davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
New-York tribune., 1918-01-02
By Emma Bugbec

this Of the reality we were trying to for
get The Lady Across the Street had shut
up her house and gone away. Her boy
was in Scotland, on candy" Carncgie's
estate, chopping down trees with the lum-
bcrjacks. The home from which resound-
ed on other Christmases such huge sounds
Of collegiate mirth that the whole neigh
borhood alternately chuckled and cursed
was still this year, and undecorated, save
for the red CLEAN of one~starred service
flag in an upper window.
Those flags hung in almost every WIN
dow on Our Hill. In homes where there
was no flag we knew it was because there
was no son. From the House Around the
Corner the youngest son had gone three
years ago to drive an ambulance, and
never came back. 1t may be that his
brave young spirit, calling to the boys
who used to romp with him over our hills,
has been partly responsible for the large
number Of recruits to army and navy from
Our Hill.
The First War Christmas
Thank God that for this first War
could not yet return. 1t was this that
made it merry Christmas still, in spite of
everything; and mothers who dared not
think of next year busted themselves with
turkey and red Santa Clauses with ashilar-
lty never before assumed. And now Our
Mother rejoiced with every other mother
as the homecomers toiled up the hill after
the Christmas morning train
Here comes Horace. He's been pro-
noted to first lieutenant. Isn't he splendid
in that overcoat! And how little his father
looks beside him, His mother has been
baking for a week."
Gwen Roy is coming-all the wav from
Allentown--to spend the day with the
Smiths. They are as proud of him as if
they were his own parents, and he is de-
voted to them, although Mrs Smith says
he has never given up the search for his
own mother He plans to spend his fur
loughs in Paris looking for her Some one
has told him she had a French name"
Even the visit Of the letter carrier, in
terest in which is usually purely selfish on
Christmas Day, was another chapter in
the story of Our Boys
Run quick, dear, and ask the letter car
rler if his brother has found his knitted
helmet"
The report was bad, quite overshadow-
ing ordinary Christmas glee over the let
ter carriers burden. The Brother in
France said i'll his last letter that the he'll
met had evidently been stolen by some sol
der who needed it more than he, so rather
than impose on the generosity of the Red
Cross our letter carrier was going to get
somebody in the Old Ladies' Home to knit
him another.
Our Town is very proud of its Red
New-York tribune., 1918-01-02
A Food Controller s Difficulties

rom 1he London, Daily Ne,cS oua Leader,
.ors. or Arthur Yapp IN an interview, said:
ne cnief criticism had to meet wis that
100 iafge a quantity of barley and sugar is
'es'roved IN the manufacture OF beer.
as"ed the meeting to remember that am
strong teetotaler and temperance re-
loi"i"f IN my own way. l pointed out that the
n@e".a7 industry was the first to be rationed,
'.e output beng drastcaly reduced. But.
rightly or wrongly, the large percentage OF
WORKERS 1eel that beer is food, and many
OF them go so far to contend that they
derive more energy out of it than out Of 4
piece of bread"
New-York tribune., 1918-01-02
A Much Desired lob
Officers Orderlics Not Lackcys, but
Important Cogs in Military Wheel

To the Editor Of The Tribune.
Sir: In recent editions OF The Tribune
have noticed letters from d Congressman
and certain well meaning but ignorant ladies'
in reference to making our Ame erican sol
ders shine their officers shoes But as yet
have read nothing from one who really
knows anything about the matter Hence
this attempt TO shed little right upon the
subject
From the viewpoint Of the men. il IS far
from distasteful lob. Nowadays the dog
robber' striker" has risen from the
position Of :. servant who mercy poiishes
and sweeps up to the role Of bodygusrd and
confidential companion. He alone may drop
out Of charge to remain with his wounded
officer He carries messages, looks after
correspondence, and in general IS an smpor-
tant and responsible cog in our great mill
tary wheel
had no difficulty in getting an orderly;
IN fact, had quite job selecting one from
all who desired the position. Ny orderly
was excused from interior guard, he was
excused from fatigue, such as digging
latrines, cutting wood, and the distasteful
X. ?. work. He received extra pay. tips
and had four hours day Oft to attend to my
equipment. When OFF duty he had the run
of my quarters, share Of my boxes from
home, and he acquired numerous bits of
clothing and equipment, Of no use to ne, but
priceless 10 him. In the evening. while
studied. he wrote letters and read my maya
zines. All very undemccratic, according 10
your correspondents.
After drill the private soldier has nothing
to DO but clean his equipment, unless he has
special detail. The officer, however. has nc
oif-duty time. His hours of are filed
with paper work and military correspond
ence. He conducts non-coms' school after
supper, and after that attends officers
school; then he studies if he is conscien-
tlous He is supposed to be a highly paid
professional man. and it would ne a waste
OF Uncle Sans money # he used his high
priced time for such things as nolisbino
shoes and sweeping hls quarters. at the
same time ncg!ectng mere important mss
ters
And so / would say to the good Jad;es Who
temporarily dropped the knitting needle for
the pen to go back 10 their useful and
patrotic duties, and not TO trv to hali-tle
the work OF the officers orderly no~ r.
cause dlssension by interfering in - game
OF winch they know nothing The wooden
laced unintelliSent soldier servant who
s'ooo AT attention in front OF his officers
TENT ali day IS a thing of ancient history.
grease 90 not revive his memory. Go. c. O.
brooklyn, Dec. 81. 1917
New-York tribune., 1918-01-02
The Perfect Bureaucrat

