struggles when he takes up the dead lan
guages and yet the Greek language can hardly be called dead, for
while it U the spoken tongue of but a comparatively small number,
It has found a glorious resurrection in nearly allthe languages of
Europe. In fact. It had so many merits that we are constantly com
pllmentlng it by returning to it for the nomenclature of phllosphy,
science and art.
Of those who still speak the language of Herodotus, Homer,
Socrates and Demosthenes, a majority live outside of Greece, for the
Greek colonies planted around the eastern end of the Mediterranean
form a considerable as well as an Influential portion of the popula
tion. Greek colonization, by the way, was of an enduring kind.
Those who went out Into distant fields did not go as Individual
bees (official w commercial) to gather honey and return with It ta
the parent hive; they went out rather In swarms to found cities, de
velop countries and establish new centers for the spread of Greek in
fluence. They Identified themselves with the land to which ther
went; they became an integral part of the population, and by virtu
of their inherent superiority, they gradually substituted the language
the ideas, the customs of their native land for those which they
found. So. securely did they build that neither the. Roman nor the
Turk were able to obliterate their work. The people bowed before
the storm, but continued Greek, and today In Alexandria, Asia Minor
and Constantinople, Hellenic influence Is still felt.
1
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Physical Perfection an Aim
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The ancient Greeks sought to perfect the human form, and it
Is not to be wondered at that marble models of strength, grace and
beauty have been unearthed where the Olympian games inspired a
rivalry in physical development. The games were established nearly
800 years before the Christian era, and during the nation's independ
ent existence they were held in such high esteem that. the laurel
wreath of victory was the greatest reward within the reach of the
youth of the country. Each city had its stadium, some of them of Im
mense size. The one at Athens seated 50,000 spectators, and the en
thusiasm aroused by the contests was scarcely less. than that which
at Rome greeted the gladiators. By the generosity of a rich Greek
the stadium at Athena has recently been restored at a cost of more
i than $1,000,000. The race course Is 67.0 feet long and a little more
'than 100 feet in width, and the seats are of Pentellc marble. Not
: withstanding Its great capacity It cannot contain the crowds that as
semble to witness the athletic games, renewed there In 1896 1) the
International Athletic association. " Our country has the distinction
' of having led in the contest of 1896, and again in the contest held
at Athens last April. Our representatives won eleven prizes each
time, and I found that these victories had very favorably impressed
the people of Athens. v
' The stadium Is not the only splendid monument to the public
spirit of the modern Greeks. The Academy of Science and the library
are magnificent buildings, each costing more than the restoration of
the stadium. . They illustrate the best in Grecian architecture, repro
ducing the Corinthian, the Doric and the Ionic. They are ot Pen
tellc marble and would be worthy of a place In any city of the world.
The library contains several hundred thousand volumes and has all
the modern equipment. Athens has a population of but little more
than 100,000, and It Is doubtful whether there is another city of Its
size that can boast of as large an expenditure ot private capital In
public buildings. The mountain which has supplied Athens with
marble for 2,500 years is only a few miles from the city and its
quarries are still unexhausted. Modern Athens Is very attractive;
its streets are paved and clean; its business houses are large and well
built; Its government buildings are substantial, and Its private rest- .
dences give evidence ef taste. We were there in the season of flowers
and we saw them blooming in profusion everywhere.
Numerous statues adorn the streets and parks, the most noted
being the statue of Byron, erected In memory of bis unselflsh devo
tion to Greek Independence.
The soldiers and policemen have adopted" the costume of the
Tnn ACROPOLIS AT ATHHNS.
ancient Greeks, but otherwise the people dress like the people of
Dorinern Europe.
As one approaches Athens fcr the first time his eye is sure to
search for the "temple-crowned" Aesopolla the hill which art and
religion combined to make immortal. It rises from the plain much
as Chapultepec rises from the plain. of Mexico. It Is about 500 feet
high and at the top 200 yards in length. It must have been surpass
ingly .beautiful when the Parthenon was completed, that great treas
ury which has not only supplied the art galleries of the world with
marvels in stone, but has given law to the architects from that day to
.this. . Pericles, who deserves the credit for the construction of the
Parthenon, can, be pardoned for exulting in his work.
