davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1915-01-31
When Men Wore Muffs.

lMuFFs have been made for thou
oVo sands of the battling troops OF
Europe. and these NUNS are not for
the protection Of the ears against
frost. but for the comfort of the hands.
one OF the stories that has come over
the cables. or perhaps it may have
come through the air. is that the nine
| lives of cats have been and still are
being sacrificed In the production or
these muffs. 1t has been suggested
with apologies for the mixed metaphor.
| that thus two birds are being killed
with one stone when a cat is slain that
ner. or maybe his, fur NAV be mad>
INTO a muff. because in some of ths
mum making places cats are too nu-
merous Too numerous" is very
vague and elastic term as applied to
cats. because some places, like soma
people. differ as to just how many cats
are to be considered Just enough cats
or too many cats.
with the soldiers of the European
aes plungins their hands in COM
from the aspersion that 1t is effemi-
mate and altogether unworthy OF n
man 70 stick his fists in a nun Yet in
the good old days about which so
fess to reverence. and when men Yer.
oeileVed to be more bold and da shinr
and daring than they are now, the nun
vas the thing of winter wear for men.
II was regular part of gentleman's
cold-weather toilet
among Horace Walpole's Christmas
gifts to his friend George Montagu. in
1876. were Anecdotes of Painting a
pamphlet on 'Libels." the castle of
otranto" and a nun That was the
period of the mum for men, 1t had
been an article of mems apparel for
many years before and men retained
the mum for long years afterward in
oeing cast off when men foreswore col
ored silks and satins. rare laces and
teweled shoe buckles
II was not SO far back in American
history that men wore silk stockings-
NOT merely silk socks-and knee gar
ters and fancy garter buckles, and
many men walking the streets OF
Washington today remember when
their sex wore brilliant plaid shawls
and when the cloth cape, called a
ta!ma. was the height of masculine
fashion. Now and then one sees a,
gentleman of the old school walking
along with gold headed cane and
wearing somewhat moth-eaten-
trayed or shiny "talma"
Evening star., 1915-01-31
Russian Patriotic Stamps.

q nANY adhesive stamps. products OF
GWU the present war, have come from
the presses, and will for centuries
s,umber in the albums of philatelists
as souvenirs Of this horror period OF
history. 1t has been announced tnae
..the Imperial Russian Patriotic So
ciety. wishing to crafty the urgent
need of help to the families OF the
valiant soldiers who were killed on the
battlefield, has obtained a temporary
issue of patriotic postage stamps
which are much larger than the regu-
lar issues of one. three. seven and ten
conack stamps and different In design.
These stamps Of special design are TO
he u.ed. perhaps already are oeihe
,,sed for every purpose of the ordinary
nostaee stamps in carrying parcels pa
pers, letters and correspondents
s..crintion. The news has 1t
80. ~ stamps are Offered to all pur-
chasers of stamps in all Russian post
otfices at an increase OF copeck 70 tne
Manai cost of an ordinary postage
stamp." and that the Increased Iese
nue. thus deprived will be useo 70 cio.ne' n,
feed and educate the orphans ana ram
lies of the soldiers who have fallen on
the battlefield while protecting their
homes and country. ..-;.v
The stamp method or raising cnaiity
or benevolent funds has JUSTIFIED ltseiI
a. effective. Probably the psychology
of the matter is that everybody likes 70
contribute to a cause they hold "ortny
and the stamp affords means whereoy
person may make the smallest conIri
button or one commensurate with his
resources. The stamp serves as re-
ceipt or tangible token OF the contrlou-
ton, and this in itself Is pleasing 10
human nature. besides. by being put on
a letter, card or package. 1t notines
friend in whom presumably you nave
a special interest that you have mace
the contribution, and this notification
is made without giving out the slen-
derest suspicion of ostentation. In
worthy works, as. for example, in the
war against the white plague. the sale
OF stamps or seals" has been a happy
pian for raising revenue.
with the adoption of the patriotic
stamp" idea in Russia 1t is possible
that the idea may be communicated to
the people Of other countries that are
parties to the war as an ehcacious
means of providing relief for soldiers
widows and orphans.
The grist is a rich one which prom
ises to come to the books of stamp col
lectors as one of the results Of the
war,
Evening star., 1915-01-31
THE LARGEST CORN CROP
I'm HISTORY OF WORLD

