davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Springfield herald., 1914-03-06

George Lepel was taklng IN
the sigh is of the county seat or
the 29th ult.
Brookhart Bros. of the Cim-
Arron we're business visitors last
Saturday to the county sait
A Pruitt of Boyd, Oklahoma
came up last week and built on
his claim. Will move his family
up in about three weeks.
An account of the farming
season being at fand and the
amount of sickness prevailing,
10 Eager took his family home
the first of the week. Both Mrs,
Eager and Pearl will pc Missed
in Springfield.
Isaac Heckathorn came before
Judge Allen on the 24th ult. and
agreed to take upon his should
ers the additional burden OF tax
alton if Uncle Sam would let him
have the land. Len Thompson
and ex.assessor Campbell legged
for him, and no doubt would be
willing to chip in some on the
taxes in case Isaac were weighed
xn the balance and found to be 9
few pennies short.
B. II. Jones dropped in Few
minutes before being carted a
way to his Stonington ranch
He reports. a good breeders
meeting at Stonington on the
2sth u,t., at which about all tht
breeders down that way wert
present There will be another
one there tomorrow, and a meet
ing for the whole county at Viiai
on the 14th. These meetinGi
have been success, and w
predict it will eventually result
"a : permanent organization.
The Springfield herald., 1914-03-06
T.uEALS.

George IIepel was taking in
the sigh is of the county seat or
the 29th ult.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-11-29

ing and William Ward. soldiers. Every
one of these names was attached to
some point, creek, bay or island met
with in the progress, and many of these
names are today preserved.
If you would visit Piscataway two
roads of about equal length are open
to you. You can take the old T. b.
road. now called state road, through
Anacostia, Good Hope. Silver Hill and
Reds Corner to Surrattsville, and
there turn to the right along a good
dirt road to the ancient village. The
older road from Washington leads
south through the town of Anacostia.
through Congress Heights and Oxon
Hill and there you can take the lower
road by way of OXon Hill, New Glatz,
Broad Creek Church road and Silesia
or the upper road" leading by Friend
ly and Chapel Hill.
The Rambler followed the lower road
because it is the worse. Roads are bad
because of neglect, and it seems a
friendly thing to do to patronize one
of these neglected roads. If one of
these old and lonely roads could talk it
would probably express pleasure at
seeing you.
New Glatz and Slesia are new names
in that country. There was quite an
inflow of Germans into that region in
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-11-29

OF the provinces, fitted up warehouse
as theater or presented tragedy and
comedy in the main room of tavern,
and in the history of colonial player
folk you may read of Piscataway as
you will of Annapolis, Port Tobacco.
Williamsburg and Dumfries. There
were also seasons of horse racing. for
wherever town came into being,
either in Virginia or in Maryland,
there also was horse racing.
In the taverns was hard, heavy and
consistent or persistent drinking. for
then gentleman could drink himself
into drunkenness without loss of social
caste or without particular business
discredit. There was also card playing
for high stakes. Servants and some
times farms were wagered, and, of
course, lost and won. Men rich in
acres and slaves were beggared at the
card tables in these taverns. and some
men leaped into temporary prosperity,
perhaps momentary prosperity, by the
fan of the cards. Taking these lib
critics with Chance was then not be-
meath the dignity of a gentleman.
Churches were built by lotteries and
a rattle was not considered as form
of dissipation.
The standard of conduct for men and
women was not the standard of the
present. Fashions in morality change.
and the hope and belief of the men of
today is that they have changed for
the better. But, though the men OF
those early days in PiScataway drank
rum. gambled at cards, bet on running
horses. looked on cooking mains or
chicken fights, and bought and sold
human beings. they seem to have had
virtues which are constantly being
pointed out to the men of today.
Despite those practices which we now
men, more regular at church than we.
perhaps more Godfearing than their
descendants are, and they had a sense
of honor so high and tender that 1t
could not be impugned with safety.
These were the men of those times
which we moderns gild with our
imagery as the good old days. or the
golden days. and they were the an
cestors of the thousands of men and
women who today boast of their an
cestry. They We're also the men who.
conceiving what were then somewhat
novel notions of liberty and popular
rights, drew their swords against the
mightiest government of that time and
set up a republic, which, if we mod
erns guard with half the energy and
devotion which those old toddy-drink-
ing card-playing and horse-racing an
cestors put forth in establishing, the
government will be safe.
These were the men who lived in or
dwelt around and did business in Pts
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-11-29
America Being Drawn Upon for Raw Materials
for the New Explosives Noxious Gases OF
the Modern High Explosives Armor-plerc-
ing Projectiles Being Used in Present Con-
flicts.

