G)
"Ralph GonnorV
Warning to the
Young Readers
of -A
menca
F YOU had your choice, would you take
a nest of rattlesnakes into your home
rather, than one of the highly inflamed,
erotic novels that have marked recent broad
sides of modern literature from the printing
press?
You say you wouldprefer to handle the
red-covered volumes of fervid love stories?
'But if you had children- daughters just bud
ding into womanhood, or sons whose minds
might be receptive to evil suggestion? What
then?
"if I had my choice," declared "Ralph
Connor ---the Rev. Charles IV '. Gordon, of
Winnipeg, Canada "I would rather take a
nest of vipers into my house than such a book.
Rattlesnakes might kill physically 'but bad
books kill spiritually, f would rather take
the worst man into my home a man of de
graded, corrupt morals and let him be
among my family, than a decadent book.
the evil influence of a man but sou can't pro
ject children from the bad influence of an
evil book'. An evil book has a personality as
much as a, human being. It cannot be de
stroyed. Its influence is msidious.
"The popularity of erotic fiction and pu
trid poetry tends to degrade and corrupt the
youth of the land. The success of books of
mis type m a menca is most sigmpcani. ti is
ominous
R
ALPH CONNOR," as y6u know, Is the author
of "Black Rock.'! "The Sky Pilot'" and a num
ber of other : novels which have enjoyed
tremendous popularity. They are all healthy
books, dealing with rugged people, out-of-door life;
with men, and women with red blood In their veins,
normal moral Instincts and high character. ''
. What Dr. Gordon has to say, therefore, concerning
the popularity of such books as the"late production of
Mrs. Elinor Glyn Js of unusual interest -
,
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V Tou Will remember the iuss that was stirred up . .i y -- ' , - .; -
when the Titian-haired authoress published the story "--:'S-- , .: .
of her hero, Paul and fresh in your mind are the ' "W-MPORTANCB of the discover? af electric narcosis.'
breathless, whispered discussions with s youf friends Tttlu t tl ffi .KiVtT ilrT I n
about , the book. Critics were almost unanimous In I . neP termed, Is one which) America will
consigning It to the .literary hades, . which meant a JL appreciate Only less than Europe, 'because here
sale of about 875.000 copies. And so it was the sue- - the use of ether has registered a lower percent
efts of the season. . . . age' of fatalities than has attended the more general
- T6u recall, too, the visit of itrs. Glynto thlaooun- employment of chloroform ! Eurp more general
; THE OREGON . SOKDAY JOURNAL, PORTLAND, SUNDAY
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to
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try, her spirited ruction with the Puritan Mothers In
New Tork and her Indicant denial of any iuffgeitlon
of Impropriety In her novel.
"Why, the declared In a softly murmuroue voice,
uplifting- her eyebrows, "It Is a moral story. It teaches
a moral. It is the story of a young man's awakening
his spiritual awakening through the love of a beau
tiful and noble woman."
Some people took It at that. One would not dare
discuss some of the drollery of Balzao in polite so
ciety, because It Is not Immoral, but unmoral. Mrs.
Glyn gave her story a moral. That saved It in her
opinion..
Recently there came on an evangelistic mission to
the United States from his parish In Canada. "Ralph
Connor." Appalled by the popularity of decadent
books 'in this country, in an interview he has uttered
the most ringing words of warning. He foresees a
corruption of the youth of the country by modern
books. He can see no moral in such stories. ,-
"This is as though one would have to go to hell
first to get to heaven. Is it not? Personally. I have
not read Mrs. Glyn's book. I do not think I should
wish to do so. But from what X am told of the story
the claim of its teaching a moral Season is absurd.
"When I read a book It leaves a most vivid im
pression on me. It is as though I had met the char
acters. And books which leave evil impressions wreak"
more spiritual harm than vipers."
The success of books of that type in this country,
is regarded by the Canadian clergyman as the most
HEKE is hopeleading scientists of France
" t t AJ L-A
are Already declaring ii a cerwuniy mat
the mortal dangers which have always
lurked in the use of ether and of chloro
form as anesthetics are to be ended at last.
lu Nantes, Professor Leduc, assisted by Miss
louiBe G. Kobinovitch a young girl physician
from, New York, who has already won distinction
in France and Germany by, her experiments in
electrical anesthesia, has developed a remarkable
method of inducing narcosis, or suspension of
sensibility, by means of the interrupted current.
" llisa Robinovitch is likely to receive a permit
to apply the system, on a large scale, to the patients
in the insane asylums of Paris. M. Louis Parisot,
who is general councilor for the District of the
Seine, declares that the discovery is destined to
influence greatly both medicine and surgery.
It can be applied not only to the uses of
major, turgitfal operationa, but also to cases of
acute mania and of delirium tremens.
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ominous sign of national decay.
, "In England a really healthy book has little chanoe
nowadays," he declared. "The people have been poi
soned by the fetid,, hothouse literature of the drawing
room. Many of the popular books are perverse and
poisonous. The people want such things.
