davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The New York herald., 1922-04-02
JAMES J. DAVIS

first and practice second. Ny first
acquaintance with theory was not
such as 70 impress me favorably
Over thirty years ago I was a pud-
der in the iron mills about Pittsburgh
My father and my grandfatLers were
puddlers and iron workers before me
in Wales. When my father. came here
as an immigrant, and when later my
mother brought me also as an immi-
grant. the family ideal was TO see me
follow the trade OF my forebears of
pudding iron. 1t took no driving.
Evidently the thing was In my blood.
[ could hardly wait to learn the job
As a boy OF IL ! left school and got a
Job carrying water TO an OLD pudder
From that | worked up TO be pud-
dler myself, at is. And to this day
can look back and remember what a
thrill it gave me, what a joy in life
got out of my two hands, because /
could turn out heats" Of iron, one
after another, every one OF them pure
and perfect. ] had learned my trade
Now | can see what else | learned
While ! was learning that trade. ] can
see now that living life and making
ones way in il is good deal like
pudding iron. 1t is taking the raw
stuff every day and pudding out OF it
a good heat" the iron as fiawless as
you can make H. through and through
But first Of all ! was honorably earn
ing living, and saving for the future.
Ny mind was quickening as my hands
worked. | understood men, whether
they were doing little things or big,
because big things and little are done
in the same way. and ]. too, was doing
something. And because / dared lift
up my eyes they began seeing things.
II was thrilling to think, when saw a
tall building or a big ship. that per-
haps some iron ] had puddled was in
them, sailing over the world or stand
ing there on solid ground perhaps for
centuries. Gt was uplifting to think
such things. And | put them down
here because | am trying to show,
from my own experience. the whole
nature OF the education got from
learning my trade. It was no acci-
dent FOR afterward ] learned the trade
Of tin worker and repeated the Won
derful experience.
The New York herald., 1922-04-02

always with us, and because the chill
dren themselves would be bored
through the average vacation, our
school term is a few weeks longer than
the prevailing public standard. This
gives us opportunity to teach more
subjects and give each subject more
thorough attention. We have time TO
make things interesting. Our school
system begins with six grades in the
elementary division, three in the junior
high school and three in the senior
high school, And our force of instruc-
tors. including matrons and proctors
and teachers of trades and musical in
struments, physicians. dentists and
others, numbers more than 125.
Get a Good Education,
But Must Learn a Trade
The school work naturally begins
with the mother tongue. Great pains
are taken in writing, for its aid in
gaining and holding employment.
Very early we encourage the express
sion of thoughts in writing. But al
ways the practical is kept in mind.
Our arithmetic studies, for example,
are based on the practices of actual
business. / don't mean that we are
all business and all practically, for
we teach our boys and girls to draw,
TO love art and literature and music.
We give them an insight into science,
SO that they may understand at least
the simpler wonders and beauties of
the world they live in. They learn
the nature of government and prac-
tice it in their assemblies. And we
instill into them all at least some
measure OF religious awe and faith.
1t is not that we interfere with relig-
ious bent or preference. Every faith
is represented among our membership
and our children worship the God Of
their parents in the way in which
they were brought up. 1t is rather
the general principle Of reverence and
worship chat we inculcate. The moral
education is not forgotten.
But even with the education goes
on the learning of trade. The pupils
are in school and in the workshops on
a "fifty-hfty" basis. Half OF each
school day is passed at the desk, the
other half at the lathe or bench, or at
the typewriter, the sewing machine.
The New York herald., 1922-04-02

