davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1925-08-18
Progress and Degeneration

The pastor of a large New York
church preached a sermon on the
moral and physical degeneration of
the people Of today and charged it
on the ease of living. He said:
Among our fathers We're many
mighty and rugged characters. There
was reason for their strength. They
were up against forces that made for
strength that continually tempered
and refined their metal" And so
forth. Somebody is always harping on
the physical and moral degeneration
of today and then some one comes
along with statistics that we are
stronger and live longer than people
a hundred years ago. 1t is quite per-
picking
Compared with our ancestors we
surely are a pack of lawbreakers, but
there are more laws to break A man
cannot walk two squares or park his
car without breaking some sort of a
regulation. AS to our morals some
experts say we are headed for perdi-
ton and other experts say that NOV
ing pictures, fox-trotting, automobile
riding, Sunday base ball and picnics
and bridge parties are not undermin-
ing morals. The question is too much
for the common-sort person of 1925.
Perhaps hard living in the good old
days was helpful to a mans character
but the folks of 1925 cannot get back
to 1S4o. 1t is not said in the dispatch
Evening star., 1925-08-18
The Naval Gun Foundry.

Less will be heard of reduction of
force at the navy yard" and ''un-
easiness among navy yard workmen."
The report Is that the present force
at the navy yard, the only Govern
ment plant for building naval ord
nance in this country, will work for
at least two. years. with a feeling Of
security. From the beginning OF the
World War the pre-war force Of about
5000 men was increased to about
TO- 900. At the end of the war reduc-
ton after reduction was made and
machinists and other skilled work
men. drawn to Washington from
many parts of the country, left the
city. Several reductions brought the
navy yard force to its pre-war
strength. These workmen were men
Of proved skill in making guns and
most Of them were permanent resi-
dents of Washington.
Universal peace hopes and theories.
the arms limitation conference and
economy caused a reduction in the
force to it's present number of $500.
In reducing it below the pre-war
strength hardship was put on a con-
siderable number Of men who owned
homes in Washington and who be-
lieved that service in the gun factory
was permanent during good conduct.
In connection with the group or mass
dismissals from the navy yard there
were always rumors and sometimes
quasi-official reports that more men
would be discharged. 1t could not be
foreseen when the reductions would
end. There were rumors that the
navy yard would be closed and aban-
doned. At any rate there has been
very uncomfortable feeling among the
workmen at the yard" Many men
have looked elsewhere for employ
ment, and having found it. have left
the Government service and in a good
many cases have moved from Wash
ington.
The news is now that down to bed
rock in so far as personnel is concerned
the Washington Navy Yard now has
before it a program of steady work,
which will keep the $500 employees
busy for upward of two years. 1t
is said that a program has been
worked out by Rear Admiral B. f.
Hutchison, commandant of the navy
yard and superintendent Of the naval
gun factory, by which replacement
1u,orL ppd Uvorlx nm new gums will he
spread over the next two years. The
understanding is that no further cuts
in personnel are thought Of and even
that some of the employees furloughed
without pay a few weeks ago will be
called back to work.
Evening star., 1925-08-18
Jewels for the Bonnet.

News comes from London that
queen Mary has set new fashion
for wearing real jewels in the hat.
For some time women have been
wearing jewelry on the hat and shoes,
but these Jewels cost as a rule about
80 cents instead of 100000. Jewels
Tor hat pins and shoe buckles have re-
tailed at about II cents a pound in
stead of $500 a carat. OF course,
when the Queen of Great Britain,
Empress of India, etc, wears jewels
In her hat she sets a style and when
a thing becomes a style there is moth
ing to do but obey 1t.
II the ladies demand jewels for
their hats the men must buy them.
No other way out. Let the jewelers.
send in their bills. Hats always have
been costly creations and a few thou
sand dollars in pearls and diamonds
added to a hat will not make much
difference. Perhaps, If women wear
1ewelry for other women to look at
they cannot wear it in better place
than on the hat. It is the first part
of a woman that another woman
looks at and is the object of her most
sarcastic, or adoring, scrutiny.
The King of England is perhaps
better able to buy jewels than are
many men in Washington, but there
are male Washingtonians so oblivious
to court etiquette that they believe
their wives queens and entitled to
anything queen wants. II she
wants diamonds on her bonnet, why
of course. The right sort of a hus-
band-and all Washington husbands
are that way-will cut down on his
cigar bill and smoke a pipe. He will
toss away the fond. bright hope of a
new overcoat this Winter. Last
years overcoat and that of year be.
fore last and the year before that,
etc, can be refined, new buttons and
another collar can be sewed on, and
the rest of it can be darned to look
as bright and snappy as it looked
nine years ago. But his queen must
be properly and stylishly attired.
Evening star., 1925-08-18
a Philanthropist Seeks Advice

