davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Washington herald., 1913-07-20

inakions at once wrote to him stating
that I bad carsfully looked through al
cur examination papsrs ana haa not been
able to md one question sven femotely
resembiing any OF these questions wnicn
he allegod had been asked. and that 1
would b greatly obliged II he would give
me the name Of the bright young man
who had deoeived him.
However. that bright young man. re-
manned permanently without . name.
also asked Mr.. German II he did not
wish to give US the name OF his tn
formant. to give US the date Of the ex-
animation in which he was supposed to
have taken part; and I offered. II he
would send down a representative to
look through our files, to give him all
the aid we could in his effort to dis
cover any such questions. But Mr.. Cor
man. not hitherto known as sensitive
soul, expressed himself as 30 shocked
at the thought that the vsrscity Of the
bright young man" should be doubted
that he could not bring himself 70 an
The Washington herald., 1913-07-20

to twitch. 1 did not feel that The WASH
ington Herald would want me to need
lessly expose my life, so left.
/ now know perfectly how spinsters
and working girls feel about the ballot.
the Declaration of Independence. the
womens movement, and other things.
Ny poll Of Washington women was get
ting on.
For the next hour or so I did some
high-pressure canvassing I learned that
women want to vote because man. by
some base treachery somewhere and
sometime, cornered all the heavy work In
the world and deprived women OF her
fair share" I learned that women felt
the need OF the ballot because men
could break all the Ten Commandments
vigorously and repeatedly. and survive
to occupy high places in the esteem OF
their neighbors and fellow-countrymen-
One of the Reasons.
a.. I'VE women want to vote" 1 was told,
$50 that We can be bad and kick up
row Just like you men without hurting
our prestige. or, failing that, pass laws
making you all just as good as We have
had to be-
"why shouldn't women have their fair
share of the high public offices?' on.
woman said. why shouldn't We be
able to draw pay as policemen. fremen.
ambassadors, and so forth? Why should
any career be closed to u.s. Why should
the genius OF individual woman be
hedged In by convention: Our women's
movement means that II shall not be.
Mark my words, young man, there Is
day of reckoning coming. On that day
men will find themselves In competition
with women in every walk Of life. and
they will have to hump themselves to
keep up
She looked as though she meant what
she said. and gazing at the brawny arm
whose muscular hand clasped the deli-l
cate handle of a fraili lavender parasol,
the cub reporter realized that this wom-
on could easily beat him out in compe-
tition for place on Maj. Sylvester's
force. I did not handy words with her.
said that she was right. told her
that I would put her case fairly and
squarely before the public in my story,
and hastened to caution her that II the
story did not please her the copy readers
were to blame and not myself.
They change anything they please"
I told her. / didn't want this woman
looking for me some hot day to test her
theory of competition.
A young girl to whom feel at liberty
to bow. but commonly not at liberty to
address her-for she drives a limousine
and her father owns a steam yacht-com-
planned. after consideration OF my ques-
ton. that the factories have taken away
women's work.
I'VE can no longer darn stockings,
wash clothes. sweep up. and such things"
she mourned. "All that Is done by ma
chinery. steam laundries. and travelling
vacuum cleaners. Therefore we must
vote to have something to do wby Wa
can't even cook our own bread any more;
the cooks do 1t for us. We must be given
serious like voting to do for
our own salvation. OF course. I am
speaking principally for the working
GIRL" she concluded. I'll
She also il interested in the "women's
With her II takes the form
Of slum touring.
After left this young girl. / tried to
average UP my statistics. Somehow, Il
couldn't. The woman who wanted to be
The Washington herald., 1913-07-20

