davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1933-02-19
Must Railroad Milage Be Abandoned?
BY FREDERIC ]. HASKlN.

In an age in which efficiency is de-
clared to be the watchword of progress
and in a day when the most grinding
economies are being demanded in both
public and private expenditures, the
American people are attempting to sup
port one of the worlds greatest lux
uries. They are surplus railroad lines.
A careful analysis of the railroad sltua-
ton in the United States today reveals
the astounding fact that 80 per cent OF
total railroad mileage is being main
tanned for the convenience and accom-
mediation of only per cent of the total
ton mileage of freight handled.
The Interstate Commerce Commission
shows that the railways of the United
States operate 251 IT'S miles excluding
lines extending into Canada and Mex
lco and those in Alaska and in Hawaii.
something more than $4,000 miles-a
distance three times around the world
are operated to care for one-fiftieth OF
the freight business which brings rev.
enue to the carriers.
The American railroads today are
facing the direst emergency in their
entire history. Less than 10 Glass
carriers are ON a dividend-paying basis.
Many roads are in the hands of receiv-
ers and many more will be in that un-
enviable position within the next few
months unless the Reconstruction
Finance Corporation, Congress or a
miracle comes to their relief. Car load
mgs for last month were many thou
sands under January, 1892, and that
was a starvation month in railroading.
Stu the luxury practice of operating
$4,000 miles of road to carry per cent
OF the ton mileage is continued.
This situation can not be blamed
wholly on the railroad managers. 1t
probably can not be blamed on them at
all. Under existing conditions they are
compelled to continue this uneeonomie
policy
In the latter part of the nineteenth
century and the first few years of the
twentieth-the great railroad building
era OF American history-asy one who
saw mt could build a railroad. Charters
had to be obtained, to be sure, but
that was not difficult. Rights of way
had to be acquired, but that was diff
cult only at the very first in. the East
err part of the country. Later not
only the Government of the United
States but private land owners donated
rights OF way TO railroad companies,
glad to have the iron horse come to
their communities.
Permit to Cease Operation.
Today that is much changed. The
permission of the Interstate Commerce
Commission must be obtained to con-
struct line interstate and the per-
mission Of a State Public Utilities Com
mission to construct within State bound
aries. But that is scarcely a problem.
The problem is that permission must
also he rpnlirad To Stor1 0paro tin,, of a
railroad. In almost any other line of
business to which the mind can turn
people may begin operations and cease
at will. Even though they require per-
mission to start, they can always stop.
Not so with the railroads. A railroad
company may be losing money right
and left, but it must continue to oper-
ate, no matter what the loss, unless
permission to suspend Is forthcoming
Permission is not easy to win. just
as a railroad must obtain certificate
Evening star., 1933-02-19
OUR HERITAGE
BY THE RIGHT REV. JAMES E. FREEMAN. D. D. IL. d,
Bishop Of Washington.

