davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1926-05-23
Backward Brit I'll Schools nzsm PHILIP GIBBS

MAN was summoned at Lewes the
~ other day because he tried to give his
~ child better education. In his opin.
ion than she was receiving at coun-
There are many people who share this mans
belief that the education the schools are CIV
ing their children today is Inadequate. and
that some OF 1t is useless, and, consequently,
wasteful Yet the taxpayer is called upon to
pay a vast annual sum for it.
We are spending vast sums Of money every
year on our national system Of education. but,
looking at the results, one is tempted some
times to believe that it is mostly wasted.
Even when we include our public schools
and universities, not paid for out Of the ma
tional exchequer but costing very dearly to the
parents of our modern youth. the general re-
suits are poor.
In many ways. we are the worst educated
people in the whole world among the great ma
tions. barring, perhaps, the Americans. whose
standard. should say, Is about level with our
own. We have 1t is true. many brilliant schol.
ars, many highly educated men and women,
many fine scientists, many circles of intelli-
gent people who have read largely and OBJ
served much. But they small minorities in
the general mass Of people who are supposed
to be educated.
How rarely it is that any English man or
woman speak any foreign language
even half a dozen decent sentences in q for
eign tongue. Yet vast numbers of them have
spent years In trying to acquire little French.
Even great statesmen. with one or two
exceptions like Sir Austen Chamberlain. can
not exchange an idea with foreign diplomats
unless English is the language.
But in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Ger
many, Holland and many other countries. many
boys and girls who have never been beyond
their own frontiers learn to speak English
markably well. and probably know another
language besides.
In our public schools for She sons of the
well-todo. and in universities like Oxford
and Cambridge, there is still strong allie
glance to classical education, and hours every
day are devoted to Latin and Greek.
But among all the boys who are turned out
by our great schools how many can read
Greek play with any pleasure? How
many can read more than chapter two Of
Caesar without a crib? Not one in a hundred
thousand.
The whole thing is fetish and farce.
which has no educational value except in rare
cases Of students who have exceptional genius
and industry
There must be something wrong somewhere .
when one finds that boys who have been to
the best schools in the country come away with
onlya lamentabe ignorance Of the worlds
science, and hardly any guidance to the great
masterpieces Of art and literature throughout
the ages.
Evening star., 1926-05-23

There are admirable exceptions among our
public and private schools. but this general
statement is, l think, accurate.
What about elementary education for the
masses? 1t is true that every boy and girl
learns reading, writing and arithmetic at the
expense of the state. Judging from the accom-
pshments Of the boy clerk and the girl clerk,
before they have been taken in hand during
office hours the state money has not been well
and truly spent.
Their reading has not made them acquaint-
ed with many simple and muchused words;
they spell atrociously. They write viley-with
again some admirable exceptions.
They, too, have dabbled little in eemen-
tary science, glanced at various subjects with
high hsounding names and learned bookkeeping,
shorthand and typewriting at the end of their
schooling.
But all those great buildings which have
cost the taxpayers immense sums, all that
elaborate equipment of laboratories and class
rooms, all those beautifully produced text books
which are put at their service. have failed to
produce anything like good standard of gen.
eral knowledge anything remotely resem-
bling love of learning, sense Of beauty,
good standard Of taste. intelligent judg-
ment or a solid foundation of character.
X X X
Our national education for the masses is
poverty-strcken in its ideals though lavish in
expenditure. 1t does not teach boys and girls
how to pronounce their own language which
is becoming more and more degraded by Cock
neyisms and all sorts Of vulgarity 1t does not
teach them what to read we'll how to
read.
They are turned out without any formation
Of good taste or any revelation Of the splendid
adventure of knowledge. And because chance
of education is given to them without payment.
without the need Of any sacrifice, they take it
matter Of course and they do not value it.
We are producing a nation of clerks and
Office boys, glibtongued. sharp-witted, fairly
good at clerical work, but unable to make any
thing with their hands profoundly igno-
rant of real wisdom, utterly careless of the
higher range Of knowledge. very much inter
ested in the divorce court news, the sensational
titbits OF social scandals, the tidal outflow Of
cheap sentiment and shoddy ideas.
X X X
This mass production of semi-educated peo-
pie is having lowering effect upon our stand
ards Of civilization they may be put to the
test by art, literature and popular tsate.
One the degradation of the drama by
the continuous success of musical revues de-
void Of wit. filled with the stale humors of So
cial improperly, badly written. without any
attempt at artistic construction, but relying en-
tirely the physical charms of pretty girls
who can't sing and the audacities Of comic
young gentlemen who dance very nicely.
Evening star., 1926-05-23
Copyright. 1926.l

