davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Washington times., 1905-12-31
WILL MARK
ERA IN ALASKAN AFFAIRS
Consul Ravndal Say Northern Territory
Will Surpass Colorado and Cali
fornia in Gold Production.

Beyond doubt the Alaskan Yukon Ex-
position in Seattle in 1907 will mark the
beginning Of new era in affairs Alas
kan" That's what Consul Ravndal. OF
Dawson. Yukon. says officially to the
Department of Commerce and Labor of
the exposition. He was reporting on
the wonderful output of gold in Alaska
during the year beginning October Is.
1904 and ending October Is, 1905.
and the new era he speaks of is
one in which he expects to see Alaska
surpass Colorado and even California
In gold production.
Despite early frosts. which cut short
the crop. the value of the output fer the
past year is estimated by the consul al
s14.000. 900. The season previous il was
about $9. .0oo, 600. and the season before
that only Sc. .0O0.0
in the next few years the consul ex-
poets TO see the population of Alaska
increase very rapidly and the wealth OF
this country doubled.
The Washington times., 1905-12-31
Manners in the Vatican.

II appears our good Americans
must go abroad to give their most
glaring exhibitions of bad manners.
1t does seem some of them take a
special delight in seizing the con-
spicuous occasion for such perform
ances, when there can be neither
hope nor chance they will escape OBJ
servation.
There was a specimen perform
ance of this character in Rome, only
a few days ago, when two American
visitors, admitted to an audience with
Plus X, at their own special instance
and request, and, probably. after
their own determined insistence. ne
elected to l1neel when His Holiness
made his appearance. They justi-
fed their conduct, presumably, upon
the ground that an American citizen
is too grandly free to kneel to any
earthly parsonage.
OF course, it was just bad manners.
The well-bred man or woman, ad-
mitted to any society or presence,
yields accordance 10 the conventions
of the place and the occasion. If he
feels personal dignity will not allow
this course, he stays away. He does
not permit the cravings of an idle Gu
riosity to place him in a position
which he can occupy only at the
sacrifice either of his self-respect or
his courtesy.
Opinions differ Iargely-and very
properly and easily-as to the degree
OF outward reverence to be accorded
the Pope In it's final analysis, it is
a matter of religious belief. But,
among those whose character and un-
/ derstanding of life's amenities give
their conduct weight, there is no diff
/ ference as TO the Pope's full title 10
the respect of all men. Those who
seek his presence and then give a
boorish exhibition of their own lack
! OF good manners are entitled TO no
praise for independence. They mere
/ ly discredit their country-and them
/ selves.
The Washington times., 1905-12-31
A Chance to Do Work.

An institution of great potential
usefulness has come into existence in
Washington this past year En-
rolled in its membership are about
$50 of the Capitals chief figures, in
business, art, and society. Three
meetings, surprisingly well attended,
attest 10 the activity of the interest
which enlisted these people. Now
the body has reached the crossroads,
when it must decide, as all Washing
ton institutions have to decide.
whether its existence shall be mat
ter of form merely-in this case an
agreeable, compldcent, attractive
form-or a means TO great practi-
cal results.
The institution is the National So
ciety of the Fine Arts. At it's head
is one of the city's foremost men OF
affairs, Mr.. Charles J. Bell. It's roll
reads like the social register and the
catalogue of the Society of Washing
ton Artists combined and seasoned
with the names of men and women
too busy for society, and occupied
with other pursuits than painting or
sculpture.
These citizens nave come together
The Washington times., 1905-12-31
TWO CHRISTMAS TREE FIRES
CAUSE SLIGHT DAMAGE

Two Christmas tree fires attracted
the attention of Fire Chief Belts men
last night. Sixty-flve dollars damage
was done by the two blazes. and Bruce
Hutchinson, OF 1888 Newton street.
Brookland, was painfully burned about
the hands and face, while endeavoring
TO extinguish the flames in his home.
The first fire occurred IN the home Of
Edward Hurley. s4i A street southeast
When the candles We're lighted the cedar
branches took fire and in an instant *
was a mass of flames. Members of No.
engine company responded TO local
alarm and extinguished the flames
after about s25 damage was done 10 the
furniture
About S o'clock the candles on the tree
in Mr.. Hutchinsons home were lighted,
and few moments later the branches
were set afire. Mr.. Hutchinson pulled
the tree over on the floor and then began
beating out the flames with his bare
hands. His burns are not thought to be
OF a serious nature
The Washington times., 1905-12-31
THE BOARDING HOUSE TURKEY.

