davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The day book. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1911-1917, 1915-01-25
THEIR THOUGHTS. :
There are

many minds at work continually.
There are many minds that never
produce a good useful thought.
Should a valuable suggestion come
to some human beings they fail to
register, and ere they realize it was
a good and beneficial thought it has
passed on, and do what we may we
are unable to recall it. I am surely
going to educate myself on how to
think; and when l. say think I mean
think. Think things that are worth
while. Think big things. Think
good things. Get the best there is.
It is yours. Don't let the other fell
low run away from you. Be big. Be
strong. Be good. Be one that reg
listers. Don't be a follower. Moth
ing in it, Haven't you tried it long
enough? Get on the job. Stick to
the job. Be a winner. The world
loves a winner.-W. n. Arthur.
The day book. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1911-1917, 1915-01-25
A 1915 PLATFORM

Longer intermissions between
dances.
More straps for our standing army.
No nutmeg in apple pie. = New
York Tribune.
Hope never ceases. Billy Sunday
has again been invited to Christian
ize New York.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-08-04
A Military Heresy.

State militia efficiency promises 10
be the topic Of keenest interest under
discussion at the annual Governors
conference which opens In Boston
on August "a. Mr.. NJ. q. RILEY.
secretary Of the conference, says that
nearly all OF the forty.eight Gov
ernors consulted as to the programme
suggested some phase OF this question
as desirable for debate.
This Is excellent. The more en-.
lightenment the Governors can get
on this important subject the better.
II the illumination could even be ex-
tended to some Of the darker re-
cesses Of the State legislative mind
that too might be desirable. Always,
OF course, provided that the illumlna-
ton be of the right kind. And there
Is one sentence in Mr.. RILEy's re-
marks which strongly suggests the
ACCESSIBILITY Of rigid scrutiny in this
last named particular. "a number
Of the Governors thought" he said.
that II every young man Is subject
under the law to be called on for
military duty such training should be
provided as will At him to perform
that service well.
No matter how cautiously the scab-
bard may be gripped, the sword of
militarism rattles In this plausible
sentence. Made At by training for
military service. indeed! And what.
pray. Is to become Of those count.
less millions Of Americans who
on the word Of the most remarkable
Colonel ever photographed in uni
form are to respond in t~wenty-four
hours to their country's call? They
will not be trained; they will not be
armed. They do not have to be.
They respond, that's all. The enemy
does the rest.
The American soldier Is evolved
overnight. not made by weary months
OF training. SO are his arms. equip
ments and necessary vast stores Of
munitions. II the Governors are
really launching a preliminary heresy
in contravention Of this fundamental
article Of pacifst faith. we may as
well make up our minds to expect al
most anything when once they get
together in conference assembled.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-08-04
MORE ABOUT HEDGEHOGS.
And q Story About Mrs. Cow Black
bird,

To II EDITOR OF THE SuN-Sir: The
recent discussion On hedgehogs has in
terested me. Writers OF natural his
tory have had a way Of asserting that
the porcuplne or hedgehog canno, shoot
his quilts. This merely means. take
II, that the writer's have not seen him
90 II. Like Mr.. lame owen Of Tucha-
noe. y Y, | have often heard that the
Canadian ~pOrcupIne or hedgehog. such as
= bred in Vermont, under State subsidy
called a bounty. could shoot quilts. and
the mere assertion TO the contrary by
one OF these natural historians would
not make me doubt the hedgehug's abl-
!ty to do so.
So good an authority as Zadock
Thompson, whose "Thompson's YER
mon,' used 10 be a text book for well
bred Vermont boys. had the temer.ty
10 say ~ the hedgehog that the vul-
gar notion that this animal has the
power Of projecting or shooting his aullls
az his assailant Is without a shadow of
foundation" In the same article he
said that the hedgehog was n solitary"
animal vet | once saw eight hedsehogs
on the roosts OF what had been
a henhouse In an abandoned lumber
camp on the east side Of Glastonbury
Mountain. Bennington county. Vermont.
Falsus in uno falsus in omnibus.
l mad my experience will the real
nature takers years ago when I coll
.ected birds eggs. The writer's OF nat
ural history, especially II they had the
manner Of the learned and wanted TO
slap their contemporaries or predeces-
sors, used 10 say II Mrs. COW Rlackhird
that after laying her egg in a vireo's
nest She would never remove one of the
vireo's eggs to make the score correct,
or FOR any other purpose. knew Of a
vireo's nest on a young sugar maple
near the west boundary Of Edwin w.
Stoughton's property in the village OF
Windsor. VT. I was shadowing that nest
with a view u future robbery thereof.
one day | saw sitting on the nest a bird
larger than a vireo. Presently the bird
came off the nest, perched herself on lis
edge or a near WIG. thrust her head
deep into the nest and lifted on or In her
heak an egg, This egg she let fall TO
the ground and few away.
Climbing a picket fence I trespassed
on Mr., Stoughton's land and found be-
meath the sugar maple a vireo's egg
strictly fresh. with a hole punctured on
the side and the contents running out.
! then climbed the tree and found in
the nest the egg OF a COW hlackb.rd
with an egg or eggs OF the vireo. To
all these facts ! am ready to make atfi-
davit at any time during office hours.
NEW YORK, August .. W,
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-08-04
III CITIZENS DUTY.


