davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1915-11-21

with corn had furnished the nucleus of
that harvest, and an Indian chief who
had once been In England and conse-
quently trusted Englishmen gave the
Pilgrims instruction as to the planting
Of the grain and the procuring of game
as we'll Upon this first harvest rested
the well being of the little colony. SO
many of whose members had perished
in that first fierce winter which follow
ed the landing of the Mayfower in De-
cenber. 1920. The hardest, who sur
yived. were humbly grateful for the
rich harvest in October, which followed
the. neighborly natives suggestions.
and Gov. Bradford ordered a three e-day
feast and celebration as recognition Of
such plenitude. The Indians who had
first extended the hand of welcome to
the pale faces there were invited to
attend and bring their friends.
In Holland the settlers had partaken
of Spanish stew as the common dish of
the thanksgiving day, but in a new
country. with new foods to use. geese.
turkeys. water fowl and ducks were
eaten. Bread made of barley and corn
took the place of wheat bread, as a ne
cessity, and Goldfish had its first inning
as matter of both history and gas
tronomy among white people. The
guests of the forest brought deer as a
friendly contribution toward the feast.
And this is presumed by many persons
to be the first real Thanksgiving day
in America Yet. since there was no
special religious service upon this occa-
sion, recognized authorities disclaim
this theory Of the origin.
Rather. they point to July 80, 1923,
when Miles Standish returned from a
voyage with sadly needed provisions and
the glad tidings that sh p was nearing
the shore. When tn s ship. the Anne,
had anchored, and relatives and friends
necessarily left behind in Holland be-
cause the Mayfower could not accommo-
date all those seeking religious freedom
IN the new world. had Joined the little
colony at Plymouth, the colonists were
so overjoyed that public service Of
prayer and thanksgiving was cons .dered
meet. This. holding both religious and
soc al elements. Is, in the minds of New
Englanders, the basis Of the national
celebration today.
But two centuries and h half elapsed
before the nation as unit followed
throughout Massachusetts became COM
mon meanwhile, and in 1880 a public
Tha nksgiving day was held in Boston by
the bay colony, though the first written
record of such day still remaining
in the colonial records of the Bay state
credits February 22. 1881. This had
been appointed as a fast day by Gov.
Winthrop on account of the severe
reverses with which the colony had
met. The weather had been unusually
cold the entire winter. game was scarce
and the Lyon, which had been dis
patched to England for food. was given
up as lost on the high seas. The chill
dren had come to digging mussels out
Evening star., 1915-11-21

6f7HOUGH the character of ships has
q change, the men who handle
ships usually cling tenaciously to the
ship terms, uniforms or costumes and
to certain of the habits of men who as
sailors handled ships that actually
sailed. Fresh in the public mind is the
tempest and the tumult raised when
it was determined that in the United
States Navy the ancient nautical terms
."starboard" and port should be dis
placed by the simple and universally
understood words right" and left"
The term "starboard" goes back to the
soned out that "starboard" was de-
rived from the Anglo saxon seeei
board" or "steerside."
In viking times the galieyS were
steered by an oar, which the helmsman
held with his right hand LarooarG
was the opposite of "starboard ana IL
is thought that in some way 1t was cor
rupted from "lowerpoard' tnaI s,ue
being probably considered OF less i'm I'm
portance than the "steerboard" me
origin of the substitution Of port and
mort side" for larboard Is clouded IN
mystery, and many men who have sousht
to trace the word to its beginning have
been stumped.
The seaman or the sailor, even though
he has nothing to do with sails, insists
that he shall wear the wide collar ana
the f1aring trousers Of the men who went
down to the sea in ships centuries ago
When the broad collar was put on the
sailors blouse it was thing OF utility
Then every sailor wore his hair IN
Queue, and either had the queue powdered
or held together by tar. This was not
good for the blouse or Jacket underneath
So detachable broad collars were added.
Sailors stopped wearing queues a cen
tury ago, but they still wear the wide
collar.
the bell-bottom trousers of the sailor, but
it is not for the utility Of the thing, or the
things, that he sticks to the pattern. 1t
is said that sailors who do not sail, put
who steam, are so fond of the Hare that
they beg or bribe navy tailors to make 1t
as big, or even greater than the reguia-
tions call for. Sailors trouser legs were
thus shaped SO that the wearer might
more easily turn his trousers up above
the knees when he had to swab the decks.
Deck swabbing was hateful and sup
posedly degrading task. Hence the sailors
called their enemies ''swabs" as a term or
contempt.
The black ribbon which the sailor wears
on his cap and on his blouse is said to
date no further back than the death OF
Lord Nelson, the hero of the battle of
admiral the British navy went into
for him. Sailors put broad,
black ribbons on their caps and black
ribbons on their blouses. The ribbons re-
main to this day. not only on the uni
forms of British sailors, but on those OF
,ther navies.
Evening star., 1915-11-21