One of New Yorks numerous multi.
millionaires recently concluding that
he ought to do something for the pub
lie welfare with his cash, sought ad-
vice as to how he should dispose of
his extra millions TO the greatest ben
eft for the largest number. He did
not confer with fellow philanthro-
pists, who have had some experience
in the matter of giving away fortunes,
but he sought suggestions Of the peo-
pie and caused publication of his re-
quest for suggestions. The response
has been voluminous. At the latest
report $4,000 replies have been re-
ceived, and several secretaries are
now engaged in examining them,
while the would-be benefactor has
fed to secluded place of conceal
ment pending their report.
Probably most Of these letters be-
long to a single class, those suggest
ing that the best possible use for
these millions would be In personal
donations to the writer's. People of
large means do not have to ask for
advice in the matter Of benefactions
in order to get this sort of proposals
for division of responsibility. Indeed,
almost all the notoriously rich main
tain veritable bureaus for the consid-
Grafton Of such begging letters. But
doubtless among the 80 900 replies re-
ceived to date in this case are many
sincere plans for practical philan-
thropy, endowment Of colleges, estab-
lishment of libraries, hospitals, hos
pices for the care of the aged and in
firm, scientific research laboratories,
educational scholarships, public rec
reation centers and facilities, the pro-
motion of art. or the advancement of
religion.
No one Of greatl fortune needs to
look af1eld for ideas regarding the
helpful and instructive use of his
Evening star., 1925-08-18

that this New York minister after
preaching his sermon walked or rode
bony horse twelve miles to his cabin
in the forest, drove off a. tribe Of In
dians, went to the woodpile and
chopped the fagots for cooking sup
per, hauled on the wel-rope and
brought in two buckets Of water. fed.
groomed and bedded the horse, cooped
up the chickens and drove home the
cows. 1t is not written that after a
hearty supper of hot corn bread,
chittlings, spareribs and sassafras tea.
he pulled off his muddy boots with
bootjack, blew out his candle, fell
asleep in a feather bed under a quilt
his grandmother made and got up at
am. to walk three miles to the
postroad to get his copy Of the Month
ly Gazette as the stage coach roared
past.
The chances are that this minister
after finishing his sermon on the dan
gers of easy living today got into an
automobile. alighted at his apartment
turned on the electric fan, found his
dinner cooked on a gas range, helped
himself to asparagus shipped from
California. pineapple brought from
Honolulu and string beans from Flori-
da, spread factory butter on bread
baked in a monster plant. sweetened
his China tea with white sugar, or
dered some machinenla ice cream
and cake and then turned on the radio.
Evening star., 1925-08-18
FACTS In COAL CONTROVERSY
BY WILLIAM p. HELM. JR.

