davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-01-17
THE AGE or HAPPINESS.
4 lesson Drawn From the Changing
beauties Of the Seasons.

To THE EDITOR or THE SUH-Sir: Three
Score and Ten" of Morristown. n. j.,
asks "1n wha' period OF mans life does
he find the greatest measure OF enjoy
ment; is it In youth, or in middle age,
or is It in his maturity
From Fortunate Men. How They
Made Money and Won Renown' Don-
don, John Hogg, IL Paternoster Row. I
have obtained the subjolned answer 10 a
similar inquiry
At 4 festal party OF old and young the
question was asked. which season OF life
Is most happy
After being freely discussed by the guests
II was referred for answer by the host, upon
whom the burden OF four score years
He asked II they had noticed a grove OF
trees before the dwelling and said:
when the spring comes and in the soft
air tho buds are breaking on the trees and
How beautiful is SPRING And when the
summer comes with It's heavy foliage and
singing birds are among tho branches, 7
think, How beautiful Is summer, when
autumn loads them with golden fruit and
their leaves bear the golden tint OF frost, I
think. How beautiful Is autumn And when
II Is sere winter and there is neither foliage
nor fruit then / look up through the Leaf
less branches, as | never could TIL now
and see the stars shine"
Wisdom and happiness travel together
ELMER II. YoUNGMAN.
NEW YORK, January IS.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-01-17
NEW HOME FOR GENEAL0GISTs
Society 10 Erect Large Building In
Fast FIfty-eiEhth street.

In order TO provide space for H. grow,
ing activities the New York Gencalog.,"
and Biographical Society has bought m
property at 122-l26 East Fifiy-e'gN' #,
street. east OF Park avenue, where u VIE
erect a large modern building, Tine ~.
ciety now occupies building when u
owns Mt 226 West Fifty-eighth street
where II has been quartercd since 1880
The society was organized torty-slN N'A's
ago In tho home OF DR. David Parsons
Hoton. at l24 West Fifty-fourth stree"
Dr. Holton was the soclety's first pies'
dent
The structure will he built from hu'H
ing fund which was started last year w.
Pierpont Morgan, who was NE mem
Der OF the society, gave $4,000 Just he
fore his death toward this fund, wh'on
at the time amounted to $4,000 Among
others who have contributed are john
Rockefeller. Mrs. Frederick +, Thompson
Andrew Carnegie. Mrs. Il. IL, Hartman
William Rockefeller, Mrs, Russell Sat.
James Junius Goodwin. George r. baHeI
Frederick W. Vanderbilt. the late Geors,
8. Bowdoin and tho late Mrs. Hsh'
Draper. 49,
The society has one Of the finest MO
graphical libraries IN this country con.
tanning more than 10000 volumes ana -
being added TO continuously, The sta'u,
Of Christopher Columbus in Central faI'
is one OF it's gifts TO the city II Va
donated in 1892, whom Gen, James IRA"
Wilson was the society's president
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-01-17

Two days before the old year ex-
plred the light OF the WhdIemen's Ship
ping List went out at New Bedford
after seyenty-one years and more OF
devoted service. 1t will he sad news
where the Acushnet meets the sea, on
the decrepit Stonington docks, and the
quaint Provincetown waterfront, while
the blow will fall cruelty in that Sc
lect company of ancients who gather
IN the little club at Nantucket down by
the harbor to talk OF the fame of other
days. True, the whaling industry has
been on its last legs for n long time,
but the WhdIemcn'S shipping List was
link with n glorious past. Every Tues
day 1t came out with n table OF the
ships of the whaling fleet, their where
ahouts, sallings. &C., set in agate, to-
gether with what Intelligence OF the
Industry could he picked up along the
waterfront, CLEANED from exchanges or
received from the post and the tele-
graph. The chinks were filled In with
miscellany that was always good read
ing. Not prctentious sheet, hut Of
Intrinsic value to the subscribers and
accordingly treasured.
There was time when the Amerl-
can whalers and their kith and kin
could not conceive of their shipping
List stopping publication. When its
first number came out 675 whaling
ships were sailing the seas. New Rel
ford sent out Ola; Fairhaven, across the
harbor, forty-six; Nantucket, seventy
FIVE, and Provincetown, Stonington
Stamford and other New England ports
had each Its fleet. Three years
later. in 1S16. the industry was at It's
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-01-17
The Spelling Test.