What is needed today in our individual
and corporate life Is something more
than satisfaction and felicitation over
what has gone before. 1t is of little
worth that We eXtol our great men and
honor their memories unless with punc-
tilious care we seek to emulate and re-
produce their gifts and virtues. We
have inherited their mantles; the re-
sponsibility Is ours to treasure and safe
guard what they have bequeathed to us.
Our Nation, with its unique character, is
carry on. Garry on"-that was the
slogan in the great war, and to carry
on means to assume with fine fidelity
all the high purposes and unselfish
aims of those who gave their all that a
great cause might prevail 1t is a cheap
form of patriotism that gives nothing
but applause to the great and the good.
In another aspect of this subject.
what about the mantle of obligation, of
authority which they have transmitted
to us, who sacrificed everything that the
Christian faith given to the world by
Jesus Christ might prevail? What about
our acceptance of those mighty princi-
Piles of life that He enunciated. princi-
Piles that call for and demand our un-
failing devotion and adherence? We
have inherited from the past a religion
that has frequently cost life itself to set
it forward. Our Christian faith In our
generation has lacked the heroic ele-
ment. Today We stand as sponsors for
this faith; as its exponents and ex-
emplars; in fine, the mantle of respon-
sibility and obligation as an inheritance
from the past is ours. The world de-
mands Of the patriot and the Christian
le-hearted loyalty The age calls for
the robust and courageous type of citi-
zen and Christian. not the passive and
colorless type.
We have disesteemed and undervalued
our great heritage. We have assumed
that to honor the names of the great
and the good means to insure their gifts
and qualities to each succeeding age.
Neither the church nor the state can
live ON eulogies. nor can either be sus-
tanned by periodical outbursts of ap-
plause. The mantle Of obligation and
responsibility, our sacred heritage from
the past, 1t Is our privilege to honor
and accept, and we shall maintain our
place as Q Christian nation, together
with all those sacred institutions we
cherish, only In so far as we play our
full part in the most pregnant and i'm
portant age in human history.
Evening star., 1933-02-19

of public convenience or necessity to
start operating a line, 50 it must re-
celVe the necessary certificate to stop.
1ne Governments attitude might be
translated into the vernaculsr as You
started 1t. Now keep on going"
Long-drawn-out hearings must be
neiu before railroad is granted the
right TO cease operating a given line.
Suppose that, years ago, some one
opened up a gravel pit at East Cul de
Sac, Wis. 1t was rich pit and the
demand for gravel for building and
road construction was large. It was
thought worth while to extend a branch
line to the place. For a while-years
perhaps-gravel by the trainload was
hauled out every day in the year. A
town grew up and post Office was
established. A small town and fourth
class post Office, to be sure, but, never
theless. they were there
Years pas2 and the gravel pit is ex-
hausted. The town has developed no
other important industry. After the
work at the pit Is at an END employ
ment gives out. People move away.
About the only freight hauled is an oc-
easlonal consignment of less-than-ear-
load freight for the general store, an
odd tractor or automobile for some
nelghboring farmer. In season, a car
load or two of hogs or cattle will be
shipped out. But that is al. Yet the
railroad must continue to --'e. 1t
runs an accommodation tram once a
day, perhaps, and carries the mail.
Miles of track must be maintained with
track walkers and section hands, a
signal system must be kept up. Loco
motives must be used to haul cars and
fuel is consumed, wages are paid. A
wears revenues froiChf oyaH tlarearua~
fares would scarcely pay weeks cost
OF maintaining the service.
Cost Falls on General Public.
Should the company attempt to dis
continue operating this branch line.
there is a tremendous stir. The COM
pany is not living up to its franchise
agreement! 1t is proposing to isolate
a distant community! The member of
Congress IN whose district the branch
line lies files an objection. Witnesses
appear at the hearing to give testimony
that the line is a public necessity. The
chances are the railroad will throw
up its hands and keep on operating
at loss.
The cost falls upon the general pub
lie. Rates on other lines must be higher
to help meet expenses of the obsolete
| ones. The drain to the obsolete lines
makes it impossible for the carriers to
pay dividends. Persons who have their
funds invested in railroad securities lose
their incomes and their purchasing
power is subtracted from the Nation.
Banks and insurance companies own
ing railroad securities are imperiled be-
cause of the drain In a word, the
whole country, directly or indirectly, Is
paying for the luxury of keeping rs 900
miles of railways operating to pick up
few drummers and an occasional basket
of eggs.
1t would be extreme. perhaps, to as
sert that this is the only weakness in
the railroad situation today, but it is
obviously one weakness. There are
many indications that, in the great
writing-off period through which the
country appears to be passing, some
means will have to be found to drop
| this surplus load.
Evening star., 1933-02-19
House Modernizing
Movement Spreading
BY HARDEN COLFAX.

