davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-06-23

the coupon basis and one must carry his
coupin book to the store and let the clerk
take out the checks which represent the
amount of his purchase. These checks
range in denomination from 81 Ia | cent.
so that anything can be exactly paid for
The business is ali done after rigid ac-
counting system. Cash registers are en-
pioyed and the salesman makes out a
sales slip for each purchase
The goods taken 10 the stores on
the cars from cristobal. and there is a
special refrigerator train every morning
which has eleven ears filled with meats.
ice and perishable goods. and ten other
cars loaded with other goods. This train
starts at 4:30 every morning and IL Is the
one train which is always on time.
In addition To the goods sold I'm the
stores. there is "A big mail order business.
Messengers go around every day to the
homes of the employees and take their
orders. receiving coupons therefor.
These are sent into the central offices.
and the goods are brought back the next
day All the bread is delivered at the
houses and it is SO of the ice, meats ana
groceries The wagons of the quarter
master come to the cold storage train
and the housekeeper has her supplies
even more regularly and more quickly
than i'm the states. No charge Is made
for delivery.
You NAV be interested in seeing one
of the local stores. Take that here At
Cristobal. 1t is situated on a corner IN
the heart of the town. Ii is about 100
feet front by 200 feet deep. covering all
told almost half an acre. Entering. YOU
find yourself in an establishment much
like department store. The room ie
filled with shelves and counters. DIVIDED
up into departments. and each Is deNoted
to one kind of goods. Here there -
nothing but hardware, over there are
glassware and china, and farther on are
shelves filled with dry goods and notions:
There is one department for cigars ana
tobacco another for drugs. and fhiri
for meats and groceries. The meat
branch has a cold storage room In Wnicn
three or four butchers are kept busy cut
ting roasts chops and steaks for the Gus
toners. Here everything is sanitary the
,neat 10 wrapped IN I'm the cold storage
chamber and handed out through a slot.
The stores are thoroughly organizes.
Each has its white manager and ITS wn,e
assistant storekeeper. The other clerks
arc mostly West Indians, because they
are cheaper than whites. receiving ohiy
from So, to So FER month.
would say that l have patronixed
those stores a great deal during my stay
on the isthmus Through the commits
sarx / have been able to buy one OF the
hooks and have made my purchases Win
tho counons | find the prices mucn
lower than those of the local Panama
establishments and in many cases they
are as cheap AMI cheaper than at nome.
There is no question as to the prices LOT
the government publishes full pr1ce nss
every week or so. and one can tell just
What ANYTHING and everything costs:
FRANK q. CARPENIEh.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-06-23

IT was hot-intensely hot The sun
blaZed down on the asphalt streets in
front of the House office building, and
even the sturdy little newsboys went
about their business of selling papers with
lstless air. Tired lawmakers wandered
to and fro from the Capitol to the office
building, dreaming of shady trees aid
rushing brooks full of leaping trout.
Just down the street on New Jersey
avenue. a small youngster leaned on his
homemade wagon and gazed out on the
world with pensive eyes. A small block
of ice and several bottles filled with diff
ferent cO!ored liquids rested on the top
proclaimed to the world that snowballs.
all flavors. could be bought here for 1
cent. The young merchant mopped his
brow and looked anxiously about for
business.
Hey, Jimmie. GIN me a chocolate
faver.' cried a newsboy as he rushed up
and produced a penny.
Jimmes eyes lighted UP. He got out
his small machine and began shaving the
ice. This finished. he took the chocolate
bottle and shot on the flavor he passed
it over to the newsboy on a piece Of
newspaper
.'How's business?'' inquired the Gus
toner.
Rotten. replied Jimmie. Il only took
in cents today.
The customer finished his snowfall and
hurried back 10 business. Jimmie re-
Sumed his listlesS attitude.
Down through the Capitol grounds
there came a small party of sightseers.
composed of three young women, an ED
eriy woman, young man and small
boy. They appeared hot and tired. and
even the cool summer gowns the young
women wore failed to give them an APP
pearance of comfort. They crossed the
street and stood waiting for a car a few
steps away from the cart of the snow
ball merchant The small boy spied the
cart and set up cry.
II want peach SNOWFALL" he walled.
The elderly woman tried to quiet the
youngster, but in vain. At last, in des-
pera tion, the young man came forward
and gave the order for one peach snow
ball The youngster. supplied with his
chunk of favored ice, sat down on the
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-06-23

