davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1915-12-15
is RENT TOO HIGH?

An Alton man who owns a farm
near town has been offered IS per
acre rent and says he can not af-
ford to rent it for that. On the face
of things So per acre looks like big
rental, but it really isn't, that is,
from the owners viewpoint. This A.
ton man in question owns 190-acre
farm and he can get $3.50 per acre
for it any day If he sells, the farm
will bring him s47,500. and he ought
to have no trouble placing this mo-
ney at per cent, which means an
annual income of $2,375. If he rents
the farm at IS per acre the gross in
come will be $15,52O per year, but
of this sum he is compelled to pay
$3.50 for taxes, 5000 for upkeep and
$50 for insurance. total of $44O
per year, which leaves his net in
come per year S1,0S0, which means
that his land will bring him IA per
cent on its value. If man had S47,-
500 to invest he could place the mo-
ney in banks and with the interest
rent twice as many acres as his mo-
ney would buy. When you reduce
rentals to figures in this way, it fore
tells change in farming. Land like
everything else must bring just re-
turns. Some day they will pay SIS
to $40 per acre rent for Sioux county
land, which simply means that We
will learn to produce twice as much
per acre as We produce now.-Ex.
Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1915-12-15
Twelve Per Cent Interest.

That some of the Iowa national
banks are among those which HAY e
been offending in the matter of eX-
cessive interest rates was s ated by
Comptroller of the Currency, John
Shelton Williams Friday. He men
tions seven banks in Iowa that have
recently been charging on some
loans II per cent or more He does
not make public the names of the
banks.
He gives a list of the banks which
have charged excessive rates, show
ing that 1900 national banks in
forty-one states were charging as
late as Sept. of this year, II per
cent or more and in numerous cases
more than go per cent. 1t is due ,
the Iowa banks, however, to say that
they make a much better showing
than those of some states. Oklahoma
with 2S7 and Texas With 16S are the
worst offenders, South Dakota banks
are not slow to offend and no less
than fortv-eight are listed there
Des Moines Register and Leader.
Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1915-12-15
AUTO RUNS WITHOUT GAS.
Provided the Following Story Is Not
,.-.-..a All Hot Air.

After working ten years on an au-
tomobile that instead Of drinking
gallons of gasoline and cylinder oil
is perfectly satisfied on devouring
nothing but air, Charles Cooper, an
inventor, now manufacturing a mod
ell in Davenport made the statement
yesterday afternoon that he is now
ready to startle the world with his
machine. He displayed patent pap
ers issued by the government, and
also displayed incorporation papers
for the Cooper Compressed Air Ma
cine Co., a 100000 concern. Ac-
cording to Cooper's theory, the auto
mobile will manufacture more air
than it can use and the compressed
air tank will frequently pop off"
like the boiler of locomotive. Ev-
cry jolt and jar or coasting down
hill will add compressed air to the
tank through attachments to the
springs and gears of the wheels.
Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1915-12-15
THE CHRISTMAS RUSH.
The Public Still Needs Educating on
This Question.

1t is not possible for the writer to
say anything new about the eccen-
trio and troublesome aspects of the
annual American Christmas rush.
The newspapers talk about it annu-
ally, as is their duty. The public still
needs educating on this question.
1t is national absurdity, that for
two weeks at the holiday season the
larger stores, and many of the small
ones too all over the country, should
be damned all at once with mob Of
purchasers, clerks compelled to work
under severe nervous strain. Mail
and express employees are still worse
off, laboring under severe pressure,
often for unreasonably long hours
1t is an imposition on large numbers
of hard working people and it could
very easily be avoided.
The Christmas gift habit is firmly
fixed in our customs. On the whole
it brings much happiness, particular
ly to children. It is too bad that all
occasion meant to bring joy and
peace to all should bring worry, hur-
ry, and scurry to so many.
There are good many people liz
ing from hand to mouth, who per-
hars can not spare ready cash in adj
vance and feel that they must wait
10 make purchases until the last
moment. They are the exception.
With the great majority, the failure
to anticipate their wants is mere
thOughtlessness.
People have certain lists of gifts
to make. They know they are 60
ing to make them every year. They
might just as we'll keep their eyes
open all the time to pick up appro
pirate articles as the year goes along.
But usually they let the whole mat
ter go until about 10 days before
Christmas. 1t takes some time to
consider what offerings they shall
make, Then there is one grand hur-
ry scurry Of shopping, tying up and
dispatching parcels, and the Christ
mas rush goes on year after year in
the same unreasonable way.
Kind hearted people should know
better. 1t is ungenerous to hard
working people. People with any,
cash ahead of the game should plan
and make and dispatch their pur-
chases early. in December. They
would save themselves and others
discomfort by getting the whole sub
ject out of the way in good season.
Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1915-12-15
MOVIES. AS REFORM AGENCIES.
Their Influence is Good and They
Have Come to Stay.

