The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-05-25
COMMENTS ON MEN AND
 MATTERS OF THE WORLD

The weather prophets stare that we are going to have a summer that will be re- membered as very hot. They have scien- tihc reasons for their predictions so of course know what they are talking about. They say that the seasons degrees have thus far been below the normal and therefore a reaction is in order. Ex- tremely hot weather will mean trying times for visitors to the fair, since St. Louis Is one of the hottest towns in the country along in August. but the rest of humanity will probably be able to worry along after a fashion, as there is no prospect of an ice famine
 A laboring man in Rising Sun. Ind. went mad the other day from reading newspaper accounts of he Gillespie mur- der trial and took poison. His life has probably been saved by this time, but his case raises the question of the pos sibilty for harming people of morbid and over-sensitive temperaments by the wide publicity given murders and other revolting crimes through the columns of newspapers. The question has been dis cussed before and is bootless. So long as there are newspapers sensationalisnl will perhaps predominate, because that is what the people seem to want.
 Much discussion has been evoked by the action of the Kansas school auth-orl- ties in declaring that children in that state shall no longer be tsught how General Funston swan the Bag-Bag river in the Philippines. In fact the COIL troversy has reached such point that the general himself has felt called upon to save his fair name and his heroism from being discredited He says that he | did swim the Bag-Bag with a skirmlsh- ing party April 26, 1S99;~ and that his act was confused with the swimming of the Rio Grande river by two Kansas soldierF on the following day. just prior to the routing of 4oOO Filiplnos Dy forty five American soldiers. As the Bag-Bag is a small stream only 100 feet wide and probably contained very E,tle water any way, there is no reason why the generals statement should not be acce pted in good faith.
 A new menace to frail humanity has been discovered in what some writers are pleased to term the dust devil" It has been discovered that many 6is- eases turk in the dust of city ;,r .ts snd therefore 1t is up to- science to dispose of the dust. One-third of the army of street sweepers in New York city are afflicted with pluminary complaints, which are believed to be the result of their work. yet there is some satisfaction in knowing that dust is not quite so elusive as some other dangers which science has revealed to us here of late, and so long as the menace is tangible the majority of humanity will be able to get along somehow, in spite of the risks taken.
 "Sweetsie" the new pet of the Lehrs, is attracting much attention in various parts of the country. For the benefit of the uninitiated it may be stated that "Sweetsie'' Is dog on .he "Pinky-Panky- Poo" order. In addition to consuming Lehrs ''Sweetsie' is the subject for long winded editorials in the newspapers ana has become in fact a natior al figure. "Sweetsie' should congratulate himself that he belongs to the Lenrs for if he were the property of any one else he would be an ordinary dog PC