davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-05-23

home. They went back to the lines through the
same channels.
The Red Cross has changed this. In conjunc-
tion with the French Government, it is now feed
ing not giving drinks and sandwiches = but
giving hot meals to q million French soldiers
every month. There are great recreation halls
where they sit and dine and make merry. There
are big barracks with hunks along the walls, there
are shower baths and disinfecting machinery, so
that the mems clothes, while they bathing,
are run through and the vermin killed.
At first these French soldiers glad
that they did not use the hunks but sat and talked
and sang and wondered at what America was
doing for them. A prominent French general
officer recently wrote to Major Murphy:
"The only thing that matters in this war is to
beat the Boche, and to accomplish this the all
important factor is the morale of the men. This
you have done much to uphold, and the atmos-
phere you create is more valuable than even you
can realize.
Your work is that of maintaining the morale
of the Americans and the French and the Allies.
and / wish to thank you in our name and that of
General Petan Your canteens have been we'll
run and kept up to high standard. Let the men
know that they are being cared for not as men
only, but as friends; that makes them prefer your
canteens to the wine shops. The morale has
never been better than now. / need not tell you
feel strongly on this subject, and / am talking
to you to / am speaking not only
for myself but for General Petain. He feels
] do toward you and your work, and he en-
dorses every word / have said"
Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-05-23
Other Forms of Relief

1t is difficult to give any adequate picture of the
whole Red Cross program in France.
! There IS the whole vast program of relief for
the refugees and repatries, for those driven be-
fore the invader, uprooted from their homes, and
for those returned to France and Belgium broken
and bent after being subject to the sway of the
German for the last few years
There is the medical and surgical supply SER
vice which the Red Cross is giving to over three
thousand French military hospitals, the supplies
for the most part produced by American women.
There is the Red Cross chLldren's program of
caring for needy and destitute children, the
reduction of infant mortality. There is the Red
Cross factory for the manufacture of artificial
limbs. There is the big program of re-education
for the mutilated soldier to teach him a means
of self-support with its accompanying benefit to
France
Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-05-23
Checking tuberculosis

The Red Cross is conducting = work against
tuberculosis in France which is unparalleled in
the history of the world. France has suffered ter
ribly from tuberculosis, brought By so many
of her people living in dugouts and other tnn-
wholesome conditions. tuberculosis has devel-
oped in the trenches, too, and the troops sent
back carrying the germs OF this dread disease.
In cooperation with the Rockefeller Founda-
ton, the Red Cross is conducting . campaign of
education ON the care and prevention of this
disease. Facilities have been provided TO care
for bad cases in sanatoriums and plan set up
which will lead to the establishment Of great
system of 800 dispensaries throughout France.
with visiting nurses attached.
Four hospitals for tubercular French soldiers
maintained entirely by the Red Cross. At
Malabray there is 185-acre farm in tempo
rary custody of the American Red Cross, where
model village with accommodations for 400
families is being constructed
The Red Cross is assisting the French medical
authorities in rebuilding and reorganizing other
hospitals, and is aiding es French hospitals de-
voted to tuberculosis with supplies and funds
Ambrose Rendii, Vice President of the Paris
Municipal Council, says of this work:
"The Americans have fought the good fight
against tuberculosis because they have pursued
strategic campaign against an enemy they know
and rightly fear. They have taken the
sary measures You know them well for prac-
teal people; they will not reproach us if we say
this of them in the temple of their charity.
Il have the program of the social
tivities the Americans would undertake in
country in the name Of the Red Cross. They
have drawn up a marvellous program that
takes the child from his birth and even before
his birth, since the mother also is cared for, and
continues the effort all along the line Of years.
Such is the plan and nothing finer has been
conceived"
Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-05-23
Work in other Countries

What the Red Cross is doing for France she is
doing, too, for the part of Belgium not held by
the Germans, and to very large degree for Italy
The story of how the American Red Cross rushed
to the relief of Italy has already been told At
the time of the Italian disaster last fall propa-
ganda was under way in Italy to the effect that
America was not really in the war; as we had
not yet then declared war on Austria: that we
were not well disposed toward Italy: that Amer
Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-05-23

