davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1919-03-16

miles around is wet and muddy. does
The companies had plenty Of 1t.
They were brigaded at first with
British troops and marched down
from the coast almost Immediately.
Within a few weeks of reaching
France they were in the trenches.
Young Poore tells. smiling reminis-
within sight OF them. and were told
that those were the trenches just
ahead. the entire company broke and
ran, like bunch of school boys, to
see who would get there first" Their
first big fight was at Messines, up on
the French Belgian border. But 1t
Verdun. in the Argonne drive. in the
Vosges. moving rapidly by night up
and down the battle line. wherever
American troops were going into ac-
ton. A Company was not at Chateau
Thierry. Company was there and
little farther up the line at that time.
Poore speaks enthusiastically Of the
beauty Of the Vosges and tells how
his enjoyment nearly got him into
trouble with the censor. His descrip.
tion was bit too vivid and colorful
in one Of his letters and caused the
ruthless slashing of that epistle. even
though he had mentioned no towns,
and, as he thought, said nothing that
could tell any one where 1t was writ
ten.
But while the country was lovely,
rations got rather short while they
were there because of some hitch In
transportation. And when finally the
heavily loaded trucks did arrive the
boys were almost ready to break into
cheers. until they found that through;
some mistake they had been sent sew
~ a. hnr a
water available for washing purposes;
or the fighting Poore's most vivid
impression seems to be of the hor-
rors Of that Anal drive. when the
casualties were terrific and they had
to carry their equipment through, and
wounded, through visions Of blood
and mutilation, which made their
very souls sick. Not to be able to
stop and help was, the terrible ex-
perience.
1--WE we're Juggling our heavy gas
land our orders were to get them to
the front. We could not stop for the
dead or dying; we were needed 70
protect the others. Sometimes We dad
stop for a moment to give comrade
a few drops OF water from ON our can. an
ground. but that was mostly as we
came back. When we were needed %
throw out smoke screen or to give
the boches gas. there was no time for
humanity. But 1t was the hardest
thing we had to do-passing those
poor fellows by.
"Do you know. sometimes think
that II the Huns had known how near
ly all in we were. just then. they
never would have quit. The slaughter
in that last drive WAS appalling. Some
of the companies were reduced to a
mere handful of fifteen or twenty
men,"
Like all the others they had their
experience Of Hun treachery. Private
Poore tells Of his sergeant blown to
bits as he stepped on a blackboard in
one Of the evacuated German trench
es, and companion seriously injured.
The usual thing--a mine arranged to
explode the moment the weight on the
board shifted a little. And OF another.
an inveterate souvenir hunter, pick
ing up a queer-looking German gun
and having It explode.
He is still Private Poore. you see,"
he says, not by way of complaint. but
merely explaining. I'VE had lot Of
casualties and constant replacement.
Evening star., 1919-03-16

LIE wasn't much OF a man to look at.
For one thing. the red Of dissi-
patton and the pallid bluishness that
comes from want had united on a
complexion that was purple with the
royal left out. and his clothes were
of the job-lot brown that is pow
erty's national color. And while he
was slouching along two women who
had nothing in the world to do with
him stood in front OF store window
that had spring hats on display.
One woman held stuffed bag
pink silk tomatoes. The other wom-
an had a boy child by the hand. The
bag woman kept tight hold Of her
property. The mother-woman let the
child go.
1t is busy corner where automo-
biles whizz and drays rattle coming
and going. But nobody noticed the
boy-except perhaps that overwork-
ed nurse, providence. who takes care
of children and fools.
Women in couples or going 1t alone
passed along the street or surged In
and out of the stores doors, but none
of them sensed the danger that
threatened the mite Of a boy until one
bundle stacked lady with an eagle
eye and an over-rich Imagination
caught sight of the wreck of man.
He had been slouching along the
pavement, but changed his route to
slouch out to the asphalt. where the
mite was apparently waiting for the
express purpose OF being run down.
Look at that fellow, Mag. Look
at him takinA up that child. I bet he's
q kidnappin' him. Watch him. will
your
Bot he wasn't kidnapping the boy.
Ha inst lifted him hack TO safety
Then he slouched of to wherever he
was going, with nobdy the wiser for
his action--unless--
Unless that white winged recorder
we know about happened to be look
ing down.
Evening star., 1919-03-16

II believe we were supposed to get
cleaned up and rested and generally
made flt there before returning to
our folks. but how could WEI. There
was plenty Of rain. but no water
poses. No hot water anyhow. And
cold water, when you're wet and
muddy. and your quarters are wet and
muddy. and everything in sight for
Evening star., 1919-03-16
Around the CitV.