At least one depression activity goes
ahead unfiaggingly, relieving unem-
ployment, stimulating business and
stabilizing property values. It is the
home modernizing movement, which
has swept the country with the aid OF
a committee Of the Department Of
Commerce.
Figures which became available to-
day disclose that more than $50 ,OOO. 900
has been pledged in SO cities and towns
Tor Improvement Of home properties
Other reports are coming in, forecast
ing continuing growth Of this con-
trlbution to business recovery. The
reports tell how building trades, archi-
tects, labor leaders and influential local
business and professional men and
women all are cooperating generously
in the work.
The undermining campaigns have
been most numerous in the thickly
populated districts of the East and
Middle West, although it is interesting
TO note the fact that the second largest
amount pledged to date, $10,500, 900, Is
by the city Of Portland, Greg Phila-
delphia leads them all with $40 600 900
pledged, Other cities that have record
ed over 100000 in pledges are
birmingham, Ala; Little Rock. Ark !;
Sacramento. Calf; Galeshurg, H. f:
Minneapolis and Duluth, Mimi; Lin
coin, Nebr.; Rochester, Buffalo and
Utica, N. Y; Cincinnati and Columbus.
Evening star., 1933-02-19

Elijah passed by him and cast his
mantle upon him.
1t is one thing to respect the past and
to honor the great: 1t Is quite another
thing to assume our obligations and to
seek to reproduce those qualities that
make for our security and happiness as
a people. Frequently in the face OF
conditions that produce doubt. mis-
giving and pessimism We are prone to
treat with indifference those obligations
which our inheritance lays upon us. We
think of life solely in terms of the pres
ent. and in our limited and circum-
scribed vision we do not reckon with
those traditions and ideals that have
been vitality related to our veal as a
people
The narrative from which the above
text is taken is in demonstration of all
this. A great prophet-one of the
greatest-was II flight from his duties
and obligations. He believed that his
work was a complete failure. He fur
ther believed there was nothing but
moral decay in his nation; it was a
hopeless situation. In his great disap-
pointment he sought to end his life, but
presently reassuring voice admonished
him that there were still left in the
nation very considerable body of those
who stood for the highest moral and
spiritual ideals. 1t was at this juncture
that he was told to transfer his own re-
Sponsibility to the shoulders of another
who should succeed him. Then followed
the strange happening where, seeing a
man in the field following the plow
Elijah passed by him and cast his
mantle upon him"
The man who had received the new
trust. not understanding its significance
sought to release himself from his OBJ
legation. but the mantle of response
bility had fallen upon his shoulders, and
there was but one course-to accept its
obligations. Stepping out of the mar
row environment in which his life had
been lived, he realized both the privi-
lege and the opportunity of service
that comprehended the whole life of the
people In other words, Elisha accented
the mantle of obligation and all that 1t
implied
We are thinking, especially at this
time, Of two of the greatest figures that
stand out boldly upon the horizons OF
our history-Lncoln and Washington.
We Of America are properly boastful of
our history, and as the recurring ami
versaries Of our great men come and
go we recall with pride their virtues
Evening star., 1933-02-19
Nervous Europe.

