davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The San Francisco call., 1898-01-30

more likely to survive under scant nutrition. But even if this is so would it be good for the generation to come to have progeny struggle so for an ex- iStence?
 Tn regard to the sex of the embryo. l am not prepared to make any state ments because nothing in regard to it has been proved: Hundreds of the best microscopes in the world are at work on this subject and new revelations may be expected at any day. The real state of the embryo might be any one of dozen different theories.
 'The most generally accepted theory at present is that two germ cells. male and fem ale, unite at the moment of cleavage and eventually form one or ganism. But this. while it makes pr. Schenk's theory plausible, is not an undisputed fact
 President David Starr Jordan of Stan ford University treats the matteras fol lows:
 No one can sit in Judgment on such discovery until 1t is made known If Is one thing to discover the law of sex and quite another to apply 1t success- fully for the production of definite re- suits.
 It IS fairly we'll established that the two germ cells, male and female. from Wnlcn the new organism is produced unite to form one organism. or cell which IS at first sexless, but capable or development along either of two lines, regardless of it's hereditary ouali- ties. These lines are the male or the female, and in most species the germ cell IS so accurately balanced that it will turn in one direction just as readily as the other. A slight stimulus suf- tces to turn it. What this stimulus IS, IS still partly unknown. How to apply 1t in the higher forms is wholly unknown, unless Dr. Schenk has solved 1t. It is known that with cer- tam or the lower forms high feeding turns the germs to females: starvation 10 males. In other cases warmth turns the germs to masculinity: cold in- creases the percentage of females. Doubtless any force which may act on the germ cell at the right time after fecundation may be a stimulus affect Ing its sex development in the one d. rection or the other.
 There is room for much more knowl- edge here, and Dr. Schenk may have contributed it. The art of producing sex at will in man and the higher ami mals Is not necessarily an impossible one At the same time I believe that It's acquisition lies far in the future'
The San Francisco call., 1898-01-30

sured. To accomplish this he must be honest, faithful to the interests of his employer and spend his leisure mo- ments in study. He should cultivate a taste for knowledge by reading news papers and books. If his occupation is such that he can't go to school in the daytime. go at night If there are no night schools let him study by himself.
 Poor boys cannot always attend schools and colleges. but with the prac- tical knowledge acquired in the strug- gle for bread, if they are studiously in- clined, they become equal if not su- perior to the college-bred boy.
 It does seem to me that a poor mans son has the best opportunity for sue cess if he conducts himself on the lines suggested. as life is not only a strug- gle but a stern reality with him. and there is every inducement, as well as necessity, if he would better his condi- tion to press onward and upward un- til he reaches the goal of his ambition.
 His lot being hard he will ask what makes it so and what can be done to make it easier He will soon learn that errors have crept Into the administra- ton of what is supposed to be the
The San Francisco call., 1898-01-30
w. H. V. RAYMOND, SUPERINTENDENT POLYTECHNIC
 SCHOOL.

fail as such boys have always failed. This believe to be the rule. Of course exceptions will occur as they have oc- cured. Though the environment may be harsher in some respects than it was fifty years ago, in others 1t is kinder. If there is less unworked ter ritory, if competition is keener, if the lines of business organization have been hardened, on the other hand there is more intellectual stimulus in the social atmosphere, and there are larger and more generous opportuni- ties for personal training and equip ment.
 But 1t will not do to forget that these opportunities cannot safely be neglect ed. 1t will not do now for the young man to risk his fortunes on the slender intellectual outfit that formed per-
The San Francisco call., 1898-01-30

freest Government on earth. and look about for the best way to correct them. His training will make him self-reliant. He will understand his rights and will be aggressive enough to maintain them.
 To my mind the opportunities for success are greater and more numerous now than when I was a boy. The great strides in progress we have made in the last quarter of a century have made it much easier to acquire Knowledge, and have cheapened everything that ministers to the comfort of mankind. Change the laws, make it impossible for trusts or combinations to exist, for the purpose of controlling either the output or the price of any commodity
 All laws should be for the masses and not for the classes. The volume of cur rency should be increased. All these reforms can be brought about by the people. Then industrial conditions will change, and the dawning of a brighter era not only for the present but the rising generation will be at hand. With proper laws controlling corporations and aggregate wealth coupled with our grand resources. I cannot feel with some that the outlook is gloomy
The San Francisco call., 1898-01-30

