Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1904-07-30

frienu anu teacner, Dut more wonder
full is the triumph of the young won.
an who can neither see nor hear, even
though achieved with the help of one
SO remarkably capable and devoted as
, Miss sullivan.
~EA
The cheapest thing in the world IL
human life. You do not always an.
preciate that fact, but the logic that
stamps the statement as truth-horri.
BILE. naked TRUTHS all about you, and
can be found in almost every disaster
that brushes. burns or chokes the lives
out of human beings. The lesson of
the Slocum disaster. as shown by the
investigation, Is that there was some
cOwardice and any amount of careless.
ness Of the criminal kind that might
cause death at any time. The life pre-.
servers were rotten. 1ne captain of
the Slocum should have known 1t. The
crew that handled them, the officers
who commanded the crew, the owners
Of the boat. all should have known II.
And on the inspectors who failed to in.
spect rests the heaviest responsibility
OF all. There had never been a fire
drill on the Slocum, within the mem.
DRY Of one member Of the crew, who
had been on the boat for years. Gov.
eminent navigation rules provide for
fire drills. and the captain knew II,
and his officers knew 1t, and the crew
knew II. The hose was worthless and
the pump couplings did not at. and all
along the line, from owner to govern
ment inspector. there IL an astounding
trail Of negligence that makes one
shrdder. And yet, these men are not
blOodthirsty. They have wives and
children, and would not have hesitat.
ed to take them on board the floating
coffin. misnamed pleasure craft.
They did not hesitate to trust their
own lives to unsafe equipment. Care
lessness seems to be an American
characteristic. The sun shines. the
sky is blue and there Is scarcely
ripple on the surface Of the sea. Who
cares about the future? Let to.mor.
row take care Of itself. The band Is
playing and life seems pleasant.
There Is too much Of that sort Of IA
talism mixed in American living. It
may do for the Orient, but In America
life should be sacred. 1t Is going to
be difficult to punish any one man,
or any set Of men. for the Slocum dis.
aster. In few days the busy world
will have almost forgotten the horror.
But there should be lesson in the
tragedy for humanity. and every man
who holds a position even remotely
connected with the safety Of the pub
lie should ask himself, Am I Doing
My Full Duty" Perhaps some good
may come from terrible disaster.
The most interesting and the most
remarkable feature Of present electri.
cal development Is the invasion of far.
away, semi.civilized lands by tele.
phone, traction and power transmits.
sion systems and other agencies for
the application of electrical forces to
the uses of mankind. And not the
least interesting phase of this invasion
OF benighted lands Is the difficulties
that are encountered by the engineers
who have In hand the practical wOrl,
Of blazing the way for the march OF
electrical science. In Abysslnia nearly
500 miles of telephone wires are nj.
ready erected and about a thousa nd
miles are In course of construction
The first difficulty encountered was the
white ant. The poles were devOured
SO rapidly by this pest that 1t was soon
necessary to substitute iron poles
These were so attractive to the ma
tives that they began tearing them out
and converting them into tools. a prac
tive that was finally stopped by met
ing out severe punishment to the Of
tenders. Elephants ana monkeys now
constitute the principal source of trOu
bic. The elephants use the poles al
scra tching posts and the monkeys find
that the wires make good swings. II
far.awny India electrical development
IL progressing with wonderful rapidity
In spite Of the many obstacles that art
presented. In The Electrical Review d
correspondent, writing from Sivasamu
dram. describes many important elec
trical projects about to be inaugurated
The MysOre State government hal
sanctioned the proposal to supply cleo
trio light and power to the city o.
RangalOre from the generating station
at the Cauvery Falls. There Is al
ready a O2-mile transmission line from
the Falls power plant to the Kola
; gold fields. 1t is also proposed to sup
ply the city Of Mysore with light an
: power from these falls. A lOOO.hors
power steam.electric plant IL bein
constructed on the K0lar gold fields ia
/, operating hOists and for lighting tn
entire fields. A project 10 also on foe
D to electrlfy the Kolar gold fields raj
way. Minor insta llations in other pro,
7 inces Of India are being proposed
] among them being an electric p0we
: and lighting plant near Srinagal
;. Kashnir. in the northern part Of II
}. dia, power for which will be take
!. from the falls In the Sind river. Th
;. chief difficulty with which the eng
Q neers have to contend in India IL th
J. fondness of the natives for cope
}. wire, which they fashion into jewelr
u and ornaments. To keep them frol
{ appropriating the telephone wires 1t
! necessary to carry very high voltag
j. which IL suspended autOmaticall
r when a person who desires to tai
0 gives the signal.