davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1919-12-26
WILD ANIMALS SUFFER
FROM SEVERE WEATHER

DENVER, Col, Dec. &c, (By Interna-
tional News Service. 1.-The many early
winter snowstorrns and unusually low
temperatures prevailing throughout
Colorado and wyoming this season are
threatening elk, deer and wild sheep
that roam the prairfes with extinction,
state authorities In wyoming have
notified the federal government that
nearly 10000 wild elk in that state are
severely suffering from lack OF food.
with the short grass OF the ranges
covered with snow and the supply Of
hay to feed the animals practically ex-
hausted. Ii Is a common sight to see
deer and elk straNng into the confines
OF ranches or easing along the highway
looking for something to eat. 1t is even
said by some that deer and elk have
invaded Kitchens and fingered on
porches in an effort to rustic up viands.
The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1919-12-26

DEAR Mg. Editor
Just As sat down.
TO WRITE my column
FOR ToDAY,s paper.
THERE CAME a knock.
AND r. was. the ohambermaid'
WITH A little girl,
AND THE uluc girl \
WHO LIVES down the hah
HAD A don in her arms
AND THE chambermOid
HAD TOLD the girl
THAT was acquainted.
WITH A lot Of dolls.
BECAUSE SHE had seen them
AROUND OUR room,
AND THAT was the reason,
THEY HAD called on me,
AND THE little girl.
HAD TEARS in her eyes.
AS SHE held the doli,
SO e:pl! see
THAT DURING the night
TT HAD gone stone blind.
THE DOLLS two eyes.
WERE TIGHTLY closed,
AND WOULDN'T wiggle.
THE SLIGHTEST bit,
so took the doll.
AND PUT on my glasseS
AND LOOKED quite wise.
AND FELT It's pulse
AND BUMPED It's head.
BUT IT'S eyes STAYED closed
The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1919-12-26
HE WEPT ABOUT TT.

II dropped In unexpectedly te sec
and found him weeping over
hts wife's household account book"
'Is his wife dead. or did she run
away with another man. Something
serious must have happened II the sight
Of her account book moved him to
tears"
"Oh, Mrs. Gadspur had merely gone
out OF town a day or two to visit rela-
tives, What pierced Gadspur TO his
hearts core was friend wife's style Of
bookkeeping"
The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1919-12-26

wifes judgment and whose best stories
are about her financiering you will find
a man married to a woman who whines
to him about her mistakes, but when
you find a man who is still interested
spect to her opinion, you will find
that he is married to a wife who
doesn't say much, but, as the Irish
man said, keeps up devil OF n think
ing
$50 take tip from me and don't
tell all YOU know Especially to your
husband"
Copyright, 1919, by The Wheeler Syn
dictate, Inc)
The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1919-12-26

succeeds Gustav
Ador.
DIR. Motta b
comes president q
a result of the Gus
tomary rule follow
ed in Switzerland I
promoting the vicd
president to III
presidency. He
vice president ID
the present year.
will not be DR.. Mo-
ta's first term 4
president. He heI
that office in 1911
Edmund Schulz
hess was eleclj
vice president I'd
next year. He
also an ex preJ|
dent, having filll
The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1919-12-26
NEEnEn FLIVVER.

'He suffers terribly from menta
lapses Getting so he can't remembei
anything ten minutes"
Then he ought to get q fhvver.
\ "Whyg'
IL bet that'll Jog his memory"
The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1919-12-26

that office in 1917. The president
the Swiss federation has had many II
tricate problems OF an international m
ture to deal with ever since the Eurl
pean war started The tendency
fallen monarchs and down -at-t the nd
princes to seek refuge in the hti
country since the world war has gIvI
the Swiss people more complex prol
lens.
The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1919-12-26
A Line On Men
You Read About