there. His aggressive militarism,
while in control of the government,
forced Paderewski to resign. Pade-
rewski had promised the allied pow
ers that Poland would abstain from
any attempted conquests of addition
al territory. Pilsudski refused to
abide by this and made an unsuc-
cessful effort to add some of the
Russian territory to Poland. When
his attempt failed, it required the in
reference of the allied powers to
prevent the Russian forces from fol-
lowing up their success and march
ing into Warsaw. The recent de-
velopments in Poland's affairs show
that Pilsudski is endeavoring to make
his assumption of the control of the
Polish government a legal one. He
apparently intends to be a candidate
for president at the coming election.
He has seen Mussolini in Italy.
Rivera in Spain. Kemal in Turkey,
Pangalos in Greece, and the new
Shah in Persia, severally take advan-
tage of the weakness of their exist
ing governments and usurp the pow
ers and make themselves the virtual
rulers. He sees that this last Po-
lish government was incapable of
mastering the situation and finds that
the agrarianS cannot agree with the
various labor factions. He knows
that none Of the leaders have a ma
jority behind them and he probably
feels convinced that 1t is his patriotic
duty to assume the reins of govern
ment and hold them firmly against
the weaker leaders of Poland as we'll
as against Germany and Russia. One
really must have known the leaders
that were supplanted in these other
countries, like Italy, Turkey and
Greece, and also those Of Poland. to
fully appreciate the temptation they
create for a strong man to step in.
stop their drifting and make himself
the leader. This is one Of the in
cidental stages in the Transformation
Of the various autocracies into democ-
racies.
There has been no opportunity in
these countries to train or produce
leaders or experts in the science of
government, so usurpation of power
by strong men, generally backed or
abetted by the military elements, is
becoming the fashion of the period.
Copyright. 1920
Evening star., 1926-05-23

One sees the degradation Of literature by
the enormous output of weak and immoral
novels which give unhealthy thrills to the
young girls who read them and have no pre-
tense to good style, a truthful presentation OF
life or any intellectual value.
Our magazine are mostly beneath contempt,
because their editors take the easy way Of get
ting big circulations by pandering to the lowest
standard Of intelligence of the largest number
rather than to the good taste and artistic in
stincts Of the well educated few.
1t is most amentable fact that In this
country, as well as in America, the stage, the
cinema and popular fiction are becoming domi
mated by an overwhelming interest in the prob
lens Of sex. treated, for the most part, with a
levity which Is alarming.
l am not Puritanical in these things. l
don't believe In the early Victorian method of
hushng up that side Of life If it didn't ex-
list. am all for a certain frankness and fear
lessness. But believe also that there are GER
tain limits Of good taste and decency imposed
by the laws of art itself, to say nothing of
morality, and life anyhow is SO full Of tempta-
tions and weakness, even for the strongest and
most spiritual among us, that it isn't fair on
youth-or middle age-to be always concen-
trating attention on that subject and lossening
the ordinary safeguards of the mind by all
this morbid, suggestive and non-moral stuff.
X X X X
Well. that is the black side of the picture
There Is another side. which in fairness and
truth l gladly admit. In spite Of what l be-
lieve to be the low standard of national
education, there is an increasing number of
men and women who reading the best books
rather than the worst, who are taking more
intense interest in the serious problems of life.
These groups Of people, upon whom
standard Of civilization mainly depends, are be-
ing enlarged. They are finding recruits in
every social class-even the unemployed.
Not long ago had letter from ship
worker on the Clyde who had been out Of work
for something like four years. He had not
wasted his time. He sent list Of books
he had been reading at the public library. and
! was amazed not only by the number but the
quality of all these volumes in which he had
been searching for truth.
Down in the East End of London I have
come into touch with working men and women
who have an enthusiasm for writer's like John
Galsworthy and Joseph Conrad, Thomas Hardy
and Bernard Shaw.
On the whole, too, think that this wire
less habit is raising the standard of public in
telligence and taste. 1t is not only the
concert hall, but the university of the people,
and will have. believe, a very great effect
upon our national mind.
There are many other agencies at work to
give us all more knowledge and better taste
But they are outside rather than inside
educational system, which needs overhaulng
and speeding up.
Evening star., 1926-05-23

