davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-08-19
Government by Inquisition

As some wit has already pointed out, there is distinctly Vichy smell to the performance now being staged at Riom, France. Is it conceivable that France, in the throes of attempting to bring order and reason out of the ruin and chaos left by the German conquest, has nothing better and more constructive to do than to stage this hippodrome?
 Government by inquisition, the five ring trial of officials for the edification of the populace, is an old stunt, brought to it's gayest Towering in the Russian treason trials It seems unlikely that the eminently sane and hard-headed French people will be much impressed by the trial of those who at least made an effort, no matter how bungling, to defend the fatherland staged by those who believed the fatherland should have just given in without fighting. Whether Daladier and Company's conviction or Petain, Laval and Company's retirement comes first, we wouldn't guess. But both look like foregone conclusions. Then perhaps the real work of reconstructitng France can begin.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-08-19
Social Security Is Secure

Social Security in the United States is now five years old. It's quite young ster. Today, 5O,OOO,OOO workers, more than third of the country's population, have social security accounts. More than 28,000,000 workers have earned credits toward benefits under state unemploy ment compensation laws, and 1,500,000 lobless people are actually drawing bene- fits Nearly 3,0O0,O00 needy aged, blind people, and dependent children are re- ceiving benefits under the public assist ance program. More than $3, 5000, 100000 in cash benefits have been paid out under the various security programs in the past five years.
 Is it so short a time ago that social security was regarded as daring vision, an impractical dream? Yet here it is, and here it is to stay. Almost the only discussion of the program that is heard today is in the form of extending it's scope or changing the manner of its admins tration The principle, and the practice, after a mere short five years, have be- come an established part of Ameri- can life.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-08-19
Good Advice

The advice of Governor Raymond E. Baldwin to the public of Connecticut to get out and inspect our state parks and forests is good and timely. At no season of the year are these recreational areas more attractive than right now when in full growth and bloom. Some may pre- fer to visit them in the early spring as nature comes to life; others want to view the gorgeous colors of autumn. But right now they are at their summer peak and should be visited.
 Connecticut taxpayers can take lot of pride in these state parks and forests. They are distinct addition to our state assets. Their maintenance is such, too, as to command the respect and congrat- ulations of all visitors. By all means don't let a weekend pass or a few idle hours some evening without making the acquaintance of these areas which are yours and your neighbors and which you should always regard with keen eye of appreciation.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-08-19
A Thought for Today
Psychic Bid

If there was any Republican in Wen dell L. Willkie it didn't come out in his acceptance speech made in the old home town of Elwood, Indiana, Saturday af- ternoon. That was genuine Demo- cratic address and must have grated on the ears of COP die-hardS who have found it hard to stomach the eX-Democrat ever since the Philadelphia stampede in June. There was such wholesale endorsement Of New Deal accomplishments that Demo- crats down in Washington probably won der what they can talk about in their campaigns.
 That was probably part of MT. Will kie's psychic bid for the presidency. He is supposed to be a Democrat who saw in the Republican Party the answer to our national problems. We're be- ginning to wonder if he doesn't plan to use the Republican Party for his own per sonal use His bid was bold one to be sure, but when the cards go down in the dummy we don't find much chance of the contract being achieved without stupid mistakes on the part of the op- position.
 ConScription is what we need, says MT. Willkie I'm for it, he cries, but one rather gets the opinion that he's looking rather sarcastically at the approach towards this momentous step now being taken by our Congress. He likes Federal regulation of interstate utilities, security markets, and banking, too All of which iS nothing more than half-hearted ac knoWled cement of what the present Dem- ocratic administration has been doing and trying to do
 We do not think that Mr. Willkie'S ad- dress of acceptance will be completely lost m Democratic leaders, from the President Town. There is sofe good critical an- alysis of Democratic failings and shots ln-the dark" in it. No party, feast of all that which has endeavored to steer this nation through the perilous times that have been ours since the false prosperity balloon burst some ten years ago, could have escaped without some faults and furies. But this process should have con- vinced us that in the Democratic party this nation really must place it's future.
 We presume that MT. Willkie is sav- ing his discussion of public utilities 1n their relationship to public and private ownership for later discussion The good psychic bidder usually tries to have ''power-card" in the offing, but if he doesn't time the play correctly he'll find F. D. R. taking the game right out Of his hand When it comes to timing plays the President is a past master and it's only one of the many interesting and highly important capabilities that make him so potent force, so absolutely the domin- ant figure in this approaching election.
 MT. Willkie has made his bid. We fear it was an over-bid; he'll have nard job in making that contract.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-08-19

