davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Bridgeton pioneer., 1907-07-25
Crowding the Young Idea.

Children, like trees, need plenty of
air about their roots" says writer in
the Boston Transcript, discussing the
evil of mammoth public schools in
large cities. Within recent years edu-
cational reformers have pointed out
that the classes in the city schools are
TOO large for one teacher. This evil is
an outcome of the mammoth school
building, in which are herded several
thousand little ones. To quote from
the Transcript:
For the last twenty-five years we have
been building them bigger and bigger.
Long ago q school building that would
accommodate 500 pupils was q wonder.
Now It Is an insignificant affair. We aim
at crowding 1000 and 5000 little tots to-
gether into the same building, which is. in
consequence, just so much farther from
their homes, besides increasing all the
other difficulties.
The big school is the very breeding
place OF machine methods and red tape.
IT can handle its numbers in no other
way than by fixed rules that are fatal to
high educational ideals, The mere phys
ical effects Of the conglomeration are Sc
rious. Children, like trees, need plenty OF
air about their roots. Life six hours q
day and five days week in building
inhabited by several thousand other chill
dren and occupying bare quarter of an
acre of ground is opposed TO good hy-
Giene.
Morally, too, the system has its draw
backs. The neighborhood school is com.
mended by the writer as a gain for
education and from social point of
view.
Bridgeton pioneer., 1907-07-25

The first half of 1907 witnessed a
great fall in prices of securities. a fall
not confined 10 the United States, but
extending to a greater or less extent
all over the world. There has been.
however, no corresponding fall in
prices of commodities or of labor. On
the contrary, the cost of everything
which one buys still remains at high
er point, taking the country through,
than has ever been before recorded.
Bridgeton pioneer., 1907-07-25

A French diplomat says that the
United States is up against trouble in
the Pacific and that it is all owing TO
the 'slowness in digging the Panama
canal" Perhaps the French learned
the canal trick during their twenty
years of failure and would sell US a
few pointers.
Bridgeton pioneer., 1907-07-25
Work For the Common Good.

1t is we'll to be fair to all sides, and
the argument that under a commu-
nistic system of society men can have
no incentive to do their best has re-
eeived jolt that it is proper to record.
Man must feel proud of the fact that
everybody is looking out for No. / all
the time. Some exceptions have been
noted by the secretary of agriculture,
who declared recently that untold mil
lions of dollars have been saved to the
government by the inventions of gov
ernment employees working solely for
the public good. The inventions belong
to the government for the use .of the
United States or any person in the
United States without the payment of
royalty"
Indirectly the inventor of any labor
or money saving device is benefited by
his work whether he gets a royalty or
not. He is a member of society, and
what benefits the masses must benefit
him. A government employee may feel
the stimulus of pride in the success of
his department But the same motive
must appear in community organized
on the ideal basis of true socialism
The ideal is too high for the average
worker of today. Nevertheless it is a
matter for consratulation that there
are individuals of talent who do good
work regardless of the outlook for in
dividual reward
Bridgeton pioneer., 1907-07-25

Word comes from Paris that the next
international Masonic conference is to
be held in the United States, at a city
to be decided upon by the two Ameri-
can Jurisdictions. The congress won't
come for five years, and there is ample
time for cities wishing to entertain the
delegates TO put in their claims
Bridgeton pioneer., 1907-07-25

At the London dinner given to Mark
Twain by Ambassador Reid there were
no speeches. But Mark will get even.
as usual, for now he can sell that IN
delivered speech he had in his pocket 10
some American publisher as stuff ''nev-
er before in print"
Bridgeton pioneer., 1907-07-25

F. Marion Crawford has returned to
Italy and will devote his time chiefly to
the completion of his History of
Rome" the first volume of which will
be published the coming winter. Mr..
Crawford has not abandoned fiction
and wifi doubtless be heard from again
in that field.
Bridgeton pioneer., 1907-07-25

Unfortunately whenever an eminent
politician says he wants rest and
quietude for awhile there invariably
arises the suspicion that his brain is
engaged in devising something new
and startling.
Bridgeton pioneer., 1907-07-25