from 1915 for boys TO s6.47 per day
for blacksmiths. The figures disre-
gard slate pickers, of whom there are
relatively few, and whose work is,
perhaps, the ightest performed at the
mine.
Status OF Miners Families.
In addition to investigating the
earnings of mine workers, the Fed
eral Government also inquired into
their civic status and family respon-
sibiltties. Its investigation disclosed
facts little known or understood out
side of the tight little anthracite field.
OF 1850 workers at the anthracite
mines, the commission found. $4,000,
or approximately SO per cent, are for
elgn-born, and of that number AZ, 900,
or about "a per cent, came from Russia
and Poland. Nearly all of the foreign.
born miners, however, had spent five
years or more in the United States,
but $4,000, or approximately "A per
cent, were still alien in their allie
glance. Ten thousand of the remain
ing $4,000 foreign-born miners had
taken out first citizenship papers only,
so that less than half of the foreign
born employees were American citizens.
Two-thirds of the foreign-born
miners and nearly half of the native
miners maintained their own homes.
More than a third of the former owned
their homes, as compared with less
than % per cent of the American
miners. In the homes Of these for
eign-born miners there were approx
mately 100000 children.
Average Family Increases.
Taking each family as a unit, the
commission ascertained that the aver.
age income among representative fam
lilies visited was approximately $176
a month between October 1, 1922, and
March l. 1s23-prior, it will be noted,
to the 10 per cent Pinchot increase.
OF this average about $40 represent
ed the fathers earnings. The re.
mainder was made up of children s
earnings, the mothers earnings from
boarders, and miscellaneous small rev.
enue.
Such was the average, but, like al.
most everything else, there was wide
diversity in earnings which went to
make 1t up. Forty-one families out of
every 100 had $176 or more monthly,
but the remaining SO had incomes
ranging between 800 and $3.50 a
month. Living was on a fairly high
standard among the better earning
families, but not so at the lower end
of the scale. In $50 miners homes,
where earnings were low, the COM
mission found that the food consumed
did not conform in variety to the
standards set by experts as essential
for healthful living.
In the item Of rent the commission
found some compensation to offset
relatively low earnings. Rents were
notoriously low, ranging from $11.36
per month for a home in a community
Of from $500 to 10000 inhabitants, up
to an average Of $14.71 per month In
cities of more than $4,000. And that.
too, was in 1921.
tCopyright. 1926.).
Evening star., 1925-08-18

I that every member Of the family casts
off, yet hates to part with, and still
hold forth the delusion of plenty of
space left.
How it does it no one knows, but it
does, until 1t presents the appearance
Of q cross between Fortunes cornu-
copia and Pandora'S box.
Yet what q sorry accumulation is
there, my countrymen!
1t may be said without serious fear
of contradiction that fully half Of the
contents of Easements could be given
to the trash man without the slightest
loss Except to the trash mani, and
probably one-half of the remainder
could be cut up into kindling wood
very profitably.
At least one.half Of the last re-
mainder might be smelted down, so
that 1t might be the more easily re-
moved by the old junk man.
Then the complete residue might be
swept into the alley with the minimum
of effort.
The accumulation Of dross as we go
through life is one of the standing
mysteries of that great mystery, man.
Wherever you find this creature you
find his left-overs.
On to all he ever owned, Man hangs
desperately, as though afraid that he
might never have another chance to
own the like again. Is 1t not possible
to see here, writ in large letters, the
story Of the unending struggle Of Man
with poverty?
No matter what a family owns to-
day, down somewhere in the nature of
every member is the recognition that
what is once gained ought to be held
on to, for it may come in handy
some day"
Aye, 1t may come in handy some
day!
There Is, too another element we
must never forget.
1t is sentiment.
The reason we treasure so many
old things in our Easements is because
| we have an affection for them.
What! have an affection for that
old. battered trunk?
Yes, for that old. battered trunk!
That box accompanied US on many
happy journeys in the old days, when
| our hearts were young. It stood by
| US stanchly, and now that its ribs
are bruised and broken. shall we turn
it out of house and homer
God forbid!
Like the faithful old warhorse II is,
| let it stand there in the corner.
stained, dilapidated. broken, but dry.
and safe. covered with memories-and
an old towel.
Maybe we can use IL some dayi
The lure Of future use is the shin
| ing light of hope to countless families.
| Who knows what the future may
bring forth. Who has not had the fol-
lowing experience?
| You are about to build a radio set.
You wonder what you will house the
| works" IN. Suddenly you recall that
very fine box IN which one of the
| Christmas presents arrived three
years ago.
II that box had been made to order,
| it could not fill the bill better. You
are glad you ordered It saved, despite
| the protests OF your wife.
Happily you go into the basement
but you cannot find II.
Where is that box I asked you to
save for me?"
What box?"
That box Aunt Mary's Christmas s
present came in
Which Christnas?'
Three years ago."
"Oh, that box"
Yes, that box"
Why, l gave 1t to the trash man
| yesterday"
Evening star., 1925-08-18