Wctk of Vandals Nearly Complete
Today the Acropolis Is a picture of desolation, but the few
columns that remain bear witness to its departed glory. Lord Elgin
Carried lVtv nt nna tlin, 9Rft tan nf Y. ..!... x
lUD eujjimjou 1I1C4e, ma or me court. Here also Paul s great speech to the "men of Athens '
scarcely any of Its columns, capitals, cornice and pediment would was delivered, his text being found in the altar erected to "the Un-
have remained but for the size and weight of the. masses of marble, known God."
The pillage that for nearly twenty centuries has been robbing Greece Only a little distance from Mars' hill is the stone platform from
of her priceless works of art can be understood when it stated which the orators of Greece addressed the people, A' level, shelf-
that one Roman conqueror celebrated his victory by exhibiting In like space was formed near the top of the hill where a few thousand
his triumphant procession 250 wagon loads of Greek pictures and could congregate, and here the citizens listened while the greatest of
Statues, and that these waennn wer fnllnuraii Kw 5 nnn nk -it .1. ...vn. . . . ... ..
. " mi mo jjuuiiu Bpea&ers pourea lorin nis eloquence. It was worth a
cups, coins, etc. A pair of cups which attract special attention bear
in relief the figures of bulls the animals being equal in form to the
best breeds of today. On one cup they are being led to the sacrifice
and on the other they are bound at the altar.
Where St. Paul Preached ;
Besides original statues, of renown and the casts of those which
have been removed, there are many specimens of ancient pottery
by which one can trace the rise in artistic taBte and skill. Some of
the earliest statues in stone and clay bear a striking resemblance to
those of Egypt.
Second only in interest to the Acropolis is Mars hill, a. rocky
summit two-thirds of the height of the Acropolis. ,Here the ancient
court of the Areopagus, composed of the most eminent of the Athen
ians, held its sessions. Here under the dome of the sky the most im
portant cases were tried, and life and death hung upon the decree'
passengers gave us even a better illustration of "action," although
his gestures were more forcible than graceful, possibly because he
addressed himself to the captain of the ship instead of to the mul
titude. On the shore of the Aegean sea, between Athena and the harbor,
at a place where Demosthenes may have tested his voice against the
tumult of the waves, I gathered some pebbles, I cannot prove that
they are identical ones used by him to overcome the Impediment in
his speech, but they are at least a reminder of the toilsome struggle
through which he passed before his name was known to fame.
Famous Academy Missing
It was & disappointment to find so little to mark the site of the
academy where Socrates and Plato met their .disciples. These
philosophers have made Buch an impression upon the thought of the
world that I had hoped to find some spot clearly identified as the
place where they taught. An old house stands now on a treeless
tract over which they are said to have walked in their dally discuss
ions, but It Is a. modern one. A gate admits to the grounds, although
do wall encloses them. It Is much easier to picture Demosthenes'
speaking from the rostrum, which still remains, than to imagine
Socrates propounding here his questions and elaborating the method
of reasoning to which his name has been glVen.
There Is an old cemetery within the limits of the present city,
where the recent excavation has brought to light numerous tombs'
ornamented with sculpture. Some of the groups of statuary and
urns have been left where they were found, while others have been
given a place In the museum. These are additional proof of the
number of those who handled the chisel in the days of Phidias.
No spot is identified with Herodotus, the Father of History, or
with Thucydldes, who with Herodotus, has been the Instructor of
later chonlclers. Except the remains of the theaters there is nothing
to recall the tragedies of Euripides, Aeschylus and Sophocles, or the
comedies of Aristophanes; and no place Is pointed out as the site ot
the studio of Parasius or Zuexls, though the lessons which they,
taught the world have not been forgotten. While the guide does not
pretend to know the house in which Homer lived or where he wrote
his deathless songs, the traveler who passes through the Hellespont
can see the plains ot ill-fated Troy, and during his stay in Greece
his memory runs over the heroes of the Iliad and the Odessy.
Thee are no physical evidences of the life work of Lycurgus
and Solon, yet the laws which they promulgated are the heritage of
mankind. Salamis remains, and if the naval battle which Themls
tocles won had had no other etTect than to furnish Pericles with a
theme for his great funeral orations it would still have been worthy
of remembrance. The battlefield of Marathon, which gives Miltlades
a place among the world's generals. Is unchanged. It is about twenty
five miles from Athens, and the story, told in marble, of the Greek
who carried the news of the victory to Athens and died from exhaus
tion amid the shouts of his countrymen has led te the incorporation
of a twenty-five mile race In the athletic games when they are held
at Athens. In 1896 the race was won by a Greek (much to the satis
faction of the audience), who made the run from Marathon to the
city in two hours and forty-five minutes.
