davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-12-08
VX ar Was an
w Eye Opener

They understand this: That the invcsti-
cations which led to the making Of fixed
price for wheat and the whole matter Of
wartime disturbance Of food prices have
induced such painstaking analysis Of farm
costs as had never been attempted in The
past. And this has led directly and conclu-
sivcly to national understanding Of tho
plain fact that in the past this basic indus
try has been conducted upon an unsound
foundation. It's work has been like that OF
blind giant.
Now the giant is getting his eyes open.
War time has given the farmers profits
on their work, and it has Convinced them
that they are entitled to reasonable profits,
whether in war or peace 1t has let them
understand also that they are in TO condl-
ton to demand profits until they are able
to prove actual production costs. Further,
they know that those costs must be based
not upon the old etye haphazardry but
upon intelligent, businessliko methods. The
farm. man and the farm acre must be made
to do their best. to eliminate reckless
wastes, to aim at maximum results al mini
mum costs.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-12-08
ooiperative Storage
~ and F financing

One strong tendency is toward co0pera~
tive storage and handling of the staples at
harvest, with cooperative financing out OF
the accumulated profits of the war years.
You need not look for anything fictitious in
this programme; il you do, you will be dis
appointed. The farmers are intending TO
take into their own hands the distribution
OF their products through the primary mar
hets, the elimination of the mere profit
taking middleman, the better control OF the
passing Of crops to The consumer. When
that is accomplished, legitimate apd satis-
factory profits will be assured to the farm
ers without arbitrary price fixing.
The consumer need not be profoundly
agitated over tho Likelihood OF a continuing
crushing cost Of living when peace comes.
With The peoples OF the war-torn nations
returning soon to farm industry, world
production will soon return to normal VOL
une. The only possibility Of maintaining
fictitious prices would lie in deliberately
shortening production to a point below the
worlds full needs. Obviously that Is 4
ridiculous supposition. Farm industry in
this big world is too gigantic, too unwieldy,
to be taught stage tricks OF that sort. The
business OF farming will always consist in
producing as much as possible. World
shortage Of the staple foodstufs will al
ways be accidental, not designed The limit
ing Of production for the sake of control
ling prices and profits is a gay sort Of
theory, but in practice it becomes an utter
absurdity. It might work if we had only
few hundred or a few thousand farmers,
but when you count the worlds farmers
by the hundreds Of millions you see the
futility of concerted designing for an IN
sound end. It can't be done.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-12-08
4 New Regard for the
"A. Business End

The fact is that the emergencies Of war
have led the farmers Of the United States az
body. for the first time in their history, to
make consistent study Of the business end
OF farm industry. For the first time they
have been getting an intelligent under
standing Of the actual production costs OF
The great staples For the flrst time they
have been seriously considering the matter
Of efficiency of the acre OF land and Of the
laborer on that acre. For the first time
they have been analyzing and approaching
the huge wastes OF the old sNpshod prac-
tees; For the first time they have been
keeping actual tally of the items which go
to make up the costs of farm operations;
and for the first time they have been forced
to see that in the long years of the past,
measured by fair methods of reckoning
farm production as a whole in the United
States has been conducted at an unfaling
net loss to the farmers.
We have been grievously misled by the
stunning figures which show annual volume
OF production. A billion bushels Of wheat.
three billion bushels of corn--surely, we
argue, totals such these, piling up afresl
year after year, must represent sheer wealth
past human comprehension.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-12-08
New Fields for the Peace Time Plowman

able to make out" a comparatively cheap
living for itself III one way and another
but that does not alter the proposition that
on the crops grown for market, up to the
very beginning Of the world war, the farmer
made profit.
Most farmcrs-nine out Of ten---were
blssfully ignorant about it. They knew
that they we're being somehow saved from
actual bankruptcy, but the method Of their
salvation to them obscure-and they
were content to let it remain so rather than
take the troublesome alternative Of master
ing the difficult detail Of farm management
and accounting.
War changed all that when it sent up the
prices OF ali farm products and gave to the
farmers O real and substantial and unmis-
taxable profit; profit which let them pay
their years obligations with Il margin over.
This refers not to the best farmers IN the
most favored rcgions, but to farm industry
IN the aggregate. The totals OF the nations
figures in 1915 showed returns we'll over
and above tie most bugincsslihe computa-
ton of costs.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-12-08
4 Plea for
a COOPERATION

