davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1913-05-04

some are practically like so many In
dams. Some, again. have the entire head
shaved over, except for queue at the
top. Marching back to class, the alternate
aisles of boys and of girls, the seating
arrangement in the rooms. makes strik-
ing picture!
Frisco's Oriental School has been there
about twenty-seven years, starting with
but three pupils. At the start IL was
looked on with favor by the East. indeed
chance to educate the young in our
ways. But when the attendance became a
matter of compulsion rather than choice,
then the thing assumed other form. Lately
there have been some 305 pupils in this
school.
Scene in SchoolroOm.
You peep into one room, an older grade,
and hence filled almost wholly with boys.
many of these in the immaculate black
jackets. Some of them, too, wear very
fine grade of American garment, others
are typically celestial in attire. One
young man is rather old to be in school
still, and you wonder how discipline is
maintained. The teachers state they use
the rattan on both boys and girls II they
misbehave.
But many of the children never need
this. Young Wong Buck You, now with
the Sing Fat stores, for example, beat all
the city schools in the general average. Of
his seventh grade when he graduated
Tong King Chong. the editor of a paper
in the town, is another star graduate.
You listen to a class recite local geogra
ply and look over sketches made here,
pictures giving intimate peeps into the
home life and customs of the Orient. One
such shows a wedding. the guests throw
ing firecfackers at the bride. Another, a
girl donning her bow ting. as the fiat,
embroidered head dress is called. The
children give you the celestial Il dunno"
when they don't choose to answer, or turn
to do some writing-English-in exquisite
Some of the girls have taken
English names. Dew Drop, Bessie, and
Lemon Drop are all here. Out Of their
spending money they buy their own books.
Yonder class is explaining the story of
the little fir tree. At 1880 a. m. school
is dismissed and all go home for break
fast. At 1880 they return. When done
here many of the boys go to a Confucian
school until s p M, and then again at s
o. clock at night.
Behind the politics of it, the Orientals
value the training their youngsters get in
The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1913-05-04

San Francisco. May 3.-George Shima
is a Japanese and the Potato King"
Of the West. He "cornered" the po-
tato market in 1910 and made a for
tune.
He is a millionaire and undoubtedly
the wealthiest and probably the most
popular Japanese in America, both
with his own countrymen and with the
Americans. He is an agricultural ex-
pert and an authority on American
business methods.
Personally, George Shima is a man
of dignity, culture, and magnetic per-
sonalfty. He speaks English with
scarcely any trace of accent.
There is nothing so sacred to him
as his word. Once he has given il to
you, 1t will never be broken. He is
tireless worker and only by his bull
dog determine ton has he made sue
cess of his career. He has faced fail
has been swept away, his time lost his
years of hard work undone.
Shima came to California in 1889.
He had a thousand dollars in cash and
a willingness to work and learn, cou-
pied with ability for absorbing knowl-
edge. For three years he watched
Americans, Chinese, and Italians grow
potatoes. Worked beside them, and
learned their ways, then started out
for himself.
The first year he lost his thousand
dollars and the wage he had saved.
But he kept right on, and by 1896 he
had managed to lose everything. Then
the tide turned.
Tn, Hn
profits. Since then. he has had a few
bad years, but his money mark has been
continually rising. In 1910, he made
fortune
Today George Shma is rated million
aire and controls 5000 acres Of Cali
fornia land either by ownership or
leases and he is Jap. He is unnatu-
rallied, an alien unable to take any in
terest, other than passing interest, in
the government; a man whose sole
purpose can be nothing other than to
increase his own wealth. George Shi
ma stands above all others, a distinc-
tive Individual Of the West He is
power. An agricultural magnate A
force to. be. feared >. Why?
Because he shows convincingly and
to what power the Japa-
nese has risen in the West. He typ
fies the Japanese situation on the Pa
cific Coast. He is the most remarkable !
result of a condition which permitted
these little brown men to encroach
upon the Pacific Coast
George Shima controls 5000 acres of
he best agricultural land in California |
supposing a couple of hundred other |
George Shimas drift into this country
with the stream of Japanese immi-
grants that pours in every year. and /
get control of 5000 acres Of perfectly |
good agricultural land. then what?
The best minds of this country are
not giving their attention to agricul- |
.ure.' says Shima.
Is II possible that this is one of the !
seasons that the Jap is able to gradu-
The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1913-05-04