expresses joy in the thought. and Is
fairly aching to have her bureau or
ganiZed and get to work.
1T is interesting to know, she said.
that women have been very prominent
in every division of work which has
finally resulted in the establishment of
the chldren's bureau. OF the organ
lied efforts 1t is unnecessary to speak.
The National Child Labor association
has been part of the American Econom-
ic Association and has been under its
direction. Countless clubs have added
the weight of their influence. and indi-
viduals have given yeoman service. All
social legislation must be supported by
an intelligent public opinion If 1t is to
affect industrial conditions.
The mere passage of a law means
nothing unless the community believes
in 1t. and we have the public behind
us most enthusiastically. Mrs. John
Armstrong Chsnler of New York took
up an excellent method to bring the
subject of child labor before the
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-06-23

who follow have to use the figures placed
at their command.
ITO judge by the number Of books and
essays on the children's welfare placed
on the market in the past ten years, 1t
is vital theme and a popular one. l
hope to see 1t more popular still and
every child In this great land Of oppor-
tunity given a fair share.
Miss Lathrop is graduate of Vassa r
and member of the board of governors
of that seat of learning. She cherishes a
revered love for her alma mater and only
grave reasons keep her from attending
the alumni meetings and from assisting
at the council of the managers. She
took the regular classical course with a
small percentage of time devoted to the
subjects of economies
After leaving Vassar she made a pro-
round study of sociology and studied UNI
der the best available masters. But her
best course, she considers was the prac-
teal work connected with the Hull House
The understand of the great city of Chi
cago became her ardent study and her
charge.
Miss Lathrop has written. lectured,
talked to small clubs and large ones,
called neishborhood meetings and tray
eled to various state legislatures in be-
half of some urgent reform. Since her
appointment. fifteen Years ago. as mem
Der of the state board of charity in I'LL
nois she has accomplished wonders Her
portion of labor was to visit the various
state institutions for the dependent, the
delinquent or the criminal She went
into the insane asylums. hospitals. or
phanageS, aSylums for the blind. the deaf
the epileptic: indeed, her energy was so
impressive that whenever she made a re-
port she was heard with attention.
Like so many others In the same work,
Miss Lathrop long ago realized that the
only way to obtain good results was to
divorce politics from every eleemosynary
institution. But how to do this was the
problem she faced when the political
plums consisted. n rule, of making a
man superintendent of this. that and the
other institution with good salary no
matter whether he was fitted by nature
or training. Miss Lathrop has the repu-
tatioh of being peaceful reformer. She
has accomplishe tremendous results with
no upheavals or the strife which usually
post Of chief of the childrens welfare
bureau sprung up over night. 1t is said
that there were over 200 applicants. The
salary, 5000, seemed to assure the APP
pointment of a man. and the appointment
of woman was deeply resented in some
quarters. Miss Lathrop made no effort
to obtain the position, nor was she aware
that her friends we're making efforts for
her. For more than twenty years she
had given her life TO the cause. and the
possibility OF a federal bureau was very
remote. She WAS naturally profoundly
gratified by her selection. and even more
SO by the hundreds of letters and tele-
grams offering congratulations, which
have come to her from every part of the
country.
The children's bureau will not. though
it possesses . feminine head be COM
posed entirely of the gentler sex. The re-
manning officials and clerks have been
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-06-23
BoundIess Faith.
HARTMAN II. s. NEW of