al Defense Council, when ques- toned about these salaries said: You are injuring the important problem of national defense when you ask about this. Ours is a strictly confidential agency, and we cannot divulge information to the press" MT. McReynolds is Sherwood's boss. McReynolds, in- cidentally. is Republican.
 MERRY-GO-ROUND
 Wendell Willkie says his old friend Paul McNutt should have had the Vice Presidential nomin- ation at Chicago. .. Henry Wal laceS right-hand man is lanky, genial Jim LeCron, whose wife is sister to the Cowles brothers of Des MoineS, ardent packers of Willkie. Before he left office, Secretary of War Woodring re- marked about that strategic ma- terial, tin: How does it happen tin is so difficult to get? What is it made Of?" A receptionist at Social Security passes her time reading a book on etiquette. :. When President Roosevelt sent a recent check for his quarterly National Press Club dues, presi- dent Dick Wilson, Des Moines Register-Tribune correspondent, returned it with a polite but firm note advising the Chief Executive that the 10c added defense tax" applied to all members. Roosevelt had omitted this extra levy, but immediately paid, The last Pres ident of the United States to be posted" at the Press Club for non-payment of dues was Coolidge. His name went up In a list of others and remained there several weeks before mortified Club of ficer spied it and had it removed. Next day, a check was received from the White House.
 Copyright, 1940, by United
 Feature Syndicate, Incl
The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-08-19
In For Some Kidding

Announcement that New Britain's brand-new filtered water system had proved too much for the city's older water pipes and burst one of them right in the center of the town must have dampened some of the enthusiasm that was being expressed last week as the new sxtra-pure water filtered through mains md into Hardware City homes. It was hvic tragedy, of course, for such thing 10 happen right after the city had been congratulated and was congratulating itself on It's progress and foresight
 But such things happen in the best of regulated municipalities and if there is bit of gentle joshing from the state on the New Britain pipes not being able to stand this pure water, well, 1t should be taken in the proper spirit. New Britain has added to Its stature by construction
The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-08-19

that the world judge Him the same fashion. The disciples of John waited, probably, for a day or two observing the ministry of Jesus. They saw lepers healed, the blind receive their sight. the lame walk and the the deaf hear, and listened to a simple preaching of the gospel which even the poor and ignorant could understand. Then they went back to John, not with a direct answer to his query, but with an account of the difference Jesus had really made in human lives.
 The words of Christ today are still the same: Go tell John the things ye have seen and heard. ." But the John to whom we are to tell these things today is not John the Baptist; we are to tell them to John Doe. to John Smith, to John Jones, to every mothers son who has some anxious query about the value of Jesus Christ for human life. It will do no good to instruct him in the creeds. Tell him that Jesus Christ makes a difference in life; tell him the things you have seen and heard.
 All Rights Reserved-Babson News
 paper Syndicate
The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-08-19
Views of The Press

in the dusk. It is not equal to a cruise, of course, nor trip to a beach, but an enormous improve ment on a view bounded by an air. shaft. Inhibited vacationists acquire deep tans in the daytime, at no ex- pense, stretched on duckboards, with confidence that better times will replace the real for the make believe. So courageous and cheerful city folk endure the days heat and find not a little refreshment in the evening, after the glow fades in the western sky. Below may be sounds of late piano practice and the click ety-click of portable typewriter token of soul in travail. Decidedly, it might be worse. Suppose New York roofs, instea of being level, had been designed by M Francois Man. sard, and the hanging gardens of the Babylon had sloped at an acute angle. Neighborliness then would have been limited to heads out of adjacent dormer windows.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-08-19
THE GOOD OLD DAYS
(Boston Post)