announced that he would be candidate
for Vice President at the Baltimore
convention.
Now He Beat the Bosses.
No man can sound the depths Of an
other mans mind. but 1t is possible that
Mr.. Redneld. like a billiard player. was
thinking about the next shot. Be that
as 1t may, he found his position admir-
able after the ticket had been made.
First of all, he had impressed woodrow
Wilson with his personality. Later he
impressed woodrow Wilson with his
morals and his thoughts.
Nor was either achievement peculiar
on the part of Mr.. Redfeld. He is tall.
masculine, and frank. His atmosphere
The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1913-05-04

them on the spot. Wherefore he was also
respected and privately feared.
Some of those who suffered said that
he was intellectually arrogant Didac-
tic would have been a nicer word. 9th
ers complained that he stated his own
convictions, and then exclaimed: Such,
my friends, are the sacred doctrines of
the Democratic party" Nevertheless,
the bosses of Brooklyn denied him
second term. Undismayed, he arose
from the dust, smiled at his foes, and
The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1913-05-04
Ten Years of silence.

From the New York World
For ten years, you might say, my hus-
band hasn't spoken to me nor / to nv
husband. though We have lived here in
this little home with our children" said
Mrs. Sarah Mintz. wife of Carson Mintz.
d cigar dealer OF 313 East Eighty-fifth
Street. But that is hardly so. for L re-
member that once few months ago
Gid break out and say few things to
him though he did not answer me-"
Mrs. Mintz is suing her husband for a
separation. In spite of the fact that her
husband has been served with the sum-
mons in the suit. she has not mentioned
il to him, nor he to her. though they
both live in the same fiat
The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1913-05-04
CALIFORNIA POTATO king
IS AN UNNATURALIzED JAP
George Shma Cornered Market in 1910 and Is Millionaire,
Controlling 5000 Acres Of American Soil
Typical Of His Race

ally get a monopoly Of the strangle-
hold variety on our agricultural re-
sources?
John r. Mclaughlin, commissioner
of labor in California. says: IF the
West is to be preserved for the white
race, then we must legislate against
the Jap
Shima, educated and intelligent Jap
anese, is a living example that Nc
Laughlin is right
The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1913-05-04
New Secretary Of Commerce Removed from Rank. Of Me
ocrity by Money settins Ability and Unusual
Intellectual Equipment.

MANUFACTURED. Money came at his beck
and call. Maybe he would reveal the
secret
Moreover, he was precise. Once he was
a bookkeeper and a cent even could un-
balance his accounts. BY habit and by
instinct he abominated errors of fact as
he saw the truth. So he took the floor
when he thought he heard them and slew
The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1913-05-04

is lofty and Independent. In conversa-
ton he sounds and he looks like a hu-
manized college professor or the min
lister of a very lively and prosperous
church. Furthermore, he abhors a pro-
tective tariff, though his own products
are in the schedules which are defended
by a tax. President Wilson is something
Of a surgeon himself. He is analytical.
sophisticated. and. without temperature
in his blood. After seeing and listening,
and rejecting, of course, he sent a let
The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1913-05-04

the school Probably of their own choice
they would send them here rather than
to the other free schools. But it's the
being forced to attend here that the Japs
don't like-it CALLS and they won't stand
II. Japan is feeling her oats as a world
power since she licked the chinks. and II
our navy is as inefficient as is generally
believed enc of these days she may lick
us as we'll.
The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1913-05-04
COLLECTORS.
From the Boston Herald.

From the Boston Herald.
Collectors as a rule are cyclists and
thieves. They are often leading citi-
zens in the great republic of Bores. One
man will buttonhole you in the street
while he tells you in CHASTITY detail how
he finally secured the autograph of the
fourth Governor of Georgia. Another
will describe infinitely his collection C
photographs of all the women who have
yet taken the part of Carmen. We know
an otherwise blameless person who col
lected monOgrams. What one of us has
not at some time dwelt in this Arcadia?
When we were boys it was either COL
lection of coins. beginning with copper
cents of the United States postage
stamps. or names of locomotive engines.
How many had the foresight to keep
their coins and stamps? They We're scat
tered, or they disappeared. together with
a little book relating the adventures of
Alexander Selllirk, that book with deep
green covers and wood cuts apparently
cut with a jackknife. For 1t We would
now gladly exchange a complete and lux
urious set Of books by any author living.
The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1913-05-04
Sea Dust.