DIR. Guiseppi Motta was recent
elected president OF the Swiss feders|
ton bv the federal assembly, MotA
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1919-10-26

to observe the operation and effects OF
the Adamson law. On the basis of the
first months experience, January,
1917, the commission found that the
compensation increased 81 per cent.
in the passenger service, Is per cent.
in the freight service and 256 per
cent. in the yard service. Besides the
wide difference between the percentage
increase in the eastern as compared
with the southern and western dis
tricts indicated that an increase OF
facilities or other adjustments, not to
mention the variations In the volume
of traffic, might reduce the amount of
overtime. Actual experience shows
that the operation of the law in the
first months was subject to marked
modification"
The author then prepared a chart
showing the real wages of the brother
hood, from which the accompanying
diagram has been adapted. 1t uses
for purposes OF comparison only the
wages OF the Eastern division. Except
In the case of the road freight fire.
men and helpers these men associated
with the brotherhood of Railroad
Trainmen. did not receive sufficient ad-
vance, according to the Blakey figures,
to meet the higher cost of living.
A similar diagrammatic illustration
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1919-10-26

boiler maker contented Is to reduce the
rate in the shipyards.
During the period covered by this
study" Mr.. Blakey adds. the railroad
shop crafts have been in the process
of organization. A conservative esti-
mate places the enrolment to-day at
less than so per cent. of the workers
another contrast with the brother
hoods. The FESTIVE attitude of the
shopmen toward their international
officials-the Grand Lodge-in the
threatened teup OF the railways last
August is indicative OF their mex
perience and immaturity with Ameri-
can trade union policy. To the writer
the ominous uneasiness among the
workers everywhere-on the railroads,
steam and electric; in the mines and
in the factories-is not altogether due
to war within the trade unions. 1t
is not always that q faction in the
union membership is FESTIVE under re-
straint, as would appear with the rail-
road and the iron and steel workers
to-day. The facts are rather that an
ever increasing number of workers
refuse to believe that the dawning in
end anything other than that bygone
industrial autocracy they have been
working under. II IS this concern that
is causing many workers. both IN and
out Of union affiliat!on, to question the
Judgment of the union leaders in con-
tinuing the close cooper alton with
business that obtained during the war
Had the trade union movement been
more vigorous and more comprehen-
sive in America in the past the new
recruits to-day, altogether FESTIVE,
would be amenable to authority. The
advocates OF new day are not very
numerous. however. The more I hear
the more convinced am 1 that the
rank and file OF American labor does
not propose to substitute Socialism in
any degree for the cooperation union
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1919-10-26

with the righteous indignation over
the holdup of the brotherhood-the
struggle of a group OF honest and
faithful workers to get enough money
to meet the rise in the cost of living
and which they did not succeed in
eventually getting.
"One OF the first acts of the Director
General of the Railroads was to create
a commission with instructions to in
vestigate the status of railroad wages
and working conditions. General Or
der No. q issued on May 20, 1918, was
the result of the recommendation Of
the Wage Commission. Increased cost
Of living since December. 1915, was the
basis of computation adopted. To this
was applied the humanitarian theory
that the increased cost Of living had
fallen heaviest on the low paid en-
ployees, with the result that percentage
increases based on wages in effect in
December, 1915. were added. This ad-
vance increased the operating cost of
the railroads approximately three hun
dred million dollars a year. The rail-
road charts will show, however, that
the brotherhoods' real wages had fallen
fully as far In 1917 as had those of
the laborers and the shop crafts"
When Conditions Change.
The author observes that when we
pass from the brotherhoods to the tel
egraph and shop employees the con-
ditions change apd that it is hard
to believe that both groups OF workers
could have been under the same ad-
mlnistration. The increase OF wages
by the Railroad Administration
brought the wages of the shop workers
to n parity with the living costs and
in fact a little above par. and he there
fore maintains that there is no reason
why the railroad shopmen should in
sist on an increase in wages. He says
that the way to make the railroad
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1919-10-26

light on the effect of spider bites on
man. One distinguished entomologist
actually allowed various species OF
spiders 30 bite his hand. Some of
these drew blood, giving a sensation
like that Of sharp needle prick. The
wounds smarted and swelled somewhat
and itched when rubbed, producing
very much the sensation of MOSQUITO
bites, but no permanent i'll effects fol-
lowed.
The Mygale is one of the best known
of the large and heavy spiders. II is
native OF tropical and sub-tropical
America. 1t IS said that st catches and
kills small birds with its poisonous bite
and then sucks the blood Of its victims
The body OF this spider is dead black
and Is covered with long reddish
brown hair II possesses eight eyes
placed close together In the front OF
its head.
The scientific name Of that American
spider called the tarantuia is cteniza
California; and It is one Of the trap
door spiders. It is common in New
Mexico, Arizona and California Ac-
cording to Kingsley, this spider digs
Its hole in fine soil which when dry
is nearly as hard as brick. These
spider holes are sometimes nearly an
inch in diameter and vary in depth
from two or three inches to nearly q
foot. The mouth OF the hole is en-
larged and then closed by a thick
cover which fits It tightly. That cover
fits into the mouth OF ths hole very
much as cork does m the neck Of D
bottle
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1919-10-26