That heroic young bureaucrat Of the
Ordnance Department who has lived to
make Raritan famous deserves more than
a passing gust of laughter. The perfect
pattern of his breed, super r-burcaucrat.
he ought to be immortalized in bronze on
the banks of the Raritan. He ought to
be handed down TO posterity along with
our other warrior heroes. If we ever
forget him, i'll tide the day for America
The explanation by General Crozier of
the blunder is ALMOST as good as the
original discovery of the imaginary ord
nance depot Zone of the younger of
The 700 officers who have been added to
my staff, looking over the contracts and
taking it for granted that the contractors
would do as they had promised, saw that
the barracks there should be completed,
and ordered some men there" says Gen
eral Crozier. "Shouid be completed"
therefore they acerc completed. Could
there be a prettier picture of the perfect
bureaucrat swivelling amid his charts and
dockets and files and fighting his war on
paper to the last document, utterly un-
'As"HAASiiCN ~ tIiC (OdlSc 1dClS Ol Ilc OUT
side world
This is sublime stuff, and Mr. Bakers
own explanation, tinged with bureau
cratic omnipotence as it is, suffers by
The Secretary refers to the
depot as cat Raritan" three times run
ming, thus upholding the department in
its location Of the site, at any rate.
Then in the final paragraph he drifts to
near Raritan.' Now, the depot is really
some fifteen miles from Rar;tan. 1t is
near Metuchen' 1t is at or near Rari-
tan only in that imaginary world wherein
all bureaucracy lives and moves and has
its being
The pity is that such souls must in the
end be checked up by the facts. If only
war in the flesh, the crude physical COM
hat, could be entirely separated from
Bureaucracy! The battle of the bureau
Gratis could then be fought out as an in
terestlng side issue by armies of bureau-
Gratis furiously docketing and reporting
and directing But its progress would
not affect the main combat. How much
better tor bureaucrats-and soldiers,
New-York tribune., 1918-01-02
Drinking by Soldiers and Others

1t is curious to remark that while we
are debating the desrability Of compelling
civilians to be as abstemious as soldiers
and sailors some reformers on the other
side Of the Atlantic are asking why the
standards of non-combatants should not
be adopted in the services
1t is not implied that the fighting men
do not drink enough, but rather that the
others are, by comparison, models of tenn
perance, for the wearing of uniform puts
man as yet under no extraordinary han
dicaps in England. The demand, then. is
simply that they be as abstemious as the
rest Of the population.
A medical man who lives near one of the
greatest military centres in Great Britain
and who believes chat within reason a
man is all the better for alcohol" has
drawn attention to this matter in "The
Daily Telegraph He is a foe of pro-
hibition. But" he asks. would any one
be the worse if the army and navy were
to put themselves on the same allowance
Of liquor as the rest of the nation? Sure
ly it is not impossible to introduce a. self
denying ordinance that alcohol should be
drunk only at certain hours of the dav and
that any form of treating or drinking as a
mere ceremony should be bad FORM"
AS far as public places go, the civilian
is dideed allowed to drink only at certain
New-York tribune., 1918-01-02
Red Cross Stamps on Packages

