davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Washington herald., 1915-05-26
A Landslide in Sing Sing.

The people, that is to say the majority, again
rule in Sing Sing prison, and the bosses have been
ovcrthrown. Incidentally blow has been de-
livcred at those venerable and oft-proved the
cries OF the saving remnant and the triumph of
brain over Drawn. In Sing Sing, under the
benevolent administration OF Warden Osborne,
there is an organization of convicts known as the
Mutual Welfare League, controlled by board
of delegates, which governs the internal affairs
of the prison. In the past the small minority of
educated criminals composed Of bank wreckers,
embczzlers, lawyers, politicians, and other intel
lectual wrongdoerS, by appeals TO reason and
adroit electonecring have managed to have them
selves elected delegates and officers Of the Wei
fare League to the exclusion of the simple brutes
doing time for minor offenses, such as murder,
highway robbery, safe blowing bomb throwing,
who are known as the "roughnecks" Thus the
stockings" as their party called were able
to so administer prison affairs to enjoy GER
tain ease luxuries in the way OF superior fare and
generally a comfortable existence than fell
to the lot of the .'roughnecks,' who had been
cajoled into voting their undoing.
But in the election on Monday OF thirty eight
members of the board OF delegates the rough
necks' arose in their mighty majority and great
landslide changed the order of things. They are
now in undisputed control of the Welfare League
and announce that hereafter the milk and honey
OF Sing Sing will be theirs. Already numerous
reforms are in contemplation in the league in
GLIDING return to the old custom of settling
disputes by fighting, instead OF trial by jury. In
fact, there is to be general curtailment of
judicial authority. What the end will be cannot
be foretold, but at any rate many of the ideastic
theories of Warden Osborne will be severely
tried.
The world is not permitted to know the full
details OF the defea. OF the "siIk-stockings" and
evidently there is explanation not as yet forth
coming. Perhaps there was apathy in the silk
stocking" party, or possibly, likely in such
community, treachery fraud at the polls Sure
ly gunman could have triumphed over
lawyer in such contest, unless there were out
side influences. But even as il stands it is too
early to admit the complete subjugation of the
"silk-stockings" Elected from office and with
no recognized voice in the administration it is not
too much to expect that the intellectual minority
will find way to install the unseen govern
ment" in Sing Sing. The sweets of victory may
even yet be pilfered from the roushneck majority
The Washington herald., 1915-05-26
As a Soldier Thinks of War.

Sometimes through the doors of our dugouts
here on the firing line batch OF American papers
and periodicals is handed in with the mail that
under the most abnormal conditions is delivered
with laudabe regularity: 1t is amusing to read
these distant commentaries on the war, here where
the postman that brings them to us has to crouch
to shelter himself from the enemys fire. In them
are arranged all the errors of the anti-mlitarists
which such juxtapositon renders all the more
transparent-the exaggerated notion of the i'm
portance of human life, the inability to under stand
international relations being conducted upon
any other basis than that which subssts between
individuals. Especially there is the tendency to
forget that peace in America is accidentally due
to the very condition which Germany is trying
to produce in Europe-that is, hegemony Of
one people so powerful that no neighbor is able
to contest it-and to attribute it to some quality
of superiority in American civilization which there
by gives the right to evangelize to the older
nations. Let America beware of the hour when
her long isolation from the currents of world
politics shall be at an end when her most vital
interests suddenly brought into conflict with those
of powerful rival, she must play her part among
nations that have not had the leisure to dwell
much upon prospects of what is most comfortable
and agreeable to humanity, but having from time
immemorial been forced to accept the grim in
evitablencss OF the ultimate resort to armed force.
have from time immemorial taken their precau-
tons to meet it. Let her beware of that hour lest
the alternative to war be not peace but dshonor.
For that hour will certainly come.
for my part find more beautiful the vistas that
unfold through the windows of common everyday
reality than through the portals of any premature
Palace of Peace The games of the children in
the streets OF B. arouse speculations more in
teresting to me than those of the pacis visionary
In so far as civilization means completely in all
the adviees for material comfort and convenience,
America can claim first place. But it seems to
that Europe will continue for some time yet to
sing the worlds great songs and make the worlds
great poems. For she has vibrated to all ranges
Of emotion. She has known great clans, and from
the pinnacles of enthusiasm visions will have been
revealed to her more wonderful than have ever yet
been dreamed Of. She has suffered greatly, and
her heart has been tried with that kind Of Attic
ton that alone can unfold the profundites az the
human spirit-Alan SeeRer. Sur L'Aisne France,
in the New Republic,
The Washington herald., 1915-05-26
HISTORY BUILDERS.
New Light on Daniel Webster First
Law Case.
Written Expressly for The Washington Herald.
BY DIR. f. J. EDWARDS.

