davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-09-08
Over Forty-hve
A Call for an Army of Husky, Ripe
Grown-Ups
To the Editor of the Tribune

To the Editor of the Tribune.
Sir: IL there any way in when ma"
who has passed his forty-ffth birthday can
be of military service to his country
There must be thousands of strong
healthy men in the United States between
rorty-fvc and fifty years of age VINO are
not only willing but most anxious 10 ne'p
in defeating the unspcakable German anu
vet because of the handicap OF lie" eN'i"
months they are kept out of active service
NV own experience is n case in point for
tho last twenty-five years | have iiVeo con-
stantly an outdoor life, either farming
hunting or fishing. / am a good shot with
either rifle or revolver and thoroughly
familiar with arms of either military OF
sporting pattern. have never had doctor
never had an ache or pain, and so far as
| know am in perfect physical condition.
Have been always "A great pedestrian, never
walking less than 5000, and some years as
much as 5000 miles, so am sure | have no
foot troube-the cause of so many april
cants being turned down in the draft. nave
no father, no mother. no wife. no children
so that in case | were killed my death would
mean less than that of other men more
fortunately situated / know ! possess
physical courage and the ability to bear
hardship and suffering with patience and
resignation.
Being aware Of the above facts, | Inquired
out that | would make an ideal soldier, but
my country, as represented by the military
authorities, evidently thought otherwise. l
tried 20 get in Plattsburg- old. trled
to enlist as "a private in New York-statlng
the facts as I have given them to you-too
old. ! tried to get in in Denver-too Old
Was encouraged by placard outside re-
cruitng station in Chicago, which read;
Fighting men wanted in United States
Army" But they wanted lighting men
under forty-fve.
Even Mr.. Roosevelt turned me down-"on
account of age and lack of previous military
experience" Teddy, by the way, had no
doubts about his own physical htness'
although he is nearly fifteen years my senior.
Had ! been born in 1873 instead OF 1871
| would probably have had no trouble.
Mr.. Roosevelt wants to go abroad to night
the Germans. Thousands of other Americans
want to do the same thing. Why cannot
the government raise volunteer army OF
100000 men between the ages of thirty-fve
and fifty, under the lead of Colonel Roose-
welt, and send us over to Russia? | bet
there would be something doing. b. l.. II.
Bedford, ~ Y, Sept 4, 1917.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-09-08

(From The Philadelphia Public Ledger
Food saving is still one of the most i'm
portant tasks before the nation. Even the
ingenious Germans have not been able to find
in straw or sawdust substitutes for real food.
Camouhage as the president of the National
Emergency Food Garden Commission puts it,
may deceive the enemy in the field, but it
will not fool the stomach" That is why
the cultivation of foodstutfs by every posi-
Bile means must 60 on industriously. The
men at the front must be fed, and the people
at home as well, and every man at the front
means one less man to enlist in the food
saving army at home. The commission has
offered prizes for the best canned vegetables
grown in war gardens as a stimulus 70 pro-
duction. Many have gone back TO the soil,
however small piece, during the last sum-
mer, but the emergency still exists, and many
more are needed for the same kind of labor.
1t is necessary to save food, of course, but
it is even more necessary TO raise 1t.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-09-08
Loyalty or Prussianisml

To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: II is not necessary to be pacifst to
feel mortified over Governor Burnquists re-
fusal to permit the scheduled assembly Of
the Peoples Council.
Even Mr.. Gompers himself in appreciate
measure responsible for the violent attacks
focused upon the body in Minneapolis, has
expressed his regret that recourse was had
to "a method so un-Americau Fair-minded
men everywhere will echo his sentiments.
The spirited group which, in the teeth of
such eleventh hour discouragements. en-
trained this afternoon for North Dakota
have cleared at a bound the charge OF coward
ice. For strength so tempered, a persist
ence so steady, a very recklessness so fine
are hardly the properties of towards!
Is it American loyalty, Mr.. Editor, which
can leave everything in the world for the
solution of Mr. Wilson? Or is such subser-
vience TO any mans authority, such whole
sale remuneration of the very right to think,
sheer OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES of which
the "pro-German" Peoples Council stands
gloriously acquitted -Prussianism every
whit as dangerous in New York as Pots
dam? And if so, Mr.. Editor, how much
longer shall epithets and threats of mob
violence buttress war for democracy?
TRACY DICKINSON MYGATT.
Hartsdale, n. Y, Sept /, 1917.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-09-08
DELAYING Food Control

