davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-04-08

It isn't often that city or town refuses the gift of a valuable piece of property, but down in New York State this has just happened. When Samuel Untermeyer died recently he left his valuable estate in Yonkers on the Hudson River to the State. The property is quite a show place and has been for years. There are all sorts of valuable trees and shrubbery scattered all over it, as we'll as green houses and other property. But the State isn't going to accept the gift for the simple reason that it can't afford to as sume the heavy burden of maintaining such an expensive piece of property. It would cost between 75,0O0 and $100,000 to maintain it and in addition the city and state would lose large sum in an taxes. Looking this gift-horse in the mouth was wise.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-04-08
Windfall

You know that feeling: You've gotten an old vest out of the closet to wear in doing little work in the garden, and you find $5 bill in the pocket. It's a lovely feeling. Boston has it today. It came unexpectedly on a little windfall of $8,OOO,OOO A squad of WPA workers have been making a four-year search of old wills And they unearthed $8,O00,000 originally bequeathed to public charities, but which through neglect or oversight were never paid.
 Trustees are now being made to pay up, and in many cases the benefactionS will be helpful in holding down taxes. Any community which suspects that it's old probate court vests contain forgotten caches of this kind had better set a squad to rummaging through its municipal closets.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-04-08
Dead Not Even Counted

Life is precious gift. Men cherish it, cling to it desperately long after all its juices would seem to have been sucked dry. Yet it is cheap. It is so cheap that men pour it out with thoughtless lavish ness when they turn to war. How many men died in the snows of Finland? Mo- body knows. Here the sacrifice to the war god was not even measured as it poured forth. Nobody knows within thousands, within scores of thousands, how many brave young men, Finn and Russian, died in the brief northern war.
 There were tales of the slaughter of Russian divisions, one after another, marched to the shambles like the dumb animals who march patiently into the Slaughter-penS. There is no reason to doubt those stories in detail, especially those of trustworthy American eyewit- nesses. But it begins to seem clear now that the cumulative effect of those stories did give distorted view. Little was said of Finnish losses.
 Now the war is over, and Mars begins to total up his blood-smeared ledgers. How many died? Molotoff, Russian pre- mier, now says the Russian dead were 48, ,645, with 158, 1863 wounded The Films, he says, lost 60,000 killed and 250,000 wounded.
 Mannerheim, the Finn leader, told different story, of 100000 Russian dead, 6O0,000 wounded, while the Films were
The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-04-08
Government By Confession

In England they govern by tradition In France, by emotion. In Germany, by intimidation. In the United States by ir- vestigation. In Russia, by confession.
 There must be something in Con- munist dostrine and teaching, rather than in the much-touted Russian soul, that the culprit caught on the wrong side of some political fence to grovel in abject confession of his error.
 Nicholas Dozenberg, the Red army spy who was for years prominent in U. s. Communist ranks, wound up by abjectly renouncing the ideals for which he had worked, and feverishly embracing those of democracy.
 A copy of Dozenberg's disavowals might be sent to the Kremlin for filing along side those of Bukharin, Rykov, and the other purge victims. Poor Dozenberg thought that even in renouncing the Communist movement he had to follow it's technique.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-04-08

doubled that loss for the Films, guessed losing 15,000 dead. Swedish estimates total Russian casualties at half-million. Nobody knows whose figures are correct. By averaging all these claims, however, one can make guess that between 1OO,- 900 and 100000 men are dead.
 When spring comes to the lake country, when the northern tundras bloom shyly green again, those rows of dead will be- gin their return to the earth whence they came. Each was a man, each living, breathing being, with fears and hopes like yours and mine, all merged now in a common oblivion Throughout all northeastern Europe are families whose sons did not return. They know. They remember. But for the rest, for the gov ernments which sent them to their deaths, for a world which watched help lessly as they died-these didn't even bother to count them.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-04-08

