davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1924-11-16
moth Chinese Printing Establishment Working for Education

buildings already cover more than
10 acres, and they are of the most
modern construction.
A new 5-story building which is
just ready for occupancy is built Of
reinforced concrete and steel. 1t Is
clubhouse and library, with a mo-
tion-picture theater within it for the
entertainre of the employees. The
library covers perhaps a quarter of
an acre. 1t is equipped after modern
methods and it has thousands OF
volumes in Chinese, English, French.
German and Russian. 1t Is open to
the general public and two floors of
the building are devoted to reading
rooms. There are also clubrooms for
the servants.
The other buildings are all new
and they contain machinery of every
kind devoted to printing, picture
making and bookbinding. One branch
of the establishment is now MAX
ing motion picture films for use
in the Chinese theaters. 1t is now
and is sending its reels out over the
country. Later It will probably make
educational films. Another branch
manufactures printing machines and
casts type, both OF which are shipped
employs 1000 hands, of whom 500
are women and girls. It's hours Of
work are only eight and a half per
day, but II works Sundays and holi-
days all the year through.
l do not know how many books the
| institution publishes in year. but
Evening star., 1924-11-16

are put up in alcohol in glass bottles
and shipped off in sets to the schools.
They keep a corps of collectors hunt
ing reptiles and insects for this de-
partment.
Our alphabet has only IS letters,
and the characters used by our print
ers are comparatively few. The clas-
sic Chinese has many thousand char
acters. and in the simplest of the
school books several thousands are
used. The Chinese language is ideo-
graphic-that is, 1t is written in
words rather than letters and sylla-
bles, and each character expresses a
word. The new Chinese alphabet is
new being formed under the Commits
sion OF the standardization of the
Sounds of the National Language.
They have now chosen SO symbols to
represent the various sounds, and
classes for teaching the new alpha
bet have been established. The min
istry of education has proclaimed the
alphabet satisfactory and urges it's
teaching In the schools and its popu-
larization among the people. In the
SO symbols there are "a initials, 3
medals and IL finals. The letters
have their corresponding sounds in
English, German or French, and they
may some day be generally used. The
Chinese language Is all In one syl-
liable, and the difference in tone often
changes the meaning of character.
A little dot is placed by the side OF
each new letter, indicating the tone.
This phonetic alphabet is a great
advance over the past. AS 1t is now
the Chinese language has no alpha
bet It has about 200 radicals, or
roots, and by combination Of two
| or moro of these the characters are
formed. In our country a man is a
scholar II he can use 5000 words OF
| Shakespeare or the Bible, but in
China that many characters are re-
garded as the minimum of the edu-
Gated man. The mass of Americans
use comparatively few hundred
| words. The coIlege-bred Chinese
| should know 10000 characters.
Within the past two years a move
I ment has sprung up all over China
| for creating a simplified written
| language which the masses can learn
and understand. This has resulted
| in the selection Of 1000 of the SIM
plest words, and the representation Of
them by 1000 characters. This will
| be the simplest machine for the
comm munication of thought, and books
are being written and published in
| these 1000 characters and schools es-
4
be taught in the primary schools,
and night schools for adults already
| exist in many Of the cities. They
were establishing such schools in
Canton during my stay there a short
while ago. There are also lf-day
schools for people under 16 and
| public continuation schools for those
| who are over that age but have not
! had any school education. There are
| 70 such schools in II different states
| of China proper. There are 1900
halliday schools and about 5000
| '1anguage-made- easy schools in "a
different districts. The course in
these schools Is 12 hours a week and
| the classes are held at different
| hours for the convenience of the adult
pupils. There are also open -air
schools, of which there are % In
! Peking alone.
| A curious instance Of dual intel
lectuality has been shown in the
selection of the 1000 characters
which are now being taught in these
new schools. There were two Chinese
Evening star., 1924-11-16
Il SEEM HIM FLORIST HoLLA 2ND MANAGER