From Harper's Weekly.
When the decks of ships are rubbed
and cleaned each morning great auanti-
ties of dust are invariably found. In
the modern steamship this could be ac-
counted for by the tons of carbon which
are poured forth daily, but the curious
thing Is that the deck of the sailing ship
shows a greater quantity of this mate
rial than that Of the steamship.
In a trip from New York to San Fran
cisco, occupying ninety-seven days by
sailing ship, twenty-four barrels of pow
der were swept from the deck. The cap
tain took extended observations of the
collected daily, but found moth
ing which assisted him to clear the mys-
terry.
The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1913-05-04

and byway is filled with pupils, but
only children-and in each classroom,
from primer up. you will find humans
| of all ages.
The condition seems to be aggra-
waited by the fact that, entering at all
ages, some go one, some two, some all
the years. The percentage Of children
in American garments seems to vary
in similar proportion. Often one finds
American garb, but the queue. Some
times there is Celestial attire and
queue-or none.
Resents the Camera.
The school itself is not to be COM
planned of. 1t is modern, two-story
building, and, with all the children
about, makes an interesting picture.
Like SO many young Indians, these
children are averse to being photo
graphed here, though, because they
resent being put upon picture post
cards and sold about town, as occurs
81 frequently.
The lower grades, where most of the
little folk abound, are the most inter-
estinG. Cunning little bits of Nippon
and Cathay sit at the desks. Little
girls, with attractive green hairbands.
are here. Others have the hair in
cCnelike knc+ at the side and tied with
think of Yum Yum in THE Mikado."
Sometimes the girls. as well as the
boys, wear green trousers and blue
jackets--the boys add a blue cap
from which, with the Chinese, there
descends a long braid You watch them
salute the colors before school, Then
some of the lads foregather on the
porch while a classroom is repaired
and they frisk, tease, laugh, much as
BY and by they start q game popular
over the Japanese Empire. You suppose
You might call it kicking the feather"
The implement for this is sold in the little
shops round about the schoolhouse-a
long, strong goosequill, set through five
or six round discs of snake skin. The
whole then, is bound stoutly together.
The sides line up and some one starts on,
kicking the little device to the other side.
There some one catches 1t on the run Snd
kicks it back, and so it goes, banded
Chinese coin holding the discs at the
base breaks loose and the nickels worth
Of skin and feathers flies helter-skelter,
losing the game for the side so rash as
to permit its kicker to have this occur.
Sing America First.
School opens, and in the given class |
room they sing America" first. Then
there is>roll call These children give the |
family name first. then the given name-
/. e., Smith, JOHN instead of John !
Smith, In giving their ages. too, they
ask whether teacher desires the Amerl- |
can or the Oriental age, for in the East |
when babe is born it is considered to De
a year old. Listening to the children give
their fathers name, Pa Hok Fon and the |
like. is not without its comic side. Cum
nj tn rlor mi
ones notion.
Some of these children are very bright.
With all the Orientals the parents are
quite willing to send the boys to school.
but as to the girls they rather consider
wasted There are unique types i
in the lot-a child. half-bred of the white
and the Chinese. Is pointed out ~ a-nota-s
Wheeling majority. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1907-192?, 1913-10-02

d
'-Too""
Wheeling majority. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1907-192?, 1913-10-02

