davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The New York herald., 1922-01-29
Philadelphia Minstrels.
For Seventy.five Years They Have
Been Amusing the Quaker City.

To THE NEW YORK HERALD: wonder
how many OF your readers who mourn
the passing OF the old styles Of enter
tainment realize that there Is per-
manent minstrel organization in Phila-
delphia which has been In continuous
existence for more than seventy-fvs
years and, like our preprohibltion friend
Johnny Walker. is still going strong.
My FIRST impression of the theater
dates back to my boyhood in Philadel-
phia when my father first took me to
the minstrels. housed In the little band
box of theater In Eleventh street.
then under the management Of Carn-
cross & Dixey. This must have been in
the very early sos, as have a vivid
recollection OF Chauncey Olcott singing
''Silver Threads Among the Gold,' and
az Olcott was born In 1860 he must
have been almost a novice at the time.
Through the subsequent rnanagements
of John l.. Carncross. Frank Dumont
and Emmett welch, end men came and
end men went. but Hughey Dougherty
was perennial until his death In harness
several years ago. Skits local to Phila-
delphin were always In evidence with
this organization and the bill was
changed every few weeks.
believe this custom still prevails
Old fashioned negro minstrelsy is dead
elsewhere, but / doubt II 1t will ever
die in Philadelphia. s. S. s.
GREENWOOD LAKE, January 2s.
The New York herald., 1922-01-29
Ireland and Her Distant Sons.

What effect will the creation Of the
Irish Free State have upon the popu-
lation figures of the Emerald Isle in
the next generation? The numbers
OF the Irish have been falling stead
lily for eighty years. They are now
fewer than the Inhabitants Of this
city. Ireland, with about $50 per-
sons to the square mile, Is not as
densely populated as the State Of
New York; Ohio compares closely
with Ireland In density. and there Is
still plenty Of breathing space in
the Buckeye State.
Irish emigration has been so great
that to-day there are alive In this
country more than million persons
who were born in Ireland. AS the
Irish exceed most other races In their
love Of their native land, even when
they are separated from it by circum-
stance, 1t will be surprising IL there
continues to be much further emil
grafton. The control of Ireland's
Government, agriculture, industry
and commerce has fallen into the
hands Of the Irish themselves. Surely
an island which was able to support
5000, 900 people under the adverse
conditions OF 1910 will find work and
prosperity for more than the 100000
that are on Irish soil to-day.
Isn't 1t likely that Ireland, besides
checking her emigration, will gain
by immigration? The other day 1t
was announced that an American
who left ireland in his childhood
had bought Dromore Castle and its
700 acres. Two groups OF business
men, American and Irish, are plan
ming steamship lines to ply between
New York and Irish ports. They
look for great tourist business.
Tourists bring money, money estab-
fishes business. and business attracts
new blood to any lively land that is
not overcrowded.
On the sentimental side the new
Ireland may call to men and women
of Irish blood from all over the world.
We are apt to think Of America and
France as the chief places Of refuge
to which Irishmen went, but they
have gone to every cline. There are
O'Neills in Portugal. 0'Donnells in
Cnain 0'JTippiuaeq I'm South Amer-
lea. The Wild Geese few far. Last
month a correspondent Of the Man
chester Gudrdidn, FRANCIS McCUL-
IAGH. paid visit to noble Lithu-
anan family, O'Rourke by name, at
their castle in Ukmerge. The head
OF the house fed from Ireland soon
after the battle Of the Boyne and
fought on the French side at Fonte-
The New York herald., 1922-01-29

them to the public they are anxious
to make friends with. After all. the
recital has come to be less popular
than it was, and there are indications
that the next crowded musical season
may include the mixed concert as a
means of presenting the supply of
new artists.
Such a return to former methods
will have one other good result be-
sides getting more promptly before
the public the crop of new music
makers Of various kinds. 1t will
leave the difficult field of the recital
to the real virtuosos Of music, to
whom such an exacting test is bet
ter suited.
The New York herald., 1922-01-29
Fur Lined Goats.

Not until New York encounters a
cold wave like the present does the
wayfarer realize what q large number
of fur coats there are in mems ward
robes. Let the mercury fall to 10
degrees above zero two days In sue
cession and out come the benjamins
whose warmth is enhanced with the
skins of beasts.
Some of the garments belonged to
father, some to grandfather. Some
Of the shells are Of broadcloth, some
of gay worsted. The collars, usually
more pretentious than the lining, are
of lamb, mink or beaver. The
Innings run all the way from sable to
Russian dog. The fashions may be
the baggy style of the sos or the
snappy college cut Of the day.
Once to every man who lives In
this climate comes a mad desire to
own a fur lined coat. Those who
yielded to it have been drawing divi-
dends this week.
The New York herald., 1922-01-29
Automobile History.
First Electric Storage Battery Car
Claimed for Chicago.

