davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-05-21
Evening Chat
A Rara Avis.
BY RUTH CAMERON.

+ "She is one of those rare people who
seldom give you their opinion unless
they are asked for it,
So I heard a new neighbOr of mine
characterized.
felt 1 should like to know her.
Wouldn't you?
For it is indeed rare to find any one
who does not consider the giving of
his or her opinion on all subjects as
one of the most important functions
of existence.
How our neighbors should spend
their money
How they should bring up their
How they could have avoided mis-
fortunes of all sorts, especially finan-
ciaI-
ried instead of the people they did
marry
How they could dress more taste
fully
How few of us there are who do not
feel called upon to give our opinion
on these similar subjects every day
of our lives.
There is a great satisfa ction in Civ
ing ones opinion. 1t is such dc
lightfully painless way of benefiting
CD mankind. Material giving has
it's disadvantages. 1t is often a duty
which, like having an aching tooth
pulled out, is rather a relief to have
accomplished but a terrible wrench at
the time. Whereas, giving ones opin-
ion is as easy, natural and painless as
breathing.
Giving ones opinion on the various
ways in which ones friends and neigh
borS could improve themselves is, OF
course, the favorite form of this sport,
but giving ones opinion OH impersonal
things such as an event or a work of
art runs it CLOSE second. Many
people read books and attend plays
not so much to enjoy them to be
able to give some opinion upon them.
And having prfmed themselves, they
deliver it with a sonorous self APPROX
al and not the slightest doubt as to its
enduring value.
And yet, you ask me, what should
we talk about it we didn't give our
various opinions. What is conversa-
ton If not the reaction of our minds
upon events and personalities and SO
forth?
Right you are And very silly you
make me seem If you take me in just
things and people and events is per-
fectly legitimate and of course mere
statements of fact would make ifeless
conversation.
But you very we'll know 1 didn't
mean to suggest that we confine our
selves to saying 1T is a dull day" or
II went to the play last night" When
my friend says of her friend ''She is
give their opinion unless they are
asked, she means that she is one of
those people who are not forever Of
fering their views on all subjects to
the world as of supreme importance,
one of those rare beings who are con-
| tent to live in their own way and let
their neighbors live in theirs without
saying 'tI should think"
OF course, we must have opinions
| but most of us can keep them to our
selves a little more than we do with
| advantage. and can make such that
those we do advance are worth some
/ thing
| 1t isn't plain opinions that are OBJ
! jectionable, but opinionated opinions
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-05-21
WARS TOLL on INDUSTRY,

To what extent the European war
mas paralyzed industry in the nations
that are parties to it is graphically
suggested in a handful of statistics
that have been assembled relative,
merely, to the French foreign trade.
1t is only little more than half what
it used to be, and the bulk of this loss
is in exports. the things that the peo-
pie of France produce and make to
sell to the outside world. But let the
statistics speak for themselves. They
show that the value of the French
foreign trade, not including gold, sill
yer, ETC., for the first four months of
1915 was $597,346,773, against ST.
0O9, S90,s35 for the same months in
1914. The imports amounted to
$420, 665,116, against $3.50, 1929,
and the exports to $176,6S1, 657,
against $426, 526,912. The imports of
food products were valued at $115,-
1874, against $117, $50; indus
trial materials, $275, S32,264, against
1852, 999,41S; manufactures, $129,693,-
los, against $102,796,625 The ex-
ports of food products amounted to
$34,770,301, against $43,324,061 for the
first four months of 1914; industrial
materials, $3S,2S5,410, against $685.
47S,371; manufactures, $90,730.625,
against s22O,O2S,299. The trade in
postal packages amounted to S12,-
S95,6s1, against s37,696.1S1 for the
first four months of 1914.
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-05-21
Journal Entries

