davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1915-08-08

for a valuable addition to its literature
concerning the Panama canal. The
board of control of the Naval Institute
REQUESTED the preparation of a series
of articles on the canal that would
comprehend mot only the history and
the engineering features of the great
work. but also the position of the canal
in international law. in commerce and
it's relation to the national defense" In
compliance with this request, the in
formal ton in it's present book form
was originally published in the pro-
ceedings of the United States Naval IN
stitute, voluntary professional organ
ization of naval officers-which vouches
for authority of the work. By some
freak of whatever spirit controls the
fountain pen. about every tourist who
roundtrips himself to Panama feels
called upon to write up the canal. The
result is enough to stagger that shelf"
we know about despite it's allotted feet
Apart from and above this output of
amateurish impressions are the dozens
of books by men and an occasional
woman who knew so well what they were
writing about that it would seem moth
add to the knowledge already compiled.
This latest Offering, however. while
comprising the same general informa-
ton presented by other reliable writ
be gained by intimate association. and
much that seems new because of q
forceful vigor which gives it the flavor
of freshness. The history, route and
in SO many parts" and other sections
deal with the American waterway In
its every phase of it's value to this
country and other nations. Twenty
Photographic illustrations vision Pan
anna and it's Latin environment. and
there are twenty maps and an appen-
Evening star., 1915-08-08

| chapter on ''The Propaganda in Amer
| lea And here Mr.. Willard deals sharp
ly with the character of the work done
by the German leaders of thought in
! America. he regrets. plainly. as all
must. the acrid partisanship that ami
mates these leaders. partisanship that
throws logic and even common sense
to the winds. that floods it's assertions
ed declarations. that works under the
assumption that the Germans alone are
capable of telling the truth in this
crisis The writer points out the all
Vincing and futile course. one under
whose guidance any propa ganda must
Of necessity wither away. The whole
is n fair and discriminating survey of
he Gala mitous situation as it is viewed
from the common standpoint of this
side of the earth.
DANBREAk. BY Elizabeth Miller. au-
thor of Saul Of Tarsus. etc. New
York: Charles ScribnerS Sons.
WASHINGTON: Brtntanos.
Going back to about the year 1892.
'Da ybreak presents the court of Fer
dinand and Isabella in series of gor-
geous pictures Transferred from the
royal city to the field of battle. the
court becomes the center from which
the armies of this most Christian king
wage war upon the infide!. From this
point knightly out-farings against the
Moors are of constant occurrence
Within the camp the officers of the In
imagined sign of disloyalty to the faith
of their pious rulers. Here. too. feudal
lords conspire against the king. to whom
they. as yet. stand in no more than a.
half allegiance. And here the figure
of the Genoese, Christobal Colon. ap-
pears again and again in suppliance to
the throne of Spain for it's patronage in
his far quest across the unknown
Evening star., 1915-08-08

| western sea AS it was the wont in
| these and even in much later days. the
queen and her house hold are at the bat
| tlefront. so there are here Journeys and
tits of love. well as the sterner but
none the more eXactinS lists of battle.
! Indeed the vicissitous love adventure
of Don Beltran Ponce de Leon and An
| tonia de Aragon is the thread, the
somewhat slender thread, upon which
the author gathers this brilliant pa
seantry of the age of discovery. The
sumptuous setting takes one away from
the central action. The gorgeous
speak. And this. no doubt. is exactly
the effect that the author intended to
produce. 1t is. certainly, a purpose that
is fully justified by the nature of the
complete devotion to historic details
and to the creation Of the peculiar
atmosphere of the period under consd-
Grafton
THE DECOR ALTON AND FURNISHING
OF APARTMENTS. BY 3. Russell
Herts' ss authSr Scr of :pePreeiations." 1at
This book makes an artistic treat
ment of apartments in their furnishings
and decorations whether these apart
ments be of the. small two-room type or
of the large and more pretentious or
der. The author first describes the va
rious types of apartment now common
ly in use. Then, on the basis of COM
fort and artistic beauty. he develops in
most concrete fashion the furnishings
suitable to first one and then another
of these types. In general approach
to the definite and detailed part of this
treatment. the writer has much to say
about the different periods of art or
art so-called. in furnishings. and about
the various vogues that have. one and
another, affected this art favorably or
Evening star., 1915-08-08
Goddaught@r of Gen.
J@ffre Nurses Soldiers