New Haven must have been hard hit by that sleet and snow storm Connecticut suffered early in March. We knew that the public utilities took quite "beating' from the elements. Wonder what critics of utility rates would say if they knew how much these companies had to pay to put their lines back into shape for unin- terrupted service again? At any rate New Haven figures that it cost the city $53,000 in loss of trees. This money will be spent in removing broken limbs that are now menace to passing traffic, as we'll as prun- ing and repairing trees that will stand some surgery And then, of course, there is an intangible loss to property through complete destruction of many old and valuable trees which enhance so much the property on which they stand. Over 10000 trees were badly damaged in New Haven, which is huge number. We were lucky in Waterbury in this respect.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-04-08
In Today's Mail

cotton gin through his experience with hand cards for wool. He was cheated out of his patent rights. It was another 10 years before his in- vention was widely applied and brought about an agricultural rev. olution by the extensive growth of a short staple cotton which could be mechanically ginned and spun into yarn.
 Whitney, disappointed in the re- turn of his cotton gin, turned to making firearms. In 1872 he con- tracted to make 15,000 arms for the U. s. Government and a similar amount for the State of New York these to be made with inter changeable parts. This was perhaps the first so-called "technological achievement"
 The demand for textile machinery tand firearms and for such devices as axes, blows, scythes, locks and clocks required that they be produ- ced in large quantities by power driven machinery. This brought about the second advance-that of mass production.
 Among the men who gave this progress great impetus was Elisha K. Root of Hartford and Collinsville. He found the making of axes and guns to be hand crafts, and he or- ganized both industries with sub divisions of machine processes and Skills. While Root was accomplish ing this between 1892 and 1865, he was turning out an even more val uable product necessary to advance progress-skilled mechancs and en- gineers. There were a score of them. With great energy these engineers, who, like Pratt and Whitney, were trained by Root, developed the machine tools of accuracy and precision essential in making many new devices such as Colts revol- vers, Collins axes, Cooks wood screws, Christopher Spencer's screw machines, Terry's clocks and Bill ing's drop forges and dies.
 The steam locomotive marked the next great advance in the develope- ment of transportation system without which industrial progress could not have gone forward. This development has been never end- ing and is still being vigorously promoted In the construction of stream lined trains with diesel en- zines. The improvement of automa- tic machine tools has also been a never ending process, as increased requirements for speed and accur-
The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-04-08

1I1cIluS III washington, put pulling no punches in the They are seeking th> csoo=evelt third-term ticket with everything in the arena, incluc::1g the water bucket.
 Chief Garner shillalah is a four page leaf1et that is the hottest piece of campaign literature seen in these parts in a long time. It fairly sizzles, and blasts the third term and leading New Dealers more scorchingly than anything the COP has put over. Over g. 500,000 copies have been distribu- ted in this state and 100000 were used in Wisconsin.
 Principal punch in the leaflet is a four-collmn inside layout under a big-type headline, THE THIRD TERM-WHICH GROUP WILL YOU VOTE FOR?" Then follows a caption FOR" under which ap- pears this list:
 "HarOld Ickes, salary from the U. D. "A. Sl0,VUU.
 Henry Wallace, salary from the U. S. A. $15,000,
 Harry Hopkins, salary from the U. s. A. $15,000.
 Miss Perkins, salary from the U. s. A. $15,000.
 Ben Cchcn, salary from the U. s. A. $9,000.
 Tom Corcoran. salary from the U. s. A. $8,500.
 Jerome Frank, salary from the U. S. A. $1O,000.
 w. G. McAdOO, salary from the U. s. A. $25,000.
 Bcss Hague of New Jersey, profits from politics-unknOwn.
 Boss Nash of Chicago-profits from p0litics-unknOwn.
 NOTE-Bosses Pendergast of Kansas City and Jimmy Hines, patronage dispenser in Manhat- tan, are temporarily silent about
The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-04-08

acy have been put upon them.
 There developed after 1870 an attack of all the sciences upon in- dustrial progress. It became not only problem of mechanical but of chemical and electrical engineer ing. During these years the many developments in electric lighting came as we proceeded from the arc light to the incandescent lamp and from the telegraph and cable to the telephone. Edison illuminated the whole electrical field with his vision of more than 50 years, reaching into the discoveries of sound and light as well as power.
 The years following 1890 were signalized by the modern develop ments of the automobile and electric refrigeration. Finally followed the work of the Wright brothers in de- veloping the aeroplane; then of the many engineers who assisted in making the radio a practical instru- ment. These discoveries opened up revolutionary possibilities for rcpid transportation and communication.
 We think of 1880 as indicating the start of this industrial revolution. A man and helper in Collinsville were then turning out on a hand forge 10 axes a day. Today they are producing about 700 axes a day. When Root came to Collinsville his compensation was $546 for a year of 312 days. The 4th of July was his only holiday. Wages of $12 to SIS a month were paid at the end of the year. Today men receive about double that amount in one week, or from $24 to $32 a week and in mon- ey of about three times the pur- chasing power of 100 years ago. Where one man was then employed in industry, possibly 10 men are em- ployed today.
 Our frontiers today may not be those which the engineers and mechanics overcame between 1880 and 1850, but they are equally rich in their promise. The chemical and physical laboratories and the best minds in the world have been con- tinously at work during the ten years of the depreSS1on. They have developed ideas which will require the investment of billions of dollars when given assurance that their in- ventions and returns will be reason- ably protected, in the words of Gov ernor Baldwin, by "a friendly and cooperative government"
 HOWELL CHENEY, TREAS.
 Connecticut EConomIc Council
The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-04-08
LOW PURCHASING POWER OF WAGES 100 YEARS AGO COM
 PARED WITH TODAY