The plainest dictates of humanity, as well as
that the American Red Cross, financed by the
Eberality and spirit of the American people,
should do all in its power to alleviate the suffer
ings and support the morale of the soldiers and
people who had been suffering SO long in strug-
gle for that liberty which is the foundation stone
of our American Republic.
Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-05-23
! The Canteen System

An extraordinary canteen service is being car
ried on with the French, with the Belgians, with
the italians, and with the British, by the Red
Cross abroad. There are rolling canteens which
<re operating right up In the trenches where the
soldiers get hot drinks they go in and when
they come out. These canteens frequently
operated under shell fire and gas, the Red Cross
workers often working in gas masks
Before the days of Red Cross help, French
soldier would come back from the trenches on
bis seven days leave covered with vermin -
officers and all - and go to junction point for
ears to take them home. Those junction points
are equipped for rs people, yet at times there
we're 1000 people waiting, sometimes twenty
four, sometimes forty-eight hours They slept
On the ground and they got what food they could.
They brought home vermin which spread dis
ease among the civil population behind the lines,
Ind discouraging atmosphere born of the con-
itions through which they passed on their way
Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-05-23
Constructive Work

No other organization since the world began
has ever done such great constructive work with
the efficiency, the dispatch, understanding often
under adverse circumstances, that has been done
IN France by American Red Cross in the last
SIX months" GENERAL PERSHING.
What does General PerShing mean by "constr,Ic
tive work? He means the share the Red Cross
has had in reuniting scattered families, he means
homeless children domiciled, bewidered refugees
collected and protected, old men and women and
babies received from behind the German lines
and sent to homes and hospitals, the terrible
tubercular scourge and other illnesses grappled
with He means medical and surgical supplies,
nurses hospitals, ambulanCeS and dispenSaries,
artificial limbs and conyalescent homes for the
sick French soldiers, He means food, baths,
rest, recreation, comfort and cheer for the poilu
on leave.
He means that the American Red Cross has
helped to sustain the courage, the hope and the
patience of our fighting allies, Of the soldiers
themselves and the soldiers families Through
the Red Cross the armies and peoples Of Francs
and Belgium and the other Allied countries have
come to realize that they have friends and under
thus touch their spirits have famed into new
resolution to fight on and bear all
This is the fourth of series Of five announce
ments covering the work Of the Red Cross
Red Cross Chapters have statements showing
IN detail how the War Fund is being expended
ASK your Chapter for these statements
Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-05-23

On recent trip to America Major Murphy formerly
Red Cross Commissioner for Europe, said:
This is a war Of nations, not of armies There is
not man. woman or child in Great Britain in Belgium
in France or in Italy that is not factor in this
tell you that if you should 60, have gone about
those ruined districts in France and had little
children four and five years DID, driving in the herds
at night had little boys coming down the road
little bits Of tots-wth their arms full of fagots that
they accumulating against the winter; had seen
old men and old women working in the fields until it
was 50 dark that you looked you could just make
out those vague forms gathering in the crops for France
you would realize what this is what this
1T not the armies of France that the essential
thing to France in this war the armies of England
nor of the other countries Those armies will do their
part and do it to nish if they supported by the
people behind them.
1.-The great crying need in Europe today to build
up the spirit and keep up the spirit of the people
behind the lles and it is that great work which the
Red Cross has performed and which has been, up to
the recent entrance of Army large scale, the
greatest single factor Of help in France since
entry into the war.
Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-05-23
II The American Red Cross =

shnmho ord SnsofFn pIp rp fgd tyte the An
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@BanI Company
Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-05-23
Hsy. 1918.