@. How many taxis are there in
the District?-P. D. S.
A. The Traffic Bureau OF tho Dis
trict says 1t has issued 1866 licenses
to automobiles which are for hire.
1t would be impossible to say how
many of these licenses were issued to
private hackers.
O. Suppose the level of the sea
could be reduced 500 feet, how much
land surface would be added to the
world?-O. o. 3.
A. 1t would add 100000 square
miles to the land area.
@. Did Darwin study the develop
ment of his own children?-W. N.
A. Darwin made notes on the de-
velopment OF one of his children.
thereby setting a fashion for parents,
teachers and other psychological OBJ
servers.
@. Are King George V and Queen
Mary related to each other by blood?
&C. r.
A. Queen Mary is King Georges
second cousin once removed.
O. How many of the law schools
In the country conform to the stand
ards set by the American Bar Asso-
can Law Schools?-C. +. W.
A. Forty-four out Of 149 law schools
at the present time conform to the
standards Of the associations.
@. How fast do disease germs mul-
tiply7-C. T.
A. 1t is estimated that in suitable
conditions one bacterium in "a hours
will have 10000 900 descendants.
Q. To settle an argument, what
size guns do our submarines use?-
II. A.
A. The latest type of submarine is
equipped with the 6-inch fleet sub
marine gun. The old type is equip
ped with the 5-inch gun.
@. What is the salute to the church
fag?-w. H
<. The salute to the Christian flag
was written by the Rev. Lynn Harold
Hough and first used in the Sunday
school of the Third Methodist Epis-
copal Church, Long Island City, n.
Y. Christmas eve. 1903. 1t reads: 'I
pledge my allegiance to my flag, and
to the Savior for whose kingdom IL
stands, one brotherhood, uniting all
| mankind in service and love-"
@. Is 1t correct to say 'the balance
OF the evening was spent In dancing
| B. G.
A. The word remainder" should be
| used-not balance"
@. Was Adelina Patti the highest
! paid prtna donna on the operate
! stages. F. w.
A. She received very high prices
| for her performances and is said to
| have earned in the course of her life
| $4,000, 900. Although the question of
salary is a private one, 1t is reason.
| able to believe that Patti was one of
the highest paid artists, If not the
| highest, on the operate stage.
Q. Can land be judged by the weeds
! that grow on it2-A. P.
| a. The character of their growth
| indicates the quality of the soil Wild
| carrot and the ox-eye daisy grow only
| upon poor soils or soils that have been
! robbed of their fertility. Sheep sorrel
| indicates acid land, the necessity OF
| applying lime to ''sweeten" the soil
| Bracken, sedge and moss show that
| the land needs drainage. Dark green
| foliage and large size of plant and
| leaf are good indications of abundant
Evening star., 1925-08-18
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.

This is as good a time as any tc
clean out the basement. Perhaps
better than waiting for Fall.
In the old days 1t was the attic
which was "ridded out" but today
there are more Easements than attics
The modern basement is a sort OF
"catch-all' for the whole house, q
treasure chest of articles that should
never be treasured, a hope chest
OF things without hope.
The basement is the Sargasso Sea
of loves ocean, wherein all the f1ot-
sam and jetsam of the daily life
comes to rest. utterly bereft Of use oil
charm, waiting the last call Of the
trash man.
l speak not here of the elaborate
basement you read about in adver-
tisements, ads" which show the ar
tistic furnace, a thing OF beauty anC
JOY forever, being admired by q
galaxy of ladies in evening dress, at
tended by smartly attired gentlemen
Most of the easements 1 know any
thing about are not at all like that
As for the furnaces, the less said
about them the better. A furnace is
like small boys used to be--to be seer
and not heard.
No self-respecting furnace of my
acquaintance makes any claim on the
beauty prize. 1t sports neither one
piece bathing suit nor the latest
thing in kick pleats." but it's q
hot proposition just the same.
The motto of the furnace is Beauty
Is as beauty does" and its favorite
piece of poetry is something about
doing noble deeds, not dreaming
them, all day long.
Cleaning out the basement, how
ever, has little or nothing TO dc
with the furnace. 1t is not this Goa
consumer we are going to rid out
(get rid of.
What householders shave need tc
get rid OF are the thousand and one
odds and ends which clutter up the
basement in practically every home
in Washington. Show me a epick-
and span basement, and / will show
you one where some real work has
been done only recently.
One of the truly marvellous features
of home life is the way a family car
accumulate papers. magazines. old
pieces of furniture. rugs, mops
brooms, buckets, dilapidated toys, TOY
wagons that have seen better DAYS
stray pieces of worn-out garden hose
and hundreds of other articles toe
numerous to mention.
Every family runs a private junl
shop in the basement. into which many
things go over the protest of some
member of the household or other.
Il think I Will throw this old Goa
away" says the wife.
Throw that good, cid coat away
nothing" says the husband, very un
grammatically, perhaps, but leavins
no bit of doubt as to what he nnea ms
What shall 1 do with IL, them"
"Oh, put 1t down in the basement
on that old chest of drawers. l viii
wear it the next time / go fishing"
So the frayed coat goes into the
basement.
How about giving this old pan Il
the trash MANI" asks the husband
seized with cleaning-up streak, ir
his turn.
II can use that old pan in the gar
den," replies his wife.
What will you do with It now"
"Oh, I'll put it down in the base
ment.'
So the basement fills up. day by
day. week by week, month by month
The average Washington basement
has an absolutely unlimited capacity
for absorbing punishment. 1t will take
into its. capacious depth every article
Evening star., 1925-08-18
The Final Fortnight.

