The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1925-04-03
NEWS REVIEW OF
CURRENT EVENTS v
Tornado Situation Well in
Hand-Second Arms
Conference Likely.
sy EDWARD w. PlckARD

BY EDWARD w. PtCkARO
THE aftermath Of the fve-state
tornado of last week is an object
lesson of the Irresistible forces of ma
ture before which even modern sci
ence Is abashed; Of the instructive re-
Spouse to- appeal from the afflicted
that marks man as "little lower than
the. angels" and of the remedial re-
sources of our Twentieth century civil
lization.
Returns to date include these
figures: $50 dead and 2.939 injured,
with additional deaths daily and new
cases of injury. Some bodies were
presumably incinerated. There Is still
list Of missing. In 16 Illinois COM
munities there are 655 dead and 2.110
injured. In Murphysboro, the largest
city, in the, devastated area, the toll
was 202 dead; 700 injured; 152 city
blocks practically swept clean; prop
erty loss, $4,00O.000.
Radio told the catastrophe. In
stantly all roads led to the devas-
tated areas. Herrin in Bloody Will
hanson" raced with the best-and
lost its new. $4,000 fire engine. High
priced surgeons from Chicago's "Gold
Coast" operated by lantern-light. The
thrush of man-help, material neces-
stiles and, cash-inrhand never slack
'ened.
No close estimate can be made of
the money raised and still being raised.
Illinois finished the legislative proc
ess Of appropriating $50O,OO0 Wed
nesday. Chicago Wednesday filled its
official quota Of 100000 and may run
on to $75O,OO0. Scores of organiza-
tions working Independently have
added many hundreds of thousands
and the end is not yet. All will be
needed.
NJ The emergency period is over. The
dead have been buried. The care Of
the injured and sick has been organ
lied and systematized. Rebuilding
is fast solving the problem of the
homeless. Soon the long, slow work
of rehabilitation will be under way.
This will be concentrated in the
American Red Cross. which makes it
a continuing process-it is still caring
for victims of the Lorraine tornado
and the Pueblo flood.
}THE lesson of the tornado would
i seem to be that science, instead
of telling us how it will annihilate
whole peoples in the next World war,
might well turn its attention to these
twisters, scarcely less deadly than
battles. Meteorology can explain tor
nadoes mathematically. Why then
can 1t not forecast them? The weather
bureau says 1t can never be done. 1t
also says nothing can be done to
counterfeit the whirls.
Never" and Nothing" are words
which do not seem to obtain in these
latter days of science. If man can
annihilate time and space and tor
nado takes more than four hours to
run its course, cannot science at least
do something to rob this visitation of
Immoral nature" of its terrors? Must
man go back to his Cyclone cellar?
If so, he would better begin digging.
This last loss is too great-whether
reckoned in human lives, time or hard
cash. 9&
A SECOND arms limitation confer
"A ence is likely to be held this sum-
mer in Washington upon the invita-
ton of President Coolidge. This Is
made probable by the rejection at
Geneva of the League of Nations pro-
tocol providing for compulsory arbi-
tration of all international disputes.
There can now be no cry raised Of
rival gathering" So the president
has set to work the new secretary Of
state. Frank B. Kellogg. on the task
Of sounding out the nations that took
part in the first conference.
The second conference will presum-
ably start where the first left off.
The first halted competition in the
construction of capital. ships. But
there is wholesale building of cruisers,
submarines. destroyers and airpIanes.
Limitation Of the construction of these