davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-07-15
THE FIRE SERVICE

TT is only occasionally that the public is
reminded of the cost-to others-of
the peace and safety that is taken for
granted in a city like this.
The investigation of the tragedy in
which six men of the fire service were
killed may reveal negligence or fault,
but it will not help the situation in the
least. The fact remains that there are in
this and in every other city regions in
which men who answer fire alarms
always put their lives in deadly peril,
and do it unquestioningly. The old and
crowded buildings congested in any fire
belt" cannot be made safe for the men
who have to enter them to put out fires.
Courage as great as that which carries
men through battle is a necessary part
of the days work in any fire crew. The
six men who were killed on Saturday
followed countless others mo perished
similarly in a service that has never been
rewarded by decent pay or fair working
conditions. And we are taught to believe
that we live in time of justice and dis
crimination
Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-07-15
THE WOMEN MUST HELP

TNHE invitation to women to participate
4 in the approaching city campaign
did not end with Thomas RaebTn
Whites request to Mrs. Edward Bddle,
of the Civic Club, to sit on the Commit
tee of One Hundred. Other women will
sit on the committee.
This is as it should be- Women are in
tcnsely concerned in changing conditions
under the new charter. The streets have
not been properly cleaned. the garbage
has not been collected with regularity,
the sanitary conditions in the districts
occupied by the poor are deplorable.
Women have been interesting themselves
in these matters FOR several years, and
their interest has become acute within
recent months.
These conditions must be improved and
men must be elected to Office pledged to
improve them. Nothing will make the
election Of such men Surer than the or
ganized demand of the women. Unless
signs are untrue, the women will organ
ize for a cleaner city, and they will throw
their influence in favor of the candidates
who can be trusted with the job.
Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-07-15

T'HE strength and backing of the Non
4 partisan League in the West evi-
IDENTIFY had small weight with the Mime
sofa jury which convicted A. {. TownIey
, and Joseph Gilbert of conspiracy to teach
disloyalty. The charge was directly
based upon speeches with reference to the
government and the prosecution of the
war made by the two league leaders.
They assert that their evidence in
proof of loyalty was unjustly ruled out.
In that case their remedy lies in the
/. appellate courts.
The special significance Of the whole
case is in the rebuie to a movement
which assuming the verdict to be proper,
went far afield from its original pur-
poses.
y Undoubtedly there was much justice in
the basic protests Of the western farmers
against oppressive conditions. The league
was popular. Its radicalsm constituted
an entirely new political force. But if the
extension of it's campaign really carried
it to the point of disloyalty to the nation
engaged in a great war for freedom. up
holders Of such principles deserve speedy
and drastic punishment.
Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-07-15
THE POLITICAL WHIRLICiG

H0UR isolation" declared the Presi-
~ dent, "ended twenty-one years
ago 1t was then regarded, he main
tanned. as a sinister and orlinous thing
by the statesmen of more than one
European chancellery that we should
have extended our power beyond the
confines of our continental dominions.
All the critics, however were not in
Europe 1t was the Presidents own
party which was the bitterest opponent
of American expansion. Courageous ac-
ceptance of wider responsibilities after
the Spanish War was championed by Re-
publican leaders who carried out their
platform.
The swing of the political weathercock
is extreme. In standing for an adult
America the partisan Democracy of the
present repudiates its ancestry. Parti-
san Republicanism similarly rejects its
traditions wherever it upholds hermitsm
today. The whole shifting scene is rich
soil for the ironist.
Happily, the public. mind averages a
good percentage of clarity on vital sub
jects, while politicians move in a pestifer-
Gus way their blunders to perform
Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-07-15
Answers to Yesterdays Quiz

