davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-08-23
TESTING THE KINDERGARTEN.

TESTING THE KINDER GARTEN.
The value of the kindergarten as
| tested by it's results is discussed by
Miss A. NJ. Winchester in an annual
review of kindergarten work just is
sued by the United States commission
er of education. For several years in
designations have been undertaken in
different cities, according to the re
view, for the purpose of ascertaining
the advantage gained by children with
kindergarten training over nom
kindergarten children. The empha-
sis in these Investigations has been
placed usually upon the rate of speed
with which the children make the
successive grades. The fallacy of
drawing conclusions from such sur
veys," says Miss Winchester, sis man
ifest at once. 1t is well-nigh impos-
sible to gauge the speed correctly, be-
cause in the first grade both kinder
garten and non-kindergarten children
are placed together, and by the rule
of uniformity which seems necessary
in school systems, the laggards are
brought up by dint of conscientious
work, and the forward ones are held
in leash, so that by the time the fifth
or sixth grade is reached, whatever
special impetus may have resulted
from the child's kindergarten train
ing has ceased to be measurable. In
any event the permanent value of the
kindergarten has little if any connec-
ton with the number of years re-
quired to go through the grades. The
kindergarten's concern is with the
content of the years rather than with
their number; with the fullness of the
life of the child rather than with the
mere economy of time. Power to
think and do, a tendency to assume
right attitudes toward life, and abil-
ity to work and play happily with
ones fellows-these are the results of
training based upon the belief in edu-
cation by development" An inVesti-
cation about to be undertaken by the
International kindergarten Union in
this field, Miss Winchester points out,
will involve making a study in several
different cities of one set of children
who entered kindergarten five years
ago and another set in the same
ten. The records of these children
will be examined with reference to
their proficiency in school studies.
The quality and spirit of the teachers
of these children as we'll the quality
and spirit of the homes from which
the children come will be taken into
consideration.
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-08-23
Glob be Sights
BY THE ATCHISON GLOBE.

A fanatic might only be an enthusi-
asst if he agreed with you.
Women can dress a good deal with
out putting on much of anything.
1t usually takes more than a mag
netic personality to draw the cash.
a lot of people who know pronup-
citation don't know much of anything
else.
Wealth doesn't always bring hap
piness but a lot of us poor aren't over
ly joyful.
Worry ages one more than work
and you may now worry about that
clearly established fact.
When you die will people politely
say you have passed away, or will
they say you "croaked?"
Reporters print a lot of denials for
the sake of diplomacy, and not be-
cause they believe the denials.
One is also apt to find a storm
center in the neighborhood where one
man raises chickens and another tries
to raise garden.
Then there IS the man who retains
his wife's affection by not staying at
home enough to let her become we'll
acquainted with him.
After man begins to get short of
wind and hair. and long on experience.
he loses much of his enthusiasm for
birthday celebrations.
When you return from a vacation
and your friends tell you that they
missed you, that. dear friend, is flap
doodle. word broad in its scope but
hard to define tersely-
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-08-23
STEPS TO SUCCESS.

The same power which, working
through Mozart, constituted musical
genius, or working through Raphael
constituted genius in art. will
work through you in your in
dividual mode of expression, wheth-
er that be shoeing horses or building
cathedra1s; and it will express itself
through you as joy, as power, as mas
terry, as genius, writes Paul Ellsworth
in September Nautilus. The Creative
Spirit did not use two kinds of clay in
making men, Every man is created
for success; and if he viii observe and
think and work, he VIII come to know
this for himself. The first step to-
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-08-23
POINTED PARAGRAPHS.
[From the Chicago News. !

[From the Chicago News.
Playing the fool is no difficult role.
And many a mushroom is a toad
stool in disguise.
Too many of the things we wait for
are not worth the delay.
To get run for your money chase
a street car.
The fire of genius is lucky when it
can keep the pot boiling.
Philosophers are men who imagine
they are in the foolproof class.
If some people knew how little they
know they would probably talk less.
Some men are proud of their
ancestors as self-made man is of
himself
It's easier for some men to get out
of debt than it is for most others to
get in.
After doing the hostess stunt at a
reception woman takes off her smile
and rests.
A woman considers a hat becoming
if it makes her look only a few days
older than she says she is.
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-08-23
QUAKER NEGOTIATIONS.

