davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-08-16
Alfalfa Bills Hat.

As the old familiar phrase goes, the
Democratic party might go farther and
fare worse than name as its candidate
for President at the convention next
year the Hon. w. H. Murray, Governor
OF Oklahoma, better known to the coun-
try at large as Alfalfa Bill" His hat
was thrown into the ring on Friday by
boyhood friend who presented him
at the Parker County, Tex. Old Set
tiers Reunion. This was a literal per-
Torrance. A hat woven Of Parker
County straw, which had been presented
to the Oklahoma Governor, was tossed
into the center of the speaking plat
form, and the cheers, the dispatches
state. were loud and long.
What has he done? 1t is asked Of as
pirants for political honors. What AL
falfa Bill has done in Oklahoma has
been aplenty. He has put Oklahoma
on the map. He has made the first
page in the news scores of times
since his Inauguration. He has waged
war against Texas-there is peace
now so that he could go to Parker
County without embarrassment-and he
has fought the oil octopus. He has
ordered the wells closed to prevent
flooding the market and to bring the
oil price back to normalcy. He has
challenged the great oil companies to
make an issue OF the tax question. He
is ready for q fight at any time. He
is q stout defender of States rights In
his speech at the reunion he said:
am opposed to the powers Of the
State being nullihed by inferior Fed
eral courts. There is a twilight zone
between State and Federal powers that
must be wiped out Then we will know
where jurisdiction lies in controlling the
great corporations. Whenever a great
corporation attempts to Cypress the
people of my State I'll call out the Ma
tional Guard to protect the people from
corporate greed. Outside of the great
captains Of industry the United States
has now no leaders other than dema-
gogues. We should have leaders Of in
telligence in Statecraft capable of mas
tering the machine before it destroys
us. They must be big enough to give
eAiO AesA hhCA - ANtNhA IA AAAo AdSSAs
Great stuff And Alfalfa Bill has
been talking that way for q long
time, throughout the years when he
was heading upward in the political
game. He would make q stirring figure
on the national hustings as = candi-
date for the first ONCE in the land. He
would wiring the neck Of the power
trust He would solve the farm prob
lem. He would Kick the innards out Of
the stock ticker representing the money
interests. There is no limit to his elo-
Quencs or his ferocity Of attack.
The Democratic party has not gone
west Of the Mississippi for a candidate
since 1908. That was the year Of
Bryan's third and last nomination
Here Is a man from that section Of the
country who has all OF Bryan's courage
Of attack. much Of his eiouuence and
more humor than the Sage OF Lincoln
ever manifested. Alfalfa Bill has made
himself q national quantity, and is to-
day q Democratic asset Of undeniable
value.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-08-16
President to Inform Congress Fully
AS to Nations Need of Winter Relief

snail in comparison with the stipend
Gus idle financial resources Of this conn-
try.
The total OF that cost in those COM
munities in June of this year. as re-
ported by the Russell Sage Foundation,
was 81. 500 ,829. OF this sum less than
81, 00O. 900 came from private charity
organizations Almost $4,000, 900 of It
came from public agencies. That con-
trast is q biting commentary upon the
alleged capacity OF willingness of pri-
vate philanthropy II respond To the
our largest and wealthiest communities
throughout the country is getting sus-
tanned today enormously more by taxes
than by gifts.
Gov. Roosevelt OF New York is said
to helieve that private philanthropy
should be exhofted to arouse itself and
to undertake to handle next Winters
unemployment distress need in New
York without any further expansion of
taxes. His feelings may be illustrated
and in part justified by comparing the
existing cost of outdoor relief" in cur
largest communities in June Nof this
year with certain sum Of money
| known to be existing in complete idle
ness in New York City banks.
The outdoor relief" cost of those
communities in that month was. as
stated, approximately $1,000 600 Con-
trastingly the deposits now every day
maintained in the Federal Reserve Bank
of New York by New York member
banks. without interest, is from s7O,-
600 900 to 500, 600, 900. THAT money is
doing just exactly nothing and earning
just exactly nothing.
Optimists argue that in the big
towns and metropolitan areas the pub
lie authorities and the private charity
organizations can bring such idle money
into relief use either by emotional an.
peal or by taxing coercion. Gov. Pinchot
OF Pennsylvania holds that such APP
peals and such coercions should be at
tempted to the utmost limits of propa-
gandist and of legal possibility, but he
holds also that they will fail to pro-
uuce the amounts Of money required.
1t Is for that reason that he foresees
and demands Federal help.
It Is on every side accepted that the
studies OF the subject must in sound
common sense be fully accomplished
before the Congress reaSSembles in De-
cember. II President Hoover cannot
tell the Congress in December Just how
much the local communities are going
TO be able TO do and Just how much
they are not going to be able 10 do he
VIII be exposing himself IL is realized.
TO period Of almost unexampled po-
lltlcal confusion and attack. 1t is cal
ctlateo accordingly that he will put
himself in position to be able In De
cember to analyze the whole situation
Iuiiy to the legislators on Capitol Hill.
ana IL "a elso calculated that such an
analysis will almost Inevitably indicate
that an indirect FedNal subsidy to To-
cal EFFORTS will in some still unfxed de-
gree be unavoidable.
tcopyrizht 1917
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-08-16