To the Editor Of The Tribune
Sir: Owing to your interest in the prob
lens Of merchandising and the fair treat
mcnt Of the public by the merchants of this
city, | should like 20 call your attention to
a patriotic custom instituted in the town of
chapel Hi, n. Co. where the University of
North Carelna is situated
There, as elsewhere, a propaganda was
started to induce purchasers to carry home
their own parcels, in order "to save money"
The only people it saved money for. in the
popular conception, were the merchants
themselves. Prices kept on going up, and
there was no concession to the customer who
carried home his own purchases Then the
local branch cf the Red Cross went to the
merchants and asked them to buy a supply
of Red Cross stamps and to paste one Of
them on every package carried home by the
purchaser.
The merchants acceded, and the effect was
Immediate. Many persons are now seen on
the streets of Chapel Hill Carrying home
their own parcels, and on each parcel a Red
Cross stamp is conspicuously displayed The
merchants get most of their parcels carried
to the homes of the purchasers at a cost of
one cent each. and the Red Cross receives
the cent.
Could not some such arrangement be
brought about between The merchants and tn.
Red Cross in this city? ROY MASON.
New York. Dec. 30, 1917
New-York tribune., 1918-01-02
Our Carollers

Our carolers We're not native product.
The traditions of the Puritans lay stern
across Our Town, which grew up around
the new church when it was found to be
too hard for the farmers to travel eight
miles across the hill to meeting. We would
never have invented carolling, although we
might wish we could. 1t was the English
down in the valley, who came when the
mills began to boom, bringing their own
Established Church and their own cheerful
English customs. That was how it came
about that the carollers were weak on the
bass, for their best voices were singing in
the trenches long since.
AS Christmas Day dawned and passed
through its merry hours, there was every
now and again reminder AS sharp as
New-York tribune., 1918-01-02

hours; at no hour is treating countcnanced
and the current price Of liquor has made
it almost impossible for the man of mod
crate income to drink immoderately.
1t is perhaps this last circumstance that
has contributed most of all to the promo
tion of temperance, and now that ordinary
brands of whiskey-much diluted-are
selling in London at SIS or so bottle, there
is reason to hope that before very long
none but generals can afford to be drunken.
But in any case it is anomalous that civil
ians and soldiers should not be subjected
to the same restrictions.
New-York tribune., 1918-01-02
A Question of Pride
10 the Editor of The Trihuno

o the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: trust | will not be deemed sodi,;o,s
II disagree with the British officer who in
Inc tribune OF December IS. round|v crit;-
clses Congressman Miller for wantinp RI ,ro-
hipit the use of American soldiers in France
as personal servants 10 black the boots of
'heif off1cers even if paid for doing it.
Inns smacks too much OF class distinctions
remember a similar discussion during my
college days at Harvard President Eliot. in
one OF his public addresses, objected to the
pfactfce of students acting as walters. as
was customary in some colleges. and he also
discouraged like service by students at sum
ner hotels Now, there were and are many
men at Harvard who work their way
through college, and they are highly respect
ed by their fellows who tolerate 10 distinc-
tions based on wealth; but to the credit of
Fair Harvard be it said no student is ever al
lowed to act waiter in Harvard dining
hall or to engage in other menial service for
the university harmful to proper pride or
self-respect.
1t may be true, the English officer as
serts, that the private in the British army
Is proud to do any service for his officer evc,
to blacking his boots, but this is AN ohse-
quious pride happily foreign to the American
soldier or civilian.
WILLIAM GRANT WEBSTER
New York, Dec. 81 1917
New-York tribune., 1918-01-02
The Lewis Gun
Where 1t Is Honorcd, Appreciated
and Used
To the Editor of The Tribune