What an opportunity was Astol-
pho's, For such a chance to serve
men l would risk a trip to the moon my.
self. / know right now what l would
do. would select the walls of sincere,
but sometimes misguided, political
leaders and bear them back to earth.
even though they made quite a load
Nor would l neglect to follow Astol-
pho's example as to my own)
Among those to whom l would play
good fairy would be the jealous stu
dents OF immigration reform. who are
crying out for an alien registration
law.
All these men want is a spy system,
patterned after the super.efficient po-
lice system of the late Car Of Russia.
Under the proposed law the 5000, 900
foreign residents Of the United States
would be tagged and card indexed
against the needs Of the police and
politicians
Each foreign resident would be re-
Quired to register once each year and
to report on his progress in American
ism. He would also be subject to oc
casional visitations by bureau agents,
bent on investigating his industry, di-
versions and his attitude toward his
employer In short, the alien would
be always under the thumb of a gov
ernment operated by politicians. whose
interest in party affairs Is keen.
A companion proposal of the alien
registration bill would make any alien
subject to deportation at any time
after hearing-and the burden of proof
would be upon the alien.
AS an aid to police effectiveness,
such law would be extremely useful
However. the United States has long
been advertised as the land of the
free" and certainly the cause of free
dom would not be promoted by con-
stant espionage of a large class Of citi-
zens. The law would serve also as a
precedent for spreading the scheme to
cover all citizens. In addition. it
would be costly, cumbersome, unjust
and a nuisance.
1t is really unfortunate that some Of
those who are loudest in their de-
mands for such an enactment are men
who have accomplished great good in
the handling of our immigration prob
lens. For that reason I am hoping
that a modern Astolpho will soon re-
store their good sense, which, I am
sure, can only have escaped tempo
rarily.
Evening star., 1926-05-23
.ussolini's Policy
Against Birth Control

"Down with birth control" shouted
the crowd in Tripoli in response to
Mussolini's declarations: 1--WE are a
prolific people and intend to remain
prolific" Italy's net increase of pop
ulation of half a million a year is the
recurrent theme of the official Ital-
ian expansion campaign and her de-
mand for new colonies.
The increase, of course, progresses
at compound interest. In 10 years
Italy will have nearly fifty million in
habitants, and in 20 years a good
sixty million, if the present increase
Is maintained and new openings for
emigration are not found.
Birth control is not specifically for
bidden in Italy, although 1t Is contrary
to the Mussolini policy. The Fascist
government has no need to resort to
legal prohibitions. The love for chill
dren and the craving for them con-
tinues strong in the whole race. The
political consequences are another
matter.
Evening star., 1926-05-23
Louvre Loses CuriOs.

A curious lawsuit has just been con-
cluded whereby the Louvre is ordered
to give up some priceless art treas
ures and return them to the heirs Of
the man who was their original donor.
The treasures are mostly sarcophagi,
statues and vases from Syria, the am
phora of Emese, some Phoenician an
tiquities and other valuable acquisi-
tions which have been looked upon as
public treasure for many years.
the euf f,o,,wre @ Tvie hv M % 6mrinSelio Sen then N
French consul in Syria. An old law
says that If children are born in the
family of a donor he may provide for
the return Of gifts to his heirs. Duri-
ghello's will contained some such pro
vision, it was found ON his death.
Evening star., 1926-05-23
SJJPERSTTTTOJJS NATURE BACKS
PILSUDSKI In COUP ATTEMPT
Was Told by Gypsy 10 Years Ago That He Would
Rise to Power and Firmly Believes He
Cannot Fail.

to secure control of the Polish gov
ernment.
Pilsudski is a huge, rather forbid
ding man. He has g. big, square
Jaw that he thrusts out below his
thick lips. His face is abnormally
broad, with high, prominent cheek
bones, and his cropped hair stands up
like bristles, while his eyes snap from
under a thicket caused by his heavy
eyebrows that meet across his fore
head.
When I was in Poland, Pilsudski
scolded me roundly for being there.
He deeply resented the interference
by the American Government in Po-
lands internal affairs. He claimed
that President Wilson had no more
right to send a. commission to inves-
tigate the alleged pogroms in Po-
land than he, as the chief OF the
Polish State, had a right to send
some of his people to our Southern
States to investigate the lynching
Evening star., 1926-05-23

