davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1916-02-26
Spelling THE CHILD.

What with Montessori children
Towering into reading" at years,
and Mrs. Stoner Iecturing about how
to teach babes to read Vergil in the
cradle or Whereabouts, H. Arlington
Bruce telling how important it is that
the formal education of child should
begin at two or less, we were just be-
ginning to feel that any child who hadn't
read at least the five foot shelf of
books before his tenth year was a
moron or some other of those dreadful
things the psychologists are telling us
about nowadays.
And now comes one saying too many
books spoil the child!
But those parents of us who were
reading ST. Nicholas some twenty
years ago are inclined to put little
faith in the warning, because it comes
from our own Tudor Jenks-he of the
''Imaginations' and other charming
tales.
1.-THE modern system Of education,
said Mr.. jerks, interviewed by the New
York World, us not worth snap. II
kills the curiosity of children by CIV
ing them more information than they
can assimilate, just as appetite would
be killed if they were given more food
than they could assimilate.
You see, the field that they are try
! ing to cover in the schools. has been
dozen times enlarged during the past
/ 80 years. The result is that children
are simply bewildered by the amount
Of knowledge thrust upon them. They
are perplexed and bored.
There are so many books writer
for children-the number grows great
er every year. We can never agaiI
have a boy whose six books are his
greatest treasure. Instead the modern
boy knows that the circulating library
with its thousands of volumes is pa
thetically imploring him to take ad
vantage of it. Do you know that there
are actually so books on the Boy Scou
library's preliminary list alone?"
All this is worth bordering. 1t il
undoubted that too much printed mat
ter makes for a superficial scatter
brainedness rather than for the con
! centration and deepening that become!
power.
When Mr. jerks praises Oliver OPP
tic and Rollo and tells us that Julian;
Horatio Ewing was the greatest writ
er for children, we think his choice
less happy. Even to undistinguishins
childhood her stuff seemed morbid
We are with him on the value of Mar,
Mapes Dodge, every time. For The
rest, we prefer Henty, and Mari
Twain, and Louise Alcott and Susal
Coollidge-and Tudor jerks!
Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1916-02-26
DECISION ON SUFFRAGE

bly, had known that the right of vot
ing on the few, and for the most part
comparatively infrequent and unim-
portant, questions mentioned in the
constitution would not be extended to
women. For all other purposes the
act is constitutional and valid en-
actment."
The decision Of Wednesday, however,
declares that Illinois women can vote
only for those offices specifically emu
merated in the law. The court says:
Under the authority Of Scown vs.
CZarnecki, 264 Ill. 305, the legislature
could have authorized women to vote
for the election of delegates to ma
tional conventions and for party COM
mitteemen.
ut did not do so, and whether this
was Intentional or no: it is not within
the province Of the courts to read into
the statute something not expressed or
necessarily implied. The remedy is
with the legislature"
Although there night seem to be an
inconsistency here careful reading
Of the decision in Scown VS.. CZarnecki
reveals the fact that the court was
discussing the bload general princi-
pie of the poweS of the legislature
rather than the cope of the suffrage
law. There really is nothing incon-
sistent in the Two decisions. Both
hold that the legislature has control
over the qualifications of voters at
elections not fixd by the constitution,
but the later ctse qualities the first
to the extent that each office must be
specifically named.
! In the case If SCown VS.. CZarnecki
the court divided four to three on the
question and Justice Dunno delivered
! the majority opinion. In the recent
case the court was unanimous and the
opinion was delivered by Justice Far
mer, who dissanted in Scown VS. Gar
necki. There is another case involv-
ing the suffrage law before the court
and it is minated in some quarters
that the decision Of Wednesday pres
ages the overthrow of the suffrage law
when that case is decided But this
does not seem to be justified by the
facts. The decision of Wednesday does
nothing mole than clarity and fix the
| scope of the suffrage law.
Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1916-02-26