The chief of the excise bureau OF
Manhattan (orlginal New York City,
whose business it is to collect licens-
es for the sale of liquor, asserts that
the men of his Jurisdiction are drink
ing less. This he knows as a matter
of fact. AS matter of opinion he
ventures the belief that the moving
picture theaters are responsible for
the change, q conclusion that appears
to be reasonable.
Man demands entertainment. Moth
| ing else being at hand those who
have had no homes aside from board
| ing houses have resorted to the sa-
looms for conversation and a certain
amount of merry-making. Excessive
drinking or the forming of the hab-
its of drunkard was not in the be-
ginning the intention of frequenters
of saloons. They sought chiefly a
change of surroundings and learned
to drink more as a matter of COM
partnership than from any desire for
stimulants. This in brief accounts
for the fate of many good fellow"
who sought good fellowship and fell
by the wayside.
There is in every man a certain
amount of appreciation for the beau
tiful and the artistic, a certain long
ing for information. The art CALLER
les and the concert halls of good re-
pute were not always available to
the man of the street. The high-pric
ed theater was beyond his means,
and besides the mannerisms of play
ers personally present on the stage
tempted him at times to radical ex-
preston of pleasure or ill will.
The moving picture theater pre-
sents the play with more elaborate
settings than the average high priced
theater affords; produces in reality
scenes from mountain and plain; the
tropics and the frozen north; allows
the patron the practical benefits of
travel and places before him the work
Of the most noted actors and actress
ses, all for the possible prices of :.
cents, 10 cents or Is cents. There
is no occasion to wonder that the
veriest man of the street avails him
self of the privilege thus extended
The comment of the excise chief is
sufficient REPUTATION of the position
of alleged reformers who, in the ear
ly days of the movies not only con-
,demned them but denounced all who
saw in them anything of utility. Their
infuenceEi is good and they have come
to stay.
Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1915-12-15
"Vallhowers," Take Notice.

THE modern man is not strong
for early marriage" says common
tator in the December issue of the
Woman's Home Companion. "He
knows that it means a sentence to
hard labor for him, because he
knows what it costs to keep the mod
ern family. That's why you hear
nice, attractive but quiet girls say
they can't understand why we pass
them up for the flashy girl, the
dance-mad girl, the girl who would
doubtless make an extravagant, use
less wife. We have our play-day with
the jolly, lively girl, because she is
mighty good company for the time
being. She is not anxious to marry
and settle down any more than the
man is"
Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1915-12-15
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.

Yes, said the principal of the
young ladies' seminary to the proud
parent, you ought to be very happy,
my dear sir, to be the father of so
large a family, all the members CT
which appear to be so devoted to one
another.
Large family! Devoted! gasped the
old gentleman in amazement. What
on earth do you mean, ma am?
Why, yes, indeed, said the prin-
cipal, beaming through her glasses.
No fewer than eleven of Edith's bro
theirs have been, here this term to
take her out, and she tells me she
expects the tall one with the blue
eyes again tomorrow.
Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1915-12-15
Peace.