tell you what / do. / shall FLIP a
coin Gc) for see who get that play
from this Unknown Genius
Therefore they fillip a coin Gc)
& when IL arrive down on it's tail Hon
End Manager report. 4 are the proud
winner. so Hon. MollaSco depart off
like cross clergyman.
x *
A FTER that Hon. Manager buy
me a. bootleg. pet me on back
& took me to his office, amidst velvet
cushions.
"'Nogi' he report. this are ac-
tually the Play I have searched for
10 yrs.
But you have not read 1t azyet,'
narrate.
"'Ah" he renig sweetly. 7 have
no time to read. That are a misfor-
tune. But l shall give it to my office
boy which I have selected from the
Home for Pebble Minded Children be-
cause he have the taste OF the Aver
age Oddience. I shall show him it
Therefore he We're gone IL minutes.
Upon return he look all blazing with
affection. 'Nogi.' he holla, Hon. Of
flee Boy report a Hit. IA I'd compa
MES shall start on the road with it.
Nothing can stop US. I shall show il
to Miss Lottie ExtravaEanza who
have starred for Is yrs in Legs &
Collars. She cannot fail to love It,
Run rapidly TO Miss Extravaganza
and find what kind of shoes etc she
wish to wear in Act II.
Therefore l make my feet hasty to
palace OF Miss Lottie Extravaganza
where I find her smoking golden ciga-
retts while throwing diamond rings
out OF windows.
:" SO this are Nogi who have wrote
that Wonderful Play" she howell
lovely. L have searched the wide fat
world for something like it. But
nothing came till l saW you. 0 Nogi,
How can you write SO sweet? I shall
wear pear-colored gown in Act III
In one Cd week please go see my
Evening star., 1924-11-16

married to the people who t1ys the
tickets & remain happy 'vrafter.
Broadway are indeedly a remarka bill :
Gus town. 1t have got . theaters to
every y playrites."
This should make playrites en-
tirely rich l manipulated.
1T might. but can it?' he reject
while seeing piece OF raw bread &
eating with hungry teeth. Il shall
now tell you how near l come to
getting famus suddenly.
First night l got there I got set in
Castor Hotel so persons would think
l were sleeping there. While thinking
enlarged thoughts, who come up but
two go Managers what l could tell
by the plutocolic expression of their
neckties.
Good evening. Mr.. Mollasco,' re-
Quire Number First. How many
plays are you opening tonight?
"'Only g.. narrate Hon. Mollasco.
1t are very difficulty TO find Play
rites. Most of them are dead. No
plays to be found. What we shall
do? We hire VIM Barnes Agency to
serch right & left. Irish. Arabian.
Finish. Polish, Armenian 6 Nebras-
ka genius all quit Last week we
dishcover a Eskimo playrite & tele-
graf him for play. But that aft
ernoon he was ate by a walrus. If
this dry spell keep up | must close
. of my theaters and turn them into
a garage ST & grone by him.
80 dearsir,' I holla on my feet
while leaping. Think how fortunate
il are for you tonight. Here I are,
Mr.. Mollasco. Playrites are not all
died. y new one have growed up.
| are such Ann One. Low & Beholt.
Here, under my intellectual thuns
hold a Play,.,n
"I see him first holla End Mana
ger, making snatch for my menu
scrip.
How horrid OF you" groweil Hon.
Mollasco. If you are so hard Up for
a play why you no write one yrself?
Evening star., 1924-11-16

We'll" I asked, what Is it?''
speaking approximately and as
suming an elliptical path with more
or less hypothetical focus"
Forget it." 1 said. When does
the comet hit US? Stick to that"
"On the 10th of next month"
He spoke quite calmly. For the
moment 1t gave me a shock.
"And who" I said, gets it in the
neck first? I mean, when the comet
hits the earth, which side OF the
earth. which country, gets it? Does it
hit US, or does 1t hit the Japanese, or
does 1t bump into soviet Russia, or
where?"
The astronomer shook his head 81
can't say" he said, "and meantime
will you excuse me if I return to my
telescope? There is a very interest
ing disturbance going on tonight
among the planetary asteroids. I
don't like to miss it,
Yes" / answered, "and they ex-
pect the same kind of thing at the
big basket ball match, SO I'll say
goodnight"
I spoke cheerfully, but after I left
! him I felt troubled. On the street ]
| noticed the people going to and fro
and surging in and out of the NOV
| ing picture houses, and hanging on
! to the tail end of the street cars;
| talking and chattering as II nothing
was going to happen.
Alas" I thought, what will they
do when they hear that a comet is
going to strike US on the 10th Of
next month";"
For about two weeks I carried
round this terrible knowledge alone.
say alone" because naturally the
astronomical world doesn't count
They knew, OF course, but they saw
no particular reason for talking
about it. The November disturbance
among the planetary asteroids was
| too absorbing.
| During these two weeks I bore the
! fate of the world all alone. 1t seem
ed dreadful to think that on the 10th
of the following month It would all
be over and that the world that
| had known would end in a collision
| and that some of my friends would
| be dissolved into a nebula and others
| turned into molten asteroids.
= 4 =
THE situation had, I admit, a few
advantages. l raised a note al my
| bank. payable on the 11th of the
month, with peculiar sense Of graft.
cation: and at my club at meal times
| it was pleasant to look around the
room at certain members U must
lnot name them) and reflect that they
Evening star., 1924-11-16

