davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Glenwood post., 1905-11-25
SEA Level BEST
ENGINEERS FAVOR 1T FOR THE
PANAMA CANAL.
BUILDING FOR THE FUTURE
Report Will Be Made by Canai Com
mission-lock Canal Would Be
Cheaper, But Not So Satisfactory.

Washington,-The board of consult
ing engineers of the Isthmian Canal
Commission has declared itself by a
large majority in favor of a sea-leyel
canal.
The conclusion was reached after
conferences since the beginning OF
September and a trip to the isthmus to
enable the members to form a better
idea of the physical difficulties.
The members of the board are men
or the greatest reputation in their line
of work. France. Germany and Hof-
land sent their most eminent special
lists at the request of this government.
AT the beginning it was evident that
majority of the members were in
favor of sea-level canal. Their point
of view was that even II 1t cost more
than lock canal and would take
longer in the building, it would ulti-
mately be of greater use, as 1t would
enable ships to make a much shorter
trip than if they were obliged to go
through three or four locks. The mi
nority wanted to see the canal built
in as short a time AS possible and
with the least cost, declaring that n
few hours longer for the trip through
the isthmus made little or no differ
ence.
one of the members gave this ex-
PLANTATION for his way OF voting: ~
may be that several of us will not see
the sea-level canal finished in our life
time, as it will take considerably
longer than ten years. But, then, we
have the satisfaction to know that for
all the generations to follow we have
made the shortest and most practical
way of communication between the Pa
citic and Atlantic, and as long as we
had to decide on Il question for all time
we do not think that n few years more
or less makes very important DIFF
ference. That is the way our party
thought about it, and whatever may,
be said in favor or against it, we have,
after the most careful study, given an,
opinion as we saw our way to do It,.
No official statement will be given
out before the report of the commits
sion reaches President Roosevelt,
which will be about January.
The Glenwood post., 1905-11-25
PosToFFIcE ESTIMATES.
Wants Twenty-Seven Million Dollars
More Than Last Year.

Washington. - Postmaster General
Cartelyou completed and forwarded to
the secretary of the treasury the esti-
mates for the Postoffice Department
for the fiscal year ending June 80, 1907.
They show reduction of expenses
wherever it Is believed 1t will not i'm
pair the service of postal facilities to
meet the growing needs of all sections
of the country.
The estimates for the postal service
at large-the field service-aggregate
$780,, 100000 an increase over last
years appropriation of about S27000,-
900. This increase represents the nor
NAL growth of the service based upon
what the postal authorities regard as
the most careful and conservative esti
mates. Each succeeding year sees a
large increase in the business of the
department. The principal items of
the increase are the rural delivery SER
vice, railway mail service; compensa-
tion to postmasters and their clerks
and the compensation of letter car
riers.
For the maintenance of the rural de-
livery service and it's proper extension
over $29,000,000 will be required
That the extension of the pneumatic
tube service is contemplated is shown
by the fact that the estimate carries
$322,0OO more than the current appro-
priation.
The deficit for the fiscal year ending
June 30,1905, was $14,572,5S4. "This
amount, the difference between the ex-
penditures and the revenues of the de-
partment," 1t is officially announced,
may be said to represent the actual
cost of the postal service to the peo-
pie. 1t is expected that the deficit next
year will be less.
The Glenwood post., 1905-11-25
Russian Peasants Risinq.

Kursk, Russia.-The agrarian disor.
ders in the district of Subzha have as
sumed such violence that the troops
are unable to cope with them. The
whole northern half of the district is
in the hands Of peasant rioters who are
pillaging the estates and burning the
harvested crops. During the pillaging
of one estate company of Cossacks
looked on, being unable 10 interfere.
Vladimir, Russia.-In the Jurieff
and Alexandrovisk districts of the gov
ernment peasant mobs are demanding
the surrender of the stocks of provis.
ions and are threatening to set the
torch to the whole locality and to
storm the county treasures.
The Glenwood post., 1905-11-25
Dowie Still on Deck.