!. Jean Antoine Houdon was the sculptor
of the famous statue of Washington
which is generally regarded as best
combining fidelity of portraiture with
artistic merit.
.. The work is now in Richmond, Va >
3. Amortization in finance means to extin-
guish debt, usually by a sinking fund.
4. Columbus died in the city of yalladolid,
Spain.
). Tradition ascribes to Nathan Hale the
expressed regret that he had but one
life to lose for his country.
g. An amice' is a cap, hood or cape OF
religious orders; also badge worn by
French canons on the left arm
Z. The chief American controlled cable line
runs from California to the Philippines
by way of Hawaii and Midway island.
S. A chafng dish is so called by associa
ton with the obsolete sense of the word
'chafe," to warm, tha
o. Grafiti are drawings or writings scratch
ed on walls, etc, especially on ancient
walls, as Pompeii; also decorations BY
scratches through plaster, showing dif-
ferent coiored under surfaces.
10. Certain small onions are scalIions, not
sculliens ~
Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-07-15
LANSING

CECRETARY LANSING. now ON his
- way home from Paris, has not been
the dominating figure in the American
peace delegation. For that reason there
has been some reason to belittle him
and his services.
Arthur j. Balfour, the British foreign
secretary, was not dominating figure
either. He was overshadowed by Pre-
mier Lloyd George, just as Lansing was
overshadowed by President Wilson
4 But Lansing and Balfour have done
good work, for they have co-operated
with their chiefs. They have been part
of the team. This ought to be said in
I fairness to the American secretary of
state, now that his task abroad is COM
pieted. 1t could have been said of a
much greater man.
Unfortunately, we do not know yet how
great a man Lansing is, for his chief
title to fame thus far rests on his ability
to work as a cog in great machine
Perhaps this very ability is a token of
greatness.
Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-07-15
THE CHAFFING DISH

While we were fuming over these matters
the time came for the R;34 to sail Rather
than run any danger of having the editor
of Punch think the Chatting Dish is at all
uncertain about its who's and whoms we
determined to be good sport. We didn' t
think it was fair to keep the R-34 hanging
around indefinitely while we wrestled with
pronouns. In high state of excitement we
sent wire to the gallant airman. We said
Don wait us any longer. Sorry to
diSappoint King George, but cant be
helped.
Then we realized that in our hurry We
that telegram. We had said wait on
when we meant wait fOr.' We only hope
he won show it to the king.
Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-07-15
THE KEY TO THE CONSTITUTION

pATRlOTlC societies, governors of
- states, legal lights, boards of educa
tion and chambers of commerce through
out the country are enlisted in an elab-
crate campaign to familiarize Americans
both of native and foreign birth. with
the national constitution. The birthday
of the Unions great charter will be for
mally celebrated on September II. In
the meantime it is hoped that meetings
for the study of the document will he or
ganized throughout the country.
The pretentiousness of all these prena-
rations suggests that the constitution is
something particularly mysterious, not to
say esoteric. Of course it isn't, and the
Feason that it is so repeatedly misrenra-
scented is not that Interpretation is so
difficult, but that the public is unac-
qnainted with the actual wording,
This is wondrously simple, direct, self
illuminating. The way to be a "craat
constitutional expert" is to revive frankly
and unashamedly the old-fashioned
memorizing system which has become
hCrrfying to modern educationists.
All the beauties of the most ingenious
phonetic scheme are an insufficient guide
10 the spelling of "cat" Psyche ANALYSIS
and mental tests are incapable of teach
ing the constitution properly unless the
phraseology Is roek-ribbed in the pupils
.consciousneks.
LssmiRf .tAe eoastitution BY rote was
Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-07-15
What Do You Know?
QUIZ

l. In how many hours did the r "a make
the return trip to England? .t
>. What is the literal meaning of amen?
). What victories does the Arc de Triomphe
in Paris commemorate? -
4. Who is the heir to the Italian throne?
). What state is Senator Swanson from?
6. What state has the largest representation
in Congress. including both senator's
and representatives. and, what is the
total of its delegates?
I. What are the Romance languages? ,.'
s. Who is governor of Massachusetts?
.. When was the battle of the Boyne
fought?
10. What is an ophicleide?
Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-07-15
NElCH6oRS IN NEW JOURNALISM

