The herald., 1897-11-07
lramatic poet gave expression to the

dramatic poet gave expression to the
thought:
'"rhe shard beetle that we tread upon
In corporeal sufferance feels pang ~
great
AS when giant dies
his words were regarded by his gen.
hration as somewhat in the nature Of
Aoetical license. Today science reveals
a. intellectual equipment by the whole
meet world as wonderful as 1t Is elo.
qunt Of divine wisdom.
The htWestinghouse Electric and Nam
ufactt'ing company has received from
its Huhpean company notice Of the
award y 1t by the Metropolitan Elec-
tricai Supply Co. of the contract for
large Electric lighting plant to be in
stalled intondon. The apparatus will
De- as we earn from Scientific Ameri-
can (Oct p, of the multiphase type. in.
volving theuse of the Tesla patents.
which are Owned in England by the
Westinghouse company. It is under.
stood that the contract amounts 70 he.
tween $S5O,o0O aid $4O0, 900. 1t is about
time that the grNat city of London was
lighted by electricity. That slow-mov.
ing, conservative municipality. or col.
lection Of municipalities, is even now
behind many provincial towns in the
United States in the halter Of having ito
streets and alleys lighted in accordance
with the requirementsf II modern science
and civilization.
Experiments are being made in Ports.
mouth, England, with coflite as am
munition for quick-firing gins. for the
purpose Of determining the Visibility Of
the flash at night and how fas it would
guide an enemy's fire. Cordite- is sa,d
to give a much smaller flashtkan pow
der. Our shore defense artillerists
should make a note Of this.
The tobacco smoking habit has bseu
| repeatedly commented on, in the man
to the prejudice of that now all but un.
versal indulgence in the use of the mar.
cotic weed. The results, higienically
and otherwise of putting a cloud" are
so inharmoniously conflicting and the
divergence of scientific opinion therein
so wide that there is abundant room for
the ordinary smoker to be at ease in
whatsoever views he may see fit to en-
tertain or express touching his use Of
pipe or cigar. In a recent work on the
medical treatment of the mind, pub
| lished by that eminent French savant.
Maurice de Fleury, we have some rig
orous expression of opinion upon this
subject uttered by famous men of letters
of France, that bode but little comfort
for the smoker The London Lancet.
reviewing Mr.. de Fleury's book, refers
to Balzac, Hugo and Zola, three among
the most eminent writer's of the CEN
tury." as expressing aversion to tobac-
co in all its forms. Balzac, the Lancet
reminds us. invariably covers with con-
tempt the characters in his books, whom
he portrays as smokers. In his Treat
ise on Modern Stimulants." there is an
entire chapter consisting exclusively Of
fulminations against the weed and its
worshipers." He contended that ito.
bacco destroys the body, attacks the in
tellect and besots the nations" This
is pretty hard upon the weed. But Vic
tor Hugo was no less severe. AS indi.
eating his opposition to the narcotic,
Theodore de Banville is reported to have
said: I'm the house of Victer Hugo.
peer of France. no one has ever even at
tempted to smoke" 1t Is related that
one evening one of Hugos guests was
Wanting the beneficent effects of q
| cigarette on a creative imagination.
The great poet at once arose in revolt.
Believe me-" said he, tobacco Is more
hurtful to you than beneficial 1t
changes thought into reverie." AS for
the famous realistic novelist, Zola. he
has no definite opinion, we are told. In
the premises. He says: Personally I
gave UP smoking ten or twelve years
ago on the advice of my medical at
tendant at a time when l believed my
self affected with heart disease" Zola
veers round, however, to a view of the
subject rather favoring the weed. He
does not believe that tobacco exercises
any special influence on French litera-
ture, and goes en- to say: Il have known
great writer's who smoked without stint
but their intellects were not one whit
less acute. II genius be neurosis, then
why seek to cure! Perfection is such
tiresome thing that very often regret
having broken myself of the tobacco
habit" And thus the chapter ever ends.
There is hardly Substance used by
civilized man in regari to whose hygien-
ic effect there will not be extollance OF
depreciation. 1t all depends upon the
man and his environment. and hereditary
bias.
+ +
The United States is rot the only
country that has invested immense
wealth in railroads. Germany has not
only vast sums of money N railroad
stocks and bonds but Is annually adding
to her length of railway tracks. One
feature of railroad enterprise in that
country and, indeed, in European coun-
tries generally, is the care and even
elegance with which the state railroad
companies build and equip their dspots.
In this particular we of the United
States might wisely take hint fromour
neighbors on the other shore of the At
lantic ocean. The German newspapers
just now are complaining that too much
attention is given by the state railroads
to this particular phase Of railway en-
terprise. They say that while there ID
not enough attention given to the re-
newal of rolling stock, especially IN the
H. Il %x4v1fH fHH