II have no sons to fight for France
and am very grateful that my daugh-
ter has entered into the work. The
patriotism of France is a thing for US
doit. 'It has been said that as a ma
tfon we have grown weaker and our
men degenerated. but the heroism OF
France today must certainly disprove
this theory. AS a Frenchwoman. the
most inspiring figure to me is our great
Gen. Joffre. Americans can scarcely
realize how the French people idolize
him. They have made prayer to him
which Is not In any sense intended to
be sacreligious, but which shows their
trust in him:
Our Joffre who art at the front,
Thy name be respected;
Thy will be done:
Give us courage this day,
And lead to victory.
TT is not only for his great bravery
that Gen. Joffre is loved" continued
Nine. Passedoit, but for his care of
the soldiers. Because of this he is
known as the savings bank. His au-
thority. however. is undisputed, and his
orders are absolutely obeyed by every
loyal Frenchman.
II believe 1t is the spirit of patriotism
that has made Gen. Joffre so great"
declared Nine. Passedoit. His whole
heart has been in his work since he
was a young man. I remember him
at the time when we were first married.
He and my husband had attended a
polytechnic school Of France together
and were very great friends. After his
graduation Gen. Joffre entered 1e
Genif,' the highest regiment. of army
engineers in France.
HE rose rapidly, and at the time I
knew him best he was q captain. He
was born in the south Of France Of
rather poor parents, but worked SO
earnestly that he scarcely needed in
fiuence to gain his promotion. He was
always a very silent man and not fond
Of society. I have frequently seen him
sit before our fire after dinner and
smoke without saying anything for
half an hour. He was, though. by no
means an unattractive man. I have
never seen kindlier or more fascinat-
ing eyes than his, and while he was
not very tall. he was good blocking.
AT the age Of forty-f1ve he was still
unmarried. I remember receiving a
rather humorous letter from him at
that time. He declared that though
he had several love affairs his unmar-
ried state caused him no unhappiness.
for his whole heart was In his work.
He has since been married to a Paris
ian woman. We little dreamed at the
time when he was a young man and
became the godfather Of Georgette
what the future held in store"
Evening star., 1915-08-08
BOOKS RECEIVED

THE CHRYSALIS. BY Logan P. Martin,
federal prisoner. Atlanta: J. j.
O'Donnell
PEACE SONNETS. BY Jessie Wiseman
Gibbs. Villisca, Iowa: Published oy
the author.
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE KAISER; /;
A study Of His Sentiments and His
Obsessi0n. BY Morton Prince. Bos-
ton: Richard G. Badger.
THE CALL FOR FATHERS. BY James
Russell Price. NJ. D.. Phi. d. Chicago
Wye Publishing House.
THE CREED OF THE OLD SOUTH.
1s85-1015. BY Basil l.. Gildersleeve.
Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press -.
THE REAL ROUND-THE WORLD
POCKET GUIDEBOOK; For Europe,
Canada, the United States, etc. With
Maps and Elaborate Index. By Will
liam Harman Black, author of The
Real United States" etc New
York: Association for New York.
NATION OF NATIONS, The Way to
Permanent Peace. A Supreme C0nsti-
tuition for the Government Of Gov
ernments. BY Alfred Owen CroZier,
financial author, novelist. etc. Gin
cinnati: Stewart & Kidd Company.
IN A FRENCH HOSPITAL; Notes Of n
Nurse. BY NJ. Eydoux-Demians
Translated by Betty Yeomans. New
York: Duffield & Co.
Evening star., 1915-08-08

