davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1914-04-05
Ineficiency in Language Teaching


That the results of public school in
struction in modern languages are inade-
quate seems to be generally agreed, and
various reasons have been given for the
deficiency. such AS lack of time a late
start, Indifference on the part of the pu-
pills. want of incentive and opportunity
for practice. etc. All these and others
may have their part, but the teachers
criticism. and we may look for an ami
mated discussion to result from the blunt
statements made in the February School
Review by William r. Price, state In
spector of modern language instruction
in New York. The gist of what he has
to say is that the chief cause of poor re-
suits in language teaching is that many
teachers do not know the language they
teach.
Pedagogical training is important, of
course. but is there not some danger that
| in the new stress put upon it the neces-
| sity of a genuine mastery of the subject
| taught may be too slightly considered? In
| respect to difficulty and the time required
| there is no comparison. For mastery of
| two or more foreign languages and lit
| eratures one must begin early and work
hard for many years; to learn the theory
| of language-teaching needs but brief
| course and skill will come with practice,
On the other hand, from mediocre knowl-
| edge only mediocre teaching can be ex-
| pected, and in classroom routine the
hard teacher is much more like
| ly to get practice in teaching than addi-
| tionai knowledge Of his subject.
Evening star., 1914-04-05
The Ideal Figure.
From the Philadelphia Ledger.

From the Philadelphia Ledger.
They certainly do order these things
differently In France. In ancient Greece
the artists took their models as they
found them in actual life, and over DIFF
ferent periods. developed certain ideal
proportions. which, however, were not
much different from actual human beings
about them, and in recent times Dr.
Sargent of Harvard. Mckenzie of the
University of Pennsylvania and others
have built up typical perfect specimens.
male and female, and have even found
them In living actualities In American
college circles.
But that Is not the French way. Over
there they invent style of attire a la
the "Mikado"; the figure must At the
crime or corset. not the corset the fig
ure. Indeed, SO exigent have the de-
mands Of the costumers become, that IL
is now announced that the Institute OF
France has set up a competition for
artists and sculptors in the interest OF
an Ideal female figure, adapted to mod
ern fashions.
or course, they will find it; some one
will win the first, second or third prizes
and once more the very mobile anatomy
of the fashionables will be nodded to
meet the narrow necessities of new cos
tunes. This ideal may be a thing OF
grace. or may not, but the method OF
developing 1t is Enthusiastically French
Evening star., 1914-04-05
BEES ARE COLOR BLIND.
Venerable Theory That Color Is a
Device to Attract Insects Denied.

London Correspondence of the New York Sun.
1t was recently explained by Sir VII
liam Ramsay that everybody is TO a GER
tain but differing extent color blind,
which is to say tina, there are certain
hues which one may indeed distinguish.
out which one does not place in the right
order among the ganlut of colors
Some people are blind merely to two
colors and are normal for all the rest
Sir William Ramsay is himself an ex-
ample of this idiosyncrasv and it is i'm
PROBABLE that any two persons have ex-
actly the same color visions Blu, the
commonest form of color blindness IS that
Wnich perceiveS green and red merely as,
inherent shades OF gray. and there arc
reasons for believing that this is a form
tof color blindnss shared by many orde-s
OF animals. because. as Prof Washburn
mas pointed out, one can never be sure
that the animal tested is not making its
on the ground of differing
brightness OF line rather than an actual
dlnerence of color, and there is some
evidence that this is actually the case
among mice.
But a series Of Very interesting expert
ments has lately been made by Prof. X.
Won Frisch of Munich which seems to
show that whatever color sense may be
possessed by bees the ability to dis
t1nguish red as red is not comprised In it.
Won F'rtsch carried on his experiments
on bees In the open air near their hives
and by aid of what is called the food
preference method he found that one
days training was enough to enable
many hundreds of bees to distinguish be-
tween blue and gray.
The distinction rested on the material
'inducement to remember tand distinguish
that whatever was colored blue was sweet
and whatever was gray (though he en-
ployed thirty-two shades) was not sweet
In the same way they were taught later
that yellow indicated sweetness. But nc
amount of training was ever able to teach
Won F>risch's bees that there was any
difference in color between red and black
The bees are totally color blind to red.
Another experimer1ter in animal be-
havior, Miss Christine Ladd, Franklin
induced Prof. Won Frisch to undertake
some further experiments to ascertain
whether, this being the case he could moi
find a certain blue-green which is ex-
actIy complementary to red. to which
also the bees would be color blind.
Won FrSch has tried the experiment
true and that there is a certain blush
green tas it would seem to normal eye
stghD which bees by no possibility car
learn to distinguish. This seems to show
that bees are color blind in the ordinary
acceptance of the term: their blindness
resembles the ordinary form of red-greer
blindness, and their vision. like that OF
many human beings. is dichromatic in
stead of tetrachromatic. their visible
colors being yellow and blue.
Evening star., 1914-04-05
THE GREATER PATRIOTISM.
When ALI the World Shall Have Be.
come ''Fatherland."

