davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Washington times., 1916-07-31

fever; and vice versa. Why not
some measure of sympathy and un-
derstanding for the people who
sneeze and suffer through August,
as well as for those who can't cross
Lake Erie without acute agony?
Hay fever is like a good many
other disorders that could be to some
extent controlled by proper sanitary
administration. Just as the flies and
the garbage must be attended to, SO
must the weeds. The reason why so
many people suffer from hay fever
in cities and towns, is that the
pollen-spreading plants that flourish
there are Of especially noxious and
obnoxious sorts; weeds that make
trouble every time their pollen is
breathed into the sensitive nostrils.
They could and should be removed.
Even WASHINGTON contains alto
gether too many neiehborhoods in
which weeds grow and mature and
blossom and send forth their pollen
on the air, to wreak vengeance on the
miserable victims. They could be
kept down, and there is enough au-
thority in the administrative bodies
to accomplish it. II only it were
used.
Why not place the weed problem
in the hands of a commission. Of au-
thenticated hay-fever sufferers? Let
them be emeritus members Of the
National Hay Fever Association, and
give them advisory authority-with-
out pay-to look after patches Of
undesirable vegetation. They would
have the, ardor of the zealot, and
would stretch their authority in the
right direction.
The Washington times., 1916-07-31
With Due Credit

Sometimes We wake up with start to
think We amt so doggone smart as
what we sometimes think we are. We
know enough to take the car when July
days have grown too hot for walking.
and we NOW our lot Of Its green whisk-
ers most as good as what q colored fell
Ter could. and know enough to come In
when 1t rains. and not 30 out again I'M
TO lure Ash out Of the bay. We know
now to Elomm a pie, and we know how
70 dig worm and put It on hook to
sQuirm Its small corkscrewey life away
70 lure fish out Of the bay. We knew
enough TO go to rest when the req sun
sues down the west, and eonugh TO rise
UP at morn when the cool wind 10 In
the corn. and enough to 60 day by day
and make our little share of hay. We
know the Hampstead melon beats all
other various kinds Of eats; SO big, SO
s sDo. 30 me; SO green 30 red inside. and
ana made that one cool melon In the
shade were worth q hundred trenches
Won at the hot muscle Of a gun. Those
tnings are about all We know. We know
not why the breezes blow. We know not
why some mountains try with their cold
PEAKS to pierce the sky. nor why some
valleys are SO deep. nor why the ocean
surges sweep across the world to with
S doar 70 all to pieces on the shore. We
Know where we go from here. we don't
Know why fever hot, Is catching while
good health Is not: We don't know why
~ heaven above and here the sweetest
That suits US where we are living At.
we don't know. II loves best. what for
tne nations are blood-soaked In war.
why man will seek his brothers goat,
and claw and tear his brothers throat,
ana pray for strength to slay and slay
until his foes have passed away. We
KNOW GODS mercy IL Immense, and only
mortals nave no sense.-Houston Post.
The Washington times., 1916-07-31
Trouble.
Most easy to borrow.
The hardest to lend.
A pathway to sorrow.
The last thing to mend.
-P1ttsburgh Post.
Trouble.

The Human Assortment.
dignity and state.
They never manifest the slightest nip
pancy OF gate.
Their conversation never reeks with
breath unwisely sped:
They never say the silly things which
they should not have said;
In fatuous pursuance OF adventure.
wealth or fun
They never do a lot Of things which
they should not have done.
Some other people function with the
minimum restraint
They decorate the somber night with
red and foolish paint.
They let their elocutional resources
run to waste
Quite unconserved by tact or poise. by
common sense or taste;
And in pursuit Of happiness they very
Some things that strict and formal
folks could properly cschew.
Between humanity's extremes. forbid
that. be Judge.
I cannot feel for either side the slight
est crouch or grudge.
Creation seems to revel in immense
And Uniformity would Be an impro-
Some folks arc long and others short.
some thin and other thick.
But God has made them as they are,
and so cannot kick.
Cincinnati Tribune.
The Washington times., 1916-07-31

