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36 WINNETKA TALK January 21, 1928 FOVNIAIN SQVARE - EVANSTON Telephone for Your Books: University 1024 Rogers Park 1122 Wil. 3700 Reduced! $1.50 Bare Souls Gamaliel Bradford Summer Storm Frank Swinnerton Versailles Cecelia Hill Adventures in Editing Chatles Hanson Towne Lincoln N. W. Stephenson Confessions of an Actor John Barrymore Ebony and Ivory Llewelyn Powys The Man Mencken Isaac Goldberg Americana H. L. Mencken Tor Sherwood Anderson The Symphony Play Jennette Lee Field, Forest and Farm Jean Henri Fabre $1.00 The Great Hunger John Bojer The Political Life of Woodrow Wilson Where the Blue Begins Motley The Divine Lady E. Barrington Thunderstorm G. B. Stern Jill E. M. Delafield The Dancing Floor Jobhn Buchan Skin Deep Naomi Royce Smith Here and Beyond Edith Wharton Definitions Henry §. Canby North Avenue Maxwell Bodenheim The Younger Married Set G. 8. Chappell The Drury Club Case Williams The Mother's Recompense Edith Wharton Manhattan Transfer John Dos Passos The London Adventure Arthur Machen LORD'S BOOKSHOP Just Inside the West Davis Street Entrance -- Public Forum Editor, WINNETKA TALK: Now that the Gray-Snyder case has ceased to have news importance, isn't it time for thoughtful persons to con- sider whether capital punishment is worth to the nation all it costs? In the case in question the murder was premeditated and brutal. Very justly the jury found both defendants guilty. Such a verdict in the state of New York means a sentence of death. And so, because these two had killed anoth- er, we see the machinery of the state set in motion to kill these two. Is it possible for a sovereign state to commit murder? Does the fact that a group of men constituting a legislature vote to require the killing of murderers by an employe of the state make such killings less than mur- der? Are we ready to admit that the men in control of the capitol at Albany or at Springfield can absolve the warden of the prison from the stain of murder simply by passing a law that requires him to kill one human being because The very first Record will tell you THE only real way to convince yourself of the difference between a new Orthophonic Victrola and an old-fashioned machine is to play them side by side. Let each in- strument speak for itself. On the Orthophonic Vic- trola, you'll hardly be- lieve it's the same Victor Record, so realistic is the reproduction. Call on us to demon- strate the Orthophonic Victrola in your own home. We'll simply put it beside your old ma- chine and leave it for a few days. You can com- pare the two and judge for yourself--at your own leisure. No obligation. Come in--today! North Shere Talking Machine Co. 712 Church Street Evanston University 4523 Open Evenings that person killed or another? 1f we do admit that it lies with the majority in the state legislatures to determine when the planned and de- liberate killing of one human being is murder and when it is not murder, then we shall have to admit that what is murder in one state is not murder in another state. For example, the warden in New York is required by vote of the legis- lature to kill human beings with full intent and deliberation, whereas the warden in Wisconsin would be found guilty of murder for the identical act helped kill upon a convicted murderer in his charge. What has the execution of Mrs. Snyder cost the nation? I leave out her co-murderer because the execution of men is comparatively common, whereas the electrocution of a woman is rare enough to hold intense public interest for days before it takes place. The cost to the nation is not im- mediately reducible to terms of money, but rather in terms of the degradation of the human spirit when it, volun- tarily or not, participates in the de- liberate killing of another human. It is quite safe to say that fully one million persons followed, at least in imagination, every detail leading up to the actual execution of Mrs. Snyder, from the moment of the farewell visit of her mother, the last earthly meal and what she ate or refused to eat, the shaving of a spot on her head to make sure of good electrical contact in the chair, the arrival of the executioner and the testing of the electrical con- nections, the preparing of the death certificate, the arrival of the twenty "guests" of the warden, and finally the death march of the doomed woman to the chamber of execution. And then the final climax when the electrodes are attached to her head and wrists, the black mask drawn over her head, and the throwing