davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-04-09
Farmer Versus Ornithologist.

From the New York Sun.
Every spring the Audubon societies ask
the farmers to be good to the crow and the
hawk, because they are good to him, de-
stroying pests that prey on his crops. The
Massachusetts, society is advocating legisla-
ton to protect hawks from the farmers
gun. The society makes the same plea for
the tribe as Mr.. Frank NJ. Chapman does for
the best-known variety: THE red-shoul-
dered hawk, to which the name chicken or
hen hawk is often applied, has been found
to live largely on small animals, reptiles
batrachians and insects. Indeed, of 22O
stomachs which were examined of this So
called chicken hawk, only 3 contained re-
mains of poultry. OF the rest, IL contained
birds; 102, mice; 40, other mammals; 20, rep
tiles; 49, batrachians; 90, insects: 49, spi-
ders; Z, crawfish; l, earthworms; ., offal; 3,
nsh, and IA were empty. The usefulness of
this hawk Is therefore obvious. and in kill
ing 1t We can readily see that we not only
harm ourselves, but render an important
service to our enemies"
Nevertheless, there are farmers who will
not be convinced of the usefulness of either
the hawk or the crow. Both, the ornitholo-
gists have to admit devour wild birds and
plumber their nests of eggs, and the crow
is a notorious corn thief-in fact that is the
other name he is known by.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-04-09

doned Then it is, in the judgment of men
who view this question does Senator
Blackburn. that the navy Will return to
wooden ships to ships of some light ma
terial that can be given great speed and
unusual maneuyering qualities, with the
idea that if vessel is struck the injury
can be patched up quickly. Under such
system of warfare a ship would be like
man in battle-at any time subject to re-
moval by single disabling shot
What the vessels of war are going
through in the development of modern
methods of warfare is exactly what has
been gone through in the armoring of men
for the battlefield SO long as it was pos
sible to protect men against the thrust OF
spears and the slash of swords, armor was
made for them. AS the force of the pro-
jectile was Increased in efficiency the
strength of the armor was increased. 1t
became heavier. Even when firearms were
invented it was thought to so securely ar
NOR warriors that in the event of being
struck by ball, the fatal missive might
be turned aside. Some of the armor that
has been worn on the battlefield by knights
and other men in arms has been so heavy
as to make men of this day marvel that
there was ever race of beings SO power
fully constituted as to be able to carry such
a load and still engage in hand-to-hand con-
tests.
But with the piercing bullet even
the most massive armor that it was pos
sib,e to load on the back of man became
ineffective. That being the case, the heavy
armor was as useless none at all. Then
it was that all personal armor was cast
aside. Men went upon the field unprotect
ed. They carried as their only protection
applications for first aid to the wounded.
There is no effor to avoid the shot,
but merely the precaution Is taken to care
for the wound when made. The evolution
of the soldier without armor is said to be
exactly what is going on in ships of war,
and for exactly the same reasons.
Few people outside of naval circles realize
how rapidly the frst-class ships of the navy
are becoming obsolete. The Oregon, for in
stance. which was the hope of the country
only a few years ago when she made her
record breaking trip around Cape Horn
from San Francisco to the West Indies, is
down on the list of vessels that will have
to be thrown on the scrap pile and sold for
junk in 1909 only five years hence. So Il is
with the best of the ships that are in the
navy today. The much-boasted white
squadron" which sailed the seas only few
years ago as one of the crack naval fleets
of the world Is not worth talking about to-
day and would only bring derisiye smiles
to the faces OF the enemy II sent against
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-04-09
THE JOY OF AGE.
Cicero Gives the Lie to the Oslerism
of Today.
From the Providence Journal.