From the Minneapolis Journal.
Said Anatole France while in London
Just as the family has grown into the
community, the community into the prov
ince and the province into the common
fatherland, without losing their local
characteristics. so it is quite possible that
in the organized humanity which we can
foresee the various nations may become
citizens of one vast fatherland without
losing their specific and national quail
ties" A great thought and really pious
speculation, which expresses in the Ian
guage Of evolution the idea Of the parlia-
ment of man and the federation of the
world that Tennyson put into phrase
more than fifty years ago.
The family is sacred and precious. So
is the community; so is the nation. None
of those institutions and ideals can we
afford to lose. But as the family is not
destroyed in the community. nor that in
the state SO it is not impossible to con-
serve the characteristics of the nation al
though there is developed continental or
nemispherical or a world fatherland.
So, indeed. we are actually doing on this
North American continent with one per-
pctual peace along the forty-ninth paral-
lei of latitude
Approximations to Anatole France s
conquerors. Alexander of Macedon pur-
posed as much; Rome achieved as much
around the basin of the Mediterranean.
Charlemagne and Napoleon had it in their
minds. The British empire is a concrete
instance more and more permeated with
just that thought.
Yet what really France designs is not
to be attained by the instrumentality of
the sword. What it designs is not a
peace imposed by force. such as the IA
nous Pax Romano or the Pax Brittanica
laid upon India and Egypt. What is to
be hoped for. what may be developing un-
der the outward crust of militarism. is a
spontaneous instinct of fraternity, hu-
nanitarian patriotism. that will draw to-
gether by persuasion and enlightenment.
Under empires the members are members
perforce In the new All-Fatherland the
members will be members by free choice.
Perhaps it is dream, noble dream,
as impracticable as many another like it,
Nevertheless. it appeals to every gener-
Gus soul and enlightened intelligence
both as a moral solution and national
goal The Balkan wars have brought
home to Europe as never before the hell
ishness of war. The wreck of Bulgaria
is a lesson, written in blood and tears and
poverty, of the positive irrationality of
human strife.
The era of science is being ushered in.
Neither sermons nor trade has availed so
far to keep the peoples from ruinous and
cruel wars Perhaps the world will listen
to science. whose truth is open to no
mans doubt. The day of a closer, a more
intimate a worldwide organization has
begun in the interest of the individual as
a member of society. If the passions and
selfishness of the individual are seen to be
destructive to the true interest of himself
as well as of others, is there not hope
that for the same reasons the passions
and the egoism of nations will be as
suaged?
Evening star., 1914-04-05
Bad Teeth.
From the Chicago Journal.

From the Chicago Journal.
How many people realize the dangers
of bad teeth. At a hopeful estimate.
about one in ten thousand. Every one
knows that a toothache is about the
most villainous pain human beings are
called on to endure. and that sore
tooth always feels about half an inch
longer than any of its fellows. There
public information on this matter
stops: and, unfortunately, some doc
tors are not much wiser. Decayed or
badly filled teeth may cause a whole
host of troubles without their bad
work being suspected by the patient.
Pus pockets often form at the roots of
such teeth. and poison the whole sys-
TEN by constant discharge of virulent
germs. Many persistent headaches are
due to this slow. unsuspected poison
ing. Joint troubles usually diagnosed
under the omnibus title of "rheuma-
tism' have been traced to the same
source, and 1t is worth noting that
this particular form of rheumatism is
very frequently followed by heart af
fectfons. sometimes of a very serious
nature.
Good teeth are almost priceless pos
sessions. But a tooth that has pus
pocket at the root and is emptyfng
steady stream of disease germs into
the system is not much less vicious
than chronically inf1amed appendix.
Evening star., 1914-04-05
LEGAL NOTICES.
CONRAD II. SYME. JAMES FRANCIS
SMITH. Attorneys.