Apparently it does not take much to
put Europe's nerve on edge. At Rome,
the semi Official Gicrnale dItalia has
published what is termed virtual ul-
timatum that France, with Great Brit
aims adhesion, sent to Vienna. 1t Is
said to give the Austrian government
two weeks In which to get rid of arms
and supplies allegedly concentrated in
Austria, in violation of the peace treaty
of st. German.
Paris dispatches state that the note
was presented at Vienna on February
IL and was mainly in the nature of a
request for information as to the state
of certain arms shipments to Hungary.
Rome says the French "ultimatum" eyi-
IDENTIFY refers to the reported consign-
ment of 10000 rifles and 200 machine
guns from Italy to Austria, although it
did not specifically mention the origin
of the arms.
The episode, whether based on fact or
not. is chiefly important as a fresh il
lustration Of the state of international
tension and suspension in which Eu-
rope inoorrigibly has its being. Wit
ness the comment of the Giornale
d'Italia that the real motive" of the
French note is ito cover the warlike
preparations of France and her allies" /"
who have again been charged by Pre-
mier Mussolinis own paper, II Popolo
d'Italia, at Milan, with planning a
military offensive against Italy"
Some authorities, who see darkly
when they envisage present-day Europe,
with its epidemic of relationships and
revived monarchial aspirations, see the
Continent divided clearly into two hos
tile groups. On one side stand France
and her allies-Poland, Czechosloyakia.
Yugoslavia and Rumania. Facing
them looms a coalition which, it is
thought, would eventually link Italy,
Germany, Austria. Hungary and Bull
garia - the so-called ANNIVERSARIES
powers.
1t Is grim outlook.
Evening star., 1933-02-19
Ohio; Richmond. Va; Spokane, Wash,
and Dallas, Tex.

Ohio; Richmond. Va; Spokane, Wash,
and Dallas, Tex
Civic organizations in these cities and
towns have generally sponsored these
community improvement campaigns.
Chambers of commerce, womens clubs,
veterans organizations, luncheon clubs
and various professional and fraternal
societies have been active. They have
collected information concerning home
repair and improvement jobs, large
and small
The work, it Is now estimated, aver
ages at least SO per cent for wages. One
campaign In a Midwestern city of only
10000 people included such work as
painting, paperhanging, plastering,
plumbing. masonry and other work ON
buildings, beside labor given to side
walks, roadways and fences, and record
ed an activity already amounting to
100000. Voluntary work has been a
marked feature. In some cities, post
age, printing and advertising have been
paid for privately. In one town all the
clerical work was done by high school
students without pay as their part
toward bettering the home town and
as part of their required training in
clerical experience.
Perhaps the most spectacular cam
paign has been that carried on in Phil
adelphia, where more than $40, ,000, 900
has been pledged to modernize and re-
pair property during the next six
months all as result of what Is known
as the "renovize Philadelphia" cam
paign. This was initiated by the fed
GRAFTON Of the construction industry of
the city, enlisting the corporation of
more than a thousand trade, civic, COM
munity and religious organizations. The
whole metropolitan area Of the city, in
cluding the suburbs, was subdivided,
voluntary workers were assigned to
cultivate the field, and a house-to-
house, as well as a business property.
canvass was conducted. Property own
ers were asked to sign pledge cards
stating the amount of money they felt
they could reasonably spend for needed
repairs.
Speaking of the value of the cam
paign, Frederick M. Feiker, director OF
the Bureau Of Foreign and Domestic
Commerce, said: undermining may
prove to be the means of maintaining
and raising morale. 1t Is work that is
needed, that can be financed and that
gives employment to the largest pos
sible number of workers 1t puts money
into circulation as few other projects
can, and it lessons the need for direct
employment relief"
- tCopyright. 1e33.)
Evening star., 1933-02-19
Criticizing Radio.