THE four days old PUBLIC LEDGERs
sold in London on Sunday were an
index of the modern transportation
miracle performed by the R-34--and of
something else. They represented the
inaugural step in movement of pro-
found hearing on the maintenance of
peace and international understanding.
Back in 1915 British and American
soldiers slew each other on the battle
field of New Orleans, although commits
sionerS of both belligerents had signed
the peace treaty at Client nearly month
before. The cable and wireless have re-
moved the possibility of such tragic mis-
understandings, but their power to i'm
plant the spirit of neighboriness pales
before that of the interchange of vir-
tually contemporary newspapers.
Lord Northcliffe in June forecast the
sale Of London morning journals in
America on the evening of their date Of
issue, of London evening journals on the
day after and vice versa. Judging from
the Public Ledger's performance, his
statement was less prophecy than dis
cerning announcement. The Philadel-
phian who sought a home paper from a
newsstand in the British capital last
Sunday was not served with stale infor-
nation and stale comment. He got
almost the contemporary article.
1t is not to be questioned that this new
achievement in newspaper distribution
marks the beginning of new era, not
only for journalism. but also for the two
"neighbor" nations in which public opin-
ion is so dominant factor in true prog
rcSS.
Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-07-15
THINGS

COMETlMES when / am at tea with you
~ catch my breath
At thought that is old as the world is old
And more bitter than death.
1t is that the spoon that you just laid down
And the cup that you hold
May be here shining and insolent
When you are still and cold.
Your careless note that I laid away
May leap to my eyes like flame
When the world has almost forgotten your
voice
Or the sound of your name.
The golden Virgin Da Vinci drew
May smile over my head
And daffodils nod in the silver vase
When you are dead.
So let moth and dust corrupt and thieves
Break through and I shall be glad
Because of the hatred bear to things
Instead of the love | had.
For life seems only shuddering breath,
smotherCu desperate cry,
And things have terrible permanence
When people die
-Aline Kilmer, in the Bookman.
Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-07-15
Literary Notes

We have not read Mrs. Rinehart's new
novel, Dangerous Days" but we are ap-
prised that there is a minor clergyman in it
called Mr.. Haverford.
We think that Mrs. Rinehart has done
the Main Line an injustice. We maintain
that Mr.. Haverford is an inappropriate name
for minor cleric, or even for major cleric.
The name suggests some one more like fox
hunting, cricket f1anneled squire; some one
who spent his early youth swimming in
Darby creek and laying pennies on the
PR. II. railroad track to see, the engine
hatten them out his middle manhood in
snuffing a miEt bushed frosted glass on the
yeranda of the Merton Cricket Club.
If we had wanted TO name parson after
n Main Line village we would perhaps have
called him Mr.. NarberthSor Mr.. Overlook,
but certain;y nor Mr., Hayerford
Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-07-15

taken as a matter Of course in the days
before the word "study" dropped out OF
the pedagogic rule book. Mass meetings
and interpretative lectures won't help
matters a bit.
Let the ordinary school child be spared
the frills and compelled to commit to
memory few straightforward pages of
terse English. The constitution on most
points ought to be no more puzzIing
than the multiplication table.
Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-07-15
POTATOES AND POLITICS
Political Leaders Who Are Farmers
In Their OF HOUSEHOLDS, Scott,
johnson and Some Others in
the Game
By GEORGE NOX MCCAIN

ENEW of the thouands of Philadelphans
who are members of the Town Meeting
party are aware of the fact that their chair e
man, George W. Coles. reformer. member
of the bar and political leader, is likewise
a farmer. That is. he is farmer during
the farming season. which in this latitude
runs from May to October More than that,
he is n successful farmer and he is justly
proud of the fact.
Farmer Coles has the finest garden in
his noighborhood, and he lives in tho midst
of fine farms He follows the traditions Of
the soil. lie rises. when enacting the role
at 4 in the morning and is out in his gar
den manipulating the hoe or push plow cul-
tivator long before the other members of his
from their eyes.
And il is no make believe garden either
one of these four by five plots. containing
six onions. three carrots and stalk OF
parsley. the sport of the cartoOniSt and the
hobby of the commuter. There's nearly half
an acre in his truck patch alone.
Chairman Coles also raises wheat. rye.
corn and timothy: likewise chickens and
Ppkin ducks on his farm 1t isn't fad
with him. 1t is a pleasure which is not
only conducive to his good health. but
likewise is profitable.
The latter fact is proof that he is not
an 'agriculturalst. The ''agriculturalst"
pays for the privilege of farming. The farm
or farms for profit.
Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-07-15

ments now. 1t may not accept them
later on after further weary quibbling
in Washington.
If the Senate fears to hear the truth
directly from his own lips it is the Presi-
dents duty to force the truth upon it
through his spokesman.
After that he can talk to the country
Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-07-15
WILSON CONTINUES TO AID
HIS OPPONENTS IN SENATE
swanson's Keynote" Speech Suggests
That Reticence Learned in Paris May
Yet Endanger the Covenant

