davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1917-09-14

lie, the rough ground Is Shed away from beneath
his feet, and he rises into the sudden peace Of
the air.
tradicti0n in terms In war time; but II is the
supreme sensation of far-weather flying apart
from flying and fighting. Once you have got your
height whether 1t be thousand or ten thousand
feet, you seem to be absolutely at rest-at rest
In sunshine and a strong gale. The dim carpet or
map beneath you hardly moves and although the
TREMBLING fingers of the little clocks and dials
before You witness to the fluidty Of your element
and the tenderness of your hold on It, vet the
The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1917-09-14

shut off, and you begin to plane in mighty circles
toward the earth again, that you get, in that de-
licous rush down the hill of air. any sensation Of
speed and not until, moment before landing,
you skim over the earth at so miles an hour, that
you realize with what pace you have been rushing
through the airy vacancy.
But these the sensations Of mere joy-ridInR
Ten or twenty minutes may take the fighting pilot
to his station in the air over the enemy's lines.
How puny the absurdity Of the greatest Of
all time appear is only known to the airman
he sits in the breeze and the sun, high above
1t all; the danger to him is not down there,
although to ascend into his remote sphere he has
to pass through the Of anti-aircraft fire his
own particular enemy is the German fighting ma
chine which may come down to harry destroy
the observer, and which he must himself attack
the moment 1t makes its appearance. Between
these two he watchfully patrols. and all this time
although battle may be raging beneath him, he
hears nothing but the strong, rIsping hum Of his
engine He flies and fights alone.
The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1917-09-14
RAvAoINo A WASTED COUNTRY.

The daring Of the American girl of a century
ago and the Frenchman's traditional habit Of
yielding to the will Of "the ladies" form the
fabric of an amusing bit Of family record that
Mr.. William Allen Butler gives in "A Retrospect
OF Forty Years."
My aunt Mary Allen, having spent some time in
France, was proficient in her knowledge of the
French language and manners. he says On a
visit that she paid to Lafayette, who was always
exceedingly courteous to Americans, she told him
that she had a great favor to ask. He indicated
that he would grant it, and she begged him for a
lock of his hair
Madam" said the general, II wear a wig!"
But to show his willingness to meet her wishes
he proposed to remove the wig and let her appro-
pirate any remaining natural hairs that she could
find.
She accepted his offer and proved herself to be
a good searcher by getting few clippings, which
she brought home as a great treasure, and d.
vided honorably with my mother Each sister
carefully preserved her quota Of hairs In . rinR.
The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1917-09-14
FIGHT TO GATHER cAMpHoR
Forests From Which Most Of Il 10
Obtained Are Still Inhabited by
Head-Huntins savaess.

There are few things which demand
a heavier toll of lives than camphor.
The reason for this is that the noun
tainous parts Of the island of For
mosa. from which the world gets most
OF its camphor, are inhabited by head
hunting savages whom the successive
invaders Of the island have been un-
able to subdue.
These savages are alive to the value
OF the camphor trees, and fercely op-
pose all attempts to get possession Of
the forests. Their hostility makes the
gathering Of camphor 4 most hazard
GUS occupation, and one In which q
loaded rifle Is the most indispensable
tool.
Since the Japanese took the island
after their successful campaign
against China In the nineties, they have
been carrying on a carefully-conceived
plan of gradual penetration Of the
valuable camphor regions. They make
paths six feet In width through the
virgin forests. At intervals of every
12O yards stands a guardhouse, and
every fourth or fifth guardhouse IL q
small fort, entrenched and defended
by barbed wire entanglements. Tele-
phonic inter-communication machine.
guns, and all the resources Of Western
military science are employed, and thu
nnes are pushed gradually torwsrd.
The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1917-09-14