making perhaps twice as much. while
the present thousanddollar laborer was
earning only $500 or $500.
With the exception Of those directly
interested in the munitions industry. the
revenues Of England's wealthiest fam
lilies generally have been materially i'm
paired, even before McKenna's tax col
iector comes round. The war reduced
their rentals and business. also very
periodically they have transferred
large. well-paying investments into
smaller paying government securities.
On the other hand, the manual laborer
and his family are prospering as they
never could have hoped to In peace time,
even though he has gone to the war;
for in that event the chances are that
his wife and his daughters and his un-
der~age sons are working In munitions
factories or elsewhere at wages he him
self would have been glad to get In
other days.
The war temporarily remedied two
of Englands greatest social evils. un
employment and pauperism: The other
Fleet street and the Strand and
returning to the United Press office
by way of the embankment. encount-
cred only two beggars-both old men
and blind, Two years ago he would
have been accosted by nifty or more.
most OF them able-bodied men eager
A good deal has been said about the
Increased cost Of living here as a re-
suit of the war. Recent figures from
] the Board OF Trade Gazette place the
The Washington times., 1916-07-31
BY WILLIAM PHILIP SIMMS.
limited Press Staff Correspondent.

PETRoGRAD. July 3 (by maiD.-Two
years OF war has done Russia good. She
has not shirked In battle. has fought
her best. paid the price in blood and
bone. and. Notwithstanding. is better
of today than she was two years ago.
Russia's first big win was by abolish
ing vodka. Russia Is without drunk
ards. Her second was her economic and
industrial awakening. She Is learning
to walk alone. This double social mira
Gle wrought by the war ought to prove
a compensation to Russia for all she
has lost or stands to lose.
Russia has nearly 200. oO0. 900 people. OF
whom about lso0O0ooo or 50 per cent,
are peasants. These are better of than
ever in their lives. They get good cash
prices for what they sell. The high
cost of living does not affect them much,
as they live of their farms. Labor Is
scarce. but what there Is Is sober. and
accomplishes more than used to be &C.
complished when 1t was plentiful.
The peasants today have money.
Prior to the war 500. 900. 900 rubles (S400
00O. O0O) a year let the villages and coun-
try to pay for drink. All this money
now remains in the country.
Some 500. 100000 rubles year are now
paid by the government as pensions or
war allowances to the families of SOL
diers. Therefore. at least 1900 900 900
rubles year are now In the villages
The Washington times., 1916-07-31

and country which. before the war.
were not there.
Men Now Sober.
Shidlovsky. president Of the control
ling bloc in the Duma. himself a land
owner. told me:
II am now employing a number Of
men on my plantation whom had teen
compelled to fire before the war OIL ac-
count Of drink.
In the villages a veritable miracle
has taken place. Characters I used to
recognize as drunkards. wife-beaters.
md ne'er-do-wells generally. have been
completely transformed by the lack Of
vodka. They wear good clothes and are
church with their wives. neatly dressed
and without the black eyes which used
to be characteristic of them.
Carpenters. cobblers. toiners. and
workmen generally are doing better
work and more work now that they
can't drink. Drink abolition has worked
social and economical revolution In
Everything is expensive In Russia at
present, largely owing to- lack or
TRANSPORTATION facilities In the interior
and lack of a good seaport. But high
prices really effect a comparative few
hers OF the professions. clerks, etc
whose incomes have not be nincreasd
since the war.
The working classes. as a rule. are
less hard hit because work Ia plentiful
and wages two or three times as high
as they were two years ago. Various
citizen organizations have done good
The Washington times., 1916-07-31
WARS EFFECTS IN GERMANY

that food for non-oombatants could be
declared contraband.
The view OF the German people. as II
is impressed upon a correspondent In the
last twelve months Is this: The sub
marine war was instituted to break the
illegal blockade. Because England did
not respect the interests OF the unyar-
ring people Of German. Germany felt
she did not need to respect the interests
Of her enemy. President Wilson. how
against the submarine warfare. but 20
far he has taken no drastic steps against
the English blockade.
President Batocki recently told me
he lifted tho veil from the food sitna-
ton here to impress on America that
" II was fair respecting its relations
to the belligercnts II would do some-
thing to enforce international law as
II was before the war respecting food
stuffs.
Food for non-conbatants, was not con-
Council was male. Since then. practi-
cally no food stuff has como from
America TO Germany.
The German people have lived through
= hard summer 70 for as food 10 con-
cerned. Vegetables and fruit have been
plentiful. but meat. butter, and other
fats have been scarce 30 At times
have been potatoes. rice and beams.
The market has been flooded with
II the food situation had changed sud-
denly. from the plenty of last sum
mer TO tho scarcity of this summer.
tire people could not have adjusted
themselves to It, Hut the change has
been gradual At first one did without
The Washington times., 1916-07-31