How dear 10 my heart was the boarding
house turkey
The toughest old turkey that ever
knew;
The drumstick, the wishbone, the wing
and the white meat
1t mattered not what part a poor
boarder drew.
1t first had a place on the table on
Thursday.
On Friday our gaze once again on II
fell;
We saw IT on Saturday. Sunday and
Monday.
There never was turkey that lasted so
we'll,
The boarding house turkey, the iron
bound turkey,
The moss-covered turkey that lasted
so well.
That moss-covered turkey l hailed as
Ii gave startling proof of the land
lady's skill:
In counting the ways IL was used l
found pleasure,
IN bet that old turkey is on duty
still
As goulash and salad and stew she oft
served IL.
As soup and as hash many meals it
would swell.
IL heavens for turkeys there's one that
deserved IL.
That boarding house turkey that hung
on so well
The boarding house turkey. the Iron
bound turkey,
The moss-coVered turkey that hung on
so well. Detroit News.
The Washington times., 1905-12-31
BELL KITE FLIES
WITH HEAVY MAN
Flying Machine Makes Sue
cessful Flight.
UNDER PERFECT CONTROL
Inventor Says He Is on Road to Solu-
tion Of Problem Of Aerial
Navigation.

HALIFAX, y. s.. Dec. 30.-PrOf. Alex
ander Graham Bell thinks he Is a step
nearer the attainment OF his ambition
TO perfect flying machine based on the
tetrahedral kite principle. He has been
experimenting in this direction for sew
cral years or his estate of Benin
Bhreagh, Cape Breton. On Wednesday
he succeeded IN getting his latest de-
signed kite, which he has named the
Frost King, TO lift a man named Neill
McDearmid, weighing $50 pounds, to o.
height of thirty feet and support him
there as steadily as if glued to the sky.
This kite, which is named in homer of
Walter Archer Frost. Of keenan,, Wis.
was first flown on the day OF that
young mans marriage last week to Miss
Susan Winifred McCurdy, br. Bells
private secretary, and on that occasion
IT held a man on the rope. but only five
feet from the ground and at the end OF
flying line.
The kite. which is constructed of
1900 tetrahedral cells, having a total
area OF 752 square feet Of silk, making
supporting surface OF 440 square
feet, carried sloft not only its own
weight OF 81 pounds, but also load
comprising flying lines. dangling
ropes and a rope ladder. making 50
pounds more. together with McDearmid
making a total altogether OF 2ss
pounds.
McDearmid ciung to the flying line
close 20 the kite. as he was lifted
gracefully into the air. There he re-
mained for several minutes Until salts
factory photographs were taken Of the
kite which was for the entire time
under perfect control
It's descent was as graceful as it's
ascent, slow and steady. and it alight-
/ ed gently upon the ground, without
] perceptible damage to any OF its fragile
cells. While not the largest tetrahe-
( dral kite to be successfully launched
at Benin Bhreagh, it is the largest that
/ has supported itself at such an alti-
tude and carried such weight
/ Prof. Bell left for Washington,
greatly pleased with the result Of the
experiment, and convinced that he had
passed another milestone on the road
toward complete success in his attempt
/ to solve the problem or aerial naviga-
tion with bodies heavier than the air.
The Washington times., 1905-12-31