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE DIS
trict Of Columbia, Holding District Court.
square $3.50 tFncd Champlain streets and Co
lumbia road,. 2594 tAyenue OF the Presidents ano
The The Presidents and Park road. 2s4I Park road
and Sherman avennel, 5000 fR and LIST streets
and Florida ayenue,. $a3a 3a 7 street snd LIN, Lin,
streets Takona Parkl. and SCOT IT and 18th
streets and Minnesota avenue southeaso.-Dis.
trict Court No. i08S.-Notice is hereby given
that the Commissioners of the District Of Co
lumbia, pursuant to certain provisions OF the
& a., o. ,ct making to provide for
the expenses Of the government Of the District
of Columbia for the fiscal year ending June
80 1915 and for other purposes" have nled
a petition IN this court praying the condemnation
of the land neeesssry for pa5s purpS,es ss .sts q
and 5GoT. in the District of Columbia as shown
on a plat or map filed with the said petition.
sS g. part Tsra dsinteressed
who shall be freeholders within the District OF
Columbia. not related TO any person interested
in these proceedings and not IN the service OF
employment Of the District Of Columbia or OF
the United States, be summoned by the United
states marshal for the District OF Columbia
TO assess the damages each owner of land to be
taken may snstsin by reason of the condemna-
fion Of the land necessary for the said park
nnrpoSes n the squares aforesaid and to asses.
as benefits rcsuitlng thercfrom not less than one
half Of the amount of said damages, Including
the expenses of these proceedings. upon the lots
pieces and parcels of land which the jury may
find will bc benefited by the said parks rs pro
vided Tor IN ana bV tne alorssdlU dtt "a Non-
rrcss n ls by the court this LIST day OF April.
1914. ordered that all persons having any IN
forest in these proceedings h". and they are
hereby. warned and commanded TO sppear in this
court before the 9th day of April. A-D
1919. at 10 O'Clock am, and continue N az
tendance until the court shall have made its
maj order ratifying and confirming the award
Of damages aud the assessment OF benefits or
fhe jury 70 he empaneled and sworn herein. and
:; is further ordered that copy Of this notice
and order he published once in the Washington
aw Reporter and twenty consecutive seci-
Jar days and on intervening Sundays and hoi'-
days in The Washington Evening Star. the
Washington Post and the Washington Herald
new spapers published in the said District, I'm
med iately preceding the said 9th day of
April. AID. 1914. 1t Is further ordered that
copy Of this notice and order be served by the
United States marshal his deputies. upon
snch Of the owners OF the land to he CON
demned herein may be found by the said
marshal. his deputies, within the District
of Columbia and upon the tenants and occu-
PANTS OF the before the said 21td day of
April A. y 1914. BY the court. WRIGHT.
Justice. tSeai.l true copy. Test: ]. r.
Vol Nc. Clerk. BY i. +. CUNNINGHAM.
Asst Clerk. ap3-d& inap2G
Evening star., 1914-04-05
TOURS.
POE A CIVIL ENGINEER.
Well Informed in at Least One
Branch of the Profession.

Bfom Engineering news.
That Edgar Allan Poe was pretty well
informed on at least one branch OF civil
engineering becomes apparent when one
peruses the following excerpt from an
article on street paving written for the
Broadway Journal of 1910.
The opening sentences quoted below are
Of interest as Indicating current practice
IN street paving at that day when mac
adam and stone-block pavements were
about the only types In use. Asphalt
pavements were not introduced IN this
country until more than a quarter Of a
century later, in 1857; the first vitriied-
brick pavement was laid in. 1870 and the
first portland-cement concrete in 1854.
Poe wrote:
There Is. perhaps. no point in the his
tory Of the useful arts more remarkable
than the fact that, during the last 2,000
years, the world has been able to make
no essential improvements in road-mak-
ing. It may well be questioned If the
Gothamites of 3S45 will distinguish any
| traces of our Sd avenue-and in the mat
ter Of street pavement. properly SO called.
although Of late. universal attention has
been directed to the subject and expert
ment after experiment has been tried, ex-
hausting the ingenuity of all modern. en-
gineers. it appears that we have at last
| material degree, and In principle not at
all, from that which the Romans at
! tanned, as If instinctively. in the Via Ap-
pia, the Via Flaminia, the Via Valeria,
the Via Tuscalana and others. There
are streets In Pompeii today constructed
on the very principle which Is considered
best by the moderns; or IL there be any
special variation. it certainly is not to
the credit of modern ingenuity"
Poe then goes on to describe the Ro-
man payements in some detail. winding
up with the conclusion that the stone
block pavements of New York city (Which
at that time were doubtless chiefly cobble)
| We're but a poor and cheap imitation of
| the old Roman roads.
| The remainder of the essay treats Of
| the advantage of wood pavements and
proposes the treatment of wood-paving
blocks by the kyanizing process, which he
describes in accurate scientific terms al
though he says he is writing with no
reference books before him.
Evening star., 1914-04-05
Bells and the Orchestra.
rom the London Chronicle.