I T is an admitted fact that Mary had
a little lamb. but 1t may be news
i to the general public that frankie
Blank had another-for two days
going on three.
1t wasn't a lamb. at that. but a goat
named Billy. that frankie met on a
side street-tied to a fence. When
he brought him home de didn't men,
ton the fence. The family impress
sion seemed to be that frankie had
corralled Billy in the untamed open.
and that on the principle that find
go In his mantel bank for the where
with to buy wagonette with red
wheels. The team was on parade,
with the family looking on. when a
policeman came up and nabbed 1t. At
least that was the policeman's in
tentlon. but Billy. having been as
playfully docile as those other dear
lambs that skip on that forever green
grass In the way back spelling book,
took on a butting velocity that would
blush
True. the wise men who write his
tory might remind US that neither
ram RoWley nor the merry monarch
he gave his name to were addicted
to bushes but-never mind.
HS HiSl lHluS the goat ala was 10
butt the policeman-good! Then a
crowd developed with suddenness
that suggested 1t must have swarmed
up from the brick cracks and Billy
got busy and butted into the human
ring with skillful impartiality until
a big man administered what was in
tended to be wn-and-out kick,
but wasn't Not for Billy. AS for
the man-but maybe he wouldn't like
1t mentioned. Some people are so
deltcately sensitive and, anyhow.
maybe he would have done better If
Billy had given him a second try
but Billy didn't seem to be that sort
Of goat. He preferred to streak
of like white lightning-and maybe
he is streaking yet
frankie was serenely truthful when
he couldn't help himself. He admit
ted the fence. He just took the goat
because 1t looked good to him. This
moral lapse. which has been epidemic
among us since the knave Of hearts
he stole some tarts all on summers
day. was not condoned by mamma.
She believed in fitting the punishment
to the crime: her SON had stolen q
lamb. So she gave him a lamming.
And that's all, only: II white billy
goat should come butting your way
you know 1t belongs to the boy who
tied him to fence. You can't miss
him.
Evening star., 1919-03-16

EON POORE. the only District
boy in the only gas and flame
regiment in the American ex-
The sun., 1919-09-28

ature it leaves the heaters. passing
through more strainers. into a pres
sure pipe where it is rushed to the
burner. Here 1t blows out into the fire
chamber and can be regulated by the
fire room attendant in the same man
ner that a plumber or tinsmith manip-
ulates his gasolene ,ove for heating
soldering irons.
An illustration OF the versatility of
the fuel oil system is the success with
which II has been used at the Pacific
Coast crematories. At Oakland the
largest crematory of the West is ex-
clusively operated by the system Of
mechanical fuel oil burning.
The world war, which brought forth
constant demand for oils for the
operation OF steamships, big guns,
tractors, automobiles and machinery
found the American market ready. The
Standard Oil, Texas Company and sub
sidiary concerns successfully sent their
great fleet of tankers across the At
lantic despite the campaign Of ruthless
warfare by the German submarines,
and won the Animation of the allied
nations for their initiative and daring
An officer OF the Texas Company
which operates a great refinery at
Bayonne In discussing the method OF
supplying fuel oil to New York city
said:
ut Will be very simple thing. II
Iceland, which most people are In
clined to associate with the Eskimo
and the reindeer, can be given enough
oils to operate electric light plants
and other Industries, I am sure New
York can likewise be taken care of.
You've heard the story OF explorers
to the effect that the Icelanders are
careful buyers? Well, they have to
be, for it is a long time between
tankers, and should anything happen
to the mechanical parts OF the engine
room aboard the ships they would
have to wait some months.
1.-THE easy part OF the game will be
Ins taking care of the great feet OF
tugboats and harbor steamers" this
man explained. with the great
hetilla OF steel harges which We oper-
ass from our tidewater refineries we
expect TO be able TO supply any do
The sun., 1919-09-28