pedo station, taken over from the army
in 1872, was expanded and put on new
basis, and the naval war college was
tablished. To both of these instltu-
tions DR.. Munroe was drafted. nt'i
1892 he remained. There his invention
of smokeless powder and his research
work gave him international reputa-
ton.
In a drawer of his desk at GeorS.
Washington University is a tiny Wal
half filled with tiny, oblong, pale Vel
low waters and containing also sup
of paper bearing the date December 81,
1890" The waters compose the OLDEST
specimen of Smokeless powder In eA-
istence, some of the first made
Since 1892 DR.. Munroe's work for otn-
er branches of the government and ms
professional duties have occupied HIN.
but they all. to greater or less de-
gree, have to do with his favorite sub
stances, the things that blow up AS
a fellow of the Deutsche chemlsche
Gesellschaft, a member of the Chemi-
cal Society of London. member OF the
Society of Chemical Industry or Eng
land. a member of the American Assoc
citation for the Advancement OF science,
formerly president of the American
Chemical Society. a member of the In
ternational Congress of Applied Chem
istry and of a number of other learned
bodies, he is in close and Intimate touch
with the progress OF chemistry
throughout the civilized world And
being so. he is in position to be In
formed of what might be termed the
chemistry of the European war.
ASHMUN BROWN.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-11-29

so it is with the tales that are COM
ing from Europe of the wonderful re-
suits of the newer high explosives;
they are given out to scare the enemy.
We must take them with {; grain of
salt.
But some stories that have come
from the battlefeldS are true and con-
vey valuable lesson. For instance, it
has been demonstrated that proJectlle
carrying an exploding charge when det-
onated outside of or against the walls
of defensive works does no appreciable
damage and that penetration and det-
onation inside are essential to eff
cheney. AS long ago as 1888 | reached
these conclusions, as the result of ex-
haustive experimentation at the naval
proving grounds and at the torpedo
station, and published my findings that
year in Van Nostrands Engineering
Magazine.
ITO put 1t another way. there are two
essentials to the efficiency of explosive
projectiles. First, the projectile must
penetrate the armor or earthworks
partly and explode in place, or, second.
it must pierce entirely and explode in
side.
subsequently, for the Navy Depart
ment 1 assisted in experiments with
onating high explosives at Indian
Head, and there. in 1898. the expert
ments resulted in developing a proJec-
tile that penetrated II - iHtileS Vi tiic
Kentucky's armor and exploded on the
other side This was regarded as
marking the greatest advance ever
made in securing weapon to be used
against heavy armor. From careful
studies made of great blasts. such. for
example. as the one in blowing up, the
He'll Gate obstruction in Long Island
sound, where 275.000 tons of rock-a-
rock and dynamite were used. data
were assembled on the effect of great
charges, and all of these confirmed my
earlier conclusion that the detonation
on the surface was insignificant in re-
suits, and that the charge, to be effec-
tive, must be within some confined area
when exploded. All this l set forth in
an article on the subject in Casters
Magazine in 1898.
TT is apparent from the news which
comes from the theater of the war that
the engaged armies are using armor-
piercing and semi armor- piercing pro-
jectiles in attacking defensive works.
The armor-piercing projectiles are
thick walled, highly tempered. with
ogival sharpened points. steel capped.
and having small capacity for explo-
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-11-29
A SNAPSHOT BY THE ROADSIDE.