From the Providence Journal
1t is a comfort for some people who do
not feel that their usefulness has entirely
left them though their hair be gray ana
their foreheads wrinkled, to turn to one OF
the wisest and sanest of their college class
les and to read what Cicero says in his
DE Senectute' concerning old age and its
characteristics He supposes a converse
ton with Cato the Censor. a man OF
eighty-four years, who is apologizlng Tor
old age. Cato was the most Intelligent. the
most active, the man most jealous OF ms
authority and the triumph of his ideas OF
any whom the Roman world OF Clceros
time remembered. His latest years had
been devoted to the study of Greek letters,
for which he had earlier shown great con-
tempt and In him were gracefully mingled
the gravity of Roman manners and the
teachings of the Socratic philosophy.
talk goes on between Cato, Sclplo ana ms
friend Laelius upon the manner in which
Cato bears his old age. after the examples
of Plato Isocrates of Gorgias and Ennius.
who have borne charming old age free
from disappointment with life, and tram
uuil as the close of fair autumn day.
Cato meets some of the objections which
are urged against old age and fnds that
there are four chief things which make 1t
seem miserable The first inconvenience Is
that it withdraws man from active life,
from business which demands youthful
strength of body. But. he asks, Is there
no work peculiar to old age, which the
mind and soul alone direct, in spite or
physical feebleness? Did Fabius Maxfmus
do nothing or Paulus Emiius, and the
other old men, Fabricius and CuriusE APP
Plus Claudius was old and blind, and yet
the senate listened to his words and obey
ed them But the memory of the aged
fails Yes if ii is not exercised or IL IL Is
naturally lazy Cato tells his hearers that
he remembers not only, the names of his
fellow -citiZens, but also those of their
athers and grandfa theirs; and that no old
man ever forgets where he hides hia
money A man can always remember
things that interest him.
In replying to the objection that old age
diminishes the strength of the mind Cato
saws that he does not envy the force
which Youth possesses. as in his youth he
did not desire the strength OF bull or an
elephant The wise man uses his strength
according TO what he has: no one can refuse
to find in him the force necessary TO in
struct youth In the way of duty. Does old
age deprive man of pleasures? 1t is an
admirable privilege 10 be able TO despise
many of the pleasures of youth, and in
stead of reproaches age is worthy of euiogy
IL IL has for a foundation the virtues of q
weil-spent youth. Neither white hairs nor
wrinkles can give to age authority, but
only as they accompany a life rounded out
in honor and virtue.
These are only few OF the arguments
which Cicero pleads In favor of old egei
and though suicide was common In thi
Rome of his time, we never ind old az
given as an excuse Tor u.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-04-09
MAY RETURN TO
WOODEN WARSHIPS

Some day we'll come back to the wooden
ships for our navy remarked Senator
Blackburn on an occasion when the armor
of ships and the piercing power of projec-
tiles was under discussion in an informal
way.
The remark was received with astonish-
ment by several naval experts present and
1t developed the reasons that prompted the
opinion by Mr., Blackburn, 1t was simply
that the straxgle6 between the projectile
and the armof< had<gone along so far and
promised to go SO much farther that the
time would NOT be far distant when it
would be impossible to build ship that
can float that cannot be pierced by a pro-
jectile.
In the day or the mooden vessel the pierre
ing power of a cannon ball was regarded
as terrible, but when improvements in the
methods of warfare were brought about it
was an easy matter to build ship of steel
which could not be: pierced by that pro-
jectile. Thatjfirst armored ship was rela-
lively the most impregnable vessel that has
ever fioated. | 1t continued to be impreg-
nable only until experts got to work to in
crease the piercing power of the projectile
AS soon as a proJectile had been devised
that could pierce that armor the armored
wooden ship had been. Then experts APP
piled their ingenuity first to produce armor
that the projectile of the day could not
pierce and then to devise projectie that
would pierce the armor. So the struggle
proceeded year by year, until the time Is
fast approaching. in the opinion of many
naval experts, when the weight of the ar
NOR necessary to resist the projectiles that
are being devised Will be SO great as to In
rerfere with the speed and strategic move
ments of ships, If not so heavy as to
make II impossible to float them. When
that time comes the situation will be that
no armcr that can be used practically at
sea will be strong enough and thick enough
to resist projectiles that will be sent
against It.
That is the stage of development at which.
when reached, in the opinion of some ex-
perts. the effort to give vessels a resisting
armor sufficient to stand against the pro-
Jectiles Of en- opposing feet win be aban-
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-04-09
The English Servant.