N thing so interested the scientific
 and medical men of San Fran cisco as the announcement of pr. Schenk of Vienna that he has discov- cred the secret of sex. Wherever two or more scientists or doctors chance to meet 1t is the one subject talked of, and theories and opinions are freely exchanged.
 The medical men as a rule do not put much faith in pr. Schenk's statement, but rather incline to the belief that the success attending his experiments has been due to mere coincidence. The sci- entists, on the contrary, say that the idea is perfectly feasible, but think that the importance of the discovery. from scientific point of view, has been greatly overrated. These men have gathered from the published state ments of pr. Schenk the impression that he held that he had made a most important biological discovery. This they deny and say that whatever he had discovered it only points to physi- cal facts. and has no bearing whatever on the theories of the origin of life. Although 1t is of greater importance bO tiC NOlI0, IL ID ilO IIlOIt d DlOlOBlCds discovery than was the discovery that rubbing the body produced warmth. It is simply the controlling of certain un- known forces to produce a certain de- sired effect
 Like all theoretical subjects, this one has many sides. There are many req sons why pr. Schenk's theory is cor rect. There are also many reasons why 1t Is wrong. Some physicians cham pion Dr. Schenk and say he is the greatest man of the time, while others pooh-pooh his ideas and laugh at his assertions. When learned men reach such opposite conclusions if is hard for the lay mind to comprehend the sub ject at all.
 Reasoning from Dr. Shenk's prem ises his theory must be correct. but if so happens that he has stated as facts things Which the scientific world has not yet accepted as such He may be right, but proof of his assertions has not yet been forthcoming.
The San Francisco call., 1898-01-30

had been made when one in a hundred could be spared for such purpose. The United States and Great Britain have reached a point where five in a hundred laborers are actually pursuing voca- tions that have for their object the ad- dition of ornament to what Is already useful.
 When the ratio is reversed and only five in hundred are required to pro- vide the crude necessaries and the remnant of society may devote itself to the higher order of occupations the economic problem will be solved. Hence a constant readjustment of vo- cations is necessary, and all laborers who are mere hands" work at a con- tinually growing disadvantage.
 It is unnecessary to success for a boy to be too particular about the choice of voca- rJO,.c c,t,tr tions. If he 'r'O"N0 J. ONoN'o' can't get em-
 ATTORNEY. ployment to his
 taste, let him
 -------------- turn his hand to any honest work until he can find a position through which success is as-
The San Francisco call., 1898-01-30

With his experiments, his theory will not hold good in the case of the Ameri- can Indians. These people, when they ran Wild and almost starved for a cer- tam portion of each year, were blessed with an average number of sons and udugnters. But since the white man has taken 1t upon himself to provide a plenty or provisions and the necessaries or ll1e so that our noble red man and req woman really lead life of luxury, compared to the old days. there has been an increase in the birth rate of
The San Francisco call., 1898-01-30

Dee nas no bearing Whatever on Dr. Schenk's theory.
 pr. Schenk's statement that scant feeding of the mother will produce male oHsprlng IS certainly borne out in the animal kingdom This was proved many years ago and has long ceased to be new. Experiments were carried on in England in which frogs and tadpoles were used and the results left no doubt as to the fact. Scant feeding produced males and luxurious feeding produced females. It is also a we'll
The San Francisco call., 1898-01-30