his land from becoming exhausted
through unintelligent or too intensive
use. Fences sag and fall, buildings are
decrepit, tools are neglected and de-
teriorate.
Increase of tenancy means that farm
ers are quitting the land and, failing to
find buyers, are finding renters and
share workers. They are shifting the
burden OF farm maintenance to other
shoulders. It is interesting to note that
of the six States which show decrease
OF tenancy, five are in the area Of close
population in the East, Connecticut,
New vcrk, New Jersey, Pennsylvania
and Delaware. This probably signifies
that in those States farm lands have
been absorbed by city growth or have
been amalgamated for large country
estates.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-08-16

tons" moving In cars en- route TO desti-
nation. Each OF these figures was
comparable in way to amounts in the
same category a year ago.
Thus the statistical picture fails to
show that the movement is at a very
low ebb. 1t is not the fault Of the
bureau and no criticism attaches to
IL on the score under discussion, but
the situation Is one that is typical. The
figures are satisfactory II read with a
background of knowledge of the sit
uation.
When the consumers stocks are look
ed upon as reserves, the bureau makes
a good job Of depicting for commerce
ana industry how it is armed for the
future in the way of fuel
I'm making comparisons Of stocks on
different dates" the bureau says, st Is
necessary to take into consideration the
highly variable factor OF consumption.
The present stocks CT $4,000 tons,
although apparently adequate TO meet
current market needs, might prove to be
dangerously low in times wnen industry
in general is moving at high speed For
this reason, perhaps the best measure Of
the reserves is to express them in terms
of the number Of days they would last
at the prevailing rate of consumption :"
Its calculations show that on July
the stocks held amounted to sufficient
for 50 days OF average present-day use
From this 1t Is seen that the reserves
actually were SUFFICIENT to last two days
longer than on July /, 1880. AS a fur
ther comparison, the reserves were
SUFFICIENT for % days on July /, 1929;
SO days on July !, 1928; 81 days on July
/, 1927, and ~ days on July /, 1919.
OF course, those figures are the aver
age for all industry and for all CT the
country. They are broken down further
by the bureau to show that, as Of July
l, the railroads had ~ days supply,
compared with 30 a year ago, bittlTni-
nous coal dealers had 46 days supply
compared with 81 q year ago: electric
utilities held supply for 81 days, while
they had only 20 year ago: the steel
plants showed reserves for 40 DAYS COM
pared with 81 days; the coal-gas plants
had tonnage for their needs for SIS DAYS.
compared with 81: by-product coke
plants reported reserves to last them
81 DAYS this year and rs days last year.
compared with stocks sufficient for IS
DAYS on July /, 1880.
II would appear from the bureaus
they have passed from the stage Of great
reserves. The year 1923 gives the i'm
preston of being the last big year Of
stored coal on the part of the carriers,
for, prior to 1929, the average reserves
on July l OF the respective years were
approximately double those held In 1929,
1880 and this year. The railroad re-
serves on July were given as 1894. 600
tons, compared with ll,765,0O0 In 1923
and 1880, 900 in 1927.
AS for the anthracite situation. the
bureaus report showed that retail yards
held reasonably well Allied bins. There
was the expected seasonal increase and
on July ] the stocks reported from .
selected list OF asa retailers scattered
throughout the country amounted to
I.l23 ESQ tons, compared with l,277,S51
tons on July !. 1880.
fcopyrtxht 1871
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-08-16

