davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-05-27
AN IMPORTANT DEPARTURE

THE formation in Philadelphia of a coal
company with world aspirations is
an important factor in the wooing of
world trade and in the building of mer-
chant marine.
1t may be the first toot of the overture
to the stirring maritime melodrama,
Boarding the Lion in His Own Coal
Bin"
England has a great merchant marine
primarily because she was dependent on
the rest of the world for most of the
things she needed. So for the things she
needed she traded the things she had.
The principal thing she had was coal;
and coal was the one thing lacking in
many of her trading points. This was
particularly true of Latn-A American
countries. So great is the economic ad-
vantage Of taking home cargo of coal
after discharging a cargo of home prod
ucts that many Latin-American ships
made Liverpool and London and South
ampton their distributing points
1t worked beautifully befose the war
but the war brought changes. England
needed all the coal she could mine More
over, labor, becoming accustomed to mu-
milton wages, not only declined to quit
the habit, but demanded shorter hours
Higher wages and shorter hours bring
about inevitably a more expensive prod
uct. Thus it comes about that British
soft coal today is selling at prices in ex-
cess of our best anthracite.
What's the answer? The Philadelphia
company knows. 1t is to go after South
American trade hot foot
First thing you know the shovel of
coal we're flinging on the fires of COM
merce will give US enough steam to en-
able US to get somewhere worth while as
a commercial nation doing business in
our own bottoms.
Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-05-27
GREAT FLIGHT FAILURES

MARVELLOUS failures multiply. Few
A'1 successes have ever thrilled the
world as has the daring venture of
Hawker and Grieves. Now France claims
attention with a frustrated attempt
which was none the less distinguished by
an unprecedented feat. The wreck of
his machine ends for the time being
Lieutenant Roget's effort to fly from
Paris to Pernambuco, Brazil, by way of
Dakar Before the smash came. how
ever, what seems to be record for long
distance flight was made.
Full verifcation of the wartime non
stop voyage of a German aviator from
Mesopotamia to east Africa and return
has never been made. If that trip is
apocryphal then the Frenchmans peculiar
distinction is unshadowed His unbroken
run of 1348 miles from Paris to Kenitra
near the port of Rabat, on the Moroccan
coast, was truly a remarkable perform
ance, surprising even the American
navys latest distance record.
Modern airmen have this advantage al
least Even though the most ambitious
of them may not achieve what they sci
out to- do. they are extremely likely tc
accomplish something hitherto unper,
formed. The air in this amazing age is
as prodigal Of sensations as it is of periIs
Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-05-27
Years and il will appear positively beau

years and il will appear positively beau
tiful
So it is conceivable that hundred
years from now the Pennsylvania Mu-
scum and School of Industrial Art IN
connection with the Philadelphia Chap
ter of the American Institute of Archi-
tects will be launching campaign to
preserve the city's commercial art even
as it is today working to save the citys
Colonial art.
And there is ample justification in
both cases. Each generation is entitled
to know something definite about the art
of all preceding generations.
Something more than respect for art
demands the preservation of lndepend-
ence Hall and the restoration Of the old
City Hall, at Fifth and Chestnut streets;
but, entirely apart from historic associa-
tion, one can sympathize with the desire
of the members of the two organizations
to save from destruction specimens of
old doorways, fireplaces, mantels, balus-
trades, cornices and other parts of Colo
nial structures. They link the past to
the present as we may hope that the
present will be linked to the future.
Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-05-27
VALE TO A RIVER NUISANCE

TT WAS good news when the extinction
of the state quarantine nuisance was
forecast. 1t is still more cheering to note
the imminence of its demise. In accord
ance with a proclamation issued bv Gov
ernor Sproul, the utterly superfuous
station at Marcus Hook will 90 out of
business on Saturday. Hereafter shins
that pass the federal governments well.
equipped new plant at Reedy Island will
be judged fit to enter the port of PhiIs-
delphia.
The local station was recently built,
Succeeding the venerable plant that had
performed supererogatory duties for
many years. 1t is good sign of clear
administrative thinking that the pres-
fiice Of the modern trappings did not act
~ deterrent to their abandonment.
The Marcus Hook holdup was as use-
less as retrial for a man alresd,,
zeeally acquitted. All shippers will re-,
joice at this simplifying of river regula-
&0ae
Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-05-27
Member of the Associated Press
OPEN HOUSE AT HOG ISLAND