All the thousands of workers in Wheeling have no
place that they call their home Among all the build
ngs there is not that the property Of the class that
built them ALL After building all the buildings in town
the workers meet at the pleasure Of landlord.
10 those who knew Augustus Pollack in life, and to
those who knew him only by his works. there be
difference OF opinion as to whether he would prefer
monument OF cold, unfeeing stone whether he would
wish to take the form of home for the workers. where
they could meet and discuss their problems and plan
better the conditions for themselves, their families and
humanity in general
And the Labor Temple is a practical proposition.
More than 600 is available in the Pol]ack Memorial
Fund This could be used nucleus and the balance Of
the amount necessary to erect Labor Temple could be
borrowed Assume for purpose Of illustration that the
Temple would cost $25000 Any bank would loan SIS 600
Taking the $4,000 from the remainder would leave but
$4,000 Giving the bank the first mortgage the Assembly
could loan at least half the remainder and the local unions
could loan the small balance Both the Assembly and the
locals would be getting six per cent for their money where
as they now receive but four per cent from the banks
The only question left would be whether the revenue
OF the building would take Of such financial PROPOSE
ton Io make this safe, paying all interest charges in
surance repairs and cost Of maintenance would require
revenue of but 81 900 per year. This would be but $3.50
per month"; or So per day. in round figures No one would
be pessmc enough think that this could not be done
1t could, and SO much more money than this would be
aken IN that every year substantial reduction in the
loan could be made, with the result that in few years
Labor would building all its own without one cent
of interest or dividends to pay
The benefits to Labor Of such a Temple are too an
parent to need recital here But the original purpose the
Memorial Fund could not be better served than having
carved above the door:
'THE POLLACK MEMORIAL LABOR TEMPLE.
Wheeling majority. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1907-192?, 1913-10-02
ThE COST or LAND AND'
THE COST Of LIVING !.


The Chicago Record Herald has for
months been deyoting the first column
! of its first page to an investigation OF
the high cost of living. This investiga-
ton was until recently conducted by
Eliot Flower, who confined his inves-
| legations to such superficial matters
as the middleman, wasteful methods OF
housekeepers, cost of delivering
CATION led nowhere. Lately another
writer, Arthur M. Evans, has been
conducting the investigation. and he
seems to be getting on the right track
In the issue Of August rs he locates
the cause of higher food prices in OBJ
StacleS to production created by ex-
haustion of the public domain and in
fiation of farm land values Inflated
land values make requirement of a
farm difficult, restrict production OF
farm product and increase prices.
Says Mr.. Evans:
Low prices w to the late '90s and
the depression of agriculture, drove
the farmers boys to the city to get the
money High prices might turn the
movement in the reverse direction,
but new. difficulty beset the march
to the land.
mot only has>the cost of living gone
soaring, but everything else has shot
skyward. It's far harder to get back
to the farm than it was to get to the
city. The public domain is
practically exhausted of arabic lands;
rich acres are no longer to be had for
the asking. Land values have gone up,
which increases the capital necessary
for purchase. Not only does it cost
more to become farm owner, but it
costs more to become tenant Ad-
vanced land values has naturally
brought higher rentals. The higher
the rental the smaller the profit to the
tenant.
While the consumer is paying vastly
more for what he eats and wears than
he did ten years ago, the farmer is not
getting much more recompense for the
work of production.
At bottom of the increase in prices is
the fact that the last decade or so has
seen an economic revolution in Ameri-
ca. It is by no means the only cause,
for multitude Of matters, from the
spots on the sun to the war in the
Balkans, have had an influence on
"a ANO0S OuI ~ 10 nMOu6 uAC IuuudHuSu-
tai causes.
It's not so long ago that the best OF
soil could be obtained by all Corners
under the homestead law. But it can
not be got free now, for nearly all the
good land has been taken up and near
ly three ourths of what remains OF
the public domain is fit only for graz
ing purposes.
Land is increasing in value with
great rapidity. In the ten years be-
tween 1900 and 1910, the value of farm
property in the United States doubled.
It increased from $4,000, 100000 to
$40 ,00O, 100000 In ten years the aver
( age value Of farm land in the United
States advanced from 1857 per acre
to 1920 per acre. The increase var
led in different sections.
With the increase i'm value has come
change in farm tenure.
The country is approaching a sys-
tenn of IA rm tenantry, and the higher
the values move the faster is the ap-
Wheeling majority. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1907-192?, 1913-10-02
RESPONSIBILITY FOR VICE