The Senate's rejection of the nomination
cf Mr. George w. Perkins to be president
of the State Food Control Commission was
decisive. There remains little for Gov
ernor Whitman to do but to submit an
other nomination. The reasons given for
the Senates course do not seem adequate
to The Tribune. Mr.. Perkins's connection
with trusts, even the much criticised
harvester trust" has not been such as to
unfit him for the office for which he was
selected Instead, his business experience
qualified him to handle the intricate prob
lens of production, distribution and mar
ket prices of foods as perhaps no other
training could have done.
This treason" was not the actual one.
The real motive was politics-a desire of
the upstate Republicans to stand in with
the farmers, who feared they would suffer
under such an administration of the fool
control law as Mr.. Perkins would give, and
a desire of the Democrats to strike an in
direct blow at Mayor Mitchell, who has
employed Mr.. Perkins on many important
tasks.
On the Senators who deprived the state
of a competent official must rest the re-
sponsibility for that course. The public's
chief concern now is to have the Food Con,
troll Commission organized promptly, so ii
can get to work on its much-needed job OF
regulating conditions in the food markets
/ 1t will not be easy for Governor Whitman
to find another man as well qualified who
is willing to give the time and energy
necessary to this service. To Just the eX-
tent that the Senate by its rejection Of Mr.
Perkins binders and delays the operation
of the state food administration 1t will
have contributed to the fattening OF
profteers pocketbooks at the public eX-
pense and to the lessening of New 1ork's
contribution to the nations war work For
this the Senators who voted in opposition
NAV receive the gratitude of the profiteers
and of some politicians, but they surely
will not get that of the general public.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-09-08
America On the March
tor of The Tribune.

To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: As an American mother, with boys
going to the front to fight Americas battles
for Justice and humanity, | want to express
my appreciation of the fine editorial of Sep
TENDER 5. America On the March" The spirit
of Horace Greeley speaks in every line. 1t
truly was "the most American OF sights" and
one long 10 be remembered.
IL certainly is a stern sacrifice our country
asks of its youth, and America Is proud OF
them for the ready response they have made
to the call. II brands as a base libel the
statement often made in the first year OF the
war that america had no ideals but the dol
lars" 1t seemed for some time that we de-
served it, for our hesitancy in not coming
forward promptly and sending our challenge
over to Germany and her diabolical Kaiser.
American womanhood must not forget what
their sisters in France, Belgium, England and
Italy are sacrificing for humanity's cause and
at the close of this war refuse to buy
ANYTHING with the brand: Made in Ger
many" Believe me, it will hit hardest when
ii hits their purse.
Our allies will need our help in their sale
of manufactured goods and we must stand by
them. American mothers, keep a stout heart,
force back your tears, send your sons away
with smile and "God bless you" and a
prayer for humanity's cause, and, above all,
economic and work, work every spare mo-
ment for "our boys" A MOTHER.
Elizabeth. y. j., Sept. ;, 1917.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-09-08
The American Face
York.

When the first American soldiers
marched down Piccadilly few weeks ago
there were cheers and, for Britain, great
enthusiasm. There was also keen obser-
walton, as the following description of our
men in "The Manchester Guardian
shows:
The chief thing that struck you was their
faces. They looked grim and set, and how
ever loud the cheering by the way and
however racy the London greetings, there
was never a smile to be seen. The Amerl-
cans seemed TO be tremendously conscious
of being on Show-So different from the
British soldier on a march-out, who always
gives the crowd as good as he gets in the
way of repartGe and never allows himself
to be betrayed into solemnity.
This unyelding appearance seemed espe-
cially to impress the volatile French and
Belgian soldiers among the spectators
Every one said they looked like business
these men with set, rather hard faces
strong jawed and close-lpped
Americans do look tremendously con-
scious. William James stated the same
idea when he reproved us for showing too
much of our emotions in our faces. 1t may
be fine psychological question whether
we are really any more conscious than
The more sophisticated Britisher, who has
learned to conceal his emOtions-to be
consciously unconscious. But to the eye
there can be no question of our national
restlessness under scrutiny, our inability
to forget ourselves. The characteristic is
most conspicuous in our city folk 1t fades
into the background in the stiffness of the
country and the hills and the backwoods.
Even there, however, comparing type for
type. the nerves of the Kansas farmer are
nearer the surface than in a Yorkshire
farmer; his face is keener, more eager
The grim look, the set rather hard
faces. strong jawed and close-lipped-
these items, too, show clear observation.
And they suggest an American character
istic that goes some distance to explain the
self-consciousness. That is our national
eagerness and keenness, a combination OF
fresh. unsatisfied interest in the world,
with endless will to see the thing through.
The quality was conspicuous on Fltth
Avenue when our armies, present and
prospective, marched forth to camp. 1t IS
probably our best and most characteristic
national gift. With it naturally goes a
certain amount of consciousness; for 1t
connotes sensitive nerves, responsiveness
and seriousness, an almost too great Sc
robustness, which only grimness or laugh
ter can cover.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-09-08