cell, and if there is such a thing as sex in the embryo it must be in ex- istence from the beginning.
 If Dr. Schenk's theory works it would be merely carrying out Dar- wins idea of the survival of the strongest. By starving the mother it would appear that she could not fur nish sufficient nourishment for a fe- male embryo. consequently there would be no fertilization in case chance led to that impregnation. The male em- bryo being the stronger, would be the
The San Francisco call., 1898-01-30

known fact on the cattle ranges of the West that in the years of drought more males are borne to the cows and sheep than in the years of heavy rainfall and plenty of feed.
 But successful as some experiments have been in this line, others have been equally as great failures. The great Darwin attempted to experiment with pigeons to this end, but met with dis mai failure and concluded that there were some things even beyond natural selection"
 Successful as Dr. Schenk has been
The San Francisco call., 1898-01-30
W. Mills.
Rabbi Voor5op$er HenryEHi9bton
 JW Reid. JuIiU5 Kahn.

AS the to-day good chance of getting in k1 world his father had?
 ! ! Consider the question moment and will find it Is becoming very serious problem. The revolution wrought every life by machinery, the altered professional life, and the economic cond tons present altogether different of affairs than when you boy At least say great many deep thinkers.
 President David Starr Jordan of Stanford University declares time is coming when the unskiled la place of kind in the industrial bucket of coal and bucket of water will do his work and do The laborer must brains into his work and brains will always be in demand" S
 Says Julius Kahn The poor young man of the pres ent generation in the of life heavily hand capped Intellectually physically he is probably bet equipped the struggle than his predecessors But the road to success is constantly narrowing Failure is not of the it the fault of exist ing conditions.
 Rabbi Voorsanger: I believe that the modern industrial made it harder for boys to
The San Francisco call., 1898-01-30

what should be, according to Dr. Schenk's theory. But, of course, there may be other forces at work of which there is no knowledge. For in- stance, the women may not be as well treated as they were in the old days of savagery.
 Dr. Gustav Els en, curator of mil croscopy of the Academy of Sci- ences, is greatly interested in Dr. Schenck's theory, and thinks 1t very plausible.
 Dr. Eisen has given t h e b e S t years of his life to the study of biolo- gy, and his discov- cry in regard to t h e indepndence of the centrosomes of animal cells has given him a place in the front rank of the great scien- lists of the world.
 In speaking of the matter, Dr. Eisen said: "Dr. Schenk's theory is perfectly plausible from a physical point of view. Bi- ologically, though, it amounts to noth- ing, for the life begins long before
The San Francisco call., 1898-01-30

the modern micro- scopes will not re- veal differences in the embryo is no reason why such exist, and there is no telling what the instruments of tomorrow will show. Only about half a century ago the best micro scope built showed the blood corpus cles only as flat disks. Since then they have been separated into a thousand parts as the glasses were l n c r e 0 s Q d in strength. And the end is not yet.
 Dr. Schenk also cites the creation of queen bees as a fact to bear out his theories. As is we'll known to anybody with even a slight knowledge of nat ural history, the queen bee is an undeveloped fe- male to begin with anu tile cnanSe In her condition is only a matter of fertilization. The bodily structure is all present in the first place and the feeling merely de- velops it. Some of the best biologists in the country state that the ere ation of the queen
The San Francisco call., 1898-01-30
JULIUS KAHN, ATTORNEY.