meat two days a week. then the number
OF times increased to four or five. FL
naIly there were neatless weeks but
the people ate. complained or laughed
and existed from day to gay.
An American woman VINO has lived
In Germany several years said she
would see sign in a shop window
reading Butter" She would walk up
closer and underneath, IN small letters,
WAS the statement that II war sold
out" or else It was an advertisement
.nln the roots Of plants.
There has been a substitute for every
thing. When there were no more fats
to fry with. new frying pans were in
vented to fry meat without fat
The scarcity OF food caused many
abuses and authorizations. A baker in
Hamburg was arrested for making
bread Of sawdust. so was a Berlin bak-
er merchant arrested for adding 81
per cent of water to butter. Abuses
have been watched for and stopped.
cialists have complained Of them in tho
Reichstag with some success.
The first big difficulty was the laws
Of small German states forbidding the
export of food. Bavaria had much more
food than Prussia. The task of Ratocki
was to abolish these regulations.
There are many plans, but the ono
eminent import all raw materials, her
the lowest prices can be secured In for
eign lands and the products can be sold
at a margin In Germany. This margin
can be used t. pay the debt Of the
war and so keep down the over heavy
taxes.
The Washington times., 1916-07-31
WARS EFFECTS IN RUSSIA

work along this line, keeping things
going.
Al the start Of the war; Russia's CROPS
were threatened. Russia was utterly De-
pendent on her crops. and IL they failed
her she would really be up against y.
The union Of local. or county, councils
all over the empire got busy, Joined
hands with the military. and the Job
was done. Squads OF laborers were told
OF to gather in the produce. No cor
ner OF the country was too remote to
to the last grain. in no time at oil.
Born of the War.
This was the work Of tho All-Russisn
Zemstvo Union. q national organization
born Of tho war. This greet group of
plain people ever since has been work.
ing to support the army and the nation,
taking care of Interior IN Dor problems
as they concerned the rural districts.
helping distribute and look after the
army at the front.
The cities of Russia have organised
In the Same way for similar service to
the country. except they have the cities
as their sphere Of action, n central COM
mittee OF members OF both orgauiza-
tons co-ordinating their work
The small factories and shops of Rus
STA have been brought together under
the War Industry Committee. Tho
industries of the country. These are
not only we'll known. but very few. But
throughout the empire there are scat
tered middle -sized shops and smaller
ones of which the government knows
nothing.
The Washington times., 1916-07-31
WARS EFFECTS IN ENGLAND

average advance in the price OF food
stuffs In the last two years at 50 per
cent, including the increased duties on
tea and sugar as compared with an
estimated similar increase In Ger
many of 100 per cent.
This steadily diminishing purchas-
ing power of the pound sterling has
been more than compensated by the
higher wages and increased oppor-
tunities for steady employment Tor
men and women.
A visit to ono Of London's great Do:
partment stores any afternoon would
convince even q casual investigator
that the standard of living among
the working classes has improved.
The smaller customers that pay
cash have increased In numbers, es-
pecially In the last year; former big
credit accounts have dwindled; Par
ticulariy in munition making districts
WA wage earning families who previ-
wolf at bay now buy expensive wear
Quantities that the national war saw
ings committee 10 frantically flooding
the country with posters and pamph-
let's, and Independent organization
are sending out lecturers beseeohtng
the people to work hard. spend little
and save much" for postwar days.
There are scalawags In England to-
day Just as there are In Germany;
grasping employers, extorttonate mid :
dlemen. interruptions retailers, taking
personal advantage OF this abnormal
! ottuAttoA. .
The Washington times., 1916-07-31
BY CARL w. ACKERMAN.
United Press Staff Correspondent,

BERLIN. July 3 (by maiD.-As the
second year OF the war closes. Ger
manys food problem Is about solved.
Government economists are turning their
faces to the future.
During the last few months the food
has been bad. The people have lived
through on substitutes. The military
campaign has not been materially effect
ed by the change In food conditions at
home. There have been no troubles 80
great as the Irish revolution. Food die
tator Won Batocki took the mask from
the worlds eyes regarding the fool
situation. Today he 10 well on the way
to a solution of the problem.
The biggest economic question In Ger
many IL not food. but:
What shall Germany do to meet the
preparations Of the aliies to declare an
economic boycott Of Germany and her
nllies after the war;" Germany has
chosen for the solution of this problem
Secretary Of the Interior DR.. Karl Helf.
fcrich.
Concerning the relationship Of the sub.
marine campaign and the American
crisis to the economic situation here
the German people believe their sub
marine war against merchant ships wat
a retaliation, a defensive measure
against the English blockade. which
they say changed international law &c
The Washington times., 1916-07-31
WARS EFFECTS IN FRANCE