and pastoral duties be almost entire
ly disregarded. One of the clergy
men observes to Public Opinion
tersely and justly: mo business could
flourish by that method, and few
churches can"
A greater demerit than this lies in
too many churches. 1t is a spirit of
rivalry, which, if it does not produce
interdenominational conflict, fosters
proselyting. The most extraordinary
appeals are made with the most ex-
treme force. No one who has ever
entered a community embittered by a
contest campaign like this will doubt
that it is most costly mistake.
Proselyting growth is never health
full. Sooner or later, the new strength
is lost. The other churches in the
meantime have suffered grave injury,
and the earnest men and women who
have given their hearts 10 work in
those folds carry on througl. their
lives the bitterness SO engendered.
Meeting this problem lies with the
larger governing bodies of the sew
eral denominations. Sensible men
win not expect a missionary who has
given to any field every good impulse
Of his life year after year willingly to
abdicate. But the larger bodies can
compromise mutually-a concession
They ought to do SO, by every con-
sideration of economical administra-
ton, effectiveness of labor, and ear
nestness for the great cause to which
they are all consecrated.
The Washington times., 1905-12-31
Is 1t Worth While?

Andrew Carnegie has no son and only
one daughter, SO his hundreds of mill
lions Will start no line of Carnegie kings.
Russell Sage has neither son nor daugh-
ter and his fortune will be scattered
among strangers. Leland Stanford had
only one son and he died. G. p. Hunt
ington had no children Frederick Van
derbilt has no children. Perry Belmont
has no children. And three of the
younger Rockefellers, although married
for ten years or more. have no children.
This is the remarkable information
conveyed to us by Cleveland Moffett
in Success. 1t is a revealing table.
Il it may be found the whole story
of present-day materialism, the open
ing chapter and the last, with all its
greedy ambitions realized-and all its
human hopes choked.
For nothing these childless rich
can buy will give the castles they call
their homes the Joy that comes into
the poorest shanty with little child.
Libraries by the thousand, invest
ments by the hundred, colleges spread
railroads girding continent with
ribbons of steel, securities choking
safe-deposit vaults. levy on all the
light of the world-not any of these
things or all of them together can
fill the heart and brighten the life
like a single, little, bad, worrisome.
towsel-headed youngster. And a
family of them is joy multiplied.
Yet these people, as a class. have
chosen to have it SO. They knew
from their own childhood what it
was that made the real home, but
they willfully locked it out. Most of
them have lived in dreadful loneli-
ness. All of them must die in awful
solitude. And for money-which has
to be spent to be enjoyed and simply
cannot be enjoyed alone!
What a sad thing it is, What a
pitiable thing it is to see people
oozing vinegar, exhaling bitterness,
breathing either stinginess or extrav-
agance, boarding, counting, storing,
shaving, deliberately shutting out of
their hearts the sweetest, the most
joy-giying, the noblest association
men and women can ever know in
this happy, fearful, whirling, settled
world of oursl
Is it worth while? Go and stand
before one of the Libraries Mr..
Carnegie has built to hand down his
name and ask yourself that question.
Or look at the dingy figure that men
call Russell Sage. Or contemplate
the lonely sorrow of old Senator
Stanford when his only boy had died.
Or picture Coils Huntington here in
Washington wasting the shadowed
evenings of his life lobbying for
money that was not his. Or note
the lives those others lead, lives of
shell and crust and ostentation. or
else lives Of heavy emptiness. Then
think just once of your own home,
and the sunshine of the laughter you
hear there-yes. and the choke in
( your heart when some one there is
/ i'll. You will not need to ask them:
Is IL worth while?
The Washington times., 1905-12-31
Japan AND HER DIPLOMATS
Bu Mrs. JOHN 4. LOGAN