the social elect Mrs. John Aston (who
is Mrs. John Jacob Astor l., divorced)
was brutally ignored in making up the
guest list.
Mrs. John l. retaliated by breaking
off diplomatic relations with the reck-
less ones who accepted the hospitality
of Mrs. John ii.
Mrs. Vincent Astor (wife of the son
of John and Mrs. John ID has made
an offensive and defensive alliance
with Mrs. John |. and the two factions
are utilizing every form Of strategy
and squandering tons of munitions in
the effort to complete a successful en-
veloping movement against Mrs. John
H.
At the present moment the forces
are deadlocked, while the trenches on
both sides run red with wine. AS in
the other great struggle now in prog
ress, neutrals are suffering severe in
convenience and harassed by perplex-
ing diplomatic problems. AS all the
contendipg forces are in good finan-
cial condition, the prospect is that the
war will extend far into the summer
season, with campaigns reaching from
Newport to Palm Beach.
Meanwhile, the tenants of the Astor
properties in New York are furnish
ing the sinews of war without any
voice in the conduct Of the operations
And the population of little old New
York continues to pile up unearned in
crement whereby the hostilities may
be prolonged to another generation OF
two without hardship to the combat
ants
Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1916-02-26

The decision handed down by the
Illinois supreme court Wednesday
holding that Illinois women are barred
from voting for national convention
delegates and alternates and for state
and precinct committeeman, marks the
second step in the construction Of the
woman suffrage statute. The suffrage
law provides:
THAT all women, citizens of the
United States, above the age of q
years, having resided in the state one
year, in the county 80 days, and in the
election district 80 days next preced-
ing any election therein, shall be al
idential electors, member of the state
board of equalization, clerk of the ap-
pellate court, county collector, county
surveyor, members of board of asses
itary district trustees, and for all Off
GERS Of cities, villageS and towns lex
cept police magistrates and upon all
questions or propositions submitted
to vote Of the electors Of such mu-
inequalities or other political division
Of the state.
"All such women may also vote for
the following township officers: SUI
perVisor, town clerk, assessor, collec-
tor and highway commissioner, and
may also participate and vote in all
annual and special town meetings in
the township in which such election
district shall be-
| In the case of Scown VS.. Czarnecki
the court held that this law was con-
stitutional, deciding that the legisla-
! ture has the power to fix the qualifi.
cations Of voters at all elections not
established by the constitution. I'm
| der this decision it has been generally
assumed that women could vote at al
| elections and for all offices not fixed
| by the constitution and this view is
apparently supported by the following
| from the opinion in Scown vs.. Gar
necki:
THE object of the general assembly
in passing the present act was to con.
! fer upon women the right of suffrage
to the fullest extent permitted by the
limitations Of the constitution. No one
would imagine that the act would MOI
have been passed if the general assem-.
Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1916-02-26
Eyer Try This On YOnr Wife Z

A complaint was sworn out this
week against Edward Kimbas, whom
it was charged threatened to shoot his
wife, and whom rumors say took a
gun to bed with him and kept it there
all night for the purpose of intimi,
dating his wife and making her love
him more. kimbas is Finn who mar
ried buxom young woman about half
his age. and as is often the case, the
disparity of ages and desires makes
trouble between them frequently and
the wife stood 1t as long as she could
and then called on the authorities to
tame the beast-San Miguel tCal)
Examiner.
Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1916-02-26
JOB TOO BIG.

Farmers and elevator men Of ILL
nois are worried because they can't
get cars to ship corn to market. Eleva-
tors are carrying a lot of grain that
isn't doing well in this warm weather,
and of course there is big loss on
corn after it begins to spoil. Farmers
can't find an immediate market for corn
for the reason elevator people don't
want to take on any more just at this
time and under present conditions.
And so men of pull from Illinois
are going to New York to meet mem
bers of the interstate commerce COM
mission This commission is to be
asked to use all its power to induce
railroads to furnish cars to central IL
linois. 1t is thought that some sort of
order can be secured
Anyhow the commission will call in
railroad men and ask them about the
solution. Doubtless these will reply
that all grain cars are in use and that
more are not to be had by merely
wishing.
One can't imagine there 10 much in
the story that cars are, being kept
away from central Illinois. Railroads
cars to use, and they don't make any
money unless they are in use Natur-
ally the railroad man is anxious to
haul the largest possible amount or
freight
Perhaps the fact is the country is not
in position to handle big part of the
corn crop within a short time. There
are neither sufficient cars nor termi-
nal facilities to do this. James j. Hill
in discussing this matter some time
ago called attention TO the situation
We now have; he foresaw its coming.
Other leading railroad men have told
us the facilities are not here and that
they can't be had until after railroads
somehow arrange to get much larger
sums of money for Improvement pur-
poses.
One railroad authority says it Will
take an extra six billion dollars a year
over a period of six years to put
American railroads in shape to take
care Of the country's business prompt.
ly.
Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1916-02-26