business on large scale. November
2S a large break developed Well back
from the canal prism. and the earth.
saturated by six months rain. slid into
the canal, burying two steam shovels
and completely filling the canal prism
According to the annual reports OF
the isthmian canal commission. in the
fiscal year 190S-09 there were no less
than thirteen other slides of various
sizes in motion during the greater part
of the year, necessitating the removal
of nearly .o0o, 900 cubic yards of earth
while another 100000 cubic yards
were estimated to be in motion.
= x
October 10, 1918, water was allowed
to flow into the Gaillard cut section of
the canal and wet excavation began.
the steam shovels being taken off the
slopes of the canal banks. Cucaracha
was still active. and II was necessary
to force Il channel through the toe 10
permit the water to reach all parts OF
the workings This was finally accom-
plished. and a channel was provided
for the unhampered movements OF the
dredging fleet. Then il was planned
to clear the cut of as much of the
slides as possible in preparation for
the formal opening of the canal. which
had been scheduled for January, 1915.
The European war and other dones-
tic conditions in the United States
Evening star., 1915-11-21

forced the abandonment OF the formal
opening. 1t was then decided to open
the canal informally in August. 1914,
so that 1t could be used for shipping.
as there was much pressure brought
to bear at Washington to bring about
the early opening of the canal. With
this end in view every effort was made
to force through a channel, which,
depth for moderate draft vessels. This
was practically completed by May.
when a barge service for the trans
portation of cargo across the isthmus
was started; August Is the unofficial
opening took place.
It was believed that at last there
would be no further great trouble with
the slides in the cut. There were hopes
that henceforth a channel could be
maintained for shipping at all times.
On several occasions Cucaracha tenn
porarily closed the canal for a few
days. Then. October Is. two months
after the opening OF the waterway. ii
was closed by a large movement on
the east bank of the canal in new
Culebra slide. An old enemy of the en-
gineers came to sudden life. This new
movement extended 1900 feet parallel
with the canal axis and about 200 feet
back from the bank. This mass had
been in slow motion for some months.
but it was not thought it would come
into the canal and close it. Two weeks
later a channel had been driven
through and ships again used the canal.
Since then both old and new Culebra
slides have closed the canal for a few
days at time. The great movement
however began early in August. 1915,
when both banks again showed signs
of increasing motion. The rapidity of
the movement increased, and by Sep
tember the dredges were unable to
maintain channel. and the canai was
again closed to traffic. 1t was reopened
for a few days between September 10
and II. That day the rapid movement
was renewed and the greatest slide In
the. history of the Panama canal sent
millions of cubic yards of earth down
from the slopes from both banks into
the canal. again closing it to traffic,
this time for an indefinite period.
The canal is closed and, according to
an unofficial announcement, will not be
reopened until all danger of future
slides has been removed. Records are
being made by the dredging fleet
that the closed period may not be
greatly extended.
Evening star., 1915-11-21
ORIGIN OF NAUTICAL TERMS

which has also gained wide currency
among landsmen. is of mysterious or OBJ
scure origin, and is thought to be a cor
ruption of Duffy Jonah's locker Duffy
being the West Indian name for spirit
or ghost, and Jonah referring to the
prophet. Dog watch has been in-
terpreted a corruption of dodge
watch" so-called for the reason that it
was and is watch of only two hours,
and instituted that the same men shall
not be on duty every day during the same
hours.
1t has become no unusual matter to
read in the press of a storm-beaten ship
making port with only a jury mast or
proceeding on her way under Jury rig
The word jury" comes from the French
word jour- or day, and as a panel of
jurymen or court jury means a body
of men called into the public service for
day. or a short period, so Jury mast
means mast that is temporarily set up.
or put into place for day or brief
period of time.
Evening star., 1915-11-21
THE CHAM coMpLE