To THE NEW YORK HERALD: The let
ter of George M. Brown concerning auto
mobile history recalls to my mind that
In 1891 Clinton e. Woods, the founder of
the Woods Motor Vehicle Company of
Chicago, manufactured for Montgomery
Ward a demi-brake which was operated
by forty-two cells Of tho willard storage
battery. The brake weighed $500
pounds and with this battery covered
from thirty to thirty-six miles with the
current from one charge.
This was, believe. the first CONNER
cial electric carriage ever sold and oper-
ated by disinterested parties. It was
used as an advertising medium by Mont
gomery Ward to bring the country peo-
pie from the Illinois Central station at
Twenty-second street and Michigan ave-
nue.. Chicago. to the company's store
on Michigan avenue near Randolf street
during the worlds fair of 1892 and 1893.
At the close of tho worlds fair In
the fall of 1898 the Woods Motor vehi-
Gle Company purchased this demi-brake
and used II for demonstration purposes
IN the States OF Illinois, Ohio and Ind'-
ana, and afterward. during the street
car strike in Cleveland. Ohio. this We
bicle was taken to that city to assist
a lawyer named George Garfield In
forming an electric auto bus line from
the Michigan Southern Railroad station
to Wade Park and intermediate points.
This failed. but Walter Baker, son-in-
law OF White OF the White steamer, pur-
chased OF the Woods company In 1895
stanhope for which he paid $4,000
cash with the order. and soon after It's
delivery. about three months later. the
Baker Company was formed and rum
about called the Baker was placed on
the market.
The Woods Motor Vehicle Company
was the first concern to manufacture an
electric omnibus for the Parmalee Com
pany In Chicago.
Photographs of this demi-brake are in
the personal files Of Mr.. willard in
Cleveland. Ohio.
Soon after Woods built this demi-
brake for Montgomery Ward the Pope
Company In Boston put a small electric
carriage on the market. which was also
operated by Willard storage batteries,
which were then being manufac ctured by
Sipe & Sicgler in Cleveland. Fl. M. u.
New YORK, January 2s.
The New York herald., 1922-01-29

To Delaware City and q canal with
three locks. something like Panama In
miniature. I thought. would be a unique
tramp. So 1 boarded the Anthony
Groves, Jr., a steamboat almost ancient
enough for George Washington to have
crossed in to attack the Hessian Colonel
at Trenton. fun of elate anticipations.
The aftermath OF sunset was painting
the ripping surface OF the river with
chameleon colors. and Philadelphia In
the haze of twilight appeared city
already asleep. An odd lot of passen-
gers. colored and white. were aboard
and huddled In the saloon, afraid OF
the chill air on deck: an old darky
woman. her bundles piled on the cush-
ions of the side seats: q sash and blind
maker spending spare time wheeling to
learn, as he said. something of tho land
that he lived in: Scotchman on deck
telling weird tales Of Northerners lured
by the fiowery promises OF real estate
operators below the Mason and Dixon
line to locate in unhealthful climates
where they died in shoals. 1t was q
fascinatingly human lot of mortals.
By 8 o'clock the first lock was reached
and the journey OF fourteen miles
through the Chesapeake and Delaware
Canal was begun. The moon was UP.
Moonlight! It softened the landscape.
transformed grotesQue and ugly details
that the sunlight would have brought
out glaringly. aided the imagination to
shape forms from fancy. As the boat
moved cautiously in tho strip Of water
way across Delaware and . part Of
Maryland cornflelds in serried ranks
came almost to the marge Of the canal
ard were likened to Sennacherib's army
marching to destruction: houses. Just
ordinary Delaware farmhouses. were
castles villages OF q hundred inhab-
itant1 cities paved with silver streets.
When the outlet to Elk River was
reached 1t was time to tumble into =
berth to sleep. To sleep. nay: to be
astride Of q many paced nag that can
tered, SHE'D, bucked as the tide Of the
river or the waves Of the bay toyed
with 1t. The sun appeared fire on
the horizon when the boat turned into
the Patapsco. Rubbing my eyes and
looking out into the almost deserted
streets, where few colored roustabouts
slouched. wondered why the captain
had returned to somnolent Philadelphia.
But I was in Baltimore.
The sash and blind maker followed
me to the street. His Journey lay south
west through Laurel to Washington.
Mine was due south. Crossing the Long
Bridge and passing through Brooklyn.
a suburb Of Baltimore. the open road
was before me and my twenty-eight
mile hike to Uncle Sans training school
for sea fighters was begun.
/ was in a country Of mule teams and
black teamsters; of sand and scrub oaks.
Hero and there planters house-they
stick to the designation South whether
the crop be corn or sweet potatoes or
melons-and adjacent in the fields
darkies could be seen gathering sweet
potatoes. On the map several towns are
The New York herald., 1922-01-29
The wind in the Chimney.