Written Expressly for The Washington Herald
BY DIR. E. J. EDWARDS.
Recently there appeared in this col
umn an anecdote associated with the
first law case in which Daniel Web
ster was associated as counsel A cit
izen of Plymouth, N H.. knowing that
l was greatly interested in the per-
sonality and the career of Daniel
Webster, courteously showed me tive
building in that town in which Web
ster appeared as counsel in his first
law case I was told that the tradi-
tion in Plymouth was that Webster
tried his case in a little room which
adjoined a blacksmith shop and that
the blacksmith, who was also justice
of the peace, sat as judge.
Ex-senator Henry W. Blair, now of
Washington, who for two terms rep
! resented New Hampshire in the
United States Senate and who was
also a representative of one of the
districts in that State in the lower
House of Congress. has courteously
given me additional information re-
specting Webster's appearance in his
first law case. Senator Blair is
abundantly qualified to speak of Web
ster's early life since the Senator was
himself a native of the Pemigewasett
Valley near which was the birthplace
of Daniel Webster.
Il began life in that valley" said
ex-senator Blair. land my office was
in Plymouth until about the year 1883.
The building in which Webster first
appeared as counsel was originally a
small courthouse. | think about the
year 1925 4 new courthouse was built
and this comparatively humble struct-
ure in which Webster first appeared
was moved to the lower part of the
village. There was established in it
carriage makers shop. but it was
1t was never used. as the tradition
has it, by a blacksmith, but there
may have been an old ashioned
blacksmith's furnace attached to it
which was used by the carriage man
ufacturers in preparing work. There
is no doubt. however. that it was in
this building that Webster tried his
first law case.
when the statue of Webster. which
was the gift of New Hampshire, was
placed in Statuary Hall in the Capitol,
it was my lot to deliver a eulogy
upon Mr.. Webster. In my address
alluded to the rescue of the old court
house in which Webster first appeared
as lawyer from destruction and its
conversion into a public library build
ing, in which work 1 had some part
That building is now one of the prin-
cipal attractions of the State of his
torical character. 1t is to the young
women of Plymouth that the preserva-
ton and management of the institu-
The Washington herald., 1915-05-26

There is something incxpressiblv horrible in
the suggestion OF manufacturer OF explosives
that the bodies OF the horses and men killed on
European battchcds be used to obtain the neces-
sary animal snewS for the making OF nitro
glycerine. 1t declared that the war was
necessitating the use OF much glyccrine that
the entire supply in the United States would be
exhausted within ninety days
"No explosive aside from nitro-elycerine has
the SCATTERING effect necessary said the manu-
facturer. "Glyccrine is produced from but one
sourcc-anima sinews-and there is way of
increasing the production unless we can make use
OF the bodies of the horses and men killed on
the field of battle" OF course it is easy TO figure
out that long the explosive is used for
killing the material for its manufacture will al
ways be available.
The Washington herald., 1915-05-26
GETTING A START.
YOUR WEAKNESSES.
BY NATHANIEL c. FOWLER, IN.

If the normal man lives. nobody has
| ever told me the place of his residence
and l have never heard of him save
through irresponsible rumor.
Perfection does not appear to be an
earthly inheritance. Our great chemists
| assure us that there is nothing absolute
ly pure. Every man has has outs
he is deficient in something. irrespective
| Of the amount of ability he may possess
There are many things which he cannot
90 we'll, and some things which he can
not do at all.
l look upon this condition as adyaD-
tageous. rather than otherwise If all
men We're perfect, and each possessed
the same or similar ability, this would
| certainly be a most uninteresting world
| in which to live and ambition would be
| shocked to its foundation.
Not a few of the mistakes which men
make are due to the fact that they do
not realize their deficiencies and attempt
| to accomplish what they either cannot
do at all or can do very imperfectly at
best
Hundreds of thousands of young men
and women have attempted to become
musicians and have wasted time and
money and become public nuisances be-
cause they insisted upon self-proficiency
! In musical attainment. They were not
| without ability. and each of them had
| his place in the world. There were things
| which they could do well. but. instead
| of doing what they could do they at
| tempted to do what they could not do.
] Many a foolish. but ambitious. parent
has driven his boy into roads which he
was unable to travel. and as many
young people of their own volition
| havr allowed perverted ambition to
| force them into channels which they
could not navigate.
Scattered throughout the country are
probably $4,000 lawyers who would
have made good farmers. good shop
keepers. or good statesmen. yet they
either voluntarily went into law or
were forced into ii under the mistaken
idea that a professional man stands
higher than a tradesman. Assuming
that he does. for the sake of argument.
1t is certainly true that the poor law
yer is very much lower in the social
| scale than is the good tradesman.
Many a young woman refuses to
learn business and to enter business,
feeling that it is more honorable to
teach. that the teacher stands higher
than the woman in trade. The result
il that a proportion of teachers are a
disgrace to the profession and q men
ace to education. They amount to abb
solutely nothing and are not respected
yet some Of them. perhaps all of them
could have enjoyed honorable careers
in some other lines of work.
Every one has one or more weak
nesses, and there are one or more
things which he is Incompetent to do.
It is just as necessary for him to be-
come acquainted with the weak side OF
his nature as 1t Is for him to develop
his real ability and strong character
istics.
Affirmatives would have no value II
pegatives did not exist.
Our success in the world il due to
the development Of our ability and to
an Appreciation Of our inability.
Copyright. lS1s.)
The Washington herald., 1915-05-26