In a spelling test TO which students
Gently subjected, in plain violation Of
Article VIII. of the Amendments 10
the Constitution Of the United States,
this list OF words was given out "Ac-
commodate. dlssipate. di&ppolnt, lab
oratory, embarra ssment, athletics, lose,
courtesy. professor, stopped, precede,
harass companies, interfered, inferred,
noticeable, lovable, Thackeray, Macau-
lay. proceed, acknowledgment, permits
slhle." The selection was fair, trap
less to the point of ridiculous simple
ity; or might have seemed so except
for its results. Only thirteen OF the
twenty-five assassins OF photography
would have passed" the lowest per-
centage OF accuracy was A, the high.
est was o.
The mutilations suffered by the vo-
cables are easily Imaginable "dissl-
pate" and "disappolnt" snapped places
undoubtedly, on the duplication cf IS
and 'p" "Precede" sat in proceeds
chair. The imp of perverslty waved
his wand, and "or" and "er' were
changeings in their cradles. Ter.
minal "ibie," II may he inferred" was
"harrassed," embarrassed" by being
"interferred' with by youthful Macau
leys and Thackerys who could moi tell
II apart from Its cousin cable" Con
sonanta ianarotomy was performed
! upon accommodate" Since crthcg
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-01-17
The Paragon or Weather Prophets.

To THE EDITOR OF THE SuN-Sir: 1t
is strange how people like to praise the
dead build halls OF fame TO them, &c,
but rarely, II ever. can you get even jus
tice for great and good men during life
Here Is "Old Timer" singing the praises
OF a departed weather prophet when We
nave Uncle Hold johnson right here with
us. ripe in years and prophetic vision
He telescopes the truth without the aid
OF psychology. and should have a monu-
ment erected to him somewhere between
the mouth OF the Connecticut River and
the Hartford Courdnt Office.
Upon a recent hegira from the Con-
necticut River Valley, his welkn seer
ism Uncle Hold foretoid the storm OF
the early morn OF January IS, and he
wouldn't think of telling you that II was
a beautiful, calm and gentle morn that
your ideas that II was windy and rainy
we're merely northumberland he! He
stands on his prophecies like a man, an
example 10 all prophets, whether of
weather, business or world peace.
JAMES -. DHwELL, Jr.
NEW HAVEN, Conn, January Is.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-01-17
DEFINING AN AWFUL TERN.
Constitutional Psycbopathic InferiorIty
Means ExactIY That.

To THE EDITOR or THE SuN--Sir: Con-
stitutional psychopathic inferiority, un-
couth as the term may sound to others,
has definite meaning to physicians who
work In the special field Of psychiatry,
and II Is such physicians who are charged
with the duty Of bringing abnormal mem
tai conditions observed in immigrants to
the attention OF immigration officials.
Last year 251 persons whose mental
condition was diagnosed in the hospitals
as constitutional psychopathic inferiority
were admitted to the New York State
hospitals for the insane, and there were
several hundred more new patients whose
mental disease had developed upon a basis
of constitutional psychopathic inferiority.
Forms OF insanity are not the only dis
eases which are based upon this condition.
for among the patients with alcoholism
or drug addiction admitted to Bellevue
Hospital constitutional psychopathic infe-
riority is more often than any other factor
the underlying cause OF their misfortune.
II is with this condition and not with
conditions properly described by the word
insanity that many OF the 9,241 aliens in
our state hospitals were AFFLICTED at the
time OF their arrival The physicians at
Ellis Island q speak from personal ex-
perlence I'm the mental examination Of
aliens there) recognize this condition very
frequently In immigrants arriving at the
present time. and they are fully aware
that the successors OF the 9,241 aliens in
the State hospitals will be recruited very
largely from this group. Nevertheless
there Is no provision In the present imml-
grafton law by which such aliens can be
excluded.
There are many persons with constitu-
tlonsl psychopathic inferiority whose con-
dtlon It Is quite impossible TO recognize
by the most careful examination OF Inn
migrants which can be devised. II often
requires knowledge Of the life his-
tories OF such patients and great deal
OF information as to the precise manner
In which they have adjusted themselves to
difficult situations in order to estimate
the significance OF mental devations OBJ
served. but this is by no means a satlsfac-
tory reason for falling TO exclude the not
considerable number in whom this con-
dition can he recognized.
THOMAS W. SALMON, NJ. n,
Director OF Special Studies. National
Committee for Mental Hygiene.
New YORK, January rs
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-01-17
Practical Pan-Americanism.