Editor of the Democrat:
 In 1913 Machinists' apprentices could earn $6 month in Connec- ticut while skilled hands could earn SIP a month. Chauncey Jerome maker of wooden clocks, was em- ployed as joiner in Pennington, Conn. for $2O month, on which he married. Even this $40 couldn't have had one-third the purchasing power that bis wages would have today because he had to pay SIS a barrel for flour, 75 cents gallon for molasses and $1 yard for cot- ton cloth no better than he could buy in later life for 10 cents a yard.
 The true explanation of the low purchasing power of wages Of those days was not that hands were plenty, but that productivity was low on account of crude machinery and lack of steam power. Wages, however, were steadily advancing and by 1882 the textile factories, then the largest industry in Conn., ecticut, were paying men $1 for a Ody Ol 1A 11Ou1oS WOAAACAA OO SSAACo eAAAN children 20 cents.
 There were two major problems for brains to solve: transportation to markets and machine tools to work with, both depending upon the use of mechanical power.
 The period in which this is brought about is known as the in- dustrial revolution of 1880 to 1850. This had commenced at least 50 years before and is continuing be- yond the present day with its con- stant contributions toward higher production, thereby increasing the possibility for jobs at steadily rising wages.
 In 1769 James Watt took out his first English patent covering the principle of piston driven from a cylinder by the force of steam.
 The building of a practical steam engine 25 years later opened the way in England for Arkwright's textile spinning machinery which Slater brought to this country and developed from 1790 to 1925. Tn ban- ishing the hand distaff and the spinning wheel, 1t multiplied pro- duction and employment tenfold.
 In 1795 Eli Whitney of New Ha- ven discovered the principle of the
The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-04-08

third term. They are doing their first terms in the penitentiary.)
 "They and a horde of other job holders are riding the gravy train. It is a free ride and they will never get off unless we, the voters, put them off. They are for third term, or fourth, or a fifth"
 Opposite this fuSillade and un- der the caption AGAINST" are four pictures-Washington, Jeff ferson, Andrew Jackson, and Grover Cleveland. In addition are Coolidge'S famous ''I do not choose to run" statement and a quote from Jim Farley: "I place my country above my party"
 COURTHOUSE DEWEY
 MADISON, Wis. - Dewey's sweeping Wisconsin victory was particularly striking in view of the bowling faux pas he pulled here.
 It occurred during the New Workers address before a Satur- day afternoon crowd of several thousand from the steps of the great, tall-domed State Capitol, of which Wisconsinites are very proud. He was lambasting the Ad- ministration's failure to balance the budget, when he turned and pointed to the State House.
 T am proud" he said, ito be standing on one of the few courthouse steps that are paid for"
 The Capitol, built under the elder Senator Robert LaFollette, was financed by a special tax on the railroads.
 NOTE-Dewey ana Roosevelt have one thing in common-both are down on critical newsmen. In the latest Dewey campaign leaflet is paragraph angrily de-
The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-04-08
Whats Your l. O.?