Where Leonidas Fell
kearing some trophy taken from the cities of Greece
And yet, in spite of the grand larceny which has been perpe
trated against this unfortunate land, the museum at Athens contains
enough of the beautiful In marble and bronze to make any nation con
spicuous in the realm of art. Within two years some notable addi
tions have been made to the collection; a Ufe-size bronze statue has
been unearthed and a marble figure, half burled In the sands of the
sea. has been rescued. The latter is perfect In the portions protected
oy tne sana, Dut was disintegrating where it came into contact with
the waves.
The readers of these articles are too well informed in regard
trlD to Athens to View this SDOt where tkmnsth
tlon on the Crown and the'PhilllppIcs which have been the pattern
set before the students for 2,200 years. In the marshall
ing of facts, in the grouping of arguments,- In the use
of invective and In the arranging of climaxes he is still the
teacher. Some one has drawn a distinction between Cicero and
Demosthenes, saying that when the former spoke the people said,
"How well Cicero speaks," while, when Demosthenes spoke they said,
"Let us go against Phillip!" Demosthenes' style was more con
vincing than ornate; his purpose was to arouse, not merely to please,
and from the accounts that have come down to us hlB delivery was
.. , . . tvl " iiuiu iu uixuuan mai nave come aown to us hlB delivery was
the workTnTi.; n SchHemT l make U sTT to refer to suited to his language. He. In fact, gave to action the highest place
wm y ?C 1 , r!m m"eni contains the ornaments among the requisites of effective speech. We recalled this saying
which he jcathrred from flv tnmha an . ..i - . .. . . ll"B oa'lu
which he gathered from five tombs, and they are sufficient to show
me exienaea use maae or this metal in the arts. They consist ot
earrings, finger rii gs. bracelets, necklaces, head ornaments, vases,
of Demosthenes when he listened to the excited tones and watched
tne gesticulations of the boatmen who thronged about our ship In the
harbor of Piraeus. The physician whe came aboard to examine the
The pass at Thermopylae is also to be seen and the heroism ot
the 300 Spartans who, under the leadership of Leonidas, offered up
their lives there for their country continues to be an Inspiration.
They failed to stay the onward march of Xerxes, but who can meas
ure the value of their example? . . .
Corinth, now as of old, guards the entrance of the Peloponnosus,
but, notwithstanding the canal which at this point connects the
Aegean sea with the Gulf of Corinth, the city has only a small popu
lation. Corinth brings to memory the part Greece played in 'the spread?
of Christianity. It was not enough that this country led the world
in statecraft and oratory, in poetry and history, in philosophy and
literature, In art and athletics, she was also one of the first mission
fields of the apostles. It was to the Corinthians that Paul wrote the
Epistles in which love Is given the first place among the virtues, and
it was Greece that gave her name to one of the great tranches of the
Christian church.
A democrat may be pardoned for cherishing a high regard for
the land that coined the word democracy. The derivation of the word
from "demos," the people, and "kratein," to rule makes it an
appropriate one to describe a government based upon popular will.
And as governments more snd more recognize the citizen as the
sovereign and the people as the source of all political power, the
world's debt to Greece will be more and more fully appreciated.
She not only gave to language a word accurately expressing the Idea
of 8elf-government, but she proved by experience the wisdom of trust
ing the people with the management of ajl public affairs.
W. J. BRYAN.
(Copyright, 1906.)
Hope That Cure Has Been Found for Terrible Scourfie of Humanitv
AS IN THE CASE of the fabled' shepherd of our youth, who at which thu ri!.u mna . ,V
.r. wni -v.- k " mcn d'sease most cc.omonly appears. If you live long But Jensen and other. hv found , it i. .D.Kt ...
PL
cried Wolf when there was no wolf,' and was ultimately
lert to be consumed, the incessant reiteration of lies is
apt to throw discredit upon the truth. It is in the nature
of cancer to lend itself peculiarly to exploitation by the
charlatan. It is a disease in which all are Interested and from
which any of us may suffer, years bringing not immunity but in
creased susceptibility. And. indeed, it need hardly be said that the
charlatan has not been slow to avaU himself of his opportunities.