When nights are snowy and cold and
dark
The wind In the chimney talks to me
OF the happy hours I used 20 know
And the places where I would like
to be.
1t calls to mind az I sit alone
How bright are the lights along
Broadway
On furs and jewels and violets.
And taxis rolling toward the play
II softly croons Of the starlit sea.
Where the giant liners come and 80,
And tho North Woods fast In winters
With cabins buried in drifts Of snow.
And rock trimmed lakes Of the Engadine,
And Paris lovely in lilac time.
And London gay In Its gala dress
When bells for a royal wedding chime.
In a low and confidential tone
It whispers too OF the intimate
And precious memories hidden deep
A dusty road and a broken gate.
An old, old dwelling with ivied caves.
And new moon shining white and
i.Iin
On a dark head bent to . singing bow
And the polished wood Of = violin.
When the little houses round about
Are wrapped in the down OF sleep
and night,
And snowfiakes dash at the window pane
Like white moths drawn by tho shaded
light,
And huddle over tho dying Goals
My book forgotten upon my knee
With brooding shadows my only guests,
The wind in the chimney talks to me.
MINNA IRVING.
The New York herald., 1922-01-29
The Common Prayer.

We want cicadas with pizzicato solo.
We want the dog star In full career
to blaze,
We want white fiannels and sleeveless
shirts and polo,
We want fierce August and all its hot
test days.
We want to jazz up the thermo, iowly
minded:
See It hit the high spots. yes. 90 In
the shade:
We want to swink and then sweat until
we're blinded
To see "Heat Prostrationsw HERALD
headline made.
We want to shoot records in the Weather
Bureau,
Shoot 'em 30 high that the sun spots
they will cow
We want a hades right here In minia-
ture. oh,
That's what we want when It's cold
az It is now
MAURICE MORRIS.
The New York herald., 1922-01-29
SUNDAY, JANUARY 2s. 1922.
Demonstrating for Lawsuits.

Mayor HYLAN has appealed to New
Workers to march upon Albany in such
numbers that the Assemblymen and
Senators will be scared into passing
the bills he wants enacted to author
lie the citywide system of passenger
transportation in municipality owned
and municipality operated buses
evolved by GROVER A. WHALEN, his
Commissioner OF the Department Of
Plant and Structures.
II New Workers did what Mayor
HYLAN urges them to do they would
be inviting mass of litigation
against the city the prospect Of
which would dismay the most opti-
mistic taxpayer in the town.
Commissioner WHALEN has laid
out on paper series of bus routes
which cover all the boroughs of New
York. II these routes were trans
ferred from paper to pavement they
would cover numerous streets and
avenues occupied by street railways
operating under franchises from
which they derive great privileges.
Many of these franchises are per-
petual. Others are for long terms
OF years, for most of the street rail-
ways in New York city were organ
lied and doing business long before
short term franchises with revalua-
tion clauses and provisions for ac-
quirement by the cities granting
them were thought of seriously.
In practically all cases the fran
chises confer on their holders the
exclusive right to haul passengers
through the streets they affect. II
the city were to disregard these
franchises and set up municipal buses
to compete with the franchise own
ers there would be, unfortunately
for Mayor HYLAN's scheme, a flock
of lawsuits to rejoice the heart Of
every member of the bar.
The solution Of New York city's
difficult transportation problem is
not going to come out of attempts
to bully the lawmakers at Albany.
1t is not going to come out of vio-
lent attempts to wrest established
franchise rights from their lawful
owners. 1t is not going to come out
OF unreason and violence. 1t will come
out of negotiation and agreement
among men Of common sense and
broad vision; and THE NEw YORK
HERALD hopes Mayor HYLAN will
make haste to enroll himself among
these men.
The New York herald., 1922-01-29
Changing Fashions in Music.