who Invented the arplane, is the little, weather.
beaten Shed which used by the brothers
the hangar for their original plane only thirteen
years ago.
1t is just plain shed, and beyond 1t stretches
the imposing line of hangars Off into the distance
pretty nearly two miles OF buildings, calculated
to house the 2lo planes that are to be assembled
In the field eight miles of Dayton. And, yet,
1t is fittingly preserved II memorial to the days
when air flight wa. being slowly and painstakingly
developed by the daring scientific genius of the
Wright brothers
In Washington had talked with the men whose
Imagination had conceived the great 640-million
dollar aircraft program, and who are now in
charge of its execution. They are engineers and
executives not practical aircraft men. They know
Americas Industrial and engineering resources.
Their enthusiasm Is contagious.
l went to Dayton to talk with the worlds fore
most acronautical engineer and to learn some Of
the difficulties that must be overcome before
put out the eyes of the Germans in the air,
organize our surprise attacks, destroy the enemy
communications and blow up the Krupp works at
Essen.
orNille Wright Is man of 4e of medium size
Modest and unassumng, he gives the impression
of independence in thought and action. He is
deberative In manner, welorganized perfectly
controlled, clear thinking
I'VE do the job" he said, as we drove to
the aviation field And it's worth doing 1t offers
the big hope of winding up this war next
years All information is that Ger
many and the allies are keeping about equal
number of planes the battle front. We can't
be but their resources in building about
equal. Each side probably has about $500 planes
In active service on the western front, aside from
their reserves and training planes
III in position to put several thou
sand planes, manned by trained avlators, the
front today, might bring the war to an
early end"
by using the pf.aes to extend the range of
artillery. and bombing the enemy lines of COM
municaton and his munition plants and naval
baSesT'
Possibly, to some extent. am not particularly
sanguine over bombing and do not believe other
flyers are. The men who have flown are
the most enthusiastic the possibilities Of
dropping bombs. The antarcraft guns keep the
flyers at a height of above two miles. Anyone
who has flown at that height knows the tre-
mendous difficulty of hitting target. There Is
nothing for him to gauge his speed by. The bomb
drops through air currents moving In different d.
The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1917-09-14

successfully attacked. Under favorable conditions
other bombing operations might be carried out
successfully. But my idea Of the effectiveness of
supremacy in the air Is along different lines"
(which ones"
I'm other wars the element OF surprise has de-
termined the outcome when che forces "
approximately equal strength. rhe general who
could pass his men to fall on smaller force
Of the enemy won the battle. The airplane has
stoppi that. Now q commander on the western
front knows exactly what his opponent il doing.
There 10 - chance to mass men for surprise
The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1917-09-14

wreath the German lines as IA tribute to the
alr-warrtOr 1muelmann. And there alone can In
dividual skill and courage have their swift reward
For one flash between dip and climb Of his
swallow flight, the fighting airman may catch the
CLINT Of his opponents eye, and, If the momentary
burst Of fire be truly directed, him crumple up
In his seat and the Of his machine dip and
begin Its fatal spinning dive, while the victor
up again to safety and solitude
And what q solitude is his From the moment
In the airpane when the mechanic has given his
last heave, and the last curt verbal exchange
Contact, sir-Contact has been given and
the engine sets up its mighty droning song the
airman Is alone, submerged in that roaring music
deaf and dumb. For perhaps a minute he sits
there testing his engine, lingering his levers, as
suring himself that all is we'll F.; and then as the
The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1917-09-14