Can you answer seven of these test questions? Turn to last page fer the answers.
 1. Did the famous pitcher, Wal ter Johnson, throw right-or left handed?
 2. Is asbestos animal, mineral, or vegetable in origin?
 3. Are all of President Roosevelt'S sons over six feet tall?
 4. Is a wind that blows 75 miles an hour a breeze, gale, hurricane or cyclone?
 5. How many days before Easter does Lent begin?
 6. Is the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor the largest statue in the world?
 2. Name the first President who was a natural born citizen of the United States?
 8. The German Foreign Minister is Hermann Goering, Joachim von Ribbentrop or Rudolph Hess?
 g. Tn what year was the United States Parcel Post established?
 10. Is Big Ben, London, clock or a bell?
The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-04-08
Selected Poem
THE BROKEN BRANCH

(Howard Shurtleff in the Poets Column,
 Hartford Times) Toward which its leafy soul had striven. Whenever you see, Dull white in the grey limbs Of the maple tree, The short, wattled tap Where the climbing sap Has ooozed and frozen, From a windwrenched tWig, Then you will know, That the tree has chosen Life rather than sleep; That, hidden where earth is deep, The root has heard The inevitable, silent word, And in its might, Has seen the steel-Strong chain And the armor riven By thin nerve of white Upward and outward driven, To take the veil of rain And sacrament of light, Toward which its leafy soul had striven.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-04-08

nouncing such writers for "mis- representing him and his qualifica- tions and achievements"
 RADIO ALUMNI
 WASHINGTON gnificant fact about the radio business is the number of exgovernment of- ficial on its payroll. In no in- dustry are they so numerous. Radio literally is studded with men who got their start to lucra- tive jobs as administrators of the law regulating the industry.
 The list of these alumni" of the old Radio Commiss:on and the Federal Communications Commis- sion is long, but here are a few of them:
 Duke Patrick, general counsel of the, Radio Commission in 1892 and ,33, now Washington attorney for Columbia Broadcasting and number of individual stations af- Hated with the other networks, among them ,WYW, Cincinnati. He also is 8 partner of Frank Hogan, president of the American Bar Association.
 Louis G. Caldwell, member of the Radio Commission, now attor- ney for Mutual Broadcasting, Station WGN. Chicago, and other radio interests.
 Paul Spearman. former general counsel of the FOG, and Frank RobersOn his assistant, now con- ducting one of the busiest radio law firms in the Capital. Among their clients are the Yankee Net work and Station WLAC, Nash vile.
 Arthur w. Schafeld, former Ra- dio Commission attorney, now rep resenting Tri-State Broadcasting Go, of Texas, and Station WMEX, Boston, and a number of small stations.
 Ben Fisher, former assistant general counsel of both the Radio and Communications Commits sions, attorney for Station WCOP, Boston, and a number of small stations.
 George Sutton, former member of the engineering staff of the EGG, who studied law at night school, now looking after the interests of the Florida Broad- casting Co.,, and Station WOKO, Schenectady, N. Y.
 Eugene O. Sykes, recently re- signed member of the EGG, who has joined the Spearman-R -Rober- son law firm and will specialize in radio work.
 CHASTENED HERO George A. DeCottes of the Ca- pitol Police Force will vouch for the fact that patrolman's lot is not happy one. De Cottes is the handsome young cop who siMglehandedly captured gunman who had held up a liquor store. On his way home from work and unarmed, he chased bandit into the baSe- ment of an apartment house and overpowered him. The daring ex- ploit won De Cottes a lot of pulp lie commendation-but not from his superiors.
 Reporting for work the next morning he was met by a sour faced sergeant who informed him that "the boss" was very much displeased by his behavior" the night before.
 But why?" gasped De Cottes. T risked my life to uphold the law. That might have bumped me off"
 That's beside the point" snap ped the sergeant. "The boss is sore because you wore your uni- form home. YM had no busi- ness to do that. You know that's against regulations" NOTE-Six feet tall, sandy haired and 27, De Cottes is from Jacksonville, Fla, where he stu- died law, has wife and child and is ambitious to be Gilman. Copyright, 1940, by United Featur CvndiEot ta Tho
The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-04-08
@. Is carbon dioxide necessary to sustain life?

tO SuStdlU uke!
 A. Animals die when put into carbon dioxide, because it cuts off the supply of oxygen. Even the pres ence of a small quantity in the air Is objectionable. On the other hand, carbon dioxide is an essential food of plants. They absorb carbon di- oxide from the atmosphere, decom- pose 1t, reject part of the oxygen and store up the carbon in the form of starch. In this way plants help to keep the atmosphere free from an excess of carbon dioxide.
 o. Was General John J. Persh- ing ever candidate for President of the United States?
 A. In 1920, his name was entered in the Presidential primaries in Michigan and Nebraska and the polls of the Literary Digest indica- ted that he had considerable pop ular backing. General Pershing himself said that he was not seek ing the nomination, but mo pat riotic American could refuse to serve if called"
 If you want copy of the book
 let Poultry Raising" send to The
 Waterbury Democrats Washing
 ton Bureau. 1913 Thirteenth street,
 Washington, D. c. Enclose 10
 cents in postage.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-04-08
SAILORS SAFER ON NAVY SHIPS

