davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
New Britain herald., 1915-02-08
Hunt Up the Bootjack.
(Allentown Democrat )

How many men in Allentown to- day wear boots? We haven't seen pair in years and We doubt whether there are more than two or three stores that carry them in stock If We except the very rough kind that some farmers still wear for field work or the rubber boots, for which there is always a demand. There was a time when q pair of boots was part of the wardrobe of every gentleman. For many years, however, the boots have been out Of fashion. Ii is stat cd that as a result of the war strange phenomena may come that will reach beyond the theater of ac- ton. Some million men are sudden ly in need of boots. Not one in a dozen shoe stores in this country. probably, carries boots. They have not only been long out of the fashion but non existent except at the ship chandlor's. Even for horsemenship the puttee has displaced them. Time was when dandy did not think his trousers set well unless over boot legs.
 A shoe manufacturer, who makes boots in limited supply for military men. says that 5000, ,000 pairs of army boots will be needed this year. 1t is estimated that the boot capacity Of the shoe factories in the United States, for export as 100000 pairs a day It can be increased no doubt. Thus, opportunity seems to be kick ing in the panels Of the door.
 A, ording to this authority the de- mand has had the curious effect of increasing the price of the coarse leather suitable for boots 10 twice that of fine shoe leather; although, ordinarily, this is reversed. The best made boot it seems, lasts no longer than six weeks in the trenches. After peace is declared veterans may con- tinue to wear boots by preference. Among the many consequences Of the war we may have a revival of boots as footgear for general purposes, by decree. or kindly tolerance al least of fashion.
 Tn the meantime hunt up the old "bootjaCk."
New Britain herald., 1915-02-08

virtually demonstrated this fact al- ready by his surprising record of leg
 islatiVe achievement. There is no leadership possible in our congress at all comparable in unifying power and driving force with the leadership q president can furnish; and nothing is surer in the future than that when legislative results are desired the kind of leadership MT. Wilson stands for will be the kind of leadership his sue cessors in the presidency will cmbody in order to identify their administra- tions with great public measures.
 But the shipping bill experience has already revealed one of the peculiar dangers to which the modified appli- cation of the premier idea in Ameri- can legislation is exposed. A real premier whose position depends en- tirely on a constant majority sup port in a parliamentary body will be careful to make sure of a majority support before he stakes his admin istration and his office on q particular piece of legislation. It would be diff ficult to imagine Mir. AsQuith push ing a highly contentious bill through the house of commons as a govern ment measure" unless nc had pre- Viously effected a hard and fast com bination of members in support of it. Occasionally, premicrs find their cal culations upset, but down they go if their majority is suddenly turned into a minority. They pay the ineXorable penalty of failure by resigning from office immediately.
 There are indications that the very security in office for four years of an  American president had made MT. Wilson ovcrConfident or careless con- corning his party majority in the case of the shipping bill. In the case Of the conservative southern senators he relied too implicitly upon the disci- pline of a party caucus without mak- ing sure of their support by an ade- quate personal canvass of preferences. The official aloofness of a presidents position, which is more nearly that of king than that of a premier in constitutional monarchy, has also pre- vented MT. Wilson apparently from keeping in close touch with the legis lative situation. It is certainly evil dent that in the present case the White House legislative leadership has been suddenly imperiled on an issue which should not necessarily in NOlVG the pTSSClSe or all dul1lllllSlId- tion. The situation illustrates vivid ly the difficulties that may arise be- cause our presidential system lacks the complete flexibiity required for the execution of MT. Wilson's idea of leaders power and responsibility.
 Whatever success the president may have in extricating himself from his present troubles, the chief lesson of the episode perhaps is the unwisdom of making a vital party issue of measure which has never been an article of party faith and which may irritate beyond endurance certain sup porters ordinarily necessary to an ad- successful maintenance, unless careful provision has been made for reserves drawn from other parties. MT. Wilson has been a poor captain in the present instance if his team collapses because he had failed to have substitutes ready for the lineup.
New Britain herald., 1915-02-08
GRAVEDIGGE1l A SUICIDE.