With only two weeks remaining be-
fore September l and the threatened
suspension of work in the anthracite
mines, the quiet before the storm
seems to have arrived. Miners and
operators are standing pat" A
strike order. affecting the $4,000 hard
coal miners, may be issued within a
few days.
1t is scarcely a pleasant situation
for the coal consumers to contemplate.
A shut down in the mines means
higher prices and less coal, unless,
indeed the suspension be of the
briefest.
But. to add to the gravity of the
situation, the dispatches tell of the
conferences of leaders of the Inter
national Miners Union in Philadel-
phia, where the bituminous miners
officials are meeting informally with
President John L. Lewis. The threat
made by officers of the union that
unless settlement is arrived at in the
hard coal mines there will be trouble
in the soft may bear fruit, although
the contract under which the btu
minous miners are working has still
another year to run.
Such a sympathetic strike on the
part of the bituminous miners would
receive no sympathy from the gen
eral public. The public is giving
signs at last of showing a little sym
pathy for itself. 1t wants coal, and
it intends to have it. Both the oper-
ators and the miners might as well
understand it's attitude first as last.
The operators, in their appeal to the
public, appear to have the best of
The matter to date. They have Of
fered to arbitrate their differences
with the anthracite miners before an
impartial tribunal. But the miners
have declared they will not arbitrate.
This attitude does not make for SYM
pathetic understanding on the part Of
the public.
What is needed more than anything
else at The present time is light, and
neither side is shedding any too much
of it. Arbitration fairly conducted
would go far to establish the real
facts in the coal industry and to bring
about an equitable settlement of the
controversy over wages and working
conditions. If the operators are pro-
posing to cut wages and at the same
time to put exorbitant, or even high,
profits into their own pockets, the
public ought to know it, and would
know ii, If the arbitrators conducted
their inquiry searchingly. If the in
dustry is paying the coal miners
fair wages, or too great, this also
would be developed in such a pro-
ceeding.
Some day, perhaps, Congress will
get around to the job of providing
machinery which will give the needed
publicity to conditions in the coal
mining industry. The interest of the
public in fuel warrants such publicity
lust as it warrants full publicity with
regard to transportation. But the
present situation cannot wait on Con-
gress. Unless there is to be suffer-
ing this Winter, the operators and the
miners should get down to brass tacks
and settle their differences on a basis
fair and just to both.
Evening star., 1925-08-18

surplus. This has been called a land
of opportunity. and It Is surely one Of
opportunities for the mutimillionaire
to expend his means for the benefit
Of his fellows of less fortune. Some
freak scheme of wealth distribution
and use may develop from the mass
OF proposals which this man is re-
ceiving, but his own inspiration should
be sufficient without the stimulus of
this response to what to many ap-
pears as a clever and not expensive
bid for publicity.
Evening star., 1925-08-18
Unbelievable.

1t is small wonder people frequently
say you can't believe what you see in
the newspapers when as reliable a
publication as the New York Times
prints a story to the effect Mrs. Mary
Flanagan appeared before a judge
and asked to have her husband BAN
ished from her house because he was
in the habit of pushing his food aside
and grumbling about everything she
prepared for him. Possibly there is a
mistake in the name, due to the care.
lessness of young reporter. and GER
tainly the Times owes it's readers
some such explanation. That paper
surely doesn't expect us to believe a
woman by the name Of Mrs. Mary
Flanagan ever went to a judge for
help when 1t came to managing that
husband of hers.-kansas City Post.