davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Washington times., 1931-09-30
WE'RE ALL BORN SWIMMERS, SAYS CHAMP
Reflex Is Automatic
Even for a
Beginner

NEW YORK, Sept. 20
U.N.S.)-"SuppOse you were to
throw q puppy into the water.
Suppose you tossed a baby
lion, or tiger: or any animal
you can think Of into the Wa
ter-what would. happen?"
Miss Aileen Riggin, who wa
Olympic diving champion anC
national title holder Just a few
short years ago, peered intentl!
out of very blue eyes. Her in
quisitor suggested:
"It would probably swim
away.
"Of course it would. Maybe
that puppy, or lion, or tiger
was too young to walk-but It
would Immediately swim.
Swimming Is much easier than
walking because IL Is q natural
and instructive motion"
The Washington times., 1931-09-30
MURDER
HUNT FAILS
To NAB z
One Suspect" vainIy Tries
to Surrender, Now Missing;
Four Face VagranCy Charges

Two men wanted for question
ing in connection with the death
Of Goodwin Miller, his wife and
baby, burned when their home
near Joplin, Va. was destroyed
early last Saturday morning, were
still at liberty today.
Authorities hold vagrancy war.
rants for the arrest Of the pair,
Ben Dooley and Eugene Bar
bour, who, with four other young
men, had been living since last
spring on the CHM farm, near
the Miller home. B. J. Barbour
and Jonah Cole are in jail in
Manassas.
The other two members Of the
group left for New York before
the Miller home burned. Sheriff
John P. Kerlin said.
No One to Arrest Him
The country surrounding the
scene Of the tragedy, below
Manassas, is thickly wooded and
sparsely settled, with houses
several miles apart.
The search for Eugene Barbour
has an amusing aspect. While
Sheriff Kerlin'S deputies were
looking for Barbour to arrest him,
Barbour was looking for the depu-
ties to give himself up.
He went to Manassas early
yesterday, but there was no one
there to arrest him, both the
sheriff and his deputies being in
the woods looking for him. Bar.
bour went into the woods to find
the deputies. He has not been
heard from since.
The whereabouts of Dooley is
a mystery. He left the CHM
farm Monday with Barbour to
trade off their car. B. j. Bar
bour. brother Of the one now
sought, and Cole were arrested
that afternoon. The four pris-
oners will be arraigned on the
vagrancy charges, Sheriff Kerl:n
said.
Woman On Venire
Whether a woman will serve
on a Prince William county jury
to hear criminal cases during
the October term Of court was
being discussed today.
Mrs. Virginia Pollen, Of near
Haymarket, has been summoned
to Manassas October 6 for jury
service. This is the first time
a woman ever has been called
for such service in Prince Will
liam county,
The Washington times., 1931-09-30
PhiIddelphi0 Bank
To Be LiOXiddted

PHILADELPHIA, Sept. 30.-The
Bankers Trust Company will be
liquidated as soon as proceedings
can be instituted by the State de.
partment Of banking.
Confident hopes. frequently ex.
pressed by depositors, stockhold.
ers, directors and former officers
Of the institution, that it could
De reorganized were crushed by
DR.. William D. Gordon, secretary
of the State banking department
The depositors' committee was
unable to meet requirements i'm
posed almost six months ago by
DR.. Gordon.
The Washington times., 1931-09-30
JACKIE
PICNIC MURDEH 4
JURY NEAR
international Photo

LEBANON, md, Sept. 80
UNS0.-Mrs. Carrie Simmons,
being tried on the charge that
she killed two of her daughters,
steadfastly maintained her inno-
cence today as attorneys moved
to Somplete a jury.
Eight men were tentatively &C
cepted by both State and defense
today. Ben Seifres, county prose
cutOr, has qualified all jurors on
the death penalty.
Mrs. Simmons, a farmers wife
and a church worker, is accused
Of having provided the strych-
nine-larded andwi ches which
killed Alice Simmons, 10, and
her sister, Virginia, IA, at a
family picnic three months ago.
The Washington times., 1931-09-30
Coal Engineer Talks
Before Lions Club

Modern heating equipment, COM
plet y automatic, needing atten.
tion but once a week, was ex-
planned to mem bers of the Wash
ington Lions Club at their lunch.
con in the Mayflower Hotel by
John B. Scott. engineer of the
Anthracite Bureau, Coal Industry
Of Pennsylvania.
Mr.. Scott said that anthracite
equipment had been developed to
a point where the cellar need not
be looked into for days at a time.
The Washington times., 1931-09-30
Soroptomists Honor
Mrs. Cookies Memory

