davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Washington times., 1936-08-25
Greatest Show on Earth
Blu Frank Miller Smith

} think that is what amazes US
most, I mean.
81 say, what is 1t that amazes
you the most about Americana"
The last was directed toward q
young chap in blue blazer who
had just come up to see the blimp
sailing over the city.
"The most amazing? Why,
the most amazing thing would
say is that everything good in
this country are the things that
are cold English"
you see," said Mr.. Ellis, IAN
English subject"
Besides the politics of this coun-
try the newspapers also seemed to
mystify them. One member ex-
planned that their papers do not
use the front pages for news, car
rying only advertisements there.
He also said very loftily that the
British papers do not put the sport
ing events in with the news that
counts" Just as if you could
imagine the late editions of an
American paper without the re-
suits of the baseball games and
who won the last race!
The Washington times., 1936-08-25
There's No Place Like Home

Perhaps product of the hot spell, Mr. Earl Browder s
16page pamphlet entitled who Are the Americans? comes
as welcome midsummer reading in which entertainment pre-
dominates Says Mr. Browder:
"We Communists like this country Uery much. We
cannot think of any other spot the globe Uhere 1Oe
uOould rather be than exactly this ONE We t0Oe our
country"
Mr. Browder we are not mistaken, loved his country
so much in 1918 that he spent several months safely behind
meals per day at public expense the other
which benevolent government extended to those of its
citizens who too proud to fight.
This was when million Americans were rlsklng
their lives overseas their counyhat country which Mr.
Browder simply could not bear to leave.
Yes Communists doubtless cannot think of spot where
they would rather be than Exactly this one especially in
war time Mr. Browder did not have write book to
The Washington times., 1936-08-25
Racketeering Practices Have Been Known
From the Start of History

and deal plenty of misery to the
prospective customer if he doesn't
come through.
Their methods are essentially
the same as those described in
Sir Walter SCOTS novels, where
in he gives the English and
Scotch versions of racketeering.
The story is so repetitiouS as to
become monotonous.
From the start of recorded
history, laws have been aimed
principally at the gangsters and
not at the crooked officials who
work with them. Blackstone
limited his definition of eXtortion
The Washington times., 1936-08-25

an could be forced to face. The
husband to whom she had been
married for 20 years, the father
of her only child, had become in
volved in sensational affair with
a prominent actress. The result
ant exposure smeared the front
pages, sizzled the air waves and
aroused the cackles of a jeering
world.
"Ah hal" kiyakked the kibitzers,
nov there'll be a divorce! No
wife will ever stand for this. just
wait until she hears about it
watch her blast him!"
But Mrs. Kaufman did not blast
him" Coolly contemptuouS, she
received the inevitable question
erS. Yes, she had heard. Yes,
she had known. Yes, she under
stood the whole situation. But
what of it? Marriage was mar.
riage. Marriage was something
above these belittlements e.
something to be preserved despite
all vulgariCies. No matter what
happened, her marriage would
go on"
MORAL DIGNITY
"Let u.s." said Mrs. George Kauf.
man, preserve some dignity"
I repeat, I am not acquainted
with Mrs. Kaufman. She may,
for all I know. have many per.
sonal eccentricities. She may chew
her nails. read movie titles
out loud wear imitation pearls
with Scotch tweeds put sugar
in her salad dressing smoke
cigars and dote on swing music
Nevertheless and Notwithstanding,
she has said five words which
gave her immediate rank with the
immortalS and entitled her to per,
petual parking space in Westmin
The Washington times., 1936-08-25
AS OTHERS SEE US

eyes, 1 understand you are in
the midst of a political cam
paign, but / can't say that that
interests us much, l mean to
say, we can't understand you.
1--WE don't know what is the
difference between a Democrat
and a Republican, do you? That
is, we don't see what difference
it makes if the President stays
in office or he doesn't. You
see your system is SO much dill
ferent from ours.
1--WE have been told that Lam
dOn-that's his name, isn't it,
might have a chance to get in"
It was Mr.. John Craven Ellis
manager of the National ProVln
cial Bank of London, talking. He
is a member of the second party
of British motorists on tour II
America.
AS he went on you got the i'm
preston that his lack of intereSt
was solely due to the fact that
he thought American politics wa
matter for magicians WHIT
pulled candidates and policies ou
of a hat for the amazement of thu
world, America included. To g
on:
"YOu see, the British civil
servants have nothing to do
with politics. They go on work
ing no matter who is in office.
at seems here that as soon
as the chief cook and bottle
washer is elected in a state, he
has the Eower of appointing the
heads of the departments and
he Immediately changes them
all.
I'm England the most conSer-
vative head of the Civil Service
can work at tops with the Soc
ialist prime minister. Politics
have nothing to do with it.
The Washington times., 1936-08-25