A signed sentiment in the December
number of the CommOner:
1.-The drawing together OF American
countries in a common interest.
w J. BRYAN"
How the American countries, the
United States and the Dominican Re
public, for example, are drawn to-
gether, and in what interest:
'Can you let mo know what positions
you have at your disposal with which to
reward deserving Democrats? Let me
know what is requisite, together with the
salary. W. j. BRYAN"
Thus even the financial tribulations OF
Santo Domingo are made to AFFORD Us,
in the language Of the same great
philanthroplst and world-welder, "op-
portunity Of friendship and dlsinter-
ested service"
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-01-17
Justice to wilkes,

Detracton for long time obscured
the merits OF Rear Admiral WILKES,
L. S. ~, the Antarctic explorer OF 1910.
He was charged with imagining a good
deal of what he saw, mapping the Goa st
line inaccurately, and with discover
ing continent where none existed.
But every honest explorer who has fol-
lowed in the tracks OF WILKES has
borne testimony to the value Of his
pioneer work.
Now comes the heroic Sir DOUGLAS
MANSON, the Australian explorer, with
Il new tribute to the American. With
some exceptions, possibly due to the
effect OF mirage. WILKES, he says,
mapped the Antarctic coast line cor
rectly. Posterlty is coming round to
the view that the American sailor, in
spite Of his meagre resources, was one
Of the greatest explorers that ever
penetrated the Antarctic Circle.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-01-17

In the suicides letter he confessed to
being II failure,-Netrs item.
They crossed his hands upon his weary
breast.
He'd never had chance. for here confessed
In tattared letter was the nnAl sum
OF lifo; grim Failure was his daily chum.
BY industry, by deed, and thought. and act
Month after month he tried to break the
pact,
And sometimes Failure loitercd In the rear.
Then pleasant voices whispered In his ear.
But fairy promises would ne'er abide
And soon, how soon, his chum was at his
side
who sat close to him when he ate his meals?
Who fingered there so deaf to all appeals9
Who followed on his bedward steps at night:
who waited in the room at first sunlight
Who logged his path throughout tho striv-
Ing day.
Now here, now there. but never far away?
And where is Failure now? Has horrId
death
pismsysd him Has he vanished in a
breath,
Content to be a faithful chum no more
To that poor hulk, inert upon the roors
ON heavens threshold. can II be that grim
Unyieiding Failure has deserted hinI
II 8, HAsKINs.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-01-17
Mr.. Wilson Directly Challenged.

Representative MAINS contradiction
OF President WILSON'S boast that In
the bill creating the Interstate Trade
Commission the Democrats, without the
knowledge OF the Republicans, included
provision for scientific" investigation
OF the tariff Is in terms that render 1t
highly desirable for Mr.. WILSON to re-
ply to the member from Illinois. MT.
MANN declares specifically:
These changes under which the Presi-
dent claims he has the power OF a tariff
commission were inserted on the motion
OF the gentleman from Minnesota, Mr..
STEVENS, the Republican member OF the
conference committee.
put one over on u.s.
I'VE did not know what was being done.
but after all W. did It,"
In his history OF the law Mr.. MANN
declares that Mr.. STEVENS frequently
consulted him ~ to the effect and de
STABILITY of the changes proposed, and
he cites the speech of Mr.. STEVENS,
made when the bill was up for passage,
in support of his contentious. Certain
uHltllulIlfllN nav lllS b'Nil w wv
measure in the Senate, it went to con-
ference, and
when the bill went down 10 confer
ence. after consultation with the Repub-
lcan leader on the floor OF the House
Mr.. MANNl. Mr. STEVENS, the Republican
member Of the conference comm. tee, in
sisted upon including this language in the
conference report and II was put in, and
under that the President now claims in
par, the power OF a tariff commission"
In his Indianapolis speech the l'resi-
dent eXpounded the scope of the bill In
this respect, using the subjoined play
full und contemptuOus language:
Being a schoolmaster by profession. I
am glad to point that out . the class OF
unlnstructed Republicans. though l have
not always taught in the primary grade"
Perhaps when Mr.. WILSON comes to
explain the discrepancy between his
story Of the law and the crcumstantial
tale of its drafting told by Mr.. MANI
he may find ii wise to address himself
10 an audience which has progressed
some distance from the primary grade.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-01-17