Peace.
What though the night be darkest,
What though the storm be wild,
When man may sit by his table
With his wife and his little child
What though the food be costly,
And the money be scarce for more:
A heart may thrill through the win
ter chill
Though the wolf sits guard at the
door.
For within there is warmth and
MghtnesS,
And over it all is love,
AS radiant CLEAN of brightness
Shines down from God above.
What though the wars are waging,
And the fields strewn with the
dead?
For the light of the lamp is glowing
On a mothers golden head.
What though the hosts are wailing,
AS they ask for the sun and moon,
When smile has place on the baby's
face,
AS he toys with his little spoon?
For the world at best is a sad old
place,
Outside of the homes bright
sphere;
Yet sorrow can have but little space,
When the Spirit of God is near!
Can it be that the seas are roaring
And the lost souls wall to the sky?
hot hn rtn Of he
groaning
While the people give up-and
die?
For the home is sweet with a bles-
sing,
In the shadow of angels wings;
All! what shall they fear? For peace
is near, with the spirit of joy it
brings.
And sweet smile the lips that were
weary,
And light is the laughter gay;
For how can the mind be dreary,
When the eyes watch a baby play?
All! what though the wind is howl
ing
Alone in it's narrow way?
In the evening time we must Danish
The cares of weary day.
And the sound of baby's laughter
And the Tilt of mothers song
Take away the tears and the needless
fears
That have haunted us all day long.
So we smile on the dear ones about
In the beautiful haven of love;
And the storms may rage; can they
rout us?
While the Master smiles from
above. S
Margaret E. Sangster.F Jr., in
Christian Herald.
Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1915-12-15
Apples.

Apples appear in the mythology OF
almost all nations and invariably as
belonging to Paradise. In the
Greek we find golden apple the
prize which Paris must award" in
the Irish it is an apple which lures
the hero away to the land of the ever
young; in Genesis we hear of the
fruit of the tree of good and evil,
which we are told was an apple, and
so on-always it is mystic fruit en-
dowed with marvellous powers. In
stern fact, it is wonderful fruit,
good for the digestion, the brain, the
complexion and containing in itself
albumen, sugar, gum, malic acid,
gallo acid, fibre, water and phospaor-
us, a veritable food for the gods,
bringing us all to the land of the ever
young!
Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1915-12-15
To Reduce.

Tobreduce your weight would ad-
wise you to go without your break
fast, and bytthis l mean to take abb
solutely nothing either liquid or solid
until one p. M. Then eat only light
lunch. Let your chief meal be six
or seven o'clock dinner. Drink no u
guilds with your meals. Eat tr7sted
bread only and no potatoes peets,
peas, beans or corn. Take long brisk
walk each morning and do not sit
down. r half hour after dinner,
says one who has tried. SO,
Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1915-12-15

special feed during the month, sub
sisting largely on grass.
Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1915-12-15
Holiday Neckwear

of the best grade and the newest de-
signs at soc. BEARS
Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1915-12-15
PULMOTOR SAVES A BABY.
Child Born Apparently Lifeless Is
Made to Breathe.

Fort Madison, Ia, Dec. 13.-The
pulmotor, recently purchased by the
city, was put to its first use last
evening and a day-old-baby at the
Sacred Heart hospital owes its life to
the mechanical respirator. The child
was the son of Mr.. and Mrs Floyd
Gehle of Denmark, Ia, and it was
born apparently lifeless. After re-
peated and vain efforts on the part OF
the hospital physicians the pulmol OF
was used. The child breathed and
doctors now say it has an even
chance for living.
Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1915-12-15

It's funny how hard up a man feels
after paying his taxes. The man who
has paid 1893 into the county ex-
chequer considers that sufficient ex-
cuse for standing off all his credi'
tors for two months.
Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1915-12-15

milk during one month. Mr.. Flana-
CAMS remarkable cow is a full blood
ed registered Jersey and weighs S25
pounds.
During the month of November
the COW gave 915 pounds of milk, an
average of more than 80 pounds
daily. The milk tested 5 u per cent
butter fat The COW was given no
Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1915-12-15
Evidence.

A Kansas farmer, returning
home late at night, saw light NOV
ing about the farmyard. When he in
vestigated he found a neighbor's
carrying lantern.
What are you doing here?" de-
manded the farmer.
"Courtin', SIR"
"Courtin'? Courtin' with 4 liant
ern? Huh, you fool. never fused 3
lantern when went courtin'?"
mo. sIr,-=repiied the-farmhand as
he msyed oe--=@we can all see 20"
didaxf s@~g Il"
Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1915-12-15
IoAwN HAS REMARKABLE COW
Jersey Gives More Than Weight il
Milk During Month.