/, left over to reach to New York city
and back again.
If we laid out the bags end to end
they would make line OF grain that
would stretch from the earth to the
moon, back again. and then around
the earth six times. Even then there
would be enough bags Of corn left
\ over to feed Belgium through the
winter.
If this vast array Of grain bags
should march past given point four
and a half feet apart-a comfortable
distance for a portly grain bag-at the
| rate of three miles an hour. which Is
| the soldiers marching time. 1t would
take eighty-five years for the process
| sion to pass.
| Let us bring it nearer home: II all
this crop of corn was spilled out over
the District of Columbia 1t would cover
| it about a foot and half deep. The
wheat crop for 1914-nearly 900. 900. 900
| bushels-would not cover one-half of it,
| *: X
The value of this huge crop in money
staggers the imagination. Seventeen
| hundred million dollars. 1t would run
the government of the United States
for nearly two years. If the value of
the crop in silver dollars was piled up
it would make stack more than 5000
miles high. If laid side by side they
equator once and three quarter times.
They would weigh 100000 tons. and. if
loaded into wagons OF ordinary carry
ing capacity, the wagon train would
make line 500 miles long. In gold 1t
would weigh more than $500 tons.
The farmers of the west speak OF
wheat as being the great product OF
the American farms. and the planters
| of the south cry, Cotton is King! but
the combined value of both crops last
year were far below the value OF the
! corn crop. The wheat crop was valued
| at a little less than nine hundred mil
| lion dollars; the cotton crop at hve nun !.
dred and twenty millions. The two or
them were almost four hundred MIL
| lion dollars less than the corn crop.
A striking item in the latest farmers
bulletin from the Department OF AGr1.
| culture is that concerning haXseed. II
the average man were asked what
| United States he would probao bly, say
| about a million dollars worth. Yet in
1914 there was nearly twenty million
dollars worth raised, and In 19l2 the
value of the crop was more than thirty
two million dollars
Indeed, the fiaxseed crop ranks far
above that of rice or buckwheat, and Is
as valuable, in yearly average, as the
rye crop or the sugar beet. about which
such fuss is made in Congress.
This is explained by the fact that
faxseed has other uses than removing
a cinder from the eye or poulticing
stone bruise, the uses to which the av-
erage citizen commonly puts 1t. 1t Is
the raw material from which linseed
oil is made. and linseed oil furnishes
whether for the arts or for commercial
use. There were nearly fifteen million
bushels Of it grown in the United States
last year.
Evening star., 1915-01-31
FRANCE PROBABLY FORMING
LARGE ARMIES I'm AFRICA

IN EADERS Of the American news
IM papers catch a word here and
90 there concerning the colonial
troops of France in the battle zone.
but so little information comes across
the sea about these soldiers that plenty
Of room is afforded for fair and rea-
sonable speculation. OF the African
regulars and the French regulars sta
toned In Africa, who were hurried
across the Mediterranean at the out
break of the war, the probability is
that their strength has been greatly
reduced. and because of the climate OF
eastern and northern France it Is like
ly that many regiments have been
withdrawn to the south Of France. The
filling up Of any gaps In these forces
in preparation for the spring and sum-
mer campaign will be an easy matter.
The number of new troops which
France is making ready in Africa for
the defense of the republic Is a subject
on which no information has been al
lowed to reach the outside world. 1t
is reasonable that France. energetic.
resourceful and determined. is not
overlooking the opportunities which
her colonies, especially her African
colonies, afford her. In them she has a
wealth of men capable of being turned
into soldiers of most effective kind.
The African countries under French
dominion are Algeria. Morocco. Tunis.
Senegal, French Sudan. the Niger
Gaboon and Guinea coast, the Kongo
region. the Somali coast, Madagascar
and numerous other islands. Algeria
has a population of 5.600.000. Morocco.
5000. 900; Tunis. 100000; Madagascar,
2.500.000. and the remaining colonies in
Africa, 20,000,008.
The French colonies in Asia contain
in round numbers 100000 people.
Evening star., 1915-01-31

