davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-05-02
Strong Medicine

Some rather stringent regulations are urged to control the fire menace in Wa terbury. Growing apprehension over the use of oil stoves for cooking and heating purposes can be read between the lines of the recommendations laid before the Board of Fire Commissioners this week. Among the things suggested is removal of all oil containers from back porches. That's sensible idea, because the pres ence of oil drums means that in the course of time the surrounding area is going to become impregnated with oil and will provide ready finder for any blaze.
 But what will the landlord do to aid the tenant of the third-floor apartment, particularly if there is no cellar avail able to tenant use? Won't the average tenant be apt to keep larger supplies of oil available inside his apartment to avoid frequent trips up and down stairs with five-gallon cans? Regulation of oil- drums on back porches merely creates another problem which must be answered just as satisfactorily to avoid creation of new fire menace
 Backyard incineratorS are also to be regulated, according to the Fire Marshal. Now he knows what he's talking about in this respect, so we can't dismiss his sug- gestions with a word or two. Block dwelers ought to have available for gen. eral or individual use some means of in- cineration. They should be subject to regular inspection Small home-owners should likewise provide themselves with a means of burning rubbish unless they want to bear the expense of complete re- moval through private contractor. Either can be satisfactory but one wonders whether either can be made subject to statute.
 We have problem, one, other cities like Waterbury, have, too. Only efforts like those of the Fire Marshal to solve 1t will remove the danger of serious fires that a new mode of existence is produc- ing.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-05-02
Thick-Skinned

The newspaper boys who collect the news at the Capitol during the legislative sessions have held their biennial gambols. The Laurel Club Gridiron Dinner of 1941 is now but a memory; it will be talked about over the coffee-pots or some such similar container for liquids. Like past performances it provided ready outlet for suppressed emotions and remarks that well-trained neWSpapermen store up dur ing the first six months of the odd num- bered years.
 These dinners at which the reporters really 'let down their hair" are good thing They reduce most of the partici- pants in the legislative grind to one level. It's a low one for the occasion, to be sure, but that doesn't hurt either. It does a man good once in awhile to have him. self belittled or his efforts ridiculed. Per haps he gets new perspective or new determination At any rate he suffers nothing more than loss of his own self esteem.
 In the eyes of the Laurel Club members all public figures are common prey. They spare few and those who are overlooked are generally bit disappointed that barbs weren't sunk into their quivering flesh. The Laurel Club dinner is no place for a thin-skinned individual. It is lair to which are invited, as a consequence, only those who can take it'. They do say that few sessions in Connecticut's Assembly fits a man to "take it. from every direction and in all forms of missiles
The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-05-02

from New York the very day the Ger mans invaded would not have reached them before the whole tragedy was over. The United States did not let anybody down. American aid is not ineffective. Any help to Jugoslavia and Greece was based on the supposition that front could be established and held. This proved impossible; time, that one indis- pensable munition of war, was lacking.
 Hitler's own suggestion Of "a hard battle year" makes 1t pretty clear that this will not be true of other battle zones. Whatever war materials is on the way to Greece, for instance, will probably wind up in Egypt, not wasted. And American production is beginning to get under way. By and large, it is coming just as fast as any informed people thought it could when the program was launched less than a year ago. Now is no time for fal- tering in the course we have chosen. It is better to be right and lose, than to be wrong and win. Best of all is to be right and win, too.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-05-02
Current Comment

The program is a tremendous thing. It is so big that you have to say We need all, of everything, that we can possibly make" Donald M. Nelson, defense board purchaser.
 There never has been, there isn't now, and there never will be, any race of people fit to serve as mas ters over their fellow men,
 President Roosevelt.
 