Another thing that the Kansas In
dustrialist is thankful for is that there
is no Culebra cut in its alimentary
canal
The Kiowa Journals idea of a mar
row-minded man is the one who sees
the whole panorama of life through
a crack in the fence.
AS the Greenleaf Sentinel explains:
The easiest way to lie is to say moth
ing, but just buy a ha1f-fare ticket
when you know Johnny is over IL.
Among the local Improvement notes
the Ports Independent is able to re-
port that Frank Lemon, the restau r-
ant keeper there, has improved the
by giving the walls coat of pink col
ored calcimine.
A Jewell City woman, according -
the Jewell Republican, admitted re-
Gently that she wouldn't feel jealous
of her husbands second wife if she
out Mrs. No. 2 herself, but she knew
how easily her husband would get
"roped in" if left to himself.
Some of the new Slides shown in
the Lindsborg News Vitascope: Liv-
ing costs more than it used to, but
then, it is worth more. A great
deal of laziness passes muster under
the garb of fatigue. Some folk
keep chickens like they do the Ten
Commandments. The man who
~
her cute, babyish ways deserves all he
gets. And then, perhaps, you
have noticed that violent demonstra-
lions of love. like violent outbursts of
grief, are soon spent. ..... Wouldn't
1t be a good idea to bury troubles and
worries like dog buries a bone and
then growl if anyone tries to dig them
up?
Fred Trigg, of the Kansas City
Star, picked up this story in Harper
county, according to the Wichita
Eagle: A farmer worked his harvest
hands from o'clock in the morning
until 9 o'clock at night. A man look
ing for work hollered to a hand over
in the big wheat field, and asked him
if he could get a job. He was told
to ask at the house. How do I get
there?" the applicant asked, You
go down this field" said the haggard
laborer, turn down the road to the
barn, turn to the left and follow the
lane What color - is the house
painted?" asked the applicant. doubt
fully. II don't know said the har-
vest hand. Il amt never seen it in
daylight, yet"
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-05-21
Globe Sights
BY THE ATCE1soN GLOBE.

In the average home a woman is
the kaiser.
You can get in the habit of saying,
Il haven't time"
Most laws are ''agin" something and
not for anything.
In your estimation your home town
should be the capital of the world.
Probably the most decisive saying
in this great land is this: Put up or
shut up.
The season has arrived when you
have to awaken a barber shop porter
for shine.
If you can tell by taste how old
whisky is, you know too DANCED much
about it.
The gent who thinks women admire
a Masterful Man probably never tried
to boss his wife.
Then there are butchers who seem
to have missed their calling and en-
gagged in the barber business.
Short jerks always wears enough
fuzz off his winter underwear to make
them thin enough for summer.
lot of people who can't hold a
pick and shovel job think they know
something about International law.
1t may also have occurred to you
that the characters in an Oppenheim
story would get tired of dressing for
dinner.
The English sparrow is an early
bird, but he seems to prefer a lettuce
bed rather than such worms as might
be available.
Without wishing to appear icono-
elastic it may be said that many di-
plomas are like mining stock in their
failure to pay dividends.
Probably you don't do your best as
aften as you say you do, and your best
might not be so ALFRED good So
many of us are that way
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-05-21
HITTING A NAILS HEAD.

Hear! Hear! Rev. Adolphus Kuhl-
man, S. J., of st. Mary's college in his
address before the annual meeting of
the Kansas Federation of Catholic
societies pointed out in unanswerable
words that religion and politics do not
and should not mix in these United
States. AS Father kaufman asserts. it
would be just as ridiculous for our
government to attempt to dictate
that every citizen should worship in
a certain manner, as it is for any
church or it's head to attempt to tell
one of it's worshipers how to vote, or
for a man to vote for any candidate
for office simply because the head of
his church might tell him to do SO.
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-05-21
ONLY FOR LOCAL OPTION.

his stand on the liquor question
doesn't yet make it entirely clear as
to whether or not he is personally in
favor of the principles of prohibition,
whether he thinks prohibition is a
good thing or not. But he does make
it plain that he does not believe it to
be a question of state or national con-
Germ, and that its best solution lies in
local option. So there will proba bly,
be a pretty scrap in the next Demo-
cratic national convention when Mr..
Bryan presents for consideration his
national prohibition platform plank.
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-05-21
From Other Pens
A WONDERFuL BUSINESS.