The old fashioned concert, with its
duets and solos. its instrumentalists
and its vocalists Of various kinds,
passed out of hearing some years
ago to be succeeded by the recital,
which was supposed to correspond to
much higher musical ideals. The
singer or the violinist or the pianist
provided the entire program. The
task was more severe for the per-
former since there was no help from
other artists. After a while 1t be-
came evident that concerts OF this
kind were especially trying to the
young artists who were introduced
in this way.
or course the average song recital
OF recent years has not reached
the high standard set by the giants
who first made general this ex-
tremely musical form of entertain
ment. In the composition OF programs
as we'll as in the execution OF their
numbers many of these performances
are TO be ranked as recitals chiefly
because they display the art of one
musician. either singer or instru-
mentalist. Various factors recon-
mended the recital form to young
musicians. 1t was considered in.
expensive in comparison with the
old concert with orchestra. Then the
presencc on the program of songs
rather than mixed operate arias was
looked on as further evidence OF
musicianship.
IL is uncertain nowadays whether
or not the recital Is an Improvement
over the mixed concert of the past
The singers in particular are won
dering II they do not submit them.
selves to an unnecessarily severe
test in executing an entire program
alone. Then the great increase in
the number OF beginners every year
4, has made 1t difficult for every recital
10 receive the attention its organizers
desire. The thought has occurred
to more than one manager that two
or three artists on one program
might be better way Of introducing
The New York herald., 1922-01-29

teacher in the normal school at
Manila at $500 year. He lost the
money he took with him, he said, in
England backing a company trying
to extract gold from the ocean "by a
new and improved method"
When the recent achievements OF
chemistry. the successor of the old
time alchemy, are considered, II
would seem risky prophecy to deny
the possibility of almost any achieve.
ment of science. But scientists very
generally confess that within their
knowledge there is no process which
suggests that baser metals can be
transmitted into gold. The transmu-
tation of elements has been accom-
plished: for example, by a chemical
process uranium degrades into tho
rum, thorium into radium and ra-
dunn into lead. But, says the scien.
tist, the disintegration Is spontane.
GUS: 1t is not dependent upon lab
orokory methods, "and. 80 far. de-
pends on the natural existence of
radioactive substances" People to-
day are loath to accept any state
ment regarding tho existence of syn
thetic gold without absolute proof of
Its actual production. Discussions
of the economic condition which
might result from the introduction of
synthetic gold are very likely to turn
upon the point whether the process
would be so costly as to make the
natural metal less expensive than
that artificially produced.
The New York herald., 1922-01-29
No Bloom but Natures.
Limit Set by = Man to the Art Of His
Feminine Relations.

To THE NEW YORK HERALD: Permit
me to say that men In general object
to the conspicuous use of makeup by
their mothers. sisters. wives or sweet
hearts; they like to see them with their
natural compilations.
A right minded woman--a lady In the
strict sense of the word--does not make
up in a fashion to attract to herself any
particular attention. A man looking for
a wife usually chooses q woman of nat
ural and not artificial ideas.
Look In at any society dance of the
upper four hundred. Pick out q few
ladies who are not made up conspicu-
ously and a few ladies who are. then
look up their respective antecedents.
You will find that those who look re-
fined and unobtrusive in their dress
have ancestry to be proud of. r. "a B.
NEW York, January 2s.
The New York herald., 1922-01-29
Marylands Ancient City of Circles
BY the Canal Route Annapolis, Where Sea Fighters
Are Trained and John Paul Jones Rests.