S,0UU years ago. Edwin Z. Hlll
Mayor KushShiharbe and the boys
at the city hall had been caught
grating, bribing, kidnapping, black
mailing, watering the milk and
rigging rebates and kick-backs on
Jobs in a manner so startling mod
ern that one expects to see an
eight-column line ripple across the
stone tablet on which is chiseled
the tale of the chiseierS. The
people who record the story were
called Hurrians, not a bad name
for city hall reporters.
It is obvious that racketeering,
pretty much as we know it now, is
about as old as the Garden of
Eden. But the name seems to
have originated in Chicago in
1885. Overlapping New York and
Chicago gang wars had caused an
official investigation.
"This isn't a noise" remarked
one of the investigators. "it's a
racket"
The Greeks had a name for it
"sycophantS," which meant Gig
shower" They were supposed to
have informed on persons illegally
importing figs from Africa. The
word came to be applied to in
formers in general, then to black
mailers and it is indicated that it
covered a field of extortion sim
liar to that covered by the word
racket" today.
ATHENS AND ROME
In the Symposium of Xenophon,
Charmides rejoices that at last he
has no money and is therefore
free of the sycophants. Athens
was always having a cleanup. al,
ways appointing vigilante commit
tees, always looking for an honest
prosecutor and passing Baumes
laws and lacking up it's penal code
AS was Rome a few centuries
later.
There the racketeers we're "dela
tors" which, like "sycophants" in
Greece, spread out to cover null
titude of evils. Rome had lot OF
trouble with corrupt governors
and official fixers, with venaI
judges and politicians who acted
as Intermediates in buying anc
selling decisions and laws.
They also had a system much
like the "cinch" bills of oul
State legislatures today. A citi
zen who got away with anything
important was pretty apt to be
cracked over the head with a
new law unless he divvied with
the legislators.
In the new excavations al
Pompeii are the reform election
posters, summoning the voters tc
clean the gang out of the city
hall. The Rhine and Danube
barons were big-time racketeers as
were the Barbary Coast pirates
In Africa and Asia, there have
been desert chieftains for thou
sands of years who sell "protec
ton" to merchants or travellers
The Washington times., 1936-08-25
Listen, World!
By Elsie Robinson
LET US PRESERVE SOME DIGNITY"

Ster Abbey.
LET us preserve some dignity"
never did a nation need that
admonition more than these
United States.
We are a remarkable people, we
Americans. We are audaciouS and
adaptable, kind-hearted, merry,
clever, courageous. as amazingly
shrewd in small affairs as we are
incredibly stupid in larger ones
Nonchalantly we perform miracles,
amasS Aladdin's wealth and
Caesars power-then as non.
chalantly, allow it to be taken
from us. With the careless self
confidence and effortleSs vigor of
O. young giant we straddle the
world, our head in the stars, the
most amazing phenomenon in hui
man history.
But of moral dignity-we have
hardly a shred!
Pleasure, work, travel, sport, ad,
venture-theSe matters receive
our serious attention. But to the
most sacred relationship in hu.
man eXiStance, to marriage, we
bring only maudlin Sentimentality
or vulgar hilarity.
CONTRADICTORY
We consider ourselves to be a
civilized and Christian nation
We look with Scorn at the matter
of-fact English and pity the
"downtrodden" British wife. We
survey with contempt the "mer
cenary" French with their mar
riage de CONVEYANCE" and nuptia
dots" or the professional match
makers of the Hebrews. And we
rate, as utterly barbaric, the
polygamouS unions of the Orien
tails and the savage matings Of the
jungle jewellers.
YET NO PEOPLE ON EARTH
REGARD MARRIAGE AS FRIV
OLOUSLY OR TREAT IT AS
FLIPPANTLY AS WE AMER
ICANS.
These other races, whose ar
Id11SCI11C11Uo VIC 0NOA4AS A4AcbJ 4AoNS
quaint practices. But, without ex
ception, they regard marriage as
the most sacred of all human
contracts, the fundamental and
most important social function
And they treat it accordingly.
But we Americans, despite our
enlarged and enlightened concept
of other activities, still regard
marriage as a purely personal
venture and are as casual in oul
matings, and as careless of their
consequences, as jack rabbits!
LET US PRESERVE SOME
DIGNITY!" says Mrs. George
kaufman.
Lady, you said a mouthful!
Copyright, 1885. by King Features
Syndicate, Inc.)
The Washington times., 1936-08-25
SCARED BROWN

