The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-07-24
COMMENTS ON MEN AND
 MATTERS OF THE WORLD,

people who had only the vaguest sdeas of the vatican and what goes on behind the great doors of the papal palace The stories of august ceremony and relig- ious splendor make most fascinating reading and It Is safe to say that not for a great many years has the press of the world had greater theme or one that permitted of more brilliant work on the part of the correspondents.
 It requires an exceptionally fine master of descriptive writing to do justice to the imposing spectacle of Pope Leo's funeral and the conclave of the cardinals. It Is subject that sonfe of our greatest writers of the past and present have attempted with more or less success and from that very reason the newspaper men in Rome are forced to exert themselves all the more to avoid the unpleasantness of nav ing their work unfavorably compared witn that of the novelists. The grandeur of the dead pontirs life and the universal mourning that has followed his demise justify the space that is being devoted to Catholic affairs in the daily papers. The press Is taking advantage of this fact and everything pertaining to the pope dead or the pope to be is eagerly seized upon.
 
 Over the land there goes up the cry that the modern detective is decadent and a farce. However true this complaint may be- it cannot be denied that the sleuth of the law in the plain every day sun- shine is not the resourceful and daring in- dvidual who figures so conspeuously In such lurid literature as Nick Carters Last stand" or "The Man Who Stole Bank at OlSamulgee." If all our detectives were like Sherlock Holmes the unfor- tunate criminal would have to go speedily out of business. but luckily for that in- dividua1 there are no men in real life who could ferret out crime as Conan Doyles famous creation did and there never will bs.
 The modern detective is really becom- ing a laughing stock and his grandiloquent chase for the elusive criminal so frequent fly meets with Failure that most persons are beginning to lose confidence. The most effective work Is done by the inconspicu- ous patroleman who goes unhonored and unsung. If the land were dependent upon the private detective for protection from the burglar, the safe cracker and numer- ous others of the species, we should all fare badly It is the man on the spot who does the work and the detective with his theories and his wig, his picturesque secrecy that is really publicity and his "cold, steely" eye. is becoming an insti- tuition of little worth.
 Now we ar told that Chrysanthemum land, the dime that we have alway con- sidered an earthly paradise, is unhealthy and a place that is dangerous to choose for a home. The climate is said to be disastrous to the nervous system on &C., count of the extreme humidity of the att mosphere This is caused by the gradual encroachment of the sea in certain places. Really if Japan is too hot, other less fa- vored lands must have more serious draw backs The question naturally arises where is man to live? What one country has the advantage over its neighbor in, is sure to be balanced by an equal number of undesirable features, and if we cannot live comfortably in Japan, where shall we be able to find place that is more sooth- ing to the mind of the dreamer or more pleasing to a man who Is seeking rest from the world? It seems that we are becoming very hard to please in some matters. If certain predictions come true when we take up our final abode there will be many who would be glad to occupy a villa in almost any old place in the world where they were once so discontented.