From Harper's BaZar
The English servant requires to be studied.
The worlds other servants are mere anna
tours, the English servant has a trade. AS
an American 1 proceeded to treat mine a
fAmericaine, and I made my first blunder
A sensible American is, if not friends with
her servants, at least friendly. The Eng
lish woman, IL she is sensible, presents to
her servants a surface of perfect indiffer-
ence, and then she has peace, for the Eng
Hsh servant despises a considerable and
kindly mistress as not knowing her place.
The most difficult thing for a stranger to
learn is that impalpable line between the
different servants. duties. II one does not
enumerate what one expects of them when
they are hired, afterward 1t Is too late.
They have, however a rough sense of honor
and they generally do what they agree to.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-04-09

sand beds look for all the world like sec
tons of the beach under one of the big
piers at Atlantic City. There is a differ
ence, however, in the fact that the sand is
almost as white snow. Before being put
into the sand beds it has been washed and
washed, and washed again, until every par
ticle of foreign substance and impurity has
been removed, and until it is in fit con-
dition to wash the water from the distribute
ing reservoir. The sand used in the plant
is secured at Laurel, Md, and it is of par
ticularly fine quality, even before it is
washed. And although treated so carefully,
tons of it have been rejected by the en-
gineers in charge of the filtration plant on
the ground that it was not clean enough.
But such sand is not carted away by the
contra ctors. 1t is sold in Washington, and
all of it has found a ready market.
Such as is passed and accepted however,
is Immediately dumped down the one or
more of the 300 manholes in the sand fill
ter beds and distributed evenly over the
surface on top of.two feet of washed gravel.
The sand is laid sat varying depths in the
different beds-from two to four feet cover
ing the gravel in various sections of the
plant.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-04-09

heavy to ride, he rounded out his career of
promise notably fine race rider
X
THE racing official In chief authority
who yields to impulses of sympathy is liable
to be fooled in about nine cases out of ten.
Last winter 1 ruled off for life jockey who
had been under more or less suspicion, at
many tricks ever since his riding career
began, and he was a man when / put him
down. He snatched a good horse most
brazenly last winter, and then there was
nothing for 1t but to fix it so that he could
ride more on the legitimate tracks.
Well, when L heard something of the in
side of that Jockeys history 1 felt sorry
for him in a way, although I, of course
had not the least sympathy for his crooked
ness. When a little tyke, it seemed he had
been literally sold, body and soul by his
father, in one of the two states of the
United States where, / am informed that
sort of thing Is possible. He had never had
a minutes education in his life, and had
from the outset of his riding career been
subject to crooked influences, which. with
scarcely any idea of right or wrong he
had been unable to resist. This was
lated to me by some of his friends, not
with the idea that would ever relnstate
him, for l told them fatty that l would
never do that but simply, in way. to ex-
cuse his bald offense.
"A few days after / had set him down
the jockey came to my hotel with tale of
woe about being dead broke. with a sick
wife and children on his hands, and a good
deal of that sort of thing. and / let him
nave some money. / gave him sums Of
money number of times after that upon
his repetition of these hard luck stories,
and grieved good DEAL in private, over
the fact that the unfortunate chap hadn't
had the sense to keep himself In good stand
ing, so that he could go on making a liveli-
hood for himself and his family
''One day however his wife Sad-Jook-
ing little woman in tatters, and with two
black eyes, came to me. Neither she nor
her children had ever seen a cent of the
money that ! and others had given the
ruled-off jockey. but he had spent 1t on
other women The jockey only came home
to beat her with stove lids, saucepans, fiat
irons, and other bijouterie of the Kitchen
investigated her story carefully, and
found 1t to be true in every item and count.
The next time that jockey came to my
hotel with long face led him all the way
from my apartments down the elevator and
out to the front entrance by his left ear"
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-04-09
result cannot be imagined. 1t must be
heard to be appreciated.