Representative U. S Guyer (RD i,
Kansas, who appeared here last
week to make several speeches be-
fore Republican clubs, reports that
there is not a spear of green grass
in his home town, Kansas City.
"The grass is so scared and
brown" he said, that they are
having prairie fires right in the
town. For the past AZ days the
mercury has been past 100"
He explained, however, that 1t
is a dry heat and that at night it
cools off so people can sleep.
The Washington times., 1936-08-25
The Human Side of the News = By Edwin C. Hill
By J. E. Powers

about hopeless unless this ALI
ance of gangdom and certain
dark zones of officialdom can be
cleaned out.
The correspondence between
extortion in ancient and modern
times is a great deal more than
historic analogue. It pretty
nearly indicates a uniform fail
ure in the efforts to establish q
continuing civilization, and it
particularly stresses a trouble
some enigma of democratic gov
eminent. The mice can hire
cat of their own choosing to
police each other, but who's going
to police the cat?
! WHAT NEXT?
The late Lincoln SteffenS, IA
nous reformer of three decades
ago, pondered this problem
through his entire lifetime. AS
a young man, SteffenS saw "The
human side of the news" in the
sharp black and white in which
it is recorded on this page.
There were good people and bad
people. The good people must
be rallied to drive the bad peo-
pie out of power.
He and his fellow muckrakers
did root many a crook out OF
office and start waves of reform
in American cities, but nothing
changed much. Steffens. puzzled
by all this, began to see that the
human beings are like a pinto
horse in coloration-:1ot neceS
sarily either black or white and
that bad people often act like
good ones and vice versa. He
could have gone back to the
Scriptures for that-"The chill
dren of darkness are wiser in
their generation than the children
of light"
A gangster may be Robin
Hood and a reformer "sou1
puss." But that's all Gin their
generation" an important quail
fication in the Scriptural text.
Racketeering, in the long run
means ruin for civilization, just
as certainly as war, famine OF
pestilence. This $500 year ole
Kushshiharbe graft trial fits in
to a pattern Of long, long
centuries.
DR.. Alexis Carrel, Colonel Lind
bergh'S associate in developing
the mechanical heart. says we
will never have a true sense Of
historicity until We can get g
longer and more detailed view
before and after, and that we
will never have a true civiliza
ton until we can do this
Napoleon cleaned out the gang
sters in Sicily by having his
brother stick their heads up ir
public places, on tall poles. That
worked as long as Napoleon was
on the job. Thereafter. they
were thicker than ever. What
next?
Copyright 1895, by King Features
Syndicate, Inc.)
The Washington times., 1936-08-25
Susan B. Anthony Stamp

The placing sale of the Susan B. Anthony
stamp the pioneering work of this great ad
vocate of political equality of women and men.
The stamp, of Of tremendous interest to phate
lists and reproduction Of the statue Of Miss Anthony
bv Mrs Adelaide Johnson
BUT STAMP COLLECTORS WILL HAVE TO SHARE
INTEREST IN THE ISSUE WITH ALL THOSE WHO
RECOGNIZE THE PRIME PART WHICH MISS ANTHONY
PLAYED IN THE LONG STRUGGLE LEADING UP TO
ENACTMENT OF THE EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT.
A great who played tremendous part in i'm
poran political reform Miss Anthony deserves the honor
which is bestowed by this commemorative stamp issue.
The Washington times., 1936-08-25

priationS. SEM "m' n A
Each of these gentlemen who
will WELD great deal Of power
when the budget is presented to
Congress declare that if the bud
get is not watched carefully
there will have to be an increase
in taxes to carry it.
AS a matter of fact Senator
Thomas and Senator King are
both of the opinion that larger
gasoline tax is almost certain Tor
next year.
The Washington times., 1936-08-25
Three-Minu Journeys

visitors during the summer and
Bermuda was on many cruise itin-
eraries, but the business was not
sufficient to justify keeping all
the important hotels open. But
now, for the first time in it's his
toryy, Bermuda is duplicating its
winter program in the summer
months.
REACHED NEW PEAK
Last winter, Bermuda reached
new peak on the vacation list
and people got the habit of rum
ming down there for a weekend.
Many began to talk about build
ing homes on the islands, influ-
enced no doubt by Vincent Astor's
beautiful dwelling. Then the
smart set decided that Bermuda
was much more exciting than
Europe in summer.
The journey takes two nights,
one day and an afternoon. The
islands are 666 nautical miles from
New York, yet they offer a So
journ under another flag as we'll
as all the beauty and appeal of a
Semi-tropical land.
The hotels report unprecedented
summer bookings and many of
them are installing roof gardens.
Real estate agents say they cannot
cope with the demand for summer
villa rentals and the shops have to
send to London and Paris to re-
pleniSh their depleted stocks.
There is plenty to do in Bermuda
in any season.
September will witness the two
outstanding golf events of the sea-
son, the 18-hole handicap tourna-
ment at the Mid-Ocean Club and
the championship tournament at
| the st, George Golf Club.
The Washington times., 1936-08-25