GFrom the Philadelphia Recordl
The course of true love never runs
smooth. Every match has it's flare
ups.
The trouble with one-sided people
is that they are generally on the wrong
side.
Corn on the ear doesn't appeal to
the chiropodist so much as corn on
the foot.
The fool seldom has things all his
own way. He has plenty of competi-
ton.
Success is the art of buying expert
ence at wholesale rates and selling it
at retail
You never can tell. Many a man
deceives himself who never deceives
anyone else.
Even in midsummer the principal
amusement of some people is freez-
ing onto cold cash.
Among the things we don't hear so
much about as we did a couple of
years ago is universal peace.
Hoax-"A freckled man never
makes a successful criminal Joax
why not?" Hoax-"A fellow who
freckles is easily spotted"
self praise is no recommendation, >"
quoted the Wise Guy. mo, even the
musician hires a press agent to blow
his horn for him." replied the Simple
Mug.
Closefit-"I only paid $3.50 for
this suit Wigwag- ut looks it.
What's the matter with the trousers?
Have they shrunk, or did you have,
your leg pulled %
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-08-23

OF course you play Here we go
round the mulberry bush,' and you
on Monday, iron them Tuesday, mend
them Wednesday, and SO forth.
But did you ever, while you were
playing, stop to think how the girls
ana boys of other lands would play
that very same game? How do they
wash, iron and mend the clothes in
Japan or in India or in Italy-do you
know? Do they even have regular
days for the work as the song tells
us we have in this country? And do
the children play any such game
about their own peculiar customs, just
you children do?
To be sure they do! The boys and
girls of other lands play and initiate
their mothers and fathers with just
as much pleasure as you debut alas,
they do not have as much time for
play as you do, For in America the
children have more time for play than
do the little folks of other lands.
Some of the games and sports are
anna zingly like the ones you enjoy too.
But you would not know how to
play mulberry bush" with the peas
ant children of other lands, for you
do not know how the clothes are
washed and ironed-that seems funny,
doesn't it?
IN Japan the women carry the
clothes to the nearest river There
they sort them out and then wash
them on the smooth rocks by the side
or the running stream 11dTO On liiS
clothes" you think. Not any more !
so than our methods The clothes /
are spread out on a large rock, The |
soap is put on by hand and then a /
large, smooth stone is rubbed up and !
down, over and back over the gar
ment till it is clean.
In Italy, the washing of clothes is /
still more picturesque The women I
have ''kueeling boxes" in which they /
kneel to wash They carry the clothes I
to the nearest river or lake Then l
they kneel in their .k.ieeiing boz
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-08-23
From Other Pens
HOW AMERICA is PREPARED.

"A
The present day military situation
emphasizes facts which are not at all
alarming to the United States 1t
shows that men, money and materials
for the manufacture of arms are tre-
mendously important factors in pre-
paredness At the du Pont guncotton
works in Virginia 1900 men are en-
ployed turning out 100000 pounds of
guncotton day. The number of en-
ployees will soon be increased to 20
900. WarheadS for torpedoeS, for
merly built up from small blocks of
guncotton, are being nodded in sim
gle blocks by the latest machinery
An automatic spraying apparatus
eliminates a former danger of explo-
sion during the process of manufac-
ture. The plant has every up-5o-date
facility and a fair-sized city has
sprung up at City Point since it was
begun last October. With the natural
resources so great that civilization has
hardly more than exposed and tapped
them; with wealth and Yankee speed,
as we'll as ingenuity; with the Atlantic
on one side and the Pacific on the
other, far eclipsing in defensive value
map; with food sources sufficient to
supply all needs indefinitely, Amer
lea is better prepared, despite the So
called unpreparednesS. than Germany
was, with her marvellous military or
ganization, her beleagured frontier,
her dense population, her inadequate
soil and her well warned enemies
when, last July, the Kaiser looked in
to his mirror and fancied he saw
there the Tamerlane of the twentieth
century.-Louisville Courier Journal.
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-08-23

That offshoot of the recent Gulf
Coast hurricane (which later rushed
with such fury across Missouri, Ar
kansas and eastern Illinois appears to
have been as vicious ana to have done
almost as much damage in the places
where it hit. as did the parent affair
in Texas. Regardless of a certain
combination of the numerals making
it up. the year 1913 was a perfect
paragon OF good luckiness compared
with the year 1915. all of whose nu-
merals are of the perfectly safe and
sane variety
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-08-23
Birds as Sentries.