fuel oil vessels always operated on
schedule time. The two fastest troop
transports we had the Northern Pa
cidc and Great Northern, burned oil
for fuel
ANY problem which the harbor
craft by fuel oil burning would pres
ent would be very simplihed. you can
readily see. Regarding the trans
portation of the fuel oil through the
city, can safely predict there would
be no fire hazard whatsoever. First.
this particular grade of oil is known
to have a high flash point, in the
vernacular of the trade. 1t means,
literally translated. that the fuel oil
cannot burn until 1t is heated to the
flash point. and until that occurs you
could throw a lighted cigarette or
cigar into a tank containing II and
the oil would not ignite.
Every day there are thousands
upon thousands Of gallons OF naphtha
gasolene and kerosene in the great
traffic OF the city. Have you ever heard
OF any dangerous fire or accident
which had its source from n tanl
cart? Most persons seem to be.
lieve that fuel oil will be an added
menace to this city, but I can assure
you that it is quite the contrary.
would much rather have the task o.
handling fuel oil than I would tn,
task of fussing or carting about IN,
volatile oils like naphtha and gasolene
ANY demands the city makes FOL
The sun., 1919-09-28

high pressure stftem in the fire dis
up to the fourteenth and fifteenth
floors. Now this idea of burning fuel
oil would eliminate this danger.
at does not freeze up. and while the
oil can be procured the danger does not
have to be reckoned with. Nearly all
the large Industrial and commercial
plants want to burn oil. 1t is up to
the Fire Department to sanction the
idea, but first we are going to bind
everybody to set of laws which will
take very good care of life and prop
erty loss through some miscalcula-
ton"
The Pacific Coasts Experience.
Among the many experts called by
the local Investigators none could
boast of more practical work with the
installation of mechanical fuel oil sys-
TENS than George w. Coen OF San
Francisco. According to Mr.. Coen,
who equipped no less than 500 Emer-
gency Fleet vessels with fuel oil plants.
California, Washington and Oregon are
absolutely dependent upon oil for the
operation of industrial plants. The
Southwest and parts of the East are
also taking to fuel oil, he told the
board. ,.-..
Mr.. Coen said that the danger OF
fire from such plants was really negli-
gible. .. r-...
Proper regulations governing the
establishment OF plants. the operation
of the plant by practical engineers and
| firemen abolish any fire hazard" said
| Mr.. Coen. "Oil is now requisite for
the greatest navy In the world--ouI
navy and the merchant marine. The
great industries of the country are be-
coming dependent upon 1t every day
This demand has been brought about
by the shortage of coal-I mean an
Inadequate supply through the de-
mands of our allies during the wal
and the increased naval and military
needs. California last year burned
something like 100000 barrels Of
fuel OIL. The equipping Of the large
factories In this city with fuAf OF
plants, the steam and tugboats'in the
harbor would result In az smokeless
town because the oil does not throw
on smoke. The economies ere mani
foldl From one, ton of oil engineer
have figured you receive more hea
giving qualities than that furnishes
by three tons Of coal.
-Thers is no carting OF ashes,- ex'
planned Mr.. Coen. This would he'll
! the city In reducing the nuisance In
volved In the traffic congestion ant
the scattering Of the ashes about thu
streets. In the operation of a fuel OF
plant the coal passer, fire trimmer an'
firemeu are not needed. ThirT-st
cubic feet Of oil wips equal the pro
ductive power Of sixty cubic fee
Of coal One fireman and ous snstncc
The sun., 1919-09-28