From the LONDON ChroDl,ie
''Parsifar' is interesting, quite apart
from it's artistic merit, having had a
musical instrument invented for it. and
named after 1t. The reproduction of the
sound of church bells i'll opera was long
a difficulty Real bells simply drowned
the orchestra, and all substitutes were
tried in vain until DIR. Mottl designed the
Parsifal bell instrument. somewhat on
the principle of the grand piano. Each of
it's five notes has six strings. which are
struck by large hammers covered with
cotton wool And the result is as near
to the solemn sound of church bells as
the theater has been able to get.
Evening star., 1914-04-05
The Sensitive German.
From the New Statesman.

From the New StatesmHn.
The German who is still willing to ac-
cept authority as the fundamental con-
stituent OF his civil life is not likely to
make much ado against the demands of
military discipline. 1t has never been
forgotten that the empire of today was
built up on force alone, and there is a
firm conviction which one finds often
enough among the socialists themselves
that Germany maintains its position to-
day simply and solely through its ability
to resist any possible attack by a rela-
lively overwhelming force. The legend
that the German is aggressive is absurd.
But he is very much afraid. No one can
Evening star., 1914-04-05

persuade him that France and Russia are
kept from falling on his frontiers by any
thing except the most efficient fighting
machine in the world. The result Is an
overwhelming sensitiveness in all that
touches the national defenses. sensi-
tiveness that expresses itself on the one
hand in fiery suspicion at Mr.. Lloyd
Georges well meaning appeals, and on
the other in what to us is a ludicrous
sensitiveness at the gibes of school chill
dren in the streets of Zabern.
Evening star., 1914-04-05
ELECTRIC TORCH
FOR LONDON COP
Passing of the "BuII's-Eye'' of
the English Po-
Iiceman.
From the London Telegraph.

Ffor, the London Telegraph
The London policeman's "bull's-eye'- is,
according to report. shortly to pass away.
In its stead he is TO have an electric
torch, which will spread light before
and around him while he himself re-
mains unseen. At his bidding there will
be light. though doubtless there will he
times when. pressing button with
twentieth-century confidence in science.
he will call for light and none viii
come. But that modern wizard. the cleo
trician. may he trusted to see TO il that
these occasions are rare.
Beloved Peeler" has become SO mU' Il
an institution with us that We .are apt
to forget there was a time when, SO far
from being thus afectionatcly hailed IN
song. he was the target for hearty abuse
and ridicule. For in order that he might
come another had to go. and though
the eighteenth-century Charley was
about fit to preserve order
ruined keep would be to rebel siege
train. the English have sentimental
mercy for their public servants. Aged.
deaf and blind OF an eye though he
might be, and not infrequently was. the
public had grown accustomed to the
tharleys staye and lantern and his little
wooden hut. and the trim newcomer tas
he appeared in that day, was resented
as a usurper. in spite of the obsolete
methods and equipment of his predeces-
sor. Yet the Chariey's horn lantern
was considerable advance on what l>ad
gone before.
BY the light of early records NC can
observe the constable as he comes to US
down the centuries. In our first glimpse
of him he carries cresset-you may sec
II for yourself, il you choose. at he
Tower, in the Armory. 1t provides an
illumfnant OF but q smoky hritliancc
being indeed Ito quote the authors or
Police"o nothing more thar IAN open
pan hanging upon swivels fastened to a
forked staff. In the center of tn. pan
is spike around which was coiled a
rope soaked in pitch. resin. etc which
spluttered and burned luridly as the
watchman carried 1t aloft." The march
ing watch of Henry Wits time carried
aloft LOCO such cressets when the king
entered the city. and the citizens liked
the display well. for under th. torches
were to be seen "morris-dancers. giants.
lancerS, carbineers. archers. pikemea.
halberdiers. bellrnen and musicians was
it not Merrie England? They liked it 50
well that they clamored for il every mid
summers night, and had it till. in 1853.
Henry. in 2 fit of economy tthe midsam-
mer carnival cost the state matter OF
200 cressets at IS Id apiece. expressed a
desire for its discontinuance. The thou
sand cressets fiared pitchily once more
with Sir Thomas Gresham nine years
later, but in 1870 the marching watch
rchpd M history
Evening star., 1914-04-05
NEW WIRELESS SERVICE
WILL OPEN IN JUNE
Poulsen Stations for Transatlantic
Business Expect to Re-
duce Prices.
Foreign Correspondence of The Star.