To the Editor Of The Tribune.
Sir: II is an old saying that "a prophet is
not without honor save in his own country"
The investigation to the experience Of the
Lewis gun with the Ordnance Department
interests us all. May ! call attention to u
striking article in "Thc London Graphic" OF
December !, where the uses Of machine guns
on the fighting front arc pointed out quite
graphically, and the details of. some of these
guns are well illustratcd? Manifesty the
article and the illustrations have been pre-
pared by Il technical expert. | quote from
page 6s9-and let not forget that this
was written af.cr three years testing in the
field:
THE most notable example Of thc air
cooled weapon is the Lewis gun, invented by
Colonel |. \: Lewis, Coast Artillery Corps,
use by the Allies. This ingenious rifle de-
rivcs sufficient energy for its operation
while the bullet is passing from gas port
to the muzzlc during the minute period Of
one nine-thousandth of second. Consist
ing Of fortynine parts. it can be dismounted,
using only the point Of bullet, and it's re-
coil is so slight that it can be fired when
held at arms length. Its lghtness depcn-
dent on the air-cooling system, renders it Of
great use in an advance, while the Maxim is
useful chiefly in consolidation and defence"
1t can be seen going forward ain an adj
vance in the double page illustration in
The illustrated London News" Of December
l. second figure from the right in the fore
ground, easily recognizable by it's ammuni-
tion disk, instead Of a belt.
e. HENRY LACOMBE.
New York, Dec. "a, 1917
New-York tribune., 1918-01-02
Committee Hearings on >One Dav

To the Editor of The Tribune
Sir: Now that the Legislature is about to
convene for the session of 1918, it is impor
tant that some reform be made in our system
of hearings before the several lerislat;ve
committees. Many persons have complained
thnt after making tho long trip to the capi-
tai to appear before a certain COMMITTEES
they were sadly disappointed to learn that
the hearing was cancelled or postponed, ow
lnr to pressure Of other business or lack Of
time.
IT for no other reason than the eljmina-
uon Of unnecessary railroad travel at this
time, | believe should give this matter So
rious attention and, as a suggestion. nro.
pose the following:
That Wednesday of each week be reserved
for committee hearings: that all committees >
meet on that day; that the regular Wednesday
session be held at night
JOHN V. SHERIDAN.
New York. Dec 2S, 1917.
New-York tribune., 1918-01-02
Young Men Going to War

With lifted faces, drinking from the bow,
OF valiant sunlight poised upon the earth
We are made richer; swiftly comes to
birth
lndomitable impulses of soul.
The white-browed Gay is like an aureole
And night is filled with clashinp swords
and mrth
To give life witness that there is no dearth
Of eagerness to greet the fiery goal
With sunlight on our brows and hearts of
flame
We follow voices, clear, auspcous. sweet
To where the scarlet waves of ha+tlo
thrill
Like conquerors we go of ancient fame
VINO march into the night on sounding feet
And greet Adventure on her farthest hill,
HERBERT S. GORMAN.
New-York tribune., 1918-01-02

1t was Christmas in Our Town, still very
carly and dark, with the Christmas stars
shining overhead, although the first dull
yellow of dawn was creeping above the
bills across the river There was snow on
the garden and ice on the streets, so that
approaching footsteps crunched noisily on
the walks, filing the stiffness with a cheer
full clatter even before the voices Of the
carclers rang out in the dark:
1t came upon the midnight clear,
That glorious song of old"
Yes, it was really Christmas, just as it
used to be before the war, with Mother
bending oyer, whispering: "Wake up, dar-
ings, and hear the Christmas song"
Childish memories cling more fondly in
Our Town to those mysterious sweet songs
coming so suddenly out Of the dark than
they do even to the visit of Santa Claus
Perhaps it was because we knew that
Santa would leave anything nice he might
happen to have, and it would keep until
morning; but the carollers were a frag-
ment of wonderfulness that could not be
preserved, a moment of sheer delight that
could never be rccaptured even by the
carols around the piano in the dusk of
Christmas afternoon. AS children we
turned over happily and went to sleep
again with the silver song ringing in our
ears. But with the years our interest grew,
until we knew the words and the entire
programme, and could follow the carollers
on their way past the schoolhousc and
Gown the hill to the parsonage, where they
all went in for coffee. We always thought
that quite the most gracious act of hospl-
tality Our Town ever witnessed 1t was
one thing to lie warm in bed, enjoying the
visit of the carollers, but quite another to
get up and make coffee for crowd of
half-frozen boys and girls.
~ wonder where the bass voices are. It
sounds so weak" whispered Our Mother,
and as she spoke she remembered where
they were. So the war came with the
Christmas dawn
New-York tribune., 1918-01-02

ming its cup with regrets. am glad to look
back, as the new year comes across to the
New York of Tweed. with its dirt, it's deaths.
ITS disease. its squalor, it's inconceivable cor
ruptlon and its indescribab!e evil. and rejoice
IN the proof this Christmas Carnival gave of
the advance of the City of Our Loves
TALCOTT WILLIAMS
New York, Dec 20. 1917.
New-York tribune., 1918-01-02
Christmas in Our 7own