HARTMAN H. S. NEW of the subcom-
mittee on arrangements said at a
dinner at the Auditorium in CHICAGO.
apropos of state that had evinced faith
in Col. Roosevelt:
Their faith reminds me of little boy
whose father showed him, through
fragment of smoked glass, an eclipse of
the sun.
When the eclipse was over. the young
ster said eagerly.
do it aden. daddy: Do it. aden.,."
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-06-23

looking after problems which are pecu-
liarly i'm the domain OF WoHah-euuS I,.s
and strength and a number ~ kinoreo
thamas To these suggestions Miss Latn-
ron gives only a whimsical smile
II am sufficiently busy with aAesuons
hare now and future ones do not make
,,,,cb imnression | am very soclaple
when | have time and ! look forward 10
ENJOYING Washington in every sense OF
the word. 1t enjoys the reputation OF
being one of the most charni,ns cl-s
socialiy and is full of hospitable, SYM
pathetic people.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-06-23

chosen in the regular way through civil
service examination. and the post of as
sistant chief was given to Lewis Mer-
Ram of Salem. Mass. for several years
statistician in the census office. The
clerks and others necessary have not
yet been selected nor has the location of
the bureau been made. for the money APP
propriated for it's maintenance is not yet
available.
Miss Lathrop is an authority of laws
relating to children. passed not only by
Congress, but also by the states. She
has collected her knowledge in various
scrap books we'll indexed and dated
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-06-23

January ] to pay her respects to the
President and other heads of important
executive bureaus The Department OF
Commerce and Labor Is very young and
has not the numerous ramifications OF
some others. but ii possesses several COM
missioners and chiefs, and into this circle
Miss Lathrop will he admitted. the first
of her sex When the Secretary of Com
merce and Labor calls together the heads
of his various divisions Miss Lathrop
will stretch her feet under the mahogany
with the best. From this some see the
time when a woman shall be regular
member of the cabinet, charged with
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-06-23

supplies them with their fuel, which 1t
stores away under the porch.
Before l take you through the immense
warehouses and other government plants
OF this mercantile establishment here a
Cristobal. let me give YOU few items
as to the extent of the business. The
sales last year embraced more than A.
tsN,OOe1 pounds of fresh beef. and a
quarter of a million pounds of mutton
and lamb. The chickens handled in Uncle
SANS grocery store numbered 100000, and
the turkeys and ducks One-fourth as
many. He sold half million pounds OF
bacon, 9.GO0MO eggs and altogether over
5000 tons of food supplies of one kind or
other. Some OF the groceries ran into the
millions of pounds. This was so OF the
flour, which weighed 6OO0,00O pounds: o.
the rice which weighed . GNWO. and OF
evaporated and condensed milk Wnlch
footed up a gross of 3.G00.Ooo pounds.
Uncle Sam sold last year million
rounds of peas and beans. 7oO0W cans
of tomatoes 100000 of fish and 5000
cans of pork and beans. His sales OF
potatoes aggregated 100000 pounds, ana
of onions more than million. he SOLO
10000 grape fruit and about l9,"V
watermeons.
\ little further on 7 will take you
through his bakery her, at Cristooal
where last year he made over ouOWO
Ioaves of bread, sending OF. from .o,Uh'
TO a5NOO every day. We shall visit his
laundry where three and one-haif mi'ion
pieces Of clothing were washed last year.
and go into plants where oOO.NO pounus
of coffee were roasted. SoOO.HU worth OF
ice made and from where more ina u
100 Op gallons of ice cream were shipped
out to canal employees
Indeed. our patriarchal uncle has IN
stitutions here big enough to supply al
most every want of the Americans and
foreign .rs who are employed upon the ca
nal. and notwithstanding the fact that we
are 1000 miles from the base of sup
plies. he is satisfying these wants at
prices as low as at home, and in some
cases lower Moreover. his business is
not only self-supporting. but it pays
small profit. 1t Is, In fact, one of the big
little wonders of our great work at Pan
anna.
This great department store is under the
Col Eugene T. Wilson, the chief sub
sistence officer, and its business is as
carefully done as that of any great fac
tory or trust The purchases are in bulk
and the prices are cut TO the minimum.
Competitive bids are gotten as to every
thing and the government buys where II
can the best and the cheapest.
California products, for instance. are
shipped down by sea to save the cost OF
railroad transportation over the CONT
nent Some goods are bought in Europe
and shipped direct to Panama. Tropical
fruits come from Jamaica and the other
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-06-23