He has discovered innumerable cures, which agree only in this, that
they do not cure.' Similarly, sincere but deluded investigators have
discovered Innumerable microbes which agree only in this that
their presence In cases of the disease Is Inconstant, accidental and
irrelevant. Hence it needs some courage to assert that the conquest
of cancer is now an immediate possibility, and I feel that a personal
explanation is desirable. Dr. John Beard, lecturer In comparative
embryology in the University of Edinburgh. Is the worker with
whose results we are here concerned. Trypsin, the substance which
occupies the place of honor, has been known to physiologists for
many years and can readily be obtained anywhere.
It Is customary to speak of a man's motive as If motives were
not almost invariably multiple. Nevertheless, my chief motive in
the present instance is the belief that medicine has lately become
possessed of a new method of treatment for cancer, and indeed all
forms of malignant tumor, for (he want of which many persons in
many parts of the world may now be hastening to a not-Inevitable
grave. This is no time for hiding such a light under a bushel. The
facts which I am to recount may be due to a series of miraculous
interventions with the course of nature. Or they may be no facts,
but dependent upon the simultaneous loss of reason by the various
persons who have observed them. There are now too many of them,
an-i tbey are too consistent, for anyone to believe that they are to
he explained as a series ef unprecedented coincidences. The other
hypotheses being Incredible, I, for one, have no choice but to believe
that I am now privileged to describe a number of facta, our knowl
edge of which not merely marks an epoch In embryology, but prom
ises to put an end forever tfi what is perhaps the most appalling of
all the ills that flesh is heir to.
Cancer Is an extremely commmon disease, causing more than
one in forty of all deaths. Its frequency is generally believed to be
lapldly increasing, though such a belief is an Illegitimate lnfersnce
from tbe statistical figures. Many observers, however, believe that
though (he disease may not actually be increasing in the sense In
which that word is usually understood, yet the greater expectation
of life which now falls to tbe members of civilised communities, im
.plles that a larger proportion of them than formerly reach the ages
."T1 ''.Vc!lil?,, cwr,ct.l,a Wrovd by Dr. Betrd, UmteU
enough, so to speak, you will probably die of cancer.
The most superficial forms of this disease have lately been
found to be controllable, some by radium, some by the Rontgen
rays. These very cases, however, are readily accessible to the knife,
snd If secondary growths have occurred, the therapeutic agent can
not follow them with any more success than can the surgeon. These
trivial exceptions apart, the only known cure for cancer Is the knife.
This being so, it is natural that modern surgery, empowered with
anaesthesia and antisepsis, should have yearly sought, and with
ever-increasing success, to effect radical cures of this otherwise in
curable malady. Doubtless the patient re-enters into life maimed
and- halt, yet so are we made that this is a welcome alternative to
death. But .whilst all praise must be given to surgeons for their
efforts, and whilst their frequent success in greatly prolonging life,
and their occasional success In extirpating the tumor, root and
branch, must be acknowledged, yet it is unfortunately true that sur
gery is s desperate remedy for a desperate disease, and that despair
la only too constantly Justified.
Cancer Not the Result of Infection
Whither, then, must we turn? Surely pathology will give us
an answer. Of what does cancer consist? What is Its origin and
history? How may we break the chain of its causation?
There is now-a-days no pathology but the cellular pathology
founded by Vlrchow. Every kind of malignant tumor consists of
living cells which multiply at the expense of their surroundings
snd. after long battening ujon their host, finally kill him. thereby
putting a term to their own life. None of the tissues of the host
can withstand them, and Dr. Beard holds that their action is due
to their possession ot a ferment which he calls "malignln" and
which digests and destroys the living molecules of the cells of tbe
host. This ferment was discovered by Eugen Petry in 1899. Plainly,
the next question is to ascertain. If possible, the differentia of the
malignant cell, and Its historical origin. Is It. for Instance, a cell
derived from without the body; in other words, Is it the result of
an infectlou?
To this Important question a positive answer may be returned.
A cancer, naturally arising, is not the result of an infection. Its
parent cell or cells have existed, in innocence, in the body which
they ultimately destroy. But before dismissing this matter we may
note the results ot the splendid work of Prof. Jensen ot Copen
hagen, whose labors have Just been recognized in Great Britain by
the award ot a valuable prise. There have been Innumerable at-,
tempts to transfer portions of cancerous growths from the human
patient to the lower animals; and. these have one and all failed, -
But Jensen and others have found that it is possible, with care, to
transplant portions or a malignant growth from a given animal to
another animal of the same or a closely allied species. For in
stance, there is now in existence the remarkable tumor which is
known as Jensen's mouse-tumor. Having taken its origin about
four years ago in a mouse, it has since been transplanted into some
3,000 mice successively, having killed all except two. Of these,
much more anon. This work of Jensen's has enabled the study of
the essential properties of cancer to proceed at a rate otherwise
Impossible. Apart from this practical issue, it is of great Interest
to know that the body of a mouse of one kind may serve to nourish
the cancerous cells derived from the body of a similar mouse, but
will not sustain the life of cells derived from a rat or a mouse of
a different variety.