There is no enthusiasm in the task
 ot gravedigging, although men have
 been heard to sing while engaged in it Shakespeare gravediggers in Ham let sing while at work, discuss the stability of various occupations and one remarks to the other that his
 houses last until doomsday. Busi- ness in this line is poor in Allentown. Pa, and Francis D. Baer, who had been the official gravedigger for years. had been worrying over the lack of work and yesterday he took gas and when his wife and daughter returned from church they found him dead. Business in the gravedigging line used to be good in Allentown and Baer was making a snug sum of money on it, but of late the health of the community had so improved that few were sick and those who became afflicted were speedily nursed back to health by the physicians. Baer mo- ticed this and while no one ever heard him say that his business was on the blink or heard him complain, his in- inmates knew that he was worrying. Deaths were decreasing in number for several months and at last they finally ceased altogether. It was then that the old gravedigger con cluded to take gas and, he did.
 There is no record of a gravedigger having ever committed suicide before. not that they have not had their ups and downs the same as other folks, but because they have been so closely associated with the unsentimental part of the mortality business that they have gradually become hardened and they can stow away a body in the ground in much the same manner as they would stow away refresh ments during the progress of their work They evidently have their troubles and under stress can shuffle them off with even as little compunc- ton or perhaps less than other mem- bers of the human family.
New Britain herald., 1915-02-08
The Prison Rcuort,

(New Haven Journal-Courier.)
 The report to the governor of the directors and warden of the Connecti- cut penitentiary at Wethersfield diff fers from previous reports in that it takes the community more complete ly into their confidence. There has never been tendency to withhold this information. The fact is that until recent years no one has shown an interest in the work of the prison and so it did not occur to the direc- tors to go into detail
 This year the report gives a very comprehensive idea of the viewpoint of the directors and the warden, the general policy which dominates the control of the inmates, and the spir- it generally which has been adopted as most likely to protect society and give the prison inmate his chance. The abolshment of the silence sys- tenn, the abolition of the various practices which a quarter of a cen tury ago were thought to be essential to a well managed institution, and the introduction of many merciful | concessions all tell a story of humane advance in the understanding of the criminal. When there is added the fact of the health of the inmates, it is conclusive that the complaints so generally made in some of the other states of the union, notably New York, do not apply here. Con- necticut by pursuing in a conservative spirit a policy which has brought the well being of the prisoner more and more in the foreground without over looking for a moment the rights of free society appears to have finally established q prison which has no peer in the entire country. That is a source of great state pride.
 The feature of this report which will provoke the most attention and criticism will be that which recom- mends a further extension of the in determinate sentence law. The rec ommendation that a minimum sem tence of one year with a maximum of twenty years, in all except first and second degree cases, is not a radical recommendation. 1t seeks not to smear the prison with snug senti- mCntalisn. That is not it spurpose. It's one purpose is to add to the pro- lection of society, on the one hand, and to give the prisoner a chance to earn his liberty without gaining his full freedom, on the other hand, un- til beyond the shadow of a doubt he has earned his right to be wholly free. The recommendation does in terfcrc with the present power of the trial judge to inhict such punishment upon the criminal as he thinks should be inflicted. IL is the judgment Of the directors and warden of the pris- on, who have the charge of the pris- oner from the moment he enters the prison, that a one-year minimum sen tencc. which includes tho prisoners loss of liberty and political rights, Is a very severe punishment. and upon it's expiration should give the prison CT and those in charge of him the freest hand in determining the restor alton of his mental and moral health without ieopardizing the welfare of society in the slightest degree.
New Britain herald., 1915-02-08
The "Tcam' and Its Captain.
(Spring6eld Republican,


