davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The sun., 1917-06-03
All Sorts and Conditions Of Men
Answer the Call.

1t hits one in the hotels whore
crowds surge all day long and far into
the night-crowds made up of every
sort and condition n of men in Washing
ton-to offer their services or on the in
vitation or demand of the Government.
or hopeful to obtain in legitimate busi-
ness a share of the $4,000, 900, 900 which
Secretary McAdoo tells US is to he
spent by the United States and her
allies within a year, or to ascertain an
answer to the great national puzzle an
to how business can be conducted
under undreamed Of conditions. In
those crowds one may see any day in
credibly tall young men from the
Southwest in Washington to sell horses
to Uncle Sam or to get contracts for
beef supplies, young men who could b
identified without their big peaked
Stetsons for Just what they are. cow
men changed by the force OF circum-
stances to keen, alert business men.
There are any number of representa-.
tves OF metal producing concerns, Of
woolen mills. OF boot and shoe houses,
of railroads, of banks and trust COM
panies, of lumber mills. of great oil
producing companies. of rubber fac
experts in automobile construction. in
| airplane building and in machine gun
manufacture. There are inventors by
the score-most OF them unknown to
fame but desperately eager to gain
recognition--who are awaiting their
chance to offer to the Council of Ma
tional Defence their schemes or devices
for the suppression of submarines. or
| h. In ,.lrtp
| or who think they have a practical
plan for shipbuilding by the Wholesale
There are geniuses and cranks and
patriots and takers and millionaires
and paupers. all rubbing elbows. all
crowding for opportunity to reach the
ear Of the Government. The conversa-
ton in hotel lobbies and in the res
taurants Is all OF business, all con.
nected in some way with tho over
whelming task OF mobilizing n nation
There one has II. That is why WASH
ington In the spring of 1917 is so vastly
different from the Washington of the
spring Of 1861. Fffty-six years ago tho
Government stirred ponderously and
modified an army-gathered to itself
men with arms. Fifty-six years ago
the capital resounded with the beat OF
drum and the shrilllng Of flfe. Then
the streets were crowded with soldiers
Tho uniform was everywhere visible
Now the situation is so incredibly dif-
ferent that It is difficult for the mind
to comprehend its complexities; for
the Government. stirring again after
more than half century, is mobllizing
all industry. II is calling not only TO
the fighting men hut TO the railroad
|
The sun., 1917-06-03

uncomfortable, no longer vague force
occasionally felt as from a great dis
tance. no longer something traditional
in the vague background of national
life It Is out in the open, with Wash
ington as its arena. 1t is thing OF
fire and soul and frightful potentiality.
1t has arms that strike, legs that
stride. eyes that flash, a voice that
thunders. 1t has summoned multi
tudes OF servants from East. west.
North and South to do its will. 1t ac-
complishes every hour or so tremen-
dous and revolutionary projects. 1t $
reaching down into the structure of
every activity and taking what II
pleases. 1t is calling 100000 men to
arms and may call 100000 before
the drama Is played out. 1t Is re-
modelling business with curt and posi-
tive orders. 1t Is making farmers out
Of bookkeepers, soldiers out Of stock
brokers. 1t Is remaking a nation.
Now these are precisely the processes
and phenomena which cause even the
brides of June to pause for few mo-
ments outside of that Greek temple
| they call the Treasury or to stand
briefly near the old gray pile where
army. navy and State function. while
the frvolities OF her upbringing dissi-
pate and scatter and the realization
grips her like a thing with claws that
here abides a strange. new, terrible
power which may soon separate her
| from her man-may. indeed, find seri-
Gus work for her soft and unskilled
hands. These are precisely the proc
esses and phenomena which fll the
streets Of washington with men from
every part OF the .country--world IA
nous men. many Of them-who while
about their various occasions stare
with new comprehension at the sym
The sun., 1917-06-03