THE recent suggestion Of the EVENING
PUBLIC LEDGER has been acted upon
and Hog Island will be thrown open to
the people on Memorial Day. Every
body who can do so should grasp the op-
portunity to see what is being done in
the shipyards. Admission is free. The
one stipulation is that sightseers shall
Wear Victory Loan button. Excellent
arrangements are said to have been
made for the crowds, and seven special
trains will operate between this city and
! the yards.
There will be entertainment a-penty
! Five ships are to be launched Women
loan workers. two from Pennsylvania
zone from New Jersey and one from Min
hesota, will christen four of the five
ships. The fifth will be christened by the
wife of an officer of the shipyards There
& is appropriateness in the arrangement
whereby women who achieved notable
success in helping float the Victory Loan
should also help to set afloat the ships
previous loans made possible.
"a Visitors to the yards will also see fifty
other ships in various stages of construc-
sion. Iney may also inspect seven otn-
sers now receiving fittings before being
turned over to the government.
<t There is fitness in the day chosen for
the launching. The men whose memories
the day celebrates fought to make the
country free and united. Their sons
and grandsons have just completed
task which, it is hoped will give the
Dame benefits to the world at large. The
launching of the ships presages an era
Of. peace and plenty, the natural supple
nnent of the ideals for which they fought
Hog Island is worth the trip on Me-
mortal Day. Put on your Victory button
and let all GO
Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-05-27
THE SHAD SHORTAGE

THE indicate that Delaware shad are
coyly initiating the ways of the now
semimythical Schuylkill catfish are not
cheering. Veteran net men along the
former river are gloomiIy wondering
whether fishing and wet nation are to
vanish almost simultaneously. Shad din
ners at three dollars a plate show which
way the fish are swimming-and that it
is not up toward Gloucester.
For once the war is guiltless. Even if
gh wages at the shipyards had not
red some of the fishermen, they could
s I'VE boasted of no great hauls this sea-
IN. Only about One-tenth of the aver
.e number of finny visitors has arrived.
: Various reasons for the shortage. in
Guiding the familiar one of river pollu-
ton, are advanced. The remedy, how
s-ever, is less debatable. The work being
done at the Torresdale hatchery is com
mendable but insufficient What is
needed Immediately is a generous re-
stocking of the stream by the Fish Com
mission and perhaps a ban on the use of
nets for three or four years. The pros
pect that what is now a luxury could be
re3nstated as a stap,e would thoroughly
justify the brief sacrifice.
Apart from economic considerations
local sentiment prescribes shad protec.
tion. History procaims Philadelphia as
the home Of American independence, the
eoristitution and lot of other improving
works, but the Philadelphia palate ranks
shad with scrapple and oysters and pep
perpot as special distinctions.
Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-05-27
Emile : ex-Patriot

JNRENCH- BORN, he never served veal
L Within their ranks. cgrcgious man.
Though in his veins there courses clear
The martial iclior of Jchannc.
Fat. indocnt and slightly bald.
lie drinks white liquors late and soon,
Yet he is never. never called
BY friends and kin The Great Poltroon.
He dotes on chocolate and brioche;
He has round and humid head
Oh. with gurglc more than gauche.
He heard the tale of Argonnc read.
No distant trumpet shook his blood
When he was told about the Marine;
For all the sacred Flanders mud
He simply did not give darn.
Expatration whets my claws,
But 'gainst this man no brief l hold
Because (ah. vital fact :. because:
Emile's precisely two years old.
Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-05-27
4 Ballad of Redhead's Day