 We are building on this conti- nent an international system based on the principle of cooperation and mutual helpfulness. pr. Leo S. Rowe, director-general, Pan American Union.
 We should face the realities, not dreams and hopes. Milo J. Warner. National Com mander, American Legion.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-05-02
When Hitler, Churchill Agree

You don't expect, these days, agree ment between Adolf Hitler and Winston Churchill on anything. But they do ap- pear to agree on one thing - and it is a thing that has significance for the United States. It is this: the war is long way from being over. Churchill said in re- cent speech that Britain is in for an "un- doubtedly long and formidable war" Hitler said in his birthday message: "A hard battle year stands before uS."
 That last is significant utterance in a country which from many official sources was promised final victory last fall. It means that Hitler knows what some Americans seem not to realize - that victory in the Balkans is not victory in the war. Victory in the whole Medi- terranean or the whole Near East is not victory in the war. The mighty fortress of Britain stands, battered and bruised, but unshaken. The control of the seas is still British. The worldwide Empire is intact. Hitler may well speak of hard battle year. The war could conceiv- ably last very much longer. It could last two more years-10 more.
 That does not mean that the United States can hold back for moment in the delivery of munitions so urgently needed. Jugoslavia and Greece fell in about three weeks. A shipload of supplies starting
The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-05-02

The American Trailer Ambulance Com mittee is sending out profuse thanks to be expressed through the newspapers of this country for the generous donations of many individuals and communities to the drive to procure the necessary am bulance facilities with which to meet the serious situation in which England finds herself. Some marvellous work has been done in supplying needed funds to buy ambulances and trailers and all other appurtenances. It will be continued &C., cording to the letter now being distribut- ed. Too bad that funds have to be spent in this fashion, but it's work of mercy caused by an act of unjust warfare.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-05-02

Something will have to be done in Connecticut as in other eastern states about devising proper punishment for negligence in the starting of forest and brush fires. There has been entirely too much willingness on the part of public officials of recent years to accept all such fires as purely accidental, even when it was positively known that they were the result of carelessness. We are supposed to have laws governing just such situa- tions, but it apparently is never invoked. to be beginning, so why not now when so much property damage has been caused in our own state and adjoining ones. It's not enough that warnings should be issued, the woods closed to sportsmen. There must be enforcement of existing statutes on outdoor fires;
 there must be new laws if they are needed.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-05-02
And Nobody Knows

Ever since long before the present war began in Europe, many estimates have been tossed about relating to German air plane production Five thousand month. Ten thousand a month. Now comes Colonel John H. Jouett, president of the Aeronautical Chamber of Com- merce, saying: "We are very near the British and German production rates, which are estimated at about 1,500 a month each"
 Who is right in this matter we don't pretend to know But there is no reason to doubt that Jouett is right in saying that American production of military planes passed 1,200 a month in March. That means that American production is very close to the point where it is bound to be real factor, no matter what is the truth about the uncertain British and German figures.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-05-02
Enlightened Policy

The problem of public relations of an army is always difficult. In the case of democratic army in democratic coun- try 1t is even more difficult. Yet in es- sense it is simple, too. It is pleasure to see that Major General Robert c. Rich ardson, Jr., the army's chief of publicity, has grasped the essential truth.
 sometimes we are inclined to feel, :" he told a meeting of army publicity off cers, "that certain happening would make adverse publicity. DO not try to suppress it. It is better to have it aired in full than to let it become surrounded by haze of mystery, gossip and rumor The American public has right to know what it's sons in camp are doing. ~ It is reassuring to see man with such sound principles in charge of army pub- licity.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-05-02
STRICT ECONOMY NEEDED TODAY TO MAKE BOTH
 ENDS MEET.
April 20, lAi.