FOfe1gn Correspondence OF The Star
COPENHAGEN. March 20. 1914.
Wireless transatlantic service under the
system developed by DR.. Valdemar Poul-
sen of this city will be open early in
June. The station in Canada is ready for
service and the station at Bally bunian. in
Ireland. is nearing completion under the
, direction of C. F. Elwell, an American en-
gineer. The Irish station will also be in
, communication with the big Poulsen sta
ton at Lyngby, in Denmark. The Cana
dian and Irish stations will maintain
communication over distance of 2UO
miles.
These stations expect to handle from
100 to 1oo words minute across the At
lantic, and under stress the inventor de-
clares that 300 words minute is not be-
yond their capacity. In the fight for a
share Of the wireless traffic across the
Atlantic the Pousen system will reduce
the price to > cents word.
In America the Poulsen system Is in
use between San Francisco and Honolulu,
and the American government is now
building a big station at Colon which Will
use this system. II the present traffic
cannot be handled by the Irish and Ca
madam stations a new line will be opened
to New York. with relay stations in Den
mark and Greenland
DR.. Poulsen is now experimenting with
the wireless telephone and has obtained
favorable results over distance of 800
miles.
Americans May See Rulers.
American visitors to Denmark next
summer may have an opportunity while
here of seeing three of the most distin-
guished rulers of Europe. King George
of England and President Poincare of
France are expected here in the summer
to return the visits which the Danish
royal family will pay to their respective
countries in May, and visit from Em-
peror William of Germany may also be
expected in return for the trip which the
Danish king and queen made last year
to Berlin. The German emperor will take
advantage of his usual holiday cruise on
the Hohenzolern to make call at
Copenhagen.
During the royal visits Copenhagen Will
have a big French exhibition of art in
the State Museum of Arts. This will
cover the nineteenth century of French
art. and both the French government and
the principal private collectors have
promised to contribute to the exhibit.
which will be valued at from twelve to
fifteen million dollars.
Miss Sophie Irene Loeb has lately been
in Denmark studying local methods on
behalf of the commission for the relief
of widowed mothers in New York. Miss
Loeb made a close study of the Danish
laws for the relief of widows and Or
phanS, and she is enthusiastic over the
excellent results obtained here. She was
particularly interested in the law recently
passed providing state pensions for wild
ows and their children. This law offers
features quite new in social legislation,
and it is likely to be copied by other
Evening star., 1914-04-05
Theatrical.

Guest-Anything good at the theaters
this week? You know. something
couldn't take my wife to?
Evening star., 1914-04-05
Bow Street Patrols.

The 'Charleys," of which mention has
been made. existed side by side with the
Bow street patrols. but. by this title they
were in thorough discredit. Sir Spencer
Walpole. the home secretary historian.
writing in his History of England from
1915. says that no pains were taken then
to obtain the service of efficient men.
and no means to increase thcr cri-
cheney. From motives Of humanity old
men were retained in the serric. long
after thes had ceased to be active From
motives of economy men were cncour-
aged to ask the lowest wages. and noto-
riously supplemented their wages 10y c,ii-
tributions from bad characters. When
the Charley" was not engaged in Inc
latter 'felonious employment he WIS
sleeping in his box. As for his lantern.
John Pearson, who satiriz.d them saw
agely in 1897, said he had as much Use
and Jerry, you perhaps remember, in their
spree upset Charley and his box
matter of course. and this seems to
have been the .'Charley's chief waking
experience. And his capacity for sleep
was enormous. If all else failed in cases
of insomnia physicians dressed the pa
tient in a watchTlan's coat. put a lantern
in his hand. and placed him in "a sentry
box. and in ten minutes he was asleep.
Grave official witnesses insisted in par
hamentary committees upon the Char
ley as the fat boy of police history.