Birds have become useful in Eu-
rope as sentries to warn men of the
approach of the enemy before the hos
tile force is perceptible to the human
eye The French have found that par
rots are acutely sensitive to the pres
ence of aircraft, and therefore they
have stationed number of these birds
on the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
in order to warn the sentries of the
approach of German Taubes Before
the craft is visible to the human eve
the birds bristle with excitement and
then begin to screech. Their acute
ness is due not to their eyesight, as one
might suppose. but to an unusual
acuteness of hearing which enables
them thus to give a valuable warming
The service is not restricted to Gagged
birds, however, or even to those of the
land. At sea the gulls are of almost
as great service, as they are quick to
betray the presence of any submari
which rises to the surface. AS soon as
the periscope appears above the water
the gulls rise from the water in f1ocks,
circling around it and calling shrilly
thus indicating it's whereabouts to the
lookout of any ship which happens to
be in the vicinity.-The American Boy.
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-08-23

side of the bargain ard vowed she
should never know the difference"
Sally was very white.
Mr.. Howell, i am Sarah West
brooke! Does that tell you anything?"
1T means" he said, after a long
pause, that you wrote this book"
And it means that you have been
telling me about Lawrence Emerson,
to whom 1 am engaged to be mar
RED"
He nodded. What had he done
telling another mans escret
But Sa1lys face was radiant now.
She said softly: Il am the girl told
you about, Mr.. Howell, and 1 think
you told me about Lawrence Just in
time to save us both from everlasting
misery
THANK heaven for shotguns!' he
breathed Copyright, 1915,
by the Mcclure Newspaper Syndicate.)
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-08-23
THE CORN.

Behold, we see thy legions claim the earth,
Q thou triumphant overload of gold
We see thee spring in splendor from the
mold
Humble and lowly art thou in thy birth,
Yet dost thou grow to high and sovereign
worth
Till empires vast are thine to have and
hold.
And wealth is thine and treasure-trove
untold
And issues fair of light and joy and
mirth
More real thy power than that of boastful
kings
Thy thousand throated music thrills and
thrills
When in the breeze thy rustling banners
sway
Hail, Osmuzd of the clod, thy coming
brings
A glow that in its hurdle of the hills
Circles the planet like the smile of day
Edward Wilbur Mason in National Mag
aZine for June.
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-08-23
Kansas Comment
A WoMAN,s HEART.

The Kansas wife desertion law, also
known as the affinity statute is be-
coming a nuisance, because of wom-
ans prerogative of changing her mind.
The law making wife and child deser-
ton penitentiary offense, enacted for
the protection of the home, is fine in
theory. but in practice it fails to
work out as its originatorS intended
that it should, and all because of the
fact that a woman often changes her
mind. Within the past few days no
less than four women have appealed
to the governor for executive elem
ency for their husbands, who violated
the law. In each case the wife filed
the complaint on which the husband
was arrested and gave the testimony
on which he was convicted. After the
case was finished and the sentence
pronounced the injured wife expert
enced a change of heart. She re-
membered the happy days of long ago.
her husbands struggles for her and
the children, before he became way
ward. Then she would repent and
plead for him. She feels sure he will
return to his family and be a good
husband and father, and forthwith she
proceeds to interview the governor to
try to secure a pardon for her erring
spouse. Every district judge, espe-
cially in the congested centers of pop
ulation have had such cases every
month since the affinity" law was
enacted. In most cases the Judge,
touched by the appeals, paroled the
defendant. And that started trouble
for the governor. Every woman who
cannot prevail upon the judge to pa
role the husband whose conviction she
secured, appeals to the governor.
While at first the governor, like the
judge, was inclined to be merciful, the
appeals are becoming so frequent that
the men in authority believe it is time
that the women be made to realize
that the courts cannot be trifled
with and that the wives should do
their thinking before they bring the
cases into court-Wichita Eagle.
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-08-23
En- ening Chat
The Flavor of a Day.
BY RUTH CAMERON.