ton OF China within single year.
When the Black Plague swept oveE
Europe IL took so 000. 600 IN . few year4
from two-thirds to three-quarters Of
the entire population Of the continent.
The vigor OF some OF those epidemics Is
almost inconceivable to the modern
mind. In the sixteenth century, for ex-
ample, Moscow was visited by q plague
which killed 100000 in q year. This
probably was two-thifds or more Of that
capitals population 81 the time. The
same year saw the comparatively small
city of Lyon In France lose so 600.
Perhaps one OF the most concentrated
and deathly plague medicines Of Hil
times was that which visited Naples n
1885. Within i've months. 300, 900 Of
Naples and vicinity died of It,
TOlI Of Plaques ana war.
Old chronicles relate trAt In the six
teenth century China was nearly de-
populated. This seems an extrAordi-
nary statement, but various authorities
attest its accuracy. This must have
meant in the nelghborhood Of zoe, 600, =
600 deaths within a short time.
The Great Plague OF London in 1865
was well advertised. but did not Kill
nearly 80 many as some Of the other
pestilenceS. Out of a population of
100000 London lost 6S,59s in . few
months.
In the eighteenth century = number
OF great plaques visited the Near East,
always q plague spot. In CONSTANT
nople and in Syrian cities people died
like rats.
There are cycles Of pestilenee which
occur and recur, according TO some
curious law not precisely known. While
modern sanitation has done much to
combac plaques Of various sorts. they
do sttl appear. And the curious fact Is
that no kind of science ended the great
plaques of carrier times They struck
Ike Judgment and as suddenly and
with less apparent cause, utterly de-
pared not to reappear for many years
As recently rs 1908 plague swept In
Ola. In 1905 $4,000 persons died in
the Bengal Presidency. and in 1904
22s, 600 died in the Bombay Presidency,
sna IN 1908 the number IN that iuris--
olction reached 261 600 In 1904 and
1905 the plague deaths throughout In-
dia reached 1000. 900 in each year.
warfare formerly was far more SAM
culinary. While the World War saw the
greatest aggregate destruction Of life q
any conflict IN the history OF mankind.
any given section OF Il. comparable in
the number Of men engaged and ground
occupied, was q safe place compared
with earlier hatilefelds. There were
100000 left dead on the field Of Chaions
The numbers slain at Roncesvalles. az
Tours at Agincourt. at Poictiers, at
Cunaxa and in the campaigns OF Tam
erlane, Ghenghtz Khan, Bejazet and
any number Of other great fields were
appalling.
The life turnover was 80 rapid. death
strobe 50 swiftly among the people That
IL took ell the time the world has
known from the very beginning up until
century ago 10 accumulate upon the
earth at any one time as many as l.
COO, 100000 people. It has taken only
100 years to accumulate the second
And In all the wide world America.
y appears, has the freshest land. the
land Of fewest headstones and even ~
aforementioned dead.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-08-16

In an age that is disposed 10 disregard
the value Of creeds and definite express
sions OF belief it is well for us to dis
cover how essential q place ereeds and
beliefs have occupied in the lives of
those who lived efficiently and well.
Nothing is more fallacious than to
affirm that definiteness and fixity of
conviction places limitations upon
thought and practice There is no de-
partment of our life-domestie, social,
political or religious-in which we can
effectively function without some well
defined expression of belief home
without creed or an established code
Of practice is disorderly and unstable.
Society without we'll recognized conven-
tions is unsafe and insecure. The state
without its well prescribed laws, based
upon certain fixed ideals, degenerates
into condition Of anarchy and speedily
disintegrateS BY the same rule It is
unthinkable that the church as q world
institution can long exist apart from
the recognition of q well conceived ex-
preston of its belief. hence a creed.
We are talking much today OF self
expression A modern school admon-
ishes us that life is solely governed by
impulses, that there is no such thing
as fixity Of habit or practice. and that
every man is law unto himself. Such
q ccnceit carried to its inevitable con-
clusion is productive of world confu-
sion and disorder, where every man
does that which is right in his own
eyes" irrespective Of what 1t may effect
for good or Ill In others.
When we study or observe the lives
of those men and women, whom we
greatly respect and whose virtues we
seek to emulate, we inevitably discover
that they are governed by long -teSted
and definite beliefs, the value of which
they have demonstrated and proved.
1t was said of one Of old, unstable as
water thou shalt not excel" Stability.
however it may express itself. is born
of conviction and conviction resides in
q consistently recognized creed or for
mula. Such creed or formula may,
in the more reticent be inarticulate, but
it has its fixed place in the scheme Of
life nevertheless. Amiel, in his journal,
says: Men think that they can do
without religion; they do not know
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-08-16
SHOOTING STARS.
BY pHr1.ANDEH JOHNSON.