To THE EDITOR or THE SUN-Sir. Mr..
Eugene Lombard strikes a true note in
his letter published in THE SUN, and the
Indignation he expresses against the
~pusillanlmous poltroons and self-seek-
ing grafters who are doing all in their
power to "~chinafy," as Colonel Roose-
welt so aptly expressed 1t, this country
Will find such an echo In the hearts OF
his countrymen that the poltroons and
grafters will ere long be glad to crawl
into some lonesome. dark secluded hole,
and pull the hole in after them.
1t seems a pity that the laws cannot
be suspended long enough to convert
some of these anamic gentry into PEN
dants for lamp posts. Becker was exc
cuted for being an accessory before the
fact to the murder OF an undesirable
citizen, yet these walk abroad at full
liberty while they are potentially ac-
~cessories before the fact to the murder
Of an entire nation.
1t Is to be regretted that Mr.. Lom-
bard has made one slip In his other
wise excellent letter in that he says
80 no anti-enllstmcnt pledge a hold"
This would apply only under actual
war conditions, but as enlistments are
necessary to keep our skeleton army
even up to It's very small peace strength.
thereby furnishing military training for
future contingencies, the youth OF the
country. misled by the speclous senti-
ments OF these supposed ervants Of
God, may refuse to enlist. and herein
lies the great danger. III more men
OF military training there are when
trouble comes. and all past experience
shows that 1t Is tho unexpected which
happens, and that very suddenly, the bet
ter nucleus will we have for a success
ful defence. IL II. McCoRD.
BROOKLYN, August 8.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-08-04
The Attack With Gas.

So much has been written about the
efficiency OF as~phyxiating gases on
the modern battlefield that II will sur.
prise a good many Mortified people to
learn, on the authority of Professor
VIVIAN ii. LEwEs, a British expert,
that n gas attack Is futile unless the
enemy against whom 1t has been
launched Is taken by surprise. For
that reason Professor LEwEs urges his
countrymen not Ia retaliate against
the Germans, as they are quite pre-
pared to cope with such gases d.
rected against themselves. Soak a
strip OF flannel In Il solution of ordi.
nary washing soda, says the professor,
pad the mouth with 1t and there will
be no danger Of succumblng to the
chlorine cloud. Nor Is it worth while
trying to asphyXlate the enemy unless
the gas a be generated in a plant
provided with mains and pipes from
which 1t can be liberated without So
lldihcation, since the temperature Of
the chlorine must be low.
Chlorine as a weapon Of war re-
Gnires a somewhat elaborate process
Of manufacture, and 1t Is therefore
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-08-04
KINGS ENGLISH"
And . Few Words on the Grewsome.
ness Of Newspaper Literature.

70 THE EDITOR OF THE SuN-Sr: TIT
SUNS reply TO a correspondent who
naiyely asks whether AN hotel is pref
| erabIs % "a" botel r,ps a. follows
".A, 49,. -. r.. =. -.
ny e'e y ..
eo" ior supuuihs the n Oh hvtei IL
Cockney fashion,"
Hearken, o Sir! to the reflections oil
an Englishman who Il, not a Cockney
A little knowIede. il n dangerous thing
and IN. ii,,,o tpouiadoa vhioh ,ha aver.
..a Am.-a.. ra.u.S 80
- pu'o e
mn ~ hairspiittihs uis''hct'ohs whien
raise a smile In the Britisher but l dlo
look for better things from THE SUN
as representing one OF the few papers
whose prose comes anywhere near the
article which we. across the Atlantic. cal
Kings English"
Now. sir. pray don't think me offensive
or discourteous. for | admire America
heart and sou In many things but not
her way Of handling shakespeare's
tongue, either as to orthography or
syntax. 1t Is no ~exaggeration to say
that the average American paper is
blistered with grammatical Inaccuracies.
locutions and, chiefly. errors of orthog-
raphy which In England SAVIOR OF the
servants hall this quite apart from the
topsy-turvy attempt to g%alvanize public
interest by inverting news headlines and
closing a paragraph with the phrase
which should lead off according to the
fundamental rules OF analysis.
To cover so vast a subject would GER
tainly strain the limits OF your space :
80 1 will merely ask one or two ques-
tons In addition to that Of the gem
tleman In doubt about hotel" while
assuring him that IAN hotel" not only
passes muster in England, but that it is
the form which is far more usually
adopted by the best writer's. "a" hotel
CRATES on the English ear. almost as
"a hour" would do, though the latter Is
Incorrect while the former ia not.
Now for my questions. why. In
America. II YOU drop the double conso-
nant in so many words such as "trav-
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-08-04
An Appeal on Behalf OF AviatOrs.