She looks forward with pleasure to
watching affairs at the capital Hitherto
her visits to Washington have been
snatched from a very busy life and gen.
orally she came on some specific mission
which did not admit of much time to
indulge private desires The passage of
the bill creating her office is but step
in what it is hoped to accomplish for child
life in this country, and young America
is to be congratulated in having such a
vigilant aunt right IN the heart of af-
fairs looking after its interests,
Officially, Miss Lathrop will hold an
exalted social rank and she will come
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-06-23

shall enter a house used exclusively as
a residence without the consent of the
head of the family.
81 feel rejoiced that this country is in
a way a pioneer in establishing this bu-
reau in this particular way. The question
of protecting children is coincident with
the introduction of machinery when the
child labor problem began. As early as
1902 Sir Robert Peel of England obtained
the passage of a bill abolishins the APP
prentice system, a particularly cruel form
of enslaving young children. England
was an excellent model in that all laws
pertaining to children adults either
came from one central lawmaking body,
whereas child labor i'll this country de-
pended on the clemency and justice or
the various state legislatures. This. how
ever is all remedied now and the labor
of the bureau will be along every line of
child life in every class of people, the
birth rate. the diseases. especially the rea-
sons for infant mortality. The word con-
servation Is very popular now and we are
getting ready 10 conserve the most pre-
cious property of the state, the children.
Though the first report on record in the
government archives relating To the child
problem IS report made by the late
Carroll ID. Wright, when commissioner OF
la Dor, for Congress in 1885,, private efforts
10 aid children date back ten years be-
fore. Few acts of Congress have been
passed after such painstaking care. Not
even the suffrage efforts have Knocked
more persistentiy at the DOORS of Con-
gress than did this committee. composed
of public spirited men and women drawn
from all walks of life and none with
hope of personal ACKNOWLEDGMENT. When
the bill was passed i'm the present form
they felt that they had realized their
dream of having laws for childien en-
tirely disassociated from politics placed
on the high level which such subject
deserves. Only federal bureau made
il poss BILE TO wipe out state lines and
work for the objective point of the nation
and not for the benefit of communities
and Individuals.
Though associated with scenes of pow
erty, privation and sorrow for the past
twenty-five years. no one presents
SUMMER eountenance than Miss Lathrop.
She is thoroughly absorbed in the eff
fort 10 help children, and years ago.
when she selected this vocation TO
which TO. devote her talents her
time and substance TO aiding her
feilow-man. she specialized on CHI:
dren. In Hull Hous she found
demonstrate her theories. and her
Illinois board of charity widened her
tieid. She takes the keenest interest
in the games of children. and can talk
base ball like an enthusiast of that pas
time. She gravely discusses doll trou-
bles with tiny girls and talks fashions
with the frivolous little miss. To be
the aunt of every child in America
seems a big contract. but Miss Lathrop
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-06-23
The Only Way.
THE late Wilbur Wright put S

THE late Wilbur Wright put safety
above all else in aeroplane construc-
ton.
critical eye the flight of a very swift,
very cranky aeropane, when a little
girl said to him:
Uncle Wilbur. can you get to heaven
in one of those machines?
Not by going up, replied the great
airman: but If you have lived a very
good life You may do SO by coming
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-06-23
. az
INTHE COLD
STORAGE. RANTI
lWE STOP AMor1EhTI
| To PUTON
l OVE.RCQATS
MRCARPENTER-
AT The. LEFT