Tribute to tn late Mrs. George
H. Cooke as a good soroptomist"
was paid toda.' at the luncheon
meeting of the Glib, held at the
Hotel Lafayette.
Mrs. Coo, whose death oc-
cured early this week, was during
her lifetime an active member Of
the organization.
Miss Grace Goodpasture, presi.
dent presided at the luncheon
which was converted into me
mortal meeting for Mrs. Cooke.
The Washington times., 1931-09-30

DR.. SEE, who is 81, attended
Cornell, Columbia, and Syracuse
Universities before entering the
government service in China.
He was the chief Chinese dele
gate to the Washington armament
conference in 1921.
The Washington times., 1931-09-30
CONDITION OF TREASURY

Treasury balance as of Septem,
Der %, $6O9, ,979, ,990.6S: expendi,
lures, $11,314,822.71; customs re.
ceipts, $33, 3,349, ,3S5.73.
The Washington times., 1931-09-30
HAvRE De GRACE ENTRIES

FIRST RACE-Two-year-ol -olds; maiden
fillies purse $1,000; five and one
g'I Big America IL a0nia E1cursion Mari' 11s
Ep ..114 Nola ....... .114
Temple Bells. iii Magic Dreamer. III
Justa Lullaby .114 Millefiere .....114
Boscobel ......114IFly Girl ......114
Bird Nest ....114 Rabbit Skin ...I14
Happen ......114 aHoratia .114
Soft IT.. Satin , 49,; .114!Br9om Lady ..l14
SECOND RACE-Three-year-o and
upward; claiming; fillies and mares;
purse $1,000; one mile and seventy
xEair Beth ...1OsI xJoan Pat ....1O1
s5eTnra sTe%ssnelaa s,,v 1S+Miss Miss Mac ...1Sa
lima Queen ...104 xTraufey ......1O5
Chattering ....1o9 Hieaway ......1O1
FAR Dawn ..1osIFive Oaks ...1O9
xAngry Plume. 1O8 Black Patricia. 1iS
Mainsheet ....10sIxSunny Port ..1O4
THIRD RACE - The Glen Wild;
two-year..olds; foaled and bred in
Maryland; purse; $500: 5A furlongs,
Cay Stella 80. .105)step Liz .......1O5
bMajor General. 1OS cMona .........111
Lilly Bet .....1O5l Single A .......10S
dDaisbueE .,.6 e1;u,;;: '1OSI Mazyniata ...'.1O5
dTuIach Ara ..1SSssIcsprinE Steel ..Ios
aGoodacre entry.
be. L. Stryker- Brewster entry.
cLabrot D. L. e. Keiffer entry.
FOURTH RACE-The Deep Falls
Handicap; three-year-olds and upward;
purse, $500; s furlongs.
Halcyon ......110IBlack Majesty .113
Follow On. DISQUALIFICATION .........103
Golden Prince .1G1
FIFTH RACE-The Fort McHenry:
three-year-olds and upward; purse,
$1,000; / 1-16 miles.
White Clover II. no inspection ......104
Morsel 1917 Hot Toddy. ....1O7
SIXTH RACE - Three-year-olds and
upward; claiming: purse, $1,000; Ills
miles.
Dunfern .......112IFervid .........1o9
Lion Hearted. .113TMake Haste. ....117
xPeach Basket. 1O2lCalgary Kay. .11S
Pipe Dream. .1oS lxHold -. ......1I2
All Columbia 105IStar Lassie
John Hacker. .1OSixYour Flag. 1o4
Also eligible:
Bobins Play. -. 1os,Perkins ......:.11s
Eager Play. ...117HRuh Mcfarland. ~
SEVENTH RACE-Three-year-o -olds and
upward; claiming; $1,000; ~ miles.
xFull Time. .1oSIShan Tung ....115
xBright Day. 10s Double o ......10S
Chancellor .....113ll llxVimont .....112
Tinita 110TSkid ...........113
Ruane .:..::...11SlCrossbones .....11O
xBuboIa .......1o4Isignola .........11o
XJedhpur ...s.,l12I
xApprentics allowance claimed.
Weather clear; track fast.
The Washington times., 1931-09-30

Miss Higgins book, Modern
Swimming And Diving" has
aroused considerable interest be-
cause Of some Of her rather
startling and yet thoroughly
sound ideas on teaching the
The Waterbury Democrat., 1931-05-11
No Trunk Line Aid