To THE EpIroR OF THE SuN-Sir: Hap
piness knows no age, no youth, no spark
ling dome where the ravages OF time have
made natures playground for the fly"
no silver locks. no waistband OF emblem
attic JOY, that "elysian child divine: no
youth with hair pompadour and dropping
cigarette; II comes DER one when the
spark flashes and picks you out as one
OF the immortals, to touch and sanctify.
True your life. in putting aside petty
ambitions. standing on what you are
yourself, sinking the everlasting a." has
made you magnetic 10 the higher life,
and as the dawn appears DER Olympus
you are crowned with a halo OF obscur-
ity that places you above the common
place things OF this world, and you are
sure. whether young or old. never again
to weep beyond tho pale alone"
JAMES d. DEwELL, Jr.
NEW HAVEN, Conn, January IS.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-01-17

To THE EDITOR or THE SyS--Sir; Sup
posing the Serbian legation at London
is correct in Its premises. It can hardly
he blamed for objecting TO "Servian."
But Ia II correct? In Professor W. NJ
Sloane's THE Balkans" page 81, find /:
"In tho seventh Tcenturyl they 1.-THE
south Slavsl began To settle westward Of
the Bulgarans. occupying tho Roman
province OF Mpsia, and II Was there that
they first received the contemptuous name
which they still bear, that OF Servians.
Slaves" Apparently here is one author
ity who is satisfied with the Latin deri-
walton. Is II possible, do you suppose,
that the Serbian" gentleman could have
been reading Professor Soane's book?
NEWARK, N. j., January Is. r.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-01-17

The spare bedroom as the key to
national character and national man
ners may seem improbable, but n re-
cent article in London weekly fnds
in it the explanation of the qualities
which are especially called British. II
accounts for the odd contradiction be-
tween British hospitality and the still,
awkward reserve Of the BritOn; ii de-
termlnes the character of the middle
class home; ii affects the relations be-
tween the members of the family ana
controls their attitudes toward relatives
of the second degree; 1t is the great
perpetuator OF love matches and pre-
venter of marriages of reason; II il,
the shrine of British sentimentallty,
the regard for things because Of their
associations as apart from their quail
ties; il is an Incentive to courage, an
inspiration of liberty, a preseryer of
conformity.
Perhaps this array Of sequelae 10
the two-pair front In the city or the
pink chintz snuggery in the small
country house may have flavor Of
Sherlock Holmes deduclng a crime or a
criminal from II shabby hat or a
scratched watch case. Quite so: but
at least the exegesls of the proposition
has equal ingenuity and entertainment
Some realities and many plauslblltes
are so grouped rs to produce an effect
almost amounting to conviction.
In the first place, the spare bedroom
Is peculiar to England, as against the
rest OF Europe as an appanage Of mid
die class life, which Is, OF course, the
true national life OF every people. On
the Continent kings and great arlsto-
Gratis have provision for the entertain
ment of guests, but in the private abode
not only Is The accommodation lacking
but the idea OF intruding strangers
into the family life, OF exposing to
them the secrets of the family, IL alb
horrent The spare bedroom, with all
that 1t implies in the way of enter
tainment, would seem to the French or
German. Scandinavian or Italian do
nestle economist as n wanton squan-
derng of the family resources Eveu
more would II seem dissertation OF
the family intimacy, a vulgar dlsclos-
ure OF its affections and its differences,
It's ideals and its expedients, It's EN-
harrassments and It's anxieties. The
Continental family lives largely in It.
self and for itself. II Is not uns0cln-
Bile, but it prefers to mingle with. the
outside world on neutral ground or else
under the ceremonial limitations incl
dental to parade occasions.
With the Engishman the possession
OF the spare bedroom reyerses all this.
As II Is a British institution Its nat
ural purpose must be fulfilled. 1t makes
hospitality imperative, and since the
stranger must he brought into the
home the home must he so organized
az TO he always ready for inspection
and appraisal, In physcal respects it
must he splck and span, orderly and
methodical. liberal and "genteel." In
its deeper meanings 1t must always be
under veil of polite reserve. Con
nubial expansion, even tillal love, must
he kept under restraint; II there arc
any darker shadows in the picture, dis
cord, anxiety, strained resources, fears
Tor the future, they must be buried
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-01-17
Plans for Day After Tomorrow and Year
After Next Relief.