Ell Paso, Tex.-,Iohn Alexander
Dowie and party have reached Tam
pico after inspecting the offerings of
the proposed Zion, and are ready to
take steamer for Chicago via New
York and Havana. Dowie has wired
Zion City denying that he is i'll and
declaring that he is going home to
keep his promise and celebrate
Thanksgiving. He says 100000
acres of land have been offered for his
colony.
The Glenwood post., 1905-11-25
congratuIates New King.

Washington. - President Roosevelt
has sent formal cable congratulatins
Kaikon VII. Of Norway upon the lat
ter's election as King of the Norwe-
gians. The Presidents communication
wishes his highness prosperous
reign and was couched in the usual
tone OF such exchanges of courtesies.
The first visit OF the new king to any
city outside Christiania. the Scandina-
Wan embassy is advised, will be to
Stockholm, Sweden.
The Glenwood post., 1905-11-25
Mrs. EnqIand RESIGNS.

Denver.-On Monday Governor Nc
Donald was handed the following res
ignation from Mrs. Rebecca E. Eng
land, secretary of the board of the con-
troll of the State Industrial School for
Girls:
Dear Governor-Because of the un-
just interference by those of whom we
might expect better things, and which
handicaps us in the good we hoped to
accomplish, l deem it but honorable
and due my oworkers, to tender you
my resignation as secretary and mem
Der of the board of control of the State
Industrial School for Girls, to take eff
feet as soon as my successor can be
Installed ..Hs-
The Glenwood post., 1905-11-25
Granaers Oppose the Saloon

Atlantic City.-The national grange,
Patrons of Husbandry, has gone on
record in favor of temperance and the
curtailing of saloons declaring .that
they should be abridged until they are
abolished"
The grange strongly condemned all
influences brought to win legislation
by lobbyists Or others. and depio ed
the use OF money in campaigns.
The Glenwood post., 1905-11-25
sixteen Millions Wanted.

Washington.-An estimate Of $16,.
100000 for continuing work on the
Panama canal has been sent to the
Treasury Department from the War
Department, to be sent to Congress.
The Glenwood post., 1905-11-25
"REBECCA e. ENGLAND.

The resignation of Mrs England
was not unexpected, and it is possible
1t may be followed by the resignation
of President r. ]. Donnen. The dis.
satisfaction in the board of control
arises, according to it's members from
the interest taken in the institution
by the committee Of thirteen club
women.
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1905-10-07
School of Art

that as an ordinary house painter. It
was during this period that the idea
came to him that the technique Of
modern painting needed simpliflcation.
The technique OF the house painter is
the correct one, he says, even today.
Mix your color TO the right tint and
put it down He insists that a painter
should know scientifically what he is
doing and not try haphazard for ef-
fects. The result of welding the brush
and paint should not be now vic
tory and now a failure, now a shit
and now miss, but rather a sue
cession of triumphs. Leon Dabo is by
far the best technician Of the three.
He is an excellent craftsman and ap-
plies his colors with astounding pre-
cision. but his color schemes are not
as free and as fluent as those Of his
brother. He is a trifie too scientific in
his methods.
Oscar H. Won Gottschalelx is the most
practical of this little clan, and it is
largely due to his efforts that the Dabo
brothers have come to the front He
is a man of wide experience, and his
pictorial vision is therefore less alb
stract and more real than that Of his
two confreres. He is apt to pursue q
certain poetic thought or idea in each
Of his pictures. He is not satisfied with
and such light conditions. but prefers
to set himself the task Of expressing
the immensely Of the plain.
To sum up the talents of these three
men one might say that Theodore Scott
Dabo paints the memory OF scenes that
he may have actually encountered or
merely seen IN his imagination.
Leon Dabo translates the aspects Of
nature into visions, with a preference
for scientific problems and optical IL
fusion. while Won Gottschalck endeav-
ors to make his picture a poefical in
depreciation. The younger Dabo an
plies color simply and purely for color's
sake to convey the musical selection in
herent in color harmonics, the older
brother tries to express the scien-
tific juxtaposition of coiors, and their
disciple and admirer, Oscar H, Won
Gottschalck, loves colors for their no
etical suggestion.
SADAKICHI HARTMANN.
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1905-10-07
Mrs SPENDER- CLAY, DAUGHTER
OF WILLIAr1 WALDORF Aston