In choosing successor to Gen. George H.
Harrics to command the District of Columbia Ma
tional Guard, President Wilson has an important
position to FILL While he was resident of Wash
ington and could give the necessary time and
attention to the District militia, Gen. Harries
brought the organization up to high standard
of efficiency but OF late years his business con-
ncctions have kept him elsewhere. and while the
spirit and ambition OF the militia has not suf-
fered there has necessarily been deterioration
from military standpoint, due to the lack of an
active commander the spot. With the right
man at.its head, there is no reason why the Dis
trict militia should not speedily be restored to its
rightful position at the head and front of organ
zations of citizen soldiery. 1t is highly important
that an army officer of experience and executive
ability be placed in command, whose thor
ough military knowledge will command the conf
dence of the men, and whose capacity for bust
ness administration will be applied to the gen.
eral welfare of the organization. There are a
number OF retired officers of the regular army
residing in Washington who would no doubt ae-
cept this important post
The Washington herald., 1915-05-26
u5zMz,

ton are due. ] doubt whether any
boys or men would have done what
those young women did in building up
public library. which is now a most
excellent institution, although they
began with very slender foundations"
Former Senator Blair's statement to
me was the first intimation that
received from any source that the his
toric building in which Daniel Web
ster began his career was afterward.
through the instrumentality of Senator
Blair and the young women of Ply
mouth. utilized as the home of public
library and that the building has now
become of recognized historic value
tcoryTiSht. 1915. by +. J. Edwards. All rights
reserved.)
"A Famous Address by John c..
BreCkinridge'
The Washington herald., 1915-05-26

and sports that they used to enjoy in youth. And
yet these diversions they may need far more than
they did when they were younger.
The most bored man | have ever known has
enough money to live comfortably and to enjoy
life. But he seems to be in. a continuous state
of discomfort.
You see, he has always lived for his own
qualification. And he-has grown tired even OF
himself.
l know another man, friend of his, of the
same age who has been endowed with about the
same amount of this worlds goods. But, of the
two, he seems by far the younger. He enjoys
life hugely. He says that as he grows older he
has better time. The other day | him
coming out of theater. Beside him two
children his niece and nephew. They had been
at comic opera.
well, if you could have seen those kids during
the performance" he said, his face shining with
amusement. And he proceeded to give &C
count of the pleasure he had had in watching
them and in hearing their comments.
Since that time have seen him at ball games,
at motion picture shows and walking in the park,
sonally by more than one and always having
a good time.
For most people there is unquestionably a
wonder what the matter is. Sometimes they
blame the world or nature, God They never
blame themselves.
Nearly always they dread growing old For
in advancing years they see only the threat OF
decreasing enjoyment of life.
They forget that nature has provided a means
of the renewal of EN- oyment which may amount
to doubling of enjoyment.
With the loss OF the capacity to enjoy there is
likely to be the loss of sympathy Here we find
explanation of the increasing crabbedness of
many people they grow older. They become
more and more shut in themselves And yet
it is themselves that they most long to escape
from.
There is only way OF escaping from our
selves That is by entering into the minds and
the feelings of others and into interests outside
ourselves.
The time comes to all of us when. if are
to get anything worth while out of life, must
get it without looking for it merely for ourselves
We must get it by putting it into other lives.
In other words, we must learn to feel with
others. In this way alone share their
pleasure.
When Julia Ward Howe getting close to
her Doth year, she said to of her friends
that the older she grew the more she enjoyed
life. The sweetest honey lies at the bottom of
the cup" The secret was that each year she
made her life richer in thought, in affection, and
in the capacity to and to feel with others.
Though she virtually ncapacitated. walking
only with difficulty, she still lived abundantly
and she shared the joys OF multitude OF people
those close to her through ties of blood, includ-
ing a troop of grandchildren, and vast
number of others whose friendship she had held
for many years. and still greater number that
she had not seen and yet took interest in. In
stead of losing her zest for living, she gained
more. Through having much to give. she had
so much the greater capacity to receive.
The Washington herald., 1915-05-26