can easily obefate eighteen oil burning
fires. Thescel bunker space is util-
lied for oslf& purposes.
1 Zone offthE most vital matters TO be
considered,' Mr.. Coen told the board
is to allow no person to operate oil
plants until he had passed the test
governing the operation of ssteam
boiler plants" III
Progfess VIII BE sIovyf
! Fire Commissioner Thomas bren-
nam said that the idea of flooding the
city with oil plants could not be- con-
sidered at present. I'VE are going to
go very, slowly in allowing fuel oil
burning in this city. The process
must be conservative. Every building
where 1t is proposed to adopt the
idea will be given a most minute over
hauling. The laws and regulations
will not be general. Each applicant
will be inspected and considered
separately. Our fire peril is severe
enough at present without any adj
ditional burdens being assumed by the
department. fullN realize that oil
has been used successfully in the
West and that this city must have 1t.
but we are all timld about 1t to such
an extent that we are not going to
countenance such systems until we
can provide proper safeguards against
the danger involved"
The story of fuel oil during the San
Francisco earthquake was told by w.
s. Rockwell Of this city, who was
called in by the board to assist In the
framing Of the regulations. Accord.
ing to Mr.. Rockwell, the Western city
was burning oil fuel at the time and
subsequent Investigations revealed
that of all the many fires started by
the earthquakes not one of them could
be attributed to the fuel oil tanks in
The sun., 1919-09-28

small when the economies are consid-
cred. In the big plants the boilers re-
main intact, the only change being the
withdrawal OF fire boxes and construc-
ton OF pits for the storage tanks,
pumps, pipe lines, auxiliary devices
burners, heaters and regulating valves
There will be a huge saving of coal
when the fuel oil is firmly established
in the city, which will be within the
next three years. Coal and gas for
the small consumer viii be much
cheaper. II is predicted. Fuel oils
adoption will not affect the apartment
houses, private homes and small con-
Germs. The present plan Is to use II
only in large boiler plants. One OF
the most successful OF the furnace
type Of fuel oil plants is operated by
an automobile company at Twenty
eighth street and Tenth avenue.
The Maurstania's Economics.
This concern has been using oil
for the past ten years In developing
high temperatures for the heating OF
steel springs for automobiles. When
the subject came before the fire de-
partment the plant was discovered and
an investigation revealed that in It's
ten years operating powerful furnace
fires tho firm never had the slightest
mishap.
Some idea Of the value Of fuel oil
In the operation OF great steamships is
disclosed in the case Of the Cunarder
Mauritania. When she first put out
on the high seas. burning coal the
ire room force had some 900 men
passing coal, trimming fires and stok-
Ing. An oil firing plant was installed
and the gang was cut down to 80 men.
There was no sbhes TO be looked after
no smoke and the oil kept up a
.,,la,.-x.. sfaar,ir., -,<..,...
The sun., 1919-09-28

Of receiving the hundreds of thousands
of gallons of fuel oil which 1t will
burn five years from now. In dis
cussing the merits of the fuel oil sys-
tenn on steamships, I want to tell you
something about the big Leviathan.
One of the reasons why the former
German liner was so heavily conveyed
during the war had to do with her
coal burning fires The Navy De-
partment could not spare the time to
install fuel oil fire chambers, and had
to be content with the coal for steam
raising purposes. Now the Great
Northern and the Northern Pacific al
ways went across with her and made
the return trip TO this country. Every
twelve hours the convoy had to slow
down from 25 knots to mere 16 be-
cause the fire room gang on the Levia-
than had to trim down the coal fires
and the boilers lost steam pressure for
several hours during the process
Several of the oil concerns that will
furnish the supply to this city have
arranged for the introduction of the
tank sleighs when Jack Frost rules
and there is a heavy snowfall. The
tanks are carried on a bodywork with
| steel runners and are horse drawn. A
great amount of the crude petroleum
is brought TO Bayonne and Long Island
| City to the refineries by the tank
steamers. This type of craft is de-
ceiving as to its carrying capacity,
The queen of the tankers entering this
harbor is the Texas. She is 480 feet
long, and employs the fuel oil TO
generate steam to run her 5000 horse
power engines. Her hull is divided
into tanks in order TO allow the car
riage of various kinds of oil without
mixing, and this is taken aboard or
discharged by an ingenious system OF
pumps. The electricity for illumina-
ton and the wireless is also manu-
featured by the fuel oil.
She carries the enormous amount OF
3,O66, 900 gallons. With about 1T
other craft she runs between this city
and the Southern ports. The Texas
did valiant duty during the war carry
ing a great cargo Of oil to France
during the worst period OF the sub
marine warfare.
The sun., 1919-09-28