is in the hands of the same gDup of
money kings that rule the insurance
companies, the great banks. express
companies, railroads and steamship
lines. To realize the colossal power
OF the capitalists behind the steel,
armor. ammunition, and shipping com
panies and recall the desperate ends
to which more than one investigation
has revealed they will go to satisfy
their sordid greed for gold, ind then
to contemplate that the Unitsd States
war means more in dollars to this
group than the United States in peace,
is enough to justify the mos, optimis-
tic man to tremble for the peace of
this patriotic and Christian people.
And if war should come what a mon
strous proposition it would be which
would require one group of citizens to
go to war and sacrifice thei' lives for
the state while another and smaller
grOup-the war traffickers principally
responsible for the war-rmained at
home becoming immensely Itch.
Naturalization of the manufacture
of munitions would undoubtedly have
prevented the present strained rela-
tons with Germany. The cause of the
| strained relations is that Germany is
| sinking ships. Germany has been
sinking ships principally % prevent
American-made ammunition from
reaching her enemies. Thus, in order
that a comparatively few may make
private profit, the peace Of 100000
| is placed in jeopardy.
| 1t is to the interest Of only the few
to leave profit in war and preparation
for war, while it is to the interest of
the entire earth's population to take
| it out. CLYDE H. TAVENNER.
Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1916-02-26
Pointed Paragraphs.

a woman's head is usually stronger
than her arm
Beware of the girl whose heart is
as cold as dogs nose
When a young man falls in love 1t
nearly always knocks him silly.
Put man under the X-ray machine
if you would find out what is in him.
Many d self-made man ought to be
ashamed to admit it, whoever he is.
While you are waiting and hoping
the undertaken comes along and gets
you.
Sometimes a man becomes famous
through the efforts of others to prove
that he isn't
For each agreeable thing you hear
of others you will hear AZ disagreed BILE
ones.
When bride discovers that what
she married likes corned beef and cab
bage better than angel food, another
honeymoon bubble has exploded.
cago News.
Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1916-02-26
ANOTHER KIND OF WAR.

Europe's multiplied theatres of war
are temporarily pushed into the back
ground by more strenuous and more
engrossing struggle which is com
manding the attention Of New York s
four hundred. Three wings Of the
Aston family are engaged in a death
combat to determine which shall hold
the social supremacy OF the gilded
metropolis.
Mrs John Jacob Astor IL (who was
Miss Madeline Force opened her mid
winter offensive short time since
with a grand ball at which she mobil-
lied all available forces from among
Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1916-02-26

