davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Henderson daily dispatch., 1940-07-26
Returns from Florida

Miss Irma Rogers has returned
home after spending a month in
Jacksonville, Florida.
Henderson daily dispatch., 1940-07-26
Japs Object
To Embargo

Continued From Psge One)
Evening star., 1940-04-22
Calls Attention to British
Propaganda Proposal.

TO the Editor Of The Star:
In view of existing agitation which
may lead us into an unnecessary and
foolish war, I wish to invite attention to
a book published under the auspices of
the British government, written by Sid
ney Rogerson and edited by Capt. Lddell
Hart an English war expert, entitled
Propaganda in the Next War" In it q
brazen statement appears, which, in my
opinion, should be published so that the
people may be informed how far Eng
land will 60 to involve the United States
In her war. The statement is:
"It will need definite threat to Amer
lea, threat, moreover, which will have
to be brought home by propaganda to
every citizen, before the Republic will
again take arms in an external quarrel.
The position will naturally be consid-
erably eased if Japan were involved and
this might and probably would bring
America in without further ado. At any
rate, it would be natural and obvious
object of our propagandists to achieve
this, just as during the Great War they
succeeded in embroiling the United
States with Germany" page 148)
Shall we send forth another crop of
American youth for slaughter upon the
altar of British deceit and propaganda?
j. THORKELSON,
Member Of Congress. First District
Of Montana.
April 10.
Evening star., 1940-04-22

Heaven forbid that should interfere in
the internal or foreign politics of the
country whose hospitality I enjoy! But
L think it is one of the most glorious
facts OF American history that one of it's
most terrible wars was fought for an
ldeologlc reason to determine whether
slavery or freedom was to prevail in
the land. Very similar is the reason
of the present war.
This war is European war and
every one in this country is hoping that
1t WILL remain so. The United States
doesn't participate in the war: that
means she is neutral. But that doesn't
mean that every American is not en-
titled to have his own opinion about the
question of which belligerent is in the
right. Neutrality of the country doesn't
mean lack OF conviction on the part of
every one of its inhabitants
Yes, this European war is struggle
to determine whether in the world law
or force will rule in the future; it Is a
fight between humanity and barbarism.
Mental neutrality toward this struggle is
a matter of taste
April 16. FRANZ F. ELBOGEN.
Evening star., 1940-04-22
Fire Sofety, Proposals

Prompt attention should be given
by the Commissioners and Congress
to the recommendations of the Dis
trict Government Committee, headed
by Captain John L. Person, for i'm
proving fire safety measures, for
they support belief that present in
spection and enforcement machin-
cry is lamentably weak.
The report, drafted as one of the
direct results of the tragic White
Court Apartments fire, proposes
considerable enlargement of the
building, electrical and fire inspec-
tion services, but wisely does not
stop there. 1t also urges strengthen
ing of inspection procedures, tight
ening of regulations and of the law,
and various means of plugging loop
holes by which it is believed many
owners or managers of multiple
family buildings may be escaping
even present requirements.
While an outlay of an additional
$4,000 for extra personne! is sought,
this would be for a one-year period
and intended to permit the in
spection services to clean up huge
backlog of needed inspections with
in that time. What permanent in
creases in staff may be needed is
left for more deliberate considera-
ton.
Captain Persons group noted that
fees have been collected in the past
in great number" of cases where
no inspection could be made. No
such condition should be permitted
to exist. Licenses likewise would be
required of rooming houses, not now
subject to this means of forcing COM
pliance with fire escape rules.
The committee is on sound ground
in recommending that a complete
survey should be made of multiple
occupancy dwellings, all of which
would be subjected to rigid" inspec-
tions, followed by action to force
correction of any hazardous features.
While some of the requested addi-
tional clerks and inspectors would
be used in this work, it appears
significant that police assistance
would be sought in making up list
of such buildings, indicating that
the building inspection staff may not
now have such a list.
In this connection, it is suggested
the extra staff would permit an in
vestigation and reorganization of the
Building Inspection Division Ito
provide an effective and efficient
filing and checking system to insure
that inspection in every case is car
ried through to proper conclusion,
and that inspectors are adequately
trained and familiar with the build
ing code and its requirements"
Evening star., 1940-04-22
Mons Monssen