with the coolies in France and he
took his 1000 chara cters by ear from
the vocabulary the coolies used
selecting only the most common
words. He published a set of three
simple readers for illterates and af-
ter he came back to China these
readers were employed as texts at
Changsha in the province OF Human.
Glasses of illiterates were formed
and taught an hour and a half a
day for four months. There were al
together 1900 students ranging from
6 to Al years of age and at the end
of four months 500 of these were
graduated.
Then the two scholars came to-
gether and each learned what the
other was doing. They then decided
Evening star., 1924-11-16

broken into a group Of. say, half
million burning asteroids composed
of nucleus of molten matter, and
corona of incandescent hydrogen gas,
but still revolving in our orbit with
scarcely any displacement"
Great" L said. II don't wonder
that you are interested. But now tell
me how long will it take for the
comet to reach u.s."
1T IS a matter Of rather nice CAL
culation," replied the astronomer. I
could hardly calculate 1t offhand;
one would be compelled to use a Sc
ries Of logarlthms."
use them," / said, "use them
x X X x
THE astronomer began to calculate,
then paused and looked up quick
ly from his work. Il am assuming a
constant density Of the ether" he
said.
That's all right" I answered.
He worked again in silence for a
while and then again spoke.
Il am disregarding all pertur rba-
tion of the outer planets he said.
''Certainly," l said. ITO hades with
them
Presently the astronomer stopped
figuring.
Evening star., 1924-11-16

new comet ebout which Copenhagen Is
corresponding with Harvard University. and
eight degrees south of Arcturus. is now to be
seen early in the evening low down in the
northwest.-News item
HT HIS Is most gratifying"
." said the astronomer. rubbing
his hands, most gratifying"
What is?" asked
"a comet" he said, 'is
straight toward us. We learned yes
terday that it had been seen from
the observatory at Bungwelo in Java;
there seems to be no doubt that its
path is directed exactly this way"
viii it hit us?" I asked.
Undoubtedly. But astronomical
interest will not center SO much in
the mere moment of collision as in
the antecedent period, possibly ex-
tending over SO hours, during which
time we shall have unparalleled op-
portunities of observation never en-
joyed before. In fact, I may say that
the thirty-six hours before the comet
intersects our path will be quite
unique"
$50 1 should think" I answered,
"and no doubt the collision itself
will not be half bad"
The astronomer shook his head.
or, more properly. the intersection of
two orbits, will be commonplace. A
colossal collision occurred in Sagit-
tarius last year involving probably
the destruction OF a star OF the first
magnitude. We can hardly hope for
any phenomena Of such prime inter-
est in connection with our own globe
Attention will be focused chiefly
upon the opportunities for testing
the new theory of light during the
hours just preceding the precipita-
ton of the comet against the earth
There will undoubtedly be keen con-
troversy in the astronomical world
during that period. Unfortunately,
it will be all too brief for adequate
discussion
And what" I said. will become US
after the comet has hit us?'
That is the most interesting Ques-
| ton of all. But unfortunately there
| is no agreement on the subject. Ac-
cording to one school the generation
! of heat in the impact will resolve US
into a burning nebula."
That's nice" l said. And what
do the other schools say?
According to them we shall not
be dissolved into a nebula at all, but
Evening star., 1924-11-16
Wales Publicity.