that In the long run We obtained sufhcient
money to enable u to do our work. On
the whole the most prcmtnent ieeAsrs
favored NJ. Any man who 10 the head
Of . big department. II hs has any MT
ness at al. wishes to see that depart.
ment run well; and q very little practacal
experience shows him that 1t cannot bs
run well II he must rake his appoint
ments to please spoiismongertng pon-
ticians. As with almost every reform
that I have ever undertaken. most OF
the opposition took the guise OF shrewd
slander. Our opponents relied chieny on
downright Misrepresentation, Of what It
was that we were trying 70 accomplish,
and Of our methods, acts. and person
a,.ties I had more than one lively en-
counter with the authors and sponsors
Of these Misrepresentation, which at the
time were full OF interest to me But II
would be q dresry thing now to 90 over
the record Of exploded mendacity. or 10
expose the meanness and malice shown
by some men Of high ofacial position
favorite argument was to call the
reform Chinese. because the Chinsss had
The Washington herald., 1913-07-20

swer my letter. So I made a public
statement 10 the effect that no such
questions had ever been asked. Mr..
German brooded over this: and during
the next session of Congress he rose
and complained that he had received a
very "impudent" letter from me tmy
letter was a respectful note calling at
tention to the fact that, IL he wished.
he could by personal examination sat
isfy himself that his statements had no
foundation in fact). He further stated
that he had been cruelty" called to
account by me because he had been en-
deavoring to right a great wrong"
that the Civil Service Commission had
committed: but he never. then or after
wards, furnished any clue to the iden-
tity of that child of his fondest fancy,
the bright young man without
name.'
The incident is of note chiefly as she'd
ding light on the mental makeup Of the
The Washington herald., 1913-07-20
The Herald Reporter Being
Commissioned to Find Out
Comes to the Conclusion
that There Is No "Average
Woman" ="
By l.. d. EDWARDS.

How does the average woman you
meet upon the streets Of Washington feel
about equal suffrage? A high-pressurs
campaign for VOTES for women" has
been going on in Washington for more
than six months What effect has it had? i?
How many converts to the cause" have
been made here? And why have they
become converts?
Parade, pageant, play. lawn fete, and
curbside talk have brought home to the
women of the District that they need
tie ballot. Since January i, the suffrage
colors have flown over the Offices of 4
tireless committee Of workers who have
spent morning. aoon, and night in the
teaching of their faith. Suffrage litera-
ture has covered Washington as tho:-
oughly as the locusts are said to have
once covered Egypt. Hardly a newspaper
edition bur has aided in the work.
The amount of work done has been
convincing. 1t has had the right kind
OF publicity, and plenty Of it There
Is small chance that there is a woman
man or child in the length ard breadth
Of Washington who has not heard ali
uoout this movement for Acknowledgement
Of women. To complete the work Of
making everything clear. the anti-sIffra-
Eists have taken . hand IN explaining
things.
With all this in mind. the city editor
assigned me to gather statistics showing
what the effect of all this work has been
There's No Such Thing.
1 lind that there IS no such thipc as
woman suffrage" find that there have
never been any woman suffrage demon
strations here, despite conviction Of the
general public to the contrary. There
never will be any such demonstrations.
And. lastly, I And that the cause of
woman suffrage n.ver mas nor will exist.
Was unprepsre6 70. this result
4 wonan's movement. learned, did
exist. Also. what seemed closely akin to
woman suffrage. movement for a per
feet democracy" IT'S for these two
things that the nas-falseiy thought to
have been the stcnGa.i. Of womsn suf-
frage-has 30 long waved in Washing
ton There were also , thousand minor
creeds that have been hitherto bundled
together in woman suffrage.
One creed was '..yotes for women for
anti-alcohol legislation" Another was
votes sor women for higher pay ana
fewer hours" Still another was "vote.
for women as p means of establishing
her equality with man." Finally, came
'.vo:es for women on general principles
of the women's movement"
But far the greater number OF converts
were converts to the cauee of the last.
This appears to re explained Sg' the fact
rhst the aims of tho "~omes's move
ruent' are wide. They include every
The Washington herald., 1913-07-20
After Five Years Comparative Inactivity in Politics, He Be-
comes Civil Service Commissioner Under
President Harrison IN 1889.