Secretary Root has been negotiating
with the Mexican government for the
sale of Magdalena bay, in Lower Cali
fornia, as naval station for the use
of American warships in seasons of
emergency. This fact has peculiar sig
nificance at time when the whole
world is discussing our naval plans in
the Pacific
Bridgeton pioneer., 1907-07-25

And now the German wine growers
are moving toward government inves-
tigation of the wine trade. The Chica-
so packers can assure them that agita-
ton of this sort cuts down sales, and
TO sell much is of more consequence
than TO sell what is good.
Bridgeton pioneer., 1907-07-25

Every patriotic American who is up
on history Will rejoice over the fact
that Fort MeHenry, at Baltimore, will
not be abandoned as an army post,
The star spangled banner will con-
tinue TO wave by government orders
over the ancient ramparts where by
the dawn's early light it was seen
with such effect in 1914.
Bridgeton pioneer., 1907-07-25

A blind poetess captured the prize for
a song-poem at the jamestown exposi-
ton. Her envious rivals will probably
intimate that the judges were blind to
the literary infirmities of her poem.
Bridgeton pioneer., 1907-07-25

George Bernard Shaw" says Actor
Arnold DAILY. lis delirious with words
and intoxicated with ink" And when
Shaw heard it he probably opened an
other bottle
Bridgeton pioneer., 1907-07-25

Far from being menace to Japan.
the presence of American warships in
the Pacific will afford the mikado op-
portunities to study practical models in
improving his own navy.
Bridgeton pioneer., 1907-07-25

After looking our battleships over, il
the Japanese desire any further infor-
nation as TO what they are good for
they can easily obtain it from the Span
ish government.
Bridgeton pioneer., 1907-07-25

The continuous monologue Of Peer
Gynt' is now held responsible for Rich
ard Mansfieid's breakdown. But the
struggle to make prosaic critics under
stand real poetry involves strain on
the actor, whether the monologue is
con+inuous n. not
Bridgeton pioneer., 1907-07-25

Ii the different states are to follow
the example of Ohio and Kentucky IN
sending delegations of beautiful wom-
en- TO demonstrate our greatness abroad
the Europeans will have to use tact in
handing out criticisms and compli-
ments on the shows
Bridgeton pioneer., 1907-07-25

A correspondent writes to one of the
New York papers that he is tired of
Mark Twain's slapstick brand of hu-
NOR. Possibly Mark would be tired of
it, too, if he wasn't getting about 80
cents word for it
Bridgeton pioneer., 1907-07-25

That horticulturist who claims TO
have produced a strawberry nearly as
large as potato might have been a
little more explicit and described it as
being almost as large as lump of
coal
Bridgeton pioneer., 1907-07-25

Italian rowdies have been assaulting
Americans in Rome. We had supposed
from the days news concerning Black
Hand outrages, dynamite jokes, kid
napings and the like that the bad Ital-
ians had all come over here to live with
ne
Bridgeton pioneer., 1907-07-25

Rudyard Kipling appeared at Lon
don Fourth of July celebration in COM
pany with his American born wife, an
incident which shows that this some
times disgrIlntled poet is not basely
ungrateful.
Bridgeton pioneer., 1907-07-25

BY the way those Filipinos showed
up at the registry. only one in 13O of
the population, it is plain that they be-
lieve in freedom of the shotgun variety
rather than the kind won at the ballot
box.
Bridgeton pioneer., 1907-07-25

The president doesn't know every
thing" says Jack London If Jack
wants to make a reputation for cour-
age he will have to repeat that asser-
ton in the presence OF Mr.. Roosevelt.
Bridgeton pioneer., 1907-07-25

With that SST, 100000 surplus in the
treasury the incoming congress will be
kept busy dodging people who have
suggestions to offer as to the best way
TO dispose of 1t.
Bridgeton pioneer., 1907-07-25

A scientist has estimated that the
sun will be able TO supply a reasonable
amount of heat for another 10000, 900
years. According TO that, the .'is-it-hot-
enough-for-you" nuisance has a long
term ahead of him yet.
Bridgeton pioneer., 1907-07-25

The administration seems to have
concluded that a good look at some Of
our battleships will cure that restless
ness Of Japan.
Bridgeton pioneer., 1907-07-25

