davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-12-03
The Awakening

Possibly it is all for the best that food
prices have continued to soar above the
limit of Justice, reason and mercy. For
possibly it is a case where things had to
get worse before they could get better. 1t
takes a good deal to arouse the patient,
easygoing American to the point of action,
and this trait is as evident in his capacity
as a consumer of necessities Of life as ii
lis in his other aspects.
Hitherto we have been content to deal,
almost wholly, by means of government
action with spectators, combinations,
labor union excuses and the like. We
have relied upon our powers political in
stead of upon our latent powers economic,
/ in trying TO rectify the existing unsatisfac-
tory status of our industrial life. 1t IS
easier to appeal to ones government than
10 organize politically, because politi-
cally we are already organized We have
witnessed unmoved the gradual growth of
combinations Of capital, powerful for good
and for evil, according TO their regulation.
Also we have witnessed the defensive coun-
ter organization of the employe-world, a
movement notable in this country ever
since 1886. We have seen and understood
h the forces that were causing industry TO
evolve from its older and simpler forms.
Yet as consumers we have remained I'M
organized and more or less at the mercy
Of both organized industrial capital and
organized labor, as was so well illustrated
in the great coal strike of many years ago.
But now, and indeed occasionally here
tofore, the people have made spasmodic
efforts toward combined action. They are
beginning TO boycott the egg market, the
turkey market, etc, on an increasing and
Encouraging scale. Given pressure enough
suffering enough, continued higher prices
enough, and we may witness something like
a genuine attempt 10 organize on the part
'of the consumer. Mere abstinence, or even
lnear-starvation, is not enough as a
remedy; it is but makeshift, and a crude
lone; and it has pretty definite limits of
time and Of degree.
II But such spasms of economic life are
good symptoms. They show a recognition
lof the fact that the industrial common
wealth is one sphere and the purely politi-
cal commonwealth another. They show
that the consumers realize that, while the
state may and should assist them in the
Reorganization Of industrial relations, the
lmain factor of any permanent reform con,
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-12-03
Joy
Brush 1t in passing by

o splendid, spacious days, irradiate
With flaming dawns, when earth shows yet
more fair
Her ardent beauty, proud without alloy;
And Weakening life breathes out her perfume
rare
So potently, that, all intoxicate,
Our ravished being rushes upon joy!
Be thanked. mine eyes. that now
We still shine clear beneath my furrowed
brow
To see afar. the light vibrating there;
And you, my hands, that in the sun yet thrill,
And YOU. my fingers, that glow golden still
Among the golden fruit upon the wall
Where hollyhocks stand tall.
BE thanked. my body, that thysen dost bear
Yet firm and swift and quivering to the touch
OF the quick breezes or of winds profound;
And you. straight frame, and lungs outbreath-
ing wide.
Along the shore or on the mountain-side,
The sharp and radiant air
That bathes and grips the mighty worlds
around!
o festal mornings, calm in loveliness.
Rose whose pure face the dewdrops all caress,
Birds flying toward US, like some presage
white,
Gardens OF sombre shade or frailest light!
What time the ample summer warns the
glade,
love you, roads, by which came hitler late
She who held hidden in her hands my fate.
love you, distant marshes, woods austere,
And 10 its depths, love the earth, where here
Beneath my feet, my dead to rest are laid
So exist in all that doth surround
And ppuotratp fnp.-all this grass orround
These hidden paths, and many copse Of
beech:
Clear water, that no couding shadows reach :;
You have become to me
Myself, because you are my memory.
In you my life prolonged for ever seems,
| shape, | am, all that hath filled my dreams
In that horizon vast that dazzles me,
Trees shimmerng with gold, my pride are We;
And like the knots upon your trunk, my will
Strengthens my power TO sane, stanch labor
still.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-12-03
Wanted-A Food Commission