to use legal phrase, their hatred was
for cause. and sometimes it was persmp-
tory-that is. sometimes the commission
interfered with their most eficient, and.
incidentally. most corrupt and unscrupu-
lous, supporters, and at other times.
where there was nc such interference.
a man nevertheless had an innate dis
like Of anything that tended to decency
in government. These men were always
waging war against Us. and they usaal-
ly had the more or less open support Of
q certain number Of government ofYicials.
from Cabinet officers down. The Sem
ators and Congressman In question op-
posed Us in many different ways. Some
times. for instance, they had committees
The Washington herald., 1913-07-20

appointed TO investigate us-during my
public career without and within ofiice
1 grew accustomed to accept appearances
before investigating committees as part
of the natural order of things. Some
times they tried to cut OF the appropria-
tfon for the commission.
The OpPositfon.
Occasionally We would bring to terms
these Senators or Representatives who
fought the Commission by the simple
expedient of not holding examinations
in their districts. This always brought
frantic appeals from their constituents,
ard We would explain that unfortunately
the appropriations had been cut, SO that
we could not hold examinations in every
district and that obviously we could not
neglect the districts of those Represen-
tatives who believe in the reform and
therefore in the examinations. The con-
stituents then turned their attention to
the Representative, and the result was
The Washington herald., 1913-07-20

thing classified up to the minute OF going
to press. and a good many things that
are not as yet definitely known.
The central idea Of the women s
movement is that all progressive women
are going from some point to some other
one. and that they. like men, must be
continually on their way or be guilty OF
standing still. Standing still is some
thing calling for reproach from all true
converts to this movement.
The strife for the ballot Is only one
Of the innumerable phases Of this move
Lment-merely a side issue as 1t were 1t
hnds its place in the general program,
as follows: Women do not vote, II they
can get the right to vote, they are doing
something that they do not do now. and
have consequently lived up to their
movement by moving from somewhere
to somewhere else.
Now, this is how the reporter learned
of the woman's movement He ap-
preached a Washington woman-an art
ist-on the subject Of her conversion to
the cause of woman suffrage. Whether
it had been successful. and why?
mo, / am not a sufiragist," she said.
This was clear and to the point. What
followed at first was not, but its solu-
ton yielded to reflection.
I'm not a suffragist, but / demand
at the polls ne given to my sex. 1 make
this demand as one of the many women
who are developing the women's move
ment throughout the world. The wo:n-
ems movement means that the women
Of the world are at last throwing on
their fetters Of being sex class and
are becoming individualists-
Hitherto. man has rnonopoliSed the
right of Individual development. while
oHol1
Of sex. Man has reserved for himself
the possibility of infinite development.
For woman. he has devised fixed stand
ards, which she has been compelled to
conform through fear Of losing his favor.
The Peanst Lady Counters.
"The wcuen's movement viii make Us
as free as air. We will become free to
reach the highest pinnacles Of art: to
leave our names among those OF the
greatest in the professions and in the
sciences. TO have our leaders in the
world Of business. and to have honor
able records of members of our sex
as highest government administrators.
Women will also have the right TO win
names as heroes and beacon lights to
posterity. I am working for the wom-
ems right to vote as one OF the means of
accomplishing our great emancipation"
next interviewed woman tending
q peanut stand by the roadside as to
why she was a suffragist. I felt that
/ could explain her answer to myself
without calling in outside help. She
said she wasn't I excused myself for
putting Il that way, and then asked
why she was in the women's move
ment She countered by asking what
movement.
"Ths unhampered. traAeendent force
Of progress-the throwing of Of fet-
tere hindering The Independent growth
OF the individual"
She still maintained she wasn't, 50 I
went away.
concluded to poll the business
women Of Washington, and entered .
The Washington herald., 1913-07-20
CEDARS OF LEBANON ARE REVERED