To THE EDITOR OF THE SUN--Sir: THE
SUN is good friend TO the poor but Il
would be better IL 1t advocated some
practical plan for getting them away
from the city and out on the land
Many of them are attracted here sim
ply as moths are by flame. The country
il their natural environment. and there
they would not only be a benefit to them
selves but 10 the community as we'll.
Why not have State farms where all
who were obliged 20 solicit public charity
could he sent?
As for public works undertaken for the
relief OF the poor, they are usually simply
a tax. Let MS have less maudlin senti-
ment and more common sense.
Back to the land AGRIcoLA.
New YORK January rs.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-01-17

raphy and orthoepy stand or fall to-
gether, "athaletics'' must have had fire.
quent occurrence. But with the mon.
ster separate" left out. IL might rea-
sonably have been expected that one
patient follower Of routine, one spirit
less disciple Of convention would be
found among the lawless geniuses
The college newspaper means: "Is It
impossible to teach spellIngi" Tears,
idle tears, and crocodilian. "Possunt
qula posse videntur' used to be fa-
vorlte motto" OF high school gradu-
ating classes. In those days they
could" not because they thought they
could, but because they had been made
to. Spelling cannot be taught, but It
can be learned. The teacher in 1t is
but drillmaster, driving his awkward
squad with merciless relteration
through the motions Of the manual.
Spend half an hour this evening
with your eight.year-old son and his
reader He reads the pictures. He
knows" words, not syllables. His
eager, alert. hungry mind Is being fed
on Association Of ideas" in a system
OF heretical. theoretical, fallacious
ideas" gulltless OF any logical, loco
motive Association"
College students need crutches be-
cause they have been cruelty lnmed In
the primary grades" The spelling
book and the multiplication table, pre-
ventlve Of mental bowleg. must he
brought back II otthopedic orthogra-
ply is ever again to be known In the
land. How the figures OF literacy In
official reports do lie!
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-01-17

zenith and for fifteen years afterward
there was prosperity for all. The risl;
was great, but 1t had the spice OF ad
venture, and the profits were large,
sometimes handsome. In 1851 no less
than 42S,074 barrels Of sperm and
whale oil and 3,0O6,5OO pounds OF
whalebone we're brought home. During
the civil war, which, by the way. al.
most finished the fleet, the demand for
its products was 50 great that sperm
oil sold for 1915 gallon, whale oil
S100, aud Arctic whnlebone brought
from $3.50 TO 81 a pound.
The last number of the Whdiemen's
shipping List quotes sperm oil at
forty-tive cents n gallon, and there's a
depth of melancholy in the report
"Whnlebone--w do not learn that any
sales have been made" And what OF
the great fleet that sailed the seas
from the Arctic to the Antarctic? In
place of $50 ships in 1916 there are
now but thirty-two. with n tonnage of
G,Gl3 OF these twenty-one hail from
New Bedford. nine from San Fran
cisco, one from Provincetown, and one
from Stamford. The New Bedford craft
operate in the Atlantic, the San Fran
clscans In the Arctic. The two little
schooners credited to Provincetown and
Stamford are practically out OF the
whaling business. Thus the A. T. CIR.
ford, eighty-six tons of Stamford, is
just back from Hudson Bay with no
oil aboard, but with profits from a
trading voyage. Not an echo Is heard
from Stonlngton, and long has Nan
tucket Island been mute, living on it's
memories
In the flush old days the Whdlemen'S
Shipping List had $500 subscribers.
But it had Ito he hauled out on the
beach" rs the old year ebbed. Mournful
was the confession that ut is no longer
self.sustainlng." In its prime. and
down to the last issue. it's pride was
that every item printed was true as
gospel. Unlimited pains were taken 10
verify news, and nothing 30 shocked
the publisher as to find that an over
statement had been made. But It was
Of rare occurrence. Wherever the
shipping List went, and II went to
many parts Of the earth, a partial tear
will be dropped for its demise.
New Bedford still has its Sailors
Bethel and the Old Dartmouth His
torical Society. where you may learn
all about the ancient whaling Industry
and see models Of the stout old ships
and pictures of the sterling American
captains in chokers together with In
Vulnerable relics from foreign parts.
including the spice laden islands OF the
South Seas-what a heap OF fasclnat-
ing treasures are there. but the lam
bent light OF the WhdIcmen's Shippin1
List Is out, never to shine cheerily
again. BE sure the loss will be talked
about for many u day in the dark old
buildings, with their odors vaguely sug
gesting remote seas. down along the
waterfront where there is leisure for
reminlscence.