moved by Maria's story. ordered ~.
a woman be employed to search h.
and IL nothing was found on her - :.
her 60 on. The search was fhoror.,
the cart being also carefully loo,,ss
over. OF course nothing was forrs
Then Maria gave away all the g.
she did not need for her mother 80
went on. having been given a ~ -
which would enable her to 90 a. n.
as she liked.
She soon met with party Of PM
garlans engaged in placing obstrna
tons on the road. They stopuea H..
but when she showed her mass ,h.s
were willing to let her 20 on. D..
being short Of rations, they conSSa,.s
her eggs. This frightened her.
Some of them are not fresh 81.
said. Il don't think you viii cara =
eat SUCH
With that the officer In comns,s
took up the eggs one after the 49,.
and held them to the sunlight to loos
through them. When he came IN ~
egg with the message, before ralsin,
it to the light he held it in his hana
a moment to judge its weight.
This one is bad, I know" he .,,a
at doesn't weigh the same as tba
others"
Maria'S heart stood still.
The officer held the egg up to tbs
sun, and, since no light passed through
it, he put it in the basket, saying:
my dear, if you meet with ser.
Wan you are quite welcome to give him
that egg. 1t is not good enough for
Bulgarian, but it is too good for a
Servian."
A way was made through the oh.
structions for Maria's cart, and shs
drove away amid the laughter Of III.
men at their officers joke.
That was the last stop Maria made
The next men she met were some Ser.
Wan cavalry. She gave the egg to thar
commander, telling him that It con.
tanned a message. He escorted her Ia
his general, who took the paper from
the eggshell and read it with intense
interest. It named the location and
the date at which the British and the
Servians would form junction, and.
since this suited the Servians, Maria
had only TO carry back an oral mes.
sage stating the fact.
Strange to say, she had more diff.
Guilty in getting back than in going
out. She was once detained overnight
and twice was searched. When she
finally reached the British outposts she
was taken to the general, who gave
her a kiss and the hundred gold pieces
promised her.
The exploit was very much to the
credit Of the messenger, but it awaited
nothing in the end, for not long after.
ward the allies retreated to Saloniki
Nevertheless though what the girl
did was of no avail in the end she
was very proud of it.
Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1916-02-26
The Daily Story
Good Enough for servian BY Ethel Holmes.

wnen the BRUSH troops were max
ing their way from Saloniki, Greece, to
assist the Seryians in repelling the Bull
garians the commander of the English
advance was desirious Of communicat-
ing with the Servians nearest to him
In order to arrange for junction be
tween the two forces. Entering a
peasants hut, he found a Greek fami-
ly. the oldest daughter being a pretty
girl Of sixteen.
Would you like to earn tbese!' the
general asked of the girl, showing her
a handful of gold pieces.
Her eyes sparkled, and she admitted
that she would.
We'll, then, take a basket of eggs
and go northward ostensibly to sell
them to such soldiers as you meet.
One of the eggs will contain mes.
sage. Give it to the first Servian Off
Ger you meet"
Suppose" asked the girls mother,
this egg containing the message falls
into the hands of Bulgarian
'In that case" replied the general,
ut would go very hard with your
daughter But" he added, 'if she
manages well I think she will get 1t
through without any difficulty
The woman looked at the gold, then
at her daughter. The latter looked at
the gold and told the general that she
would undertake the mission. The gen
eral called for a basket of eggs and,
taking one. Clipped a small hole in the
shell, let out the contents, rolled bit
of tissue paper on which the message
had been written into a wisp the size
of a match, put it through the hole in
the shell. filed the remaining space
with sand, then sealed the hole with a
bit Of white plaster.
The girl was expected to go some
distance; therefore a horse and cart
on the place were requisitioned to take
her. As she drove away the general
bid her godspeed, and If she got the
message through and returned safely
she should have hundred gold pieces.
Possibly she might be intrusted with
a return message, but it had been ar
ranged by the one in the egg that it
should be oral.
Maria, the girl. drove along a road
leading northweStward till she came
to a picket guard of Bulgarians sta
toned to prevent any communication
between the French and English and
| the Serbians. Maria showed them her
eggs, and when they seemed disposed
to turn her back she gave each of
| the men a couple Of them. They were
very hungry; therefore the bride was
| sufficient.
She next came to quite large force
! of Bulgarians, and the officer in charge
refused to let her pass. She made up
a sad story about her mother being i'll
! and she had gone out to get some eggs
| for her to eat. The officer referred
| the matter to his commander. who,
Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1916-02-26

The country is not on the brink of
war, the unfair partisan press to the
contrary Notwithstanding, nor will it
be If patriotism, the first duty of cit
izenship, is permitted to supersede
politics in the discussion of in
ternational affairs, and if the people
with one accord stand by their sorely
tried president.
Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1916-02-26

GEORGE H. Briggs is editor of a
small paper in Michigan, He is also
the village undertaken. Recently one
of his old subscribers passed away,
leaving an unpaid subscription account
of IA years standing. To show there
were no hard feelings on his part, aft
er friends and relatives had taken their
farewell look at the old subscriber, the
editor-undertaker slipped linen dus-
ter, a thermometer, a palm leaf fan
and recipe for ice into the coffin be-
fore he screwed down the lid.
Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1916-02-26