ping and maintaining millions Of men In
the held tell the other half. =
Tne chemical industry in France
which before the war was monopoiised
by Germany. has tripled in southern
France; In the vicinity Of Limoges and
Dion doubled while in the Vicinity Of
Lyons II has taken the form OF new
lines. entirely unknown in France be-
When peace comes, this lesson of ef.
hciency will be applied to every indus.
try In France with an increase In the
national productiveness and wealth
calculated to startle the world.
Other lessons Of efficiency and maxi.
mum productiveness have been taurht
to the French by the Germans at heavy
cost. The French iron fields Of the
Basin OF Briey, held by the Germans
since the beginning of hostilities, pro-
duced for the French In 1913. 16.0O0. 900
tons of iron and steel.
The Germans. since they got posses
sion OF them. have made them produce
q 900. 900. When France gets them back,
she proposes to make them produce as
much for her as they did for the Ger
mans.
Efficiency in agriculture also has come
to France through the hard necessity
OF Prussian occupation. Since the be-
ginning Of hostilities the Germans have
occupied 100000 out Of the 5000 600
acres. 1000 900 acres that are the most
productive in France. Before the war
they produced $1,000. 900. 900 annually or
one tenth Of the national production and
wealth.
The Washington times., 1916-07-31
BY ED L. KEEN.
United Press Staff Correspondent.

united freSS SCdII Correspondent.
LONDON. July 10 (by maiD.-The
classes arc paying for this war; the
masses are profiting by It.
This statement applies. of course. only
when the subject is considered from the
purely financial angle. 1t would be
hopeless task to measure the toll OF
blood and tears that both paid. British
aristocracy and British proletariat have
both contributed generously of their
young manhood, and doubtless on this
second anniversary of the war there are
proportionately as many broken homes
among the wage-earners as among the
nobility.
The war SO far has made In Great
Britain Ss,042 widows and deprived
s.. $3.50 children Of their fathers, The Jut-
land naval battle alone added 1850
widows to the roll.
In the material things OF life never
In Dngland's history have the rich been
poorer or the poor richer than today.
finder the new sliding scale of income
duties, devised to help pay the nations
war bill of twenty-five million dollars a
day. the capitalist whose yearly income
is So, 900 turns nearly 10 per cent OF I,
into the treasury. whereas the thou.
sand dollar wsge-earner Is let of with
before the war the 100000 man va.
The Washington times., 1916-07-31
THE MILITIA ON PARADE

The people Of Washington have
opportunity this afternoon to witness
the dress parade Of the District ma
tional guard, on the White Lot. They
would do a patriotic service by turn
ing out in great numbers, and mani
Testing their approval, pride, and APP
probation Of the work Of the guard.
Enlistment has not been SO rapid
as could have been desirable. In the
weeks it has been in camp under
Federal orders, the guard regiment
has been transformed in quality and
knowledge Of its business. 1t will go
away from Washington an excellent
body Of troops. Washington will be
proud Of it, and will have yet more
occasion for pride in it If it ever gets
into action.
Let It be imagined that a clash
shall one day take place, in which
these citizen soldiers Of this COM
munity shall go under fire, shall con-
duct themselves as everybody knows
they would, and shall come out of the
baptism with report of a number of
casualties. Washington would seethe
with excitement, concern, and with
genuine mourning for the unfortu-
mates. No doubt Of that. Why not,
then. . genuine outpouring of inter-
est in the organization, right now?
Lot the whole town show its salts
faction in the splendid representa-
ton 1t is sending to the nations
se.vice. It will help the guard and
wdu help every citizen who takes
enough interest to make that demon
stration mean all that it should
mean.
The Washington times., 1916-07-31

was subnormal. II was some time be-
fore scientists determined, beyond
serious doubt, the relation between
these manifestations and the vol
cano's explosion. There is now no
serious doubt of it. Moreover. re-
search has made it pretty certain
that at several other times when
similar phenomena have happened,
like effects have followed.
It is quite probable, then, that the
unusual sunset display and the hasy
sky Of Sunday, were among the re-
suits Of the great disaster in north
ern Jersey on Sunday. Scientific de-
termination would at least be highly
interesting.
The Washington times., 1916-07-31
SOLDIERS TAKEN IN THE WAR