For peace crowd the gentlemen at
The Hague are devoting a good deal OF
time to discussing what kind Of bullets
should be fired into people.
Bridgeton pioneer., 1907-07-25

While scientists continue discussing
the important question, What shah
we eat?" the majority of US will con-
tinue slowing away just what the cook
sees fit to provide,
Bridgeton pioneer., 1907-07-25

II Admiral Evans really believes
that Americans do not talk it must be
that he has overlooked few columns
OF remarks attributed to himself.
Bridgeton pioneer., 1907-07-25

Oil Magnate H. Fl. Rogers on return
ing from Europe declared that every
bet he made on shipboard had gone
wrong. The only sure things for Rogers
are market quotations fixed by him.
self.
Bridgeton pioneer., 1907-07-25

1t sounds well, this suggestion 10 be
come a vegetarian. while meats OF aA
kinds are so high. but what's fellow
to do when the vegetables and fruits
get beyond the sky line too?
Bridgeton pioneer., 1907-07-25

Unfortunately there is no method of
bringing the terrors OF Fourth of
July celebration up for consideration at
The Hague.
Bridgeton pioneer., 1907-07-25

Obtrusive statistics inform US that
June was the coldest ever. In view of
what June did in her last fortnight is
1t wise to recall her early DEPRESSION?
Bridgeton pioneer., 1907-07-25

The Japanese are entitled TO all the
instruction they can get from Ameri-
can schools, but the line must be
drawn when it comes TO educating
themselves in our forts anu navy
yards.
Bridgeton pioneer., 1907-07-25

Some of the Filipinos think Japan
would give them independence. They
should talk it over with the Koreans
and think again.
Bridgeton pioneer., 1907-07-25

Predictions by Toistoi of the down
fall Of the United States, of course,
have the hearty Endorsement of Maxim
Gorky.
Bridgeton pioneer., 1907-07-25

Amelia E. Barr's thirty eighth mover
is IL press. Mrs. Barr is seventy-seven
years old, but aims to keep up her
average Of two romances year.
Bridgeton pioneer., 1907-07-25

Somebody should enlighten Japan as
to the exact area San Francisco holds
down in the American territory.
Bridgeton pioneer., 1907-07-25

1t looks as If the Morocco bandit
Raisuli occasionally went out and
made capture merely because he was
lonely and wanted good company.
Bridgeton pioneer., 1907-07-25

The car may suppress doums, oul
he cannot suppress the sentiments AM
purposes which Ii represented
Bridgeton pioneer., 1907-07-25

Army and navy officers can now get
their names into the newspapers by
predicting war with Japan
Bridgeton pioneer., 1907-07-25

The earthquake which confines it's
attention exclusively to shaking up the
seismograph deserves to be encour.
aged.
Omaha daily bee., 1907-02-17

The railroad passenger men, who are
objecting to any reduction in the max
imum passenger mileage rate, lay spe-
cial stress upon the comparatively
sparse population of Nebraska along
side of Iowa and Missouri. and other
states Immediately adjoining on the
east. The fact is, however, that these
figures are greatly misleading. Ne
braska still has thousands upon thou
sands of acres of public domain which
are not inhabited at all and other
thousands of acres whose principal &C.
cupants consist of grazing cattle. On
the other hand are lots of counties in
Nebraska just as thickly settled as the
average county in Iowa. Draw a north
and south line through Kearney and
take the territory to the east of it for
population comparisons and the dis
parity with our neighbors will be
scarcely appreciate.
Omaha daily bee., 1907-02-17
SERMONS BOILED DOWN.

No one ever regretted burying a SANDER.
A man does not pick up sand by licking
the dust.
There never is much good in good
enough"
The fool always greases his track on the
UP grade.
The ignorant may be foolhardy, but only
the wise are brave.
The saddest morality is that which is
satisfied with itself.
Deeds of golden hearts are better than
dreams OF golden harps.
They make but little mark on time who
are only marking time.
The only stand some men will take on
any question is a band stand.
Plenty of people who talk OF honesty as
a good policy fail to pay the premiums.
If this world is none the better for your
living the next will have none of your
life
1t is faith mixed with facts and not with
fancies that holds the conviction In a
sermon.
The man who Is drowning in drink
usually hopes to save himself by catch
ing at straw.
Some folks think they are generous be-
good intentions.
The happy Christian SO advertises his
religion that the other man will not be
happy until he gets 1t.
Many youth who would scorn TO wear
secondhand clothes is living on a hand
me-down reputation.-Chicago Tribune.
Omaha daily bee., 1907-02-17
coRrELrou ANp TEE rREAsrRr.