An Achievement.
He was an artist. whose wondrous skill,
Made many with admiration thrill.
For he painted Landscapes whose every
hue
Seemed blending as colors in nature do.
His tints seemed captives from sunset
skies
And his foliage to shake in the breeze
that flies;
And all who knew him declared his life
Would be crowned with fame-all ex-
cept his wife.
And even his wife confessed, at last,
His abilities ne'er could be surpassed
Twas the day when he started, with
mood intense.
And painted the roof and the back
yard fence.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-08-16
The Quick and the Dead
BY FREDERIC J. HASKiN.

"All that tread the globe are but q
handful TO the tribes that Slumber in
its bosom" according 70 the authority
OF so renowned an observer as William
Cullen Bryant but this does not apply
TO the United states In the period OF
its history. The living in this land ex-
coed the dead.
A calculation reveals that, Stree the
foundation of the Republic century
and . half ago, death has come to
some $4,000 900 persons. The latest
census estimate places today's American
population at l24 200. 900, or nearly
be- made OF no other great country in
the world
One might well 60 beyond the period
OF the founding of the American Gov
eminent and Include the entire pre-
Revolutionary era from the FIRST James
town Settlement and Plymouth Rock.
Those gathered to their fathers during
that century and a half would make
but trifling addition to the dead.
No more impressive calculation Of the
numbers Of the American people has
ever been devised. for it reverses all
nreconceived notions. 1t emphasizes the
fapidity with which the Nation has
grown and gives a fresh view OF the
strength of attraction OF . new land.
rich in promise.
The fact emphasizes how fortunate is
the star of the American people, In that
they live on fresher land. with far
fewer dead mems sorrows as q founda-
ton To be sure, IL one go back to
the Pithecanthropus erectlls, the orig
inal ape man, and allow for but q
score of deaths annually in the yeers
between, the numbers would swell 70
large proportions, so potent Is the fac
tor of accumulation. But that Is an
other question.
The numbers who ever trod American
soil were few so far as any extant evil
dence Is concerned. It is doubksul
whether as many as 5000 900 Red In
dians ever lived on the continent at
j one time The numbers of the Mound
Builders and Of the Cliff Dweilers were
few.
Old World Census Of Dead.
The elder world tells 3 far, far diff
ferent story, a story which throws the
American contrast into strong light The
tale of death and destruction, the cen.
Sus of the dead In Europe, Asia and
Africa is appalling compared with what
It Is here. The soil OF every European
and Asiatic nation Is . mighty tomb.
Populations were far less In earlier
DAYS. but the turnover was enormous
Life was 8 more dangerous business In
earlier times and it is but q short few
years ago that the normal life span In
so modern a nation as Great Britain was
but 10 years compared with some 80 In
America today.
The toll Of plague. psstilence and
warfare OF earlier years Is appalling TO
the modern mind. There are only the
most inaccurate statistics concerning
the fatalities in the Christian era
but the Old Testament Is well as many
other books, has much to say of the
plaques Of Egypt. 1t is known that they
slew many.
In the reign Of Justiniarl q plague
came out Of Egypt and ragged in Europe
for so years. It killed more than l00,-
600 900 people. There is an early
chronicle which tells how q Chinese pes
thence destroyed $4,000. 900 in one sec
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-08-16

1t would be a strange climax to 4
career at first linked TO prohibition If
California grape growers were to con-
centrate on an especially agreeable
vintage and chr1sten it la WILLIE
brandt"
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-08-16

It sometimes happens that the Lin
coin Memorial. though claiming as
rule reverent admiration. meets with
severe criticism The circumstance is
not inappropriate. The man in whose
honor it was reared has met with sim
liar experience.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-08-16
An Agreeable Ananlas.

