davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
New-York tribune., 1920-03-07

immaculate white duck jackets and
trousers swarm the long docks,
trucking hemp bales to the small
boats lying there waiting to receive
cargo. 1t is said that the average
Yucatecan takes two baths a day. If
cleanliness is next to godliness he
has an excellent chance for heaven
in addition to his reputation for
religious devoutness, He is, at least,
hard working and law abiding.
Immaculate Congregation
One Sunday not long ago the
Tribune correspondent in Progreso
saw the native populace on its way
to and from religious devotion. No
cleaner populace anywhere ever
went to church. Entire families
passed in spotless white. Above
their duck trousers the men wore
Sunday garment, a cross between
MILDLY blouse and a Chinese man.
DARN coat with the Chinese-esque
collar buttoned tight at the neck,
while buttons continued down the
front to the end Of the abbreviated
shirttail which, middy-blouse-like, is
never tucked in.
Two garments also seemed to COM
pose the costume of the female of
the species. A white mother hub
bard-like dress draped over the form
much lower toward terra firma than
the average Broadway skirt. Below
this floats separately the most elab-
crate Of handmade laces to the
ankles.
Children, whose little brown faces
were so clean that they shone, &C
companied their parents to and fro.
Their costumes we're mainly the
same as those Of the elders, accord
ing to sex.
Bandsmen, as spotlessly attired
as the churchgoers, played native
tunes near the general market sheds,
while the others paraded toward
Progresses cathedral near by.
Native stores on a street parallel
with the sea at Progreso vend most
every American prodq that can
New-York tribune., 1920-03-07
aan Is the Grain OF Wheat Mexicos use Political Cha

and Britishers inhabit Merida, main
ly as commercial agents and buy
ers for home business houses, but
other nationalities are almost nom
existent. Such foreigners, however,
who have lived for long periods in
Yucatan, are convinced that recon-
stsucted Mexican government might
draw these progressive Yucatecans
to great advantage into honest coun-
ellis designed again to place the
Mexican Republic on it's feet and
resume it's place in the respect Of ma
tions.
Approaching the coast Of Yucatan
on q coasting vessel the American
who is unfamiliar with the tropics
begins to live again in the South
Seas with Jack London. A hot sun
inevitably boils down on opalescent
waters. Sharks play about the
tern and PROV of the vessel. Miles
way glistening white sands of the
tropical coastline are Tapped by~con-
family moving outlines Of the surf.
Cocoanut palms, singly and in
groves, break the horizon. White
rooted clusters Of low buildings
eventually come into sight as the
steamer drops anchor five miles off
shore to escape the rock ledge ex-
tending In the sands.
A small steamer and innumerable
sailboats approach from shore. The
steamboat comes out for passengers
and baggage, but the sailboats are
laden to the gunwales, and even high
above them, with white bales o1
"heneouen," the stuff that rope i:
made of-hemp. "Henequen" is the
chief product of Yucatan. Hundreds
of thousands of acres Of rocky lane
are planted to the great sisal plants
whose fibers are stripped, dried
baled and shipped via boat to the
United States via New Orleans ano
New York.
To 60 ashore at Progreso, the sea.
port of Yucatan, after seeing filth
encrusted natives elsewhere in Mex
leo, is revelation. Brown-skinned
men wearing sandals and clad IN
New-York tribune., 1920-03-07

ated on a ten-hour basis and pro-.
duced per hour about 10 per cent
more than it produces to-day per
hour on a nine-hour basis with ten
hours pay. The uncertainty of la
Dor is one of the worst problems we
have to deal with. In other words,
the floating labor that applies to US
for work usually Is hunting for a
specialized job, where it will receive
excessive compensation with a min
imum of effort"
One employer reduced his work.
ing hours from ffty-four to forty
nine hours q week, a reduction of
little less than 10 per cent. Pro-
duction per man per week has in
the mean time fallen off 80 per cent.
In two Of the large cities Of the
country from 1900 to $500 COM
mon bricks laid in the wall a day
formerly represented a fair days
work for a bricklayer. To-day it
is impossible to have more than
New-York tribune., 1920-03-07