selves from the influence of German
music. and that some young Composer
is perhaps in our midst who can crys-
tallize in music the soul of England. -
There Is call that the British shall
invent new means of communication be-
tween British composers and the Brit
ish public. and perhaps the outcome
will be a new era for the musicians OF
England. Native composers desirous
of having their music played have been
requested to forward their manuscripts
of songs or instrumental solos to the
music committee of the war emergency
entertainments.
In discussing this movement the Lon
don Chronicle says: Unlike the Ger
mans, who are forever contemplatine
and admiring their own virtues, we in
this country are very prone to self
disparagement; and certainly in music,
whether as composers or as artists, we
submissively accept a very humble
place, far below the continental.
Though the British genius is essential
ly practical. we have produced the
greatest poets. and there is no reason
why we should be content with an in
ferior place in the sphere of music.
1t may be that the fervid patriotism
now reigning in this country will in
spire great compositions surging with
the spirit of a memorable time"
Evening star., 1915-01-31
FIRST AMERICAN DUEL
ON BOSTON COMMON

Tavern, on Kink street, which is now
State street. and under the influence Of
drink agreed to settle their differences
with swords in the public grounds CALL
ed ''the Common" There is the text
for a sermon here, in that this. as in
the case of perhaps majority Of duels
In this country, was the sequel Of drink
and gambling. Men appear to have
been more inclined under such circum-
stances to give offense. and a mans
honor" seemed to be more sensitive
when his brain reeled with liquor.
Woodbridge and Phillips, with their
seconds. met at a little after o'clock
in the evening. Woodbridge was NOR
tally wounded and was found dead the
following morning. 1t appearing that
the seconds after the tragedy Ned the
spot.
The combatants were men Of prom
inent families and of high social stand
ing. Young Woodbridge was a pros
porous merchant. was In his twentieth
, year. and not long before he had been
admitted to partnership with Jonathan
Sewall. He was the son of a man of
distinction in Barbados, who was one
formerly been settled in the ministry
as pastor in Groton. Conn.
Young Phillips was about three
years senior to Woodbridge and was q
graduate of Harvard. which was an
achievement more distinguishing in
those days than now, when there are
80 many colleges and SO many thou
sands Of graduates. He was a brother
of Gillian Phillips. who married Marie.
the sister of Peter Faneuil. the builder
of famous Faneuil Hall.
One Of Boston's antiquaries has point
ed out that the place of meeting was
on the rising grounds Of the Common
not far from the Great Elm. near where
| al vls%
The weapons were small swords
Woodbridge fallen with a fatal wound,
Phillips, slightly wounded. fed, ana
with the aid of his brothers, Gillian
and Peter. was put on board tho British
ship Sheerness, which went to sea that
| night. Phillips went to France, and
the story has 1t that before a year had
| passed he died of a broken heart.
Evening star., 1915-01-31
Old German Army Queues.

IN the year 1909 the last queues were
being cut off in the German army,
and the struggle against the new
order Of things was just as pronounced
as. one hundred years later, in 1909. it
was in China.
In one Saxon regiment of cavalry the
execution Of the order was undertaken
at camp near Waldheim. The severed
queues were carefully arranged in a
! heap on the parade ground and were
stood on end. for in each queue was a
small stick of corresponding length.
The old sergeant majors furnished to
their fellow-soldiers no fine example of
obedience to military discipline, since
the Oldest and most respected of them
insisted on retaining his queue.
Now it appears that no under officer
dared to lay sacrilegious hands on the
| sacred relic, SO carefully tended and
preserved for the past forty years.
had the old gentleman been q field
marshal he would no doubt have
taken his queue with him to his coffin.
as st. Cyr did.
His merits. however. had been doomed
70 attain no great fame. and SO 1t came
to pass that one Lieut. Won Thielau
! felt emboldened to steal upon the Old
lion while asleep and to rob him Of his
| beautiful ornament. Won Thielau took
an especial pleasure In his feat be-
cause as youngster. he had suffered
much from the Draconian drilling of
| the old sergeant major.
| When his worthy instructor awoke
and put up hand to his head and
amputation had been effected. he
sprang from his couch and cried out
| which Of you has dared to do this
Let the villain come forward.'
cavairyman replied. 1T was Lieut..
wrath Of the old warrior, and he re-
piled, If II was the doing Of the
lieutenant. i cannot complain" Not
one OF the men round him dared to
betray any emotion as the old man
went on to say in an earnest but de-
cided tone of voice:
| Herr Lieutenant. I must with all due
| respect ask you to let me have my
queue. The band. 1t is true, is an adj
dition, but the hair is my own.
shall be eternally grateful to you"
Evening star., 1915-01-31