At the navy yard at Bremerton,
Washington, on May 16 a new de-
stroyer will be launched. 1t is to
be sponsored by the widow of Mons
Monssen in his name. But the
average American citizen may need
to be told who he was and why the
service to which he belonged desires
to remember him.
The man himself never sought
celebrity. He was born in another
land, came to the United States as
a boy, enlisted in the Navy in 1889
when he was twenty-five years of
age. All article written for Sea
Power by his friend, Capt. Wilbur
R. Van Auken, tells the story of the
deed which should insure for him
the enduring gratitude of his
adopted country.
On April 13, 1904, the battleship
Missouri, a unit of the Atlantic Fleet,
was engaged in gunnery practice off
Pensacola. Three rounds had been
fired from the two guns of the after
tWelveinch turret. In preparation
for firing again, one of the guns was
being loaded. THE shell was seated,
two sections of the powder charge
were being rammed home, when
a burst of flame shot back into
the powder chamber, igniting these
charges and the remaining two Sec
tions of the powder tray in the rear
of the gun. All in the turret
were killed instantly. And down
straight into the handling room, over
thirty feet below, flaming powder
touched off all the ready powder
charges awaiting their turn to be
hoisted. A second terrific explosion
and the entire turret and handling
room were a mass of flames. Five
officers and twenty-four men were
gone; eight more of the crew were
to die later. 1t looked as If the ship
were doomed"
Then into the inferno jumped
Mons Monssen, chief gunner's mate.
Capt. Van Auken says: HE quickly
opened the magazine door, slammed
it shut behind him and fought in
the dark to save the ship. The
wooden bottoms on the brass powder
tanks were burning. But he opened
the valves in the magazine and
flooded it from the sea. Higher and
higher rose the water, over the four
foot tanks, to his neck: and there
they found him floating, exhausted
Evening star., 1940-04-22
Disagrees With Opinion
OF Fred Vetter,

To the Editor of The Star:
I think it would be wrong to let Mr..
Fred Vetter's letter to the editor 20 un-
answered. He writes that it is manifest
that England and France declared war
on Germany and that the reason why
they did it doesn't matter.
I believe, on the contrary, that the
reason does matter a great deal and
that the man in the street ought to
know it. There Is danger that the pub
lie may come to believe that England
and France are guilty Of the war. 1t
cannot be repeated enough that this
opinion is wrong> ..
It was Hitler who started his "blitz-
krieg" against Poland-of course with
out declaration of war. Only after the
beginning of the war in Poland did
England and France declare war against
Germany. That is the historical truth.
But it was not only the crime of the
Nazis in Poland which caused the war.
Ask the ill-treated peoples in Central
Europe, ask the Czechs and the Aus
trians, the Danes and the Norwegians;
ask the millions of the German people
who disagree with Hitler, ask the hun
dreds of thousands in the concentration
camps, ask the Jews and the Catholics,
ask any one in Germany who dares to
disagree with Mr.. Hitler.
am . foreigner IN this country.
Evening star., 1940-04-22
Another Pension Drive

The fact that more than two hun
dred members Of the House of
Representatives have signed a petit
ton for early consideration by that
body OF the Rankin bill, which
would commit the Federal Govern
ment to a discriminatory pension
plan involving an estimated annual
outlay of $l00,000,0OO, does not nee
essarily mean that all the signers
are in favor Of the BILL But it must
be remembered that this is an cleo
ton year and the pension proponents
have real influence in political cir
cles.
When the bill reaches the floor,
the acrimonious debate which is GER
tain to follow may be expected to
acqualnt many persons for the first
time with some of the unsound fea-
lures of the measure. The Rankin
bill is designed ito provide more ade-
quate compensation for certain de-
pendents of World War veterans"
but one must look beyond the in
nocuous title to comprehend the full
import of the bill. The certain de-
pendents" are widows and orphans
not OF soldiers who died in battle or
from service-c connected injuries or
diseases-but of men who served
ninety days or more with the armed
forces without incurring disabilities
OF any kind. In other words, far
from providing more adequate COM
pensation" for dependents Of men
who died in line of duty, the Rankin
bill would drain the Treasury of
badly needed millions for the relief
of restricted group of dependents
and thereby would tend to impede
relief efforts for groups having more
logical claims to Government aid.
1t is for that very reason, perhaps,
that members of the Disabled Amer
lean Veterans are said to be greatly
concerned over the implications of
the Rankin bill
There are well-reasoned fears that
introduction of the bill and the per-
sistent drive to obtain action upon
it indicate bigger and better pen
sions" trend that may be hard to
handle in Congress. Significantly,
this is the first move to extend pen
sion benefits outside the properly
circumscribed service connected
disability" class of World War vet
Grams and their dependents. Passage
OF the Rankin bill, more likely than
not, would be stepping stone to-
ward a general pension scheme for
all World War veterans and their
dependents, the ultimate cost of
which, it has been estimated, would
be in excess of thirty-five billions of
dollars. The Government already is
trying to provide for the social Sc
curity of all citizens in other ways.
The House can render the country an
important service in these times of
national deficits and world chaos by
voicing a fortnight mo" to this
latest pension scheme.
Evening star., 1940-04-22
Urges u. S. Aid
To Allies Now.
To the Editor Of The Star:

To the Editor Of The Star:
When Italy, Russia and Japan become
active allies, the bloody dictator in Ber-
lin will dominate Europe with an armv
five times the size of the combined forces
OF England and France. These two
countries to which we owe most of our
civilization and noblest ideals will soon
be exhausted and the small neutrals will.
no doubt, be crushed one at time.
Should the dictators be victorious, the
Monroe Doctrine will become a scrap of
paper and after they have taken South
America and Mexico with the help of
traitors such as we have just seen in
Norway, then the United States will find
itself in most uncomfortable position,
thanks to the many isolationists.
1t is high time for these birds to take
their heads out of the sand and recognize
the danger Of world dictatorship. Per-
haps many would consider this preferable
to the politics of the democracies, pro-
viding an absolutely perfect human being
could be found to act as dictator. How
ever, as such an animal has never been
born, We must continue our faith In the
democracies. 1t is the only known form
OF government where liberty can exist,
and if We still love liberty, we should be
willing to help fight for it now. DIV.
April 49,
Evening star., 1940-04-22

but alive. >. The ship was saved"
President Theodore Roosevelt
thanked the hero personally and
officially :. for what he did and
for the example he set the service"
When the Medal of Honor was grant
ed him, he was called to the White
House to receive it.
But he was not spoiled by his fame.
Instead, he continued to be just the
sort OF person he always had been.
His modest manner made him be-
loved by all his shipmates." In 1920
he was commissioned lieutenant;
In 1925 he retired after thirty years
OF duty. Up to the last his blue eyes
were bright, his mind alert.
Why mention Mons Monssen now?
Why pay homage to his memory in
a new destroyer at this time? There
might be many explanations. Per-
haps the fact that he was born at
Bergen, in Norway, has something
to do with the decision.
Evening star., 1940-04-22
Dr.. Thomas A. Grower

The use of X-rays In medical SCI
ence long has been known to be
dangerous to those attempting to
operate the mysterious forces which
they represent. Many of the pio-
neers paid with their lives for their
discoveries, and to the list of these
martyrs the name of DR.. Thomas A.
Groover now must be added.
A native of Georgia, the dead ply
sician came to Washington in 1893
when twenty-three years Of age. He
still was only young man when the
work of Wilhelm Konrad Roentgen,
the great German physicist, then
experimenting in the laboratory at
Wurzburg, engaged his interest. He
understood, of course, that risks
were involved in dealing with such
power as X-rays contained. At
the start, however, the peril was not
appreciated sufficiently and there
fore was not guarded against as
later 1t was to be. DR.. Grower was
injured before he learned how to
prevent such an accident. Cancer,
the disease which he had pledged
himself to fight, attacked the fingers
of his left hand. His arm was ampu-
tated, and he was warned to discon-
tinue his researches If he wished to
avoid further infection.
But he could not stop. The task
to which he had set himself was too
compelling to be abandoned. For
nearly four decades he struggled
forward to the goal he visioned-the
cure of cancer by the use of the
beneficent strength of X-rays skill
fully employed. If he did not win
final triumph, the fault was not his
own. Rather, it derived from the
prodigious difficulty of the problem
Evening star., 1940-04-22

he wished to solve. DR.. Grower
gave himself completely to the cause.
He suffered cruel pain as well as a
bitter disappointment. But he did
not regret the decision he had made.
Death did not frighten him. All that
disturbed his tranquility OF mind was
his natural anxiety to do his best.
Those competent to Judge realize
that he did not fail. It was his
privilege to prove a number of things,
not least of which was the essential
nobility OF the human soul in a
world which increasingly demands
self-sacrifice of its most heroic per-
sonalities.
Evening star., 1940-04-22
THIS AND THAT
By Charles E. Trace1pell.