heard to be appreciated.
Soon, however, water will be turned into
the great cement chamber, and THE Cave
of the Thousand Devils will become mere
ly an integral part-and an important one
of the Washington filtration plant. Into
this bed the clean water will flow after
having passed through the various sand
filters, of which there are twenty-nine, and
where 1t will remain until distributed
throughout Washington as needed. The
pumping station in the plant will be used
to pump the Potomac water from the great
open reservoir into which ii flows through
the Lydecker tunnel to the far sand beds.
From these beds il will pass into others,
being gradually cleansed it goes, until
finally it reaches the cement clear water
bed, ready for distribution.
When the plant is completed there will
be little to reveal the presence of the great
excaYa tons of more than thirty acres I'M
derground. save the three thousand man
holes leading down into the sand filter beds.
And if the more optimistic predictions of
some of the assistant engineers are full
filed, the plant will be in operation before
September, and Washington will have clear
and clean water from that time on.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-04-09

there would be no use whatever in trying
to get anything out of him then.
You've ridden your last race 1 told
him. You're down for life
All dun de bes' All could was the only
thing he could say. and in such parrot
like way that / felt sure that that was
what he had been instructed to say, and
that only, by his manipulators.
LAS / started to leave the jockeys ROOM
the negro boy tried to hang on to me, while
his eyes rolled around in an agony Of fear
What's the matter with you, SON.? 1
asked him in as kindly way as l could,
for l felt genuinely sorry for the boy
What are you afraid Off
".Ah dun de bes All could he replied.
THE boy was in state of utter collapse
when / left the jockeys room. l found
his manager and sent him to the boy. The
boys manager was all right. 1 felt GER
tain that he had had nothing to do with the
pulling Job. But l was determined to get
at the bottom of the case. told the boy S
manager that the negro lad was ruled Off
the turf. but that If the boy would come
out with q complete confession of how he
had happened to do that raw Job would
consider the question of reinstating him.
1.-THE negro Jockeys manager did a wise
thing then. He went to the plantation
upon which the black boy had been born
and reared, and brought to the city the
owner OF that plantation. This gentleman
was the only human being, probably, in
whom the black lad had complete conf
dence and when he showed up the negro
rider came out with the whole story.
He had pulled the horse IN actual fear
of his life. His manipulators had played
upon his abject fear of death. The first
ore had got him Off in corner and had
said to him, You black devil. II you win
with that horse I'll put ball through your
head before you weigh in Then another
ono of the thieves had nailed the boy and
said, I'll bore a hole through that black
head of yours If you don't lose with that
horse And still another one of the scoun-
dres had got hold of the utterly thick
headed and brainless black jockey and made
the same threat to him. that. extraordi-
nary as IL may seem, when the boy got
into the saddle, he was in deadly fear
that he would be shot to death IL he won
with the horse he was riding. That was
willy he had pulled the animal In such an
absurdly bold and manifest way.
when the boy had finished his story,
had his manipulators before me. and before
nightfan they were out OF the city and
under the Injunction of the police never to
set foot within the city limits again as long
as they lived. ! restored the boy to his
former standing. and, until he became too
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-04-09

any of the navies of today. A vessel that
costs $4,000, 600 or $1,000 900 to build is. at
the age of a dozen or fifteen years, only to
be compared to a decrepit soldier.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-04-09

finished pillars, and in others, practically
completed, dozens of carts are dumping
down the manholes the shining white sand
that is to wash the water supplied to the
citizens of Washington.
The bare figures concerning the number
of cubic yards of earth which will have
been excavated when the plant is ready for
USE the number of cubic yards of concrete
used, the data of that Sort has been pub
ushed in The Star several times at various
stages of the work, but except to those
versed in calculations they fail absolutely
to give an idea of the extent and magni-
tude of the project.
To gain any idea at all along that line, 1t
must be remembered that the filtration plant
when completed will cover forty-five acres
of ground, and that the sand surface alone,
exclusive of pillars and the like, covers
twenty nine acres That means, simply
stated that when the plant is in operation,
there will always be twenty-nine acres of
water in process of cleansing, and which
will later be distributed through the thou
sands of mains in the city, to every plug
and to the faucets in every house.
Just now the surfaces of the completed
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-04-09

Unless she reforms pretty soon Santo Do
mingto is liable to become known as the
Colorado OF the Sea" --Des Moines Capital.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-04-09