Y HEN AStolphO, riding the
AA/ Hippogriff, alighted on the
wv mountain top where was
situated the terrestrial par
adise, a patriarch greeted
him warmly, as he was just then in
need Of a messenger to perform
| service on earth. This service, it is
| recorded by the good archbishop who
preserved the legends Of Charlie
magne, was planned in behalf of the
famous paladin Orlando. who was
roaming the earth a madman, attack
ing all whom he met, uprooting trees
| and performing other extravagances,
all because of his wicked and unre-
Quilted passion for a Saracen maiden,
Angelica Heaven had sent the mad
| ness as punishment, but was now
ready to grant relief.
X X \ X
1t would be necessary, the patriarch
told Astolpho, to make a trip to the
moon in search Of the remedy. To
that end he ordered a chariot. the
same that carried the prophet Elijah
to Heaven, and the two were soon
soaring toward the moon. Arrived on
| this planet, Astolpho perceived many
marvels. The moon, 1t appeared,
serves as a receptacle for the futile
| things Of earth. There he saw great
heaps OF windy biadderS-the remains
of lost empires; hooks of. silver and
gold-the gifts of ambitiohs courtiers
to princes: garlands of flowers equip
ped with hidden snares-the batteries
of false friends; grasshoppers that had
burst their lungs chirping-the odes
and tributes Of bootlicking poets to the
rich and powerful.
y X X
Astolpho also saw great number of
small walls, containing liquor, very
| light and sealed tightly to prevent
evaporation. These, he was told, con-
tained the good sense that had es-
capped from men. One vial bore the
name of Orlando and this was intrust-
| ed to Astolpho with instructions for
! its return to the heroic champion. 1t
was quite full On the shelves were
| vials bearing the names Of men Of
| vast reputation for dignity and wis.
dom. Some were nearly empty, some
| half full and others almost full. Dis
covering his own name, Astolpho
seized the vial and quickly inhaled the
contents. For some years afterward
! he was accounted a man full of wit
and sagacity, but the faithful arch.
bishop adds that eventually much of
! the liquor found it's way back to the
vial,
Evening star., 1926-05-23
BY HENRY MORGENTHAU.
Former Ambassador to Turkey.

The American people have been
startled during the last few days at
the revolution in Poland. Those of
us who know Marshal Pilsudski were
not at all surprised at the drastic
methods he employed in displacing
the government. Pilsudski Is a man
of very strong and determined char
acter and also of a superstitious ma
ture. He told me that about 10
years ago. while he was a prisoner
in Madgeburg, a gypsy queen proph-
esied that he would eventually be
a dictator Of Poland. The gypsy
found that the lines at the base Of
his right foreflnger formed a perfect
star and that that was sure sign
that the lucky bearer would rise to
mastery. He told me that he posi-
lively believes this. and think it in
fiuences him in his present attempt
Evening star., 1926-05-23
BY HAROLD X. PHILIPS.

A T high noon on May 20. 1902,
\ ~ the veteran troops of the 7th
~ United States Cavalry stood at
4 "A attention in the plaza before
Evening star., 1926-05-23
Speaking of the Worlds Work
Astolphos Trip the Moon-The Alien Registration Plan.
BY JAMES NJ LYNCH

Y Y YHEN Astolpho. riding the
AA/ Hippogriff. alighted on the
wv mountain top where was
situated the terrestrial par
Evening star., 1926-05-23
BY FRANK ~. sIMONDS.

~ OME.-WNthcr viewed as a
- mere sps,tAcle, taken as the
IL evidence or a national state of
L mind, or accepted as a series
The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1926-07-02
P. and E. Baseball
at Picnic