TNALK of the Greeks at Thcrmopylae!
L They fought like mad till the last was
dead
But Alvin c. York of Tennessee
Stayed cool to the end though his hair
rcd.
Stayed mountain cool yet blazcd that gray
October the Eighth as Redhead's Day.
With rifle and pistol and redhcad nerve
He captured one hundred and thirty two.
a battalion against him, and he did not
swcrvc
From the Titans task they were sent to
do
Fourteen men under Sergeant Early
And York, the blacksmith. big and burly.
Sixteen only, but fighters all.
They dared the brood of devils nest,
And three Of those that did not fall
Were wounded or out Of the scrap: the rest
We're guarding bunch of boche they'd
When both we've trapped by n fresh on
slaugAt.
Excepting York who smiled Amen
And. spotting the nests of splitting guns,
Potted some twenty birds. and then
Did with his pistol for eight more Huns
Who thought they could crush Yankee alive
In each red pound Of two hundred and five.
That was enough for kill babe Fritz,
Ninety in all threw up ,hc;r hand.
Suddenly tender as lamb at the Ritz.
Mildcr than sheep to York commands
And back to his lines he drove the herd,
Gathering more on the way-Absurd!
Absurd, but true-aye. gospel fact;
For here was a man with a level head.
Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-05-27
Nicholas BiddIe's Bathtub

We spoke the other day of the curious
little jungle of back yards, brick walls ana
tall chimneys TO be seen along Orange street
lust west of Seventh, being the rear OF the
old houses on the north side of Spruce street.
In one of these gardens we noticed large
stone bnthtub standing unabashcd IN the
sunshine Mr. Frank III. Taylor gives US
some further information. as follows
THE large house. 715 Spruce street. is
the home of the Catholic Historical Society.
It was built in 1921 by Whitton Evens'
merchant. For twenty years. dating from
1898. it was the residence of Nicholas Bid
die. That ponderous marble bathtup IN the
hack yard was. I have been told, made for
him. but discarded by Dr.. James Kitchen
reputed to have been the oldest practicing
nhysician in the United States, who iiVed IN
the house forty -one years and dled there
(aged ninety -hve) in 1894.
But there will be no little Danish Mary to
bappen along when the kaiser is set adrift
Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-05-27
The Song of Roland

Once when the drift was deep upon the fold,
And SHOW was tossed upon the bitter gale.
Roland Jared forth. And all his joints were
cold,
But with his heart he warmed wondrous
tale.
Brave recompense. They welcomed him
right well
And friendliwise. as royal folk will do.
For this was palace whcrcabout | tell
And they were kings and queens, and a
princess. too.
With winter spray they dcckcd the sober
With goody cheer helabored the mighty
board,
In fearful play. on either side the hall,
The hearth fires flashed with many
quick bright sword
And then those royalties sat down and ate
How was it, Roland. sitting in such state?
The music sounded, soft as sliding brooks,
Burdened of love, and summer trees, and
flowers,
OF pale impetuous knights who rode in books,
And exc of maids who lay in steep strong
towers.
And at the glowing and oppressive dance
Did Roland clasp his princess in her
white,
And venture hopes too fond for furtherance.
And whisper much, as any mortal might?
The good knight Roland hath his lady's love,
Twas won betwixt two measures meetly
taken,
Twas barely whispered, not breath
Or doth Rolando dream, and will awaken?
1t is no dream. but verify. o strange.
She that is proud and bred to royalty,
To love with a squire But royallest love
can change
When priggish tongues make prattie of
degree.
'Twere better Roland had dreamed, and
nothing other 'f.
She broke her faith, needing that hen, her
mother.
A. =. o. 915, A. h. +.
"Hawker few seven hours with clogged
| pipe" says q headline.
Many a paragrapher has been forced to
earth by the same calamity.
The Quizosoph, who writes the daily
"What Do You Know just east of us, is
still putting his queries into rhyme, tTry
| them over on your mouthorgan and see. J
But we have wagered the little brother of
| the lexicon trough Of spaghetti that he
can't put the answers into verse.
1t is said that Hawker was saved because
| he discarded his undercarriGge. =
| IL that is the secret Of success we rise to
remark that we do the same every year at
| the approach of warm weather,
SOCRATES.
Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-05-27