Announcement Number &
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-04-21

thickness from four to ten inches. They
Will be made of concrete and steel,
the steel being in the form of bars.
from one-half inch to one inch and a
half in diameter. The bars are ar
ranged in a network, SO that each
carries a certain carefully estimated
proportion of the load.
In the building of a ship like this
nothing is left to guesswork. There
has to be just SO much concrete, a
mixture of gravel. sand and Portland
cement, and just SO much steel, run
ming here and there through it. held
together by the cement, and this steel
must be placed in just the right spot.
for every bit of it has its own work
to do. The whole is carefully planned
by the naval architects and designe RS
and everything is done according to
the plans and specifications. The first
thing that is done is the building of
a wooden mold of the exact shape and
size of the outside of the vessel The
steel bars are then laid in the exact
places set down in the plans. They
are placed in a crisscross or basket
shaped netT ork, and are tied in place
by small pieces of wire, so that each
bar stays where it is put.
After the whole network has been
accurately fixed an inside wall OF
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-04-21
BY SEWELL FORD

planning to lay four more miles ef
track and has ordered ten new cars
In these times. Why, he'll bankrupt
me. at this rate Know what rails cost
now? And grading and ties? suffering
Lazarus! That's what / get Tor turn
ing a boy loose"
He shows up week later. wearin q
grin.
well" says I. did you block him
on?"
NO." says he, II didn't. Instead of
that. I've come back to float bond
issue for him. Know what Thads
done? He's plannin' to give the city
new amusement park. Yes, SIR. He's
organized his company. got options on
hundred acres Of land, and has started
extending his line. Seems he founo
real pretty little lake out there, and a
pine grove where people have been In
the habit of driving out for pienics'
Well. he's gobbled up the whole thing
and by the Fourth of July he ii nave
A regular little Coney Island in fnll
blast. Half way out he's got more OPP
lions, and Is promoting nice little
suburb with a golf and country club
on the side See? Making business for
the line. And instead of running half
empty cars he'll have 'em crowded
most of the time. Why. I'll bet that
sundays and holidays he'll have 70
carry 10000 people. That's going TO
mean revenue.
and maybe dividends?" I suggests.
Bound to come" says Corson. Then
he stops and scratches his heao. Anu
to think OF Thad-just a boy. as you
might say-working out schemes like
that which L Well. I'll have to own
up. I wouldn't have thought OF EN- N
a thousand years. And this is my game'
too. the one I've made my pile at. on,
Thad stumbled into luck. that's all. In
the long run. it's US old fellows VINO
can be depended on.
Sometimes. says !, but mostly I'm
backin' the Corners.
You'll lose out. then" says Corson.
Think so?' says J. by the way. how
are those shares standing the strainY
'Oh," saws he. "Of course. with all
that new business in sight. they're on the
Jump. look for 'em to touch par inside
of six months. In fact, Mccane; ~ give
you a thousand to close our little zeal,
right now
Listens good to me-" SAYS I. TN soak
1t into some real certificates OF that COM
pany young Thad's runnin'.
And as we breaks away we was both
GRIMM.
When I got home that night. I starts
to tell Sadie about what I'd pinched on
but she cuts in with a report about little
Sully. Seems he was demandin' pair OF
hockey skates
II don't think he ought to have them"
SAYS she Hockey is such rough game
/ wish you would talk him out OF the
notion, Shorty"
Sure. 1 will says I.
went about it real vigorous. too:
noIntin' out that we knew what was good
for him a heap bettern' he did.
Jaw. nap he protests. 'Jes' cause
Won didn't ulster play hockey yourself A
lot you and ma know about it. Shucks'
Vow, listen here. young man., / starts
in. when I tell you a thing once, 1
Then l stops; for. some way, just about
then I thought of old Corson.
.Well?" asks Sadie. after the session Is
over.
"Eho" says I. t-yin' to look innocent.
what about the hockey skates?' she
demands.
"Skateso" says I. "Oh, yes! promised
to get him pair in town tomorrow.
Copyright, 1918, by sewell Ford.)
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-04-21