prepared from the Blakey figures, and
for the purposes of comparison using
only the wages OF the Western section,
shows that all classes OF employees
classified as under the designation
railroad telegraph, shop craft and
common labor" kept above the basic
line which marks the beginning of
real wages with the exception of the
boiler makers. who came out one-tenth
OF a per cent. below It. On the basis
OF these figures Mr.. Blakey aligned
himself on the side OF the brother
hoods.
"The effect Of the eight hour law"
he writes, sis apparent. While it in
creased the earnings in 1917-on the
basis of the number Of hours worked
in all or the freight brotherhoods,
as Il was supposed TO do, 1t raised
the earnings OF the Eastern passsIi-
ger firemen and all OF the passenger
conductors as well. In only two par
ticulars, however, were these increases
in earnings sufficient to keep pace with
the rise in the cost OF living in 1871
the road freight engineers and the fire.
men in the Eastern district-and in
no case did the increases compensate
for what was lost in 1915, for IN 1917
real wages had fallen for all the
brotherhoods. With only two excep-
tons, the Western passenger engi-
neers and firemen. had the earnings
In 1916 risen as fast as the cost of liv-
Ing. 1t would appear then that the
politicians are, after all, no more ac-
curate prophets In railroad affairs than
they are in the other departments OF
economic life. It Il . pity that the
whole country should have beer filsd
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1919-10-26
Facts and Fables of the Tarantula

TIME famous tarantula, some
times represented as one OF
- the terrors of the arid por-
lions of the Southwestern States and
northern Mexico, is not really, 1t
seems, the tarantula of history and
Of fable.
An eminent authority in such mat
tiers, in remarking that the tarantula
is spider, says of that terrifying
creature that 1t is the LycosG Tdrdn-
tula, a species of spider found in some
OF the warmer parts OF Italy and
Spain. When full grown it is about
the size OF a chestnut and OF a brown
color. Its bite was at one time sup
posed to be dangerous and to induce
a kind OF dancing disease" but now
IL is known not to be worse than the
sting of a common wasp.
1t Is an old fable, extending to
remotest times, that the bite OF this
spider would produce epilepsy or a
and that this epilepsy or madness
could be relieved only by a particular
kind of music. The tarantula OF Italy
and Spain-and 1t is found in those
countries to-day-has hairy legs with
black markings on them.
1t is very likely that when the early
Spanish explorers came upon the great
spider of the Southwest, and seeing
a good deal OF resemblance to the
tarantula OF the Old World. those OK
plorers. not being entomologists. called
the new spider tarantulA And the
rsme has persisted N...- -
There ,saems 70 BE- M -Asube thai ne
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1919-10-26

big spider of Arizona, New Mexico,
California, old Mexico and many other
places is relative OF the tarantula of
Spain and Italy, ard in color, DISPOSE
ton and the feature OF hairy legs a
layman might easily mistake him for
the tarantula. But perhaps there is
not much In a name so far as spiders
go, and II is Just as we'll to avoid If
possible that particular spider which
so many Americans call the tarantula,
though 1t is quite certain that the
meanness OF its disposition has been
exaggerated.
Another authority, who has for years
made Intimate studies of spiders, says
that when undisturbed spiders never
bite anything except insects useful as
their food, but that when attacked or
cornered all species open their jaws
and bite II they can. depending on the
size and strength of their jaws. The
stories OF death, insanity and lame
ness from the bites OF spiders are
probably untrue.
The species OF spider are difficult of
enumeration. The spiders of North
America have been studied by Hentz,
Emerton. Keyserling and Thorell, and
no doubt by number OF other men
who have specialized in insects, and It
is estimated that there are 500 species
in North America. The spider has
heart. liver stomach, intestines,
thorax, lungs and several other in.
terestng organs. as, for example, the
spinning glands and spinnerets.
II is recorded that good many ex-
tperimsnts havs essn made te throw
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1919-10-26