To the Editor OF The Tribune.
Sir: The size and weight OF a loaf OF bread
have decreased 40 per cent in this commD-
nifty. Not daring 20 cut down the loaf any
further, the bakers have instituted the ner
plan BY raising the price of the reduced loaf
90 per cent. This and much more 70 come
were fcreseen months ago. when the annual
government report gave the wheat yield As
little more than half crop.
Some man high up has suggested that m
stead of al embargo we appoint commission
to conserve food products let our grain 90
out and resort TO the tactics Of the warrins
nations in Europe. | wonder il he would be
willing TO live on half his body requires for
the next eight or nine months? The same
man says Congressman from the agricultural
districts Will not vote for an embargo. Con.
gressmen are Of average humanity and mere
than average intelligence. They know ha'
such policy would react on the farmer N
his home market more than that, the
farmer has no wheat. The wheat IS snury
reposing in the elevators OF the big elevator
and milling companies. Therein lies the grss'
danger. II can be delivered at the sespors
in twenty days. L. {. CASEY
keyport, ~ j.. Nov. 20. 1918 80
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-12-03

sists in themselves, in their economic ca
pacity as consumers.
In short, and discounting special ana
more or less temporary causes, such as the
effects of war. the main trouble with our
present stage of industrial evolution IS
that il is incomplete. We are sitting on
q three-legged stool, with one leg far too
short. The present order of industry lacks
balance. and no wonder With capital
and labor highly organized, and with the
great third party TO each and every great
industry unorganized, how could there be
a normal balance in the play Of industrial
dvnamics? How can IL be expected that
the perennial law Of supply and demand
should operate normally? Until the con-
sumer shall have organized far enough to
meet and deal with capital and labor on
2 par. so that he can have some voice in
the control Of the wholesale markets for
PRODUCTS and for labor, until he ceases to
be a mere spectator in the arena of in
custrial struggles ground at times as
retween the upper and the neither mill
stones. he must continue to suffer
The consumer Of one product is the
maker of another, no doubt, and he
may require higher wages as a producer
to compensate for the higher prices ne
pays as consumer; but such an endless
round of raise and counter raise is no
solution of the problem, as every day
makes very apparent II is no solution
because every great industry has to stand
on its own feet The questions with re-
gard to every such industry are not alien
Lut domestic, for with regard to II, It's
capital. its labor and the consumer of It's
products form, or should form, an indus
trial whole. and due balance OF power
among those three parties to that INDUS
trial whole is the prerequisite, the basic
condition of normal health in that par
ticular industry Hence the need OF the
orranized consumer in every industry big
enough to be highly organized as to cap
ital, lust as the need of organized LABOR
arose.
The future of industrial growth SPELLS
we think, simply just such cooperation
When the three inevitable parties to IN
dustry get upon a plane of equality they
will recognize the fact that they are
friends and not enemies, to be "5eaten
or SOAKED" Common power. common re-
spect. common interest, under a common
organized r6gime-these are the ideals
toward which every big industry will trend
60 soon as the consumer takes his rlght1ui
hut neglected place in its life.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-12-03
The Oldest Christian Nation

From The Philadelphia Inquirer
Probably many persons were surprised to
read in the news columns recently that Abys-
sinia claimed to be the oldest Christian ma
ton I'm the world. and that it had recently
repressed a new assault Of Islam. The claim
seems founded on a technicality entitled to
credence, but which has not accomplished
much for Christianity in the last nineteen
hundred years.
Rulers of Abyssinia are proud of descent
from the Queen of Sheba and from Solomon
as the result Of the formers visit to Jerusa-
lem. As Solomon had many wives and an
immense harem he may have married the
Queen Of Sheba, but there Is no testimony
TO the fact other than the tradition in Abys-
sjnia. which was the ancieEt Sheba, with
which the Jews had large commerce. Inc
country was Christianized through monks
from Egypt and il is said that one OF the
kings in the second century declared Chris
tianity the official religion, thus antedatlng
all other nations. The matter is really OF
only academic importance.
We are apt to think of the Abyssinians as
heather negroes STEPPED in the deepest bar
barism. On the contrary, they are rather
virile people, as all who have attacked them
know. They have a civilization that Is suited
To their environment, and while il may not
he ND TO the standard of splendor which the
Oueen of Sheba is supposed to have main
tanned. it is comfortable enough for those
who live there. In recent years many eX-
plorers have found much TO surprise them
and it is within the memory Of this genera
ton that Italy made an unsuccessful attempt
to seize the country.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-12-03
A MANAGER Needed