captious or was delighted over a great
victory he never betrayed either i'm
pulse. and was the same imperturbable
diplomat He was most hospitabie and
generous in his charities without osten-
tation at all times.
His masterful speech on the occasion
Of the farewell dinner rendered at Del
monico's by the American Asiatic Soc
iety shows with what conscientious in
tensity he has been studying the COM
mercial interests Of the United States
and Japan.
His prophecy as to the future of the
United States and the possibilities and
population of our country proved his
comprehension of American affairs His
tribute TO the United States as being
''the most upright and equitable judge
of the Far Eastern questions, and the
most sympathetic and reliable friend or
the Just and true was most graceful
and doubtless spoken with perfect sin
cerity.
His further testimonial 10 the greatness
Of Washington, Lincoln, and Grant as
great men who in times of adversely
have arisen to rescue our nation from
unparalleled calamities, and his accord
ing to President Roosevelt all honor for
bring together the two warring ma
tions CRussia and Japan 10 meet for
the negotiations OF peace" were equally
The Washington times., 1905-12-31
PASS FATAL DOOR
NEVER TO RETURN
Five Perish While Seeking
Ancient Treasure.
ASP PHYXlATED IN CAVE
An Extraordinary Story Is Reported
From Karnak, in Upper
Egypt.
SPHYXlATED IN CAVE

CAIRO, Dec. 30.-An extraordinary
story is reported from Karnak. near
Luxor. in Upper Egypt. A native. who
had suspected the existence OF antiqui-
ties in the plot of land on which his
house was built, began digging in the
hope of discovering some treasure. and
discovered an old door, which he opened
and entered
AS he did not come back his wife fol-
lowed him, but she too failed TO return
Their son and daughter thereupon fol-
lowed their parents, but also did not
come back. A native vino afterward fol-
lowed them met with the same fate.
The authorities were informed OF the
matter, and it was found that these FIVE
unfortunate people had been asphyxiated
by poisonous gas emanating from the
pit or inclosure into which the old door
led.
The Washington times., 1905-12-31
Are COuntry Churches Declining?


Public Opinion has been inter-
ested enough in the present condition
of the American church to canvass
scores of rural congregations and OBJ
tain statistics on the general ques-
ton: "ls the country church de-
clining?"
Since 1894, It's figures indicate that
the farming communities have
gained constantly in their work for
religion, and in the last year cov-
cred by the figures the gain was
greatest of all. Thus, forty churches.
which had membership of 5,19S in
1894, advanced TO $50 by the year
1904, and to 7.07S by the year 1905.
What loss there was is counter
balanced by the gain nine times, and
in the average church the progress
during the last year was 21 per cent
of all the progress made Such fig
ures answer Public Opinions ques-
ton with a convincing NO"
But figures are not all the story.
=
Their general showing is beyond con-
travention. Only ten churches. in
fact, out of the whole number, re-
ported losses. Yet there are individ-
ual stories of loosening grip, of
young people slipping away to the
cities. of boys and girls drifting to
the factories and then beyond pas
toral reach, that make the heart
ache. The church is not standing
still in the country; 1t is going ahead
steadily. but there is an untoward
number of stragglers, nevertheless.
The great trouble, as every active
churchman has observed. is that
America has too many churches.
Towns which might be well admins
tered spiritually by one clergyman, or
two. have six. eight, or ten. No one
of the six or more congregations can
pay for good preacher. Few of
them can pay all the cost OF any
preacher, however poor. Nor can any
one of them pay for all the time OF
their spiritual leader So, only very
young men arc 10 be had, and the
demands upon their time cover so
wide a territory that preaching must
be almost their exclusive occupation
The Washington times., 1905-12-31

Representative John wesley Gaines
of Tennessee has exhibited keen de-
sire TO become thoroughly acquainted
with the rebate question. He was a
caller at the Interstate Commerce Com
mission recently In search OF htera-
ture and statistics to enlighten him
self.
Mr.. Gaines says the people of his
district, the Sixth, which takes in SIX
counties, with an aggregate popula-
tion of 209,0 want rate Legislation
and he is going 10 do all in his power
to help them get it. He does not like
the way the thing has been handled
thus far, though he declares the surest
and best way to get the desired results
is to let the Interstate Commerce Com
mission take complete charge or 1t.
He would, however, recommend that
the duration Of an Interstate Com
merce Commissioned lease of office be
extended to at least seven years. AS
1t is now, he says. no man can get
around the question IN the proper way
in the time he is appointed TO serve.
They really can't find out fully
Whist rebate discrimination and illegal
practice mean in that time" he said.
The rnultifarious duties of statesman
in real life were illustrated yesterday
by the appearance of Senator Dolliver
at a coroner's inquest, in the matter OF
the death of Mrs. Mark Minor, who
had died as a result of being run down
by a young man on a bicycle The
rider was a messenger for the Depart
n1ent OF Agriculture, and constituent
of the Senator.
| Away back in the eighties" when
Mr.. Douiver, as a country lawyer, was
The Washington times., 1905-12-31
The Law 0i tic Banks.