"A great deal OF comment was aroused
among racing people throughout the en-
tire country when. a couple of winters ago
l ruled a famous negro jockey off the turf
/ have never told the inside of that story,
but I'll tell 1t now.
The negro jockey was one of the densest
human beings ! ever saw in my life far
below the mentality even Of boys OF his
age and color. But he was q cracking a
finisher, a lad who could bestrlde a bad
horse and bring him home in spite of any
thing. He rode magnihcently, heading the
list OF winners. during most of the meet
ing. Then. one day. he deliberately pulled
a good horse that could have won Off by
himself had he not been snatched. 1t was
the most amazingly raw and all but in
credible piece or race track pulling that
ever saw in my turf experience. and il was
instantly obvious to me that stupid as the
boy was, he must have been laboring under
some wholly unusual influence to do such
a bald BIT Of work.
AS soon as the negro boy weighed in, 1
got hold of him in the jockeys room. Only
the whites OF his eyes were visible He
was trembling with a fear that was pitiable
to see. His teeth chartered. and he could
hardly stand up.
Boy said to him. what did you mean
by that rider
:" All dun de bes' All could he replied.
and went on shaking.
4" Why didn't you let that horse down to
come on, as he wanted tor
"'Ah dun be bes' All could
How old are your
"'Ah dun be bes' All could
When did you first begin to rider,
"'Ah dun be bes' All could
Was that the first horse you ever
" All dun be bss' All could
teileetuals the negro boy had were 80
&zktstaa hx eouae extraordinary fear that
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1905-12-23

native isle, they have taken the Christ
mas plum pudding custom with them.
Even in countries where the weather is
scorching hot at Christmas time there
must be served always the same solid
black cakelike substance with the burnt
brandy over It. One quality of the plum
pudding is that it may be kept in tin
Dox without spelling for a whole year.
and it is very often thus kept.
In India, where the native cooks do
not know much about making this ma
tional English dish, British oflcials'
wives send all the way home to England
for it They have to forward the order
months beforehand to make sure of
getting their Christmas pudding in
Sime. The sight OF a brown Hindu
waiter in his white turban and white
garments, in the midst of strange orr
entail surroundings. bringing to his mas
ter's table a Christmas pudding that has
Travelled nearly half way around the
world is q curious one. Sometimes the
Hindoo cook tries to make a plum pud-
ding under the direction of his mistress.
A Hindoo servant calls his master or
any other white man sahfb. and his
mistress or any other white woman
mem sahtb If the Hindoo cooks home
made Christmas pudding is a failure
the cooks heart is just broken. but if
the pudding is ali right and good to
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1905-12-23

women without a thick plum pudding
for dinner. It is universal British
Christmas dish. Roast goose is eaten
there at Christmas too
But the British fondness for that
plum pudding is something Americans
can hardly understand. Once when
was in England at Christmas time the
lady of the house where I Hved made
half a dozen plum buildings to distrib-
ute among her friends. Each pudding
had to be boiled half a day, and the
good lady gave away a number every
Christmas, she said. 1t must have been
a lot of trouble for her to make them.
To like these heavy, black plum pud-
dings thoroughly one has to be born to
it, I suppose. To our American taste
with out different climate, the heavy.
solid, black plum pudding with its many
mixed up ingredients seems indigestible.
The British eat so much of it, however,
that an Englishman has made a calcu-
lation Of how large a mass all the pud-
dings devoured in his country on Christ
mas day would make if they could be
rolled together into one giant pudding.
He set down upon paper the population
OF England, then got the average weight
of pudding eaten by each one and null
tiplied the whole number by it.
Well, he found there would result a
monster pudding fifty feet high and
fifty feet thick. You see in the picture
what such a creation would look like
in a city street. It would reach to the
top of a four story house. The sprig of
holly stuck into the top of this giant
pudding would have to be as large as a
small tree.
The Christmas plum pudding is
served at table with much ceremony.
Just before it is cut brandy is poured
over it and set on FIRE. The brandy
burns with n blue blaze and pleasant
odor fills the air. The burnt brandy is
supposed to give a fine flavor to the
dish.
Wherever. English people have gone,
no matter how far away from their