NA~OcbOAA O0(
 The discovery of the ancient poem, penned by the first genius of Amer ica, Benjamin Franklin, adds lustre to his many laurels. increasing proof of his may-sided ability. As a poem by a boy of IA it was better than average and showed promise of tal- ent which might have been devel- oped into something memorable. While for years we were told that America did not have great htera- ture like England, the Franklin poem would indicate we had. even in the re-Revolutionary days. a love for 1t when the people of that day were ready to buy poems hawked on the street corners. De- spite the fact that we have at last achieved literature of our own. it would be interesting for some poet to test out the literary interest Of a busy city some day by selling copies of his verses, commemorating some great event, along the streets. Probably Franklin's example. now that it has revived. might offer q chance for poets who are constantly aaddened by the fact that poetry en a arand Gcale does not sell.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-08-19
In Today's Mail
MONEY TO AID ALLIED CAUSE MOSTLY IN FORM OF SMALL
 DONATIONS
August 16, 1940.

August 16, 1940. Editor, Waterbury Democrat:
 Almost since the inception of the Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies, numerous recrim- nations have been heaped upon this Committee, many of them dealing with the finances of the organiza- tion.
 Senator Rush D. Holt made few headlines when he charged in the Senate that the committee is being financed by Wall Street. Obviously he was trying to call up the ghosts of the devil theory of war" of 19l6- IT. Newspapers printed Holt's re- marks, as well as they should. We want to know what strange twists of mind our public men possess. But I was gratif1ed to see that few columnists or newspapers placed much credence in the young sena- tors perverted diatribe. A number of my friends have wondered, if the money did not come from Wall Street, where then did it come from? From personal investigation and from this weeks TIME magazine, I can make this reply:
 Almost all of the money has been donated in the form of small and private gifts. TIME says the na- tional headquarters received only two checks for more than $1 000. It is certain that none of the divisional chapters have received amounts any, where near that mark. Each of the committees, from national headguar- ters down to the tiniest group, pays its own expenses. This means that the various chairmen and sympath- izers are paying the way of the movement.
 Even the printing costs of liter ature originating in New York, Bos- ton or anywhere else are assumed by the committees that distribute the material.
 WALTER GELB.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-08-19

According to plans of the Turnpike Commission that's building the now famous highway across Pennsylvania there won't be any billboard advertising along it's 160 odd mile length. The road way is ght-as-an-arrow route be- tween Harrisburg and Pittsburgh and follows in some parts the road-bed of an abandoned railroad, even tunneling under a couple of mountains. The Commission says there will be no billboards because the rights of way are 200 feet wide in most places and in some even wider than that. For an advertiser to erect billboard that would be discernible from the road itself would be of little practical purpose. How ever, if some enterprising firm does buy space out beyond the right of way the Turnpike Commission will obscure it by some form of wayside planting. But one thing the commission couldn't eliminate were directional signs; therell be 900 of 'em.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-08-19
NEW MARCH OF UNEMPLOYED FEARED