cover just one days war expenditure
of Great Britain alone.
When the Siamese army is mentioned
the good people of Europe and Amer
lea somehow let their fancies wander
to comic opera. Before the Russian
war they were wont to do precisely
this very thing about the Japanese
army. And they should be reminded
| of this fact In the most unkindly man.
ner possible. And just to rub 1t In.
the good American friends should be
reminded of an undeniable fact that
Siam was ahead of the proud and very
up-to-date United States in the matter
of compulsory military service-ahead
Of her by about thirteen years. Incred-
ible, of course, but true.
Old Fighting Methods Gone.
OF course the old style army of Siam
had its share of entertaining traditions
to make a tremendous demonstra.
ton of overwhelming force to scare
| the enemy, always at a good safe dis
| tance from him-was one of them, and
when an accidental blunder placed the
opposing forces within reach of a hu.
man voice, then to hurl at the enemy
a terrific stream of heroic epithets and
vile vituperations, and II the matter
came to the worst, then under no cir.
cumstances whatever let the men lose
their heads to the extent of launching
a bayonet charge, but let their spokes-
man challenge the other side to put up
a warrior-the champion warrior-to
a deadly duel with the hero of their
own camp, and let the two warrior rep.
resentatives decide the fate of the
| war! My own heroic countrymen in
Japan have not the slightest excuse to
make merry over this procedure. Not
SO many centuries ago their own brave
ancestors were wont to resort to this
method of economical warfare, espe.
cially in many interclan brawls.
This sort of thing is now but Q
quaint memory with the modern army
Of Siam, however. In 1904 the law Of
universal military service went into ef.
feet. Years before that a number OF
the sons Of the Siamese nobility had
been trained in the military schools
of Europe and of the United States.
They had returned home literally
kindling with enthusiasm for the new
order Of things. They had seen that q
modern army and navy had a good
deal to do with the dignity of a mod
ern state and with her very moral
standing. They could not quite make
out the logic Of the thing. But they
Just knew that 1t was right. Back
home in Siam they lost no time in be-
coming at once the prophets and
preachers of this new doctrine of ma.
tional prestige.
What they have accomplished up to
the present writing Is not likely to
turn the tide Of the world war in Eu-
rope, as has been hinted. But they
have made something Of beginning.
OF that there is not ghost of doubt.
And the development of the Slamese
army and navy should be more inter-
esting to the British statesmen than to
the militarists Of Germany-if truth
were told.
The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1917-09-14

attacks Consequently, we have the present dead
lock in France.
what we must do is to drive every enemy air
plane out of the air. By doing this we not only
prevent the Germans from knowing what we are
doing but We also cripple their artillery. for ar
uliery fire has been directed by the alrplanes
linen we can plan surprise attacks and can drive
the enemy back. In modern warfar. the side with
out airpanes is at a hopeless disadvantage When
we gain complete command of the air, when we
have literally smohered the enemy airplanes we
The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1917-09-14

only things that do not
seem to move are the
wings and stays Of your
machine which surround
you, a rigid cage from
which you look forth
upon the slow-turninR
earth or the rushing
clouds. 1t Is not until
the engine has been
The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1917-09-14

drone sinks to a hum, he makes
his last communication - the
characteristic quick outward
wave Of the hands and arms.
The chOcks are pulled away.
the hum rises to drone, breaks
into roar, and he Is of, bump
ing over the uneven earth until
his speed gives his wings their
The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1917-09-14

aircraft board Of the council Of national defense,
adopted by the department and financed by
congress, in Il fair way to be speedily CON
sunmatcd
Not long ago the Washington correspondent OF
The Kansas City Star, who signs himself II. J.
H." went to Dayton, o., TO interview one OF the
inventors of the alrplaue about Americas great
aeriul program, planned to blind" the German
army Portions of the reporters story are printed
below II gives details Of what Uncle Sam
Is doing In the production Of army of
birds -
A young jumped and caught the propeller
blade Of the biplane and gave 1t pull. 1t turned
half way around and stopped He repeated the
The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1917-09-14

on intimate terms with members of the govern
ment's aircraft production board, and all his re-
suits are at the disposal of the government FOR
the prosecution of the war.
He has great expectations Of the development
Of aircraft in practical after the war when
thousands OF trained flyers shall return to civil
life and when we shall have enormous factory
capacity for turning out the best machines In the
world But that again, is another story.
The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1917-09-14

scientific side of furthering
the development Of aeronau-
tics. But they necessarily
had to finance companies,
fight patent suits and con-
duct the business of estab-
fishing u new industry.
Wilbur Wright died five
years ago, and in 1915 Or
VILE Wright was able to dis
pose of his business inter-
The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1917-09-14
The Joy and chivaIry Of Air Fighting.

Flying has become much a matter of routine
In war as marching land or steaming on the
sea, and men ordered to fly, at fixed hours and
for stated periods as though flying were natural
act and not the organized miracle that ii really is.
A correspondent Of the London Times writes In
terestingly about 1t, saying
Out in France the last chvalries. the last beau
ties Of battle have taken refuge In the air. From
the labors, butcheries, miseries, horrors and ash
pit desolation Of the earth, the fighting romance
Of war has taken wings and climbed sunwards
There alone combat is Individual, visual decisive
There alone has the combatant to rely solely on
The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1917-09-14
Now Uncle Sam Is Goin$ toWhjp =.
S3fhhe the Germans in the Air;z@zz 10