about so feet high. which Is rather more
than the height Of the trees Of an aver
age forest. They are Justly renowned for
the size of their trunks. the girth Of the
largest being A feet. Their foliage Is ex-
ceedingly thick. brown as seen from be-
meath. but when viewed from the hillside
the upper surface resembles a green lawn
studded with cones standing erect.
In other parts of the Lebanon there
are other cedar groves, eleven in all. but
the trees are by no means 30 hne and
majestic as in the grove under notice.
which 10 the one visited by tourists. and
IN known as Arz er Rub, or The Cedars
of the Lord. Here We have q sugges-
ton of what the Lebanon was in ancient
times. when the now bare peaks and
mountain sides must have been covered
with these trees. Here it was that King
Solomon's 7o.000 hewers wrought with
their 3sOO overseers. besides those sup
piled by Hiram, King Of Tyre. to get the
cedar wood required for the temple at
Jerusalem. These trees were also used
in the construction of David's house. and
later in the building Of the second tenn
pie. while their resin served in the an
Gent process Of embalming. The wood
is a creamy color, much resembling soft
pine. and is easily worked.
The grove stands on a hill 6315 feet
above the sea, and the view II magnin-
cent Looking west, Tripoli can be seen
and the blue waters Of the Meditera-
mean. while to the east rises Mount Her.
mon. capped with snow. with the Jordan
Valley beyond. The Christian natives
attach q sanctity to these historic trees,
and here is held an annual feast. to
which pilgrims fock from all directions
They also serve as a delightful summer
camping place.
Naturally. many remarkable legends
are told concerning the cedars. For in
stance. there q q bunch Of thirteen fine
trees growing together. The natives de-
,lare that Christ and His disciples came
70 this spot, and left standing in the
,oil their slaves. which eventually
,prouted into these cedars.
The Washington herald., 1913-07-20

a policeman refused to average with the
young girl who complained that she
couldn't sweep up and such things on ac-
count Of the factories. Neither averaged
very well with the woman who intended
shaping "transcendent forces of prog
ress"
went over all my notes carefully and
couldn't find any common denominator.
Each woman I had interviewed had been
in a class by herself. with views peculiar
to herself. and after results personally
interesting to herself. The most / could
establish was:
There is q women's moveme eut. This
movement Is bounded on all sides by the
ends Of the universe. Most every woman
in Washington is in the "women's move
ment" Some In II want to vote and ac-
knowledged that they are euItragists:
some in II want to vote, but claim that
they are not suffragists. while some in 1t
The Washington herald., 1913-07-20

man who at the time was one Of the
two or three most influential leaders OF
the Democratic party. Mr.. German had
been Mr.. Cleveland's party manager In
the Presidential campaign. and was the
Democratic leader in Congress. It SEEM
ID extraordinary that he should be 50
reckless a. to make statements with no
foundation In fact, which he might have
known that I would not permit to pass
unchallenged. Then. a. nov. the ordinary
Newspaper, in New York and elsewhere.
was quite a. reckless In its misstatements
of fact about public men and measures;
but for Q man In Mr.. Gorman's position
Of responsible Leadership such action
The Washington herald., 1913-07-20

neither want to vote. nor are they sur
fragists. The central idea of this COM
prehensive women's movement is that 1T
makes one as free as air, guarantees Of
doing anything one wants to do, and
offers promising returns in the way Of
art pinnacles," high administrative
offices, and such things
The reporter believes that this Is
good. He feels that these ideals are high:
that they are numerous and varied.
Lastly, that some of them are elusive
and indefinite enough to lead dreamers
to the throne Of heaven. Therefore. he
IL going to organize q mems movement
along similar lines He thinks he knows
how. Men are to throw OF the fetters Of
their sex which have been imposed on
them by women. They are to emanci-
pate themselves, believe in the Declare
ton of Independence, become free as air,
a and"
The Washington herald., 1913-07-20