Ito the former and It stands In
the British common law today.
France tried for hundreds of
years to frame laws against con-
niving magistrates and police,
but didn't get the statutes work
ing until early in the Nineteenth
century.
We have plenty of laws against
misfeasance and malfeaSance in
office, but j. Edgar Hoover, fight
ing gangSters with his G-Men, con-
tinually is inveighing against
venal lawyers, officials and poll
ticians. He seems to think that
effective law enforcement is just
The Washington times., 1936-08-25

other day. But
she made, then,
one short state
m e n t which
should stand as
an everlasting
rebuke and an
inspiration to
our hectic, hys-
terical and gen.
orally haywire
generation.
Mrs. K a u f.
man made this
statement dur
ing as dark an
hour as any
sensitive WOn-
The Washington times., 1936-08-25
CAMPAIGN Issues

Announcement that the Presi-
dent will delay any campaign &C
tivitieS until October is in line
with the program of the Admin
istration strategiSts. They are
bound and certain to drive for
reelection of their candidate on
only two issues, prosperity Re-
gained" and "Roos evelt the
Builder"
Dynamite on other issues, it is
said, will come solely from the
Landon forces.
The Washington times., 1936-08-25

seem to nave
forgotten the
warnings issued
by senator Will
liam H. King
CD, U t a h -,
c h al r m a n of
the Senate Dis
trio t Commit
tee, and Sena-
tor E m e r
Thomas CD
o k | a h o m a -,
c h a i rman OF
the Senate sub
committee on
District Appro.
The Washington times., 1936-08-25
HAND PICKED?

Is it true that the wildly en-
thusiastic crowds that greeted
President Roosevelt on his recent
trip to the flood areas of Penn
sylvania were PWA and WPA
workers corraled to fill out recep
ton committees by the Admins
tration's political bosses?
The Washington times., 1936-08-25

harbe kidnap-
ing case. The
running story,
in cuneiform
tablets, hot off
the stone quar-.
ry, is d e C j.
phered by Har-
ward oriental-
lists, but the
latest edition,
telling how the
trial ended. is
missing.
That was In
the MeSopotam-
ian city of Nuzi,
z 500 wears ago,
The Washington times., 1936-08-25
Wise Words

It is not given to the human in
tsllect to expand itself widely in
an directions at once, and to be
at the same time gigantic and we'll
Notwithstanding.
Bad advice is often most fatal
to the adviser.-FlaccuS.
But love can hope where reason
would DISQUALIFICATION.
A life of ease is a difficult pur-
Suit.-CoWper.
Peace hath her victories no less
renowned than war.-Milton.
The Washington times., 1936-08-25
THE sUB,TROPICS

With new lures reckoning
travellers to distant points, the
trek this year is to the sub-tropics
and it's on in full force. It may
seem strange that travellers should
venture southwark in the path of
the sun during the summer. but
those who have been doing so for
years are enthusiastic about their
holidays.
One of the latest resorts to at
tract the vacationiSt in Bimini.
Nassau also is reporting a heavy
summer tourist trade, but it is
Bermuda that is the real magnet
for the, traveller seeking the sum-
mer sun.
There was a time when Ber-
muda was popular with only few
winter travellers. During the year,
small steamers took care of those
who enjoyed a respite from winter
in those coral islands. Then sud-
denly Bermuda became the vogue
the place to go. Palatial
steamers and a shrewd advertis-
ing campaign made travellers Ber-
muda. conscious and the rush was
on.
BERMUDA
A magnificent hotel was built,
but it couldn't take care of all the
bookings, so the other hotels,
ranging from de luxe to just plain
boarding places, had their share
of business. The shops were
TANNED, and big business became
ever bigger as Bermuda began to
be a must" on winter cruise
itineraries.
Bermuda had arrived" so far
as the winter trade was con-
cerned. OF course, there were
The Washington times., 1936-08-25
THIS WEEK

Well, of all things!
Earl Browder, CommuniStic can
didate for the presidency, will
speak at the National Press Club
this week. President Roosevelt,
as you know. is a member of the
club. It's also the hangout for
the brain truSters, and Charlie
Michaelson and Jesse Jones and
Marvin Mcintyre ct al.
The Washington times., 1936-08-25
Mr.. BlantOn's Defeat