Economy is given as the reason for the
determination Of the Board of Aldermen
to cut from the proposed budget the APP
preparation Of $4,000 for salary of an
executive manager for the the Board of
Education. In the opinion Of The Trib-
une il will be shortsighted economy
mere penny-squeezing-if that course be
followed
This is not new and unconsldered
proposal. IL was recommended rour years
ago, at the time Of the general investiga-
ton Of New York's school system, and
has been hanging fire ever since. The
reason for the creation Of this new place
is 70 have an official who can coordinate
and correlate the work now handled by
several committees of the Board of Edu-
.ation. with equal authority and no head.
This official. really a business manager
for business which badly needs man.
aging. ought 10 be able to save the city
mis- salary many times over.
No business concern spending 100000
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-12-03
Sweden's New Canal
LErom a. Boston TranserIpt-


King Gustafs opening Of the Trollhatta
Canal should not pass unnoticed. Sweden
must be congratulated on having been able
10 complete the work at time in which she
is greatly harassed by war in which she
has no part Many Swede in this country
will be delighted 10 learn that Lake Wiener
now has an outlet to the Kattegat, and thus
to the North Sea, and will make point OF
having look at the canal if he revsits his
native land. The lake is the third largest
in Europe, having an area Of 2,40S square
miles, the northern half in Swaziland and
the other in Gothlsnd, $50 feet above sea
level.
It has long been connected by canal and
smaller lakes with the Baltic on the east but
westward seemed its more natural way out
seeing that its waters, carried by the River
Gotta over the picturesque Trollhatta Falls
are poured into the Kattegat at Gothenburg
For navigation canal OF about twenty
miles in length was needed, and it has taken
seven years 10 build II.
The traffic will be large and valuable
Around the lake are forests Of frs highly
prized for ships masts, and the Swaziland
stores of iron and copper are almost mex
haustible. The direct water route TO the
North Sea for the lumber and minerals OF
the big lake district will be profitable i'm
provement.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-12-03
The Silence

Ever since ending OF the summer weather,
When last the thunder and the lightning
broke.
Shatt'rng themselves upon it at one stroke,
The Silence has not stirred, there in the
heather
All round about stand steeples straight as
stakes,
And each its bell between its fingers shakes;
All round about, with their three-storied
loads,
The teams prowl down the roads,
All round about, whereer the pine woods
end,
The wheel creaks on along its rutty bed,
But not sound is strong enough to rend
That space intense and dead.
Since summer, thunder-laden, last was heard,
The Silence has not stirred;
And the broad heath-land, where the nights
sink down
Beyond the sand-hills brown,
Beyond the endless thickets closely set,
To the far borders of the far-away,
Prolongs 1t yet.
Even the winds disturb not as they go
The boughs of those long larches, bending
low
Where the marsh-water lies,
In which It's vacant eyes
Gaze at themselves unceasing, stubbornly;
Only sometimes, as on their way they move,
The noiseless shadows of the clouds above,
Or of some great birds hov'ring fight on
high,
Brush 1t in passing by.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-12-03
An Old American Play