 This is a severe test of the party discipline insisted upon by the presi- dent as "captain of the team" Hith- erto ne has Weathere similar crises by securing enough republican sup port to make up for democratic de- fectiOns. There were democratic sen ators who vigorously obstructed the passage of the federal reserve act, the supplementary trust legislation and the Panama tolls repeal law. Even Speaker Clark and MT. Underwood in the house violently antagoniaed the democratic captain in the struggle over the canal tolls. For a time it was thought that MT. Wilson had dis ruptcd his party and lost his leader ship, but enough republicans in the senate came forward to save him from defeat. A review of the present ad- ministratiOn's record shows clearly that absolutely undertaking support of it by democratic senators and rep resentatives in all cases has not been the rule, for even in the case of tho tariff bill the Louisiana delegation joined the opposition.
 MT. Wilson came into the presi- dencv welded to the English idea of parliamentary leadership, and he has Consistently acted upon it in playing the role of a premier directing q leg islative program, and unifying a par liamentary majority. It is the only system of leadership that can bring quickly legislative results in harmony with party policies. MT. Wilson has
New Britain herald., 1915-02-08

to Gods keeping and went out to fight each other with bullets and bayonets.
 At quiet retreat up in the Car pathian mountains, close to the boundary lines of Germany. Austria and Russia. I attended student con- ference during the second week Of August. One young man, son of Jewish mother and infidel father, went out from the morning meeting into the woods and didn't return until evening, when he came home with radiant face. That evening, at the close of the address, ] invited to my room any who wished to dedicate themselves to foreign mission work. Nine of the choicest young people responded. It was q never to be for gotten hour that we spent together
 ''I saw visions of a new era for the student life and the Protestant Christian life of Austria Hungary and of our Albanian mission. For the Protestant leaders in Vienna a few days before had formally adopted AL bania as their mission field, to be worked jointly with our American board and under it's direction and con- trOl; and here were the recruits al- ready offering themselves for the field. Teachers, preachers and evangelists, nurses, kindergartner-a complete working outfit for strong aggressive mission presented itself that night.
 Two weeks later almost every one of the young men in the group and Of the conference at large, twenty altogether, were called to sacrifice themselves to this God of War in- stead"
New Britain herald., 1915-02-08
Plans for Albanian Mission ThNartci
 (E,ychange.)

When tho war broke out the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions was on the point of reopening and greatly enlarging it's institutions in Albania. Rev. C T. Erickson. the head of the mission WIS already in Switzerland on his way to his field. His entrance into AL Iania was impossible for a time and he. has been impra acticable since. A letter from him gives side Himpses of the havoc he is seeing and of the swift Interruption of mission plana Nr. Erickson writes from Rome. lie says:
 "A few days ago I met a German friend who has been all his life in business il. Calcutta His business is ruined: his brother whom he left in charge while he took vacation is in a concentration camp at Ahmed nager Our English nurse. who iS to be head of our training school for nurses in Albania. writes us that he" family's business is completely ruined, being exclusively concerned with Ger many and Austria. Here in Rome is 8 typical family: Mother, English; father, German; of three daughters, two are married to Germans and one to a Belgian and all three husbands have been called to their ColOrs. While I was in Geneva there was at the Y M. (. A. a rraNo" meeting at tended by English, German. Austrian and French. They knelt together. prayed together and wept together. shook hands, commended each other
New Britain herald., 1915-02-08
DRUG CRAZE IN BRIDGEPORT.