quired to do the work ninety men
used to do in normal times.
1t is well-nigh impossible to get
this added labor. There are jobs
everywhere, but where are the men
to fill them? 1t is not an exaggera.
tion to say that there is at least
job and a half for every man who
wants job. 1t is estimated that
employers in the last year have
spent more than $30,000,000 ir
Help Wanted" advertisements
Think of it-$3o,ooo,ooo spent by
employers hiring help away from
one another!
In the field Of unskilled labor the
shortage Of workers is especiallv
pronounced. The greater part Of
the unskilled labor in this country
is done by foreign-born workers..
In the last five years there has been
practically no immigration. Statis-
tics fix the shortage Of immigrants
for that period at 100000. Hun
New-York tribune., 1920-03-07

breeze from the sea keeps these
milis-and most every householder
has one - constantly spinning.
Groves Of waving palm trees Of
many varieties vie with groves"
Of windmills in a spectacle as UNIQUE
as incongruous.
Merida boasts Of it's own Yucca
tecan University, municipal hos
pitfalls and other public institutions
which are distinctly un-Mexican. It
has more asphalted streets than
perhaps any city of it's size in the
world. A great asphalt lake in the
vicinity of the city furnished enough
Of this product to pave hundreds of
miles Of streets, and there remains
enough still to keep the city paved
until the end Of time.
A Different Race
The mixture Of Spanish and
Cuban blood with the Maya tribe of
Yucatan seems to have produced a
race almost totally different from
the same mixture with other Indian
tribes of Mexico. The first expedi-
ton OF Cortez from Cuba landed on
the Yucatan coast and later expedi-
tions worked their way up the Gulf
Coast to Vera Cruz, whence the
conquest Of Mexico proper began in
the early years Of the sixteenth
century.
This race mixture in Mexico
proper seems to have brought about
condition Of national lassitude by
which foreigners have been drawn
into Mexico to promote commercial
and industrial enterprises and carry
on professional pursuits. Yucatan
however, has seen fit to send the
youth Of the peninsula abroad te
learn trades and professions anc
generally the ways of the American
and the European. Upon thi.
foundation Yucatan established it.
own university and for several dec.
AIDES has competed so successful,
with the foreigner in Yucatan itself
that the foreigner is compelled te
evince admiration and respect TO,
New-York tribune., 1920-03-07
from 500 to 1000 bricks laid under
similar conditions.
A Decrease of 40 Per Cent

A. j. County, vice-president Of
the Pennsylvania Railroad, recently
stated that the output per man in
their shops is less than 60 per cent
Of the output before the war.
"This decrease" Mr.. County ex-
planned, "is due to labor inefficiency,
reduction of the working day from
ten to eight hours, and the abolition
Of piece work, so that ten men are
now required to do the work that
six men performed before the war. "
Factories and mills and mines
had to go on new basis in
employing men. Larger working
forces are employed to do the work
that smaller forces handled before
the war. Because of th@ lowered
standards of production from 100 to
120 men, it is estimated, are re-
New-York tribune., 1920-03-07

and the temple erected on the crest
Mural paintings discovered in ths
chambers of the temples are still dis
tlnct and in varied colors. Hlere
glyphics accompanying the illustrf
tons of Maya warriors have never
been deciphered except to denote tho
seasons, but the faces have distinn
Oriental cast, which trait is to D
seen in a somewhat lesser degree 10
day in the faces Of the modem
natives of Yucatar
The most intact Of al the Yucataa
pyramids is located at Chichen-itss
Topped with a spacious temple,
mounts more than 100 feet high
Before History Began
Many theories have been advances
Ey anthropologists regarding tns
presence of Oriental faces and 0Ei
entail and semi-Oriental traits u
peoples not only in Yucatan buI ID
Mexico proper and South Amerlc@
One theory is that tribes of anclens
negotiated the frozen beri~
Strait before the age Of civiil'.
ton. Another reaches back 10o,VV'
years, when the Orient may nas'
been linked with South America "
now submerged mountain orios.
represented today by the cham v
islands - jutting mountain top'-
Java and Borneo, the Philippine
Hawaii, Society Isles, Easter isiaas
and Juan Fernandez, off the Soue
American coast. There is anoto.
conjecture that an entire continsr
once rose above what is now -
Pacific, and on which Australia Sss
Zealand, New Guinea, Bornec ~
Java were plateaus, while the pr
ent Pacific islands were mounsa
crests.
However, at this day ana
there are many observers VINO :
lieve that the Yucatan OF too"
with her crumbled ancient CIVIL
ton, is still the most stable anc e.~
lized race of all the Mexicsn
public. In her still rests sozne !
Ifor Mexico
New-York tribune., 1920-03-07
By William H. Barr