A number of years ago, during the presidency of Herbert Hoover, Washington was invaded by a great number of unemployed men who pro- ceeded to live in crude camps and stayed there until the regular army forces were ordered by Hoover to clear them out. Government and Washington city officials are very much afraid there may be another rush of unemployed men to Wash ington.
 The giant rearmament program is the basic cause of this fear. People all over the country have begun speculating how many thousands of new jobs this rearmament program will create. Many of them think the thing to do is to get in on the ground floor when the jobs are dished out and they think the ground floor is right here in Washington.
 It is emphasized that the govern ment here will have nothing to do with the task of filling these jobs, nor will senators or congressman. It will therefore be waste of time and money to come here job-seek- ing.
 Note, just by the way; Many prominent government officials love to eat at one very pleasant roof garden restaurant whose floor has swastikas in its tiling. But it's the old Indian swastika, not the Hit Ter version, and it was put there long before Hitler was heard of.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-08-19

government job, also has son. in-law, and the father of his son. in-law drawing government sal aries. All together they draw $20,- 200 from the government.
 MT. McReynolds is on civil serv- ice and has been in the govern ment most of his life. He used to be in the Treasury department, and while there his daughter, Mrs. John Holmead, was given job in the Treasury at S2,000. Also her husband, MT. John Holmead, Jr., was given a job in the Pro- curement Division of the Trea- sury at $3,200.
 Later MT. McReynolds joined the White House staff, and also became secretary of the National Defense Council. Then his daugh- ter transferred to the National Defense Council with neat sal- ary boost up to $4,800. One of Mrs. Holmead's friends is V. J. Mcknight, who worked in the Treasury at $2000. And shortly after her transfer, Sfle helped him take advantage of the new national defense needs by trans ferring to the National Defense Commission at a nice salary boost to $3,200.
 MT. McReynolds used to work in the Farm Credit Administra- ton. There MT. John Holmead, Sr., still works at salary of $2,- 200.
 Here is the sum total of the earnings:
 McReynolds ......... $10,000 Mrs. Holmead, his
 daughter ............. S,oUU MT. Holmead, her husband s 3,20O Mir. Holmead, her
 father -in-law .. 5 2,200 Total for family ..... $19,200.
 NOTE-Mr. Sidney Sherwood, assistant secretary of the Nation
The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-08-19
Selected Poem
THAT LAND WAS SUMMER

(Harold Vinal in the Christian Science Monitor0 By way of water we came to long coast to summer Pebbles were at our feet and on the sand, The signature of footsteps, few shells. There was expectation in that season, the land And the long uplands bright, we knew That season by wind lifting the heavy grass Into swift waves, the wide shape of the shore Hanging with laurel and rose, sassa1ras Drifted across the light, fragrance remembered In other days of childhood, flat against air small village leaned down to touch the water. There was quiet, there was solace there, Here let us stay we said, here let us rest Hearing the wind and the seas endless hammer Against the cliff here let us pause while In the wide and burning meadowland Of summer
The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-08-19
ON THE ROOF
(New York Herald-Tribune)

(New York Herald-Tribune)
 Social life after dark, for a con- siderable part of New York, now goes topside-meaning not inhabitants of penthouses with terraces, who can usually go elsewhere, if they wish, but tenants of almost any apart ment bordering either river. From heights far above the street it is possible to view excursion boats going up and down; to hear echoes of the band, and to see water shim- mer under reflected lights, with a suggestion of coolness. If it happens tobe early in the week, presence on the rooftop of family wash is tact fully ignored. Potted shrubs and deck chairs help to create an illu- sion, which is heightened by cool ing rinks. A portable radio may fur nish entertainment, or merely &C., company talk, while cigarettes glow
The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-08-19

Silver dollars are going big over in MiddletoWn. In a word the town is nuts" about the old-fashioned cart wheels. The Russell Manufacturing paid off it's employees in silver dollars last week, because it wanted to find out just where the money went. It figured that use of some distinguishing coin would give a pretty good indication of how employees were spending their wages every week.
 But everyone now wants silver dollars and there may be such run on the heavy pieces of silver that Middletown will corner most of the states supply. But after housewives have sewed up lot of pants pockets some of the enthusiasm for the coins may subside. Many an oldster still carries a silver dollar as pocket-piece.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-08-19
Current Comment

Although I've enjoyed my stay at Chicago. I'd much rather coach inc tercollegiate football than intya- mural football. Now I'll be able to follow my profession again.
 Clark D. shaughnessv. announc- ing he would leave chicago University to accept post co head football coach ct Stanford University.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-08-19