We suppose the city shouldn't complain if the state refuses to include the Thomaston road from West Main street to Watervilc in the trunk line system. It looks now as if the bill introduced by Senator Lawlor would not even be given a hearing Since the bill to include the road was introduced and assigned 1t has not once been mentioned. With the Legislature ready to recess this week it is hardly likely that it will receive attention at this late date. That's too bad as the road might we'll be included in our highway sys- tenn rather than be dependent upon the city for maintenance
 Probably the Legislature believes the city is trying to saddle the road on the state just when it needs to be replaced by modern cement highway, much wider than the pres ent one. Of course, the road does need more than repairs. It IS one of the oldest. if not actually the oldest in this section of the state to be laid with concrete. But it has been patched up so many times and in SO many places that little vestige of the original thor oughfare can be found. However, that isn't to be wondered at with all the traffic the road receives. It not only is the direct route to the Berkshires from the Naugatuek valley but it is heavily travelled by trucks
 It is a Sl00,000 project, as Senator Law Tor pointed out, which would impose prob ably more of a burden on the city than on the state. Surely there must be some way in which the city can have a new road to Wa tervlle. Perhaps the city could do the work and be recompensed? Of course that won't appeal to city officials. But we are sure that the idea of adding the road to his numerous worries doesn't appeal to Highway Commis- sioner Macdonald But at any rate he ought to explain why the road was ever taken out of the trunk line system. True it is entirely in the city. but it is such an important route that the state should be interested in seeing it maintained better than 1t has for the last ten years. We would appreciate little interest in the matter by Mir Macdonald and also by the committee on roads, rivers and bridges before it is too late.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1931-05-11
Blossom Festivals

One of the loveliest phases of spring as it advances from our southern border northward is the procession of blossoming fruit trees. Many orchard sections have come to observe blossom time with gay spring festival, with a queen and attendant prineesses and with hospitable invitations to the rest of the world to come and admire.
 It is fine thing to take special notice of this gorgeous display of natural beauty. America needs such celebrations with their call to the outdoors and their appreciation of sheer loveliness If the blossom festivals can be saved from undue commercialization they should thrive and increase. Along with the festivals in cultivated | orchards might go others honoring the wild blossoms of woods and fields. This might be the way to teach the public to enjoy without destroying native WildfloWers and shrubs
The Waterbury Democrat., 1931-05-11
No Economy On Gasoline

The year. lo30. may be considered one of depression, yet the American people paid out more money for gasoline taxes. The amounts paid on this tax netted IA per cent over the payments of 1929, the year of peak pros perity. This increase may have been partly due to higher rates of taxation in some states. Yet the consumption of gasoline increased l-2 per cent There was time when au- tomobileS were considered luxury for the majority of people. Those who ran into debt to buy car. were looked at as rash spenders by many. But today no one can persuade automobile owners that the ownership of their car is a luxury. They would give up almost anything rather than abandon it.
 Many of these folks will wear their old clothes to the point of dingy shabbiness. rather than sacrifice their car. or even cut down on their mileage. They will have their shoes soled and half soled, until they are full of cracks and seams, rather than give up the gas buggy. No wonder many lines of busi- ness run slow. when people must have gaso- line tires. and repairs, expenses that did not cost many of them dollar 10 years previ- ously.
 And the consumption of gasoline has been greatly augmented by the custom of letting the children of the family have the use of the car. A few years ago, these youngsters felt themselves happy to have kiddie veloeipede, or an old bicycle. But now they must have the use of the family car. or their life is blighted And so the old bus goes rat ting around to the dances and shows within wide range of territory and the money has to come from somewhere. It is not much use to quarrel with the tendencies of the time. If people want money for something very badly, they hustle more to get it. The in- tense desire for automobiles, has stimulated peoples ambition. and made them willing to work to obtain this privilege.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1931-05-11

tracing the national nickname of the Troy townsman who had something to do with provisioning the army in the War of 1872. The story has various versions. One of the most plausible makes Samuel Wilson an inspector of beef and pork pur- chased for the government. Ebert Anderson, a contractor. supplied a quantity of provisions and marked the barrels stored in Troy with his initials and those of the United States: E. A.--U. s. One of In- spector Wilson's men asked another of the crew what the letters meant. The "wise-cracker" instantly replied that they stood for Ebert Anderson and their own boss, Uncle Sam. So all the U. s. marked goods came to be jokingly assigned to the same ownership, and thus the United States became affectionately Uncle Sam.
 Troy enjoys the tradition that one of her residents was in name and perhaps in personal appearance the model for the personification of the United States. The city would like to have the government officially re- cognize this claim and pay memorial honors to Samuel Wilson. But the real debt is to the wag in homespun who invented Uncle Sam for the nation on the spur of the moment.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1931-05-11
Thrilled By Education

