The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-01-27
LETTER FROM PROF. SMITH
COMMENT ON TOPICS OF RECENT
INTEREST TO CHICAGO EDU-
GATORS AND CITIZENS
REFERS TO SCHOOL MATTERS
"a Great System in Which the Pro-
fessor Finds a Great Deal to
COmmend-SOme Light for
the Benighted.

Special correspondence of the Globe
CHICAGO, Jan. 25.-One by one the dul
days of January are passing away and
Chicago is enjoying a season of quiet
almost unprecedented. The mighty
feeling of indignation that was reused by
the carnival of crime nas spent its
force. and we are compelled to tul n our
attention to the valorous conduct of Mr..
Roosevelt in Colorado, the sp:rite1 and
effective work of Mrs. Nation in Wichi-
ia, and to the oft-repeated announcement
that Mr.. Bryan's paper will appear en-
Wednesday," in order that we may
find something to break the monotony.
Now that 1.-The Commoner'' is really
out it rests with Mrs. Nation and Mr.
Roosevelt to continue the struggle for
recognition by the public of heroic and
spirited undertaking, and the honors are
seemingly about even. for, concerning the
conduct of each, it may be said that
nothing like it was ever heard Of be-
fore"
Nine. Bernhardt is at present attract
ing large crowds, and it is claimed for
her that her acting is better than upon
the occasion of her former visit here.
However, the best thing that she has said
was not acting at all, nor was it ut
tered on the stage. An enterpr.sing re-
porter was admitted to her presence and
Immediately propounded the question al
ways uppermost in the mind of a Chi
Ca goan:
What do you think of Chicago
Madame started, assumed her most
tragic attitude, cast up her eyes, and
her hands, and in her most awful man.
ner exclaimed. despafringly, dramatical
ly, explosively, Mon Dieu!'
She could not be induced to say another
word on that or any other subject and
really I think she mad said quite enough.
There are some people, however, who
visit this city for the purpose of study
ing its life and conditions, and among
the latest arrivals Is Miss Halle En-
mimic Rives who has been making spe-
cial investiga ton into the causes of the
great number of divorces. After most
carefully studying the whole s-tuat on,
she .'boIds the club movement among
women responsible for the great number
of divorces in this city" 1 confess that
this discovery is rather comforting to
me as / have for a long time fear,d that
the club" movement among men had
+. much to do with the increase in divorce
proceedings. There are great many
things that might be prohtably studied
here, but the G 10 b e S readers are
aware that I have attempted nothing of
the kind, although I confess that 1
have been deeply interested in much that
has been brought to my attention espe-
cially in certain scientific announcements
The officialC?) statement of one of the
professors of the Chicago university that
John D. Rockefeller is a greater genius
than Shakespeare, has not as yet been
followed BY the further statement that
Mrs Hetty Green is greater woman
than was the late Queen Victoria, but
those who knew the professor still believe
that he has something in reserve with
(which 10 startle the world. Prof. Loeb
has already been confronted with evil
ldence that his "eliXir'' has been in use
- IN F5rieland since 1918, and he has been
compelled to accept from eminent Eng
fish medical authority the judgment that
his discovery lis a fake and his elixir
ga hoax" 1t is not used in England as
an elixir at ALL but IL used simply to
SUNNY the arteries with sufficient huid
10 prevent them from collapsing. These
seeming drawbacks have in no wise
daunted the enterprising spirits OF other
professors who also desire that the pub
lie shall know of their existence. Prof.
I w. Howerth lecturing upon the sub
tiect of "Religion," stated that atheism
was not inconsistent with religion. That
to identify religion with belief in spiritual
beings was to relegate 1T to the realm OF
superstition, and that we must discard
The old idea that religion is bsltef and
right conduct. This is progressive doc
frine, surely, in hearty accord with the
conditions of our environment and
fully justified from the changed point
of view provided by science(?)-as some
may claim I trust, however, that your
readers Will reserve judgment
2 Nor are the astronomers silent. Ihey
ere at present much interested in settling
definitely the question, never sauS-
factoriIy answered, WHAT is it that nils
the Tremendous space between the eartf
and the sun? Father Sidgreaves, Of
Stonvhurst observatory, in accounting
for sun spots recently. held that they
werc not caused by disturbances on the
surface of the sun, but were the shadows
of vast clouds Of invisible corpuscles be-
tween the earth and the sun. These cor
muscles smaller than atoms, are "elec-
frified invisibilities," altogether too snail
to reflect light waves, but cloud OF
them may cast a shadow. Prof. Serviss
heartily welcomes this discovery and
awaits with profound composure further
DEVELOPMENTS. Here is matter for re,
Election and the active exercise of the
IMAGINATION the atom has always been
the despair of scientists and the an
nouncement that something smaller
has been discovered certainly comes as
Shock Although the atomistic theor!
IS plausible and seemingly logical, it con
tradicts an unassailable law of physics
viz. nothing can enter into matter thai
does not occupy space, and anything
that occupies space. however small, is
Invisible, ana must be Invisible ad in
1initum. If, therefore, the atom is UNI
Invisible, as held, it cannot occupy space
end it cnnot therefore ever be a part OF
matter however small. But here is some
thing electrified inyisibilities," smaller
than atoms. which, if they &c not occupy
space at least form clouds and cast
shadows upon the surface of the sun
dark and dense enough to be seen at a
distance of ninety-three million miles
Certainly science is making gigantic
strides in these opening days of a new
century. We can but wonder what vii
be accomplished during the next hundred
years.
SCHOOL MATTERS.
The school question is always unde
consideration and there is always some
thing to say about it.
The teachers federation scored an i'm
Tnense success with their entertainment
on the 18th, realizing several thousan
dollars with which to carry on the wor
of egualizing taxation. They have a sui
pending at Springfield against the stat
board of equaliza ton to compel it to as
sess taxes equitably and legally agains
corporations. The case will undoubtedl
go to the supreme court, and it will b
most vigorously fought. For a grea
Have Doc tors