The new government over in France is planning to do something about alco- holic drinks. Can it be that it has taken this tip from Maitland which wants a non-alcoholic beverage to replace beer? Ii so, it reckonS without it's French citi- zen. However, France has announced that this change is not to be construed as step towards prohibition, for 1t says it won't make the same mistake the United States did g years ago.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-08-19
Daily Almanac

Moon rises s:27 p. m. daylight time).
 Sun rises 606 a. m; sets 7:45 p. m. (day- light time).
 All vehicles must be lighted thirty minutes after sunset.
 A change in season can be noted already on many hillsldes Certain types Of trees are shedding leaves: others are spotted in color. Late summer flowers dot the roadsides. The sun drops down along the horizon with each passing night
The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-08-19
Questions
 .andAnswers
RY rREDERIO nF. KERRY

BY FREDERIC M. KERBX
 Enclose three-cens stamp for reply when addressing any ques- ton of fact or information to the Waterbury Democrats Service Bu- reau at Washington. Legal and medical advice cannot be given, nor can extended research be un- taken. Be sure an mail is ad- dressed to The WATERBURY DEMOCRATS SERVICE BU. REAU, 1913 Thirteenth Street. Washington. D. c.
 THE EDITOR.
 @. How may plaster of paris be made harder?
 A. Mix intimately with the powd- cred gypsum, 2 to 4 percent of powdered marshmallow root and kneed the mass into dough with 40 percent of water. The product that resembles fat clay, hardens after about hour and becomes so tough that it may be cut, filled turned and drilled. An admixture of 8 per cent of marshmallow roots renders it still tougher.
 o. What is the melting point of aluminium?
 A. 1218 degrees F.
 o. In 1886 several polls were taken on the probable outcome of the Presidential election. How ac- curate were they?
 A. There were four major polls, three of which gave Roosevelt the preference as follows: Fortune Magazine, 61.7 percent; Gallup, 53.S percent; Crossley, 53.8 per cent. The Literary Digest poll gave Landon the preference by 59.1 percent; actual vote for Roosevelt was eos percent.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-08-19
Whats Your l. O.!
Can you answer seven of these test questions? Turn to back page for the answers.


 1. Spotted fever is contracted from mosquitoes, tstse flies. or wood ticks?
 3. Dil Wiley Post make a round- the-world airplane flight in the Spirit of St. Louis, Winnie Mae or America?
 8. Which is the largest sea bird? {. Where is the River Ganges?
 5. The primary pigment colors are blue. red and -?
 6. What is the name for the sign &?
 2. The greatest depth of the foundations of some of New York city's skyscrapers Is slightly more than 200 feet, 100 feet or 80 feet?
 6. Are American citizens required to have passports to enter canada9
 9. Who wrote. "The lady doth protest too much. methinks7"
 70. Name the Speaker Of the U, s. House of RengeGcntatlven7
The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-08-19
0. What is the Cable Actq


 A. The act (named for John L. Cable, Congressman from Ohio), approved September 9, 1922 and pertains to citizenship as affected by marriage, abolishing especially the former requirement. that a wo- mans citizenship follows that Of her husband
 o. When were Canadians first required to pay head tax on enter ing the United States?
 A. February 5, 1917.
 @. Is Baker Street of Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes" stories a real street?
 A. It is street in the Clerken- well section of London.
 @. Was George Washington ever commissioned officer in the Brit ish army?
 A. He was a major during the French and Indian War of 1754.
 If you want copy of the book let Presidential Candidates - 194O", send to The Waterbury Democrats Washington Bureau, 1913 Thirteenth Street, Washing ton, D. c. Enclose four cents in postage.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-08-19

and operation of a water filtration plant It is no bubble to burst even though a main did give way under added pressure. In time more towns will be forced to in- clude such plants in their own water systems for the protection of community health.