boIs of government, who find a new
meaning in the towering obelisk to the
memory Of George Washington. One
of these, having just returned from a
pilgrimage to the Mansion House at
Mount Vernon. sought to express his
crowding emotions.
II had been to Mount Vernon be-
fore" he said, but I don't believe
ever understood before what Mount
Vernon should mean to our people.
And / saw there again the key OF the
Bastille which Lafayette sent to WASH
ington and l wrote down what Lafay-
ette himself wrote to Washington:
Give me leave. my dear General, to
present you with n picture of the Bas-
tile, Just as II looked few days after
/ ordered It's demolition. with the main
key of the fortress OF despotism. 1t Is
q gift which / owe as son to my
adopted father, as an aide de camp to
my General. as missionary OF liberty
to its patriarch DO you see what 1t
means? 1t tells us that we In this day
are setting out to demolish the strong
est fortress Of despotism that ever
existed; that II is for America to de-
molish that fortress and for her sons
to offer any service. even their lives"
There IL Just a fash OF the new emo
ticn. All men are seeing Washington
with corrected vision. seeing 1t as they
never gllmpsed II before, There are nc
longer mere idle sightseers about
Now the city calls to people In a far
different way. Now there are pilgrims
to patriotic shrines men and women
who walk about without careless chat
ter, men and women who are conscious
that they are in the spreading shadow
of tremendous events. They contem'
plate with real awe the symbols Of sud
denly loosed and Overwhelming su
The sun., 1917-06-03

the June bride to whom Washington
Of yore was a delightful stopping off
place on the honeymoon trip to Mag
ara Falls: a city favorably mentioned
by Cook or the jaunty "Mr. Foster"
Following the custom of her kind. she
arrives in Washington expecting the
keys of the city. for the capital i'm
memorially has been amiable to brides.
In a moment she Is conscious OF
disagreeable metamorphoss. Hus-
band has all sorts of trouble In finding
a taxi. He telephones, or tries to, and
flnds that the phones are busy. Even
tually she and he find their way to the
Shoreham or the New Willard or the
Powhatan or the Lafayette or to any
one of the few good hotels that WASH
ington possesses. They confidently
expect df not a bridal suite) as least
all of the accommodations to which
happy tradition entities them. What
they really get Is a cold stare from the
clerk and the terse statement that all
the rooms are taken. and any sort OF
accommodation Is quito out OF the
question. Perhaps after hours of
roaming (and the bride Is close to
tears by now they are settled In a
hall room whose most conspicuous
furnishing is the granite washbowl
and pitcher of the days of our grand
fathers. They are fortunate to get so
much. And the next day when they
start out to see the sights they find 1t
! impossible to do more than nose
against the White House fence. so
closely is that famous spot sentinelled.
And without passes they cannot get
into the State. Army and Navy Build
ing. In the corridors of the Capitol
they are edged this way and that and
shouldered aside by crowds Of hurry
Ing men. II they try to use theif
The sun., 1917-06-03

camera they will be severely admon-
ished like as not. As mere amus.-
ment seeking. casual visitors they
simply do not At into the scheme Of
things and are not long having this
fact impressed upon them. For every
body except themselves Is hard at
work or gravely concerned about the
work that others are doing. and the
usual facilities for pleasure giving
have been converted into rough and
ready war service and nobody seems
to love them at all, at all. Thereupon
the bride seeks relief in tears. and
presently, IL she is the right sort, the
sort with some imagination. she be-
gins to comprehend what is going on
in Washington, and she takes husband
by the arm and they go out. quietly,
softly even, and with this same cor
rected vision. to acquire without get
ting in anybody's way, their measure
of understanding Of a great, new thing
The sun., 1917-06-03
Glimpses of the Giant at Work in
His House.

Before any one without actual busi-
ness with the Administration glimpses
the giant at work in his house It Is
quickly apparent that Washington Is
very different now than IN any year
which can be recalled by the oi1est in
habitant. Ordinarily at this time of
year there Is a slackening OF all activi-
ties. The Government slows down 20
half or quarter speed. Great men and
small are Fastening to the seashore.
the mountains, the golf links, the ten
mis- courts. A vacation eagernass Is In
the air. Tho private mansions are
dark and quiet, windows boarded. fur
niture shrouded. The streets ore not
crowded. The lassitude of the season
hangs over the city. Nothing much
matters and it wouldn't matter much
If 1t did. What change Is there now!
There is an incredible speeding up Of
all activities. Great men and small
are sticking to their desks for many
hours OF extra labor. Nobody thinks
of taking a vacation. There are re-
gretful thoughts of seashore and noun
tain. but these are thoughts quickly
eliminated by the drive of labor. Tho
mansions are open. alive. Entertain
ments are less osteptatious. even in
such matters as the food provided, but
they continue because in a sense they
supplement Government work. Much
important business Is accomplished out
OF office hours. The streets are con-
gested with pedestrians and vehicular
traffic. The telephone system Is at the
point of breaking down under impos-
| sihla damands Eyerywhere IL heard
the exhaust of gigantic machine run
ming under forced draught. Where
once there was the delightful leisure
of a Southern city there is now
the rush and drive and concentration
found in the structure of great going
corporation OF business. Once In the
city the visitor is almost instantly con-
scious OF this workaday atmosphere
The sun., 1917-06-03
Washington Now the Most Serious
Minded Of Cities.