To HI EpIToR OF THE SUS-Sr: In
view of the likelihood Of the campaign
being continued through the autumn and
winter, | am anxious to collect the fol-
lowing articles which will be urgently
needed by the men Of the Royal Naval
Air Service n of the Royal Flying
Corps In the western war area and else
where cardigans, sweaters Iboth ur-
gently needed, flannel shirts and vests,
leathern and knitted waistcoats. hell
NETS, gloves, socks and muf,ers.
shall be most grateful for any con-
tributions, which may he sent TO me at
Langley Lodge, fIeadington Hlll, oxford,
Of articles such as the above, or of
money, which will enable me to purcha Sc
those things which seem most urgently
needed,
The high appreciation with which
"Cons!%nments OF such objects as the
above were received by u avlators dur
ing last winter emboldens me to make
this appeal to the we'll known generos-
ity OF American symrathizers.
EDITH BALrouR.
OXFORD, England. July 81.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-08-04
Blessed Sleep.

To THE EDITOR OF TIE SuN-Sir: II
Il be true, as We are told, that some
OF the younger generation Of Ir!shmen
are turning their backs on the war, It
cannot be said Of the older. as the fol-
lowing from the London Spectator
proves.
During a recent air raid the following
incident occurred. A certain workshop
was so badly shaken by a bomb close by
that all the dust accumulated on r~afters.
travelling cranes, SC, began to fan. A
cry Of Gas" was raised and a stampeds
began. But an old Irishman cried: "ld
rather be poisoned than run away from
them tcllows"' He wrapped his coat
round his head and lay down where he
was. when the scare was over and the
men returned. they found him still there,
fast asleep.
The espondent vouches for the
truth Of this.
NEW YORK, August 3. Ros MA Rec.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-08-04

whether undertaken in cooperation
with the other leading republics Of
the Western Hemisphere or pursued
upon the sole responsibility Of this
nation, the nation most closely con.
cerned, will meet with the universal
approval Of President WILSON'S fellow
citizens and bring to his Adminlstra.
ton their loyal and united support
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-08-04
II You Had a Thousand Dollars.

Economists. from practice, theory
or dire necessity, joy riders, promot-
ers, and all writer's OF moving appeals
for temporary assistance. will find in
the request of an oklahoma woman
10 Secretary WILLIAM GIBBS Mc.ADOo.
Of the Treasury Department. n model
~ directness of touch, a fertility Of
ideas and a lesson in urgent ne
cessitles. The Oklahoma woman asks
for a thousand dollars: II she gets
II she intends TO buy a cow. a Ford
automobile and a set OF false teeth.
IF money go before, all ways do
lie open" But how to spend II? The
sage advice Of all once poor boys
who grew up to employ their time
clipping coupons Is that since the
first thousand is the hardest to get"
save and invest. But a man In this
woman's State, perhaps n Of her
~neighbors, put his money into a house
and along came a cyclone and carried
its pieces into an adjoining county.
Another invested his savings In a
brick that assayed three cents Of gilt
and a penny of lead. Still another
purchased fifty-two per cent. a year
bonds just before the presidency OF
the concern was removed to the Fed
eral prison. No encouragement.
She might have bought a motor
boat and tinkered with its machinery.
She might have gone travelling and
gladdened the hearts of Pullman por-
tiers; perhaps come to New York and
with her thousand dlned and had
enough to tip the waiter. But she
would have none Of these e%nervating,
weakening frivolities.
What she asked Of fate and the
Treasury Department was a COW for
sustenance, an automobile for pleas
ure, and teeth to meet the grinding
necessities of life. BECKY SHARP
solved the problem Of living well on
nothing a year; but she confessed
that 1t was 80 easy to be good on
a few thousand pounds a year. Since
her day, though, standards have
changed, up and down the scale. Per
haps n thousand dollars Is now
enough for goodness and happiness.
If you had a thousand, how much
better would you spend 1t than would
this Oklahoma woman?
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-08-04
OUR MERCHANT MARINE.
Mr.. Marvin Explains His Book and Re.
enfOrces Its Lesson.