Criticism of the appointment OF
George B. Cortelyou as secretary of
the treasury continues, but it is note
worthy that 1t comes for the most part
from quarters distinctly hostile to the
Roosevelt administration and as a part
Of systematic effort to discredit it.
The depreciatory campaign, however,
is mild now in comparison with what
It was when the nomination was first
announced. The nomination was held
up in the senate and it is no secret
that the opponents of the administra-
ton resorted 20 every stealthy means
to develop some sort OF case against
confirmation, or at least excuse for a
row. The fact that nothing could be
found creates the strongest presump-
ton in favor of Mr.. Cortelyou.
The circumstances, on the contrary,
serve to direct public attention to the
solid fact that few men have come to
the head of the treasury better quail
flied than Mr.. Cortelyou for a large
part of its most important work. Most
of the secretaries have begun service
with no departmental experience and
some have left the treasury still un-
familiar with its routine and organi-
zation. In all this Mr.. Cortelyou will
be at home from the start. His ex-
perience in government operations
and methods is most thorough and in
innate.
Moreover, Mr.. Cortelyou has the
prestige of having decisively made
good" in all the severe tests and heavy
responsibilities he has gone through
at Washington. While he has not
been known as a financial expert, as
some of our most successful secre-
taries of the treasury were not before
appointment, he has demonstrated
that he is an expert public admins
traitor and a growing and level-headed
man who by force of personality and
proved worth has won and held the
implicit confidence of three successive
presidents.
Omaha daily bee., 1907-02-17
EDLSONS PLAYTIME.

The inventor Edison makes it plain
that in treating the remainder of his
life as a playtime he does not intend
to devote himself to idleness. His
sixty years of life have been a period
of extraordinary industry and work.
No day laborer has worked so intensely
or such long hours, for sleep and mo-
ments of relaxation have been reduced
to a minimum and mere accidents Of 2
toilsome existence.
1t is noteworthy that Edison does not
now and never has complained of his
arduous and laborious life, beginning
in poverty, followed by the monotony
of an ordinary telegrapher. There is
reason to believe that the average of
over fourteen hours day that he has
devoted for decades to inventive ac-
tivity has been full of pleasure. The
interest and enthusiasm of a congenial
mission are sustaining forces. Unlike
most inventors, too, Edison has been
a successful business man, able to ex-
plot commercially his remarkable de-
vices and to keep fair share of their
profits. Necessarily the direction of
his industry has been determined in
large part by commercial restraints.
Playtime, therefore. means for him
merely removal of those restraints and
the delight of labor along lines of his
free choice. 1t is merely greater
Joy Of labor. The world 80 far has
not lost but gained immensely by this
great workers mingling OF utility with
science, and probably it was the only
way, situated as he was, he could have
found means for his extraordinary
progress in scientific investigation.
There are likely to be even greater
benefits now from the devotion of his
remaining years to pure science in the
field of electricity, which he enters
upon as his playground.
Omaha daily bee., 1907-02-17
TRUST FUNDS IN POLITICS.

A leading eastern journal misses
the significance of the awakening of
public conscience or it would not so
vehemently denounce the proposition
to restore to the big insurance COM
panies the large amounts of funds con-
tributed several years ago to political
campaign committees. What proof
is there" 1t demands, that the COM
pany officers were exceeding their Off
cial rights in this instance any more
than they were in contributing money
to help build Grants tomb in 1890 or
to relieve the Jacksonville fever in
1883 or the Galveston food sufferers
in 1902"
The fundamental point is that for
good and sufficient reasons the public
has now awakened to the fact that
such officials have exceeded their
rights whenever they have diverted
trust funds TO other than the lawful
trust purpose. These funds were the
property of the policyholders IN the
keeping of insurance companies for
insurance purposes only, and not for
political, charitable and benevolent
purposes, according to the notions Of
the trustees, even assuming their mo-
tives to be In themselves praise
worthy. These are matters for the
policyholders or the stockholders of
any corporation as individuals.
But as to corporation interposition
In politics with money, we have had
exposures and scandals which have
created Wellnigh universal demand
for reform. and legislation is now pro-
hibiting and Furnishing as crimes what
formerly was universally acquieseed
in. The revolution is wholesome,
necessary and its results. instead Of
being called into question and weak
ened, ought to be extended and con-
flrJned in every possible way.
Omaha daily bee., 1907-02-17
EXPERT wIrnEsRrN.