stress Is laid throughout upon the
value or the properties 10 be consoli-
oated, but that value will not be A
controlling factor until application IL
made for the consolidation OF two or
more railway properties after the CONF
piete plan shall have been adopted. IT
would seem. therefore, that evidence az
10 value will not be helpful, II indeed
material, At the present stage of the
inquiry and certainly not evidence a.
TO the financial structure OF the re-
spective carriers.
This has particular reference to the
contention that the credit OF the so
called strong roads viii be impaired
py consolidation with so-called weak
roads. weak in many instances in the
sense that they have not had the benefit
OF conservative financial policies.
The statute contemplates consolida-
ton into one corporation for the owner
ship, management and operation OF the
properties heretofore in separate owner
snip, management and operation
This would seem TO exclude from
consideration general projects or pro-
posals based in whole or in substantial
part on contemplated running tracks.
trackage agreements and the like. or
on new construction.
"As stated In SO 7. c.. c.. Ass. the
tentative plan was put forward In order
to elicit a full record upon which the
plan TO be ultimately adopted can rest.
and without prejudgment OF any matter
which may be presented upon that rev-
ord. This announcement should not bo
construed as indicating in detail what
evidence should be adduced. The pur-
pose is 10 again call attention to the
broad general grounds OF the statute on
which the complete plan must rest. VI
IL understood. OF course, that alterns
tive or modified plans may be submitted
IN lieu OF any system proposed In tho
tentative plan"
The New York herald., 1922-04-02

earn her living as best she could, and
the orphaned children, often OF ten
der years. were sent into the battle OF
life with little education and no prac-
tical equipment whatever. Often j
have passed the hat to raise money
for the funeral expenses in these sad
cases, for the family was apt to b
large. and the bread winner unable
to provide even for his own burial.
A fellow workman once said TO me,
"You are lucky. Jim. You have your
brothers. / ha6 one. but we were
parted when my father died, and I've
never seen him since. l don't even
know his name" That man was a
victim of one of these tragedies of
poverty. separation and hardship. i
am sure he had survived better than
most others this poorest of all starts
in life.
Back in those days I made up my
mind that sometime l would be pass
ing the hat in much larger way'and
not simply 10 pay the funeral ex-
penses of such unfortunates, but to
do something for their orphans--give
them an education, teach them a
trade and fit them generally to take
a useful and honorable place among
their fellows. The opportunity to do
this came to me in 1906, when joined
the Loyal Order of Moose as it's 247th
member We now have 100000 mem
bers OF the Moose and our that" holds
more than $20,0000o0.
We pass the kat every year in the
form of collecting dues for general
uses. but 81 of the sum collected
yearly from each of the 100000 Moose
members goes to maintain and enlarge
Mooseheart. the little town on a 1923
acre farm in Illinois, near Chicago.
where we provide home, a school, a
workshop and q training place in
citizenship for 1895 orphans of Moose
members. They are the same sort of
children | used to see plunged into
the world without a chance. Now
these 1,096 children have a chance
Mooseheart has made the difference.
II you were TO see one of our gradu-
ating classes you would concede that
it's something Of difference. People
of every sort have pronounced our
experiment in practical humanity at
Mooseheart a prodigious success. We
Of the Moose don't think so. 1t isn't
enough
The New York herald., 1922-04-02
Inflated Construction Costs in
Berlin, Budapest, Vienna

This Is worse than living from
hand TO mouth. 1t is burning up our
homes and business houses in order
to obtain fuef. We are able to live
only by the sale OF the capital that is
necessary for the carrying on OF our
industrial life. II this is not bank
ruptcy IL is because the necessity for
continuing the life OF our people out
weighs the necessity OF an accounting
and because there is no tribunal be-
fore which we may come for a quit
claim. What will be the outcome
when the last stick OF the building is
burned7"
One of the first results Of the re-
strictive property laws has been to
stop dead all provision for new build
ings by construction. This came not
only from the withdrawal OF profits
from these properties. but as well
from the great increase in cost of
building under the inflated conditions
after the war. In Germany iron con-
struction has gone up sixty times
and there is fiat increase OF twenty
fold for ALL building. In Vienna in
addition to labor costs. the currency
situation Is against building. A brick
may cost one week kronen, another
week Is kronen and later 40, so or 100
The New York herald., 1922-04-02