For the present Washington is the
most serious minded city in tho land.
Because 1t is the abiding place OF the
arousing. giant Washington perceives
what is being done. what is to be done.
1t makes for solemnity. 1t has been
said that the country--especially the
large cities-has not begun to take the
war seriously; that the people con-
tinue to laugh. dance, drink; that the
realization of how deeply America Is
concerned has not come 30 them. This
cannot be said of Washington, where
even the children seem to have taken
on a new seriousness. where all men
and women are desperately busy,
where amusement hunters are shoul-
dered aside and plainly frowned upon f;
where men earning 100000 a year In
their ordinary vocations are shaving
for the Government at nothing a
month; where everything that went
with the old careless days OF peace
and plenty and extravaganza and place
hunting and social climbing Is rigor-
ously subordinated to the business OF
making ready for war.
Consider for Q moment the. plight Of
The sun., 1917-06-03
Americans Arc Seeing Uncle Sam
in q New Guise.

Nowhere in the vast drama of rush.
ing preparation whose scenes are
staged in the White House. in the Cap
tol. In tho old buildings OF administra-
don. In the Munsey Building, the new
temple Of administration In Pennsyl-
vania avenue, in the crowded hotels,
In the streets, in the rendezvous OF
military and naval activity is there
one single development so mind grip
ping for the present, SO revealing as to
what is to come after peace In the
great, new national future, as this
Awakened comprehension OF what
Government can mean-does mean at
the bottom-when all of the illusions
OF peace are snatched away. The most
casual onlooker in Washington ac-
quires some notion. however vague, OF
the terrific psychological adjustment.
The Government has stepped like a
Giant from the mists OF tradition and
shows itself to startled eyes as
creature of terrible, unlimited powers,
thing become phenomenally real, a
thing OF the most intimate, personal
concern, a thing which abolishes COM
Portable individualism. being which
orders come here or go there. 1t has
become in the imminency of world
anarchy as palpable as any great force
Of nature. 1t is as definite as winter
oold or summer heat. as the darkness
Of night or the brilliancy Of day.
More than anywhere else In the
country, Americans in Washington
and having to do with some part oil
episode OF war preparation are dis
covering their Government. regarding
II with eyes from which films Of care
lessncss have been swept. The better
to understand this new attitude. this
new comprehension df one has hat
no opportunity to visit Washington II
this time Of completely national mobil
zation). II Is useful to recall the old
careless, take everything for granted
View Of the Federal Government tina
existed up to few weeks ago befor'
the giant stirred.
How many grown men and womeI
The sun., 1917-06-03

There is something appalling about II.
Then one grasps the fact that the ol1cs
impalpable thing called Government
has materialized itself into the most
palpabe force the people ever export
eIced in the 141 years of national life.
and that It is laboring and struggling
to overcome the inertia of generations
and to create in few months what 10
usually produceable only over period
of patient years. And this is the feel
ing that fairly hits all vsitors-tho
June bride, the cattleman from Texas,
the newspaper man from New York,
the miner from Colorado. the contrao-
tor in fabrics from Massachusetts.
The sun., 1917-06-03
Waking Up to the Realities of Our
Government.

Not since the days Of the civil
war had 1t materialized into the light.
a thing to be actually seen. actually
heard, actually felt. Then, too. most
Americans were too busy getting
ahead to philosophize or speculate
about the ponderability Of Government.
They simply felt that II was some-
where about the shop, ready to protect
them. ready to interpose II they over
stepped some none too well defined
l.ne of conduct or morals. But scarcely
ever did It touch them so directly that
they could feel the actual jar or con-
tact. Its method OF getting money for
itself was so indirect that contributors
to the Federal Treasury felt as II they
we're paying some individual or con-
Germ. Almost every mans near con-
Germ so far as the realization Of gov
ernment went was with his city and
State.
And now all that Is changed and al
most overnight. for the Federal Gov
ernment has become as palpable a
thunder and lightning. It's no longer
The sun., 1917-06-03