An eastern university official. returning from California bears strange news People are thrilled about education on the west coast" he says. They are working tooth and nail to interest everyone in their educa- tional institutions. Education used to be a gamorous adventure. It was so in Europe during the revival of learning, and it has been so in America until lately Our East. once so avid of knowledge has gone somewhat stale since the war, The Middle West seems less eager for book learning
 Possibly the quest of knowledge requires pioneer spirit If so. it is natural that our western coast, the last stand of Ameri- can pioneering. should get thrill out of education when the older sections are tired of it. If so, it is easy to prophecy what Cali fornia and her neighbors will do to their bored competitors.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1931-05-11

The two phenominal exhibits in Manhattan's theater belt are Green Pastures" among the legitimate plays, and 1.-TWO Hearts in Waltz Time.' among the movies. l doubt if the latter has ever been seen outside New York. It arrived at one of the little art movie houses, slightly off the Broadway beaten track. It had a German name and practically no advance ballyhoo. The large midtown palaces, where the products of Hollywood are shown had no room for it.
 And yet this picture is breaking all records for long runs. At the moment, it has been playing more than seven months and is likely to be there a year. This has been, for the most part, due to person-to- per son advertising; no elaborate display having been made. A waltz tune that furnished the theme music has be- come one of the hits of the year. The other ''phenom," Green Pas tures," recently celebrated its 500th performance. with no indication of slowing down. Never have the old theater traditions been so com pletely upset by any production. Most producers shied away from it Tor It had an a1l-negro cast; pre- sented the Lord Jehovah in person and unconventionally presented the Bible story according to old negro revival ideas.
 Yet it has remained to be praised by the clergy of the land; to be lauded as an inspirational classic; to move millions of people as few sermons have moved them. Charles Harrison, who plays ''the Lord" has been awarded a national medal for contributing to the uplift of his. race.
 And there seems no let up in it's drawing power.
 GILBERT SWAN
The Waterbury Democrat., 1931-05-11
MONDAY, MAY II, 1881
A Rebuke Unmerited

N One of the many appropriation bills re-
 eommendcd last Friday seems to be direct
 slam at tie state park and forest comlnis- slo: not to mention the commission on wild
 life anI forests. whose ie!d agent, Eliot Bronson, has done marvellous work of recent years in securing park and forest sites at bargain prices. The bill in question would appropriate $250. 1000 for shore park in Fairfield county. Perhaps we shouldn't criticize any effort to appropriate S250,000 for Fairfield county state park, especially one on the Sound, but the joker in the bill IS that it provides for special commission to choose the site of this park. The bill fur ther names the nine commissioners. all of them Fairfield county residents, four of them General Assemblymen.
 Why it should be necessary to create spe- in the town of Westport is more than We can understand. The park and forest commis- sion has been quite competent in the past in providing reereational areas throughout the state. Its work has not been criticized to the extent that it has been felt necessary to al- low specially named commissions to pick out and develop public park sites. The intent seems pretty obvious to any one who knows the history of the Sherwood Island dispute. It so happens that this site was the first ac- quired by Connecticut for a state park That was back in 1914. As we understand the sit- tl.a IL .,{ J,, as 1t was then.
 With the state doing all in its power to secure shore frontage that will be open to the public every effort should be bent to making Sherwood Island as fine spot as Hammon- assett Beach. We noticed last week that Rocky Neck in East Lyme, which is in New London county, will be$acqured for state pssk if the sizable appropriation is any in- dieation Of course Sherwood Island is diff ferent. It so happens that it is entirely sur rounded by estates of wealthy men. They object to the presence of a public park along side their summer homes Perhaps they have some basis for this complaint, but it must be remembered that the Sherwood Island tract {, was bought back in 1914 and it has always been the state's intention to develop it. There is an obvious alternative.
 We view with suspicion the legislative ac- tion of naming special commission to handle the Fairfield county shore park. If there has been delay in developing Sherwood Island it has not been the fault of the state park and forest commission It has been mainly due to political maneuvering up at Hartford. Sue cessive legislatures could have expedited mat ters considerably. Certainly they won't inn prove the situation by superseding the pro- per commission in this matter by a special one. That is an arbitrary application of the law which will only create hard feelings and give the general public the idea that its park and forest commission is inadequate to do its own work. Which is of course. absurd. Just glance at Connectieut's progress in this field and be convinced that the opposite is the truth.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1931-05-11