The consumer may help himself and help
on the national welbeing by putting his
head with the farmers in devisjng the best
practicable means for more direct, more
efficient and less expensive methods of dis
trbuton and marketing of the foodstuffs.
Between them, they may successfully
"pincer" the useless middleman. 1t would
be as good strategy in the markets as on
the battlefield.
Cooperation among the farmers in their
own interest and on national scale is in
evitable. It is desirable. The farmers are
determined that they will not 90 back to
the conditions OF the past. SomehoYv they
arc going to make sure of legitimate profits
in their work. But they alone cannot ef-
tectually dispose of the objectionable mid
dlemen. These cannot be driven out; they
must be squeezed out. Cooperative under
standing and action between producers and
consumers is the only logical means to that
end. IT the consumers overlook or neglect
their part, they will fare badly; for then
the protiteers will stay in the game, adapt
ing themselves TO the new conditions, sim
ply passing the buck to the men who must
buy and eat.
century of mere lawmaking will not
accomplish what is desired That will come
only through community Of understanding.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-12-08

DLAIsE LAURENT succeeded in
- opening his eyes. He believed
that he had been delivered from
The kingdom of darkness. But he had
to close them again in spite of himself,
falling back into his torpor.
His thoughts rallied to the aid of
his inert body. But he felt it relax
again, his thoughts dispensing in form
less dreams. An irresistible drowsiness
oppressed him, overwhelmed him, par
alyzed his limbs. He began to sink into
vague abysses. softly, as if Graded in
the slow, rolling pillows of the sea.
Suddenly caprice Of his spiris gave
form to clear and positive idea. II il
Illuminated the dark gulf Of his mcon-
sciousness and scattered the wavering
phantaslnagoria Of his visions.
ST am dead
He had a distinct notion Of his trance
like condition and sought to stiffen his
muscles for an effort which would re-
Lease him from sleep. But It was all in
vain.
eyes, am dead" ho thought. "There
is nothing to do about it. 1t must have
been that she'll"
He saw again the trench near Vaux
and painfully picked up the thread of his
last sensations: The Kissing of the she'll
the fash Of the explosion--tle brutal
conclusions which split his head-then
his fall on the soft, moist sand--rhcn
oblivion
"Whcre an H."
He strained all his forces to open his
eyes. But his lids We're so heavy that he
thought somc ones fingers were pressing
them down. He stretched them with a
violent effort. A little light filtered
across the lashes. Was It the light of
day? He sought to fix his blinking eyes
on it. Then he tried 20 look a; himself.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-12-08

ing that, although he had greedily loved
the joys of earth, he was. nevertheless.
no great criminal. But the thought of
He'll obsessed him.
1t must be something on the order of
Nerdun," he said to himself. ~ can see
it. An eternal deluge of shells.o
But another idea came to him:
u was forgetting my citations. He
must have read thenl~-he who knows
everything"
Blaise Laurent felt an ineffable relief
II shall recite to the good Saint Peter
my record of service"
And he began to intonc in a solemn
cadence:
Private Laurent, Blaise; two years
Of active campaigning; two wounds: fwo
citations. In the first it says: a model
OF courage In the other. still more
beautiful: Brave among the brave
mat ought to appeal to him. 1t sings
well One could say that it sounds like
the litany" ''
He waited, full of hope, for the Last
Judgment. N-''''
An angel took him by the hand. His
drowslness seemed conquered. Il dis
appeared, releasing him from its bonds.
blalse sat up and breathed freely. Their.
with MS body erect, his eyes brilliant
ne began in a deep voice:
1.-Two years Of active campaign
ing''- IS -
es' yes, my good fellow" broke in
inc surgeon major. paternal in manner.
Dus little peevish. Calm yourself
and tell us where it hurts YOU"
Meanwhile the attendant wrote on the
register
Nervous disturbance, due to she'll
shock"
And under the windows, in the court
OF barracks, the Trumpet Of judgement
blew the dinner call.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-12-08

