The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-09-23
Our Place Tn the Picture.

Editor The Advertiser:
 I clip from the press the following very interesting items of achievements in the world of enterprise, which are distinctively of American origin. l have made certain notes which explain the part taken in the list by the States of the South and for obvious reasons, the facts should be admitted general
 Americans founded the first govern ment under which all men were equal before the law Since the declaration of independence was publishd to the world the democratic idea has hourly rsesiged msseS .ee%y esw snf now Note: The predicate is not true. but, taking 1t as 1t stands. Thomas Jeffer- son. of Virginia, wrote the Declara- ' Americans were the frst to dem- onstrate. the feasibility of relying on a citizen soldiery to defend the land domestic attack"
 Note: No man, in the States except George Washington. of Virginia, could have commanded the & eitizen citizen. soIdIerx 70. Xe success valuable.
 Americans were the first to abol- ish titular distinctions and to deprive social eminence of any support save character or the consensus of those who choose tSc consider themselves as
 Note: The Southern people have aI- ways been, since the settlement ot America, the democratic element and 1t was Jefferson who led the advance "ft was an American who Invented
 sAn American invented the tele' s$2n American invented the tsle-
 "An American invented the electric
 Note: It was the Georgian. Long street. grandfather of Lieutenant Gen eral James Longstreet, c. s: A, who put on the water the first boat pro- the Savannah river. He preceded Hud- son. As to the telegraph, Senator John C. Calhoun was more influential, per- ever S put m up than any other member project depended.
 An American invented the ,srs reaper s: billion and more people on this plan
 Note: The inventor of the reaper
 Tt was an American, too, who in vented the sewing machine.
 Americans also were the conquer oy means of sulphuric ether, the ten derest human nerves could be made insensibie to the surgeons steel"
 use of suIphur7c ether in surgery. Americans opened the ports of Ja- pan to the nations of the world. made a path into darkest Africa. and now two Americans crown the geograpni- cal achievements of their countrymen by discovering the North Pole." Trade with China from these shores was opened eight years before trade with Japan and John Tyler. of Vir- ginia. was the President under whom the negotiations were entered upon and forced to a conclusion
 In this time of dependence upon government weather signals for secu- rity of life and property, let us not | forget there was no such institution in all the world, as a government Weather Bureau. until John c. Cal houn. Secretary of War. set one up in the United States. Then all Europe embraced the Idea. Commodore Ma thew Maury. of Virginia, greatly en- | larged the system but he worked from Calhoun's foundation.
 Maury made charts of the sea, its winds and currents, entirely new. ana steam itself effected no greater revo- | lution In ocean navigation than these works of his. By Maury's charts, Raphael Semmes knew exactly where to find the ships carrying the trade or the United States and this knowledge alone gave him the prowess of the seas with one little armed cruiser for purposes of war.