: be able to pick out with field glasses
man a mile distant, adjust the sights
of his Lee Enfield and put that distant
speck of humanity out of commission
than that he must be of the stuff that
can stand being potted at hour after
hour all day long; that can hear the
vicious whine Of some distant sniper's
place. each bullet buzzing by a little
| nearer his ear. and not quit.
The sniper takes a position usually
somewhere back of the trenches, in
any spot that looks like a good bit of
| cover. At various times it is a ruined
farmhouse. stone-rimmed well, a
clump of bushes, a rock or a tree. His
first efforts are directed at making
himself as nearly invisible as pos
sible to the powerful lenses of hostile
field glasses and telescopes. Then he
tries to locate the German sniper whose
periodical shots have been annoying
him or the men in the trenches near at
hand.
*
All sorts of tricks and wiles are
practiced by these solitary marksmen
on both sides. A Scotch sharpshooter
told me recently Of an experience he
had-a sort of day-long duel with a
German expert. The Scot had es-
conced himself in a clump OF gorse
bushes on a hillside well back Of the
English trenches. He had made him
self thick wreath Of gorse leaves and
, blossoms for his head and wound a
chain Of green leaves about his rifle
barrel. He felt himself practically in
visible, but after an hour some German
sniper must have spotted him or sus-
pected his presence in that clump, of
bushes, for shot after shot popped in
the distance and bullet after bullet
pinged through the gorse searching
out the Scots hide.
For nearly an hour the Scot tried to
locate that lone German marksman.
At last he glimpsed something through
his glasses in tall poplar tree three
quarters of a mile away. Careful To-
cusing of the glasses brought into
Evening star., 1915-08-08

ss:s q ssr @s 'ss
w en- Of France have marched
into battle. To preserve life rather
than to take it, to care for the wounded
and provide necessities for the men in
the trenches is their mode Of fighting.
Recently their work has grown to even
greater dimensions, and Frenchwomen
|have gathered together from all parts
Of the world to care for the most pitiful
of men, the blind soldiers.
With her only interests those Of
France, Georgette Passedoit gave up a
musical career in New York city to join
the women starting for Paris and the
work AMONG the blind. That she is a
French girl would have been SUFFICIENT
cause to send her to the aid of her
country. but that she is the goddaugh-
ter of Gen. Joffre made her sacrifice the
only natural course.
Her whole heart is bound up in the
work." said her mother, who is now
visiting Mrs. Maude A. Malcolm Of
Chevy Chase, Md. when word came
of the need for women to care for the
blind soldiers Georgette began to at
tend a school where the method Of in
structing the blind to read was
make bandages and to care for the
wounded. But her great aim and that
of the other women" continued Mrs.
Passedoit, "is to put new courage into
the hearts of the soldiers and to teach
them to do something useful with their
hands. Strong men are left as help
less and almost entirely shut OF from
the world until they learn that through
their fingers they can wrok again for
their country.
'"The number of blind soldiers is
rapidly increasing and the problem of
housing them is becoming a serious
one. Georgette writes me that she is
trying to secure the houses Of some of
our old friends to use as homes for the
soldiers. One very beautiful chateau
has been promised by it's owner. an old
man. His sons are in the army and his
wife and daughter helping in the Red
Cross work. He himself is carrying
mail, for there is work for every
Frenchman."
When questioned as to whether she
feared for her daughters safety, Nine.
Passedoit replied that even if it were
necessary her daughter encounter dan
ger she would send her willingly.
Evening star., 1915-08-08
Mumbling in Education.
From the Columbus journal.


The youngsters did nobly at their, b &
spelling bee last Friday, but there was
one little shortcoming that should not
pass unnotic.ed, and that was the artic-
uIation. Some of the contestants spoke o
out clearly, every letter and word bear
ing evidence of spirit, while many num-
bled their letters and their words. We
think that enunciation IS quite as i'm
portant as spelling. 1t has more to do
with character. A person Of negative
character is apt to humble and speak
fndistinctly, while one of clear ideas and
positive life will utter his words clearly.
1t is the spirit in which thing is done.
in spelling as well. as in everything else.
that is the educatiye element. A lazy.
Indifferent. mumbly attitude in any Of
the studies is a debilitative experieuce
The spirit is as essential a part Of edu-
cation as faith IL OF religion. A process
that encourages staguancy In educa tion
Is as depraved as deceit. There 70 not
much hope for the best speiier In the
world who mumbles his words.
Evening star., 1915-08-08
THE ONE, WHO FIGHTS AGAINST MANY