1t Is an obvious trIism that 1t Is easy
to find fault. No special talent is needed
for the expression of disapproval. Con-
demnation generates Its own energy.
A negative attitude of mind naturally
produces a certain violent forcefulness
which promotes extravaganza of Ian
guage. The meekest, least obtrusive
individual may find himself suddenly
possessed Of copious flow of words
when angry. And it likewise is easy to
give way to the impulse toward wrath.
The widespread popularity of radio as
a new institution of entertainment and
instruction furnishes an interesting field
for study of the psychological reac-
tions of the people In general Doubt
less the files Of the broadcasting stations
are bursting with letters which COM
petent psychiatrist would appreciate
seeing. From time to time selected
communications have been published,
but those which have been suppressed
would be more important in the judg-
ment of scientist endeavoring to esti-
mate the character of national intelli-
gence.
The radio, Of course, Is like every
| other medium Of communication in
that it may be used either construc-
lively or destructively. 1t may dissemi-
nate truth or falsehood beauty or ugli-
ness. 1t may stimulate cultural prog
ress or retard it. In general, it may be
presumed to respond to public demand,
to give what the masses want. 1t can
not avoid the influence of the approval
or disapproval of those who listen to
the programs sent out over the air. Like
the press, the stage, the movies busi-
ness and politics. radio, to a greater or
lesser extent, Is controlled by the un-
organized democracy Of the Nation.
1t follows that If the people desire
trash from the radio companies, they
will be given trash II they want art,
they will be accommodated. At pres
ent there is a plenitude of the former,
a modicum of the latter. But the
broadcasters are not solely responsible
in the circumstances. The public must
bear Its share Of the blame. The fan
mail of the professional crooners, blues
singers, jazz band leaders, cheap come
dians and other practitioners OF in
artistic entertainment is enormous
Such commendation, of course, con-
firms both the entertainers and the
managers Of the stations in their i'm
preston that popular" program ma
terial is what the public appreciates.
They want it hot" is common ex-
Evening star., 1933-02-19
of their worth and yet are not ade-
quately estimated BY their owners.

of their worth and yet are not ade.
quately estimated BY their owners.
Granted that much Of each family.
accumulation of household deities may
be indefensibly outmoded, the fact re-
mains that occasionally among the
debris real pearl OF authentic price
may be found Granted, also, that
many of the relics are broken or other
wise damaged, there still is a joy to be
found in restoring or reconstructing
them
Few individuals have more than oe-
casionai pleasure in their possessions
The passion to acquire them seems to
initiate against their enjoyment. But
now that unrelenting pursuit of novelty
is luxury which no one can afford
the momentary novelties of other years
ought to have a chance to demonstrate
their innate merit.
Intelligently to review the contents
Of an average house should be source
of entertainment, If nothing more.
Among the best fun to be found any
where is that Ct rediscovering the es-
thetic possibilities of home.
Evening star., 1933-02-19
Rediscovery of Home.

Sunday probably is the best day OF
the week for rediscovering home. The
guest, rightly considered, has all the
clements of a great adventure. Every
soof in the world, If only people realized
It. shelters values which have been neg
1cted for years and which more or less
hopefully have awaited appreciation,
Surely, it is but right that their pa
tience should be rewarded.
Books, for example, exist unnoticed
In thousands Of dwellings-old books,
perhaps, of the kind that were popular
fifty or even a hundred years ago;
more recent books, possibly, to which
q pledge or promise was made at the
been passed over in the confusion OF
the business of earning livelihood in
q time when that Is particularly en-
crossing occupation. Investigation Of
some Of the volumes, tolerant sam
pling of their contents, might be 9
gratifying experience.
Pictures, old prints and engravings
BOO, hang upon thousands Of walls iI
mute anticipation of a moment wher
they really may be inspected. Certain.
ly, they are seen every once in while
but it is only rarely that the eyes thai
behold them actually study their themes
How intriguing they are when closel!
examined few comprehend. Generally
they are mere space filters, not window
into the infinite, as they theoretical!
are supposed TO be.
Furniture. china, silver, each is a spe
cisl study and a special delight to thos
who are willing to bestow upon them ;
little of the attention which it Is par
of their artistic function to deserve
Attics throughout the land are file
with put away" things which wer
saved by the charity Of some perception
Evening star., 1933-02-19
SHOOTING STARS.
BY PHILANDER JOHNSON.

Early Bird.
Pretty little early bird,
Singin' in the snow,
Happy simply to be heard,
Though chill breezes blow.
Often have I enyied you
All your thoughtless cheer
Midst the SORROWS, far from few,
Round us drawing near.
Pretty little early bird
You don't do a thing
When your interest is stirred
Save to fly and sing.
IT'S your privilege immense
Careless glee to claim
If I had not better sense,
might do the same.