To THE EDITOR OF THE SUN-Sir: My
American Merchant Marine was writ
ten In 1902 with nothing further from
my thought than 10 produce an eco
nomic tNatise. The purpose was
rather to tell a straight salt water
story OF the American merchant SER
vice, Its ships, officers and men and
In this the whalers. coasters and deep
sea fishermen were necessarily included
II seemed best to devote separate chap
tiers 10 these auxiliary Interests, and
with this plan the publishers graciously
c~oncurred. Hence. doubtless. the "repe-
tttions' OF which Mr.. Mates speaks in
his letter printed Angus II was not
possible TO make the whole narrative
proceed in chronological order or to
construct a concise handbook Of the
poltico-economic aspects Of the merchant
shipping question. Indeed, those as
poets were not so imperiously command
Ing a dozen years ago as they have be-
come in the str IS OF a world war,
where even the long indifferent or hos
tile middle West has been %harpooned
into a realizing sense of the truth that
a merchant feet means as much TO Illi-
nois or Iowa as 10 Massachusetts.
Born on a New England islet and
taught to hand, reef and steer as
every lad OF my race before me. il was
the human side, the romance OF our
maritime commerce that rrst and most
appealed TO me, and | wrote the story
so. deliberately making the economic
side subordinate. Even now am not
sure that this was not the better way.
At least | make no apologies, for the
four hundred page narrative was meant
to be a narrative and not a text hook 4,
It was intent, and not error or accident.
For an actual propaganda | would have
written a different book, but there was
,~ L. 800
ity for a propaganda IN those days OF
1909. Since August /. 1914, e,-rts
have been speaking with more power
than was ever given to any pen.
WINTHROP l.. MARVIN.
BosToN, August l.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-08-04
st. Paul's Example.

To III EDITOR OF THE SUN-Sir: l
greatly desire To put on record my grail
tude for the splendid protest made by
Eugene Lombard in THE SrN against
those who advocate the surrender Of the
privileges OF our citizenship.
These propagandists "holler before
they are hurt" They invite calamity
to our shores and announce their inter-
ton in advance OF doing nothing to
alleviate the calamity when It comes.
Eugene Lombard calls them lots of be-
hitting names. ! suggest he might have
llkened them 10 ostriches, which. though
blessed with fast running legs and album
dance OF wind. refuse TO use them. pre-
ferrins to bury their heads in the sand
until led away captive.
The p~eacemakers should not forget
that 1t was Paul. who did so much for
Christianity, who wrote when Peter
was come To Antioch | withstood him
TO the face, because he was 10 b.
blamed" The world knows that when
~. Paul stood W for a high principle
II was to win or die. Let us take cour-
age. There are multitudes of such men
among us to-day, but they must get
together. n
PH~iLADELPHrA, August 3.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-08-04
~MISCHIEVOUS PACIFISM.
What the Scruples Of Lord Aberdeen
Cost England In 1884.

To II EDITOR OF THE SuN-Str: Per-
NIT me TO remind you OF this paragraph
In the twenty-second chapter o! the first
volume OF Alexander william kinglake's
Invasion OF the Crimea.' where the
historian is dealing with one Of the rea-
son;IYhS-.Iae.l.d Russia 70 ro.ee ~.
on England in 1854:
The Prime Minister'S continued pe-s's-
tency In the use OF hurtful language was
another OF the causes which sin helped
TO keep the Gar bindfoid. Lord Aber-
deem abhorred the bare thought o: war;
and he would not have suffered hi. coun-
try to be overtaken by It II the coming
danger had been OF such a kind that Il
could be warded of by hating 4; and
stunning It's aspect. But It IS not by In
temperate hatred o: war, nor yet by shln-
ming lis aspect. that war Is averted.
Almost 20 the last Lord Aberdeen mis-
guided himself. HIS loathing OF war took
such a shape that he could not and would
not believe IN T.. and when at last the
spectre was close upon him, he covered
his eyes ana refused TO see. lie
would not be reused from a dream which
was sweeter than all waking thoughts,
and even now, TO any man 10 whom no
CHANGED TO speak. he continued TO cay
that there could not. there would not be
war. Coming from a Prim. Minister such
words as these did not fan 10 have a
noxious weight with many who heard
them. Baron Brunnow, We have seen.
had looked deeper even at a much earlier
period. and now again no doubt he took
care TO warn his master that Lord Abe!-
deem was under a passionate hatred OF
war which deprived him OF his compe-
,ence to speak in the name of his country,
but by other channels the words OF our
Prime Minister were carried 10 the En-
peror Of Russia, and being very welcome
to him, and coincliing with his long cher
ished notions. they tended to keep him
In the p~erilous belief that Lord Aberdeen
was speaking with knowledge, and tina;
England. st!ll clogged by her peace party,
was unable to 60 10 war.
May not a parallel fairly be drawn
between Lord Aberdeen and Mr.. BRYAN
Substitute Kaiser for Car" Count
Bernstorff for Baron Brunnow. Germany
for Russia, and the United States for
England. f, B.
PIrTsFIELp, Mass, July 81.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-08-04
"Mr." Roosevelt,