am not asleep. l only have my eyes
closed. These accursed Ids weigh a
hundred pounds
A cry from afar off startled hin,--a
cry which rose, swelled, accontuated it.
self in an atrocious yell and then broke
into Ions groans and tense. heart-rend-
ing sobs.
who can be suffering thus from q
paia beyond that Of mortals?" Dlaise
wondered
Suddenly the idea of Hell froze him
stiff. HIS hesitating glance futtered
about. 1t sought and discovered the
angel. Then he grew calm again.
Next lie noticed that door opened On
each side of the glass windov-and that
the angel had used the door to the right.
From the one to the left, sombre look
ing, under red star. issued only vail
ings and groans.
Il understand thought Blaise. "Ths
door on the right leads to Paradise. the
one on the left leads to He'll am be-
tween the two. They must have placed
me III the waiting room.'
AS clock struck the door on the
right opened and a fresh swarm Of white
angels spread through the chamber. A
clear peal of laughter came from, be-
yond-from the dwelling place of the
blessed.
Then man entered, large, imposing
wearing beard. The angels saluted
hln. lie passed before the bright SPOT
and IN the counterneht took on the an.
pearance Of saint in q stained class
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-12-08
TT here'll Be No Insistcnce
L.. On Price Fixing


And chat has been tho case for four sue
cessive years. That would have happened
though the government had not c,gen con-
sidered a guarantee OF the price of wheat
and the farmers know it we'll enough The
farmers understand now that price fixing
by the government v-as not at all piece %
price boosting in their favor, but means
Of stabiliaing the industry and insuring it
against fcveriah disturbances. They uu-
derstanl inst, without price fixing, they
would probably have Jared better than they
have in dollars and cents. And so they are
not making fetch of this theory Of fixed
prices. When peace comes they will not
insist upon government fixed prices aB q
permanent policy.
This statemens is not mere guessworA
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-12-08

time, and at last shot him down and threw
his body into the river. On reaching Che
'IchEezvichaika' the list Of prisoners. Of
course, did not tally with the number act
TALLY produced Where's the fifth pris-
oner?' asked the Commissioner on said
the soldier, could not get him to come
along. He WAS too old and feeble, so
thought it best to shoot him down and get
rid Of him i'll that way This murderer
was locked UP in a cell not far from ours,
and that was probably the only punishment
he would ever get
Two elderly Englishmen we're sent away
and liberated a week or two before our
release, but 7 believe they are still not
permitted to leave Petrograd. They were
very i'll, and the doctor, who was allowed
TO visit at the insistencc of the Dutch
Legation, managed to persuade the com.
missioners to send them home On the
whole, we did not suffer much in health
with the exception of colds and slight
fevers. and in such cases tho one iron bed
stead was given Up for the use of the suf-
fcrcrs. The doctor brought US medicines
and insect powder, for VIC were overrun by
Nermin good deal of our time was at
first occupied in lice hunting, and VIC only
got free of the pests by continual powder
ing and cleansing.
SIT was difficult to keep food long
in tbc bad air Of the cells. Meat and
potatoes soon developed 'wfskers' and
turned sour and mouldy. Food parcels ar
rived twice 4 week, and the day was
looked forward to as a great treat Mrs
oudcndyk generally accompanied them in a
motorcar, and the Consul was often all
lowed to go outside and speak with her for
few minutes. Two or three of the Eng
lish prisoners we're also sometimes let out
10 help in carrying and distributing the
parcels"
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-12-08
some real wonder working in the conduct OF
this years crop growing and harvest.

some real wonder working in the conduct OF
this years crop growing and harvest.
Right farm administration Is only part
Of the problem with which the farmer Is
concerning himself in preparation for the
future. lie is thinking hard, working hard,
to straighten out that condition which has
made him harvest time victim Of the crop
speculator with his "gupply-snd- demand"
patter. No longer will the farmers Of Amer
lea be complacent, helplessly acquiescent
over tho sharp contrasts OF past years be-
tween farm prices at harvest and primary
market prices in December, when the trat-
fckers have got the years crops into their
hands.
The farmers will not attempt solution
BY the quaint means proposed in tho olden
time By Populists and Changers. This is s
business proposition, not matter for clever
legislative Juggling. It is as business men
that the farmers will work It out
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-12-08

