The Norfolk weekly news-journal., 1911-01-27
Round About
New DIRK
NEWS AND GOSSIP OF NEW YORK

NEWS AND GOSSIP OF NEW YORK
/ New York, Jan. 2l.-New York has
recently been the scene Of several
spirited meetings, having for their pur-
pose the adoption of national flower.
Great rivalry has developed among
the various factions favoring different
posies, but it now seems evident that
the lines of battle will be drawn be-
tween the advocates of the mountain
laurel and the friends of the colum-
bine. Petitions to congress are now
being prepared by the leaders on both
sides, and the solons at Washington
will be asked to arbitrate the matter.
Prof. Frederick Leroy Sargent, for.
merly of Harvard but now instructor
of botany at the University of Wiscon-
sin, heads the columbine forces, and
has just delivered telling blow upon
the laurel adherents. He asserts that
laurel contains a deadly poison, andre
medotoXin, which, If II is as bad as 1t
sounds, should be sufficient to for
ever blast the hopes of the laurel low
ers. This poison, says Prof Sargent,
is more powerful that strychnine.
On the subject of his favorite flower.
the columbine, Mr. Sargent has waXed
enthusiastic. Blooming red, white and
| blue in various parts of the country,
the columbine, says Mr.. Sargent, is
certainly a patriotic flower. But that
| all to Arit f,It
the same Latin word as Columbia and
Columbus. That ought to be more
than sufficient, but listen: Botanically
the columbine belongs to the genue
aquilegia, which, as you must know,
! is derived from the Latin aquila, mean
ing the eagle. A bird of a flower
what? But Prof. Sargent doesn't stop
there. The terminal segment of the
columbine. he asserts, contains thir-
teen parts, symbolic of the thirteen
original states.
Meanwhile, the members of the Kan
sas club of New York, in the interests
of peace, are planning to run the sun
! flower as a dark horse.
weren't you?-tomorrow will be the
centenary of the birth of DR.. Edwin
II. Davis famed throughout the world
as a physician, medical instructor, au-
thor and archaeologist, and the ami
versary will be informally observed by
the scientists of this city.
DR.. Davis was born in Ohio January
%, 1911, and died in this city May 10,
1883. He gained Immortality through
his work, THE Ancient Monuments
of the Mississippi Valley" which the
distinguished Swiss scientist, Morlot
declared was "as glorious a monu.
ment of American science as Bunker
Hill is of American bravery" This
great book, the result of years of pa
tient research in the valley of the
Father of Waters" constitutes the
Smithsonian Institution.
: Another centenary soon to be OBJ
served is that of William Page, the
, artist and portrait painter, which falls
: on Monday next. Albany was the
birthplace of Page, but most of his life
was spent in this city, and he died a,
his home in Staten Island in 1885. Fol
many years he was the president o.
the National academy. He was also
an enthusiastic sportsman and invent
i, ed many improvements in boats ant
guns.
The tendency of young ladies to al
ter the spelling of their names is b!
no means confined to shop girls. "Tht
Colonel's lady and Judy the Ogradeigf
e are sisters under the skin" Just nov
there is an epidemic of this sort o
phonetic spelling, and, although it hat
its beginning in Washington, thu
craze has spread to New York societ,
circles and will doubtless soon max,
itself felt all over the country. Thu
, eldest daughter of the secretary of thu
:, navy commenced it. Originally Mis-
. Alice Meyer, she lately announced tina
she Is hereafter to be referred to b.
press and public as Miss Alys Meyer
n All the Alices in the society of New
:. York and Washington are now practic
ing the writing of "Alys" and the old
fashioned Alice will doubtless sool
!. become extinct in our best social cir
a cles.
The number of people who have dis
I covered South America is constantly
increasing, and considerable add
tion to the popular knowledge of tn
southern continent will be made b
!. the excursion of the steamship Blue
1 cher, which sails from New York t
/, day on a seventy-four day cruise t
r South American and West India
/. ports. The tourists will visit the prir
II cipal cities and places of interest 4
Brazil, Uruguay, Chile and Argentine
passing through the straits of Mage
" Ian. A few years ago such a tou
6 would have attracted little patronag,
8. but New Workers and the people q
l. the country at large are now awakin
;. to the fact that there is much of IL
terest to be seen In South America, a
we'll as great possibilities in the wa
Is of trade and commercial development