+, view a lumpy spot in that tree that
had no business there. With utmost
care he figured the range, adjusted the
telescope sight and began to pick away
at that lump half hidden in the foliage
of the distant poplar.
But his fire seemed to have no effect
The German sniper replied as steadily
as ever. Again the Scot examined that
glasses. This time he could see dis
tinctly a mans coat and cap. It must
be the sniper. he thought. and returned
to his business Of trying to dislodge the
German. Then he noticed that the
enemy's fire was getting louder with
| each shot.
Through his glasses he swept the
fields in vain until suddenly his eye
caught the movement of a small bush
about half mile away. There was no
wind and the bush had no reason to
move. Watching 1t a moment the Scot
saw the bush slowly advancing over
the. field, which was knee deep with
grass and daisies.
II kenned had him then." said the
Highlander.
Two shots aimed at the base of the
advancing bush and a figure leaped to
! its feet. waved a rifle and collapsed.
Looking at the silenced sniper through
his glasses the Scot saw that he was
coat and cap in the tree to hold the
Brittsher's fire while he transformed
himself into bush and crept forward a
quarter Of mile to get a better shot
at his enemy.
X X
Incidents like this are common ex-
periences among the snipers. 1 have
had them tell me scores of such hap
penings in their daily work. AS rule
the sharpshooter, at least with the
British army, Is inclined to boast of
his prowess. Tall indeed are the tales
of Workmanship one may hear when
two or three of these rife experts get
together in. camp canteen. Nor are
rivals credit for marvellous bits of
shooting.
Some of them beggars can shoot
like the old Harry himself" sharp
THE other day stuck myself behind
a big rock which lay to one side and
little back of a ruined stone building.
The wall Of tho building ran on
fire. One Of them German biokes
spotted mo behind that rock and kept
peppering at me so fast I had to keep
my head down: He Clipped my rock
for while and then changed his fire
and began shooting at the stone house.
II could hear the bullets pecking away
at the stone wall and then ricochet
of with a. big 'zow-wee-ee.' Then one
Of them comes whanging from that
wall plump against my rifle barrel and
off again. Before knew what he was
up to another follows 1t, and zips from
that wall right past my head, spinning
over and over and singing loud and
horrible. Then know what's up. That
beggar was actually firing billiard
shots at me, making 'em carom of that
wall and jump behind my rock. Did I
move from that rock? Not half That's
what I call real shooting"
Copyright 1915. BY the Wheeler Syndicate. 1nc.)
Evening star., 1915-08-08

of woodland and a bridged brook. The
other said it happened just there.
Bad spot, that" said the questioner.
~ had tire trouble there about a month
had to take my bike into the woods to
work on it,
YES" said the one who had broached
the subject, they've got the range of
that road now. It's shortcut from
Givenchy southwest, but bad place II
anything goes wrong with your bike. I
was hitting it up. rather. Must have
been going seventy-hve. Bullet cut
clean through my front tire. Almost
had rotten cropper. Couldn't repair
her. Had to drive her along on the
rim, ten miles an hour, in full sight OF
the Germans, until 1 got across that
bridge. Look at that
He tossed his wallet on the table. A
bullet had plowed through it lengthwise,
spelling the isinglass and the map.
II never use that road any more"
said another. Mate o. mine-you re-
member Atkinson Of Surrey-killed
there last month. Shell took his head
off without knocking him off his bike.
dumped poor Billy's carcass In the
brook. I was washing In the brook
when the bike and body Topped in.
When ] found it was Billy-from his
fed up with that short cut-always go
around by the west road now
These quiet young chaps. with their
modest way of doing dangerous and
important things, impressed me as be-
ing about the finest lot in the whole
rank and file of the British army.
Theirs is not butchers work. They
don't have to fight. But they have to
take many a desperate chance and the
safety of some regiment or brigade Of
fighting men in the trenches often de-
pends upon how swiftly and truly one
of these motor cycle dispatch bearers
can run the gantlet of the enemys fire.
fire.
The sniper is Of different mold al
together. His first qualification is. OF
course, Workmanship of more than
ordinary caliber. He must be able not
only to hit anything he can see at
point blank range, but SO skilled as to
Evening star., 1915-08-08
WEEDS CLAIMED TO HAVE,
AN ECONOMIC VALUE
T this season when tho weeds