construed an inefficient governmental
system based in part on the theory OF
written competitive examinations. The
argument was simple. There had been
written examinations in China: 1t was
proposed to establish written examina-
tions in the United States; therefore the
proposed system was Chinese. The argu.
ment might have been applied still fur
ther. For instance. the Chinese had used
gunpowder for centuries; gunpowder is
used in Springfield rifles; therefore
Springfield rifles were Chinese. One argu-
ment 10 quite as logical as the other. 1t
was impossible to answer every falsehoci
about the system. But it was possible TO
answer certain falsehoods, especially
when uttered by some Senator or Repre-
sentative Of note. Usually these false
statements took the form of assertions
that We had asked preposterous questions
of applicants. At times they also H.
cluded the assertion that We credited
people to districts where they did not
The Washington herald., 1913-07-20

seemed hardly worth while. However.
1t is at least to be said for Mr.. German
that he was not trying by falsehood to
take away any mans character. 1t would
be well for writers and speakers to bear
in mind the remark of Puddin' head Will
son to the effect that while there are
nine hundred and ninety-nine kinds of
falsehood. the only kind specifically
condemned in Scripture. just as mur-
der. theft. and adultery are condemned.
is bearing false witness against ones
neighbor
One of the worst features of the old
system was the ruthless cruelty and
The Washington herald., 1913-07-20

large millinery store in search Of one.
After much knocking about among cre-
atoms. chiffon feathers. and things the
proprietor OF the place asked me to
tell her my troubles.
She admitted that there was such q
thing as woman suffrage. but said that
she was against it. She said that all
the business women Of Washington
were against 1t. because 1t interfered
with domesticity. It destroyed homes.
She said that voting was no great help
the cause Of winning the ballot for
women did not interest her.
I casually asked her about the wom-
ems movement. She said that she was
in 1t. but that that had nothing to do
with votes for women"
Two more milliners. q manicurist, .
stenographer, and . cashier did not
want to vote, and explained that they
were In no sense suffragists. Upon
some explanation and consideration all
admitted that they were IN the wom-
ems movement to stay.
Results were coming slowly.
Although I had gained accurate know.
ledge Of how several divisions of busi-
ness women and women artists regarded
the woman suffrage movement and the
women's movement, there remained a
great many classes and factions still
to be Questioned.
I next determined that ] would go to
somebody's house and get the sentiments
Of married women as a class upon this
question.
After wandering around q bit in the
Northeast residential section, selected
a house set amid a cool cluster Of shrub
berry and flowers. and rang the bell. A
motherly old lady opened the door. In
answer to my query. which had become
stereotyped by now, she looked me over
with pair Of kindly gray eyes and
mildly summed up her reasons for want
ing the right to vote as follows:
The Elderly Woman Talks.
when we women vote. we will save
you men from the evils of drink, and
tobacco. We will make the manufacture
of alcoholic drinks illegal. We will abol-
ish commerce in tobacco and dreadful
cigarettes"-here the reporter buried his
hands deep within his pockets 1--WE will
guard our own sex against thoughtiess
men and against themselves
In a word. We will infuse wonen's
home ideals into the community home,
and 60 lay the foundation for a country
Of brothers and sisters. These are about
the only reasons that can think of for
wanting women to vote
Views Of the summer girl were the next
to be sought. I sought for her among
the benches in the public parks and
squares. Al last. I found her A cool
vision In pink. crowned with an enor-
nous panama hat. she sat upon a bench
IN Lafayette Square. lansuidly leaning
back and holding book In one hand and
q parssol In the other.
made up my mind to test q certain
theory held by my city editor, to the ef-
feet that women-more especially young
womcn-did not have enough Of an i'm
personal and objective attitude toward
life to qualify them for politics. To
prove that my city editor was wrong. I
would ask this young giri, without All