venting of the overrunning of the earth by
insects and caterpillars, ct al, destroyers OF
food products One pair Of potato beetles
produces 6O,OOOOOO little beetles each year.
Twelve generations of plant lice come each
wear. and one female produces ten sextlilions
Of young lice annually.
If ali the eggs laid by single moth
should live few oak trees would supply
leaves enough to support even one family.
Fortunately the birds destroy 80 per cent
of the larva and, as for the prolific field
mice, which give birth to six to eight in every
litter, the owls and hawks eat millions Of
them and so help the sorely tried farmer.
In the ordering of an all-wise ruler of the
world millions of feathered field hands are
working tirelessly from dawn to dark TO
destroy not only insects but the seeds of
noxious weeds in garden and pasture, which,
if they were not with US, would cover the
earth and quntupe the farmers toll. The
annual loss on account of insect depreda-
tons alone is Sl2OO,OOO,OOO These merry
and tuneful warriors wage a continuous
battle against insects and vermin, and they
must be guarded and protected
J. C. PUMPELLY.
New York, Sept. 6, 1917.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-09-08

those the Germans are doing. The essen
tial savagery incident TO bombing a hos
pital, incident to numbering nurses, Incl
dent to assassinating non-combatants, the
savagery that seeks to exploit the helpless
ness of some to terrorize the manhood OF
others-this excites a bitterness that is
difficult to restrain.
Yet this bitterness, too. will pass. There
is no longer bitterness in France or IN
England Bitterness one feels toward an
enemy sometimes in the heat of strife, but
bitterness one does not feel either toward
an animal or toward a human being VINO
adopts the course of the wild beast. There
is in such case no place for passion,
One has simply to 60 out and kill. Inc
world has gone out to kill the German be-
cause he has adopted the method of the
wild animal and because his deeds are the
deeds of the beast, not of human being.
How much longer in the presence OF
crimes like that reported yesterday, like
that of Vaudelaincourt, will American
voices be raised urging that it is the mis-
sion of the American people and the Amer
lean government to insist that terms of
peace be made with Germany based on the
idea of reconciliation? Is it not a little
soon to grasp with enthusiasm hands that
still drip with the blood of murdered men
and women and children?
The German has served a useful purpose
in revealing himself to the American pub
lie. We see him through the recent at
tacks upon American hospitals as he is.
We shall see him still more closely and still
more convincingly in the weeks that are to
come. We may not call him Hun or Boche,
but if we continue to call him German 1t
will be with a realization that the name
carries with it the deepest reproach that
one man can put upon another. German
will be in America presently-thanks to
German ruthlessness-a badge of infamy
from one end of the land to the other.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-09-08
To Unity New York