more paper to buy the same amount
OF food.
There is, OF course. a world wheat
market and prices have been falling in
this market. Tie ideal thing. the only
practicable thing would be for Austria
TO make a contract for her grain for
months ahead at established prices
and then she would get any advantage
OF falling market. This Austria
cannot do. So while the price OF
wheat in Rotterdam falls % per cent.
in year tie price OF wheat to Aus
tria rises month by month. Austria
can buy her wheat only in foreign
money, in American dollars, in Dutch
florins. or in Rumanian lei Austria
does not have any dollars. forms or
lei. The only way she can get them
is by buying them, and she must buy
them eacE month at greatly increased
prices. Every month therefore her
wheat costs her more. And the very
purchases Of foreign exchange by
which to provide this wheat for her
people further depresses the exchange
and makes the bill for next month
higher While the American wheat
price fell between June. 1921. and
January, 1892. the price OF American
wheat to Austria rose from so kronen
kilogram TO 200 kronen a lSilogram.
What did the Austrian Govern
ment pay for Rotterdam wheat? III
February 1920, it paid 100 kronen;
in June, 1921, it paid 2.4o0 kronen; in
September, 1921. II paid $500 kronen.
and in December. 1921, 12,500 kronen
for the same amount OF wheat. To-
day Austria pays 10000 kronen for
what would Eave cost in 1920 1000
kronen and in 1917 kronen.
The New York herald., 1922-04-02
Hearings to Begin This Month
on Consolidation of Railroads
New York herald Bur~au,
Washington. ID. e., ApriI 4,

Special Dispatch to The Nrw YORK urrun
New York herald Bureau.
WASHINGTON. ID. g., April /.
The Interstate Commerce Commission
announced to-day that hearings will be-
gin before the commission in Washing
ton on April "a next, upon the commits
sion's tentative plan to consolidate the
railroads OF the United States into a.
few competitive systems.
The initial hearings will deal exclu-
sively with the plan to consolidate the
lines In the southeastern region. The
commission has proposed that the rail-
road properties in that region may be
consolidated under the provisions OF the
transportation act into three systems.
These systems are: system number
ten. Southern system number eleven,
Atlantic Coast Line, Louisville and
Nashville sy uc~ number twelve. llli-
nois Central. Seaboard. The commits
sion first will hear evidence upon the
plan to consolidate the lines embodied
within the proposed system number ten.
After that is closed the other two pro-
posed systems will be taken up In their
order.
These are the requirements with
which the commission must comply In
preparing TO consolidate railway prop
critics into limited number of systems .
Competition must be preserved as
fully as possible: existing routes and
channels OF trade and commerce must
be maintained the several systems must
be so arranged that the cost of trans
portation as between competitive sys-
TENS and as related TO the values Of
the properties through which the service
Is rendered shall be the same. so far az
practicable. so that these systems can
employ uniform rates In the movement
OF competitive trafYic and under efficient
management earn substantially the
same rate OF return upon the value of
their respective railway properties.
The New York herald., 1922-04-02
Tragedies of Labor That
Started MooSeheart

IN my days as q puddler ! was Wit
ness 70 tragedy that was all too
common In tho lives Of those about
me. Accidents will happen IN such
heavy work as iron and steel manu-
facturc and time and again ! have
seen the head OF family. its one
bread winner, brought home MANNED
for life or killed outright. u was sell
dom a big piece OF news. but II was
all the same poignant drama. a dis
aster. II meant the break up OF that
little family. and perhaps it's dispersal
forever. The wife was pitched out 10
The New York herald., 1922-04-02
Theory Was Given a Trial
In Guise of Efficiency Exper,