at length told him that he could not
grant 1t without consulting the Presi-
dent He asked that ry isyipg n call ,,;a rev sss
what the President thought Of the
matter. Accordingly Irving took his
departure. his gentle nature bruised at
the thought that an old friend had so
patiently hesitated about granting
such modest favor.
When he returned few days later
to learn what success his prayer had
met with his embarrassment was
further increased when, in course of
made no allusion whatever to the de-
sired position. Irving's innate modesty
utterly prevented him from mentioning
the subject. and at length. convinced
diplomatic method Of conveying re-
fusal, he arose to take his leave.
Then Secretary Webster. rising with
him, said:
bearer of post dispatches. Irving. re-
gret to say that I find it impossible to
give it to you because"-and here he
smiled quizzically and laid his hand
because. this morning the President
appointed you envoy extraordinary and
minister plenipotentiary to the court of
Spain! And neither ! nor the Presi-
ing stood speechless with astonishment
and delight. consider 1t in keeping
with the honor and dignity Of that
high position that you should be the
bearer of dispatches to yourself"
1t is hardly necessary to say that
Websters hesitancy in the first in
stance was due entirely to the sudden
inspiration he had to appoint Irving
as minister and the necessity of con-
sulting the President about it, But
such was the natural modesty and un-
pretentiousness of Irving that it never
occurred to him to consider himself as
a candidate. a fact Of which Webster
took advantage to play his little joke
on his friend.
Evening star., 1915-01-31
The Budding Horns.

HARLES NJ. sCHwAB has proved
afresh his financial ability by Sc
curing war contracts up in the hum
dred millions from London-a success
which led Mr.. Schwab to say, wittily
and aimably. on the journey home from,
London that Lord Kitchener was the
best president the steel trust ever
missed.
In Mr.. Schwabs native Loretto all
his financial triumphs are cherished,
even those OF his boyhood. For in his
boyhood he already showed the ability
Of the twentieth century financier
Thus, at a Christmas party in Loret-
to. in the turmoil OF a game of kiss
in the ring" little Charlie Schwab
seized calm hold of the prettiest girl
present and prepared to kiss her.
But" she painted. ''it was Jimmy
who caught me. It's Jimmy who is to
kiss me-"
"Ah, that's all right" said little
Charlie. Il bought you OF Jimmy fer
a cent"
Evening star., 1915-01-31
SAWDUST PUT TO MANY USES

$50 Spanish cedar sawdust enters the
equation.
Manufactured sawdust is made. not b,
saving lumber expressly for that pur.
gathered from the various factories
wherein the woods were sawed. Some
of these sawdusts may originally be very
fine as those cut by fne-toothed saws
in the manufacture of veneers from fine
woods. but all are subjected to treat
ment These sawdusts are ground into
fine powder powders of coarser grain
or into fine. feathery pulp. Varied as
these sawdusts may be In their tints
they are produced and sold in their
natural colors; as they appear in the
sample jars exposed in the factories
Many of the uses of these manufactured
sa awdusts are trade secrets with their
users.
= K
Manufactured Satinwood sawdust is
employed in the preparation of pastel
boards for drawing purposes. Sawdust
of briarwood is reworked for some spe-
cial uses. Lignum vitae sawdust is put
to some chemical uses.
The heaviest sawdust is that obtained
from ebony. 1t Is black in color, although
there are traces of tiny white fibers
The ebony is not a large tree, and its
wood is not black through and through;
the Sapwood is white. 1t is particles OF
this sapwood that appear in the ebony
sawdust. mingled in the saving. but to
the average eye, except on very close
inspection, the ebony sawdust appears
black.
Holly furnished the whitest of the saw
dusts. This sawdust is made into a
very fine pulp form, is used for floor
material and enters into the composition
Of certain grades of wall paper.
There is a manufactured sawdust
called lemon which Is not derived
from the wood of the lemon tree, but
gets it's name from its color. It's uses
are similar to those of satinwood saw
dust.
Very limited are the uses Of manufac-
tured rosewood sawdust Various ma
hogany sawdusts, including white, are
employed more extensively for various
purposes; that of d wood called vermilion
which is bright red mahogany from the
East Indies, Is used in making compost
tion floors, some times for color squares
in cases where such floors are not laid
in a continuous unbroken piece.
A great many houses are partially cen
structed of sawdust as in the instance
Of form of brick made from this val
liable by-product. Mortar containing a
large quantity Of Sawdust, and a sort OF
stucco, is now being made entirely OF
sawdust. Sawdust is also pressed into
various forms and objects and finished In
good imitation Of oak, rosewood, ma
hogany and other high-priced woods.
A very fair grade of linoleum is made
OF a composition into which sawdust
enters.
The uses of sawdust are almost in
numerable-it is employed in making gas
o. various kinds. pressed into shoppers
for bottles, used in laundries in place Of
soap and employed in the making OF
dyes.
Evening star., 1915-01-31
Like a "Jack Johnson"