while the last slide was in progress
of the island in the middle of the
channel, which was given the name Of
Goethals Island. The continued move
ment soon converted 1t into a promon-
tory. Its place was taken by another.
which was pushed up through the
water from the canal bottom only a
short distance from Goetha1s Island. 1t
was christened Morrow Island. in
honor of the most recent engineer ar
rival on the isthmus. 1t, too. has dis
appeared. 1t is the uncertainty of
these upheavals of the canal bottom
that compels the dredging engineers to
be ever on the alert to prevent the loss
of valuable equipment.
The history Of the slides and earth
movements is a checkered one.
Throughout the entire construction
period they have furnished the great
est cause for anxiety to the canal en-
gineers. No sooner had the first dip
perful of spoil been removed from Gall
lard cut, when the first sliding motion
of the earth was noticed.
1t was early in 1884 that the first
crawling motion of Cucaracha-"the
ockroach"-began. 1t kept 1t up al
most continuously until a few months
ago. when it's angle of repose was ap-
parently reached. During it's activity
it compelled the removal of many mil
lions of cubic yards of spoil Its mo-
tion was not very rapid until 1887,
when the French engineers, becoming
discouraged, ceased operations. Exca-
vation was never resumed by the
French at Culebra.
x
Z =
The enormous rainfall during the
seven months of the wet season has
much to DO with the activities of the
slides. In the Culebra section the rain
fall Is particularly heavy. being as
much as 95 to 100 inches annually. This
vast quantity of moisture must either
be absorbed by the earth or else flow
off in the shape of surface water. I'm
mediately following the dry months
the earth is thoroughly dried out and
soaks up most of the early rains of
the wet season. Later the ground has
become saturated and refuses to abb
sorb any more water, which then flows
off the surface or through the earth,
forming little rills and springs which
have a tendency to make the upper
layers of earth slip or slide on the
substrata of greasy clay.
Where the slides have occurred the
soil is mostly composed of loose earth
of volcanic origin. The saturated
earth moves smoothly on top OF the
soapy harder strata and slides into the
canal prism as the dredges remove the
spoil. The weight of the hillsides
Evening star., 1915-11-21

ports unprecedented since the water
way has been open to traffic. For
weeks there was a vast fleet of mer-
chantmen anchored in canal waters
that represented many hundred thou
saras of TINS. This lay practically
idle, in that it remained in port in
hope that within a short time a chan
mel would be dredged through Gaillard
cut. The hope was futile, for eventual
ly nearly all the waiting ships had to
take other routes.
Great monetary loss was caused be-
cause of the delay to ships. which are
expensive property to operate. In the
case of at least one line engaged in
the coastwise shipping between Allan
tic and Pacific ports the loss has
amounted to considerably more than
the profits for the entire year. Then
there was the delay to freight which
Is frequently contracted for to be de-
ivered upon a certain date.
Not one penny of this loss is made
good by the Panama canal, for the
reason that 1t has never been officially
declared open. and also because the
shipping interests were informed,
ed last year, that it was done for their
convenience and that the canal could
not be held responsible for delays
brought about by adverse conditions
lard cut.
At the same time the great slide is
costing the United States several extra
millions of dollars to remove the vast
amount of spoil that has closed the
channel and which was not figured on,
although an allowance for extra ex-
cavation was made in the estimates
for construction in Gaillard cut. Just
how much this extra expenditure will
be is impossible to say. because there
Is no accurate estimate available of
the amount of spoil that will have to
be removed before the slide reaches
its particular angle of complete rest.
1t is safe to say, however, that 1t will
be not less than s2,500,0 900 to 100000,
since wet excavation last fiscal year
cost the government approximately
% cents per cubic yard.
As far back as 1910 Gen. Goethals
said In an interview in New York that
the only significant elements in the
uncertainty as to the date of the COM
pletion of the canal are the slides in
Gaillard cut and the obstacles grow
Ing out of them" The situation prac-
tically remains the same today with
the twin movement in the very heart
of the cut, a movement that is bring
ing millions of yards of earth, shale
and crushed rock into the canal prism.
Evening star., 1915-11-21