One of the favorite diversions for New
Workers with turn for statistics has been
figuring how many more individuals of
given foreign nativity there were in this
city than in the most pOpulous munich
palitv of the land from which they came.
1t was a harmless pastime, and in other
wears the condition which made it possible
did not seem much of a menace. The fact
that these immigrants did not fuse into
Americans in the melting pot-that to all
practical purposes they remained foreign
ers, with their own residence districts,
their old customs, their foreign-language
wspapers-merely rendered the metrop-
oils cosmopolitan city," 1t was consid-
cred enough that their children learned
the language of the country in the public
schools and gradually were assimilated.
The war has put different face on af-
fairs and has shown the need for Ameri-
canization Of immigrants, not of their de-
scendants only. As the Mayors Commit
tee on Aliens, which has been making a
study of conditions here preliminary to an
intensive educational campaign, puts it,,
"the forces which produce unity in a
heterogeneous population like that of New
York must be speeded up. The melting pot
must be made to melt"
For that purpose schools, churches,
clubs, city departments, Libraries and en-
ployers' and employees associations are to
cooperate. Night school work is to be ex-
tended for the benefit of the foreign born.
Especial effort is to be made to encourage
them to learn English. Emphasis is to be
laid on the fact that they have become
Americans in theory, and should do so in
fact, understanding and adopting Ameri-
can ideas and customs, accepting not only
the material benefits of this country but
the responsibilities which 90 with them.
A campaign of this nature begun last
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-09-08
Feathered Field Hands
Birds Which Aid the Farmer Need
Continent-Wide Protection
he Editor of The Tribune.

To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: | trust the measure now IN Con-
gress intended to make effective the treaty
between this country and Canada for the
protection of migratory birds will pass, for,
as YOU said in an editorial of September A.
il is intimately connected with the food
problem"
This treaty, when in force, will secure
protection all over the North American
Continent for some 1922 species and sub
species of birds, game and insectiyerous,
in the spring flights during the breeding
season. 1t will save from depletion and
threatened humiliation many species OF
water fowl. Also it provides that no insect
destroyer shall be shot at any time. For
wood and elder duck, either a close sea-
son of five years or refugees shall be estao,
lished; and for bandtaied pigeons, sandhili
and whooping cranes, swans and curiews and
almost all shore birds the bill provides a
continuous close season for ten years.
Also It prohibits the taking of nests or eggs
Of migratory game birds or migratory IN
sectivorous non-game birds, or other mlgra'
tory non-game birds, except for scientific, or
propagating purposes.
Also the international traffic in any birds
or eggs during the continuance of the close
season is likewise prohibited.
The managers of the New York Zoology
cal Park declare that "the forces at work
for the destruction of animals and birds
are multiplying rapidly, and great efforts
are necessary to preserve and protect the
remnants.
an 1887 a committee of the Senate of
Ohio reported the passenger pigeon needs
no protection and no ordinary destruction can
lessen it, In 1914 the last living passenger
pigeon died in the Cincinnati Geological
Gardens. The future may be judged BY the
past, and many species of American birds
and animals are now threatened with the
fate of the passenger pigeon"
Birds are natures guards for the pre-
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-09-08
By Might Of Pen
tor of The Tribune.

To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: The Vigilantes is an organization OF
writer's and illustrators who since last March
have steadily pursued the work that they had
laid out for themselves from the beginning
that is, to utilize whatever influence their
names and pens might have upon the readers
of American newspapers and magazines tow
ard arousing them to the need of enthusiastic
co6peration with the government in meeting
the tremendous issues which autocracy and
the German Kaiser have forced upon us. The
organization has taken no part IN lynchlng'
in interrupting street meetings, in organz-
ing boycotts or in the various other activities
undertaken by individuals or associations of
somewhat similar names.
state this not in criticism of others, but
merely to draw public attention to the fact
that The Vigilantes mean to continue to agi-
tate for patriotism and to fight pacifism and
pro- Germanism entirely through their pens,
leaving other forms of action severely alone.
George AIDE. Booth Harrington, Theodosia Gar
lison. Amelia Josephine Burr, Julian Street
and Ellis Parker Butler may have undiscov'
cred talents in handling the rope, but The
Vigilantes prefer to have them use the meth
DDS which have proved efficient heretofore,
rather than to see them venture into untried
fields. While several thousand daily news
rapers in this country continue to print The
Vigilantes's appeals to patriots and denunci-
atoms of slackers and traitors, the organlza-
ton will feel itself justified in relying solely
upon the pen.
CHARLES ]. ROSEBAULT,
Managing Editor of the Vigilantes.
Ma Nork Sppt Il 1917
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-09-08
Herbs and Housemaids
Ancient Lore Of Them Rejected bv ,
Great Granddaughter
To the Editor Of The Tribune.