"the machinists ana the boilermalSers,
were paid on tho piece rate basis be-
fore the Railroad Administration es-
tablished the time rate basis. The
basic hourly rate for the shops of this
particular railroad were available in
the reports of United States Bureau
of Labor Statistics. The rates were
somewhat lower than the union scale
for those trades. The chart shows
that serious error would have arisen
had the rise in real wages been meas
ured on the basis of the rates per hour.
The boilermakers, for example, would
have gained 20 per cent increase in
real wages on the basis of rates per
hour, while in fact the real wages Of
this craft fell $40 per cent. This
one instance should be sufficient 10
warn the reader against placing any
credence in the use of basic rates to
measure the rise In real wages. The
machinists gained Az per cent. IN
crease In real wages, while the rate
basis would have shown 20 $40 per
cent. increase In real wages. The
error in the case Of the helpers Is not
so extreme, since many OF this craft
have throughout the period been paid
on time rate basis. The chart shows
also that piece work may be quite as
advantageous to the worker as It is to
the management. With the boiler
makers in 1917 the advantage was a
20 per cent. increase in earnings.
The tx" Railroad, 1t might be added.
is one OF the best managed and in gem
eral the most successful RAILROAD in the
eastern district.
"As provided by Congress, the Pres
ident appointed commission with
Gen. osorEs W. 90 thals a chs4rpasn.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1919-10-26

companies were not able longer to
bear the increased cost of labor and
material and went into the hands of
receivers. Sixty per cent. of the trac-
ton companies are to-day in the hands
of receivers. He finds, too, that even
when the public approves a horizontal
increase in fares it refuses to con-
tinue to ride as II did under the lower
fare.
The crust of the tradition of the
nickel" he observes, land the tram
way fare will not easily break. What
ever the future OF the American cleo
trio railway may be, Mr.. Blakey finds
that the workers In the industry have
been well taken care OF, for their
wages have been standardized by the
War Labor Board.
Wages Chaotic.
THE wage rates in 1914" he SAYS,
were in a chaotic state. To-day the
War Labor Board has standardized the
wages of the electric railway industry.
The poorly paid workers in 1914 are
row enjoying a wage near the mini
mum of comfort level. Furthermore,
the unionization of the street railway
employees has gone forward rapidly.
We may expect therefore no serious
cut in wages until corresponding fall
has occurred in the cost OF living. This
leaves the future Of the industry some
what uncertain. In the present crisis
many corporations have cleaned house
and have substituted assets for the
water in their capitalization. 1t re-
mains TO be seen whether for the
others the Federal Electric Railways
Commission may not finally accept the
plan Of our Milwaukee executive that
municipal ownership and operation on
the service at cost basis is the solu-
ton or the problem now facing the
electric railways of the country"
During actual hostilities Mr.. Blakey
writes that the harbor and lake en-
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1919-10-26

Leonard Blakey. economist and
professor, from whose last work
the following analysis of Wage
Increases and Living Costs was
taken, was killed accidentally by
an automobile in Chicago recently
Just as he was to reap the fruits
of years of study. He was born
thirty-eight years ago in Racine,
Wis, was educated in the public
schools there and in Iowa, and
was graduated from Beloit Col
Iege, taking post graduate
course at Columbia University in
this city.
He was an instructor in eco
Monies in Tufts College and at
Dickinson, and then was attached
to the Carnegie Institute of Tech
nology. During the war he was
the labor expert at the Mussels
Shoals air nitrate enterprise.
Last January Mr.. Biakey began
his study of wage increases and
living costs with the idea that the
findings might be of value to the
nation in its reconstruction prob
IenS. When his report was partly
completed he was urged to pub
lish it in book form for use as
textbook at Columbia and at Car
negie Tech. He also planned to
send copies for use of the Indus
trial Conference in session in
WASHINGTON.
Owing to conditions in the
book trade in New York, Mr..
BIakey went to Chicago to get
speedy publication. The A. w.
Shaw Company took up the work.
He met his death as he was on
his way to have his final revision
of the last chapter retyped for
the printers.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1919-10-26

