davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
New Britain herald., 1915-12-28
Efficiency 0f Swiss Army;
 Relation 0f Nati0n 70 v. 5.

Nowhere else in the world has the art of self defense better adjusted it. self to geographical conditions than in the little Republic of Switzerland" says a bulletin of the National Geo. graphic Society.
 While the subject of national pre- paredness holds such a large place in the minds of the American people, it becomes of value to study the remark able system the Swiss people have evolved-a system fitted to national ideals which do not accept the doc trines of militarism on the one hand, and which reject the doctrines of peace at any price on the other. The Swiss system is particularly interest ing to Americans because of the kin dred theories of government in Swift Zerland and the United States, the similar aspirations of their people, and the close relationship Of their needs.
 Although they have democratic tendencies stronger than our own, al- though they believe in local self-gov- ernment perhaps more thoroughly than we do, and although they possess a very deep conviction that central author rity must not encroach upon the
 
 Switzerland have made themselves a nation under arms, yet a nation wi'Il- out the slightest thought of adding a 1 foot to its territory or of disturbing that peace whose blessing it loves i and appreciates.
 There is nothing in Switzerland cor responding to a regular army. One might hunt for months around the l country without finding one man whose profession . is military; yet al- most as hard would it be to discover 1 one able bodied citizen who has not | had some soldier training.
 While Switzerland has a nopula- i tion smaller than that of Mass ' hu- ] setts with an area twice as large, 1t i can mobilize 240,000 men in A i hours. On the same basis, the i United States could put 8,000,00o men into the field, though of course it would take longer to get them to cen tral points of mobilization. Behin a field army of 24O,OO0 the Swiss have reserve of equal proportions. The 1 United States could under the Swiss l system, have a trained army of c;ti- zens reaching a grand total of 16,- 900, ,000 men of all arms. Under that | standard we would have 160 trained men from every town of 1000 popu- lation; while county of 30,000 in- habitants could thus send 2,400 mer to the front and hold as many mere in reserve,
 There is no soldiery in the mid- tary world costing as little per mar as the Swiss.
 This difference arises from the fact that the army of the Swiss Confed- eraton is in truth a citizen army It is organized on what has been cal led the voluntary compulsory sys- tenn, to which the Swiss people have freely resigned themselves in order to guarantee the independence of their country.
 "The Swiss boy, at the age of ten is put into the gymnastic class al
New Britain herald., 1915-12-28
SMALL ARMY'S DAY
 PAST SAYS WOOD
Mai. General Makes Strong Plea
 for Military Preparedness

New Haven, Dec. 2S.-Major Gen. eral Leonard Wood was the guest of honor at 9 dinner given under the auspices of the Economic club of New Haven in the ball room of the Taft last evening, when he spoke on the subject of "The Army as an Agency for Peace.' General Wood left for New York by the train leaving here a few minutes after 1 o'clock this morning.
 When he had concluded his address al the dinner, which at his request was of a private nature. General Wood paid a short visit to the Quin- nipiack club where he was given reception and met a number of the members.
 Pleads for Preparedness
 The vote means also to fight and as suffrage is the foundation of the government the obligation of suf- frage is to bear arms. This was the burden of the talk of Major General Wood. General Woods talk was a strong plea for military preparedness for it's physical, and moral enrich ment to the citizens of the United States. He pleaded that every boy should be taught at an early age that he has a soldiers obligation to his country, and argued that a strong and well-organized military system would make the nation better phy- sically, would reduce the amount of crime, and finally would provide a basic resource for the country against any invasion or conflict. He pointed to the military system of Switzerland and even of Australia, a union labor governed country, where boys begin training at twelve years, and at eight cen years reach the state of military training where the Swiss boy ori- ginally started. We may prate. he said. about our undeveloped military re- sources, but they are as an unde- veloped gold mine in Wall street of little value until formulated into definite organizations.
 He deprecated the volunteer sys- tenn, saying that it had never really served the country in time of trouble Our present war system amounts to nothing he said, a cry for volunteers who never respond in sufficient num- bers, when we get into trouble. There fore, he would have a military svs- tenn enforced and he pleaded strong Iy in his speech for the formation of the state militia into big federal army, under federal control
 Means of Mobilizing.
 He suggested certain means of mo- bilizing this army of men who shall
New Britain herald., 1915-12-28
Ancient History.
(Co1lier's Weekly).