using this oil for fuel, and II will un-
doubtedly become a potent factor in
the operation of the wheels of indus
try as the years-go on. What interests
the Fire Department is the well known
principle that this oil is infiammable
under certain conditions. When under
n high pressure or heated to the flash
point its use in furnaces, both sta
>uonary and portable, has introduced'a
very considerable fire danger, which
may be greatly reduced if approved
methods in planning and installation
are strictly obeyed.
Fuel oil, when properly treated at
the ref1neries, makes a very fine grade
of oil, which will flow readily under all
temperatures" continued Smoky Joe.
1T will. help this city a great deal In
the matter Of fire protection. I recall
in the last two years the most OBJ
durate kind of perils, which beset this
big city of ours when the coal short
age in the manufacturing places, was
at a crisis. There were several nights
during the winter of 1917 when 1 re-
sponded to fires in loft buildings and
when we arrived found that the build
Ing, which was solidly protected by
auxiliary fire equipment, was a roaring
hell. Why? Because the engineers
did not have enough coal to supply
heat and keep the pumps moving
governing the automatic valves and
water pressure in the place. 1t was
simply a case of the fire auxiliary
systems becoming nil when the coal in
the cellars grew short.
Outing the war this city several
times was facing a fire hazard through
a shortage of coal. and few people out
side of the firemen realized this. Pipes
and tanks and water system in
buildings were frozen and therefore
| useless. We had to depend on our
The sun., 1919-09-28

stalled in the buildings. 1.-THE city
through the oil that when the quake
took place and fire followed not one
Of them could be blamed on the oil"
All fuel oil is safe when the flash"
point has been tested and proven to
be high. This is done by taking q
small wooden cup OF the oil and
heating 1t for periods of Ave minutes.
After each five minute interval a
thermometer is placed in the oil to
ascertain the temperature of 1t. The
process Is continued until the oil
reaches perhaps 80 point and is then
susceptible to fire, or burns from the
heat OF the fame over which It has
been placed. The oil which stands the
higher temperature Is considered the
safer oil. r...-
Leaking Valves . Danger.
One or the dangers from fuel oil
plants is a fractured pipe line or a
leaking valve. The danger is not from
the possibility OF a lighted match OF
cigarette being thrown near 1t. for
most times the oil viii not burn. but
after several days the oil throws on
a vapor and this ignites, In order to or
set this difficulty It has been, proposed
that all the valves and connections be
made OF brass so, that at least twice
a week they win have to be polished
This particular installation win safe
guard against leaking, pipes or valves
Automatic , controlling apparatus
and duplicate safety systems will be
the predominating features OF the fuel
oil plants in this city. No tanks will
be allowed overhead; gravity pressure
from the tanks through the feed pipe
lines to the heaters win be tabooed
An the oil viii have to be pumped
from the tanks below ground and en-
cased with some twelve inches Of &C.
ment through the piped lines. Only q
certain amount OF the oil will be al
lowed to be on hand at all times ir
the different buildings. There will b
q demand calling for the control Of
the system under all conditions.
A short time ago the Waldorf As
tozia upts1 sought 20 install PLAN
The sun., 1919-09-28

fuel oil will be supplied by the tank
wagons. They are a familiar sight
about the streets, being painted with a
rei paint and propelled by motors.
The contents'>are emptied from the
wagon tanks BY gravity, and they con-
form to everyiknown fire prevention
regulation Of the city laws. Three tank
carts doing daily trip could take
care of a structure like the Woolworth
building. They receive their supplies
from the refineries at the tidewater
points, and can be operated so that the
ell can be drawn from a barge. ~
. Although the. Pacific coast is sup
piled with fuel oil by pipe lines under
tho streets, do not think and a great
number of other men in the oil trade
cPree with me, that New York city
will ever have to resort to that system