The Washington times., 1920-05-18

st. loan Of Arc.
Ups and Downs In History.
Scarcity and extortion.
And Government Folly.
By ARTHUR BRISBANE.
sG.nv.l.hf Iaaal

II. BY ARTHUR BRISBANE.
Copyright. isao)
" On the last day of this month
four hundred and eighty-nine
Years ago, Joan Of Arc wns burned
alive at Rouen, as sorceress ana
witch Thousands yelled with de-
nEht as she was led TO the stake
whore flames destroyed her body
but not her courage.
! She died very bravely, declar-
ing that the voices that led her to
save France had not deceived her.
|. and with the name Of Jesus the
last word on her lips.
This to the superstitious mob
: seemed strange in one burned as
as sorceress. Some thought per-
maps they had made mistake, and
tne executioner cried, IL have com
mitted an objectionable SIM
Zone to his reckoning long since,
ne knows whether or not the sin
was objectionable; we don't know.
But we do know that the sec
retsry of the English King that
delivered Joan of Arc to be burn
% was something of a prophet.
The secretary said: "We are lost;
we have burned a saint"
History has vindicated his
judgment.
Joan was made a saint officially,
with all the authority Of the
church, two days ago.
Fifteen years after she was
burned Josn's reputation was re-
stored by the Pope, who revoked
the verdict that pronounced her
sorceress and witch.
1t is an old story, now happily
ended in the right way, verifying
once more the lines that reconcile
US to the sorrows of others; not
SO comforting, perhaps, while you
( are being burned.
Right foreuer on tho scafold,
Wrong forever on the throne.
But tho scd6oId guards the future,
And behind the great unknoW.l
Sttteth God a0ithtn tho shadotD
Keeping tOatch above HIS 0Un."
In all events, ancient and mod
ern, there is useful suggestion.
The sad death of Joan Of Arc
should do a good deal to encour-
age cremation, the commonsense,
scientific method of disposing of
dead bodies, infinitely preferable
to burying them out of sight as
other animals are buried.
Some object to cremation on the
ground that it destroys individu-
ality. -
1t has not destroyed yoon of
Arcs individuality. She was
burned, her ashes were thrown
into the River Seine, and by this
time have probably been washed
into the English Channel and out
into tho Atlantic Ocean.
But Joan Of Arc has monuments
everywhere, especially in the
hearts of the French. And at the
last day the Power that rules
everything will be able TO find
Joan and deal with her justly, as
easily as though she had been
buried in a respectable graveyard,
with q neat headstone to help the
Angel Gabriel identify her.
King Mausolus himself, origi-
nal man with the first-class fun
eral, after whom everybody's
"mausoleum" is named, has no
such identity as Joan, who never
had any funeral.
The magnificent tomb that Queen
Artemisia built in honor Of her
husband Mausolus long since fell
in ruins. What is left Of it was
taken by the English and is now
in the British museum. Perhaps
the ghost of Mausolus hovers
around at night, waiting for some
ouija board or Sir Oliver Lodge
to help him express indignation.
DR.. Manning, director Of the
United States Bureau Of Mines,
says we shall soon have fuel oil
famine. He may be right-or
wrong. There is enough oil in the
shell rock of Colorado alone to
last the world for five hundred
years. Someone may find a way
10 LIldL VII bSioho sAiS No
rious oil monopolies get the pub
lies last dollar.
But il the United States supply
of oil is to be exhausted, that fact
should arouse the Government to
something more than talk.
Isn't it possible to stop the GRIM
inal waste of oil and gas wells on
fire, "gushers" running to waste,
struck by men without knowledge
or power to control the oil?
| II an oil famine is coming,
should not the Government regu-
late the extortion that will be
made easier by the announcement
of the director of mines?
That announcement by itself
will help to jump the price OF Raso-
line from thirty-four cents to fifty
and from there to a d,'lar.