A great many people who write to us about out anti German convictions make the point that H. J. Poppleman of Marvin, Grant County, S. Dak., makes in a recent letter:
 Just quit foaming about the Ger mans and read your little General History and look up how the English used to treat the Irish
 Quite true. What the English did to the Irish from one hundred to three hundred years ago was much worse than what the Germans have done to the Belgians. But we cannot follow the reason of any man who says that on this account we should now be against the English. The world would never get forward very far that way. It won't do to match an ancient wrong against a present wrong.
New Britain herald., 1915-12-28

school, and begins learning rhe ele- ments of the soldier drill on the school-house playground. Long be- fore he is old enough to be called upon for service he has learned to do the annual exercise and to go through much of the drill that afterward fits him for a soldier.
 When a boy reaches IT years he is liable to service-a liability which continues until he is 50 years of age. Even after that he may be liable, if he is capable of doing any other work than soldering, such as acting as baker or veterinary surgeon.
 Yet with all of this universal train ing, the only people in Switzerland who make arms an exclusive pro- fession are the Commander-in Chef, selected by the Federal Assembly, and the General Staff. These form the brains of the army. The rank and file belong to the cantons just as the militia to do the state in this country.
 At the age of 20 every able-bodied Swiss youth becomes a unit in. the first line During the first year of liability he must serve 75 days or more, and II days for each successive year he is called to the standard. Service in the first line continues un- til the citizen has reached the age of 32 Thereafter he becomes a unit in the Landwehr of First Reserve, in which he remains until he is A. He must give days of service during each four years that he belongs to the l Landwehr. From A to 50, he serves l in the Landstrum or Second Reserve. Rich and poor serve side by side | in the Swiss army, and there is none 1 of the crack regiment idea to be | found. There is only one general and he is picked from a nation of 1 soldiers; nor is his remuneration lordly, for his salary is only s10 a day. The caste system has not been per mitted to creep into the Swiss army for the very essence of the Swiss mill tary idea is that all men start from the scratch, and that brain and abil. ity must win the race.
 Every commune in Switzerland il required by federal law to maintain at public expense, a safe and suitable target range of not less than 1,00i feet. All legally organized shooting clubs of the commune have the righ to use this range free of charge. The government BlNSS doV ceilIS a yS"'i '' each club for each member doing prescribed amount of shooting durin; the year. The annual number 0 shots fired in target practice in tn army and in the shooting clubs reach ed nearly 3O.OOO,00O rounds, two thirds of which practice is done b the shooting clubs.
 Though surrounded on all side by beIligerent millions, whose inter ests might be served by asking he to step out of their paths, Switzer land today stands an island of peac' in a sea of war, because she has beer prepared to maintain her neutralit! and her freedom, or at least 70 cxac such price for them that none Q the nations at war can afford to pa. for their violation"
New Britain herald., 1915-12-28
FISHER FOR MAYOR

Middletown, Dec. 28.-PrQfesso1 Willard c. Fisher, progressive can didate for governor last year, and twice democratic mayor of Middlej town, was last night nominated fq@ mayor by the Democrats in their emu GUS. There was no oppositiog, hiS name being the only one presented The nomination comes tc Professo1 Fisher unsought as he lNs been on& of town since last October. when h< went to his old home in Westerlo1I N. Y.
New Britain herald., 1915-12-28
LEFT s1.49O,371 ESTATE.
Wife of John ID. Rockefeller. Who
 Died Last March

New York, Dec. 28.-Mrs. Laura S. Rockefeller, wife of John D. Rock. efeller, who died last March, left an estate valued at $1.49O,371, accord ing to the appraisal filed yesterday in the surrogate's court.
 The bulk of the estate as announced when the will was probated, goes tn charitable and educational inst;tu- tions. The estate consists mainly Of railroad bonds and does not include any stock in the Standard Oil com- panies.
 Mrs Rockefe1ler's wedding ring. which she bequeathed to her son. John D. Rockefeller. jr, is appraised at three dollars. Her most valuable piece of jewelry, diamond chain. valued at s12,oOo goes to her daugh., ter, Mrs Edith Mccormick. Tho most valuable piece of wearing appar- ell listed in the appraisal is a seat coat and huff valued at s15o. Eff. teen suits are appraised at $500 and ten hats at $50.
New Britain herald., 1915-12-28
). MCMILLAN
sss-eoi-co3 MNIN $'rgFi:r

be ready and prepared to give mili- tary service when required, one of which was the establishing of reserve forces, in which men would be Ea- ble to service for two or three years only. The college batteries, he would use as an element of this military orr ganization, and he would place tho 40, 900 men in these college ranks Nn- der officers of the army to standard ize the course of instruction. He praised the work of the business men and students at the summer camps, and advocated organizing all univer- sity men into camps as regular -ad- juncts of this army which he would organize. The more strictly mili- tary colleges would furnish their con- tingents to the general army. He advocated the teaching of military history and the policy, technique, field engineering and sanitation = at the universities such as is provided in the two-year course at Harvard. The army would obtain a limitless supply of material from the athletic types of men, and from these two sources, the university and strictly military col Ieges, it would be possible to obtain 10000 men each year, a body of men
 