! MO ONE with half mind can accept
A' Senator SwanSOn'S speech of yester,
! day as an authoritative or inspired dis
! cussion of the administration view Of the
league of nations. The address was an
! empty gesture. Yet it was one in which
! Mr.. Wilson was expected to break his
/ long silence and be frank analytical and
! explicit
/ 1t is obvious that the President is still
reserving his condolences. Mr.. Swanson
shifted for himself. He said nothing
that Senator Hitchcock has not said on
other occasions with greater force and
greater dignity. The country listened to
solemn reiteration of accepted princi-
piles. The new spokesman for the White
House might, indeed, have saved himself
the effort
Only superficial or partisan observers
can doubt the fundamental wisdom and
necessity of an enlightened scheme Of in
ternational relationship along lines pro-
posed in the league covenant. Nothing
less is adequate to avert moral collapse
and economic upheaval over most of the
earth. Those who have most bitterly
opposed the Paris plan never have had
the grace or the courage to propose an
alternative.
But it is plain that the covenant is not
wholly ideal as it stands. There were
disagrcements among the American dele
gates Decisions were made and COM
promises were accepted for reasons
never explained. The country accepted
Mr.. Wilson'S decisions on faith and
trusted implicitly in his wisdom and his
integrity. 1t has waited in patience and
it is still waiting to be fully enlightened
about the aims and purposes Of the
groups with whom we are to associate
ourselves in the future direction of world
affairs.
1t is idle to suppose that Mr.. " ils0n is
not prepared to inform the country fully.
But he will he wise if he will realize now
that the faith of the people ought not to
be too greatly tried.
Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-07-15

4 yarn salesman is advertising that he
wants "A job. Why does he not apply to the
opponents of the league of nations, who are
trying to market the largest and MOST varied
assortment of yarns ever exhibited to an In
different public?
Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-07-15

just now the thing that hcems to bother
Senator Borah is Shantung. But let no
one take that too grimly. He's only trying
to mark time while Larry Sherman has n
breathing space to think up another argu-
ment against the league. This is the way
the schedule of arguments runs nowadays:
uondays-Treaty is pro japanese.
Tuesdays-Trcaty is pro German.
WedneSdayS-Trcaty embroils L. S. in
foreign problems.
Thmsdays-Treaty leaves L. S. isolated
and unfriended.
Frdas-Treaty is too vague.
SdturddyS-Treaty is too rigid.
Sumdays-Breathing spell to think up some
new ones.
We are a peaceabe soul, opposed to blood
she'd and therefore, we counsel Mr.. Walker
ID. Hines to keep away from Fierceforest.
Those who go down to that agreeable belt
of sandsurf on Saturday mornings were wont
to take the o Al from Camden. a pleasant
train which we have eulogZPd before. But
Mr. Hines. for some inscrutable reason. has
taken this train off, substituting a . 80 from
Broad street. This not only deprives one
of pleasant ride over on the ferry, but also
(mOrc to the pOint) costs 4.43 a round trip
instead of $37S. As this means thirteen
rounds fewer hot dogs over the week end it
is no smiling matter. If Mr.. Hines should
show himself in Fierceforest it is our con
yiction he would be rent limb from limb.
1t must be a painful shock to any elderly
citizen when the papers begin to call him
seventy years young" or whatever his
number of years may be. He knows then
that he is really getting old.
The Crchin struck off a good one the
other day He was eating some ice cream
with great enjoyment and paused moment
to give his thoughts accurate expression.
Finally he said: II like ice cream. 1t
makes my tongue happy"
Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-07-15
Desk Notices