Norway rThere concrete vessels of 1000
tons displacement are being built and
it is stated that the Swedish minister
of marine has recently ordered a lighter
of 1000 tons of a plant where they are
now erecting ways for the building of
ships of 1000 tons.
The largest concrete vessel ever
planned was launched last month by
the San Francisco Shipbuildng Com
pany at a California port, This is a
steamer to be used in the transpa-
cific service. 1t has a displacement of
1900 tons and will carry 5000 tons of
lightweight cargo. The ship is 320 feet
long, over As feet wide and so feet deep
When fully loaded it will draw twenty
four feet of water. The ship is mono
18th, or vessel of continuous stone. Her
floor is four and one-half inches thick
and the walls of the hull are four
inches thick with great steel shoe
down the bow. Embedded in the con-
crete is a basketry of steel mesh, con-
sisting of heavy iron bars, which
weighs altogether more than 500 tons
The boat will be equipped with triple
expansion engines of more than LOO
horsepower. and it will be moved
through the water by a screw propeller
at ten or eleven knots per hour. I have
photographs of the exterior and in
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-04-21
A SLANT AT THE CORNERS

cd lust finished a half-hour session
with the Hon. Thaddeus Corson.
II durin' which 1 was supposed to
q be tellin' him what was the best
kind of exercises to take for Wall
sestion Anyway. that was what l
was bein' paid for.
As matter of fact, l hadn't been
tellin' the Hon. Tnaddeus much of
anything He'd been teliin' me. oh.
yes; I'd been favored with a full ac-
count of his case. from the way his
tongue looked in the mornin'. to that
heavy fee in he had after dinner.
Surprisin what a lot of these old
plutes are that way They've made
good at something or other-jugslin'
suburban and country trolley prop
critics vas Corson's specialty-and be-
cause they've broken into me seven
figure class they hand themselves the
pIeasin' fiction that they're wise in the
head on any subject that comes up,
As for me. I kids him along and
don't disturb his happy dreams. 1 was
W iIlfn' to admit that ne did know the
tro ley came fairly we'll. Must have, TO
keep on buckin the big syndicates ana
not get squeezed out. Snort lines was
his feature; ind pendents. smail-toWh
stuff. lie was fond of tellin' how he
got hold of his first controilln IN
terest-by sWappin' a mortage on a
rundown gas plant for fVe miles OIL
wabb.y track. half a dozen PUNK cars
and tAtniy-yeaf frame lise- now ne
ow red 'em al. over the lot-up in Ne"
England, down in Jersey and as far
west ioNa.
You'd never guess it, to look at him,
either Kind of simple-iookin :
ieather-saced old rube And in that
dusty black hat, the siate-gray frock ,
coat and the striped trousers. you d
probably have sized him up for some
village banker or Cayuga county SEN
ator He had served a couple of terms
in the assembly from an upstate dis
trict hence the honorable.
He'I b zen comm to the physical cul-
ture studio. on and off. for couple OF
years, mostly du:in the winter, when
he missed gettin' out and shown ms
gardeners how to trim hedges and
plant trees So I'd heard good deal.
first hand about how much he knew
Maybe that's why l turns him over to
Swiftly Joe so prompt, strolls out INTO
the front office. and shuts the door
behind me.
I finds some one waitin': a tall, loose
built young gen. wearin' thick eye
glasses Quite spiffy dressed party
he is with his fawn-colored CATERS
and his yellow gloves. and he's leanin
jaunty on a crook-handled wallSin'-
stick, gain out one of the front WIN
dows.
"Ah." says he. swinsin' round. Prof
McCabe?'
NO other" says l.
Il suppose, then" says he. that
father is about through in there And
he mods toward the gym.
eEh?" says ]. Sure you got the
right saop? l haven't seen anybody
round here that I'd guess you'd call
fatherN
IT think you have he goes on.
'Thaddeus Corson, for instance. I'm
Thad Corson, jr.
'One on me-" says L. You must take
more after your mother than after the
old man"
Il suppose l do" says he, "in more
ways than one. 1t is a favorite topic
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-04-21