When the three Chicago banking
institutions controlled by John R.
Walsh went to the wall. a few days
ago, there were walls and cries of
protest. 1t developed that their fall
had been due to their intimate con-
pection with the financial operations
of Walsh and their more or less COM
plete dependence upon his financial
stability.
That the national banking law had
been violated in wholesale fashion
was apparent at once, but this fact
aroused no special indignation. There
were some voices crying in the will
derness, it is true, but when the asso-
ciated banks of Chicago, for the sake
of protecting their own credit and
averting a panic, came forward and
guaranteed the payment of the Walsh
liabilities, the voices subsided. They
were stilled absolutely when the Sec
retary of the Treasury, the official
head of the system of national banks,
calmly announced that the violation
of the law prohibiting national banks
from loaning more than 10 per cent
of their capital to any one person. as
long as creditors were all paid, was
no concern OF the Government, and
the department intended to do moth
ing whatever about it
We have very eminent banking
authority for the statement that this
provision of the law is antiquated
and has no rightful place in modern
business life. Among the distinguish
ed gentlemen who have made such
announcements is included James IL
EckeIs, former Comptroller of the
Currency and now president Of the
Commercial National Bank of Chica-
go.
Against such authority it would be
hazardous, perhaps, for mere news
paper to array it's own opinion, bu;
it is true that had the prohibition OF
the law been observed. in the case
of Mr.. Walsh and his banks. those
institutions would still be standing
and secure. Anticipated or not, the
provision would have prevented &
situation which cannot be comfor.
table fer anyone concerned. And
despite the contrary averment OF Sec
retary Shaw, as long as that provis
ion is on the statute books of the
nation it is his duty to enforce il. Il
should not change the situation thai
the violator is IAN old friend. who is
In trouble"
Bankers are suggesting the adop
ton of a law that will make it crimi.
nal for any officer or employe of {
national bank to borrow from it any
sum whatever, either directly or in
directly. That would seem wise also
and, perhaps, not antiquated. But Il
will not avail If Secretaries of the
Treasury take the same view of it as
Mr.. Shaw does of the provisions Of
the present act
The Washington times., 1905-12-31
BElDlER DECLINES
TO SERVE THIRD TERM

CLEVELAND. o.. Dec. 30.-Cougress-
man Jacob A Beidler, representing the
Twentieth Ohio district in Congress, an
nounced today that under no circum-
stances would he be candidate for
third term. He says that his business
interests have assumed such proportions
that he would either have TO sacrifice
them or those of his constituents. Those
who have announced their candidates. to
succeed him are Collector OF Customs
County Commissioner Will Eirick The
fight Tor nomination will likely develop
INTO a night of the Hannaites, represent
ed by Leach. against the Forakerites,
represented by the other two candidates.
The Washington times., 1905-12-31
Conrieo Grand Opera.

Mrs. Katie Wilson-Greene has COM
pleted arrangements with Heinrich Con-
ried for four performances of grand
opera by the Conried Metropolitan Opera
Company, at the National Theater, be-
ginning Thursday. March %, and con-
tinuing Friday evening-Saturday Mat
inee and Saturday evening. Signor
Caruso, the tenor, win be heard in two
performances together with Madame
Sembrlch and Madame Eames.
The operas to be given as arranged
now are Queen of Sheba." grand
spectacular opera; Lucia" La Tos-
ca" and a grand double bill. "HaenseI
and Gretel' and "Pagliacci." MIR. Con
ried will give these performances as
given i'm New York with the full
strength of the company. and the entire
Metropolitan Opera House orchestra OF
sixty musicians.