What a different flavor different
days have.
And what small things help to de-
termine that flavor!
Yesterday 1 found myself feeling
unaccountably happy. Laughter came
readily, hopefulness was the natural
bent of my mind. 1t vas a cloudy
day, but L felt sure it would clear off
1 laughed at annoyances that would
ordinarily have eXasperated me; and
best of all, 1 felt that delightful
sense that something very pleasant
might happen to me any time.
Finally my own mood SO attracted
my attention that I stopped to analyze
it. And what do you think had flaw
ored my day with hope and happi-
ness? Two such little thingsi I had
received a letter telling me that a
certain very small venture of mine
was likely to be successful and a friend
had told me of bit of praise another
friend had given me:
Two such little un1ngsl And yet
they colored the wnoIe day with the
rose color of happiness, just as a
drop of bright dye would color the
whole vessel.
One reason why they were so potent,
1 think, was because they both hap
pened early in the morning. The
morning is the childhood of the day.
AS the morning hour is influenced so
is the day.
And this is true of unpleasant as
well as pleasant things. An unpleas-
ant happening, a piece of disa greeable
news in the first hour or two of the
day, will often cloud the whole day,
whereas it would be only an incident
if it came later on
1 am always sorry when 1 see a new
house built with the dining-room
towards the west. for the room in
which breakfast is eaten should al
ways have the morning sun and
should be made as pleasant in every
way as possible.
My ideal dining-room has an open
fireplace in which, on any excuse, a
little blaze is burning, a big bay win
dow through which the eastern light
is streaming, a round table with flow
ers in the middle, and growing plants
somewhere about the room.
The people who sit about this table
do not gulp down their food absent
mindedly and rush from the room.
They eat slowly, they SAVIOR the charm
of the dining-room as well as the food.
They dinser over their coffee and per-
haps enjoy with it their morning mail
and the newspaper.
Yes, 1 know that is only an ideal
and pretty near impossible for many
of US. But 1 feel sure if we could
accomplish it, could go to meet the
day in this 1eisurely and gracious
fashion, 1t would be more harmon
ious meeting and a happier day.
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-08-23

ward success lies in finding your
work. Probably ninety per cent of
all workers drift" into their final oc-
cupation, but a man never drifts eX-
actly where he should go. Every
human being is created for success in
one particular line, and often in no
other. And so. the first step toward
success is to study your desires. Stick
to your present job, but begin 20 OBJ
serve and study your daily actions;
notice what you enjoy doing, and what
you do most efficiently. If you usual
ly fail to do part of your work eff
fectively, find out why If you dis
cover that part of the faculties which
you should possess seem to be lacking
or dormant, decide what work you
could do which would not require the
use of those faculties. For some work
or otner you possess every requisite
faculty in a high state of development.
have known man to fail complete
ly a printer, for instance, because
his 'eye" for type faces-his appre-
citation and memory for form was un-
developed; but this same man went
into the advertising department of the
paper and became very successful.
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-08-23
WHY NOT, PRAY TELL. WHY NOT:

1t is gratifying, of course that To-
pekas milk supply shows much i'm
prOvement. But why shouldn't it?
Certainly it is receiving enough at
tention. And it is only reasonable
that there should be satisfactory re-
turns from the cost of this attention.
Nor must it be forgotten that Tope-
kans are paying the bills fer their bet
ter milk, not only to the milkmen but
also in taxes to provide the funds for
the expenses of the city's milk inspec-
ton department. And they'd have
big kick coming were they not getting
something for their money.
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-08-23
Journal Entries

No man who has one looks upon his
hobby as such.
i + 4.
Some men actually brag over the
fact that they pay their debts.
4. !. J.
Only a relatively few folk fail to get
the credit they deserve. Too many
get more.
+ T. =
Flirting will have good deal for
which to answer. Much of it ends in
matrimony.
If man has a lively time at his
club, he is likely to have a livelier one
when he gets home.
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-08-23
MEMBER;
Associated Press.
Audit Bureau OF Ctrcu1anonS.
Association.
HOME NEWS WHILE AWAY.