i My father. like every good worker.
was something of an artist. He
could tell unerringly. without any
other guide than his finely trained eye.
Just when the iron in the furnace was
right. He knew it by the color of the
flame that. at a certain moment, crept
over the hearth. He knew by the tinge
OF the molten metal itself just when
the dross was burned away. when the
iron must be removed or the heat"
would be spoiled. We all were taught
this art. In Wales it is passed along
from father to son. Theory. as | saw
theory work, adds nothing 10 il.
In q mill where | was employed a
theorist--I suppose he styled himself
All efficiency engineer--was set to
work. He discovered the appalling
flct that not one Of the heaters at
work knew how many heat units his
furnace contained at given time.
such antiquated rule Of thumb meth
DDS had TO go, Of course, and our
theorist set up scientific method in
place Of them. Indicators or clocks
were installed that would infallibly
when his heat units were right. and
when his heat" was ready 10 draw.
We all went by these clocks.
! hate to say how many heats" we
spoiled. IL was a crime. Working az
my side was Mahlon Garland. n giant
of man. 4 power in the union. and
afterward Congressman Garland. from
Pennsylvania. That man grew so
broken hearted at the sight OF this
pitiable waste that he finally went to
the boss.
Mr.. Blank" he said, rive been in
your employ for thirty years, and I've
come to say that I'm through"
Mr.. Blanks amazemcnt need hardly
be described. Naturally he asked the
reason, and Garland told him.
r won't stand by and see your fur
naces ruined, your metal spoiled. your
fuel burned up for nothing. and all
this criminal waste from the mcddling
Of that tomfool theorist. can't stand
it. I've quit"
y speaks for the good sense Of that
employer that he preferred the loyalty
OF that honored worker to the theories
that didn't work. and went himself
into the works and tore down the
clocks. 10 be sure that the job Of de-
struction was well done.
] shared then. and DO now. that
wholesome distrust OF too mrch the
ory. The scientists have remadc the
world. | know. Theory serves a high
human purpose u meets strong
human need, that VIC shall not only
b. able IN do thiu@g but Ia understand
why and how We do them. Theory
has its place. and great one II is
only ridiculous and mischievous when
1t breaks IN At the wrong time and
place. And / think We have been Civ
ing it too great sway In our systems
Of education. Which brings me back
to Mooseheart. another direct result
Of my having learned q trade.
The New York herald., 1922-04-02
r,roo Boys and Girls Work
and Learn at Moosehesrt

out in Mooseheart. the little town
not far from Chicago that is both q
home and a school for orphaned boys
and girls, where our big family q
some eleven hundred Of them work
and learn at the same time. VIC have
Rad going for some years 2 practical
~rst os my idea OF what an education
should he In the estimation or al
who rave seen Mooseheart or know
OF Moosehcart. it is a triumphant sue
cess. a littla later I'm going 70 ex-
pislr what w do there. But FIRST 7
want TO explain from the hard facts
ri my early life. how il came TO me
that white theory may be as important
as fact in tic world, II is putting
thiggs wrong end 70 TO put theory
The New York herald., 1922-04-02
Orphans Have Same Comforts
As Children in Good Homes

What Nature herself has not sup
piled In the way OF health and body
building we provide in Fairgrounds
and games. From the age OF kinder
garten onward every sort OF school
sport is fostered. teams arc formed and
4 wholesome rivalry encouraged. Our
figh school football and baseball
teams have enviable records. Every
child is taught TO swim. They ride
bicycles. They go fishin'. Play. espo-
cially play in the open. means health,
and we permit and promote all the
play hat is good for our charges,
young and old.
We treat them as naturally within
doors. our children live In the same
scrt OF homes as other American chill
dten. We keep building new houses
as tho family grows, so that no home
need have more than fifteen TO eigh-
teen children. cared for by a matron
who treats them like a mother. They
wear no uniform, but the clothing OF
the average American child. When
they are older we let them pick their
own clothing. The girls are taught to
make theirs. The boys in the tailor
shop get practical experience in their
trade by making outfits for their
brothers. In the evenings those who
are learning TO play musical instru-
mcnts entertain themselves and the
others or tho whole family hears q
concert by some ono OF our bands and
orchestras. In word they all live the
active. wholesome, busy. happy lives OF
Amcrc 2 children
Y. otr schools differ from other
schools in the country It Is because, so
experts tell me. our schools are better
than the average and model to the
best Because We have our children
The New York herald., 1922-04-02