The disrepute into which expert wit
nesses have fallen is largely due to the
influence of money. The legitimate
agency of witnesses having special or
expert knowledge is often important to
the ends of justice in civil and criminal
actions. Their testimony was origin
ally admitted on the ground that their
knowledge was not only special but
also impartial and it was not unusual
for courts upon their own motion to
seek such assistance. Substantial
agreement of the disinterested and
competent experts was thus regarded
as invaluable on a great variety of sub
jects submitted for. the determination
of courts and juries.
But prejudice is inconsistent with
the essential function of expert wit
nesses, and prejudice is inherent in
the practice of retaining experts on a
growing scale of fees that have be-
come a scandal. Such testimony is
discredited when there is justification
for the popular suspicion that the long
est purse hires the biggest array Of
experts" So gross have been the ex-
hibitions in notable criminal trials in
which wealth and social influence have
been at the command of the defense
that 1t is not easy to distinguish them
from outright bribery.
The abuse, however, has in some
measures effected its own cure, because
the expert testimony has been dis
counted and courts and juries are dis
posed to scrutinize it more thoroughly
A growing suspicion tends to make it
perilous to enter the insanity plea in
criminal cases on anything short Of
substantial expert testimony, for OBJ
vious purchase of such evidence is apt
to be treated as tantamount to a plea
of guilty.
Omaha daily bee., 1907-02-17
Personal AND OTHERWISE.

The Platte river is not as imposing or
as deep as the Ohio. but the spread Of its
wings is immense.
Reports from New York enable people
in the provinces, to understand what is
meant by 1.-The Great White Way"
The shortage in the lemon crop is doubt
less due to the number legislatures have
in stock for distribution among corpora
lions.
Tom Edison is 50 and thinks he has
reached the time when more play and less
work would be enjoyable Besides, Tom
doesn't need the money
What a waste of good energy is this
roofing In the ruins of Egypt for ancient
fossils, while the modern article openly
defies time and the undertaken.
sUnmindful Of the edict of the fathers
prohibiting cruel and unusual punishment.
Utah proposes to have dental students
practice on the teeth Of convicts.
Perhaps the most remarkable thing about
that celebrated case in New York Is the
variety of disease fellow may nossess
which doctors cannot recognize until he
gets into trouble.
Mary Elizabeth Lease breaks self-imposed
silence Ions enough TO say that men have
not improved any since the days Of Adam.
NTarv,s recollection OF childhood days ap-
pears particularly robust.
The Missouri legislative genius, who
would restrict Easter bonnets to the x.S
variety, is now exercising his gray matter
on. A bill requiring automobiles to be
equipped with dog catchers.
Omaha daily bee., 1907-02-17
MY OWN FOUR WALLS.
Thomas Carlyle.

Thomas Carlyle.
The storm and night is on the waste
Wild through the wind the herdsman
calls
AS fast on willing nag 1 haste
Home to my own four walls.
Black, tossing clouds, with scarce a glim-
mer,
Envelope earth like sevenfold pals;
But wifekin watches, coffee pot doth sim
Home in my own four walls.
A home and wife l. too, have got,
A hearth to blaze whate'er befalls;
What needs a man that 1 have not
Within my own four walls?
King George has palaces of pride,
And armed grooms must ward those halls;
With one stout bolt 1 safe abide
Within my own four walls.
Not all his men may sever this
1t yields to friends, not monarchs' calls.
My whinstone house my castle is
1 have my own four walls.
When fools or knaves do make a rout
With gigmen. dinners, balls cabals
turn my back and shut them out
These are my own four walls.
The moorland house, though rude IL be,
May stand the brunt when prouder falls;
Twill screen my wife, my books and me,
All In my own four walls