 duty to the nation.
 The time Of small armies has gone by, he said. and we must train here in this country, gigantic armies Even the physicians must be organized into Red Cross units. The natiop- that educates it's men best in military training and practice is the nation which will best prepare itself. He concluded his talk by saying that we are living in a nation where whatever our own ideals about preparsdnesa,4 may be, VIC owe something to- thoseI who come after us in fortifying ouft~ selves with military preparedness.
 Under Restrictions.
 Before starting for the train Genr eral Wood in an interview saiti- that like all military men. he was in a pos ition that he must not talk for publ- cation and this fact was perfectly woll understood.
 General Wood was asked if there had been an objection on the part of the national guard to drilling with the students at manoeuvres. He said, that he had heard of such objections but ii had been in solitary instances. General Wood said that he believed that the men of the National Guard felt that when a man goes into training camp how difficult it is 10, become efficient; but they ultimately became supporters of them wher' they acquired the knowledge that waa given al these training camps.
New Britain herald., 1915-12-28

ness against sickness is a
 ell worth harboring on a
 lis. Every man owes it to
 B to his family that he keep
 as long as possible. At ere is an epidemic of grip
 the entire country. New has almost capitulated to i of the human family, and Is along the Atlantic coast throes of grip. Wet, soggy, Agreeable weather is con- spreading this malady. this, it is the wise man, or 1ho takes the precautio1 to ,bers before going putin the hing more, nothing less than worn slogan, An ounce of is worth a pound of cure.
New Britain herald., 1915-12-28

Some idea of New Britain's S advance along the road of prosperity may be eieaned from the estimates put on the value of the Burritt school property. Four hundred dollars a front foot is a price we'll worth considering. Fifty years ago the same land could have grazing pasture. Fifty years from now its value may be increased again three fold. All of which shows the wisdom in sticking around.
New Britain herald., 1915-12-28
KEEP FEM AROUND

With things as they are, with a war in Europe that threatens to set the whole world ablaze, it is well for the United States to have an eye to the future. It is well that the subject of preparedness be given some thought. No one can say, no one can tell when the slightest thing will pre- c1pltate this country into a quarrel with another country, and, no matter now much we may wish to keep away from it, no matter how much we dread war, fight means fight. Be prepared, is a good slogan and per- tains to every phase of human exist ence. Even to death. It is well to be prepared in any emergency.
 As an illustration of what has been intimated, it might be well to cite a story that is going the rounds in the south, a story about an old colored preacher and a gambling man he converted. It runs somewhat as fol- lows:
 After de sarmint tmor night Brudder Simmons" said the old dea- con- we all is gwine to hab a rousin' hozanner meetin' an burn up yo' paragraphs, bless de Lawd!'
 "Yo' all is gwine to hab what? Yo' all is gwine tuh burn up which, sah ?" returned Snowball Black, the recent ly converted gambling man, in con- siderable astonishment.
 "Yo' gambling paragraphs, sah! Wen a spo'tin' man gifts converted an washed winter dan snow, dey allus burns up his kyahds, an dice and sich scan 'lous stuff as dat, midst loud shouts O praise. De Lawd is wit 'em, an de- gambling brudder steps fo'th an slings his gambling paragraphs on de fiah, an he stands wifi bowed head whilst
 "Not me, suh! An ain't gwine do no sich-uh thing!"
 "But, muh goodness brudder yo' is shore converted, isn't yo' and'' -
 'Yassahr! An is shore converted UuI dl ulOuSHI DdCkSlluC dl HoCu dat stuff!
 And there is the story. It illu- strates a great point and can be well read by the peace -at-any-price peo- pie, the men and women of America who are out on the street corners ad- vising Uncle Sam to sling away his arms because a big army and a big navy might combine for the destruc- tion of the country, that they might lead to militarism. That is probably true if the propaganda is allowed to go too far; but, if dealt with in a safe an sane manner there is no such danger To do away with the entire outfit would be like Snowfall Black throwing away his deck of cards. We might backslide,-or somebody else l might backslide,-and then we might l be sorry we threw away the cards This is preparedness. Keep 'em | around.
New Britain herald., 1915-12-28
OULD KNOW SPANISH.