Answers to Yesterdays Quiz
l. Hugh C. Wallace is American ambassa-
dor to France.
. The wettest known region on earth is a
part of Assam, British indies.
3. The word toast, defining a compliment
airy drink is taken from the toast
which used at one time to be put in
the tankard The lady named was
considered 10 be the toast or SAVIOR of
the wine, that which gave, the draught
piquancy and merit.
4. Sir Walter Scobt wrote~the novel, The
Fair Maid of Perth"
8. A violoncello means smaller 'volone"
or base violin. Cello is an Italian.
diminutive.
6. Columbus's ships were the Santa Maria,
the Pinta and the Nina
Z. Enthralled literally means enslaved.
s. At the outset of their revolution the
Bolshevists abolished tips, but the ban
against them is said TO have since been
weakened
o. Lord Northcliffe fixed the $50, 900 prizs
for the Transatlantic flight
TO- A bay or a gulf il called a blight from
the old English word '.byht," assoc
cinted with the Anglo Saxon "bugau.s
TO bow or curve.
Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-05-27
travelled ,ince the early days Of the Re.

travelled since the early days Of the re-
public.
Congress passed a child labor law, but
the court decided that it was unconstitu-
tional, not because Congress did not have
power to regulate child labor, but because
it tried to regulate it in the wrong way.
The revenue law passed by the last Con-
gress contains a provision taxing the
products of factories in which children
are employed, but its validity has not
been tested. The national child labor
committee is backing a bill which will
levy prohibitive tax upon the products
of child labor when shipped in interstate
commerce. Some good lawyers say that
it can be sustained in the courts.
Even the realm of education is to be
invaded if the educational reformers pre-
vail. They are urging an appropriation
of millions to be apportioned among the
states according as their educational
systems reach a standard fixed in Wash
ington in the hope that the states can be
persuaded by the prospect of contribu-
tion from the national treasury to con-
duct their public schools as Washington
authorities suggest.
This sort of thing has only begun.
One does not need to be prophet or the
son of prophet to see what will happen
if it keeps on.
We are not arguing for or against this
tendency in American life. We are
merely calling attention to it as a most
interesting phenomenon. To indulge in
argument against it would be as futile as
to argue against the operation of the
law Of gravity. The most perfect syl-
logism the mind of man ever conceived is
powerless to prevent an airship from
falling when its machinery breaks down.
No logical processes will serve to divert
the nation from its present course.
The demand for league of nations is
merely an expression of the desire for
the application in international relations
of the same theory of the subordination
of the political unit to the interests of
the group of units as a whole. The critics
of the league plan are repeating the
arguments against it which were worn
threadbare by the men who disagreed
with Alexander Hamilton and which have
been abandoned for many years by their
intellectual heirs. They cannot prevent
the closer union of the nations in the in
terest of all, for forces stronger than
they are dominating the thought of the
world.
Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-05-27

The world must not be
As Witness the too confident that boil
Parlor Variety shevism will die with the
destruction (Which now
seems imminent) of the Bolshevist govern .
ment in Petrograd. Bolshevism is a mental
disease of which organized violence is merely
one manifestation.
Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-05-27
THE OLD AND THE NEW

FEW years ago it was the fashion to
speak of the skyscraper as something
intolefably ugly. Then, by and by, it
began 70 dawn on US that its stark sim
1>||eity and bald desire to appear moth
a but what II really was had an appeal
Ils own. just few more hallowing
Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-05-27
THE TUNING FORK

ing champagne to spray his garden with. for
instance. Aud then it he should decide to
go out and inhalc the fragrance of the
flowers. who could object to that?
The following letter comes to us from
birmingham. Ala:
Dear Socrdtcs-Will you please send me
your picture: | like your poems and
know you are cheerful. Please send me one
with a smile
Why don't you over write about blue
eyed girl? Very respectfully.
LUCY LEISHNIAN RIDDLE.
We seize our lutte and tune our fiddle
To sing of Lucy LeiShman Riddle
And are her eyes that lustrous blue?
Dear Lucy, here's health to you.
Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-05-27

A Passac On. j. girl
So They Got has been awarded a
Her Number Distinguishes Service
Medal for her work as
telephone operator in France. She doubtless
refrained from saying that the lines were
busy even though it we're fact.
Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-05-27

We venture the opinion that unless
parade propagandists' get exceedingly busy
among the boys after their arrival there will
he no parade Of the Seventy ninth.
Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-05-27
WALT WHITMAN
May 31st, 1890