~ rom Inc fHtlGGfipHid AfdGfif
The purpose Of the Drama League 10 give
a few weeks hence the first comedy presented
in Philadelphia is highly commendable.
Contrast by Royal Tyler, Bostonian, was
first produced at the John Street Theatre, in
New York, in 1887, and was brought 20 this
city after a short run there. To Philadelphia
Lelongs the credit Of producing the first play
written by an American and enacted by a
professional company. This play is "The
Prince OF Partha," by Thomas Godfrey, jr,
Of Philadelphia, put on at the famous old
Southwark Theatre in 1867. II was success
fully revived last year by the Zelosophic So
cety Of the university at the New Century.
That production was one more case IN point
to prove the enduring vitality and appeal of
many an old play that is allowed to moulder
in the dust Of Libraries, obscure and undis-
turbed Additional historic interest attaches
% the playhouse where THE Prince OF Par
thia" WAS first given through the circum-
stance that Major Andre painted scenery for
il when the British officers used IL during
their winter here; and for nearly half cen
fury his drop curtain, representing a water
fall, glorfed the modest temple Of the arts"
till the theatre was burned down.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-12-03
ws This the Land ~

Is this the land that at such cost extreme
OF blood frsternsl freed at once the slave
And, as she did her wounded honor save,
Caught back unto her breast her earliest
dream?
Is this the land that could her pledge redeem
Yet now can see, beyond the mornng-waye
A people seourged the bravest Of the brave
Nor set her thews 10 break the SLAYER
scheme?
Is this the land-oh. can it be the land
That cut from out its life monstrous wrong
Yet moves not now 10 save a driven throng
OF freemen born, who, into slavery sent,
Must strengthen their oppressor's iron hand F.
Az. be their own distinctions implement?
EDITH ". THOMAS.
New York, Nov. 20, 1916.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-12-03
yERHAEREN: BELGIUMS
NATIONAL POET
EMILE

The death Of Emile Verhaeren in RAJ
way accident at Rouen last week ended ln
exile the life Of Belgium's best known poet
A child of the Scheldt, in the heart oil the
Flemish plains, student at the University
Of Louvain he became a distinguished ng-
ure in the literary life Of his country. Inc
first poem which follows, The silence -
from volume Of poems bearing the title
LES Villages Illusoires." The second, JOY
is from later volume, LA Multiple SPLEEN
deur." Both are translated by Alma Strettel
and published in Poems of Emile Yer
haeren." by the John Lane Company. The re
naming poems are from "The Sunlit Hours
a sequence Of love poems dedicated 70 his
wife. They are translated by Charles r.
Murphy and published under that title by the
John Lane Company
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-12-03
Thanksgiving Day Begging

10y
Those whose task it is TO deal with the
problems Of the youth upon our city streets
are doubtless able to explain why 1t Is that
each year an increasing number of chill
dren spend Thanksgiving Day running
about. in all sorts of grotesque costumes
some of the time singing, most Of the time
begging nickels from strangers. This
curiously inappropriate way Of keeping
Thanksgiving is becoming a tradition
among US. There we're more of these 1T
tie beggars last Thursday than there were
a year ago. and more Of them last year
than on previous Thanksgiving days.
Obviously. the children, left to their own
devices and desiring something more than
the Sunday-like domesticity with which
their elders celebrate the Thanksgiving
festival. have evolved their own method
of keeping the day. The original idea was
probably borrowed from the old custom
of singing Christmas carols on Christmas
Eve. That Old World custom Of singing
in the streets is a beautiful thing, and GER
tainly no one could object to its survival
in New York even if transferred from
Christmas to Thanksgiving.
We like to hear children's voices, even
if the old songs are displaced by the latest
vaudeville hits. But if such singing Is to
be the practice, it ought to be directed by
older persons. With these uncounselled,
youthful MINISTRIES the singing is naturally
soon forgotten and there remains chiefly
only childish naughtiness-a horde Of little
mendicants, crowding about every passer-
by and repeatedly ringing peoples door
bells in quest Of Thanksgiving gifts"
It is hardly likely that many parents
send their children out to beg in this man
ner. 1t is more likely the chidren's own
idea of a good time. No one but a very
cantankerous person could object to the
children having all the fun they can on
Thanksgiving or any other day; and all
who remember their own early years can
realize what a glorious lark it is TO dress
up and run about the streets, showing off
before strangers.
But the begging is another matter II
this is the only way that thousands Of
children can get a Thanksgiving dinner,
some competent organization should look
into the situation.
The habit Of begging on the streets is
one which a national holiday ought not
to encourage. OF course, the authorities
could put a stop to this practice by a
"verboten." But such a solution would
show a want of understanding.
The whole thing is simply a natural at
tempt of normal youngsters to bring a
little color, life and holiday spirit into this
sabbatical November festival. They are
right; the true Thanksgiving spirit is one
of Joy and merriment. There is a sug-
gestive hint in the fact that it had to be
left to youth to re-create this spirit in its
own way Since the children demand a
really interesting Thanksgiving festival,
why should not the public, teachers, par
ents or churches meet the demand intelli-
gently and supervise their exercises on
that day, Just as we now give them sane
Fourth Of July. There is live oppor-
tunity for some one next year to de-
wise an appropriate Thanksgiving festi-
val which will not leave Young America
out.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-12-03
An Embargo for Breweries