A BOOK containing SLIGO newspa-
a per clippings on the activities OF
the Prince of Wales during his visit
to Long Island has been compiled by
a clipping bureau and sent to London.
The volume weighs S25 pounds. To
classify the mass Of clippings % ex-
perts worked night and day for two
weeks on a job which under ordinary
circumstances would have taken three
months. The bureau says that no Presi-
dent Of the United States ever received
so much publicity in so short a time.
Evening star., 1924-11-16
Standardized Methods Employed in Boo.Makng While

it prints 1000 new titles every IL
months, and it's output must be enor-
nous. AS l went through the works,
asked one of the chief officials
where the books go. He replied Ito
all parts of the Chinese Republic.
We had SO different branches for the
distribution of our books before the
recent troubles occurred. We have
35 now. There Is no city or town of
any size where our books are not
used in the schools, and notwithstand-
ing the chaotic conditions now pre-
vailing. our school supplies are sell
Ing, and the schools are increasing
in number. There is a very general
desire among the masses for the new
education, and even the militarism
and piracy and banditry cannot keep
1t down. The educational movement
is along western lines, and the old
education is gone forever We have
large corps Of new authors. and we
are making books that are up to the
times"
During my walk through the book
factory 1 met one Of the most popu-
name Is Tsue Yih Zan. He Is the
author OF a set of popular readers
which my guide told me are now
| bringing him in moro than $4,000
In gold every year. don't know
what his royalty percentage may be
but one of the high officials told me
that their usual terms were 10 per
cent on tho list price. which Is con-
siderably moro than Is paid in the
United States.
In addition to the comparatively
few new Chinese books which are
being written by Chinese authors
there are many American and Eng
lish works translated.
AS I went through the color print
ing rooms i saw coming from a per-
fecting press run by electricity sheets
twice as large as page of this
newspaper.
Going through the factory, I was
surprised at Its extent and apparent
prosperity. was taken through
room after room, some OF them COW
ering an acre, which were filled with
the most up-to-dat of modern ma
| chinery. The printing presses were
the equal of those OF our larges,
publishing companies, and they were
all running full speed. The presse.
| were Of every description. and every
kind of printing was going on. Some
of the printing was done from stone
| but there are also large etching half
tone plants with complete photo
graphic appliances. In one well light
ed department I found a dozen artists
| working away. and in another were
shown machines for reducing draw
ings to any scale. Some of the en-
gravers were cutting out copper
plates for bank notes. and others were
etching plates for school-book illus.
trations.
In one engraving room I saw ma
chine lathes making scroll work, and
in another watched them printing
from photographic stones. The stones
are placed on the presses, and the
various colors applied in succession
giving a certain time for the ink
| to dry. Where many colors are re
| Quired, the sheets are passed from
| press to press. a separate stone be-
| ing used for each color. This Is
to avoid wasting time and changing
! the ink. one set of the presses being
equipped with red. another with
! green. and others with blue, yellow
| or black. In one place they were
printing calendars of 12 different col
ors and In others maps Of all sizes
Evening star., 1924-11-16

and farther on straight text In Eng
lish and Chinese. The English book 8
are illustrated with good half tones
made in the factory, and the work
Is well done.
| spent some time watching the
printers setting up type. They use
from 1000 to 5000 characters, and
six different sizes of type arc en-
ployed. In all they have at hand
something like $4,000 characters. each
Of which has to be cast separately.
having its own matrix and die in
the shape of a steel type from a quar-
ter to a half inch square and an
inch long. THE die is fitted into a
casting box. and by turning a crank
the types are run out at so or 40 per
minute.
In the composing rooms each printer
stands between two racks about 10
feet high and 15 feet long. The rack 8
slope to the floor at an angle Of
80 degrees. They are packed full of
cases of type. each representing a
character. I asked as to the wages
of the printers, and my guide told
me they receive from $40 to S25
gold a month. In an adjoining room
were scores Of printers composing
in English. They were setting up
the type just as we do at home, and
some of them had monotype machines.
Nearby were the proofreaders, a
room full Of them, dressed IN caps and
gowns. They sat at office desks made
in America
In many Of the departments I found
women at work. They feed the stitch
ing and binding machines and do all
sorts of clerical labor. A score or
moro were correcting manuscripts
and working on calendars, and there
were some in the editorial rooms. /
am told that one-f1fth of the employees
are women. This means force of
500 females In this one establish
ment The women are beginning to
! write school books, and there are
many who are making anslations.
A woman graduate of the Normal Col
| lege at Peking has now set of sup
Elementary readers in press.
went through an electrotypfng
room and not far away saw a great
hall in which copper plates by the
thousands are stored. Everything is
systematically managed, and the
whole establishment is run after cost
efficiency methods. Some of the
rooms, where hundreds were working
were filled with modern machinery,
where each employe did only one
thing, Just as is done in the standard
lied factories making our cheapest
automobiles I understand that the
Chinese make especially good work
men for all standardized operations
| They will do the same thing over and
over again all day long without COM
planning, and the nearer they are to
the place of a cog in the wheel the
better they like It
One big department OF the CONNER
cial Press is devoted to the making g
H.
| ing blocks with pictures upon them,
and Chinese characters beneath are
| made for teaching the alphabet
There are maps of China cut up in
blocks to be fitted together: there are
models of flowers and animals, and
among other things, 1 noticed one lit
tie mill wheel which was operated
with sand from a box overhead, the
sand falling into buckets which
| turned and thus kept the wheel In
motion. In this same room was a
division devoted to biological speci-
mems to be sold to the schools. Here
snakes, frogs ana all sorts or animals
Evening star., 1924-11-16