Statistics showing the number or
automobiles owned in this country at
the beginning of the year and the in
crease in 1914, gathered from state
registration officials, serve to increase
the wonder of this wonderful indus
try The number of registered auto
mobiles in the country at the begin
ming of the year was LISA, $50, which
was almost exactly half a million
greater than at the opening of 1914.
The year 1914 was not year of finan-
cial cheerfulneSs. 1t was not a year
when men were inclined to increase
their expenditures much beyond their
urgent needs, but the number of pco-
pie who could find money enough to
buy an automobile was considerably
larger than the average for the three
preceding years, and this expansion
is taking place in time when the
business is still in the development
stage so far as the use of automobiles
for drayage is concerned. The total
number of registered trucks was only
about 10000, of which about 10000
were added in 1914. That the trade
will expand still more rapidly in this
year of plentiful money and growing
optimism would seem to be beyond
doubt. What it will be if and when
the manufacturers convince business
men that it is to their interest to use
motors where they now use horses in
hauling merchandise could hardly lie
expressed even in the glorified Ian
guage of a gold-mine promoter.-St.
Louis Republic.
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-05-21

replied Billy with a grand flourish of
a bow, I'm Billy Robin" Then he
looked at them and said, who are
you?' Were the oak tree fairies
who lived in the big, old oak tree
over there" responded the fairies.
but we've come to live in the little
OAK tree because-well because
that old oak tree got pretty crowdedr~
At that Billy Robin stopped his
worm hunting and laughed-oh, how
he did laugh. II fancy it Is crowded
Then he laughed some more. ssR,,t
anyway, you'll be glad you've moved"
he said kindly. for this garden Is the
very incest place of all the earth to
I'VE m winch was good news to the
tree fairies you may be sure,
So the biggest fairies, and the mid
dle-sized fairies and the littlest fairfe,
OF all, went back to the fairy queer
and reported that the new home y,yas
much better than the old.-(Conv
right, Clara Ingram Judson)
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-05-21

I'm THE SPRING.
The days of cleaning house have come,
The maddest of the year,
When everything is upside down
And scattered far aud near.
My meals are but a mere excuse;
My wife has grown shrew.
The clothes I want are on the line;
My books the basement strew
Each day, each week throughout the year
This house is garnished bright;
The dirt germs are fright
And then she gets her pals and mops,
Her brooms and soap galore,
And life becomes for days untold
nightmare and a bore!
Ida Keck Virgins in Judge
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-05-21
Ponto's Fatal Mistake.

One of the few American war cor
respondents who really saw something
of the European war in its first stages
was coming home on the Lusitania
not many trips. ago. He sat at the
purser's table. and the purser one
evening told truthful nature tale of
having been on a ship that once
passed through a school of whales in
midocean.
"AH of them were sound asleep"
said the purser with a wink to an
accomplish, land all of them were
snoring. The noise was deafening."
ut must have been,'' said the cor
respondent; but when I was a boy
out in Cincinnati, Ohio, there used to
be whistling whale that lived in the
ocean just in front of my fathers
house His name was Ponto and he
would answer to it-answer by whis-
thing. You see. his blow hole was
clogged with barnacles and every time
he spouted he made a sound like a
siren on a fire boat.
Ponto was a great pet with all the
ships that traded in and out of Gin
cinnati. The pilots got to know him,
and when they were entering port and
Ponto was cruising about in the chan
mel they would signal him and he
would signal back. always giving the
dead now-poor old Pontoi
'One day there was a freighter
coming IN from Covington, KY, and
Ponto tried to pass her, headed out
But he got confused and gave the
whistle for going to the port side when
he meant the starboard, and the
freighter ran him down and stove in
four of his compartments, and he
sank in nine minutes. whistlirg for
help to the very last
After which a great silence befeIl
at the purser's Saturday Even
ing Post.
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-05-21

Even under the conditions that
maintain there. the price of wheat in
France is not at the high figure that
might be expected. that is, in com pari-
son with the price in this country
where there is still plenty of wheat on
hand and a bumper crop in immediate
prospect The government of France
has decided to requisition all stocks of
wheat in the country at a uniform
price of about $2.S0 per hundred
pounds. Wheat is now selling in this
country at approximately $2.10 per
hundred pounds
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-05-21
POINTED PARAGRAPHS.
From the Chicago News.I


