The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-10-25
-suicide is quito alarmingly on the in-

crease in France, and pre-
sents as serious prob
lem to thoughtful statesmen in that coun-
try as the dwindling birth-rate says the
London Law Journal. In vain to such the
church refuses its prayers, the army fun
eral with military honors. The same ten
dency is observable in England. What at
titude ought the law of England to take
up in the presence of this growing evil?
1t will be said that the law of England
has long ago taken up its attitude on the
subject of suicide, stigmatizing it as fe-
lOny, and therefore visited with the conse-
quences of felony. This is hard measure
and juries inclining to charity have of late
years uniformly postulated insanity as the
explanation, and returned a verdict of I'M
sound mind as presumption rather than
an inference. Whether this presumption is
well founded may be doubted Even philos-
ophers have not always been agreed as to
the ethics of suicide. Englishmen have
the feeling strong in them that suicide is
the refuge of the coward. In old days and
in small communities the loss of an able
bodied tribesman was a source of weakness
and danger. To our Anglo-SaX0n race, with
its overlooking population, this considera-
ton is insignificant. The seriousness of
the suicide problem consists in the fact
that the prevalence of suicide is sympto-
matte of diseased condition of the body
politic.It is to this that law and legislation
must address itself, not to any fresh PEN
alties; to promoting healthier conditions
of life and intoxicating higher standard of
citizenship.
The Church Economist has been dis
GUESSING the effect of a beard on the voice,
and in a recent issue it quotes a we'll
known throat and voice specialist as fol-
lows: 1.-THE effect will depend largely
upon the individual. If the speaker has
naturally thick voice which he uses bad
ly, small amount of obstruction will
make itself apparent. If he has a clear,
penetrating voice, the effect of a moder-
ate amount of obstruction may not be
noticeable, although 1t would certainly
exert some influence, greater or less, up
on the carrying power and resonance of
the tone. A mustache will interfere in
proportion to the amount of space upon
which it encroaches in the neighbornood
of the middle of the mouth. Thus, a mus
tache trimmed to the margin of the upper
lip, or one rolled from the middle of the
lip so as to be free of the margin of the
lip, however long it might be at the ends
would not interfere. drooping mus
tache, on the other hand especially where
1t covers the middle of the mouth, is a
great hindrance to the proper emission of
sound. The presence of but a few hairs
in this situation may materially modify
the tone waves and impair their effect
Anything better calculated to defeat the
object of he speaker than speech num-
bled through a dropping mustache with
the head bent downward could hardly be
imagined. The robin is an admirable ex
ample for the minister to follow. When he
sings he perches himself on a twig. breast
well out, head up, bill opened wide. and
pours forth-'throws out as the voice
culturist would say-his lovely little mel
ody. Surely common sense should be the
leading rule for a public speaker in this
and all other matters. One has little toll
GRAFTON for the man, your neighbor at din
ner, who addresses you with head bent
over his plate, as If in conversation was
subsidiary to the consumption of food A
minister who bends over his desk ana adj
dresses the floor should stand no better in
the estimation of his hearers y -