Unlike most economists, Mr.. Blakey
takes into his reckoning the wide diff
ferences in the cost of living through
out the United States. He did much
original work along this line, which
makes his contribution of especial
value.
He prepared a chart, for instance,
in which he demonstrates that the cost
OF living had risen 70 per cent. in
the eastern district Of the United
States; 75A per cent. in the South
and 1891 per cent in the West, In
this chart he uses the words "purchas-
ing power in somewhat different
sense than that employed by some in
vestigators in this line.
by this mean" to quote from the
book, that in tn Eastern district, for
example, since the cost of living has
risen n per cent. over the cost of
1914, the laborer could purchase with
his dollar in December, 1918, only what
he got by expending 56Ia cents In De-
cember, 1914. In other words 1t took
SLIT to buy what was purchased with
81 at an earlier date, or 81 purchase
in 1918 what 56Ia cents did at an ear
lier period. In like manner 81 in De-
cember, 1918, could buy in the Eastern
district only what 571a cents would do
in 1915. Doubling the apparent wages,
that is money wages, in this latter in
stance means a 1913 per cent. rise in
real wages, instead of a 100 per cent.
RISE"
The Plumb Plan Again.
One of the most striking instances
of the relation of money and OF real
wages is that furnished by the rail-
roads. which are under Government
supervision and therefore subject to
the control OF the various wage fixing
boards. The condition Of the railroads
has come up much in the last few
months in connection with the discus
sion on the Plumb plan. under which
the transportation system would be
"democratized," that is passed under
the control of the labor unions to a
large extent.
Mr.. Blakey had access to the books
OF a certain railroad which he desig-
mates as TX" and from the study of
the earnings of three classes of en-
ployees, the boiler makers, the ma
| chinists and the mechanics helpers. he
, shows that although there were sub
| stantial increases in money wages
in some cases the real wages did
| not come up to the increase in the
cost Of living. In the chart herewith
given he indicates the decrease on the
real wages" basis by making those
| percentages with asterisks. His chart
is as follows:
| 1.-TWO of the crafts" he continues,
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1919-10-26

leaders are effecting with capitalistio
Industry
Mr.. Blakey then addressed himself
TO the street railway industry, which
he declares has reached the parting of
the ways. None too prosperous before
the war; he declares that many of the
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1919-10-26
Wage Scales and the Living Costs

Scientific Analysis of Advances of Both Compared With tn
1914 Basis Shows Startling Results From an Economic
Viewpoint Leonard Blakey's Last Work Offers
MANY Surprises for Labor, Capital and the Public.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1919-10-26

The survey will be corc'laegi
in next Sundays SUN. the fHh
instaInent containing ~ VI,
of the coal, steel and shInJ..'-..
industries, with SomethL1 10 say
concerning the pTofessien' 'rO
commercial classes, and a..'lHl,
panied by an emphatic Sl'l'A.ILs y.
up of the conclusions wt,7 GS
writer offered as a means o. SOW
ing some of our most veEfd e'O-
nonic problems.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1919-10-26

. s hows decrease.
Evening star., 1919-08-24
Letter Describes Early Visit of Prince.

fully but the blue is too large-she
did not return my silk skirt sent
you-if you have not got it please
send to her for it, so that it can be
arranged when I get to Phil. The
Prince was greatly disappointed that
l was not to open the Ball in N.
Y. or at least that I was not to be
there-he urged it both to Uncle &
to me & when he found that could
not then he and Lord Lyons insisted
upon my meeting them in Phil. &
attend to the opera. The last thing
they both said was an earnest re-
quest that they would see me in Phil.
& it is a thing Of all others / should
enjoy If it had been quite right to do
it. The committee sent us invitations
but all things considered we have
concluded not to go. 1t was such a de-
lightful party that it would be pleas
ant to meet again-but dignity is a
sad obstacle in the way Of pleasure.
The Duke is a most agreeable man &
one that deserves sincere sympathy
for his misfortunes. Lord st. Germans
is a very nice old gentleman full of
fun & Gen. Bruce is charming in
manners & appearances the young
er members were all pleasant & most
of them very handsome. Would you
have been surprised If had gone to
the opera? Mrs. Ellis would have ac-
companied me but she thought I
had better not go. The boots,
collar. gloves came promptly. The
invitations to my party did not
go out until Thursday morning &
I never go on the street that do not
meet some one who was forgotten, I
hope you will see the Prince, he is
SO charming. must stop my scribble
this is the first moment I have had
to myself for 10 days. Sir H. Holland
stayed with US until today--he ]. b.
Jr. & ]. B. H. went off this morn
ing early-he will sail on Wednesday
& is dear old man. Love to George
& believe me as ever your own
HATTIE.