Sir: Mrs Alvoni r. Aliens excellent I...
on the subject opened by Mrs II. IT.
your Dlumns a week ago reminds one ~ .,
old truth (or, perhaps, like other truth, !, :
a new one), that 10 do an old-fashion.a o..
we'll is more creditable than to do mode.
thing poorly. OF course, the old ideal ~ A.
nestle service is beautiful-the dignis.s ~.
tress who is more mother than employ., 4.
her maids, who guides, advises, direct, "A.
Gates them.
But Mrs. II. T. SIS problem is the no1.-
one, the problem we meet who employ An,
lean, not foreign, born labor, and who ,,..
great difficulty in securing that. Afr, !.
dozen childhood years in the average ~.
American home, after grammar school .ss !.
year or two Of high SCHOOL, after unlint.,
pocket money, movies, silk stockings. or-
dances and JOY riding, after the partial :.
similation of all sorts Of half-developed a..
bitter Socialist arguments from the fatbs, J,
the family and a steady doctrine OF beipy :.
good as any one else from the untrai,.,
mother, the American housemaid ia .,..
difficult TO teach
One feels with genuine envy that Yrs. Al.
len is most fortunate manager and a..
ployer. But one knows that her dau2b,.,.
and granddaughter will derive no NOR. b.,'
eft from her experience than derive ,o.s,,
from the Book of Herbs and Simples' .b,,
my great-grsndmother compiled in the y.,,,
between 1859 and 1901. KIN.
Port Washington, n. Y. Sept. 6, 1917
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-09-08

March in Youngstown, Ohio, under the
leadership of the Chamber of Commerce,
has produced notable results. Though the
task here is far greater and more difficult,
there is no reason why it should not be
equally successful. There has been in the
past too much liberation of an unhealthy
condition-un unhealthy for the country, as
the activities of the various bands OF
"hyphenates" have proved, and unhealthy
for the immigrants. At last people are
awake to that fact.
The situation now is, not that an imml-
grant may become an American, but that
he should and must become one. No other
city in the land has offered the foreign
born greater encouragement to Amerl-
canization; schools, lectures, museums, so
cial settlements, the varied social activi-
ties of municipal departments and of or
ganized philanthropies have been at their
disposal But after all, Americanzation
has been an indirect rather than n direct
result.
Now the forces are to be concentrated
and speeded up, and the idea of making
Americans is to be basic in all work. 1t is
war measure of sort, but the benefits
will be lasting. There should grow out of
this campaign more unified, finer,
truer brand of Americans, whose citizen
ship will make stancher and better New
No,.l.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-09-08
Conhne Dogs at Night

To the Editor of The Tribune. ,
Sir: Truly dog is lovable animal, .
one does not wonder at the affection sn0',
him and can but feel the affection W.T.,
he, almost alone among the lower sh''l''''
shows for his master. -,
On the other hand, no one can tell VI
or in what dog the wild tendency may
veOp, and sheep is so much fun 70 'H'''
and worry. All.
The remedy seems to me simple 10 -.
Nearly all the sheep killing is done u ~
night, and il the dogs are either conhns' "a
chained at night and if allowed TO roam 81 "a,
outlawed and any one authorized 10 ST. Ss.
them if away from the owners premise vill
tween sunrise and sunset, the proo.,S,TItr
be solved. II. H.
Millbrook, n. Y, Aug 2e, 1917
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-09-08
Johnny Yanks

To the Editor Of The Tribune -.
Sir: While watching the departure o.
Virginia boys for Admission, Ala 'O,uay
name suitable for our army men 10 esn,s
came to me-Johnny Yunks. We OF 'ne - ~.
called all soldiers Of the Union Army iS" A.
and they called us Johnnies, and as N. an.
scendants of these two sections are Que -,
der the Old Flag, why not give them s INV
twin name. one they will be proud OF, yy%S''
Yanks? W. H.
Salem, Va, Sept. s, 1917.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-09-08

Owned and published daily by Tho Tribune Association
New York CcrroraiioD ogden Reid. President g. Nr"''
Roecrs Vice President. = A SutcJ rcsSure' Aoo''NS
7ip,pe ,,uV,irs Ia Nassau street New Work TTlcphoue
Ilaelu.sn
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-09-08
You Can't Camouhage the Stomach

New York, Sept. 6, 1917.