wars. over their glasses and cards they
talked of the death of Hampton and
Ppm, of the solemn league and cove
nant, of the execution of Laud. the be-
heading of Charles l. the protectorate
and the parliamentary protectorate, the
death of oliver Cromwell, the rump
parliament, the restoration, the execu-
ton of the regicides and the plague of
London. They debated the act of uni
formity, the Coventry act and the test
act.
While the tallow dips and candles
and the genial blazes from wood fires
filled the smoky taprooms with ruddy
light, perhaps those mid-seventeenth
century folk in Piscataway were dis
GUESSING the current writings of John
Bunyan, John Dryden. John Locke. Ben
Jonson. Isaac Newton, Isaac Walton and
John Milton. Perhaps there may have
been a critic with his back to the open
fire and his hands under the tails of his
blue broadcloth coat who told the as
sembled gentlemen that English litera-
ture was on the decline and that I'll
Penseroso," "LAllegro," "Comus,' 'Ly-
cidas'' and Samson Agonistes' con-
stituted a mass of ephemeral and
TRIVIAL stuff and could have no perma-
nent influence on the hearts and minds
of men
In Piscataway men discussed Virgin
ia IS attitude toward. or rather against,
Catholics and dissenters, and the fric-
ton in Maryland between Puritan and
Catholic. They talked of the wars of
the Senecas and the Susquehannas, and
of the plots and counter plots against
the proprietary government of the Cal
verts. They talked of these things with
animation, because then they were the
live topics of the day. They had not
then become emba1med as history.
In those days of black bigotry in most
parts of the so-called civilized world
men of all creeds got together in Pts
Getaway and talked things over as
friends Catholic and Protestant, Puri-
tan, Episcopalian, Presbyterian and
Friend met in Piscataway. They talked
about that great act relating to reli-
sious liberation which was passed at St.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-11-29

the nineties. and those names no doubt
represent the sentiment of those late
settlers and call up the recollections of
like-named places across the sea. Be
tween New Glatz and Silesia, after
passing down a rough, steep hill, from
the crest of which you obtain rare
view, you come to Broad Creek Church.
about which the Rambler has previous
ly written, and in the holy ground
around this church rest the ashes of
many of the pioneers of Maryland.
many of those men and women who
talked over the struggles between
parliament and the Stuarts. The brick
walls of this church go back long
way into colonial history, but when the
Rambler passed there recently he noted
that new roof has been put on the
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-11-29

mentioned in explanation that toluene
otherwise is methyl benzene. and trlni-
trotoluene is akin to trinltrobenzene,
both toluene and benZene being con-
veritable into picric acid. though in
pra ctice the latter is the substance pre-
ferred. Picric acid, or carbaZotlc, is a
development of the peaceful dye INDUS
try 1t is a crystalliZable acid obtain
ed by the action of nitric acid on phe-
mol indigo and other substances, ana
number of valuable dyes have been
produced from it for use in the SILK
and wool trades.
Picric acid. also, by the way, has an
other use Because of its bitter taste
it has been used in brewing as SUB
stitute for hops. Dip strand OF
worsted in a glass of beer, and II II
energies a brilliant yellow there Is pic
ric acid in the beverage. the same stun
with which they are killing men IN
Europe.
But after the commercial use of pic
ric acid had been developed 1t was
found that its salts We're highly eX-
plosive, and explosive chemist claim
ed it equally with the dye-makins ana
brewing chemists. Its development
marked great step forward in the
making of high explosives
."rrinitrotoluene, went on Dr. MUM
roe lis so inert that several years ago
his majesty's inspector of explosives,
after a thorough examination OF the
material as proposed for use Tor mill
safe for transportation, while all other
explosives used in Great Britain Tor all
nurposes were restricted in transporta-
ton or subject to special regulations
and SUPERVISION
"About seven years ago u French
chemist discovered that if fused nitro
toluene was inclosed in a lead tube, the
t,ihe could be drawn out to any degree
desired and there be obtained a tube
like a lead pencil with the outside OF
lead and the core of this trinitrotoluene.
IT was further found that if one end of
this were inserted in a detonator con-
tanning illuminate of mercury and de-
tonated it would detonate through the
whole length with almost instant ra-
pidity.
This device is known as the Cordeau
detonant and is now manufactured and
for sale in all civilized countries. and is
being used commercially in the United
States 1t has been learned that II
length of this Cordeau detonant be in
plosive gelatin or any of the many
safety explosives and fired. it will de-
velop in them a higher efficiency than
if they were fired by decorator only.
booster because it boosts the explo-
sion. Just as electrical booster
boosts the electrical current.
AT the meeting of the international
Congress- of Applied Chemistry in New
York in 1912 German chemist, DR..
Brunswig, called attention to the dis
covery he had made that If we bend the
Cordeau detonant and insert the blgnt
into the explosive, with the two ends in
the detonator. and fire. the defamation
proceeds down through each arm. meet
ing in the middle and producing an eff
feet greater than the sum of the de-
tonation of two separate pieces. This
is an additional means of exciting an
explosive to higher activity.
Now, without having been on the
ground, I dare affirm that these mat
tors concerning the use of high explo-
sives. being common knowledge, are
playing their part in this great war,
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-11-29