Mare Island, Cal-(UP) Statistics of the navy show that more acci- dents and fatalities occur to sailors on shore leave than when aboard ship. Motorcycles and autos are es- pecially dangerous. according to the navy yard here.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-04-08

Wnlch cross the seas. During 1940, the Civil Aero nauticS Author ity estimates, this figure will jump to at least 2,500,- 900.
 Meanwhile. the number of pilots is increasing at a prodigious rate. By June 30, CAA figures there will be 43,000 licensed pilots in the na- tion, as compar- ed with 26,000 a year ago. About half of the in-
The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-04-08
A Thought for Today

As saith the proverb of the ancients, Wicked ness proceedeth from the wicked: but mine hand shall not be upon thee.-I Samuel 24:13.
 The best manner of avengng ourselves is by not resembling him who has injured us.-Jane Porter.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-04-08
Questions and Answers
BY FREDERIC M. KERBY

BX EREDERAO m. kEhbI
 Enclose Q three cent stamp tor reply when addressing any ques' tion of fact or information tO the Waterbury Democrats Service Bu- reau at Washington. Legal and medical advice cannot be giUen. nor can extended research be un- taken. Be sure all mall is ad-
 dressed to The WATERBURY DEMOCRATS SERVICE BU- REAU, 1913 Thirteenth Street. Washington. D. c.
 THE EDITOR.
 e. The Social Security Act pro- vides survivors monthly benefits for widows of insured workers. What about widowers of insured workers?
 A. A widower-that is, the be- reaved husband-of fully insured female wage earner is not entitled to survivors monthly benefits under the Act. However, if there are no surviving dependents entitled to monthly benefits, such as the in- sured workers mother or father (if they were dependent on her for support), the widower may be en- titled to lump-sum death payment for funeral expenses up to six times what the insured workers monthly benefit would have been.
 @. Name the actor who played in "The Beachcomber" the role of the controleur of the Dutch Islands in the Pacific, and the intelligence officer in Jamaica Inn."
 A. Robert Newton.
 o. What is the acreage and vol- tune of redwood forests in the United States2
 A. The latest estimates show "A million acres of redwood, of which about IA million acres IS commer- cial forest. The estimated commer- cial volume of redwood is placed at 39,150 million board feet.
 @. Why was William Jennings Bryan called "The Commoner."
 A. Because of his championship of the rights of the common people.
 e. What was the family name of the Chinese sage, Confucius?
 A. K'ung. Confucius is a Western corruption of "K'ung fut-sze" (phil- osopher). For a brief biography of Confucius, send stamped self-ad- dressed envelope to the Waterbury Democrats Service Bureau, 1918 18th street. Washington, D. c.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-04-08
Daily Almanac

Moon sets 7:23 p. m.
 Sun rises 5:25 a. m.; sets SPA p. m.
 All vehicles must be lighted thirty minutes after sunset.
 Theren be few more freezes this month because the peppers are just starting and you can always look for some chilly nights after they emerge from hibernStion. We need lot of sun and wind to dry up what's now 8 wet and soggy countryside.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-04-08

TODAY'S COMMON ERROR 1t Is not correct to use "awful
 in place of the words serious, disastrous, ludicrous, uncivil
 ill-bred, discourteous or cruel.
 "Awfup means inspiring awe, reverential fear and admira-
 tiOn; profound respect, etc.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-04-08
Washington Merry-Go-Round
DREW PEAR $ 0 N ROBERT S. ALLEN

GiCAO April The President good personal pulling no punches in the bitter re eo ~
The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-04-08
National Spotlight
By BRUCE CATION Waterbury Democrat Washington
 Correspondent

washington, April S-Commercial aviation in the United States is en- tering on a boom such as it had hardly dreamed of before.
 During the past year, about B. COG, 900 passengers were carried on U. s. transport lines, counting those