Cross, which has supplied complete out
fit Of knitted garments-sweater. wr;star.
muffier, helmet and socks-to everv ho,,
who has gone to the army. The Daughters
Of the American -Pevolution-and Our
Town bristles with thern-bave done tho
same for the sailors. Intense rivalry exjsts
between the two circles as to whose hovs
shall be the best equipped. When Joseph
Sargent Joined the navy he caused strained
relations between them for days. His
mother belonged TO the Red Cross, and was
in duty bound to give all her work 10 the
army, while the Daughters naturally were
envious Of the honor Of providing the first
lieutenant from Our Town. Our Town bar
bors suspicion that Joseph has two sets
Of knitted wear, but, of course, nobody
knows. He is better of than the boy whose
mother refused haughtily to accept a Red
Cross outfit for him in the summer, saying
that if her boy needed q sweater she
guessed she could buy him one and now
he needs ore, and the Red Cross supply
has given out.
The Lady Next Door brought IN bit of
holly as her gift, it being almost unattain-
able in Our Town this year. She apollo
gized for not having made any presents,
but she had worn hole in the forefinger
of her left hand from constant knitting
and there was danger of blood poisoning.
That didn't matter, though, in view Of
the eighteen helmets she had made and
two dozen sweaters.
Guns Above Holly
We put the holly in the place Of honor
over the piano. How essential the little
things were year ago! We would have
whined that Christmas was not Christmas
without holly and cranberry sauce. This
year we commented cheerfully on the fact
that we couldn't expect to fill up the rail
road cars with holly when there was not
room for guns, and that we wouldn't care
to waste precious sugar (even supposing
we could get it) on cranberry sauce. There
was plenty of hemlock for decorations in
the woods and plenty Of currant jelly in
the cupboard, made last summer according
to Hoover's orders. The Lieutenant found
in his stocking one precious cube Of sugar
and the War Bride had 4 whole glass jar
of it to take back to the boarding house
The rest of US had learned to drink coffee
without it.
And so the first War Christmas came 70
merry dusk, when the shadow again fel.
The War Bride sat at the piano and We
sang again the Christmas carols, all Of
the,n-the funny ones and the beautiful
ones-but with a new ore for the end
not a Christmas song at all. bnt Ny
Country 'Tis of Thee"-and for the first
time that day the War Brides fingers
fatered bit and Our Mothers hand
crept to the service pin over her heart.
New-York tribune., 1918-01-02

You purchasc merchandise advertised THE
TRIBUNE with absolute safe,yfor dissatisfaction
III THE TSLBtNE guarantees pay your money
back upon request No red No clubbing. We make
ssct promptly II the docs not.
New-York tribune., 1918-01-02
MEMBER OF TUE ASSOCIATED pnEss

The Associated Press IS exclusively entitled ths
republication OF all dispatches credited
otherwise credited this the
spontaneous origin published herein.
AL rights OF republication Of all other matter herein
also reserved.
New-York tribune., 1918-01-02

Owned Published daily by The Tribune Association
New York Corporation. oSden Reid President: G. Vernon
R,@es Vice President: f. \ Suter. Treasurer Address
Tribune Building. l54 Nassau Stnc New York Telephone
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Mall Matter.
New-York tribune., 1918-01-02

Uttered st the Postcacr York a. Second Class
Mail Matter.
The Robesonian., 1918-11-21

wood, N. c., in a signed statement:
"She had bad pains in the back and
limbs and loss of sleep made her ner-
vous and greatly run down.
"On the advice of friend she got
a bottle of the new herb medicine,
Dreco, and after taking only half a
bottle the pains were relieved and
now she rests fine at night. l think
Dreco wonderful medicine and have
asked my druggist to get some in
stock so I can buy more and send my
friends to him for it."
So sure, so positive, so quick and
lasting are the results obtained from
the use of Dreco, that three doses a
day for few days are often all that
is required to correct the worst case
of backache or rheumatism, regulate
the most annoying bladder disorders
and overcome the numerous other SIM
liar conditions.
You can obtain an original package
of Dreco at trifling cost from almost
any first class drug store. 1t is dis
pensed and particularly recommended
in Lumberton by all good druggists.