of the 100. 900, 900 had up to two months
ago any keener notion OF its actually
and potentiality than is held by the
children in school poring over their
lessons in civil government before
taking the next step upward to Bryce's
incompatible and sympathetic study?
Relatively few. in all probability.
There were so many excellent reasons
for this lack OF definite understanding.
More than 100 years Of peace with for
elgn nations (the Spanish war scarcely
Huttered the nation). more than a half
century of peace at home, had served
to keep the Government in the back
ground. OF course 1t existed, a. all
men knew. 1t lived in the WSite
House and the Capitol and In the va
rious buildings of administration. 1t
provided good jobs for deserving DEM
ocrats Cor Republicans) once every
four years or so. 1t pursued counter
feiters with remarkable talent and re-
lentlessness One said Of 1t. "Once
Uncle Sam gets after a man he is
gone!" But one said about the same
Of Providence. One corrective. puni-
tive power seemed about as visible as
the other. We knew that 1t VAS a
stepfather for Lo. the Poor Indian;
that its promises to pay were as good
as gold In the hand; that 1t furnished
seeds to Congressman who desired to
keep on the good side of an agricul-
tural constituency--but the Congress
man got the credit. after all, not the
Government really that occasionally
IL reached out a hand to whack busi-
ness or the railroads; that 1t main
tanned certain formal relations with
other rather more visible govern
ments that it did multitude OF
things, but all in a sort of unrelated
way.
The sun., 1917-06-03
When the Nation S
Business Is War
the Capital Be-
comes in Truth
the Nerve Centre
Of the Country
and the Tremen-
dous Power of the
Gov ern m e n t
Stands Revealed
10 CAPITOL BUILDING
By EDWIN c. HILL.

THE whole thrilling sweep and
stir OF war preparation at
Washington reveals nothing
more impressive and significant than
the attitude Of the masses Of men on
var business at the capital, who
thanks to Hohenzollern, Krupp 4 Co.,
have discovered with tho suddenness
Of great shock that the Federal Gov
eminent IL q tremendous. living.
dsfinite. concrete, life and death fact.
These visitors in Washington. who
may be divided into two great classes.
those who want something from the
Government and those from whom
the Government wants something. are
solemniy adjusting their habit Of
thought to the conviction that the
United States Government is a thing
Of truly awful powers. a master that
can reach into q mans pocketbook
and take his money. that can order
his business and appropriate his
profits, that can tap him upon the
shoulder, put q rife In his hands and
tell him to forget all Of the joys and
comforts Of peace and ease. his wife
and children and friends. while he goes
out to die. 1t may be. in battling for an
IDEAL.
The sun., 1917-06-03

Me LARGEST FLAG IN THE
UNITED STATES HkNGS IN THE a
HOLLOW SQUARE OF THE POST :
OFFICE DEPARTMENT. IN WASHINGTON
IT'S 62H FEET LONG BY 36FT. VIDE.
THE STARS ARE SOMETHING LIKE
4 FOOT ACROSS. T..
The sun., 1917-06-03
ne EXECUTIVE OFFICE A.eUsy PLACE THESE DAYS.

thority. Gayety and frivolity fall
away from them. Certain experiences
cause a catch Of the breath. They
walk and observe with feelings rather
too deep for articulation. One sees
them glance at each other-wordlessly
This is the new understanding Of gov
ernment. the new vision Of patriotism
which. arising out of and proceeding
from the stir OF events at the capital.
is slowly spreading over the rest Of the
country.
The day book. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1911-1917, 1917-01-03

nag Of peace. I'd like to- see all
standing armies disarmed and dis
banded so all professional soldiers
could go to work for a living, and
then Just enough of an international
navy maintained to police the seas
in the interest of peace and the en-
tire human race. Germans, French
men, Englishmen, Russians, Bel
gians, Italians, Japanese, Americans
and all others are to me only people,
and am hostile to none of them. I'd
be glad if they all had one common
religion and would be satisfied if the
Golden Rule were all of it-for then
I could join the church. - N. D.
Cochran.
The day book. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1911-1917, 1917-01-03
lie HIGH cosT o. LIVING