Knoxville, Ia, Dec. 13.-Jonah E.
Flanagan, well known resident of
Pleasantville, this county, has a COW
that gave more than her weight in
Mansfield mirror. (Mansfield, Wright County, Mo.) 1908-1957, 1915-09-02

feet, though he did awake drowsily
later on at the sound of voices in the
aisle, awoke to realize vaguely that
his two table companions of the Hotel
Chouteau cafe were to be his fellow
travellers in the Pullman.
The train was made up ready to
leave, and the locomotive was filling
the great train shed with stertorous
hissings, when a red-faced nan slipped
through the gates to saunter over to
the Pullman and to peek inquisitively
at the porter.
Much of a load tonight, George?"
"No, sab; mighty light; four young
ladies goin' up to de school in Fari-
bault, Mistah Grierson and his daugh-
ter. and a gentleman from de Chou
teau."
"A gentleman from the Chouteau?
When did he come down."
The porter knew the calling Of the
red.faced man only by intuition; but
Griswold's tip was warming in his
pocket and he lied at random and on
general principles.
Been heah all de %evenin'; come
down right early afte' suppeh, and
went to bald like he was sick or tarr'd
or somethin'."
"Wha sort of a looking man is he?"
Little, smooth-faced, narr.chisted
gentleman; look like he might be"
But the train was moving out and
the red-faced man had turned away.
Whereupon the porter broke his smile
in the midst, picked up his carpet,
covered step and climbed aboard.
Mansfield mirror. (Mansfield, Wright County, Mo.) 1908-1957, 1915-09-02
GOOD
TO MAKE SMOOTH ROAD BEDS
Put Soil on In Layers, Not In Piles
Best Tool for Road Improve.
ment is SpIltlog Drag.

The making of a smooth roadbed
requires that when the soil is put on,
it be laid in layerL and not in piles.
When dumped in piler some places
will be more packed than others n
there will likely be a difference in the
density, while IL laid on in layers this
will be avoided. Each layer should be
narrowed, or better yet, disked and
packed before the next one is laid
down. b.
In this way a good roadbed is Sc
cured from the first, while II the soil
is just dumped on the road to be
leveled and packed by the traffic over
the road a good roadbed will never be
secured.
The best tool for keeping the road
well crowned and the surface smooth
is the splitlog drag. This tool should
be used soon after a rain. The soil
is then loose and easily moved. The
drag moves but small amounts Of soil
and smears 1t. on the roadbed In thin
layers, which is just what is wanted.
1t cuts off any projections and fills
any low places.
Mansfield mirror. (Mansfield, Wright County, Mo.) 1908-1957, 1915-09-02

Nose, anywhere. sind him back M
tell him I'll see that he gets real
money fr helping US unload. OF with
ye, now, whilst they're catching up
with yer runaway cab"
Griswold went leisurely, as befitted
his theory, and upon reaching the lev
ee, turned aside among the freight
pyramids in search Of his confede-
rate. Now that there was time to
recall the facts he feared that the
negro had been taken. He had Sc
cured but a few yards start In the
a and his pursuer was a white
man, able to back speed with intelli-
gence. Griswold had a sickening fit
Of despair when he contemplated the
possibility of failure with the goal al
most In sight; and the reaction. when
he stumbled upon the negro skulking
in the shadows of a lumber cargo. was
sharp enough to make him faint and
dizzy.
The negro did not recognize him at
frst and was about to run away, when
Griswold shook of the benumbing
weakness and called out.
TANK de good Lawd! is dat you.
ill, Cap'm Gravitt? rs dat shuck up
] couldn't recognize my oil nanny!
TEX dishyer ~cunjab-bag o. yourn 10
I gwfne drap hit. Hits des been
bu'nin' my hans ev' sense ] done TUX
out wild I'll"
Mansfield mirror. (Mansfield, Wright County, Mo.) 1908-1957, 1915-09-02