N1ls D1d1lUO1l y OC1COC
There will probably be many upsets before the new
Congress convenes in January, but there will be no
change which will have weighter import for this city
than the removal of Representative Thomas L. Banton
of Texas.
Mr. Banton was retired from office with the graft
tude of his constituents when he beaten in last
Saturdays primary by Judge Clyde L. Garrett by a
vote Of about two to one.
Rejoicing OUer PERSONS defeat is not particu-
LarLy pleasant, but Mr. BlantOn in the past has so
often gIOated his defeating the aspirations Of
pOUerLess WGShingtOniGns that he UH PROBABLY
cOncede that the local citizens justified in not
feeling dOIUncast OUer his discontinue.
Mr. Blanton served long time-about 20 years
in the House
During all that time he thorn in the side Of
Washington
About the only substantial claim he can make to &C.
complishmen in his lengthy service that he able
arbitrarily to and slash the appropriation of local
money for local purposes and also to prevent the Federal
Government from appropriatng fair amount toward
the cost of the National Capital.
Mr. Blanton certainly could not be charged with lack
of interest in the National Capital many Of
his coeagues-but the trouble that Mr. Blanton s
interest in the Federal city always seemed to be mis-
directed.
The attitude of Representative Blanton toward this
voteless city, however played little part in his defeat;
members of his district in Texas were not particularly
interested in his activities in connection with the Dis
trict of Columbia.
And this fact seems to carry especial significance for
it demonstrates the difficulty of obtaining proper con-
sideraton of local matters in national legislature
Whatever interest member of Congress takes in
the Federal city, Uhether favorable to that city or
opposed to its progress he takes at his OOn RISK ana
ikeLv to his DUN disadvantage.
ToI.-
from his commanding position as chairman of the Dis
trict subcommittee of the Appropriations Committee
does not mean that the ctys legislative troubles are
over.
IT DOES MEAN HOWEVER, THAT ONE OF
THE PRINCIPAL OPPONENTS OF FAIR AND DE-
LIBERATE CONSIDERATION OF LOCAL MEAS
URES HAS LEFT THE HOUSE.
The Washington times., 1936-08-25
A WARNING

District department heads who
have recently submitted huge in
creases in their budget for 1888
The Washington times., 1936-08-25

It would be interesting, in some
newspaper Valhalla, to talk to the
reporter who covered the KuShShi.
The Washington times., 1936-08-25

salute Mrs. George kaufman.
I have never met Mrs. Kaufman
never heard of her until the
The Washington times., 1936-08-25
TUESDAY, AUGUST rs, 1886


at C.
Managing Editor
Publisher William Shelton Business Manager
The Ely miner., 1936-12-10
Turkey and Money
Are Surprises.

Benson-A turkey popping out of a
snow drift, discovering a nickel in the
crop of pheasant and finding a quar-
ter imbedded in horSehide were three
incidents which caused Benson persons
to amaze a minute" The turkey
popped out of the opening when Charles
Holt broke through a snow drift, and it
was learned the bird had burrowed it
self under the snow during a storm and
survived the exposure during nine
day period. The nickel was found in
the crop of pheasant, together with
button when Benson housewife was
dressing the bird for her family's din
ner table, and produce company dis
covered that horsehide which it pur-
chased exceeded the patrons value by
twenty-five cents, in that a coin was
imbedded in the hide
The Ely miner., 1936-12-10
Skunks Appear at
School, Vacation.

Luverne-"A feller's best friend" ac-
cording to vote Of the school children
in a school near Jasper, is the skunk,
which is not generally accepted as a
very popular little animal. But, when
a den of the black and white cats in
vaded the school house, so that it
meant a vacation for the pupils, that is
a different proposition. The odorous
little animals took up their home in the
walls of the building and made their
presence so well known to the students
and teacher that classes had to be dis
continued. A meeting of the board was
necessitated to devise ways and means
by which the skunks could be persuaded
to move without leaving an enduring
calling card, and school was dismissed
for a week before the animals could be
eradicated.
The Ely miner., 1936-12-10
Honest Persons
Travel Highway.

Farmington-When ten-dollar bills
are scattered along busy highway and
they remain there until the owner re-
turns the next day, it is quite evident
highway and that Diogenes, the sag.
who carried lantern in the day time
looking for an honest man, wouldn't
have had much trouble finding one in
that community A purse, containing
$40 was lost on road leading from
Minneapolis to Pennington, the money,
in ten dollar denominations, was scat
tered and when the owner returned to
search for it the following day the bills
could be picked up at intervals of Is
steps.