A most peculiar situation has de- veloped in Bridgeport according to the Telegram of that city, all because of the disappearance of dope agent who had been supplying drug fiends with heroin, opium and morphine. teen persons are half crazed With suf- fering who have had their supply so suddenly cut off. Two young women have been locked up because of their insane actions in trying to secure the drug and who were subsequently found after having collapsed in the street.
 It appears that stranger had been making a business of supplying a num- Der of people with the drug but through fear of being caught and prosecuted he disappeared, leaving his petite and with no means to satisfy it. It is we'll known that. hrug fiends suffer tortures when they are unable to obtain any of the stuff to brace them up. IL IS felaleO that III one case in the New Britain police court victim of the drug habit lay down on the floor and cried for the drug.
 Attention is being directed to a fed eral law which goes into effect March 1 that all dispensers of cocaine, opium heroin and other narcotics must reg ister in the internal revenue office and pay a license fee of one dollar A penalty of five years in prison or a fine of s2,O0O or both will be imposed for a violation of this law. The Con- necticut legislature has bill before if providing for the infiction of a penalty for stealing physicians pre- scriptons for the purchase of drugs This has been done and as a result people have been able to obtain drugs because druggists have been imposed upon by the fake prescriptions. The drug habit has destroyed the health of a number of people in this and other communities and the conditions seem to be growing worse instead of better.
New Britain herald., 1915-02-08
,. MCMILLAN .. 109-2O1-2O3 Main Street.

deliberate conviction that the cause of the allies is just. Alike in the press and on the public platform-and he is a doughty fighter in both spheres he has advocated a plain straight forward policy for the United States. in the interests of public justice and the sanctity Of treaties. and he has poured scorn on the futility Of pass- ing regulations and making de- clarations which are nothing but words. Colonel Roosevelt is a big man, with the rare genius of large utterance; he is still. and we hope will long remain. living force in inter- national politics.
New Britain herald., 1915-02-08
The Santa Fe Stylc."
(New York Evening Post )


 An architects axiom is that any real movement toward building dis tinction or improvement must be, not one-man deep, but O.O00-men deep. The attempt of New Mexicans to perpetuate a native style of archi- lecture has almost reached these pro- portions: and success is the more probab able in that it Is proved that en- vironmental adaptation and construc- tional economy unite with historical propriety to commend "tne Santa Fe style"
 The renascence of an architectural art that has almo disappeared be- fore the wave of modernism that came in with the American occupa- ton is signalized by a prize compet;- tion that the Santa Fe chamber of commerce has just conducted, by the construction within two years of residences after old native designs, by the buildings of hotels, warehouses stores and sanatoria to harmonize and by the adoption of the style by the state for the building now com pleted at the Panama exposition. The models have been churches, houses and governors residences that date in some instances from before 1850. Their chara cterlstlcs are we'll known and attractive.
 For variety and historical color the preservation of a distinctive sectional architecture, whether in California, New Mexico, the south, or New Eng land, is to be encourag ged
New Britain herald., 1915-02-08
Bob and Billy.

The "deadly parallel' has been drawn with the purpose of showing F that in some of his utterances 'Billy' Sunday has used language from Col. Robert G. Ingersoll. And now the Office Window of the New York Mail draws the parallel on Billy himself, by indicating how closely the noted evangelist resembles the famous az nostic: Some one has been looking up the relics ,of Col. Robert G. lngersoll in this city and reports that the man sard roof house still standing at 400 Fifth avenue was the cOloneIs home for years. He also reports that when Robert G. Ingersoll was three or four years old he lived with his father, Rev. John lngersoll, in the old house now occupied as a Chinese restaurant at 26 Mott street Bptl of these are interesting relics, but the most re- markable relic of Colonel Ingersol now in existence is the Rev. Billy Sunday. Rev. Billy is a relic of In gersoll in the respect that he applies to the cause of religion the same zeal, the same extreme emphasis the same crraticism that Ingorsoll ap- piled to the cause of unbclicf He Is kind of inverted IngersOlI Robert c. 1ngerso1l was born at Dresden, N Y, but his father, who was a Con- gregational minister. preached for some time in a church that stood in Chatham Square. When Bob was ten years old his father removed to Illinois and it was the west which put its stamp on the youth, as 1t has also put it's stamp on the Rev. Billy Sun day.
New Britain herald., 1915-02-08

ols. This ought to be done in any event. The city is large enough to manage itself and the country legis- iator should be compelled to keep his hands off.
New Britain herald., 1915-02-08