matters, but I am going to try to make
up for it in the future. I'm sorry you
couldn't come to us last evening.
Please tell your mother and sister
that I do hope we'll meet. sometime.
l should so dearly love to know them.
Thank you so much for everything.
Good-by."
Raymer watched her as she drove
away, noted her skillful handling OF
the fiery Kentuckian and her straight
seat in the flying cutter, and the smile
which a day or two earlier might have
been mildly satirical was now openly
a%pprobative.
"She is a shrewd little strategist,"
was his comment; but all the same
she is a mighty pretty girl, and as
good and sensible as she is shrewd.
| wonder why mother and Gertrude
haven't called on herr"
Having thus mined the Raymer out
works, Miss Grierson next turned her
batteries upon the Farnhams. They
were M~ethodists. and having learned
that the doctors hobby was a strug-
Cling mission work in Pottery Flat,
Margery called the paternal check
book again into service. and the cut
ter drew up before the doctors office
in Main street.
CTo BE CoNTINUED)
Mansfield mirror. (Mansfield, Wright County, Mo.) 1908-1957, 1915-09-02
CHAPTER Viii.
Griswold Emergent.

Half an hour or such a matter after
the hue-and-cry runaway from the
curb in front of the saloon two doors
above, Mr.. Abram Sonneschein, dealer
in secondhand clothing and sweat
shop bargains, saw a possible GUS
toner drifting across the street, and
made ready the graphing hooks of
commercial enterprise.
There was little suggestion of the
tramp roustabout, and still less, per-
haps, of the gentleman, about the per-
son who presently emerged from the
%Sonneschein emporium. A square far.
Their on he selected a BARRIERS shop of
clearly promise. An hour later, reach
ing the retail district, he strolled past
many brilliantly lighted shops until
he found one exactly to his liking. A
courteous salesman caught him up at
the door, and led the way to the des-
ignated departments.
BY this time Mr.. Sonneschein's hes
liant and countrifed customer had I'M
dergone a complete metamorphosis.
No longer reluctant and hard to
please, he passed rapidly from coun-
ter to counter, making his selections
with manlike celebrity and certainty
and bargaining not at all. When he
was quite through. there was enough
to furnish a generous travelling ward
robe; a head-to-foot change of gar
.nA-tn-a pstth n GtIrn1na m I'll fUn
lordly suitcases; so he bought the
suitcases also, and had them taken
with his other purchases to the dress
ing room.
All traces OF the deck.hand Gavitt,
and of the Sonneschein planter-cus'
toner having been o~bliterated, there
remained only the paying Of his bill
and the summoning Of a cab. Oddly
enough. the cab, when 1t came, proved
to be a four.wheeler driven by a little,
wizen-faced mar whose thin, high
pitched voice was singularly familiar.
THE Hotel Chouteau?-yis, SORT
VIII yoa Place hand me thin grips!
I can't lave me harrses."
The drivers excuse instantly tied
the knot Of recognition, and the man
who had Just crema:ed his former
Identities swore softly.
All things considered. 1t was the
Griswold Of the college-graduate days
the days OF the slender patrimony
which had capitalized the literary be
ginning-who presented himself al
the counter OF the Hotel Chouteau al
half-past nine o'clock on the evening
OF the Belle jules arrival at st. Louis
wrote his name in the guest-book and
Mansfield mirror. (Mansfield, Wright County, Mo.) 1908-1957, 1915-09-02
BETTER ROADS IN MISSOURI
Movement Has Passed Boom Stage
and Become Fixed PoIicy-Good
Advertisement for State.

When the public roads bureau OF
the department Of agriculture made
its study Of roads covering a period
which ended in 1918, Missouri did not
figure among the leading states either
in its mileage of improved roads or
in progress made in road building,
while some of the southern states
with smaller in a financial
way showed striking evidences OF
progress, says Farm Progress. They
had been building cheap.roads of such
materials as we're Immediately at
hand, and that is what Missouri Is
doing today with such energy and en-
thusiasm that the next survey of the
road situation is sure to tell a differ
ent story. This will be a good thing
for state pride and as a state adver-
tisement, but vastly more significant
is the direct benefit derivable from
roads that can be %traversed at all sea-
sons with full loads. Every good road
that is built today and tomorrow and
every road that is improved will go
to make Missouri a better state in