To the Editor Of The Tribune.
Sir: ! notice some probability OF an EN-
barge on exports Of foodstuffs.
l. il not ridiculous 10 deprive people who
need the food of necessaries Of life. while far
larger amounts are turned into that which
is destructive Of our own people?
Whether the foreign nations arc of one
country or another, it would seem cruel and
heartless to deny them food, but there is nc
right reason why we should feed the still OF
the vat with that which should nourish
human life. HENRY II. SWIFT.
Mllbrook. y. T., Nov. 80, 1916.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-12-03
The Sunlit Hours


At times thou art the spacious light and air
OF all this tranquil morning garden, where
Snuous paths wind in the blue haze
Like swans upon the deep blue waterways.
At other times. thou art the shivering wind
EXutant cool,
Who passes. running fingers light and kind
Along the clear brow of the pool.
When with thy two hands thou TOUGHEST me,
feel the brushing Of cool leaves
Against my check;
When midday cleaves
The dimness, all the shadows secretly
Mediate the words that thou ddst speak
So all the hours pass by some sweet grace
OF thine, into my heart;
And when at last the wan night comes apace
And rapt in sleep and still, apart
Thy spirit lies,
Feel thro' thy closed eyelids how mine eyes
Dwell on thee with a love beyond compare,
More humble and more clinging than prayer
II
Quietly. like stately queens Of old
Who, step by languid STEP descend the stairs
Of ,old
In fairy ,ales, thou movest in my dream;
Names | give thee. such as must beseem
All beauty and all radiance; names that
soothe,
Resembling silken@smooth,
Sounds that wind and waver glide and glance.
Weaving ny poems, as in subtle dance
An, but how soon leave this play
When | behold thy wistful way,
Thine unadorned, profoundly wistful way;
Thy forehead unafraid and calmer than the
day,
Thy peaceful ehild-like hands laid open on
Thy knees,
Thy breathing bosom and the dreamful ease
That on thy deep and limpid spirit lies.
How useless and how little in the sight
OF this are all things-all things, save the
naked light
That wells up from thy heart and gathers in
thine eyes.
II il ever be
That thou and I should bring
One to the other suffering
OF loss and sorrow; or if fate decree
That WEAKNESS OF bsnal joys unstring
The golden bow within us Of desire:
II thoughts clear crystal vase entire
Must in our spirits fall and break below;
IT, spite Of all, lie at last supne,
Vanquishd for not having been enough
The prey Of great, divine.
Utter nobility
Oh let US be like maddened fools that climb
the height
Beneath the run'd sky; and let US closer,
closer cling
And in one monstrous flight,
With sun-drenohed souls, cleave the on-rush-
ing night
! Copyright. 1913 and 1915 BY John Lane Co.