| = w.
Dorothy Dix" the writer for the
Hearst papers, treats on the relation
OF the wage question to the vice prob
lem In the issue of August 29. She
places the responsibility for vice or
Tor large port of it on the employer
who pays insufficient wages. There
Dorothy is unjust. In the first place
while few only few, employers are
so prosperous that. they can if they
VIII, pay more than the market price
Tor labor, the great majority of them
must struggle to pay even that. In
the next place, the fact that wages in
any line are too low to enable the re-
apient to live decently is reliable
indication of another fact: There must
be a considerable number of involun-
tartly unemployed persons ready to
take the places of those employed. But
for this those at work could not be
compelled to work for low wages.
| Let US suppose (even though the sup
position Us ridiculous), that without
any otheT change than enactment Of
minimum wage act, every EMPLOYER
raises the wages. of underpaid employ
es. That-would still leave the army of
unemployed not only unprovided for,
but probably much increased. IT
might cut OFF the supply of recruits
for the ranks of vice from the employ
ed ones, but not from the unemployed.
The fact must not be blinked that more
unemployed ones will find vacancies to
step into under conditions which force
employed ones into vice, than other
wise. Forcing up wages in spite of
natural laws will make the EMPLOYED
ones more secure Crowded the un-
employed ones and the employer re-
frain from natural tendency to force
wages down AGAIN., but the lot of the
unemployed will become more hopeless
than ever. The sum total of vice and
misery will not be reduced.
Had Dorothy Dix" placed the blame
on those who uphold conditions that
create supply of unemployed she
would have been more Just. There are
some employers. for instance, who ac-
tnally pay higher wages than thew
actually must. These usually con
slider themselves very generous bene-
factors But are they? Not if thew
90 not use what power they possess to |
remove the cause of unemployment
AS a matter of fact, such employers
are usually to be found among those
resisting the removal of that cause. |
Instead Of being benefactors, when (
they oppose application of fundam en-
tai remedies they are, in fact, enemies
Of the social welfare.
An employer who pays no more
than he must, but devotes time, ener-
gy and money toward removing the
cause that enables him to employ
cheap help if far better friend to hui
mainly than the political reactionary
who pays the highest wages.
The vice problem springs from eco
nomic conditions due to unjust laws
The. responsibility for vice rests only
on those who uphold such laws egard-
less OF what their policy may be in
conducting their private affairs.
Wheeling majority. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1907-192?, 1913-10-02
THERE is A MEASURE bending in the cit

ell now that should speedily pass It provides for the re-
among many other things in the interest Of sanitation
during the whole of its existence and is exceedingly glad
to note that at last councilman out of the hundreds
forward And the Majority doesn't care if he is pluber
and can be accused of economic determinsm IF anv
thing but economic determns has ever ruled the CITY
council we have failed to see the.instance. ~
The objection that this would be an added cost non
the poor tenants of the city shypoctica The
not be made any worse off than they now are IF any man
can 1nvenI new way OF squeezing still more ont of
tne poor ne can get 1000 salary for telling to Wall
street, and Wall streets Wheeling lickspittles.
Sure we want water sanitation in every house. Ard
we want more than that want bath tubs and hot and
Wheeling majority. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1907-192?, 1913-10-02

mass meeting of five hundred citizens
OF the Fairmont-Clarksburg district
That we demand the removal from
this district of the secret police, spies
and gun men Of the Consolidation
Coal Company and other corporations;
and
Be 1t Further Resolved, That we
demand protection for all citizens In
the rights of free speech, free assem-.
bly, and the free exercise Of political
conviction; and
Be It Further Resolved, That we
demand the unrestricted righs of or.
ganization Tor business men and
working men alike. politically as
democrats, republicans, or socialists.
and economically as labor unions 81
business mems associations, as the in
terests and necessities Of the men con-
cerned may require; and
be 1t Further Resolved, That copy
OF these resolutions be sent to the
President Of the United States: tc
the Governor of the state of West Vir.
ginia; to the authorities of the coun.
ties affected; to the officials of the Con-
solidation Coal Company; to the con-
gressiOnal investigating committee on
conditions in the coal mining districts
OF West Virginia; to the labor press
OF the country and to the general
press of the state; and
Be 1t Further Resolved, That a con
ference of eight citizens of this com
munity be proposed by this meeting
to prosecute the demands of this reso-
luton, and that said conference be
notified Of the acton here taken and