n VILLAGE unknown to most Of
N the people of Washington lies
"a about fifteen miles southwark
4 from the city. 1t is a village
that is not SO interesting for
vi at it is as for what it was. but really
makes quite a strong appeal to men who
have an attachment for the past.
Few observation-disclosures know this ancient
hamlet. though from the hills that hem
it In the Monument is visible. because 1t
lies off the usual paths of travel 1t
snuscles in a nest Of fine and lofty hills
five miles back from the Potomac and
as far as that from any railroad. No
electric car has ever yet disturbed its
quiet and perhaps other centuries may
pass before it suffers. or profits. from
invasion by that device. 1t is even an
out of the-way place for wagon or auto
traffic, though now and then an auto
huns along the road which is the
towns main and only street.
The name of this sequestered town
name closely associated with the
Maryland of colonial. revolutionary
and the early republican eras-is Pts
Getaway. Its name was that of an I'M
portant tribe of Indians dwelling in
the Potomac country between the Ana
costa river and Mattawo oman creek, and
the chief settlement of that tribe was
also called Piscataway. In the colo
NAL annals of Maryland may be read
frequent reference to that Indian viii
laGe, the site of which has been lost.
but which is believed to have been
within the present limits of the reser-
Nation of Fort Washington. which
would place il about four miles nearer
the Potomac than Piscataway today.
When rivers and creeks We're the
American highways, and the white set
tiers had extended themselves north
ward from the ST. Marys river, and
that was about the middle of the seven
tecnth century. a warehouse and wharf
were esta blished at the head of navl-
cation on that creek which falls into
the Potomac between Fort Washington
and Marshall Hall 1t is a broad creek
at its mouth and calm and shallow,
though in the days of its prosperity 1T
was sufficiently deep to accommodate
the ocean going craft of that time.
After the first warehouse came an
other and another. Stores clustered
there and taverns came into being
other there. Smithies opened up and
set their FORCES going. Physicians
opened offices, taverns expanded into
hotels and the population grew, Troupes
Of players from England. in their tour
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-11-29
A CORNER IN THE OLD GRAVEYARD.

this point. The yellow dirt road to the
right leads to Fort Washington and
that to the left, which runs through
pines, leads to Friendly. Straight
ahead you go, If you would visit Pts
Getaway.
A little beyond Lincolnville is a spot
of somber memory. A man was lynched
there about thirty-f1ve years ago. His
name was John Jerks. He was buried
close by the foot of the tree. and al
though all signs of the grave was long
ago effaced. any one of the old people
Whereabouts will point out the grew
some spot.
A few hundred yards beyond this
point in the road your way begins a
steep and long descent. The hill is
called Hatton's Hill. because the adj
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-11-29
On Tolerance.

A T the German-American Chamber OF
Commerce in New York an agent
for the purchase of woolens said:
"A better spirit. a spirit of tolerance.
is now manifesting itself. On the boat
coming over. a French shoe buyer and
an English cloth buyer shared my table
with me and we got on we'll
Gentlemen I said to those chaps
one morning. we Germans and you
English and you French are not all
thieves, vandals and murderers. With
us it is like the dog riddle.
why is a dog like man" boy
asked.
"'Give it up said another boy.
because it's bow-legged.'
But said the second boy, all dogs
are not w-legged.'
".Well, neither are all men,"
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-11-29
MAIN STREET IN pIsCATAwAY.
DR.. Charles E. Munroe Discusses Wonderful
New Powders and the Surprising Results
They Have Accomplished - Strips the
Fiction From the Fact-Lessons Taught by
the European War.