IRWIN S. COBB, the correspondent and
| author, was talking in Philadelphia
about the German Jack Johnsons,
those deadly shells which explode with
a tremendous discharge of greasy
black smoke.
..These Shells" said Mr.. Cobb. ''are to
ordinary shells as a bucking horse
of the plains is to park hack.
"A tenderfoot once mounted a buck
or in Tin Can. He was hardly on be-
fore he was off again-off over the
bucker's head.
".Whats the natter said Three
finger Hoover.
".Why, she bucked.' said the tender
foot. -
eda Go on. She only coughed.'"
Evening star., 1915-01-31
IIIiteracy in the United States.

THE long-discussed illiteracy test IN
application to immigrants to the
United States brings up the question OF
ilIiteracy among the people Of this
country. How much of American illtt-
eracy is among the so-called foreign
population. how much among the color
ed population in the south and how
much among the native white popula-
tion Is a difficult question. But in GER
tain sections of the country native
whites who cannot read or write are
fairly common.
The census OF 1910 shows that the i'll
literates ten years of age and over
constitute ~ per cent of the popula
tion. In New England the rate was 5.3,
middle Atlantic division. 81, east north
central. 3.4. and the west north central.
20. These are divisions in which there
is a large alien element. That group
of states classified as the south Allan
tic division-Delaware. Maryland. Dis
trict of Columbia. Virginia, West Vir-
ginia. North Carolina. South Carolina,
Georgia and Florida-showed per-
centage of illiteracy of Is per cent. The
flliteracy percentage in the east south
central division-kentucky, Tennessee.
Alabama and Mississippi-was II per
cent. and in the west south central di-
vision--Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma
and Texas-the percentage was 13, the
high average being due to the illiteracy
in Louisiana, which was registered as
29 per cent
OF the population of the District of
Columbia a trifie under per cent of
the inhabitants ten years of age and
over were flliterates. The percentage
in the nearby states was: Maryland.
TO; Virginia. 1872: Delaware. 81: West
Virginia. SIS: Pennsylvania. SO. and
North Carolina. 1875. The states hav-
ing high illiteracy rate were South
Carolina, 25.7: Louisiana. 20: Alabama.
22.s; Mississippi. 22.4; New Mexico.
coz; Arizona. 20.9. The states with less
than per cent Of iliiterates in their
Iowa
Massachusetts had a slightly higher
flltteracy percentage than the District
OF Columbia. Rhode Island and Connec-
ticut higher percentage and the
average of illiteracy for New England
was four-tenths of per cent higher
than the rate in the District Of Colum-
bia.
In Europe the country having the
lowest rate of illiteracy was Germany
and the highest rate was found IN
Servia with percentage Of 7s. The
countries with an illiterate percentage
of SO per cent and over were Bulgaria
Greece, Poland, Portugal. Roumania,
Russia, Spain. The countries with an
fIIiterate percentage of less than per
Wales. Scotland, Sweden and Switzer-
land. Statistics of European illiteracy
may be misleading for while in some
countries the percentage is on the
basis of population of inhabitants
above hve years Of age. in other coun.
tries the basis is on inhabitants OF
seven years. or ten years of age. In
some countries the basis is on army
recruits, and here the illiteracy per.
csntage Is very low.