indicated. But It Is only on the map
for quite all of the journey from Balti.
moro to Annapolis Is over q streak OF
asphalt road through the open country
Reaching the Severn long plank bridge
as ancient as the town spans the shin
ing river and the Marine Hospital and
the quarters of the hospital staff face
It. This Is the first view Of the ancient
capital of Maryland you get on ap-
preaching it from the north.
Annapolis. ancient. weak and de-
fenseless but buttressed by the power
OF the United States. is a city of cir
cles. Its salient features as town can
be grasped In an hour. But its twists
are disconcerting to a stranger. Asking
a direction i was puzzled by its appar-
ent intricacies. AS walked away from
my informant looking wise but puzzled
q companion remarked to him: you've
got that stranger twisted"
He was right In q few moments
asked again. This time was admon-
ished: "If you keep to the left you'll
never get out OF q circle. Your only
chance OF escape II to turn to tho right.
Interested In this circular form Of lay
ing out streets. asked q third tnhab-
liant how many circles there were in
Annapolis. He was q wag who an
swered quite seriously with . drawl
Two circles and q square: State circle,
Church circle and Governors square.
But you may as well call Governors
square . circle. for 1t is half crooked
and half square"
There Is ono sight In Annapolis that
will hold tho attention Of q student of
history. This is the crypt Of John Paul
Jones. A tomb open to the air, for its
entrance 10 wide and unbarred, 1t does
not appear mortuary excepting that in
the center Of tho circular sepulcher Is
magnificent sarcophagus. Beneath
this lies the body of tho tough Scotch
seaman who captured the Serapis. The
story of its removal from an obscure
foreign grave to its present resting place
in the basement of the chapel Of the
Naval Academy Is an engrossing one.
Congress. always lavish with money but
this time with singular appropriateness.
gave $185,000 for the purpose. and the
tomb of Jones at the Naval Academy is
a lasting inspiration to the young sea-
men who are training to uphold what
he fought to achieve.
When the Emma Giles, q Chesapeake
Bay steamboat that plies tri-weekly be-
tween West River and Baltimore, stop
ping at Annapolis for freight and pas
sengers. left tho wharf and poked her
nose hayward the Naval Academy boys
were drilling on the parade ground that
faces the mouth Of the Severn. The an
cient town lay back of them. the after
noon sun flooding 1t. The old houses on
Prince George street were memory of
the living spirit Of Puritanism that
founded the town in honor Of Queen
Anne. Out IN the bay. a gray menace to
aggression, lay the new battleship Mary
land. The town was the type of a be-
ginning; the boys and the battleship the
symbols Of the present.
FtNDLAY SAcKE1r.
The New York herald., 1922-01-29
Ports.

NY little golden feet OF dreams
Casts anchor now. and
Must choose the one that would sail
And pass the others by.
How can know which port Is beet
who've never sailed et all?
How can I choose when four swift wines
Ruaie the sails and calf?
How can choose which one Is bcst7
When all Is said and done.
I look in your eyes and feel your hands
And my ships seem as but one
And any course Is the course I want
And any port will be
The golden port OF my golden dreams
IT you will sail with me.
ABIeAn. w. CRsssoN.
The New York herald., 1922-01-29
The Harder Sex.

The physician at Vassar College,
DR.. ELIZABETH THELBERG, has been
studying the health Of girl students
for thirty-four years. Defending
short skirts, she declares that the
women and girls of to-day are very
much healthier than those Of twenty
or thirty years ago. So, as she re-
marks, she is very much In favor Of
the freedom of the knees.
1t has been the experience of most
business houses, we think, that the
fashion of open throats, short skirts
and low shoes has been of benefit to
working girls and women. There are
fewer absences than there used to
be on account of colds and kindred
ailments. The American girl is as
hardy as she is handsome. Yet 1t Is
only a few years since winter found
her mufied from chin to toe. In 1904
when Mrs. PATRICK CAMPBELL, the
English actress, went about the
streets here with gown cut V-shape
at the throat she was an object Of
wonder and, among some, Of horror.
Open throat dresses were the first
step toward the lessening Of coughs
and colds among women. More re-
Gently the short skirt, welcomed by
every walker who likes her stride
free, has further acclimated its
owner. Women discovered too that
the low shoe, with a reasonably
heavy sole, could be worn all winter.
1t suits the short skirt and the wool
stocking better than high boots.
Women have tried to wear spats, but
they find them ugly. Spats are for
men, whose feet and legs are nothing
"for to admire"
Women in winter, no longer a
bundle Of furs with nose sticking
out at the top, are things of beauty,
grace and health. Man, on the con-
trary, has not advanced an inch; in
fact, he seems to be slipping. He is
veal 0lobClS dSdiA. VOAoO eAoh
that, he has reverted to the things
they used to call tippets and which
are now known as mufflers. His poor,
delicate throat is incased in linen
collar, silk scarf, woolen undercoat,
woolen muffler and the collar of his
ulster. He sneezes, coughs and seeks
his handkerchief. His sister, bare Of
throat, pities the afflicted fellow.
The female Of the species is the
harder both by nature and common
sense. Providence gave her endur-
ance because she is more important
in the general scheme than man.
Lately she has become as free of
mind as of stride. "You are going
to wear long skirts again." said the
men in Paris who used to dictate
fashions. I'VE are not" say Ameri-
can women. And they won't. The
freedom OF the knees is too precious
to be surrendered.