"But in the United States the people have demand
ed healthy literature. And the recent popularity of
decadent fiction Is a slgit of a cancerous formation. It
should create alarm in the hearts , of parents. They
should protect their children."
An author, in the opinion of Mr. Gordon, should be
judged by the influence of his books; whether they
uplift and help the reader, or whether they depress
the mind, weaken the character and corrupt the
morals. Some of the most popular writers, he says,
pander to a demand for the forbidden.
Among the writers who have to greater or less
degree Injected the decadent note In their books he
places "Lucas Malet" (Mrs. St. Leger Harrison), An
thony Hope, Marie Corelli, Hall Caine and Algernon
Charles Swinburne.
"People buy what they like to read," ajild the Ca
nadian writer, "and the fact that they buy bad books
Is one of the most awful signs of the times. It shows
the mental attitude of a people. Books which deal
with sin and make It attractive or glorify the baspr
passions are deadly, poisonous, fatal. And such books
are on the library shelves and tables of many fam
ilies. They are literary rattlesnakes."
EROTICISM LACKS POWER
Possibly you have read Swinburne and surged on
the roseate waves of passionate melody. But have you
ever analysed his poetry, grasped the thought be
neath the musical lines and become acquainted with
the naked Immorality clothed beneath the glamour
of his genius? ,
In the opinion of many critics Swinburne is the
greatest living poet, the one notable figure In con
temporary English literature whose voice sings above
the mediocrity of the day. His work is classic. "Ralph
Connor" asserts emphatically.:
"Most young people and most women would find
Swinburne deadly. His poetry is wonderful; it pos
sesses sweetness and rhythm; It surges and sings
and ripples with music and song. It intoxicates one
With its sweetness and bewilders one with its ravish
ing music
"He has put In words the singing of nightingales
and the thunder of the sea. But In many of his poems,
beneath the words that flow so marvelously, one de
tects grisly, horrible things. He touches gracefully.
Upon things which, if expressed In ordinary language,
would disgust and shock people. Many of his poems,
while musical, are rotten.
"Swinburne would appeal to the man who has
gone through experience and tired of simple things
and seen the lower phases of life. To the inexperi
enced mind, which cannot detect his sobtletlea, many
of his poems would have anything but a wholesome
influence.
"I fall to see any effect of Swinburne on English
literature; I cannot detect a single mark of his in
fluence. Shakespeare Is alive today in every man's
mind, because be was strong and vital. Many of these
writers who are the product of a certain type of Eng
lish society, of the hothouse variety, are popular for
efy.
Sard
i ' 'i
HORNING HAY ; 3, v 1908
V, ' - f - '
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a little wUe, but the current soon changea
"In this country there was an effort to make Sa
lome popular; It failed. The effort to give a vogue
to the poems of Wilde is another evidence of an un
healthy taste. His poems are graceful, beautiful,
imaginative, but there is not in them a single vibrant
note of power; passion undoubtedly, but not the calm
strength which would appeal to the person with the
big heart and broad, healthy mind.
"In many books of fiction I find a lack of rever
ence for marriage, loose Ideas about love and a lax
sense of responsibility. The evil of such books is
that they make sin attractive; by a specious phllos-
111 W-TAM I
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.Promise, to
AT-
For years there has been no physician who has
dared use either of the treacherous drug's without
preparing for a deadly collapse, of his patient, and
far too many such collapses have eocurred In spite
of every precaution taken.
Recent experiments upon the organs of patients
who have died from chloroform and ether have shown
that the most important organs of the body undergo
a fatty degeneration heart, lungs, liver, brain and
kidneys and the opinion is gaining ground that the
appearance of .fatty, degeneraUon of eome of those
organs in patients who at the time appear to suffer
a minimum of inconvenience from the inhalation Is
due to the baleful anesthesia.
Professor Ledua's experiments, extensively con
ducted upon animals, were carried by him. in the true,
",p.'ritf c!no. up to the use of man as his subject;
with himself as the first subject.
The result, he explained recently, was a narcosis
analogous to that of ether, a condition in which the
subjeot Is , without power of voluntary movement,
makes no reply to stimulation, and exhibits only some
reflex movements,' such as the beating of the heart
and respiration. This state, produced by the action
on the brain of a definite electric current, can be main
tained for several consecutive hours, and eeases lm
. mediately with stoppage of the current.
APPLIED TO BASE OF BRAIN
' In order te Induce electric narcosis, the circuit is
formed by the supply, the rheostat, the interrupter,
the current reverser, the milliampermeter - end the
.subject.- The hair is shaved from the head of the anf
mal to be" experimented on, dog or rabbit. The naif
should be shaved off close and the skin-must . not be
cut. The shaven surface must extend la front to the
eyes, so that all the anterior part ef the brain Is
traversed by the current and under Its Influence.
Oa the shaven surface is placed a thick piece or .
fiS
ophy they tend to blind people's eyes as to the propet
relation of right and wrong. ' . .;i
"Take Anthony Hope's 'Double Harness.' Hop la
undoubtedly clever; some of his stories are th most
delightful I have ever read. I admire In many way
and consider Zenda a superb romance. The Dolly
Dialogues' are diabolically clever. But his . idea of
marriage is loose In Double Harness" he is like a
man dancing a tight rope over a precipice. One
watches breathlessly to see whether he can get back.