strange that one % get sometime con-
fused?''
Cousin Nogi say all this while
eating raw potatus with Russian ex-
preston.
Hon. Manager were very cruel &
untidy with YOU" l pronounce dis
tinctually.
HE were not" say Nogi. He were
kind & sweetish. When I left he
shaker my hand & tell me come
round sometime when I have wrote a
Play. He are looking for Plays, he
say. Plays. he say. are getting
scarcer & scarcer TO hunt. Why do
! not try a Play some time? he ask
to know. He were sure 1 could write
one if 1 attemp it,
So Nogi set down & took off hi.
shoe at the place where the hole
hurt most.
When nextily go to Broadway"
he 81 e. grone, Il shall speak to Hon.
Gus Thomas firstly"
Not" 1 gong. You should speak
to Hon. Prof. Einstein."
For why?" he jub.
Because thus abrase "Are
not Hon. Einstein the greatest liv.
ing othaurity on the crooked behav-
Tor of stars?"
Hoping you are the same
Yours truly,
HASHIMURA TOGO.
Evening star., 1924-11-16

80 per cent of the characters they had
selected were alike and it was on the
basis of their Investigations that the
remaining 10 per cent were selected.
The effect of this 1000 character
movement cannot be overestimated.
1t may result in giving the Chinese
not a new language but simpltfica-
tion of the old language in which
newspapers and books will be pub
lished and which every one will be
able to read. The work may lead to
a better literature. even as the study
of the simple words of the Bible or
of Bunyan's Pilgrims Progress is
with US the best Of training for
English thinking and writing
(Coprfght 1924. Carpenters World Trareisl
Evening star., 1924-11-16

Manager. Bring several fountain
pens so to sign contract on the dotty
line
Togo" report Cousin Nogi, "you
could not believe how fashionable &
snob felt that week in n. Y. When
l went to Lambs Club l would
scarcely speak to Willie Collier, SO
high I was. I even play l do not
know Al. Jolson, so proud | was.
am Napoleon & Henry Ford. Why
so? Because l sold a play without
hardly looking at 1t.
Then come end of that week. ]
approach up to Office of Mana ger with
rich color on my necktie & smilax
on my buttonhole. on outside from
inside of Office see that ONCE Child
Name, If any?' he require per-
sonally.
'Hashimura Nogi, the playrite,'
dib. You have a poor ear for faces
or you should know
business. If any?' he corrode.
Your Manager" l yellup peevly
are so interested in my Play he are
unable to sleep. Do you wish me to
knock you off or walk on your &
with those iced words ! poke him
away and straddled into Name Office
There I see Hon. Manager setting
at desk with a stenografter In one
hand and talefone in the other.
i; x (
UsOYEs?. he say to Hon. Talefone
~ so this are James Viper
Mood Howdo. 1 read yr play and
find II eta the One ] have been search
ing for 10 yrs. AXually, "a End COM
panies shall start on road with 1T al
oncely. Will you kindly to talk to
Miss Lottie Extravaganza abou,
stockings she will wear in Act VIZ
SO happy to find your Genius. Call
in one Cd week
Please, If kindly convenient, Mr.
Manager, l commence, but he turn
to Hon. Stenografter. Letter. he de-
clare. j. w. Summerhouse, Askino-
moses, Ark. dear sir yr Play of entitle
Evening star., 1924-11-16
Live Wire Prank.

An electric wire which had been
severed by blasting operations
played a mean trick on Stephen Mo-
ran of Oakland, Me, when he wasn't
looking. He was working with an
iron crowbar and was resting il on
the pile Of rock which had been blast
ed. Attracted by the bar the wire
coiled and slithered several feet over
the ground until it touched the crow
bar. The resulting shock threw Mo
ran down, at the same time burning
his right hand and arm and one fin
ger ON his left hand.