To wash IN one of Gods rivers In the
open air seems to me sort of cheerful
solemnty or semi-pagan act of worship
To dabble among dishes in a bedroom may
perhaps make clean the body: but the
imagination takes no share in such
cleansing.
ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON.
Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-07-15

The king of Rumania is informally ad-
vertisng for wife for his heir. He could
not do better than come to America, where
there are queens aplenty.
Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-07-15

1 l
- johnson is another of the clan who is a
farmer ad interim and a political leader by
preference.
'Charlip' is a good deal of Pooh Bah
when it comes to business outside his polti
cal activities He is interested in news
paper is director of a bank or two. an
insurance broker. a state official at Harris
burg. and when he finishes with all these he
drives out the Germantown pike to beau
tifuI home on the crown of a hill above
Iickorytown.
JohnSon has had long. gradual rise in
politics. He started at the bottom as a
clerk in one of the Row offices in Norris
town. was deputy sheriff. later on resident
clerk of the House. then insurance commits
sioner and now deputy auditor general. To
this list of political dignities must be added
that of director of Republican politics in
Montgomery county.
But politics is never permitted to interfere
with the orderly process of affairs op his
farm
Last spring there was an important con
ference to be held in Norristown In a
way it had n bearing upon his political
interests. All arrangements were made and
the hour set. after which Mr.. johnson was
notified. 1t is well to understand that John =
son belongs to that brand of politicians who
never lose their temper. That is, not
visibly so.
"Why didn't you let me know about this
before YOU fixed the day. he inquired with
a bland chill in his tone.
1T will be impossible for me to be there. -
he continued ''we're planting potatoes on
the farm and | have got to be on hand.
II I'd known Of your plans in advance |
could have arranged my affairs to suit
You'll have to go ahead without me. for the
work on the farm cant be neglected for
anything"
Potatoes in this instance had precedence
over politics. The deputy auditor general.
however. was induced to appear for half an
hour. Thirty minutes from the time he ar
rived at the conference he was out and on
his way back to his potato planting.
TNIE late Governor Pennypacker was a
l. successful farmer. He maintained his
farms at Pennypacker's Mills under a high
state of cultivation. He once told me that
as business proposition farming required
constant personal attention and study of
detail to make it success. With the
| Governor it was q love of the soil once
| trodden by his ancestors that held him to
his Perkiomen Valley estate.
As genuine agrculturist, sometimes re-
| ferred to as gentleman farmer but popu
| Iarly understood by the horny handed till
ers of the earth as one who farms for plea
sure and not for profit. there is John r. X.
Scott. member of the bar, legal adviser to
the Ware Republican organization in Phila
delphia, and pQssessor of the most compre-
| hensiye vocabulary of descriptive adiectiyes
| east of the Mississippi.
| His is another case of the 'back to the
| farm" tendency of many public men. Some.
where among the banks and braes and
heathered slopes of Scotland John II. X
Scott's ancestors must have been lairds
OF the soil for generations to have trans.
/ mitted to this latest Of their clan the III.
hsrentlcye for i that he possesses.
Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-07-15

If straw votes show how the politica
wind blows, Franklin Spencer Edmond
should make hay.
Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-07-15

1t will be a cold day when Article y or
any other article can freeze the world into
immutability. Fears Of league opponents in
this particular are wholly groundless.
Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-07-15

The fitness Of Prof. b. +. SchappeIIe to
teach the young idea how to shoot is thor
Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-07-15

The 18th Of July in Paris was not only
a fete of victory. 1t was a victory of fate.
Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-07-15

While We are thinking
Heroes Here at IF the heroes of the
Home war we should not for
get the members of the
day. with now and then such catastrophe
as that of Saturday.
Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-07-15

We have had the income tax, the luxury
tax, the amusement tax and numberless other
taxes and now the day approaches when our
national legislators win get down TO brass
tacks.
Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-07-15
The sun Dial
OutmOded

That was indeed at H.
The sun Dial Illuminating veto which
OutmOded the President attached
to the agricultural ap-
preparation bill containing the foolish day
light saving repeal. The failure of the
House to override the executive opposition
now happily assures the amendment of fail
ure. The superiority of the clock over the
sun dial is thus rcafiirmed