learned in a day. and fortunate is the
man who already has good grounding
in technical fundamentals received at
civil schools; this as foundation upon
which to build his military experience
Military engineering differs from that
in civil life in that 1t aims to satls1y
the demands of the immediate moment:
What is wanted, when 1T is wanted and
where il IS wanted is OF more impor-
lance than tineness of detail and exact
computations and comparisons of costs.
!. x.
For. instance, bridge designer in
civil life goes to great length to make
his product beautiful in line. strong.
enduring and so laid out that 1t can be
built with a maximum of efficiency and
consequent minimum of cost. The
military engineer, on the other hand.
has to build his bridge any way he can
and with whatever materials he can
get One moment he may be making
bridge across stream OF the suspen-
sion type because he happuens to have
enough rope on hand at the time to do
if that way with. such a bridge being
sufficient for immediate needs.
Again. under exactly similar condi-
tons. the only material available may
be young trees. and he may have to go
out and chop them down and build
.restIewor.k out through the same gorge
instead of the suspension bridge OF pc
and t proves necessary to tear down
existing and valuable buildings in order
to get material. he will not be repri-
manded. provided the contingency is
great enough. To get the army across
that stream at the immediate moment
strategy demands it if Of far more impor-
lance than questions of cost. The whole
ma ion is back ow fhatever expense there
is, not a single city or county, as In civil
life. MANY other points of difference
between military and civilian engineer
ing could be cited. The war kind
develops in man quick wit and ready
decision, 1t Is touch and &C" all the
time. The men in it must keep always
alert.
From time to time reports simmer
through from the lines in France as to
~ IL. ......r;can engineers already
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-04-21

thing with either hand. Yes. I know
that is the paper which has been roast
ing US. But we'd forget that. So would
they. after our ad contract was signed
And 1 should hope. within a month or
So to~have public sentiment with US in
stead of against US; then l wouldn't
care about the city council It's an en-
tirely different policy. L know: but
YES yes" breaks In Corson. It's
the fad just now-soothing-sirup stun:
Make 'em believe you're running your
business to suit them instead of your
self"
Young Thad INDUCES in quiet
smile. IT suppose you wanted to try
out new methods when you first
started?'
'MeY" says the old man. why. be-
gan with cable line. and in six
months I'd changed It to an overhead
trolley-flrst in the state. Some Of the
directors thought I was crazy. But I'd
studied II all out: / knew what l was
doing: You. though! Why. you've been
out of college barely two years.
Just look who's been coaching me all
that time. though. dad" puts In Thad.
There. now! None of your blarney."
says Corson. slappin' the youngster
playful on the shoulder. But you shall
have a shot at 1t, soma years try-out.
And II you can show the old man any
new tricks-well. we'll see
And of they goes arm in arm-which
was happier finish than I'd looked for
when they starts in.
Bein' as how I'd taken part in the
original debate. old Corson sort of
counted me in on the deal.
Wasn't 1t you urged me to give the
came to the studio. We'll. I've done IT.
He's in full charge out there now, with
two hundred thousand to finance his
schemes I'll bet he sinks every dollar -
Whats the stock quoted at now %
says I.
"Around S." saws he
Just as fier." says l. 'I'Il go long
on hundred shares Of your holdings at
that figure"
You will?" says he, gawpin' at me
And I handed over a margin check on
the spot.
Must have been about a month later
when he comes in. chucklin'.
You would back young blood" says
he. Noticed where your trolley stock
las slumped to-"
said 1 hadn't.
"Fifty-six." says he. Had to pass
another semi-annual. And there's a
minority committee applyin' for an in
Junction"
That don't mean much to me-" says
I. but TIL stay with 1t. I'll cover
Amt got his schemes to runnin' yet,
oh. he's pulling the soothing strip
act. all right" says Corson. spending
three hundred a week on newspaper
space. It's smooth talk. too. You'd
think he was not only undertaking to
carry his passengers home. but to put
'enl to bed and shake the furnace morn
ings. He's buffaloed the city council
SO soon. They'll renew the charter
most likely. and he's worked 'em for
two new turnouts. I understand he's
maintaining a ten-minute schedule to
three miles beyond the city limits fol-
n a single fare. That may be good phi
lanthropy. but 1t isn't good business"
Next 1 heard from Corson, he calls Ut
, to cancel his afternoon session, and he
talks puffy and excited.
Tive got to go out and see what that
. boys up. to-" says he.
"Been plungin. has he?" I asks.
, That hardly describes it," says Cor.
SON. Say, what do you think? He's