that effect. and the money was paid
over.
Astor made up his mind that he must
have d working partner and to that end
he married a robust young woman
named Sarah Todd, who brought him
no money, but knew how to work and
had no inclination to shuu it. Much of
the time she had sole charge of the
little shop in Gold street, for her hus-
band spent months in the interior of
the state buying skins and once every
year went to London with a consign-
ment of furs. The Mrs. Astor of that
period was not society leader. The
aristocratic DANES of the post Revo-
luton days knew her only as the wife
of that German Aston" dealer in furs
and pianos, for at that time John Jacob
sold both. While Sarah was dividing
her time between tending her children
and keeping shop her energetic hus-
band was bargaining with the northern
Indians and half breeds for their furs.
He was a shrewd and adept buyer, and
the $500 capital soon grew amazingly.
BY 1909, when his eldest child was a
girl of thirteen, he had accumulated
$3.50, 600, which was a good deal of
money in those days.
At this stage John Jacob began to
branch out far more extensively in a
business way. He first extended the
field of his fur trading operations into
the hitherto unexplOred west. He es-
tablished headquarters at Mackinac.
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1905-10-07

areas of the sea dotted with a few
sails or barren coasts, lonesome plains,
the sky filed with strange cloud for
nation, or a village looming ghOstlilSe
in the shifting co1ors of the night. And
they elliVen these simple scenes with
the poetry of an atmospheric condition,
like dawn or twilight or moonlight.
Their pictures look as if they were
seen through a mist. They have the
charm of mystery and slowly mako
their way into ones inner conscious
ness. Their color values are delicate
and seem to be full of yelled sugges-
ton And above all else, their pic
lures have that haunting indecisive
music which emanates from the paint
ings of Cain and Chavennes.
The work of these three men bears a
striking resemblance. It is difficult for
the layrnan to separate them. and yet
each of them has a distinct individ-
uality.
Theodore Scott Dabo, the younger
brother who has lately met with great
success in Paris, is the true genius of
/ the trio. He has q marvellous sense for
color and he is never happier than
when he stands before a canvas, trying
/ to invent a new harmony in emerald
green and blue, in gray and silver, or
in yellow and pale gold. He seems to
have all possible color combinations al
! his fingers ends. He improvises with
! color. as a musician with harmonies on
some instrument. With Theodore
Scott Dabo color becomes musical
I Science has long assigned to every
sound its color, and it seems as il these
coIors, invisible to the ordinary eye
have attained actual life in Dabo's
canvases. Eis peculiar talent has
found ready recognition in Paris; sew
I eral of the leading critics have favor
ably commented on his work. RodiD
| the great French sculptor, takes an in
terest in him, and painters like Amen
Jean and Cassiere predict a great fu-
/ ture for him
Leon Dabo has chiefly elaborated the
scientific side of this new style OF
! painting. He has gone extensively into
the study of optics and japanese art
For many years he earned a living fol
I his brother. as well as for his family
as a decorative painter and previous K
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1905-10-07

was quite as humble as that of most
of the noble houses OF the old world
the founder was the son of a butcher
and a very shiftless butcher at that if
the record does not belle him. His sec
ond wife was a termagant, and the
combination was so discouraging that
the youthful John Jacob, then seven
teen, resolved to say goodby to his ma
tive hamlet of Waldorf and make his
way to London. where his brother
George was making a comfortable liv-
ing as a manufacturer and vendor of
musical instruments. John Jacob had
written to this older brother. but had
received no answer. This untoward cir
cumstance did not discourage him. He
met the remonstrances OF his only
friend, the village schoolmaster, with
the cheerful assurance that if it was his
fate to be starved to death London was
as good a place for the process as Ger
many. He also declared that he in
tended to make his way eventually to
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1905-10-07