thing to join a popular hue and cry
against something, quite another to be
honest enough to study a species with
out prejudice
The starting in recent years has been
more damned than any other bird, but
still investigators tend to believe it is q
great insect destroyer, marvellous flyer
and singer of really pretty songs.
These songs are not theatrical 1t is
admitted that the mockingbird, when
it comes to attracting attention of hui
man listeners, will win claws down over
all the starlings that ever were.
There seems to be little doubt that
many of these peculiarly sweet notes. at
this time of year, are from the clumsy
old starlings out there in the trees, or
perched on the caves.
Some Of these notes are mere whistles,
but of surprising sweetness, more like
the tone of a mellow flute than ANYTHING
else; perhaps like the notes of recorder.
Do you know what recorder is? In
music, it is an old type of straight blow
wooden flute. 1t was very popular hun
dreds OF years ago, but only recently
came into much use again. 1t is very
popular with amateurs because it is
easy to play. Its limited range is against
it, and it is intensely irritating to be linn
lted to just few notes. Usually per-
former feels that if he could get as lit
tie as two or three more notes, he could
play the tune!
The ocarina, or sweet potato" as it
Is nicknamed, has sprung into popular
lty in the past few months, with the
inclusion Of a nice little march sony.
Sweet Potato Piper" in the film Road
TO Singapore" The rage was really
started, however, by the dwarfs in
Snow White"
We advise early spring listeners to
bird music to keep an ear open for
starting notes.
1t will be difficult to trace them, but
If one of the birds is seen. the unusual
notes heard may safely be attributed
to it.
These clear notes are spring mani
festation by this bird. In few weeks
they will end.
The jay is another bird which can
make sweet music when it wants to. OBJ
servers are so used to hearing it scream
harshly that they sometimes fail to
realize that those soft gurgling tones
are coming from the same throat.
Even the English sparrows, so much
maligned, can and do utter nieasant
notes, despite the fact that many of the
books lump their musical efforts OIL as
harsh chirping"
A group Of these sparrows, especially
after they have eaten their fill, will
sing together very prettily, in sort of
chorus, in which the harsher notes are
sWeetened, made more pleasant to the
ear by being covered by softer ones
These soft notes one may feel sure. a,e
the work of the female sparrows whose
pleasant little faces and plump bodies
convince any fair observer that their
vocal utterances must be equally pleas
ing.
Evening star., 1940-04-22

An observer who has been watching
cardinals for As years telephoned in to
say that for the first time in that period
a cardinal had been seen to take bath.
One bath in As years!
But M. w. c. of Girard street writes:
Have been much interested in the
controversy in your column concerning
the bathing of cardinals.
"We have lived at the above address
over Is years and have bird bath.
Cardinals are with us almost con-
tinuously except when the water in the
bath is frozen.
They bathe every day, usually sew
eral times a day-that means both the
male and female.
''They are not particularly timid bird
The only bird that disturbs them in their
bath is the starting, which occasionally
will take possession of the bath and the
cardinals simply fly away
Since the question as to whether the
cardinal ever bathes was posed here
several months ago by reader, we have
taken particular pains to watch the
redbirds at four bathing places available
to them.
We still have to see one take bath.
The other afternoon when our April
snow was falling, we saw one male
preening himself on an arch.
He was f1uttering his wings, waving
his tail, and in other ways indulgng in
jitterbug antics.
No doubt he was enjoying the equiva-
lent of water bath.
We feel it may be said that cardinals
evidently are seen taking a bath less
frequently than most other species.
This does not mean in any sense that
they are not as clean as other birds.
One look at redbird disproves that.
Surely it is as finicky as startling, which
is one Of the bathing -est' birds we
have.
II evident bath-taking means cleanli-
ness, the starting rates very nigh, for it
loves to bathe, and does it all the time
even in the dead of winter, so long as a
puddle of water is to be found
The starting is responsible for many of
the pretty bird notes which one hears in
early spring. We have insisted upon
this to many telephone callers, who
wanted to know what was that beauti-
full bird song we heard this morning. u
and we are glad we did, for now it
seems that Government scientists, who
have been keeping an ear open for
starlings, have affirmed the same thing
One scientist declares that the STAR
ling is an even better mimic than the
mockingbird!
Its range of sounds is wide but it
seems to have the ability of throwing
the voice, so that it does not come from
the point 1t seems to come from.
In other words, the starting is some
thing of ventriloquist.
1t is claimed that it has been heard to
initiate the drumming of a woodpecker
All this shows that respect for the
bird grows with investigation. 1t is one
Evening star., 1940-04-22
Small Thinos