..- April 20, l94i. Editor, Waterbury Democrat:
 When any individual Is faced with the fact that he cannot continuously pay out more than he takes in, he recognizes the necessity for drastic economies. To that end he adopts a budget. The federal budget differs from an individuals only in that within limits the government seems to have the power, to spend in excess of its income. The nearer the gov- ernment comes to the individual, the less this is true, and 1t Is now generally recognized that local bud- gets must balance. Tn fact, the law in Connecticut compels each Com- munity to lay tax which is esti- mated to be equal to the sum of its expenses. More and more state loans are looked upon askance which do not make provision at the time they are contracted for their order ly retirement.
 But the federal budget has long been a law unto itself and the fact that 1t runs into such a huge amount and the unexpected deficits so much exceed the appropriations makes 1t impossible to tell a year in advance what the net results will be.
 Can we form any conception of the costs of our defenses? These costs are so stupendous we lose all sense of proportion in thinking about them. In fact, 1t is now rec- ognized by most industrial experts that the appropriations already made for defense so far exceed our ability to produce the goods called for within the year covered by the budget that these appropriations furnish no certain guide as to what our actual expenditures will be. With this fact in mind, and realizing that 1t is difficult to imagine what one billion dollars is, we have attempted to simplify the issues by reducing the figures to billions with one deci- maj point. The i94l budget might be summarized as follows: Essential and not reducible expenses for de- fenSe, interest, pensions and social security, 8.8 billion; reducible ex- penses of ali departments of the government, and of public works, federal relief an dagricultural aid, 4.7 billion: making total expense of l3.5 billidon. With estimated fed- cral receipts of 7.l billion. there will remain a deficit to be added to the present debt of e.4 billion.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-05-02

year in l943 1t would take 21 years at this rate to liquidate the debt.
 We have sketched above the ab- solute minimum of probable irl- creases in our public debt. It is. 8 staggering amount. What is to be done about 1t? We suggest the fol- lowing lines of attack:
 IT. Impose heavier federal taxes. The methods which would seem to yield the greatest increases in gov ernment income are: CD moderate sales taxse, CD taxes on gross inr comes collected at their source with- out exemptions, and (3) lower ex- emption limits on present income taxes to spread the base.
 2. Effect far more drastic econ- omies in the expenditures for re. lief, agricultural subsidies and for the administration of government.
 3. Control prices and wages. as has been done in Great Britain to prevent an imitation rise.
 1. Urge eff not compeD savings in government bonds in order to re. duce the pressure of surplus earn ings on the demand for commodi' ties, resulting in rapid advances 1T. prices.
 5. By drastic personal economies and savings limit our call on con- nodities to the lowest possible limit. These sacrifices are small indeed compared to those which the people of other nations engaged in the struggle have accented.. Let us re- solve to make them and show by our example to the world what Q democracy can accomplish through its own action. ~s
 CONNECTICUT ECONOMIC COUNCIL.
 By: Howell Cheney, Treas,
The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-05-02

The plan sounded reasonable, but, the Justice Departments Antitrust Division was startled when the OPM requested an opinion on the legality of setting up board within the industry to farm out the governments or- ders. This savored strongly of the outlawed MIRA code authori- ties, and the trust busting officials looked disapprovingly down their noses. Then they spotted some- thing that caused them really to blow up.
 This was the discovery that the proposed board was to consist or Benjamin r. Hairless, head of the giant U. s. Steel; Tom Girdler, turbulent labor-battling czar of Republic Steel; and Ernest T. Weir, president of Weirton Steel and foe of the Wagner Act.
 The Antitrust explosion was so vehement that the OPM, without waiting for a formal answer, has. tily withdrew the plan and buried 1t in a pigeonhole. It Is now gathering dust.
 GOOD NEIGHBOR PILOTS
 Another Good Neighbor" ges- ture will soon be made to our im- mediate neighbor to the south, Mexico. The State Department will offer pilot training courses to e number of Mexican youths in the United States.
 Initiator of the idea was Vice President Henry Wallace.
 When he visited Mexico last year, one of the problems dis-
 cussed was the shortage of avia-
 tors in the Mexican army. Wal
 lace was told that Mexico want
 cd to undertake a pilot training
 program similar to that In the
 United States, but lacked planes
 and instructors.
 Wallace promised to see what could be done about obtaining help from the United States. How ever, when he preached the mat ter to the President, Roosevelt respectfully explained that planes and instructors could not be spared at this time. All available were needed for our own army and navy and for the British.
 However, the President suggest
The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-05-02
In Today's Mail