masses. As T. II. he ruled then. A
The Colonel he began for the first
time to hold the minds Of men be.
cause OF what he might do instead of
for what he was doing. He has been
hated and loved, he has been fear red
and revered; now he is the respected
Mr.. ROOSEVELT.
IF they don't take TAFT they'll get
Me-" he snapped; and the Great Re
bellion was on. Then 1t was Arma.
seddon: no quarter, no surrender.
Republicans who were not Moose were
vermin. Now. speaking OF Progress.
sives who intend to enroll Republican.
he says mildly II think 1t has been
fine OF them to have made the great
fight. am sure they are act
Ing conscientiously . with the
purpose Of doing what they regard as
most useful to the community"
There are some, of strabismic vision,
who see a fact "a straight staff bent
In a pool" who. noting as all must
the change. refuse to believe that the
new Roosevelt Is the true Roosevelt.
They smell Br'er Wolf under the
sleeps hide.
The Progressives will march as a
party to victory. shrieks MrRpocK
of the prairies. with vision OF his own
flaming poll lighting the van. Others
may go. says Mr.. ROOSEVELT: will
stick" VICTOR. tho dream-victor.
would like 10 he thought the relncar.
nation Of TEDDY.
Mr.. ROOSEVELT has lived more lives
than a cat. and every one Of them
enough for a regiment Of ordinary
men. We believe we sea him at last
beginning to ripen with the years.
We like him better dlgnified than
strenuous: neither f!nching nor hit
ting the line hard.
The Progressive protest has done
some good, at great cost. 1t may
have, as a party platform. continuing
opportunity for useful effectiveness in
State elections. In national politics,
however, its course Is run. Who
should better know when the power
Is spent than he who gave the i'm
pulse? Mr.. ROOSEVELT knows.
Mr.. ROOSEVELT: for TEDDY Is gone.
1T. r." Is now a headline conyc.
nience. I. X. and the Big Stick are
embalmed in history TEDDY will live
long in the affectlonate memory that
turns with time into mellow, cherished
popular tradition.
Mr.. ROOSEVELT, II we are not mis-
taken. retains too much Of the
shrewdness OF his prime either TO bind
his fortunes and his fame again TO
the Progressive standard in n national
campaign or TO forfeit respect by
going back to the G. o. p. fold. Hav.
ing sat on the o~racular tripod OF
Pythian APOLLO, w expect 10 see Mr..
ROOSEVELT, with the wisdom Of his
years and experience, continuing as
the honored counsellor and foregoing
the riotous pleasures OF Big Stick.
But we reserve the privilege of
Withholding even from the Pythian
Apollo unqualified confidence.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-08-04

To rHg EDITOR ~ The SuS-Nr Carry
ing ones bank roll In the right hand
trousers pocket and watching that pocket.
as suggested by william a. Page. Is a
very excellent precaut!on, but a better way
Is to put your money in the watch pocket.
fasten the pocket at the top with a good
stout safety pin and pull your waIstcoat
down over II,
An old gentleman friend ~ min- over
90 years OF age took a trip to Florida
a few years ago and he thought out a
safety first" Idea Of carrying his reserve
funds H. placed his money on tho sole
Of his right foot, put on his sock and
shoe over II, and arrived In Florida safe
and sound, with the money where he put II,
ARLINGTON II CARAVAN.
II l.. T., August 3
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-08-04

Prominent Republican delegates to
the Constitutional Convention insisted
that President RooTs fiatfooted es-
pousal OF the reforms was prompted by
a desire 10 show the Progressiyes that
they would be welcomed back 10 the Re-
publican party.-Albany despatch.
Is there no space at the Constitu-
uonal Convention for a "sawdust
trail'? Already. IN our minds AR We
hear the stirring old revival hymn:
u was a wandering Moose,
! did not love the fold
did not heed the Grand Old voice,
! would not be controlled