Granted, then, that the cells of a malignant tumor are natu
rally native to their host, we must ask ourselves at least three ques
tions. Dr. Beard believes that he has answered the first of these;
the second is readily answerable; and to the third no certain answer
can yet be returned. We may take them up In the reverse order.
The third question is this: What are the circumstances which,
In a given part of a given individual, cause the growth and multi
plication of cells which have always been present in him, but have
hitherto been quiescent? We are beginning to guess, but we do not
know. Hence If we are to use the word "cause" in the ridiculous
fashion of common speech, which assumes that, for any given fact,
there is only one causs as If the universal past were not the cause
of any one fact we may say that the cause of cancer remains un
known. Why certain cells, latent from the first, should multiply
and become patent at this place but not at that, at this age but not
at that, in your neighbor but not In you we cannot say. But so
far as the control of cancer Is concerned, our ignorance does not
matter.
Characters of a Cancer Cell
The second question we must ask Is this: What are the char
acters of the cancer cell which distinguish It from those of the nor
mal body cell? These characters have long been known in a gen
eral way. If It be adequately nourished from without, the cancer
cell is capable of indefinite mulitpllcation. It is of an extremely
low order, being incapable of differentiating Itself; it cannot form
tissues; the blood vessels within the midst of a cancer have grown
into it from without; no cancer cell is capable of giving rise to any
thing but another cell like itself. This absenee of any power ot
differentiation distinguishes the cancer cell. It Is also distinguished,
fimral hays kMa cured sinoe tfieis werds vers wrltttn,'
curiously enough, by Its low vitality. Though it ..
stances which enable It to destroy every living tissue with which
it comes in contact, including even bono, yet it is Itself readily sua
ceptlble to the action of deleterious agencies. Cancer cells die in
large numbers as the results of the attacks o microbes, thus giving
rise to many of the most distressing symptoms ot the disease and
producing poisons which are absorbed, causing the chronlo poison
ing of the patient.
Hence we must ask ourselves the question which is logically
first. What Is the nature of the cell or cells from which a cancer
arises? Two answers are possible. It may be that th cancerous
eel . the parent of a tumor, was once a normal body cell, snd that,
owing to obscure causes. It has reverted to a lower type In which
according to the Spencerian law. the power ot genesis is gained at
W TTZ ,l PWer ' ,nd,vlduatl. bo that the cell, having
los Its individual rank, has regained the power of indefinite mul
tipl cation, which Is characteristic of microbes and countless other
lowiy cells. In the past many observers have inclined to the view
that a cancer takes origin in such degenerate cells that a cancer
is the result of a local cellular reversion.
On the other hand, it may be that the parental cell of a cancer
was. in the beginning, different from the cells surrounding it This
view has also been popular. The pathologist. Cohnheim, for In
stance, conceived the theory of what are called "embryonic rests"
the word being better translated as residues. Cohnheim sup
posed that, in the course of development, certain cells from the ex
ternal or eplblastlc layer of the embryo, for Instance, have become
misplaced, lying perhaps in tissues formed from a different layer
such as the middle layer or mesoblast. Such embryonic residues'
Cohnheim supposed, might lie dormant for years, giving rise to
trouble only when some special cause excited them to growth The
cause of such excitement might conceivably be infection by some
rpecial kind of microbe, and It need hardly be said that students
have again and again deceived themselves with the belief which we
have already dismissed.
Dr. Beard holds the latter of these two views that the parent
cell of a cancer was different, at the very first, from its neighbors.
He believes, Indeed, that the parent cancer cell has always been
in the body, but not of it.
And now we must leave the subject of cancer altogether, as it
would appear, and must turn to embryology, which has now enabled
Dr. Beard not only to cure two mice, otherwise doomed, but also
several hprnan beings, stricken with this terrible disease. Rank
ing ourselves with Dr. Beard as, for the nonce, comparative embry
ologists. and scientific investigators, let us consider the history ot
Individual development as It la seen la a verj large uumber rt the