Andrew J. Volstead, author of the law which bears his name, speaking before the Woman's Christian Temperance Union in Owatonna, Minnesota last week, said, 'En- forcemenl is getting better each year. There is today nothing like the sale of liquor there was three years ago. Booteggers, formerly prosperous are making a bare living with but few exceptions. We are making pro- gress - Oh, yeh! We'll. you'll have to show us. Mir Vostead Connecticut is just as wet, if not wetter, than it ever was. The same holds good for Waterbury Perhaps you can show us sections of the nation that are drer than this region but where sentiment is wet you'll generally find liquor obtainable, whether it be good or bad, domestic or inn ported. Even the most efficient prohibition force can't hope to mop up the United States. There has to be cooperation from those citi zens who oppose the prohibition laws and that will never be obtained to our way of thinking. In the mean time the nation will continue to be overrun by lawlessness which is bred purely in the corruption that prohib
 ton encourages, It is high time that sen sble people realized that the country isn't getting drer The opposite is more nearly the truth. Why not face the facts and deal with them accordingly
The Waterbury Democrat., 1931-05-11
l lN 
 NEW YORK
WM Gilbert Swan

New York-The other day, while strolling through the mid-Forties, fairly stumbled over a speakeasy raid.
 The casualness with which it was being carried out annoyed me slight ly. Somehow, I had expected far more excitement.
 As matter of fact, the crowd that gathered around the doorway was no greater than one would find en- circling a clever street fakir. A truck was at the curb. Several hard-working gents were carrying out bottles and barrels. Individuals in the crowd were making wise- cracks, laughing and kidding the off, cials. A few "boos" were to be heard here and there. Otherwise, things went along pretty much as was.
 For a raid in New York has ceased to have any novelty. There are a dozen or more per day. Unless the spot involved is the last word in folk, the newspapers sum up 12 or more in a single paragraph.
 All of which makes me a bit sad,
 
 paper days how thrilling a thing a raid was supposed to be. As cub reporter On night police. I would all but pray that a ''raid call" would be sounded some night and that would chase along with the police. thrilling to the sound of axes on wooden doors.
 Chinatown, in San Francisco was a grand raid scene. There would be dark passageways. barred doors and mysterious underground alleys Drawn guns would shine through the half-light and the surroundings would fairly bristl with melodrama There would be the soft batter of escaping feet; the blunt, parked or ders of the cops.
 The newspapers would smear these events over vast space.
 There would be photographs, and diagrams showing how it all hap pened. A liquor raid was the rarest of rare. but a gambling raid was not infrequent.
 Today, when it makes little diff ference to my pulse. I fairly trip my toes over raids-and there's scarcely faint furry of excitement any where.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1931-05-11
TODAY IS THEA ANNIVERSARY SSGZ@
PROMISE TO JEWS

On May II, 1917, a deputation from the Rumanian Jews in Jassy called on King Ferdinand to present to him the assurance of their loyal ty. They took this action because of rumors which connected them with pro-German intrigue.
 King Ferdinand told the deputa- tion in reply:
 After having been long in close touch with the daily life of all classes of people in the country, I formed the conviction-and I am pleased to bear testimony to the fact in the present circumstances that I was not mistaken-that all inhabit ants of Rumanian soil, irrespective of differences of origin, of race. or of religion, were actuated by the same exalted ideas of fraternity.
 "All who have striven for the realization of the aspirations which Rumanians have entertained for so many ages, by shedding their blood, by enduring the difficulties of and and sacrifices imposed by the war and invasion, whether they are Christians or Jews or adherents of any other form of belief, will equally have a right to the gratitude of the country and to that off the king, and will enjoy equal rights in a free, great. and flourishing Rumanis closely united, all Of us. under the folds of the national dag.'
The Waterbury Democrat., 1931-05-11

differs in some. For example in Hartford when the water rent is neglected and warn- ings go unheeded the water department sends a notice to the health department that it will shut of the water The tenants are likewise informed so that they may prepare for it. They are given ample time. perhaps 24 hours. so that they may put some pressure upon the recalcitrant landlord who will also be ap- preached by the health department. If this action fails the health department can have him arrested as soon as the water is shut of for violating the sanitary code. That's about the same way Waterbury proceeds. Our health department has sanctioned such action in past years. Only drastic means will produce the money in such cases.