THIN ten months the United States
viii have 5000 battle planes in ser
vice in Europe. The planes will be
equipped with American motors OF go
horsepower capable of driving them at
"a maximum speed Of 100 miles an
hour Furthermore, these motors Will
be constructed principally Of aluminium
and viii be of less weight per horse
power than any airplane motor here
tofore built. Thus the plans of the
The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1917-09-14

rections which defect II
from Its course.
The Krupp works at
Essen offer a large
enough target so that
n squadron of airplanes
might be able to put
them out of business.
Other DlantS might he
The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1917-09-14

himself. There alone Is the
battle decided not through
wells Of distance. between
impersonal and unknown
hosts, but wing TO wing and
face to face. There alone
are the rare courtesies of
warfare still possible; 1t
was a British squadron that
suggested. and a British air
man who executed, the
dropping of a funeral
The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1917-09-14

break the deadlock and
win the war.
THE airplane has pro-
duced the deadlock. The
airplane can end it,"
How soon can we
hope to do thisY"
I'VE have the best
men In the country at
The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1917-09-14

performance two or three
times. suddenly there was
roar and the propeller became
a blur.
1t was d hot morning In
Dayton and the breeze from
HE revolving propeller fan
iooked refreshing. The plane
The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1917-09-14

For this field, with Its four
square miles, Is to be one
Of the great centers OF
the aircraft work which Is
relied on to turn the scale
of battle on the western
front. And there at one
end of the field, which has
been named the Wilbur
Wright field, In honor Of
The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1917-09-14

wasn't going up. II was blocked on the ground
and they were merely trying out the engine. l
stepped forward into the breeze.
THE power Isn't turned on yet" said Orville
Wright, my side. at won't be so pleasant here
when II is.
The turned into thunder. The ground
seemed to be blowing away in cloud of dust.
We grabbed for hats and retreated.
Just of the training planes" Mr.. Wright
explained "Only hundred horsepower"
or no Importance battle line perhaps. But
of the gathering squadrons that even now are
beginning cast faint black shadow across the
German horizon
The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1917-07-14
On Initiating Shakespeare.

There's such a divinity doth hedge
our Shakespeare round that we cam
not even initiate his style. 1 tried to
initiate his manner in the Remorse and
when / had done 1t 1 found that / had
been tracking Beaumont and Fletcher
and Massinger instead. 1t is really
very curious, at first sight, how Shake
speare, and his contemporary drama.
lists seem to write in style much alike :
nothing so easy as to fall into that of
Massinger and others; while no one
has ever yet produced one scene con-
ceived and expressed in the Shakes
peare idiOm. 1 suppose it is because
Shakespeare is so universal and, in
fact has no manner; just as you can
so much more readily copy a picture
than nature herself.-Goethe.
The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1917-07-14
Insurance Policy and Marrians.

1.-THE important thing is that the in
surance policy-big or little-should
come into every home with the mar
riage license. 1t should precede the
savings bank account, the home, yes,
even new clothes, or butter on the
table. No man has a right to take a
girl out of her fathers home without
protecting her from starvation in case
of the accident of death.
"There comes the unhappy word
again-death. Yet the shadow of it
need not rest heavily upon US. The I'M
fortunate thing about a will Is that it
is associated in the average mans
life only with death. 1t should be
associated with life. The time for a mar
to make a will is today, while he can
do 1t with a smile on his lips, and the
jests and good wishes of his witnesses
ringing cheerily in his ears. Such q
man cannot cheat death of its ulti-
mate victory; but he robs 1t of its
sting, for he has made death powerless
to bring poverty and distress to those
who are left acknowledgements Home
Companion.
The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1917-07-14
Hedues VS.. Fences.

In many parts of the country hedges
are taking the place of fences, and the
change is certainly a desirable one
from the standpoint of beauty. They
require little, if any, more care than
a fence, and are equally as ~serviceable.
OF course, we don't mean that hedges
are more desirable for fields than
fences, but as a surrounding for the
house and yard they are preferable.
There are two general kinds of hardy
hedges, the d%eciduOus and evergreen,
but the former is more common in this
country and seems to meet with the
most favor. In planting deciduous
shrubs, a trench 4 feet wide and 6
inches deep should be dug the length
of the row. A drainage should then
be- provided of broken stone and the
bed filed with the best soil 1t Is posi-
BILE to obtain. In planting, care should
be taken to follow the direction given
by the nurseryman, SO that when the
shrubs mature they will be close
enough together-Exchange.
The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1917-07-14
Many Woods Sold as Mahooany.