| The same year the English built n
| fortified post at Niagara.
Everywhere the two peoples were con-
verging. and were becoming more and
more conscious of what their approach
| to one another meant.
! So long ago as lI:O orders had come
from France bidding the French COM
manders on the st. Lawrence occupy the
valley of the Ohio before the English
should get foothold there.
! The places where the rivals were to
meet it was now easy to see, and every
frontiersman saw them very plainly.
The two races could not possess the
continent together. They must first fight
for the nearer waterways of the West.
and after that for whatever lay next at
hand
1t was no small matter. with threat of
such things in the air, that the English
chose that day of preparation for the
planting of a new colony. and planted i
in the south between Carolina and the
! Florida settlements-a barrier and a men
ace both to French and Spaniard.
1t was James Oglethorpe. soldier. who
planned the new undertaking: and he
planned it like a soldier-and yet like
man of heart and elevated purpose. too.
for he was q philanthropist and a lover
of every serviceable duty. as well as
soldier
He came of that good stock of country
gentlemen which has i'm every generation
helped so sturdily to carry forward the
work of England. in the field. in Parlia-
ment, in administrative office.
He had gone with commission into the
English army in the late war a mere lad
of fourteen Q7lW: and. finding himself
still unskilled in arms when England
made peace at Utrecht. he had chosen to
stay for six years longer, a volunteer.
with the forces of Prince Eugene in the
East.
The Washington herald., 1915-05-26

In 1716. the very year Gov. Spotswood
ginia to a summit of the Blue Ridge. the
French had found short way to the
Ohio by following the Miami and the Wa
bash down their widening streams
1t was while they thus edged their way
towards the eastern mountains and drew
their routes closer and closer to their
rivals on the coast that that adventurous.
indomitable people. the Scots-Irish. came
pouring of a sudden into the English colo
MES. and very promptly made 1t their
business to pass the mountains and take
possession Of the lands which lay beyond
them. as II they would deliberately go to
meet the French by the Ohio.
For several years after the first quarter
of the new century had run out immi-
grants fom the north of Ireland came
crowding in. twelve thousand strong by
the year.
In l729 quite five thousand Of them en-
tered Pennsylvania alone: and they
pressed without hesitation and as IL by
preference to the interior. From Penn
sylvania they passed slong the broad. in
viting valleys southwark into the west
ern parts of Virginia.
By 1870 struggling movement Of set
tiers had begun to show itself even upon
the distant lands OF Kentucky. Still far
Their south traders from the Carolinas
went constantly back and forth between
the Indian tribes of the country by the
Mississippi and the English settlements
at the coast
Nine thousand redskin warriors lay
there in the forests. Some traded with
the French at the river. some with the
English at the coast. They might become
foes or allies might turn to the one side
or the other. as passion or interest led
them.
In 1873 the French at the north put an
armed sloop on Champlain.
The Washington herald., 1915-05-26

Having been pcrcmptorly barred from appear
ing on the principal vaudeville circuit the New
York woman recently acquitted OF murder it is
announced is to pose for moving pictures
at large salary, doubt in scenes associated
with the tragedy There is no law to prevent the
exhibition of such pictures, though they would
certainly seem to be far more demoraIizing than
motion pictures OF a pugilistc encounter but
the exhibition of the latter is not only forbidden,
but the films may not even be imported into the
country or transmitted from State to State
The Washington herald., 1915-05-26
MANY WANT LINE EXTENDED.
Six Hundred Sign Petition-Com.

The Public Utilities Commission faces
puzzle this morning when it takes up
for hearing the question of granting the
Capital Traction Company permission to
extend its tracks down Seventeenth
street from L to / streets northwest
Yesterday afternoon the commission
received bulky package of papers that
looked like it might have been the steno-
graphic report of the Barnes-Roosevelt
trial They opened it and found 500 sig
natures asking for the new line.
This places the odds in ffavor of the
permission being granted. although dark
horses may appear at the hearing TODAY.
The proposed line would be south in
Seventeenth to j street. east to Thir-
tenth. south. to II and east to II street,
connecting with the Capital Traction line
in Seventh street northwest Tho
petition yesterday was from Luther l..
Apple, 1105 T street northwest.
The Washington herald., 1915-05-26

working hours, they put
heavy demands on their
physical and nervous vitality.
1t is a pity that in our life
we have not given more en-
couragement to the develop
ing of such diversions. We
have been so foolish as to
let it seem rather creditablc
for a man to put aside the
diversions of his youth. So
many men that l know would
be ashamed to take part in
1.-THE interests and in the games