Berlin sends bulletin concerning
the captures Of soldiers from the be-
ginning Of the war to the close of its
second year. It shows:
The central powers. Bulgaria and
Turkey captured 2,65S.0OO enemy soldiers,
against 1.695,C00. or those taken prisoner
by the Germans 5.947 officers and 3lS,O)0
men were French. 9019 officers and L.
Ioz.OV men were Russian. and 947 officers
and $1,000 men were British.
The war booty brought to Germany,
In addition to that utilized Immediately
az the front. comprised II. 036 cannon, A.
70O0oO shells. $3.50 machine guns and l.
$4,000 rifles.
According to the list Of statistics of
German wounded soldiers 800 per cent
returned to the front. Ia per cent died.
and the rest were unfit for service or
were released. The military measures
OF the central powers in consequence OF
vaccinations were never disturbed by
epidemics.
Assuming that these figures are
measurably accurate, as they prob
ably are, there will be some surprise
that the allies should have taken al
most two-thirds as many prisoners
as did their enemies. It will not be
overlooked, either, that almost half
the total Of German captures were
Russians. A captured Russian is a
good deal less significant than a cap
tured Frenchman or Englishman,
simply because his place can so
easily be filled by his country. He
must be fed and clothed by his cap
tors, while he leaves no series gap
in the Russian ranks, as has been re-
Gently demonstrated by the over
whelming character Of the Russian
forces now advancing from the east.
Berlin does not give figures on the
killed, perhaps because this is more
difficult, and perhaps, too, because
they would show an astonishingly
heavy loss for the central powers.
The Teuton losses before Verdun
could be pretty accurately calculated
if totals for the two years were now
produce; and apparently Berlin does
not choose to supply data for such a
calculation.
The Washington times., 1916-07-31
BY HENRY WOOD.
United Press staff Correspondent.

PARIS. July (by maiD-Ihanks
largely to the historical 'woolen SOCK
bank" OF the thrifty French. france to-
day Is financially and economically sup
porting the war without any serious
strain on her national life. while new
elements the war has injected into IN
dustrial and economic life assure France
industrial expansion without precedent
when peace comes.
At the close OF the war in lS'O when
Germany imposed an indemnity OF one
billion dollars. II was the same wooden
SOCK bank that saved france. 10 date.
the war has cost france some yS,UU,-
Vu.OV. 70 per cent for military expense.
To meet this gigantic financial burden
the people have loaned the government
nearly sS.UD,UU.UU. Ihey have also paid
nearly $l,bOO,0O0.UOO In war taxes, making
total of H.oUO.UJV.VvO. over half the cost
Of the war to date.
The French government mas left with
Its people all the ready capital neces-
sary for the full resumption OF her In
dustrial. commercial. and agricultural
activities the moment war ends
by not imposing on her people the
financial burdens OF the war faster than
their earning capacity will bear. France
Is able financially to continue the war
now costing her over Sls,UOJ.UUO a day. tor
an Indefinite period. without Gripping
The Washington times., 1916-07-31
WAS 1T A KRAKATOA SKYP

Early Sunday morning occurred at
Jersey City the most terrific series
Of detonations that probably ever
were caused by any explosives save
those of natures stored-up forces.
Sunday afternoon and evening,
people in Washington observed a
strange phenomenon in the skv.
There was no rain in immediate
prospect; the weather forecast did
not promise it, and it did not take
place. Yet the sky became strangely
and very uniformly overcast, the sun
was dimmed, and an unwonted haze
spread everywhere.
Many people marveled at it; a few
guessed, and not improbably rightly
that the Jersey City explosion caused
1t. 1t was not improbably ezra.
katoa sky" Now, what's that?
When, about a generation ago, the
volcano Krakatoa in the East Indies
blew up, an immense amount of very
fine, impalpable solid matter wa.
hurled into the air. 1t was Their,
held in suspension, much of it fol
years. 1t presently spread, will
quite remarkable rapidity, to al
parts Of the world, and caused som,
remarkable manifestations.
Sunsets were more brilliant il
some regions than had ever beef
known; the haze was noted every
where. The suspended solid matte
became a sort of cloak over tn
earth, which absorbed much Of tn
suns heat, resulting in considerabl
effects on the temperature, whicl