Prss;dent Of tho National Founders
Association
" he Indifferent attitude Of
many present-day workmen
toward their jobs is cxusing
q heavier loss to American industry
than are the strikes, disorders and
misunderstanding. The Bolshevist
and I. W. w. agitators realize this.
They see deterioration of morale
suddenly brought about as a result
of the way men are thinking these
days, and they realize that that con.
dition will do more to hamper indus
try than any amount of propaganda
advocating strikes and disorder.
Accordingly, we witness the spec
tacle of an I. W. W. newspaper urg-
ing workers to remain on the job
but to work as slowly as possible"
The closing paragraph of that news
papers advice to workers reads:
"Why strike with comparatively
small groups Of workers at the time
when the majority Of them are work
ing? The result of such form of
action is that in the place Of strik-
ers either scabs step in or the work
Is done by organized workers of
other branches. Remain on the Job,
receive what's coming to you in
wages, but work as slowly as pos
sible. Such form of action will re-
suit in a general benefit to society.
Workers, wake up and realize your
power! Work as slowly as posi-
ble!"
New-York tribune., 1920-03-07
Bandits Are Unknown

Due to its isolation partially and
to its solid, Industrious populace, Yu-
catan of all Mexico has emerged al
most unscathed by revolution, and
bandits are virtually unknown.
Merida, Yucatan's hidden capital,
is marvel city in many respects.
1t might be called the "city of wind
mills" Hundreds Of revolving mills,
perched aloft on towers after the
American farm fashion, transform
the Merida skyline into something
difficult of description. A steady
New-York tribune., 1920-03-07
WILLIAM II. BARR aUho says that the old ideas of toll
~ and thrift longer hold good among American auornen

Of years, and cannot be accelerated
to such an extent as would help in
the present emergency.
Personally, believe the only way
to meet the shortage CT unskilled
labor is to stimulate immigration
New-York tribune., 1920-03-07
Increased Pay and Shorter Hours
Are No Longer an Incentive to
Increased Production

through the medium Of tho vr,.~
racial Council, an organization vb,.a
is carrying Americanism to thu ~.
eign born through conference rron,.
made up Of leading men Of thru.
two races in America and whieb |.
at the same time promoting a BETH,
understanding Of foreign born vorl
men among employers and a bett,
relationship between them.
Such policy carries with II Al.
q nationwide plan for the reception
distribution and assimilation Of In.
migration. Instead Of permittin,
immigrants to settle with their ov,
races, with the result that one elA
ment dominates in numbers and in
fluence in one city and another elA
ment in another city, our immipr,.
ton should be directed wherever in.
migrants can best serve In the d.
velopment Of the country. In Canada
for instance, the admission Of An
immigrant is conditional on his goine
to that part Of the country where i.
is most needed.
Programs of Reconstruction
America has stretches Of land
that ought to be cultivated In order
to increase the nations food supply,
it has farms that are being worked
only partly because of the shortage
Of farm help, and it has industries
that are very seriously crippled BY
the lack of man power. It is such
needs as these that should determine
the national policy on immigration
Every day the demand Of Amer.
can industry for new man powu
and production becomes moro in.
sistent. 1t needs workers, skilled
and unskilled; it needs more work
and better work by the men who an
holding down the jobs, and less
dawdling and frittering away d
plant time.
These things do not concern b.
dustry alone. Witness the plight d
the biggest city in the country, snow
bound and helpless for days largel!
because it cannot recruit enough
laborers to clean the streets, and
look at the conditions that confront
the railroads which are barely abs
to carry out their maintenance pro
gram because Of labor shortage.
They are conditions that concern
every one. They are among tho
fundamental programs Of this TO-
constructive period. We cannot 60
back to a normal basis unless these
problems are satisfactorily solved
And unless they are solved there viii
be very serious times ahead fos
American industries, already greatly
hampered by the slackened efforts Of
men now employed and the shortage
of men needed to make I'D the do
ficiency in American production.
New-York tribune., 1920-03-07