includes most of the department
 boards serving without pay. Lastly there are the believers in the doc Urine to the victOrs belong the spoils. ls.--Bridgcport Post.
 The Roraback boys are spoilsmen, but they are not gloomy. They are like Eva Tanguay, the spirit of youth bubbles in them. They are filled with the joy of living. When they kick a hole in the drum, it is not from malice, but from animal spirits, and when they dig into the marma- lade it is not to be disObedient, but because they love sweets so much.- Bridgeport Farmer.
 In all, about 300 votes have been taken by New Haven county repre- sentatives in their attempt to elect some one man county commissioner and to keep three others from be- ing elected. Just how many votes will be necessary to decide which is the best man in the bunch, the rep resentatives themselves are no long, CT capable of determining. It might take 999 and it might take 1,001. The attitude of some of the representatives was probably ex- pressed with accuracy when, upon being told there was to be another ballot one of their number replied: I'm going to lunch; you go to ----.'-Hartford Times.
New Britain herald., 1915-02-08

It must be apparent to the mem- bers of the legislature that if they are going to listen to the voice of their constituents in the insistent demands for the practice of economy, for the bringing of the finances to a business basis and the governing of the outgo by the income, an early start must be made.-Norwich Bulletin.
New Britain herald., 1915-02-08
WATER

|LY.
 no new develop ped new improve kton water supply bes not mean that ng at all. There portant features connection with ne of them Is
 shall be laid Wn as "Galloping a tunnel shall be tain, the latter elt will save the he route is much Adoption would of expending necessities which
 the round the is decided on.
 is in the hands nlnissioners, the eer. The matter 8 ton for 8 dam CT is under con- E to be used for
 plans have not eussed for those [ will be done. ing given to the
 with property vileges, some of een acquired.
 Eoir at Whigville ter running over epth of twenty h of thirty feet. B leakage in the ere has been so The water, how
 through except ertain elevation.
 now. It is be-
 always be seep- t will be inn Every precaution st it's increasing othing more will Ig to prevent it. Is to the sta bility
 so there is that line. There
 waste of water unusual in work and cannot be ces. The water
 plan in view by
 be turned into in the end there en the Burling- ed and a larger as is under con- n will be amply
New Britain herald., 1915-02-08
NCIAL CONDI-

the present rate " of New York Bankruptcy, it's than that of the its great source made up prin- real estate, has {; at the present income e will be d i'd tend to drive kalth as is nov increase in the out of tn e Ques- efore has been es must be les- case of forward icy court.
 transacting it's Be scale tn at tn e IS not been very ntil recently and fl reached when thorities cannot ust cut down it's viding so many hasn't realized dertaking it has
 it found itself not easy to get
 a certain ex- pes not seem as FOund, but win en e next year and th it and tn e 1t is easy to 'ln- i'll be trouble ns suggest tn at " seriously con- least tn ey have tn a view to tn e 5 that there are pw and there is 1T that purpose. the plans call
 of the hand the business of of the metrop-
New Britain herald., 1915-02-08
FACTS AND RANCHES,

The new Swiss minister to Italy says that his country will 80 to war if food imports are held up by the activi- ties of belligerent nations. Ann Ost anybody would be willing to fight for his meals if kept waiting long enough. Waterbury Republican.
New Britain herald., 1915-02-08

Anyone who wants to write to a friend in Germany must now use a flve-cent stamp. The two-cent rate was possible only under an agree ment that there should be direct sea connecticut between the United States and Germany, now stopped by Eng land. Here is a chance for an anti neutrality campaign, as postage to England is still two cents-Water- bury American
New Britain herald., 1915-02-08

It is not surprising that the leaders of the general assembly find diff
 culty in changing the civil service law. They are confronted with
 three distinct forces, all pulling i1
 different directions. First there are the civil service reformers pure and
 simple who demand that the princi- pie embodied in the law be retain ed
 to the limit. Next there are civil
 service reformers who believe in a moderate application, and this force