window. Blaise Laurent had an intui-
ton. 1t was Saint Peter.
From that moment he was satisfied
that he had guessed right. He was in
the antechanber of heaven. Saint
Peter was coming TO interrogatc the
dead{
just 'hen there was a burst Of trun-
pets which made Blaise shudder. The
trump Of the Last Judgment. And Saint
Peter began his rounds. An angel pre-
ceded nm, carrying very large, open
book All. that book! How we'll Blaise
recognized it. How clearly he recalled it
among the memories Of his childhood.
which came flooding back into his braini
1t was the book of which the good
Sister spoke, in mysterious words. to
her little pupils, mute with anxious con-
Germ. II was the terrible register in
which were inscribed each day the good
and evil deeds of men
blalse recalled the time when he Law
III ms bed evenings thinking that he had
falled to recite correctly the Ten Com
mandments, and that that sin was noted
IN the Great Book. The faith of his
childhood. How he looked back with
longing to its freshness and simpGc;tvi
Meanwhile Saint Peter walked will,
majesty amid the choir of angels. And
blaise had this despairing idea: Soon
ne Will send me out by the low door over
which the red star shines and I shall be
IN Hcll-yes, in Hell, with the demora
forever" 0''9'
He sought to frame q defence reflect
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-12-08

But in casting q glance downward his
eyes closed and sleep buried him under
its waves.
He observed half consciously that the
light was surrounded on four sides bv q
large, dark border, and discovered event
ually that it came from a glass window.
cut INTO wall He prudently explored
the regions near the window, as a timid
swimmer makes evolutions in the neigh
borhood OF safety raft. He saw q door
"a pillar. These architectural forms. SO
like those which men employ, treasured
him.
There Is nothing terrible in all this"
he thought. II shall soon feel at homo
here. Let me examine further"
But sleep seized him brusquely and
enveloped him in 9 whirl Of confused
images. His ears buzzed with an I'M
mense, monotonous murmur, like that
OF the sea.
The familiar sound Of door opening
awakened him. Some one entered whom
ne knew at once. 1t was an angel. The
angel elided toward him, all white and
silent, and the pearl-hued light from the
window cast vapory nimbus about the
newcomers Silhouette. Blaiso Laurent
was happy; for he no longer doubted
that he was in Paradise.
But the waves o. somnolence sub
merged him again
Fighting desperately to reopen his
eyes, he heard a musical voice murmur:
''H- is asleep
"Gu. 10, he proiested to himself. u
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-12-08

the figures are not 80 stunning. For the
ten years OF tho last census period, the
average yield Of wheat in the United States
was only fourteen and half bushels to the
acre. With wheat selling for 81 on the
farms at harvest time, that yield just about
pays production cost, considering the wheat
acreage of the nation altogether, large
fields and snail, good methods and bad.
There is no profit in growing fourteen and
q half bushels OF wheat TO the acre at 81
bUshel.
For those same ten years the average
yield OF corn per acre for the United States
vas only twenty-siX bushels With corn
selling in normal times at 90 cents bushel
at harvest, the farmer gets gross return
Of Sl3 an acre Every farmer who has ever
kept books with his corniicld knows that
when all legitimate items arc charged
against his crop-labor, interest on land in
vestment, depreciation in value OF equip
ment, and such like-he does not cutie
break even when he gets $13 for an acre
OF corn. lie nuss try to make something
By feeding the corn TO hogs or cattle, or
stand net loss.
Taking all staple farm crops ae ma
ton for that ten-year period and their
average value at harvest time. there was an
average gross return Of onlv >ouc 50 an
acre. Which, in plain words, means that
the farmer must 'throw i'm his own labor.
or omit to reckon interest on his invest
ment, or jugglo some other items IN the &C
counter frankly confess to 6 net loss or
his operation.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-12-08