Many a big head is full of emptiness.
Real estate is seldom as cheap as dirt
And n little man aches just as hard
as big one does.
No man or woman on earth ever believes
that the good die young.
Before starting on the right track be
sure you are headed the right way.
Most of the things postponed until to-
morrow could have been done today
Artificial roses are never so unnatural as
when they bloom on a girls cheeks.
How poverty stricken most of our friends
are when we happen to need So for a few
days
Doctors say that worry kills more people
than work-probably because more people
worry than work.
Most people never sit down and enum-
crate the number of times they should
have landed in jail, but managed to get by.
When the average woman discovers q
new remedy for ailment, she feels more
important than did the late Mr.. Columbus
when he discovered America.
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-05-21
THE PATRIOTIC STAND.

Bill Harnack is quoted by the Hia-
watha World as saying: 'I endorse
the following saying of a prominent
German-American: Germany is my
mother America is my wife. If my
wife and mother disagree, I must
stand by my wife =" No less should
be the attitude of every so-called
hyphenated American, whether his
motherland is Germany, England,
France, Italy, or any other country
on the face of the globe. And it I'M
doubtedly is that of the most of them.
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-05-21
Jayhawker lots

Almost any kind of coin is rare
one with some folk.
= r
Simplicity is fine trait of charac-
ter if it isn't affected.
= r
Does a woman tell secret to prove
she was able to keep it that long?
p
Nor is it difficult for a woman to
make a name for herself-through
matrimony.
r + =
Woman's intuition would be a more
wonderful thing if it didn't miss the
mark so often.
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-05-21

One of California's distinguished
savants explains snoring by saying
that the sleeper is not in harmony
with the magnetic lines of the earth.
All of which is as so much Greek to
the average plug intellect. But it
may be that an understandable trans
lation would show that snoring is
generally due to the tendency of the
sleeper to lie on his back and breathe
with his mouth open.
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-05-21

Almost two million of the Belgian
people are still absolutely destitute
They haven't the means to buy sin
gle bite to eat Neither are the OPP
portunities offered them to work either
for wage or a living. Kansans
should provide $4,000 of those three
dollar food boxes. instead of the pal
try 10000 that the women's section
of the Kansas Belgian Relief Fund is
endeavoring to assemble
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-05-21

with him to win. Lord Harry. but il viii viii
seem good to get out of dress suits and
back into harness. You and your mother
can go on to Europe if you like, but me
for home"
jules rubbed her cheek on his sleeve
contentedly. Her hand VS. behind him,
held by the young man from Runnymede
I'm going, too, Dad she said.-(Copy-
right: 1915, by the Mcclure Newspaper
Syndicatel
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-05-21
ROOsEvELT,s SERVICE.

The jury's verdict today that Colo
mel Roosevelt uttered no libel when he
accused Boss Barnes of corrupt pc-
litical practices brings out the fact
that the former president did the best
element in the Republican party
good service. 1t was needed dose OF
purging skilfully administered ard
cannot fail to have a salutary effect on
the bOdy polite.
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-05-21

England is discussing the possibility
of tolerating bigamy after the war is
over in order to make provision for the
care of the large surplus of women
that is certain to be on hand. And this
plan would seem to have other ad-
vantages. One wife could not sup
port a crippled surviv~- of the war,
and these will be legion, as easily as
two or three
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-05-21

Winston Spencer Churchill, who. as
first lord of the British admiralty, was
going to dig the German fleet out of
it's base as rats are dug from a hole,
will be permitted to confine his atten-
lions to the management of the af-
fairs of India in the recasted British
,ah
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-05-21

Boys of Williamsport, Pa, are to
have a college opportunity that boys
in other cities may we'll envy.
Through the will of the late A. D.
Hermance, funds are eventually to be
made available that will be sufficient
to give every deserving graduate of
the high school $500 a year for four
years while attending Cornell univer-
SitY.
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-05-21