IOuLD KNOW SPANISH.
 most part, there are few
 in the actual workings of
 hd Pan-American Congress
 ened yesterday in Washing
 capital of the nation. And
 u it should be of interest to
 In the nation from the Presi-
 m. One year ago delegates
 ry nation on this hemisphere
 d at the same place in a
 rican Scientific Congress, and
 nations of the world were
 ch interested in the proceed
 his year there is a larger
 B of delegates from the South
 h countries and much more
 is being manifested in the
 is year. Naturally, scientific
 be primarily interested in eome of the second congress. king at the whole affair from E business standpoint, every
 seventeen years of age in ntry should take to heart the lesson that is taught by the ion in Washington. That is The men from South America he English language almost as
 the men who were born and in America. And the men -merica, as a whole, cannot ,ne word of Spanish,-the one ,e that predominates in South 1e aforegoing statement there I food for thought. The ques- Iturally arises, Why does not nerican high-school boy havc knowledge of the Spanish se? And the answer apparent No one seems to care. While, nd weeks, and months and re spent willingly in acquiring yledges of Latin and Creek ad languages, ,-and German, and Italian. there is rare- yer, thought given to Spanish. above all. that is the one ge which should be prevalent high school courses. To get own to the bottom of the whole What good is it going to do to siness of the United States to ur boys we'll versant in Latin eek, and yet have no knowledge nish? What good will it do? ever yet sold a bale of cotton 0 he could translate an ode Homer, or because he knew by the Gallic Wars of Caesar. It we'll and good to insist that who would follow up purely 1ic studies should know some of the two principle dead ges; but for those boys who to go into business after their chool courses are completed,- there are many such,-the ge of Spain should be their first 1t after having acquired the snts of English grammar ano cessary things that go with it ; easily seen then that Ameri Ire put to shame by the mer ome to this country represent uth America. It is sometime rassing to stand within hailins ce of these folk and have then estions in your own language o it with such ease,-and ther Ible to even wish them the time in their native tongue. Spanisf zen rated as one of the easies Lges to acquire. It is yer!
 and at the same time yer. al. It means a lot at this tim American bankers who would le financial interests of Uncl to the countries t' uth of us. There are practical, .wo languages spoken on thi phere, English and Spanish. I eople. of South America hay, h ambition to study the Ian of the United States, why thel not the people of the Unite,
 have enough regard for thei
New Britain herald., 1915-12-28

not one of these 'ever-so-nrce' fellows we read about and do not expect to marry an angel" Perhaps he was saved by the recollection of the say ing of a satirical philosopher that the human race consists of so many millions, mostly foo1s."
New Britain herald., 1915-12-28

Perhaps it was not intentional, but the warning baseball interests waited until Henry Ford had reached the other side of the ocean before they climbed out of the trenches.-Spring- field Union.
New Britain herald., 1915-12-28

The new general whom the Brit ish have sent to the front to take the place of Field Marshal Sir John French, who has thrown up his job Git is said voluntarily.) is best known by his record for masterliness in re- treat. Humph!- h!-Providence Tribune.
New Britain herald., 1915-12-28

Bernard Shaw's latest advice to Englishwomen is to put peace out of their heads. They probably would if it were just as easy to put sorrow out of their hearts-Detroit Free Press
New Britain herald., 1915-12-28

It may be true. as reported from Chicago, that the Federal league is to pass out of existence; but while it lasted, the baseball boys got good alarieS.-Norwich Bulletin.
New Britain herald., 1915-12-28
FACTS AND RANCHES

Nebraska republicans are determin- ed to keep in the political spotlight if they have to nominate Burton-Bos- ton Transcript.
New Britain herald., 1915-12-28

It it be true that the Serbian ar mics in their retreat took with them 40, 900 prisoners of war and shipped them to France, they must have been far from demoralized. By spring the Serbs may be reorganized and prove again factor in the war. Gen. Boro- evic was right when he gave them the highest praise as warriors.-New York World.
New Britain herald., 1915-12-28

Speaking of the silver bullet, for the financing of the war Great Britain has drawn in $2,5OO,O 100000 from abroad, $2,OOO, 100000 has been with drawn from banking accounts, and $1, 800, 100000 has been transferred by the banks from employment in the money market-Boston Globe.
New Britain herald., 1915-12-28

Noah was 500 years old before he knew how to build an ark-don't lose your grip-E1bert Hubbard
New Britain herald., 1915-12-28

In fact, everything in our Ready to-wear Department has now a Mark Down Ticket. Come for the Bar gains. We are ready.
New Britain herald., 1915-12-28

sunday excepted> at 4:15 p. m.
 Building. 87 Church St.
New Britain herald., 1915-12-28

|e Post Office at New Britaln bnd Glass Mail Matter.
New Britain herald., 1915-12-28
HERALD

PUBLISHING COMPANY. Proprietors.
New Britain herald., 1915-12-28

$htable advertising medium ID Circulation books and press Eways open to advertisers.
New Britain herald., 1915-12-28
McMILLAN'S NEW BRITAIN's BIG BUSY STORE

RIGHT AFTER CHRISTMAS EVERY
 YEAR WE BEGIN
New Britain herald., 1915-12-28

Bargains this year will be greater than ever before, because we feel in a generous mood after having such fine Christmas business.