But Hope deals with these things dexterously."
"What do you think of the books of Hall Caine
and Marie Corelli?" was asked.
"I find a bad streak in both of them." he replied.
"Caine, however, usually does paint evil without mak
ing it attractive; he depicts the punishment of the
sinner. I think the philosophy of Corelli is pretty (
shaky." ".'-"'V,. ' . j
Probably eveey reader of "Three Weeks', gloated j
over "The Sorrows of Satan." In this book is tha fa- j
mom lovi scene between the Prince Lucio the earth-!
ly incarnation of Satan and Lady Sybil Elton. It
takes place in the depth of night on a stairway. Ladyj
Sybil is in a white shimmering robe and la the red'
glow of a window depleting the martyrdom of EC
Stephen pleads) to Satan to reciprocate her love. V I
The husband, listening at the top of the atairs, '
bears Satan scornfully reject the love-mad woman. Of ;
course. Lady Sybil had a terrible end. A scene in
some respects resembling this takes place In "Sir
Richard Calmady," the popular novel of "Lucas Malet"
"Parts of this book," said "Ralph Connor," "are J
ghastly. "Lucas Malet" has written some charming
things; she can write beautifully, and I thought It
was pitiable that she should have put her pen to this."
"INGROWING?' LITERATURE
Another authoress who has undertaken to treat of
the smart people of London society is ."Frank Danby,"
whose "Pigs in Clover" won such popularity, . The
book was universally decreed as being "clever, but
"slightly naughty." ....!
'"Literature In London has been Ingrowing for
years," said Mr. Gordon. "There the modern man hah
his being 11) the Strand. The popularity' of hooks of
this sort in the United States is alarming. Parents
should be sure to learn the character of the book
they buy. ':
"I regard the United States as a field where cas
grow up a healthy, virile, strong, wholesome liter
ature. The colonies of the British empire and South
Africa hold promise. They will produce great things.
The men are of a manly type. Of the British colonies,
Canada, in proportion to its population, baa done morv
than any other. Mrs. Glyn's book, which received such
an enthusiastic welcome In the United States, wa
not very popular In Canada.
"In England today Wordsworth Is not popular. Th'
people prefer the drawing room poets. They ajk
'What is good and what is evil' what cood boov
and what Is a bad book? There are standards of rlgh'
asjd wrong In life and books. As X said, what elevate
strengthens and ennobles is good; what tends to cor
rupt, enervate character and destroy faith, la evil.
"It Is a happy thought, however, that so bad boot
has ever lived. People always demand what is their
leveL I have read copies of The Gentlemen's" Migr
aine, published a hundred years ago, and the corre
spondence in It is awful. ' i
"America undoubtedly is a great field for, grest
good literature. But if you want to get it, you muy
be careful that the coming generation is not poleonc
by noxious poetry or fiction."
absorbent cotton, soaked with a hot 1 per cent, solu
tlon of sodium chloride. On this is placed a pllabl
tin electrode, to which la soldered the conduct! n
wire. The second electrode must be much larger, r
may be placed on any point of the body, so long ;
It is symmetrically placed In the axis.
Alt the aceeaaory-apparafaaes are placed betw
the supply and the large electrode on the back, wbf
Is connected with the positive pole. The head ei
trode must be connected directly with the negau
pole. By this means the potential of the 'heail r
mains always that of the negative pole f t&e supp
When the experiment is properly carried out, t
animal passes quietly and gradually, without a tr
without a defensive movement and without a sln
pain, into a state of cerebral Inhibition analogous t
chloroform narcosis. The experiment can be top;
instantly by cutting off the current - ,
Awakening is Instantaneous; usually the. anlm
gets on its feet, looks quietly around, shows no '
of suffering, fright or fatigue, and. when rele.i'
from the electrodes, jumps about gayly and tats wi
appetite food offered to it. ... ,
There are no after efTeots, no vomiting, rarelv
little stupor. The experiment eeetns te cause bo r a
for the animals not only o not show It, but evir.
no resentment, no aversion toward the experiment'
no fear and no revolt during preparations fur
0thrr Robinovitch, assisting Dr. Ledua in seme of t
...in.. trent a rabbit Itr- electric narounU t
i.h hnnn ajid twenty minutes wtinwi ins-rr
- tlon. ' The
animal came to without diaplaylntf
comforts "ft- vVjuo himself.
In
presence of Malherbe and Konxeau, of the tjcl...'
Medicine of Nantes, the current was
flciently high te cause total unoonscloun"". b it
carried far enough te convince the praurs t;
necessary this could have been don.
The current was-rained to J vlts n 4 t
peres In the Interrupted current. AUoih.f i r.
duo was under tb influence of tti cirr-nt 1 "
'minutes. He fo't n fte effects, nnl- we '
' such a sense of well being an-1 rhysirxl v;
mediately afterward he lectured before, the i
IUtraite Ouvriera .