Bill Blvvins doesn't tell the truth;
Al least. not all the time.
And yet We welcome him, In sooth,
With an affection prime.
He tells the ladies they are all
The fairest Of their race:
Likewise ne says their children small
Have wcndrcns wit and grace.
He tells each statesman that his speech
Ranks as q classic rare.
whate'er the gosl you fain would reach,
He strives tn boost you there.
with friendly talk since early youth
Good cheer he's tried to bring.
Bin Bivvins doesn't tell the truth.
But he Is conforttngl
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-08-16

No ore is disposed to make serious
objection TO the statement Of plain
and not discreditable fact in connection
with the life OF Lord CORVALLIS. IN
deed, there may be a disposition to
point with pride 10 the absence of any
material that might give him chop
ter or evensa paragraph in mirrors"
book
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-08-16

A recently developed school OF finance
regards planting corn and cotton AZ
bad habit easily INDUCED in to excess.
The old chap who used to put In the
day sitting on q fence and chewing q
straw may not have been such bad
farmer after all
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-08-16

Since farmers have been admonished
to raise less grain, the elock-watcher
may. as he curtails his efforts. soon be
hoping for recognition as public bene-
factor.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-08-16

When a derelict is turned loose ut sea
TO serve as target the Workmanship
is preceded by display in which shafts
of sarcasm figure TO while away the
time until the exact location Of the old
boat Is accurately ascertained.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-08-16

Care should be taken to keep Col and
Mrs. Lindbergh informed Of the adven-
lures Of some fellow flyers 50 that the
camera can be blindfolded when Japa-
nese neighborhood Is approached.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-08-16
AVA Enerretic Guaranter.

you think the man you are COM
mending is capable and Industrious
asked the high official
Il do, replied senstor Sorghum. Il
believe he viii work almost as hard as
I have worked to get the position for
him "
Jud Tunkins says prohibition gave
art real boost in this country by
taking the book beer signs OF the
sidewalks.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-08-16
BituminOus Industry's
Woes Shown by Figures
BY HARDEN CoLFAx.

government statistics are nearly
always Mrefutabie, because Uncle sam
mas access TO facts and figures which
no one else may reach. but in ali
candor It must be said that sometimes
the pare tabulations fail to tell the
whole story: Consequently sometimes
s BUSINESS Iails to read from the sta
A case in point is the semi-snnuai
report OF the Bureau of Mines on the
country coal stocks, or reserves of fuel,
II tnat term Is more acceptable. The
report, read specifically, would seem
10 indicate that the coal industry was
not IN such a bad way as might be
judged from the efforts of the admin
lstrstion TO get the operators and
tuners INTO a conference for mutual
anu yst DehIno the bald figures is quite
SAD industrial story RELATING To
bituminous coal.
-
The bureaus figures showed that
consumers stocks" stood at 40 j on an,
Ions on July /, figure that was onlv
o,ovO,Voo TONS below the stocks held
9 Sn,d ane corresponding dates of 1929 and
Inere had been much greater changes
IN between the dates for which the
comparative figures are mentioned Sd
that on the surface it Is made To an
pear that the coal industry can worry
But behind these figures there Is the
disturbing fact that the consumers
stocks, which represent the holdings of
all KINGS OF commercial Consumers and
coal merchants, remained at the level
stated, despite an unusually low rate
Of production.
Consider this: Conganution Of hi
luminous coal during the second quar-
ter OF 1881, from April to June in
elusive. averaged s.273 900 tons a week,
exports averaged 224 600 tons. These
totaled 6,49T000 tons weekly. or 9s2
per cent below the average for the
January March quarter and 1871 per
cent below the April-June quarter of
1880. s' w. u
In addition TO the tonnage In the
hands OF commercial consumers on
July /, the bureaus report showed
there were stocks amounting 10 about
5,s20,000 tons standing at the head
Of the Great Lakes, approximately
i,467,000 tons standing In cars unbilied
at the mines or In classification wards
and further unknown quantity, es-
ttmated as high as several million
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-08-16

The fc.itious names given by gun
purchasers entitle q dealers address
book to rank among the prominent ex-
amples Of American crime fiction.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-08-16
A Comeback.

From the Hamilton tontsrio) Spectator.
Benny Leonard, after an absence OF
six years, plans to return to the prize
ring, If he can take It ON the chin
as expertly as the public does he should
go far.