struggle than ms predecessors. But the road to success is constantly mar rowing. Failure is not so much the faultof the man; 1t is the fault of exist ing conditions.
 Opportunities are becoming rarer Competition is growing keener in every line of industry. Take the learned pro- fessions-they are overcrowded. The few succeed, the many simply exist. Take the skilled mechanic-he Is con- stantly being supplanted by newly in- vented labor saving devices. Take the clerk-woman is rapidly invading his territory. Take the farmhand-he must retire before the advance of improved agricultural implements. Take the merchant-what chance has he with his limited resources against the mod ern department store. with it's immense capital and practically unlimited cred it? Take the manufacturer, covered as he is by the AegiS of protection-even he succumbs to that power of aggre- gated capital, the trust and retires from the field disheartened, broken. bankrupt.
 The last generation witnessed struggle for wealth; this generation witnesses a struggle for existence Salaries are decreasing-the cost of liv- ing increasing. Legislation is power less to remedy the evil. It may delay the inevitable conflict between capital and labor, but sooner or later social revolution will come.
 The proper field for young man to- day is in a new country. There lies his opportunity. Englands statesmen have always recognized the advantages newly opened territory offers. For hun dreds of years they have been found ing colonies for British subjects in all quarters of the globe. The other Euro pean nations are beginning to pattern after England. Africa is already we'll partitioned among them-Asia will be the next scene of colonial aggrandize- ment On our own continent the gold fields of the Klondike are just now the promised land, and within the next decade hundreds of young men to whom the future looks dark and for bidding, pioneers in far. frozen Alaska, will become rich and successful be- cause of the opportunities offered in the development of that new country.
 
 I think there are as good opportuni- ties for a boy to get a start In the
The San Francisco call., 1898-01-30
1. B. McCHESNEY, PRINCIPAL HIGH SCHOOL,
 OAKLAND.

offered there should be better opportu- mites now than formerly. But compe- tition is severe. and if a young man would get on he must be alert and give his time and energies to whatever he undertakes. The law concerning the survival of the fittest applies to the young man in business as we'll as to the perpetuity of the plant or the ami mai.
 I consider education. or, perhaps. to state my meaning more specifically, a weil-trained mind, more necessary to success now than years ago. All o11r industries are becoming more and mora highly organized, their successful pur- suit requires a knowledge of a wider range of science and the more intricate laws of the material world. Conse- quently, brains will hereafter be 9 greater factor in success than brawn
 While it is true that the introduction of machinery is constantly throwino. men out of employment, it must ha ra9 membered that at the same tima ,+ opens new avenues of labor Rea5iustN ment is the order of the day. and those who are quick to perceive and ready to adapt themselves to new conditions will be successful. -Ai
 The world will have no use for drona. or parasites.
The San Francisco call., 1898-01-30

born forty or ff- ty years earlier. If he has good stuff in him, he will win as the older boys of that kind have done;
 if not he will
The San Francisco call., 1898-01-30
5: ,. ,: ..:.

For instance, he has published over his own signature the statement that the animal embryo is sexless. This fact has not yet been proven. Because
The San Francisco call., 1898-01-30
WHAT -DR. JORDAN THINKS.

WF4AJ DR. JORDAN THINKS
 No sit judgment discovery It is thing discover the fully for the production of d4fnte ss:. 8 g. 8 2. ............s
The San Francisco call., 1898-01-30
DIR. EISEN'S VIEWS.

To mind Dr. Schenks perfectly physical Bologicay though nohng creation of the cell
The San Francisco call., 1898-01-30

TO " NA NN TIT tN P
 eral way by a glance at the evolution of hu- man vacations. The more appli- cation of ma
The San Francisco call., 1898-01-30
David 5torr Jordan WI. ndrrlS
 -J.B.MeCheSReV
 ThO5. CIUnle
 WH.V Raymond

along. That is popular fallacy which IS and stimulated by the shallow one-sided education children. Some professions overcrowded many industries tagging behind because an imperfect knowledge of their importance. The amply able afford living to all it's daughters; the very basis of law and order.
 Says William H. Mills When comes so solving the direct question, What shall do knotty problem, for his chances before the present system There pessi misc outlook but there will be suffering during the the remedy readjustmen cooperation on equitable basis.
 J. w Reid thinks "a boy has splendid chance ceed well if he succeeds but that the number who succeed in given becom- ing smaller and smaller Almost every profes- is overcrowded."
 W. T. Harris: The man must rise above the machine must learn society that no machine can him a situation.
 The above opinions show merely the drift ideas on this subject
The San Francisco call., 1898-01-30
w. T. HARRIS, u. s. COM MISSIONER OF EDUCATION