1t had the appearance of being already oc-
cupied. 1t was explained that the cemetery
people had. with characteristic and grim
taste, somehow got the idea that the tomb
was presented to Walt by his friends at the
last birthday party and they had introduced
the date of this birthday in the place where
should have stood the date of his decease
This was, of course, afterward corrected
Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-05-27
Walt Whitman's Brain

We are indebted to the biblioshark,
James Shields, for the most interesting piece
of information concerning Walt Whitman
that has come our way.
monograph by the late DR.. +. A.
Snitzka. professor of anatomy at the Jeffer-
son Medical College. gives brief review
of scientific post mortem measurements made
Of the brains of 130 notable men and four
women. In this monograph, reprinted by
the American Philosophical Society IN l9o''
occurs the following paragraph
81 WHITMAN WALT, American poet.
The weight of Walt Whitman's brain is
yariously given as 45.2 ounces t2s2
grams) and 43.3 ounces I22S grams)'
His stature was six feet and in health
he weighed about zoo pounds. The brain
had been preserved, but some careless
attendant In the laboratory let the jar
fall TO the ground; it is not stated whether
tho brain was totally destroyed by the
fall, but it is a great pity that not even
the fragments of the brain were rescued.
Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-05-27
WHITMAN MEMORIES
BY Harrison S. Morris

Editors Nofc-Tn connection bih the
centennial Of Walt IVhitmans birth this
peek Mr.. Morris permits us 10 print some
extracts from his bricf biography Of WIT
man, Uhich is 10 be published IN Italy. Tth
an Introduction By Gabrielle D'AnnHnsio, the
italian poet. The roiumc is one of a series
dealing wuh great American Trifcrs TO DC
published in comm cmordfion Of Ifdto -Amert-
cnn friendship during the great icdr. An
other irsfullment ,ciH be printed on this page
on Friday.l
THE year 1884 was signalized by new
= move of great Importance to Walt He
purchased a small frame shack, as he called
it. on Micke street. Camden. not far from
Colonel George Whitman's house. where he
had been so generously cared for through
his years of suffering. Here he sct up house
keeping on his own account He gathered
about him all his possessions for the first
time in his life, and he had friendly widow,
Mrs. Davis. to take care Of him and the
house. This plain little abode in shabby
street became the resort of old friends and
many new ones through all the years that
remained to him.
There is letter of 1884 to II. Pesrsall
Smith, an acquaintance in Germantown, in
which Walt writes: GIVE my excuses and
love to Mr.. and Mrs. Williams and
Churchey." The friends mentioned are
Francis Howard Williams and his wife and
their son, Churchill. who, with the Pearsall
Smith family. entertained Walt much in
these years, especially at Christmas, when
he loved to be with tho Williams children.
1t was through my friend Mr.. Williams that
| was taken over to Micklc street and pre-
scented to Walt.
Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-05-27

But the matter does not end here
There is bill before Congress fixing an
eight-hour day for industries which are
at all connected with interstate COM
merce. This goes even further in the
direction of Capitalization of power than
either the prohibition or the suffrage
amendments, for, while taking over the
control of industry from the states, it
also assumes that it is the function of
government to fix the hours of all labor
in industry. The working hours of
women and children are subject to statu-
tory legislation under the police power of
government exercised in the interest of
public health and public morals. The
child labor laws have been passed be-
cause, according to the theory of the
statute, the child is not capable of pro-
tecting himself by any contract with his
employer. The women labor laws rest
upon the same theory. But now we have
the proposition that the hours of all labor
affected by relation to interstate trade
be fixed by congressional statute. We
do not think that even Alexander Hamil-
ton himself would have approved such an
act. Yet the increasing number of men
who do favor il shows how far we have
Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-05-27
What Do You KnO,u?

QUIZ
/. What President had reddish hair?
.. Who is Lieutenant Roget?
3. Locate the cape called Finistere?
4. What is the "Siegcs Alec?
). What state does not sanction divorce7
6. What does plebiscite mean?
7. Have autos diminished the horse?
s. What is a haricot bean?
8. What score is famed for Haendels
Largo?
10. What is meant by supercargo?