George Washington University at
Washington.
1t was under his direction that the
bureau of mines undertook it's studies
of explosives for commercial use in
recent years and established the list
of permissible explosives for use in
mines and quarries that has resulted in
wonderful saving in human life, as
fully demonstrated by statistics.
Why were the Belgian forts, thereto
fore held to be impregnable, so readily
reduced by the Germans Why the
devastating effect of shell fire in all
the armies engaged? DR.. Munroe, draw
ing upon his knowledge of modern
science, can offer an explanation.
New high explosives. developed since
the last great war; high explosives
that are safe to handle as so much
tobacco, but having tremendous ex-
plosive effect. are much to the front IN
this war, as scientists ike Dr. MuHroe
read the wars daily story.
ut is a light and heat war" says Dr.
Munroe referring to the fact that lts
chief servants have been benZlne, gaso-
line and other derivatives of natural
heat and light producing substances
that only u few years ago possessed
no warlike character
He might better have said that IT is
a chemists war, for. by his own sho"
ing. modern chemistry alone has MADE
uossible the wonderful explosives with
which the troops are armed and the
motive power with which the troops
and their supplies are moved
But to return to his discourse as to
the real and the imaginary erect OF
turpinite.
High explosives he went on,
whether used In military operations
or in industry, give off noxious gases
on defamation. In the war the belllSer-
ents are using explosives containing
picric acid, or fused trinitrotoluene. and
these give off gases. including prussic
acid gas, that are deadly. But. ex-
ploded in open places, the erect OF the
gases is diffused, and they are not
capable of affecting the wide area OF
devastation portrayed in the press ois-
patches.
III must be understood that all wars.
even the most modern, are conducted
on tales, and the general or genera
staff that succeeds in soaring tne
enemy most by tales has distinct au-
vantage A frightened opponent Is
beaten from the start of the engage
ment
The Chinese long ago resorted to
this, with their stink pots and their
horrible masks calculated to awe their
enemies In our civil war our mortars
had a greater moral than physical eff
feet Porter's mortar batteries, for ex-
ample, did more to frighten and STAN
pede the enemy than to hurt them.
Eventually. as the war progressed. the
Confederates lost their fear of mortar
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-11-29

and that the remarkably destructive Ell
fects of gunfire, notably on the Belgian
forts. are the result.
"One fact that leads me to TINS con-
clusion is that the foreign nations are
buying up all our toluene and other
materials from which the new higher
explosives are made.
AS mentioned in the foregoing, DR..
Munroe now serves three separate
branches of the military govern
ment as an expert in applied chemistry
and especially in regard to explosives.
But earlier in life he gave number OF
wears to the navy at what was the most
critical time in the development or the
new service, and it was while so serv-
ing that he invented smokeless pow
der.
Heredity md environment made him
a student, for he was born-in ls49-at
Cambridge, Mass, of a scholarly fam
lily. He was, of course, educated at Har-
ward from which institution he was
graduated with the degree Of oacmedor
of science in 1871. Note the sturdy,
active, virile figure of the man. the
keen eyes, the agreeable manner, and
above all--the griZzled wave OF mar
that hangs upon his forehead IN the
Harvard bang" and you VIII see that
the trace of his alma mater Is stu
upon him.
For three years following his grad
uation he was an assistant professor OIL
chemistry at Harvard. Chemistry Is a
broad field, and he acquired famil-
iarity with every portion OF 1t, but es-
pecially was he attracted by that por-
ton in which he later specialized Inc
things that went off" had q fascina-
ton for him. His researches In eXpIo-
sives gave his laboratory reputation
all its own Visitors We're not always
at their ease there. One never could
tell what might happen.
Then, in 1874, he was drawn to An
napolis, where he remained for twelve
years as professor of chemistry here
came the opportunity suitable to MS
tastes and to do the work which has
proven of such value to the armed
forces of the nation.
In 1886. it will be recalled, Secretary
Whitney began to recreate the Ameri-
can navy. which. from the civil war
period had slumbered. He undertook
to replace old, WORKOUT wooden tubs
with modern steel vessels, to substitute
modern armament and ammunition for
the obsolete equipment then possessed.
to make the American navy reality
instead of sham. 1t was a period of
awakening and construction.
One of his first moves was to appoint
a steel board to pass on the quality OF
material for use in ships and arma-
ments and on this board he appointed
DR.. Munroe as chemist. The naval tor