The Chicago Herald wants to know
why running an automobile at a dan
gerous speed should not be classed
crime in itself the same as toting a
pistol. There is no difference, even
to the point of not knowing that the
driver Of the car was not loaded.
Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1916-02-26

There were At DRINKS in the police
court in Des Moines the other day
which makes one wonder why Des
Moines newspapers wasted so much
energy on Art Brisbane.
Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1916-02-26

Senator Gore the other day made the
statement that he had not seen Mr..
Bryan since last January He might
truthfully have stated that he had
never seen Mr.. Bryan. because Sena-
tor Gore has been blind for years.
Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1916-02-26
Saturday, February 26, 1916.
Rock Island-From River to
River.

no NOT litter the
IL streets with waste
paper. Destroy it or place
it in the proper recep-
tacles, thus contributing
to the municipal commits
sion's efforts in behalf of
clean streets.
Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1916-02-26
MALODOROUS EVIDENCE.

Mrs. Eaton was asked: "You have
been dined and wined by the news.
papers, have you nOtr'
"No," she replied. 81 had a glass OF
lemonade and an onion sandwich once
with the wife of an editor"
Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1916-02-26

There is something wonderfully
familiar about the statement that
''the New Haven wreck will be thor
oughly probed."
Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1916-02-26

Harvard now has a perfect man"
Does that fit him for ribbon clerk or
a truck driver?
Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1916-02-26

Peking.-(Corpspondenee VI -
Associated Press Unrest siiV.s
government troops is causing ls ~.
uneasiness in government ene,s 5
Eighty soldiers were recently pei ssls
ed at Marking because they were @ s.s
by a court martial to be guilty " - -
loyalty and participation IN pios. n
Join the insurectionary moFelueA'
South China. Ting
All ewes are turned toward AahA, ~,
as it is held 10 be the key to Tue ~. -.
tary situation in China. General rsl =
Kuo-chang, the officer comnlah ,e,a.
Marking, is one of the most inasps IN,
ent and also one OF the most poM ... :,
leaders in military circles. IN sp''s al
the princedbm conferred on him s -.
his elevation to be chief oil stan 4
LOYALTY to the Picking goverhpaeh,, - :.
seriously doubted in many enN. ~
Were he t, join the reyomuohis's -. "a =
Yang-tse ryer valley would De loss $40 !"
the Picking government as NaaA al.
controls he lower river and IN sa ~,
ton controls the only railway
connecting Picking and Shanghai !,
Many of the soldiers eSeeQ'sa ~
Marking were from Santung pro'ia u
in Northern China. This has etea. i.
surprise South China troops al. .ssa
WAYS under suspicion and nave IN -,
generally replaced in impof'sns s,eA
tiers By men from North thlhe' ,.sias
is supposed to be loyal TO the KsA''s
/ government.
Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1916-02-26

WE have no inside information as
to the date the ice expects to leave the
river at this point-but we do know
that Miss Iva Pain resides at Jackson
Miss.
Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1916-02-26

About this season Of the year il
isn't so difficult to make hard roads
enthusiasts.
Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1916-02-26

It's the early robin that captures
the first press notices.
Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1916-02-26

The Hague, Netherlands-(Co
spondence of the Associated Press
The project of establishing wireless
communication between the Neither
lands and the Dutch East Indian col
onies is receiving serious eonsidera-
ton. The government is now unable
to communicate with its colonies by
cable except through British lines and
the question has been raised in parlia-
ment several times recently as TO how
far the British censorship has affected
free communication.
A petition from one of the principal
Dutch chambers of commerce has been
sent to the minister for the colonies,
pointing out many advantages that
would accrue from wireless communi-
cation with the Indies, One project
calls for two intermediate stations.
which would have to be on foreign soil.
but it is now believed that a direct
connection is not impossible. The dis
lance from the existing stations at
Seheyenlngen tHollandl to Sabang
lEast lndiesl is $3.50 miles, but it is