My mind is crowded with 10 many
things,
1t overfows with useless things and
slight;
Such as glimpse Of widespread pigeon
wings
Seen for . moment In keen winter
light;
A line Of foam along q dawn-gray shore,
Light on sculptured dune, little
stone
Lying in some clear brook, the far-of1
OF waterfalls, a lost leaf, distant tone
OF far thrush. My mind is filled with
Useless, small trifies. Sometimes will
say,
Enough! I shall clean house. have
too much.
must throw some OF these slight
things away"
But then, 1t seems really cannot part
With one. Each one IL needed In my
heart.
BEA1RIcE RAW.
Evening star., 1940-04-22
No Decision

Among the more interesting hu-
man guinea pigs Of the world are
New York's so-called behavioristic
twins, Jimmy and Johnny Woods.
They are being used to determine
the value of proper guidance in fit
ting a child for the struggle for ex-
istence, and have spent two years of
their lives in a child development
clinic, where one received the bene-
fit of the latest theories in scientific
juvenile training, while the other, to
serve as contrast and possibly as a
horrible example, was allowed to do
pretty much as he pleased.
OF intense interest, therefore, was
their reaction on a historic occasion,
their eighth birthday. It was at
tended by flock of medicos and
psychologists heavily armed with
notebooks and fresh pencils with
which to take down the details.
They had not long to wait. Johnny
poked straight left at Jimmy, who
countered with kidney punch.
Scarcely was the evidence recorded
when Johnny connected with
beautiful behavioristic right to the
jaw, and then spoiled it by leaving
himself wide open to a psychological
counter to the solar plexus. Then
followed furry of right crosses and
left hooks which bewildered the OBJ
servers. Sadly they had to admit
that it is still not possible to tell
which one is better equipped to fight
life's battles, and called 1t no de-
cision.
Evening star., 1940-04-22
Subversive Tendencies Seen
As Real Danger.

AS heaI Danger.
To the Editor OF The Star:
Jay Franklin's article Of April Is
should be read by the D. A. r. and all
100 per cent American groups. 1t seems
to me that our peoples intelligence is al
low ebb when every conceivable anti
social element is labeled "communistic."
There is grave danger in this trend. It
was the deliberate creation of lust such
group psychology that caused the French
in their revolution to chop off the heads
OF every man and woman labeled
"aristocrat." In our own America it
accounted for untold horror to hundreds
of harmless old ladies who were called
witches.
Today, all contenders for civil liber-
ties, for American democracy and for
Christianity are in danger of being
labeled subversive or Communist. Once
this fever rises no one knows how fatal
the disease may become. The fight
against every anti-democratic tendency
is likely to be charged to Communist
motivation. Every intrenched greed can
divert public attack and suspicion by
crying Communist"
What the Dies Committee could do to
stem this trend is to define this thing
called Communism. Does it simply mean
Stalinism, or does it include the anti
democratic PHILOSOPHERS of Rome, Berlin
and Spain? Is Communism synonymous
with racial bigotry, class hatred, Jew
batting, jim-crowism, industrial strife,
Ku Klux Klanism, Fascism, city gang
sterism, mob violence, ct al?
1t seems to me that true Americans
should begin to realize that the danger
to our institutions lies not in labels or
stereotypes but in the subversive ten
denotes just named, and that Facism.
however disguised by wearing the mark
of patriotism, is the real threat to Amer
lean democracy. E. B. HENDERSON.
Falls Church, Va.
April 10.