Many woods from the various tropi-
cal regions of the world are sold as
mahogany, but those to which the
name does not rightfully belong are
found by the United States department
Of agriculture to include as many as
81 species of trees, of Al genera, scat
tered through Is families of the vege-
table kingdom. True mahogany is the
wood of two closely related species,
which grow naturally only from the
tropical part Of Florida and adjacent
keys and islands to northern South
America. Even true mahogany has
many grades and local varieties, with
weight varying from 52h pounds per
cubic foot for Florida mahogany to So
pounds for a Mexican kind.
The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1917-07-14
Meaning Of "Amerlea.n

What does the word America"
mean? Few know. 1t is derived from
the word Amabric, a proper name
which represented the old Germanic
ideal of heroism and leadership. Then
the Norman French softened 1t to
Amaury. Then in Italy they changed
1T to Amelrigo. But the juxtaposition
of the 81" and the or" bothered the
Italians, and it became Amerrigo, and
finally with one "r." Thus 1t became
the name of Amerigo Vespucci, a Flor
entine merchant and explorer. And 1t
is In honor Of his voyages of explora-
ton to the new world that a German
g~eographer, Martin Waldseemuller by
name, gave the name America to the
continent-Ladies' Home Journal
The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1917-07-14
Kissing the Black Stone.

AS well die a Jew or a Christian as
not make the pilgrimage to Mecca, said
Mahomet; and no obligation of Islam is
more piously discharged. 1t is believed
that the ritual connected with the visit
to the Ka'aba-the square building
and the kissing of the black stone go
back to days of idolatry, the "time Of
ignorance" before the new faith
bloomed, says the London Chronicle.
The black stone, which measures
about six inches by eight, is believed
to have fallen from Paradise, to have
been guarded during the deluge and
handed to Abraham by Gabriel when
the Ka'aba was built. Certain parts
of the ceremonial-the throwing of
stones at the devil, and the imitation
of Hagar's distracted wanderings in
the desert, are supposed TO have had
significance for the pre-Mohammedan
times as well as for Islam.
The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1917-07-14
Mr.. Wells
Last Will

BY JOHN ELKINS
Copyright, by w. G. Chapman.)


Copyright, by w. G. Chapman.)
II want you to draw up my will,
Mr.. Bagg, and l want it done right
away, SOS l can get il off my mind.
1t amt because I'm thinking of pass
ing away-don't know as l ever felt
better in my life-but that brother Of
mine has been Fostering me every day
to tend to it; so to stop his nagging,
I've come. 1t amt so much to get
anxious about, any way, just a pretty
good farm and some thousands in the
bank. You see, my lawyer, Daggett,
has gone to California, and Mr.. Black
sent me to you, being l was coming
to the city,
The speaker, a man past middle-age,
with iron-gray hair and a rugged face,
whose firm, angular jaw and protrud-
ing under lip set the lawyer to Won
dering how any amount of nngging
could have affected such an obstinate,
determined nature, took from his pOck-
ct some papers which he proceeded to
sort out as though he expected the at
torney to at once accede to his wishes
and get to work.
eyes. Mr.. Black has been a client of
mine" replied Bagg. GAS your broth
er says, it really is a wise thing for
u man to make a will, providing for
his family"
81 haven't got any family" said Mar
Gus Wells. "All 1 have is to go to my
brother, except a little something to
the church. 1 had a daughter once"
"Dead?' asked Bagg, as Wells
paused, looking away.
mo; 1 reckon it would be better if
she was" he answered. 81 want you
to make this will so hard and fast she
can never touch a cent of my money"
THAT isn't so easy to do. She is
the next of kin, and if she chose to
break the will by cOntesting it, she
might win, unless it could be proved
she was mentally incompetent"
'Oh, she's sound enough in the head,
smart as a steel trap. and took to her
books all right. Her mother died