They were very successful in perpet-
uating the Aston reputation as land
lords, and they added largely to the
Astor real estate holdings. 1t was in
their time that the famous legend, we
buy, but never SELL became the family
shibboleth. They did not dabble much
in art, literature or politics. although
John Jacob was an officer on McClel-
lans staff during the civil war, and at
his death willed 100000 to the Aston
library When William B. died, the
estate had increased to $150.oO0. 900.
which was divided between John Jacob
Sd and William. Henry. the second
son, when boy of nineteen, had mar
ried a farmers daughter, ATalvina Dine
hart, who lived near the Aston country
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1905-10-07

cash to the government for war pur-
poses at paying rates, eventually TAX
ing bonds at 20 and 80, thus adding
greatly to his wealth. His subsequent
connection with the China and East
Indian trade yielded enormously.
In 1884 Astor, now seventy-one, re
tired from the fur tr1de and devoted
himself thereafter to real estate, of
which he was the largest owner in New
York His son, William B., had be-
gun to take an active part in the man
agement of the estate. and he was vast
" more interested in real estate than
in anything else. The aged trader, af-
ficted with feeble health and made
miserable by his parsimonious tenn
permanent, resigned the scepter most
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1905-10-07

ball, but it did not grow fast enough
to satisfy the great fur merchant. He
began to plan the gorgeous dream
known as the American Fur company,
and when the government declined to
finance it he furnished the necessary
million.
This company was to do great things.
among them TO carry furs in its own
ships all over the world New York
was to be the center of the scheme,
with a port at the mouth of the Co
lumbia river to be named Astoria.
From the Pacific port ships We're to
carry cargoes to the far east and re-
turn loaded around the Cape of Good
Hope 1t was failure of the most dis
astrous kind The Indians massacred
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1905-10-07

ungraciously. He never ceased to re-
greet that he had yielded to his sons
persuasion to bequeath $4,000 to
found the Astor library. and he threat.
ened to the last to revoke the bequest.
At his death the bulk of his fortune
passed to William B., his only living
son, his other boy, named after his ia
Their. having died at the age Of four
teen. Mrs. Bristed, his daughter, was
well provided for. but most of the estate
was disposed of in the manner pre-
viously agreed upon.
Personally. William B. was as unlike
his father as son well could be- He
devoted himself sedulously to the real
estate business during his entire life,
and his family held a very respectable
position in society. although the old
aristocracy was rather slow in accept
ing the children of the parsimonious fur
trader. William was an educated man,
having been a student at GOttingen.
These Astors of the second generation
had three sons, John Jacob Sd, Henry
and William. The Oldest and the
Youngest followed as closely as they
could in the footsteps of their father.
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1905-10-07

The furrier. whose name was Bonne,
soon discovered that his new employee
had a decided business turn and ex-
ceIlent judgment in buying. He sent
the young German into the north coun-
try to buy all the pelts he could find,
At the end Of two years Bonnie died
and Aston proceeded to continue the
business on his own account. He had
very little money and needed more very
urgently In his strait he hunted up
his brother and made an appeal for
help. His brother was doing well, but
he was not impressed favorabIy with
John Jacobs business capacity. and he
told him so. He agreed, however. to
give him $500 outright Il he would
promise never again to ask for money.
The young furrier signed a paper to
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1905-10-07

America, where another brother, Henry,
had set up for himself as a butcher.
With the equivalent of 81 as his sole
available capital the young emigrant
set out on his journey. He had ex-
pected to walk to the coast and to use
his cash to buy passage across the
North sea. but as luck would have it he
was able to work his way down the
Rhine on a lumber raft. In three weeks
he was IN London and at work in his
brothers piano factory. There he re-
manned about three years, working hard
at manual labor and picking up all the
English ne could. He heard from Henry
occasionally, and his brother told him
that it would be a good time to come to
America when the colOnists won their
liberty. which they were certain to do.
In September, 1888, John Jacob heard
that the war was over, and he prepared
at once to leave London He had man
aged to save about SIS from his small
wages. He paid s26 for passage on a
sailing ship, and his brother persuaded
him to invest about half Of what re-
manned in some unstable musical in
struments, leaving him SIS in cash with
which to begin life in the new world.
The voyage was an unusually prolonged
and tempestuous one, and it was four
months before he landed in Baltimore
He had not enough money left to pay
his way by stagecOach to New York,
and he stopped over awhile in BaIti-
more and tried to dispose Of his musical
wares, finally trading them for pelts.
With his stock on his back he tramped
northward. and when he reached New
York he went to work for a Quaker
furlier. beating skins at 81 week, in
stead of going at once to his brother,
fine butcher
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1905-10-07

which was a favorable point for the
gathering of furs. They could be
brought from almost cny direction by
water and by water they could be taken
away. He exchanged the. most in
significant commodities for the most
valuable skins, and his profits were the
most enormous ever known. A bea-
yer skin which cost him rs cents would
sell for $40 in London, and with this he
would buy cutlery which would bring
him $40 in New York. His wealth roll
ed up with the rapidity of a giant snow
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1905-10-07