THE HIGH COST OF LIVlNG!-
Everybody is doing it, kicking about
the high prices Of foodstuffs.
Aldermen, women societies., silk
and cotton stockings, union labor,
Socialists, anarchists, Judges, doc
tors, ETC., but not the gospel preach
ers.
They should worry. They get all
they want from these thieves and
public robbers who boost the prices
up. The trust people, Armour, Cud-
ahy, etc., are members of circles and
all kinds Of organizations to crush
the poor working people.
The gospel preachers are to blame
for these rotten conditions. They
never do anything against these fell
lows because they live from the
hands Of these bread day robbers.
In the same class as the preach
ers are the judges and our courts. If
a. man steals a loaf of bread he is
sent to the Bridewel. Some judges
send such men to Joliet. But if these
trust people steal 100000 a day
from the people through manipula-,
ton of food prices, nobody says a
word.
All this investigation is only for
binding the people and that is why
these bread day robbers never land
behind the prison bars.
When the people buy. loaf of
Wards bread they eat Reckefeller's1
bread. If they buy Schulze's bread
The day book. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1911-1917, 1917-01-03

they eat Nelson Morris bread. II
you buy from the Randolph Market
you buy from Ogden Armour, etc.
Another thing that is an addition
to the high cost Of living is the in
creasing rent. This is done through
high taxes and the high taxes are
through rotten city administration.
Before this administration came
in there was cash in the treasury.
Now where is the proclaimed pros
perity which the present mayor had
in his mind?-A. S.
The day book. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1911-1917, 1917-01-03

Before this administration came
in there was cash in the treasury.
Now where is the proclaimed pros
perity which the present mayor had
in his mind?-A. S.
HERE'S TO BAccHUs.-The drys
say that the vets have no defense,
but defenders. How can any one
make defense against people that
talk to themselves.
What argument has any dry put
forth that can be proved here in Chi
cago against the temperate drinking
Of the great majority of the people
of Chicago.
One writer says get a map and look
at the dry acreage. Prohibition is
matter of people, not corn or wheat.
He also says it makes man a slave.
Get the definition of slave in a die
tiOnary., Drink is the girls first step.
Makes man a thief, etc.
The drys say that the children Of
drinking parents are inferior because
of drink. Prof. Parsons measure
ments of thousands Of children dis
proves it. Dry doctor meetings are
cited in Germany. Insurance COM
panies statistics, etc., are quoted. But
the great doors and thinkers Of this
and every other age have been drink
ers. The old man or woman that
lives inlyour block drinks temperate
ly. The patent medicine they recon-
mend has from Is to so per cent alco-
hol in it.
Doctors and druggists that profit
by the use Of a pencil and some weed
extracts that cost a few cents are ma
turally enough against alcohol as a
medicine. But why alcohol rubs in
hospital? Why booze to the fight
ing soldier? Why is it that drunk
ards do not commit rape? If it is
such sex stimulant as it is claimed
El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1917-09-15

tened attentvely for the statutory
signals, required of an approaching
train, and for the ringing Of the cross
ing gong. but heard nothing, and so
approached the crossing at six to
eight miles per hour, he was not con-
trlbutorlly negligent as matter of
l5w--Swigart v- Lusk, 102 S. ". mo. ,
Under St 1907. c. S75. making per
son VINO negllgently causes the death
Of another liable for damages in a
sum not less than $500 nor more than
$4,000, TO be assessed with reference
TO oeEree or culpabllltT, the driving
OF an unregistered automobile along
the highway does not require the
maximum amount to be awarded in
an action for death caused BY such
autOmOb iie--Fairbanks y. Kemp, 1I5
y. z. (AIass.) 240.
Where an automobile driver. suing
a road for injuries in a crossing col
hsion, pleaded and proved the roads
negligence in failing TO give the stat
utory signals Of the approach Of a
train and his own consequent injury.
he was entitled to recover. unless the
evidence showed his contributory neg
liEence so clearly that reasOns bl e
minds could draw no other reasona BILE
conclusion--Swigart Y. Lusk. 192 S.
". CMo) 13S.
The law does not require that a
person attempting TO cross a railroad
II dNh III 81 AADAAA0l4AEs LAAG EdLElEQ DIV
an approaching train DO at his peril
the thing which afterwards on cool
examination appears to have been the
safest. particularly where the road, by
its neglect Of duty and failure to give
timely warning, lulled him into
sense OF security and brought him
into peril--SWigart Y. Lusk, 1872 $. ".
(4Io.) 136.
Care at Crossings.
The fact that a railroads crossing