cheeses are kept by themselves. They are
of all sorts. from some big as a wagon
wheel to others no larger around than the
palm of your hand. This room Is kept cool
by the brine system. and the pipes which
line 1t are covered with snow.
A little farther on is the egg cooler.
which is also lined with brine pipes. 1t
is filled with crates of fresh eggs, which
are now being sold at the rate of 10000
day. Every egg has to be tested be-
there at the right you may see the proc
ess of testing. 1t is done by means Of
box. in which an electric light shines.
The box is closed except for a hole the
size of an egg in one side The man
takes an egg and places it over this hole.
II it is good the light shines right
through and makse it look like an egg
of real gold. II it is bad the egg will not
be transparent. 1t will look streaked
and spotted, and If rotten almost black.
a record is kept of every egg handled.
We look over the reports and find that
in the last batch of 21,OOO only forty-four
eggs were bad. That is only about two
bad eggs to the thousand. The eggs are
all candled before they leave New Or
leans, and only the good ones are paid
for. Those which come cracked are
saved and used in the bakery.
The same care is employed as to the
butter Uncle Sam buys the best the
III
bulk. 1t used to be that butter was sent
down in prints. but ii was found that
it cost 3 cents more per pound to bring
1t that way. and that it did not keep so
we'll For this reason the government
has its own butter-cutting machines ard
II cuts and packs it's own prints The
butter now sells at AZ cents a pound and
1t is Of the grade which costs q cents
more than that in the states
We find the chambers colder and colder
as we go on with our journey. Those in
which the turkeys, ducks squads and
milk-fed chickens are kept Is only twelve
degrees above zero and the fowls are
frozen stiff, Here there are fresh fish,
oysters, canvas back and teal ducks. as
we'll at sweetbreads and other such
things. l take one of the chickens in my
hand, and pound box with 1t. 1t is as
solid as ice and ] have little difficulty
in breaking the boards.
A little further on is the meat cooler,
the temperature of which keeps the
flesh hard as glacier. Immense
quarters of beef hang from the racks.
There are 700 quarters in this single
room. and this will last only five days
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-06-23


CHE Jocularly Calls Her
~ self the "Old Aunt of
Young Anerica'-Miss La
throp Spent a Few Days Here
Recently, and Will Return
the First of July to Organize
Her Bureau-She Possesses
a National Reputation for
Successful Endeavor in Con-
nection With the Illinois
Board of Charities and With
Miss Adams in Hull House.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-06-23
BY MARGARET p. DOWNING.

HOSE VINO look on
suffrage as a con-
dition at the ma
tional doors to be
faced squarely are
iubilaHt over the
appointment of the
first woman bureau
chief in the great
machinery Of the
government Miss
Julia G. I.athrop of
Chicago was chosen
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-06-23

americans, ana they trleu 10 sen uS poo.
stuff at high prices. II was absolutely
necessary in the management of the
canal to have the men well fed and well
cared for. and so Uncle Sam became
merchant and he has established here
one of the biggest department stores OF
the world. He does not insist that any
one buy of him. but his prices are so low
ard his goods are so good tfat no one
thinks of purchasing anywhere else
The business began at the start of our
work on the canal. and ii has now grown
until it amounts TO almost s6.G0.O00 per
year. The number of consumers is now
about 10000. and this includes the fami-
lies of both the silver and gold employees
upon the canal and the railroad. All are
practically dependent upon the govern
meht for their food and clothing. which
Uncle sam sells almost at cost The gov
eminent brings fresh bread to their
front doors every morning. 1t puts away
the ice in their refrigerators and even
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-06-23

WANT 10 tell YOU
how Uncle Sam
feeds and clothes
his canal employ es.
" hen the old pa
triarch undertook
this big jon at
Panama he found
the stores here
very poor. The ma
tive merchants did
n OF understand
the wants of the
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-06-23

american public. 1t was prize of
soOO Tor the best essay on child con-
diuons in American factories and it
was offered through the American
Economic Association
Tine result was a general striving to
learn the subject. primar ily to gain the
goal. but in many cases the knowledge
SO obtained was put To good use. The
prize money was divided between two
members of the bureau of labor. Mr.
Niiloushby and Miss Clara de Graffen-
reid. and so well did these two cover the
sueJect that their essays still remain a
standard synopsis of the laws and con-
ditions OF the country. Naturally In many
details things have changed since lSs..
when TIE essays were written, but all
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-06-23

TT Does Business of Six
! Million Dollars Year and
Supplies One Hundred Thou
sand Consumers-The Enor-
nous Purchases and How
They Are Made-A Visit to
the Cold Storage Plant at
Cristobal-The Bakery Which
Makes 10000 Loaves a Day
"A Government, Laundry
Where They Iron by Elec-
tricity-A Visit to the Retail
Stores-How the Goods Are
Distributed-A Big Business
Which Pays.
copyright. 1912. by Frank 6. Carpenter,
Special Correspondence Of The Star.
CRISTOBAL, Canal Zone Panama