of a switch that ends her human life. Does it require a trained psycholo- ~ist to appreciate that the sustained occupying of the public thought with all the ghastly horrors and grewsome details of the impending death of a human being, that is to be deliberately brought about at an appointed time by other human beings acting for the state, introduces into the emotional life of the public elements of fear and horror that do untold damage to a wholesome outlook on life? We don't have public executions these days. Our legislators are unani- mous in believing such exhibitions would not be good for the public eyes. Our present method combines the oreatest efficiency without in any way flaunting the moral standards set up by our legislatures. Instead of per- mitting the few hundred persons with untrained eyes who could get close enough to see anything in a public execution we exclude the public and nermit the warden to invite twenty highly trained observers as bis "guests." They furnish the eyes for the "excluded" public. Our radios and newspapers do. the rest. Charles A. Kinney Based on population estimates for Tuly 1, 1927, Illinois has an average of 130.18 persons per square mile--an in- crease of 14.48 persons since 1920. CHANDLER'S for BOOKS The most complete book stock on the North Shore FIND 1927 RANKS AS YEAR OF GOOD HEALTH Material Decrease in Disease Prevalence Indicated Throughout Illinois An apparent six per cent decline in the mortality rate and a 21 per cent drop in the combined prevalence of typhoid fever, scarlet fever and pneu- monia made 1927 one of the most healthful years in the history of Illi- nois. The statistics, made public this week by Dr. Isaac D. Rawlings, state health director, cover the first ten months of 1927 for deaths and the whole year for the prevalence of con- tagious diseases. They show 3067 fewer fatalities from all causes in the state for the ten months and a drop of 7306 in the case reports of typhoid fever, scarlet fever and pneumonia. "Complete returns show that typhoid fever caused only 1292 cases of illness against 1677 during 1926 while pro- visional mortality statistics suggest that fatalities from this disease dropped below 200. This is in strong contrast to twenty-five years ago when mortality from typhoid rarely fell below 2000 per year. Scarlet Fever Drops "Prevalence of scarlet fever tumbled from 14,244 cases in 1926 to 11,842 last vear, a decline of about 17 per cent. This marked decrease was doubtless favorably influenced by the sharp im- provement in the sanitary quality of milk supplies in the state and by the widening use of vaccination against the disease. "Pneumonia declined by fully 25 per cent, the cases reported dropping from 17,629 to 13,110. So marked a decrease in this highly fatal disease had a pro- nounced and favorable influence over the mortality rate. "Smallpox incidence rose from 1098 to 1247 cases while measles went up from 31,511 to 41,014 but neither had a seriously unfavorable influence over the mortality rate. "With 6335 case notifications diph- theria caused more illness than in either of the last two preceding years but the prevalance was still far below the average for the decade. Big Mortality Drop "Mortality returns from all causes for the first ten months stood at 68,505 against 71,572 for the corresponding period in 1926. Estimating a one per cent increase in the population these figures give rates, on an annual basis of 11.3 and 12.04 respectively per 1000 population. Since no serious epidemics complicated health conditions during November and December it is antici- pated that final figures will show an exceptionally favorable mortality rec- ord for the year. "Infantile paralysis was considerably more prevalent than at any time since 1921. = Since this disease ordinarily travels in two year epidemic cycles a return wave in 1928 is feared." "The Gossipy Sex" Next New Evanston Production "The Gossipy Sex," a play which has a definite moral to teach but teaches it amusingly, is on the menu next week at the New Evanston. And the "Gossipy Sex" is not, they say, the type that is commonly por- trayed talking over the back fence So there you have something unusual at the very start. The play was written by Lawrence Grattan and was presented in New York City by John L. Golden, national- ly known for his presentations of fie enjoyable plays of American life. The total wealth of Illinois is equal to the combined wealth of the neigh- boring states of Indiana, Wisconsin and Kentucky, plus that of New Hamo- shire.