chinery the less laborers are needed in the departments where a narrow, spe- cial education will suffice. and the more the laborer Is required to have a gen. eral and humane culture. This doc urine contains the cheering gospel of final emancipation from drudgery. The only condition attached to it is that all shall be educated. This condition is the best part of the gospel. It makes it the business of society to see that all are educated. It becomes the interest of the selfish man as well as the ideal of en- frightened philanthropy to have every member of society so intelligent that he can find his vocation in the higher order of human occupations.
 The history of industry goes back to a time when only one in a thousand of the able-bodied population could be spared for the creation of ornament or the ministry of culture. Great progress
The San Francisco call., 1898-01-30

male infants. In fact, in some of the pueblos of New Mexico the scarcity of females is so great that the races are dying off. This is directly opposite to
The San Francisco call., 1898-01-30

or since the discovery of the
 X-ray by Professor Roentgen,
 about two years ago, has any
 thing so interested the scientific and medical men of San Fran
The San Francisco call., 1898-01-30

world now as there were forty
 or fifty years years ago. AS labor is more di- versified and a greater variety of OHnl1nafi0nr ic
The San Francisco call., 1898-01-30
SttALlsWE>DO&WlTnsOUR%BOYS

haps the capital of the father. True, that always, as now, the winning boy must be eager, open-eyed, determined, unconquerable But added to these personal qualities our young man must know his subject and it's relations twhether-in theoretical or in practical fields) in more complete detail than was formerly essential.
 Not only must equipment for voca- tion be more complete, but 1t must come to be recognized, as always 1t. was true, that men are needed at all posts in life with an overplus of power for their work, and that of such men only can anything like success be pre- dicted. You cannot pour a man into an occupation as you can pour wheat into half-bushel and make exact measure of him. If he does not round up he will be scant. If he is to win the trained man in him must overrun the outline of his occupation From the scavenger to the college president the man must be superior to his calling. Success hinges on the mastery between the two. If the man Is master he is safe. If the occupation is master the man Is lost.
 I believe that our boys have inf1n- itely less to fear from machinery and trusts than they have from failure to perceive that this truth is universal. despotic and relentless If we were tq realize the splendid possibilities wrap ped up in the noble provision made In this State and in the United States for vocational training this principle can- not be too often asserted or too strong ly emphasized. I see boys daily drift ing hopelessly away from all chance of success, because of feverish discon- tent at their failure to get what they want rather than a divine discon- tent" with their unfitness for 1t.
 
 I insist that a boys vocation or call ing must be determined by his mental
The San Francisco call., 1898-01-30
]. w. REID. ARCHITECT.

say that l regard the outlook for the average boy as very promising know that the tendency of business is to go into fewer and fewer lines, just as the tendency is to limit houses to a small area by building them very high
 Take architecture as an example: It Is fact that in this city as well as in every other one a few architects do all the business. I suppose it is safe to say that there are a few hundred firms of architects in every city of the size of this in the United States. yet you can almost count the firms that do the business on the fingers of one hand Lawyers tell me 1t is the same. I find that few firms in the law do all the business. When you come to medicine 1t is the same. Out of all the doctors In a given city it is a very small num- Der that do any business to speak of
 Now if this is the tendency of all lines of human industry it is plain to be seen that while business was never so good for the successful it was never 50 bad for the many who do not get ii to do. The success of some and the failure of others from a monetary point of view is not due to a difference in their abilities either, for know great architects who have failed, men who really knew their business in the most thorough manner. l can name a lileu WllO ndu InOney anu dDlllIy ana he was at one time the greatest of all the architects in Boston, yet he is to-day the editor of a great weekly paper It is hard to say why he failed in his chosen business. I think a boy has a splendid chance to succeed well if he succeeds at all, but 1t seems to me that the number who are to succeed in a given vocation is becoming smaller and smaller. Almost every trade and pro- fession is overcrowded.
 
 The question of what a boy shall do
The San Francisco call., 1898-01-30

In my judgment no poor boy to-day has reason to regret that he was not