Suppose Italy enters the war and
the Allies are able eventually to crush
Austria and Germany? Will Russia
be in a mood to permit Italy to gobble
all the juicy pie she desires? Had
Italy entered the war a month ago,
her harasssment of Austria might
have forestalled the serious Russian
reverses in Galicia.
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-05-21
SzDed]|Rl|]in e!a!ea6P
zsslsssAg %cla@ hp&raua,=udecn s::ss - BE

%Cbara ln@ramJudson

from the old oak tree, Let's speak to
him." So the fairies gathered all their
courage and held it tight in their
hand where they could get it quickly;
then they stepped out to where Billy
Robin was digging worms. Good
morning, friend Robin" they said
pleasantly, land would you please tell
US YOU name ?'' ",That I will gladly
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-05-21
FULL LEASED WIRE REPORT
OF THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
1fEMBEH:
Associated Press.
Audit Bureau of Calculations.
American Newspapers Publishers
Association.

Probably this bigamy latter the-war
talk In England is of the same loose
variety as that which concerned the
proportions of the war baby prob
lem. Painstaking Investigations have
shown that the bulk of the latter is
no more than the fruit of active and
sensational imaEinations.
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-05-21

Even some of Topeka's younger in
habitants can recall that this is just
the kind of weather which preceded
the big flood of 1903. Still, history
doesn't always repeat, so why borrow
FRI
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-05-21

Speaking of tough luck, most of the
fish that the Kansas fishermen were
planning to catch this spring and
summer are likely to be washed out
of the state by the floods which are
now raging in the bulk of the Kansas
streams
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-05-21

Russia accepts her reverses in Ga
licia as merely indicating that months
have been added to the duration of
war. In other words, Russia is conf
dent that she will be able to come
back in that particular section of the
eastern war zone
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-05-21

This settles it. The last word has
been said. Gabrielle D'Annunz1o, the
Italian poet Of passion, declares that
King Victor Emmanuel is the right
man in the right place.
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-05-21

or placed in sacks of tarred paper
these containers should be renewed
every year or two.
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-05-21
One IF the lows of Spring.

It comes pretty hard to stand labor
ing near the open door these fine
spring days and Hear the neighbor
women ON "a back street pounding
beefsteak for dinner and know you are
going to do well if you pull down a
Slice of salt pork over at your house.
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-05-21
Kansas Comment
AGAJN-A CALL TO DUTY

There is not much to be said in de-
Tense of the citizen who turns plno
eye to the dandelions that 1nfest ms
yard. 1t is unfair to yourself and 1t is
unfair to your neighbor- Soon both or
you will have only weed lawns and the
refreshing grass that once covered
your lawn will be only memory.
few blocks down on South Main street
can be seen one of these horrid ex-
amples of carelessness in regard TO
swatting the dandelion before 1t swats
your yard. One yard is thickly set
with luxurious grass. There is not a
of the weeds is seen in the yard on
either side of the clean lawn. The
weed are not bad to look at right now,
for they are in full bloom. The yards
are almost hidden by yellow flowers;
But their beauty Will be short lived
and then will come the seed. Wind
will scatter the seed and soon the
beautiful yard between the weedy
yards will be sown broadcast and in a
few months it will be no more The
dandelion problem is one the city
ought to take care of and do it quickly
and Neutrality-suspicious. Beacon.
MUST HANDLE A DEFICIT.
1t was Gen. Fred Grant who once
said that a surplus was easier to
handle than a deficit 1t appears that
the Democratic national adminiStra-
ton, that has shown it's unfitness to
handle surplus, must soon undertake
that more difficult task of handling
deficit. The federal treasury surplus
was SIS million dollars when the Dem
ocrats took over the treasury and 1t is
now but 25 millions and is decreasing
at the rate of a quarter of a million
dollars daily. That being the case il il
continue it is easy to figure out the
time when the surplus will have dis
appeared and a deficit will make its
appearance. That time will be along
about August 1. Then will come days
of worry for the administration and
probably a final resort 20 a special
session of congress and'a bond issue in
time of peace, as was the case in, the
time of the last Democratic admins
acknowledgements Times.