Theodore Scott Dabo.
Leon Dabo and Oscar Hunt Won Colt
schalck The friends of these men de-
clare that they are responsible for the
inauguration of a new school of art.
Specimens of their work will also be
seen at the autumn Paris salon and at
the Art museum of Detroit, the old
home of the Dabo brothers.
1T win be interesting to note how the
public at large viii take to their work
Innovations like theirs meet generally
with much adverse comment. Appre-
citation grows gradually The name Of
whistler has now become a fetch, but
1t is only two decades since his work
was fercely attacked.
The first painter III Europe who fully
realized the musical charm of colOrs
was Puvis de Chavennes. Cain was Il
true poet in color. and Cassiere did
much to develop the feeling for tone.
In the meantime a host of painters all
over the world experimental with
color. but they invariably devoted
themselves too much to the exploration
of one color They discovered all the
shades and hues of one color, but did
not try to combine the half and quar-
ter tints into harmony. This was
accomplished by Whistler.
Whistler's technique was peculiar to
himself. He was Influenced by the inn
nressionists as much as by the Jap
anese. His work suggested breadth in
EDITORIAL vision. He realized that It
was impossible for the painter TO re-
produce colors as they are seen in ma
ture, and he transposed them into a
lower and darker key. He accomplish
ed this by painting in fat tones and
by reducing forms to mere silhouettes.
which in the breadth Of their effect re-
cau Velasauez.
Thfs style reaches its extreme in
Whistler's portrait Of Sarasate, the
violin virtuoso and in his Thames
Nocturnes." painted in the seventies,
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1905-10-07

the crew of the first vessel sent and
soon afterward the war of 1912 broke
out Ship after ship sailed away from
New. York never to be heard from. Some
of them We're lost at sea and some were
captured by the British. The Astor
dream of worldwide fur trading came
to a bitter end The original million
and much more that followed it were
a total loss, but Aston took it stoically.
and no one ever heard him regret it.
His Mackinac business still yielded
enormously, and he lent his surplus of
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1905-10-07
- - - :! .-s-i-
So - ny -
- ~ ~ at

painters so even further than Whistler
dared to go
In looking at their pictures one sees
at the first glance nothing but an in
distinct blur OF color, strongly reminis-
cent Of the glazed surfaces OF pottery
Gradually vague forms appear dis
tant bit Of. Shorthand, the sail of a
ship and some shifting clouds. with a
strange glow behind them.
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1905-10-07

last few years did the influence of these
Nocturnes become so palpable that one
could speak of a new school of paint
ing as one of their results.
And strange to say, this new school
was evolved in the prosaic, commercial
city of New York
1t is a curious art that Theodore
Scott DabO. Leon Dabo and Oscar H.
Won GottschaIck sponsor. These three
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1905-10-07
q O.H.Yoh GoTTscHALcK

The laynan is apt to shake his head
at these color visions In the majority
of people the color sense is not strongly
developed. They may see color truly
enough, but color, as color, does not
impress them greatly They want to
see something tangible that they can
understand at a glance.
Won GottschaIck and the DabO
brothers paint scenes OF solitude, vast
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1905-10-07

one of which brought on the famous
libel action against Ruskfn, who had
denounced it as "a pot of paint flung
into the public's face"
These pictures, vague Impressions OF
actual scenes as the belated traveller
might see them in the river Thames at
night, have done more to make
Whistler famous than all his other
works put together. But not until the
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1905-10-07

UNIQUE art exhibit
tion, the outcome of
which win be watch
ed with great inter
est, viii be held in
New York city in
November. The only
exhibitors will be
rr- - cr--A+ NJ
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1905-10-07

Y point Of antiquity
which amounts to
quite as much IN
America as it does
eIsewhere-the Astor
family is pre-eminent-
The German founder
of the American
hranch Of the family