NM S7ILL the Panama canal even
NM.W tuaIly have permanent
wv channel through h, eaillara
to that important question lies in the
cut itself and rests entirely with the
great twin slide of Culebra which has
kept the canal closed a little more
than month and probably will keep
1t closed for several more.
The question is answered in the af-
flrmative by all the canal engineers
from Maj. Gen. George W. Goethals,
U. S. A., governor of the Panama canal,
downward. There is no worry appar-
ent. but. rather, an optimism which
makes it certain that the slides in
Gaillard cut shall not be allowed to
prevent the ultimate completion of
the great work. The conquering of
the greatest slide in the history of
the waterway is regarded merely as
a labor requiring hard work, time and
much patience in removing the vast
amount of spoil that slips down into
the channel. "Give us time and we'll
do the work." say the engineers.
In consequence of the great earth
movement in the canal there has been
a gathering of ships at the terminal
Evening star., 1915-11-21

S7T Is just fifty years since the last
Thursday in November was adopt
ed by the President of the United
= States as the day set apart from
all others of the year to be observed
by the people of the nation as Thanks
giving day. 1t was the first Thanks
giving celebrated after the close of the
civil war, and the proclamation by
President johnson few weeks prior,
appointing such date, was issued be-
cause 1t was a generally understood
fact that Lincoln had planned, during
the dark days at the end of the strug-
gle. to have some one day in November
reserved yearly by all states in the
Union.
Throughout the war the celebration
had occurred only here and there in
scattered communities. And always be-
fore, in the various states which did
celebrate the day, it was purely Sec
tional affair, for which the governor is
sued a proclamation upon his own in
itiative. November. 1865. witnessed the
beginning of the holiday as a national
institution. Since that date the govern
ors of all states and territories. upon
receiving the Presidents proclamation
publish their own, naming the day in
formal fashion. 1t is an American fes-
tival day, unique in more than one re-
spect, but most perhaps because 1t is
the only religious festival celebrated
in this country upon the recommenda-
tion OF the government.
%ss
1t had a tangled beginning. A score
of origins are claimed And one is
l.,
lar belief. In the Congressional LII
brary it was happy chance which
discovered these various sources and
their grave and gay histories outlined
in chain of sketches
In the middle states the day is OBJ
served more as a religious matter than
as a holiday. but in New England it is
a festival, a domestic feast day and the
chief of all holidays. Americans like
to believe that Thanksgiving day Is
purely and simply American, and 1t is,
but as instituted in New England the
idea was borrowed from the Dutch.
among whom the Pilgrims had dwelt
for ten years after leaving British soil
and before emigrating to America. The
Hollanders had been accustomed to cell
ebrating October both rel giously
and socially. in honor OF their deliver
ance from the Spaniards. and when the
fret harvest In the new home Of the
English emigrants had yielded we'll 1t
seemed the natural thing to rejoice in .
period OF public Thanksgiving,
Some deserted Indian huts stored
Evening star., 1915-11-21
Slow Diplomacy.
I'D ULGARIA's detection caused Spa,

R ULGARIA'S detection caused Span
ID ish Consul Juan L. Marti to say
in Mobile:
THE allies diplomacy in the Balkans
was slow. It reminds me of Smith.
Smiths mother-in-law rushed to him
in great excitement on his return from
business one evening.
"'oh. john she cried. that great.
horrid. heavy grandfather's clock in
the hall has just fallen with a dreadful
crash on the very spot where I'd been
standing only a moment before
"Humph,' muttered Smith. I always
said that cleck was Slow"
Evening star., 1915-11-21

bra is Spanish for snake or serpent.
It has been renamed Gaillard cut. The
slides, however, continue to be known
fitting title could be selected. They
are treacherous in the extreme; they
seldom give warning. Fortunately,
the more rapid movements have oc-
CURED at time when there were few
or no workers in the canal. At times,
however excavating machinery has
been buried and several steam shovels
have thus been reduced to a mass of
wreckage.
One of the peculiar manifestations of
the present and former slides Is the
upheaval Of the canal bottom. due to
the enormous weight of the hillsides.
1t was this that caused the formation
Evening star., 1915-11-21

tude of Cucaracha is now overshadowed
by the extent of the new slide. This is a
simultaneous movement by the old
canal, and the new Culebra slide, i'm
mediately opposite the former on the east
bank.
Old Culebra began its first movement
away back in the early days of Aneri-
can construction. From then on 1t has
been in motion and quiescent for alternate
periods. giving the hope that 1t would
soon seek its proper angle of rest. Its
motion has never been rapid, except at
periods. New Culebra slide
began it's first important and troublesome
movement in December. 1909, but was not
really active until the following year.
Having done their worst individually,
Evening star., 1915-11-21