The annual picnic of employees Of
the Peoria & Eastern Railway, spon-
sored by the P. & E. Athletic Assoc
Citations of Indianapolis and Urbana
Gid, will be held at Danville, ILL.,,
Sunday. Special trains will leave
Indianapolis and Peoria, ILL.,, on that
date, to convey employees of the COM
pany and members of their families.
The train from Indianapolis will
leave at 1880 a. M, arriving at the
picnic grounds at Danville at GAS
a. m. and will leave at s p. M,
returning to Indianapolis at p M
In addition to the employees Of the
Peoria & Eastern Railway there will
be several hundred in attendance
from the Big Four and New Ybrk
Central Railroads at Danville, and
from the Peoria & Pekin Union Rail-
NVay at Peoria.
EAle of the features will be a
6ball game between the P. & E.
: VANS of Indianapolis and Urbana
A large number of contests ath-
1etic and otherwise, will be held.
There will be contests for men, worn-
en- and children, and approximately
$500 in prizes will be Distribute.
The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1926-07-02
DECISION
G ZOE s TO
M T IGU {
Willy Mike Keeps Safe Dis.
lance From Risko and
Wins in Ten Rounds.
BY Paul w. White.

United Press Staff Correspondent.
NEW YORK, July 2.--Youth is
yet to be served in the instance Of
Johnny Risko and Mike McTigue.
McTigue, the one-time light heavy
weight champion of the world, his
face seamy and his muscles little
stiff. demonstrated the theory of the
school that believes experience can
win over young fighting heart, by
taking a ten.round decision from the
smuggling, slamming Cleveland bat
tier Johnny Risko.
While the tactics of the former
champion didn't make the bout much
of a spectacle as far as the small
house was concerned, 1t served to
check the downward trend Of the
career which famed with question
able victory over Battling Sikh.
In the main, Mike kept a safe
distance from the Clevelander and
managed to take most OF the swings
tossed at him on his glove. He
SlCDDCQ III OH Il lCW OCOdSAOllos anu
with little difficulty chopped Johnny
with a right or left.
In the second round, after Risko
had made an impressive showing in
the opener willy Mike snapped a
right to Risko's head and followed
with four singing blows to the face.
Again in the fifth the Irishman
left himself go and slowed up the
rushing Cleveland youth with well
placed punches to the face. The only
other interesting action came in the
tenth when the two stood toe to toe
and. had rapid but harmless ex-
change for few seconds.
With all of the fists which were
flying in the ten rounds. not one
landed hard enough to really effect
either boxer. Both came out of the
match without mark to show for
the evenings work.
The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1926-07-02
VA N x e c s
+ | r M A s
FAvORITE
Have 10-Game Lead Near
Halfway Mark-Na-
tionaI Race Different.
BY Frank Getty,

United News STAFF Correspondent.
NEW YORK. July 2.--As the ma
jor league pennant races enter the
month of July, within a few days Of
the halfway mark, dopesters make
ready for a second guess.
The New York Yankees, who
Grew out in front in the American
League pennnant chase by virtue of
two long winning streaks early in
the season, have only one more
week on the road and then will be
home again for the rest OF the
month.
1t was at the local stadium that
the Yanks piled UP the foundation
for their impressive lead which now
amounts to ten FULL games
Behind the Yankees Ave clubs are
closely punched. with only three
games separating the White Sox in
second place from the Senators in
sixth.
From ten to thirteen games to
make up from now until September
rs is a task requiring more class
than any of the five contenders has
shown thus far.
1t is too early to despair of the
Athletics. but Mack's, disappointing
youngsters tossed away another ball
game on Thursday afternoon, four
pitchers. including Lefty Grove,
Sammy Gray, Joe Pate and Walberg.
falling to stop the lowly Red Sox.
Cleveland. Detroit and Chicago,
three teams well up in the running,
have shown few pennant possibili.
ties. From the vantage point Of July
2, It seems that the Athletics must
catch the speeding Yankees, If any
one Is to do so.
In the National League, the stu.
alton is quite different. Because they
have the strongest pitching staff in
major league baseball. the Reds are
out in front, but their margin is
nothing to count upon the first week
in July.
The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1926-07-02
VETS GAM Z
Baseball Stars Of Other Days
in Contest.

BIZ United Press
NEW YORK, July Baseball
stars of other days will give an eX-
hibition here July in honor Of
their idol Christy Mathewson. The
contest will be three innings for the
Mathewson Memorial Fund and will
be preliminary to the Washington
New York game.
John McGraw, manager of the
Giants, Fred Clark, Roger Bresna-
han, RUDE Marquard are some Of
the stars who will complete. Cen
eral Stewart has given special re-
lease so Moose" Mccormick can
leave his post in the U. s. Army to
play in the game.
Joe McGinnity "Ir1n-man Joe"
is returning from the West, where
he had gone because of the death
of his wife. George Burns will be