Subscribers of the State journal away
from home during the summer may have
the paper mailed regularly each day to any
address at the rate of ten cents a week or
thirty cents month (by mail onlyS Ad-
dress changed often desired While
out of town the State journal will be to
you like a daily letter from home.
Advance payment Is requested on these
short time subscriptions. to save bOOkkeep-
ing expenses.
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-08-23
On the Spur
of the Moment
How to Become Famou.
BY ROY-K. MOULTON.

How to Become Famous.
Remember Pocahontas?
A famous maid, yes sir.
Y ct what reward was rendered?
They named soft coal for her.
Old Father Pitt was upright,
His ways were straight and prim,
Yet look what sort of a city
The folks named after him.
And one might mention Edison,
Who surely won much fame;
Yet, the squawkiest of his inventions
Is the one that bears his name.
There was poor old Col. Hickey,
He got his, we should think;
He will go down in history
AS sponsor for a drink.
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-08-23

Carranza's reply to the recent ulti-
NAHUM from the u. S.-A. b. C.-B
L. G. conference may be summed up
in the old-fashioned epistolary intro
ductiOn. Message received. and con-
tents noted" What tOmmyrot it is
for sevenNof the prominent American
powers, with the great United States
at their head, to temporize with such
gentry as the Mexican military
1nadar,S
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-08-23

Nor is there anything out of the
ordinary or unexpected in the news
that the coming Topeka fair, with its
free gate, is attracting wide attention
all over the state. 1t is doing more
than that, it is putting Topeka in the
fair limelight all over the country.
Let's all boost for it in every possible
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-08-23

Speaking of clever and likewise fru-
gal politics, Bloomfield, III. woman
is to run for the job of town clerk
against her husband. the present in
cumoent and a candidate for re-elec-
ton, in order to make sur5 about
keeping the office in the family.
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-08-23

Swatting the old-fashioned school
stove is one more righteous crusade
that has been started on it's way in
Kansas. This time there is a woman
behind the gun, Miss Julia Stone, one
of the new state rural school inspec-
tors. Her suggestions should be
needed
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-08-23

Italy is reported to be ready to at
tack Turkey with a naval fleet and five
army corps and it remains to be seen
if Italy will have any better luck with
such an adventure than France and
England have. Turkey, via the OAR
danelles and the Gallipoli peninsula,
the only roads open to Italy, appears
to be too tough a bird to dis5oint.
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-08-23
AFTER THE WAR.

There are still some millions OF
Americans who think that as soon
as the European war is over that
every nation now in the conflict will
have chip on her shoulder and that
the United States will have to fight
the whole outfit. Why, bless your
soul, the European nations will be so
glad to quit that they will promise us
anything we want. At the present
time the dogs of war refuse to let
loose of their opponents although
they have a piece of our trousers in
their grasp and simply growl when we
ask them to let go. But when the
war is over, every nation will fall ex.'
hausted.-Leavenwo Post.
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-08-23

Russia's giant fortresses are evil
IDENTIFY no better a match for Ger
many's giant guns than We're those Of
Belgium. Antwerp, for instance, was
considered to be one of the most
strongly fortified towns in the world.
Some experts went so far as to de-
clare that its defenses were impreg-
nable. But this was before Germany's
guns got busy with them
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-08-23

A SANDER has been properly re-
futed that a Ford car of Topeka own
ership was recently stalled in the mud
during a cross state trip. And the
probabilities are that nobody gave
credence to the story. ANYHOW.
The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-08-23

And the frequency with which the
Russians abandon their new lines and
take up others would indicate that in
the matter of lines, at least, the Rus
sian bear is exceedingly well-pro-
Vided.