wv justments Of peace, it is quite
certain That American farming
will not so back to the hit-or
MISS conditions and methods of the old
day.. The demands of way times have
dcnc vastly moro than create period Of
stress, state Of tension which may be by
the millions OF American farmers such an
awakening as no othor workers on earth
have ever had. 20 thnl; Of that awaken
ing az merely incidental to the war and as
fully explained By the sudden urgent needs
OF war Is 70 misjudgc it altogether. 1t was
bound 20 come sooner or later war or 10
war; and now that war has brought il, It
will endure. We shall have to reckon here
after with & new order OF things ~ thd
busncss OF food production and fool IS.
The .eason for that does not lie t.c
fact tina. the farmers have tasted blood
through price guarantees ard assured profits
through boom whch has spelled o lusty
though artificial prosperity. IF that were
al, then IL would IL wholly reasonable to
expect the reaction which must inevitably
follow ali boor,s. Bus that is not oil.
Neither il the reaso,. 20 be found in the
certainty that fer long time 10 come
American farming will feel the extra stimu-'
lus O. world demand for its products on a
scslo hitherto undreamed Of. That, TOO, is
in the nature Of forced condition. 1t
cannot last indefinitely. One of the first
concerns of peace IN Europe Will be re-
turn to food production. Already England
is attending to It; in this last year she has
come nearer than ever before to feeding
her own people from her t.1A lands. Pres
emily cs> eXportatioa of soodstutfs will
sett.s Back to something like the old pro
sO1.ions
This forecast of q new order Of things
goes deener than any temporary excite
ment.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-12-08

~ M IL
I rage" by the n0lshevisi in Rus
sia has been the arrest and I'M
prisonment in the Fortress Of ST.
Peter and st. Paul of the English resi-
dents of Petrosrad The petrograd cor
respondent Of "The London Times" who
was among those arrested, is back in
England, and has written a description
of his experiences for his paper.
"Wo were taken from the Embassy to the
Tchrezvitchaika' on August 81 and thence
transferred to the Fortress of St. Peter and
St Paul on Tuesday evening September 3,
at ) O'Clock. When we went downstairs
between lines OF soldiers into the yard,
where had seen a prisoner shot down from
behind without condemnation or warning
by the soldiers OF his escort as they were
bringing him out in the same way for some
unknown destination, felt serious misgiv-
ings as to our being destined for any other
place than the next world
"Thc first impression was horrible as we
filed along the long, narrow and gloomy
passage and saw the eyes of prisoners
eagerly scanning us through the small holes
in the doors of their cells. These cells
were already crammed with prisoners of
all classes from princes. generals and bour-
geois citizens down to proletarian vaga-
bonds, including thieves and murdercrs.
81 and half dozen other British sub
jccts found ourselves herded together with
4 number of Russian anti-Bolshevist Off
Gers, who received US with a shout of de-
light when they discovered we were Eng
lish.
I'VE we're altogether twenty men in
vaulted limewashed cell about 20 feet long
by II feet broad and IL feet in height, with
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-12-08
r~he One
n Salvation

III the face Of these simple facts, the only
thing which has saved American farming
from disaster has been the steadily increas-
ing value of farm land ond the opportu.
nifty this has given for q moro and more
elastic farm credit And Of course there
IS the fact that the family on the farm is
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-12-08

In the last four years have spent great
deal Of time with the farmers of thirty
states, from Massachusetts to Colorado,
from Iowa and Illinois to the Gulf, discuss.
ing these puzzles with them In intimate
fashion. / have found them shrewd witted,
sensible, not in the least inclined to argue
for the vagaries Of fat proAts.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-12-08
T1~he Reform
4 Progresses

Adoption OF those better methods is HOW
going on--not just here ard there, sporad-
ically, but everywhere throughout the ma
tion. There is proof enough o2 that in the
showing made with the crons Of 1918. With
greatly decreased man power, there was
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-12-08
Translated by William L. Mcpherson
Copyright, 1918. Nar Ysrk Tribune Inc,

Herr is ucuurstuyu Ma dAnoM onbf
uWouqu oountis
Nh v
Aeed
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-12-08
Weld and
Production Cost

But consider. Spread these crops out
over The acreage which produced them, and
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-12-08
'lempera-
ment in
the Air

wv THAT type OF men does ''the
M air" produce? The London
Lancet" has made some in
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-12-08
BY William r. Lighton
Well Ssaosca, autAor;ty on Middle Vest
crn affairs

wv THEN peace comes, and the read
wv justments Of peace, it is quite
certain That American farming
r.ll ,noA cs., hn4.l- Ia Al,a ~
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-12-08
Caught in Bolshevist Prison

NE of the most high handed out
Z RACES by the Bolsheviki in Rus
STA has been the arrest and I'M