be brought from the United States
on American steamers, which cruise
weekly from New York via Havana
to Progreso. The chewing gum
which made Yucatan famous is on
sale here, though Yucatecans know
chewing gum only as it is prepared
in the "States." Chic,e, along with
hemp, is product of Yucatan, but
American buyers ship it in the raw
state and it comes back to the Yu-
catecans neatly sugared and
wrapped, at five times it's retail
price in the United States. And the
Yucatecans buy it and chew it.
Yucatan has five hundred miles Of
railroads, mostly narrow gauge,
operated by the state government.
Locomotives and cars are all of
American manufacture. Many roads
connecting various parts of the Pc
ninsula were built originally by the
hemp growers and later consolidated
into one system. The roadbeds and
equipment are in excellent condi-
tion.
When the Tribune correspondent
Travelled from Progreso inland tu
Merida the little wood-burning loco
motive drew the half dozen nassen-
ger cars at high speed through great
hemp plantations. The excellent
| condition of buildings on these plan
tations and the spectacle Of natives
actually working were In direct con.
trast to plantation scenes elsewhere
in Mexico.
New-York tribune., 1920-03-07

not a deluge Of immigrants by any
means--and to convince the foreign
born who are now here that America
is tho best country in the world to
live in and work in. Suspicion has
fallen on the foreign born in this
country because Of the revolutionary
activities Of few Of their number
but l am confident that the foreign
born, with surprisingly few excep-
tions, have no desire to disturb the
existing order Of things.
Our immigration. policy should be
shaped to meet the needs Of Ameri-
can industry. The question should
be outside of politics altogether.
There should be no favor shown
either to capital or labor. It should
operate on a scientific and selective
basis and should be based on study
New-York tribune., 1920-03-07

Of the clinical phases of the problem
and a survey Of the nlan-power needs
Of the country. That kind of an
immigration policy is now being ad-
vocated by more than $50 of the
leading industrial establishments
New-York tribune., 1920-03-07
By Wilbur Forrest

TF ANY great power-presun-
ably the United States, by
4 reason of the Monroe Doc
trine-sees fit to straighten
out Mexico's administrative problem
through the formation and super
vision of a Mexican government
composed of Mexcans, a study of
Yucatan might be profitable, OBJ
servers believe.
Though actually a Mexican state,
Yucatan, : comparison with the
remaindeY o. the Mexican Republic,
is not Mexico. 1t is, however, one
spot on the southern end Of the
North American continent where
there appears to be some hope for
Mexico. Entirely surrounded by
railroadless jungles on one side and
water on the other, it is so utterly
isolated from the remainder of Mex
leo that the communicating influences
of government at Mexico City
have only partially filtered into the
country.
Foreigners Don't Thrive
The seat of the highest civiliza
tion on the North American cont
nent two or three thousand year,
ago, Yucatan, as typified by its peo
pie and its apital-Merida-i to-
day the most progressive state ir
Mexico. A barren rocky soil from
the coast far inland, blending final
" into almost impenetrable jungles
makes the country poor agricultu
raj comparison with other ricl
states Of Mexico, but the differenc,
is the people, stolid, industrious
semi Oriental type of Indian known
as the Maya race, capable Of ex
treme cleanliness and progress.
Foreigners in Yucatan are no
numerous, because the Yucatecan!
they refuse to be called Mexican!
ARE, unlike other races which in
habit Mexico, able to conduct then
own affairs. and the foreigner find:
too much healthy competition tt
thrive IN numbsSeu few Americans
New-York tribune., 1920-03-07
The Man-Power Problem

What Is the solution for this man
power problem? The suggestion
was made editorially not long ago
that to make up the deficiency in
primary labor moro Americans
should be attracted to that field Of
work. Americans are largely skilled
workmen, and there are not enough
skilled workmen to go around now.
Another suggestion is that men be
replaced with machinery to greater
extent. The introduction Of more
machinery is to be looked forward
to, but it is something to be ac-
complished gradually, over a period
New-York tribune., 1920-03-07

lumber dealer who leaned toward
French architecture in building his
boulevard home has just imported an
American bowling alley, which re-
poses in a special building just back
Of the mansion.
The most important hardware
dealer in Merida built six-story
business structure from plans he
brought back from the United
States. It is typically American and
the first "skyscraper" in the tropi-
cal peninsula.
While the more wealthy Of Merida
promenade" in their automobiles on
the boulevard, the palmer folk
promenade afoot in force around
and around the city's main plaza,
saying their Good evenings" and
"How-do-you-do's." The immaculate
white native costumes seen here
would perhaps represent a Pitts
burgher's dream Of heaven. The
Yucatecans, however, have not vet
embraced American laundries. They
do their own washing.
Ancient Pyramids
Merlda's museum has long been a
starting point for arch@ologists and
anthropologlsts who have explored
the ancient ruins Of the peninsula.
Prehistoric ruins Of cities of the
ancient Mayas scattered throughout
Yucatan show that Maya civilization
was at its height before the era Of
Christ. Maya architecture still to
be seen In ruined temples combined
features of both the Egyptian and
the Oriental. The Mayas were even
more Industrious pyramid builders
than the Babylonians and the Egyp-
tians.
Scores Of these piles Of various
design have been found overgrown
with vegetation in the jungles, and
probably scores have not yet been
discovered. Entire hills were dedi-
Gated to sites for temples, the in
'clines being reinforced with masonry
New-York tribune., 1920-03-07
Need of Reconstruction