a T this season, when the weeds are
IN rank and troublesome, denuncia.
g u tion OF them is common, but
they have their friends among men, and
The Star man recently met one Of these
strange men who spoke Of weeds in q
friendly tone and appeared to think
them as not SO black, or green, as they
are painted. He carried an armful OF
Towering weeds-Queen AIMS lace. its
blossoms and its foliage: yarrow that
was pink and white. daisies white and
yellow, and daisies whose rays were
yellow and whose discs were brown
Perhaps he had some other blooming
things in the bundle. but he was talk
ing, and what he was saying was that
the weeds of one time are the culti-
waited flowers and the garden vegeta-
bles of another time.
Some Of our descendants may be
wearing as flowers those things we
now despise as weeds. They will. OF
haps II you could see them you might
not recognize them. They will be on
exhibition and for sale in florists shops
II they have such places in the far fu-
ture Some Of the weeds we now shun
under the possibility that they are
poison will be on sale in the market
places and proud people may be buying
them.
fields have a future and useful fu-
ture" the strange man was saying. l
remember when the. tomato was only
an ornamental plant and Its fruit was
not considered edible. 1t was believed
to be noxlous. 1t was not very many
years before that when the tomato was
wild plant, and many Of its relatives are
wild weeds still.
"AlI the green and growing things
we eat have wild relations. and the first
of these plants to occur to me Is the
yellow dock, which you see in nearly
every waste place about the city, and
which ts widely scattered around the
country. It is a very common weed
SO common that most persons have
never noticed it and only comparative
is close kin to the pieplant or rhubarb
Most persons do not know that the
green bramble, which climbs so many
trees, stumps and old fences, is a near
smilax, or that the humble and common
chickweed, with its small and unpre-
tentious white flowers, is really pinK.
''The attention of q number of the In
telligent and scientific servants of the
government has been turned to weeds
and that a great many weeds are now
DISTINGUISHED as useful weeds" That
IL . marked advance, for a generation
OF 80 ago no farmer could be induced
to consider any weed as useful. They
were all pests and At only to be pulled
up or plowed under. Some weeds have
been discovered to have a usefulness as
soil reviewers and as food for man and
beast. and weeds have been found that
have preserved the fertility of untold
thousands of acres, which had it not
been for those weeds would today be
Evening star., 1915-08-08

useless for purposes Of agriculture.
Farmers have shown base ingrati-
under. have burned them and have
sought by every known means to ex-
terminate them, but they will not be
exterminated. If the weed does not
want to be exterminated. 1t cannot be
done. Most weeds have marked
strength of character and of root. Some
bring potash into the soil, some bring
lime and others bring nitrogen and
phosphorus. taking these valuable
things out of the atmosphere and
that they may feed plants which men
and beasts have already learned to eat.
These plants may be tough old Of
tenders in a way outlaws Of hus-
bandry-but some Of them have dug
deeper into the land than a plowshare
strikes. and have brought up minerals
and made them available for plant food,
thus enriching the land.
$50 many bandits of the garden and
field have turned out to be useful plant
nouncing any of these wild things as
useless. even though some of them. in
the light of our present understanding g
of them, appear to be worthless and
noxious.
4
In this country are many species of
clover. blue grass, grammas. mesquite
grasses. lupines. beans. vetches, beg
gar weeds. rye and bronze grasses,
once considered weeds, that are now
growing industriousiy to help sustain
the life Of the world.
'"The list Of meadow. pasture. wood
land and swamp grasses that are valu-
able, but which once were weeds, is a
long one.
Many Of the present wild or weed
grasses have been put to work bind
ing the soil. which, because Of its sandy
nature, shifts with the wind; some are
in use for making twine or paper or
fiber. some in making mats and hats,
and some in reclaiming fields sterile
by reason of having been stripped Of
the top soil.
"At this time of year the American
city owes a good deal even to chicory,
burdock. mellilotus. pigweed, ragweed,
cocklebur. milk thistle and the like, be-
cause. while they are growing on va
cant lots they tend to purify the air,
for in cities people and their indus
tries are continually robbing the air of
it's oxygen and charging it with car
bonic gas. Growing plants of what
ever kind, and weeds especially. re-
themselves the carbonic acid gas and
various other Injurious gases and CIV
ing out oxygen in return.
"Of course. it is to be said against
them that when they stop growing they
cease purifying the air and in decaying
tend to pollute it. They also harbor.
where they grow in dense masses, as
on back lots and in back yards, injuri-
Gus insects and fungus and bacterial
diseases, which later may be COM
municated to cultivated plants. Where
rank they keep the soil damp for long
periods and make it sour. But we eco
nomic botanists have learned many
things from and about weeds and we
are still learning.