M ERCHANT Ships Gather Terminal Ports Await Opening Channel Monetary
1' Loss Caused by DyMons of Dollars Remove Dirt and Rock From
CanOd French Companies Abandoned Cea and Other
Sections the RouteOmm Regarding Ultimate of the Slide Probn
of the Slides and Earth Movements Along theC Canal.
Evening star., 1915-11-21
aa

new breaks developed on both slopes. and
August 1 of this year began their motion
in concert, which effectually closed the
canal Since August there have been In
motion in the twin slide. an estimated
100000 cubic yards of dirt, crushed
rock and debris that will require fully
twelve months to remove before a perma-
nent channel can be maintained
Since the first of August the dredges
have removed approximately 2.000.000
cubic yards. At the rate of million
yards a month, working night and day.
there are still ten months hard work
ahead of the dredging fleet When the
engineers. headed by Cen Goethals, who
had just returned the day previous after
Evening star., 1915-11-21

an obstacle and became a problem
which had to be solved and for which
there was undoubtedly proper solu-
tion. In the annual report OF the
Isthmian canal commission for 1908
Lieut.. Col D. D. Gaillard, L. S. A,
wrote regarding his work and the
slides: They (the slides) have proved
annoying - but have never pre-
sented any real obstacle to the sue
cessful prosecution of the work"
Repeatedly since that date Cen Goe-
thals has made the assertion that the
slides would be overcome, that they
formed no insurmountable obstacle to
the final completion of the canal. In
February, 1911, in an address in Wash
ington, he said: There are all told
nine slides and breaks to be reck
but to remove all the material embraced
within their limits. AS the cut is
deepened these may be aggravated or
others may develop: How truly ne
demonstrated by the recurrence OF
greater movements in old slides and
the formation of new ones. He spoke
with conviction that the slides and
breaks would give no trouble after the
completion of the work.
Notwithstanding this general op-
timism regarding the ultimate solu-
tion of the slide problem, it has been
the cause of the untimely death of one
canal engineer, who was directly con-
nected with the work in Gaillard cut
for several years, and has brought
many premature gray hairs to the head
of the man who has become known the
world over as the builder of the
Panama canal" Nevertheless the work
goes forward with unabated yigor and
renewed determination to succeed.
But the end is not yet in sight few
weeks ago it was believed that at last
there were chances that the banks of the
canal in the Gaillard cut section would
hold. No sooner was this hope enter
tained than the greatest slide In the his
tory of the work closed the waterway
1t is likely to keep it closed for several
months, to the CONSERVATION OF the ship
ping world and the worry and anxiety Of
the canal engineers.
Cucaracha slide, which figured so
prominently in the news during much of
the last two years, is dead. of that the
engineers now are convinced. But no
sooner had it reached a stage where there
was no movement observable than one
new slide developed, and an old one.
Quiescent for months, resumed operations
on a grand scale, and the great twin slide
of Culebra came into being. The magni-
Evening star., 1915-11-21

100000 cubic yards yet to be re-
moved will stand for some time. It is
pointed out that no one can accurately
tell how deep the moving mass ex-
tends. 1t may be that the angle of rest
is somewhere in the neighborhood of
Evening star., 1915-11-21

a two-Inonth leave. made their careful
survey of the slide area October z, it was
found that a vast mass of earth was in
more or less rapid motion toward the
canal prism.
1t is quite likely that the estimate of
Evening star., 1915-11-21

one vertical foot to ten horizontal feet.
in which case the depth of the move
ment Is very great and will require a
vast amount of excavation to bring 1t
to it's angle of rest
Culebra cut was well named. Guile