the concrete mixer, the carpenter shop,
the hothouse or what not. Little space
is left me to go into this subject OF
the trades. They do not easily lend
themselves to description. But one
thing impresses me, and that is the
amount of talent we find disclosed in
the workshops. / have seen young
fellows set to learning how to make
concrete sidewalks turn out TO be re-
markable hands at modelling busts and
portraits, or at shaping architectural
ornaments. We little know the amount
of real genius that slumbers among
those whom Lincoln delighted to call
"the common people. whom God must
love because He created so many of
them" At Mooseheart we do the ut
most we can for unusual ability, wher-
ever we find 1t. But our chies eim is to
make the most of all ability, whatever
its degree.
Graduates at MooSeheart
Ready 90 Face the World
All ] can say is that at the age of
graduation from the Mooseheart
schools and shops our children have
an excellent understanding of how the
world Is constituted, what goes on in
it and where they may fit into it with
the best prospects of being useful and
successful. They are, first of all, made
sure of living, be it at tailoring
carpentry, machine work, molding
dressmaking, stenography, as libra
rians, as secretaries. in offices. as MAX
ers of shoes and clothes and furniture.
as growers of fine cattle. as gardeners.
as accountants, as any one of num-
Der of useful citizens. And this is
not all. Our girls are able to support
themselves in many ways if they are
destined to remain single. But il it
Is their lot to be wives they have been
taught home making. They can keep
house and make their own dresses
All our children are equipped to be
excellent companions as well as bread
winners. Above all, they are taught
to be good citizens. Their eyes have
been opened to the beauties of nature
and of art. They know literature.
They have an eye for the drama and
the value OF life as it passes before
them. There is only one thing that
The New York herald., 1922-04-02
Stores of Talent Turned Out
by the Mooseheart Plan


We have already unlocked great
stores of talent among these sons and
daughters of average Americans who
have come 70 us. Many of the mem
pers of our graduating classes are
going on into collage. into professional
and business careers. Human beings
are beyond calculation. No one knows
where a new genius may appear. But
here Is the point I am always coming
back to- Even in the development of
genius circumstance plays its part.
The greatest talent may encounter
misfortune, just as the largest fortune
may yield to the touch of circumstance
and crumble. But always, no matter
what happens, the young people VINO
leave our little city of Mooseheart VIII
he able to take in life, IL not a great
place, then an honest and an honorable
place. And viewed from the height
of Gods stars, l wonder if there is
such a vast difference, after all. be-
tween taking snowy place and
humble place in life II one is able tc
do his work and say, II have been at
least useful to my fellow beings.
hope / have set forth here the
principles of one who is not hard and
matter of fact, but rather one whose
iaeal consists of the dignity of useful
ness and self-support. All the fineness
of life is built or that foundation. But
Il that foundation does not exist, there
can be none Of this superstructure OF
refinement. That refinement may be
left to itself. Il seems to me that the
great work of education should be the
creation Of the proper foundation.
believe every life should be founded
en- that solid foundation, OF being able
to live without aid from others, OF be-
ing able to do something that needs to
b., done and will command an honest
The New York herald., 1922-04-02
Austris's Bond Bill Explained
BY Her Food Minister

A month or two ago ] was in the
office OF the Food Minister or Austria,
very efficient man, as are all Aus
trian officials, high and low. a gradu-
ate from a subordinate post In the
former regime who is putting all his
energy and technical skill into his
service for the republic.
DR. Grunberger walked up and down
the length Of his office like an actor
playing the part of "the great corpora
tion lawyer" explaining to me the per-
plexities and anxieties of his job. Uu-
like the fiction character, he was tre-
mendously in earnest. He was shaken
with real feeling
"T feel like a juggier in a ship of
fools on a stormy sea. he said. "fIave
you noticed how the exchange has
been going for the last months"
] answered that ! had; that had
good room and took my meals at the
Bristol. and that / got or very well
for dollar or two a day.
"All that is translated directly into
Austria's debts and Austria's bread
BILL" he went on. AT the outbreak
OF the war Austria owed France 1885,
100000 francs. or about 10000. 900
kronen. If Austria were to pay her
bill TO France to-day she would have
to pay $4,000, 100000 kronen. To-mor-
row the amount may be hundred
billion. two hundred billion. Mani
testify 1t is absurd.