Need of Reconstruction
The average workman is not doing
an average days work. The old
fashioned ideas of toll and thrift no
longer hold good. Is the war re-
sponsible for that, too7 Has the
fact that we have passed through
crisis in which the fate Of nations
was at stake destroyed our old sense
of values, creating a condition in
which men care little about their
jobs and less about the effort they
put into their Jobs?
To my mind American industry
is suffering much less from the ef-
fects Of Bolshevist activities and
I. W. W.-ism than from the peculiar
mental state of the average work.
man. But they amount to almost
the same thing. What we need Is
mental, not physical, RECONSTRUCT
ton. The desire to live with
out work or with as little work
as possible is a greater peril to our
country than Bolshevism ever can
be. Neither Congress nor the De-
partment of Justice can compel a
man to work if he doesn't want to.
Congress and the Department of
Justice can only act against any
group advocating the overthrow Of
American institutions by force.
Wages Up, Production Down
A recent report of the Merchants
Association of New York gives in
stances. showing where the produc-
tive efforts Of the average workman
have dwindled in alarming percent
ages. A clock manufacturer re-
ported that due to the unwillingness
and ineficiency Of labor individual
production has decreased Is per cent
during a period when wages have
been increased 100 per cent. Oh
the subject of lowered production
large manufacturer recently said
Before 1914 our factory oper-
New-York tribune., 1920-03-07
las the American Laboring Man Lost Will to Work

dreds Of thousands Of foreign-born
workmen have emigrated back to
their home lands since the armistlce.
More than 100000 more will leave
when passport conditions permit,
according to the immigration au-
thorities in New York. And ac-
cording to these same officials the
immigration for 1920 will be about
one-third the normal pre-war fig
ures.
New-York tribune., 1920-03-07
Stacking Is Declared to Have Cost
Industry More Than Strikes
or misunderstanding

to be the result Of an attitude Of
mind rather than q concerted and
organized effort to slow down pro-
duction.
The condition Is psychological,
not physical. It is not a question
Of more pay and shorter hours, al
though we witness the demand for
these things almost every day. If
it were, the workmen would apply
themselves to their work with nor
NAL interest and vigor after those
demands had been satisfactorily ad-
justed. Instead, increased pay and
shorter hours are no longer incen-
tives to production,
New-York tribune., 1920-03-07

+ ANY great power-presum-
ably the United States, by
4 reason Of the Monroe Doc
Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1920-10-01
MRS. JESSIE KNOWLES
BRIDE OF FRANK MASEK

A we'll known Pullman couple
were made man and wife at Moscow,
Idaho, Wednesday evening when Mrs.
Jessie Knowles became the bride OF
Frank Masek. Mr.. Masek has pur-
chased the Clark Nye property on
State street and the young couple
will be at home to their many friends
there. Both Mr. and Mrs Masek are
widely and favorably known in this
community and have hosts of friends
to wish them happiness and prosper
ity. Mr.. Masek is proprietor of the
Roderick tailoring establishment and
has built up an excellent business.
Mrs. Knowles is the daughter of Mr..
and Mrs. e. w. Downen and has re-
sided in Pullman almost continuous
ly' since childhood. The Herald joins
the many friends of Mr.. and Mrs.
Masek in wishing them unboundc
happiness.
Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1920-10-01
CHANGE DATES OF DEDICATION

The date of the dedicatory cere-
monies by Evening Star lodge, No
26, to mark the formal opening Of
the new Pythian temple, has been
changed from October II to October
is, the change being made for the
convenience of several of the grand
lodge officers, who had made pre-
vious arrangements to attend the
sessions of the grand lodge of Ore
gon on the 18th. A feature of the
dedicatory services Will be a big
clam bake, 800 pounds of clans hav-
ing been ordered from the Coast for
the occasion.