In a similar way, If we assume that the expenses for defense in l943 will be 50 per cent greater than in l942 and that the reducible expenses of government can be cut by one- third, then the total expenses in 1943 will be 22.5 billion. If we as- sume that the national income will be 10 per cent greater in 1943 than in l942, and that the net federal tax will be increased from 10 per cent to il per cent of the national in- come, then the net federal receipts will be 10.1 billion and the deficit to be added to the debt will be 124 billion.
 We have estimated a possible att tainable production for defense of 33.5 billion dollars in three years as the outside limit. We are fearful that 1t may be excessive. None the less, Congress is going heedlessly on to make appropriations for goods which cannot be delivered within three years.
 Possible economies in relief are Ohlly SPCCuihbAbAAS do " Wlito AAAAb k1t be saved when practically all of the enployable labor has been put to work and all of the aids to agricul- ture have been reduced to a mini mum. The agricultural estimate is now imperilled because proposals before Congress increasing rather than decreasing agricultural aid All of these estimates were also based upon the assumption that prices and wages will remain prac- tically at their present levels, which is very doubtful of achievement.
 It will be recognized from the above summary that in every in- stance we have gone upon con- servative basis.
 It would appear that in the three years in question the total expendi- lures will come to 53.5 billions and the total income to 256 billions leaving a net deficit of 27.9 billions This means that in these three years we will add to the national debt which now stands at approximately 50 billion dollars, 28 billion more bringing the total to 78 billion. It would take the whole national income of 1041 to pay OUT federal indebtedness in 1943. We may gain some comprehension of the amour! of the increase in federal indebted ness by remembering that this year the interest alone on our federal debt will be equal to the total oi our federal debt when we entered the World war in 1913.
 We have estimated that if every employed man and woman in the United states were taxed el00 (
The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-05-02
Selected Poem
MINIATURE

0.ois Kingsley Peton in the Poets Corner,
 Hartford Times) Beyond your windows young narcissi play With winds that dance across the rainy day. Your room is open, though the clouds are thick, And leaves are not quite out, and rain falls quick Within deserted woods. You love the smell Of rain, and peach buds just about to swell. see you stand beside the ancient harp, And coax it's strings to music wild and sharp On tapestries, the light of candles fall, And ghostly shadows move on mrrored wall. watch your eyes black as woods at night; They catch and hold the yellow candle light. Upon your onyx hair, little cap Sits red in blood. and never mortal map Can show the country where your heart had birth! You seem witch born far beyond this earth
The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-05-02

ed, as a way out of the dilemma, that Mexico be invited to send number of youths to get their training in this country. Wallace readily agreed, and the State De- partment was entrusted with the plan. SHIPPING SHORTAGE @
 The report that 40 per cent of lend-lease cargoes are being sunk Is only part of the story of the acute shipping situation facing Britain in the North Atlantic.
 Because of the lack of ships, huge stocks of raw materials are plllng up at U. s. ports. The accumulations have become SO large that in some instances, such as steel, the British are actually turning back some of 1t for use in U. s. defense produc- ton rather than let 1t die idle on the docks.
 NAZI EMBASSY
 The telephone number of the German Embassy in Washington is District 4500, often confused with the State Department number District 45l0. Though the State Department has changed It's num- Der, they still get calls for one another.
 The other day the phone rang in the German Embassy and Q State Department
 woman's voice said: 'Is this the State Department?"
 The Embassy clerk replied, "No madam, that number Is Republic 560O."
 "Oh, dear," said the lady. "Pm in Q pay station and I've al-
The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-05-02

a hymn book in one hand and a lighted kerosene lamp in the other. He beat time with the hymn book; and frequently as he became en- grossed in his singing, the lamp would tilt little and the inside of the chimney would become black ened with soot. The man who told the story said that since boyhood days that circumstance had always stood out in his mind, teaching him the necessity of uprightness. If any, thing diverts our attention, he said, so that we grow a little careless and let our lives get little off center morally. the result is soot, smudge upon the character.
 Uprightness of life is not always easy to maintain A good reputation and a clean conscience cost some- thing. They cost daily sacrifice. clean thinking. and above all an eternal vigilance against anything that would tip the life over and get 1t a little off level. Watch out for the first smudge that moral unbal- ance creates.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-05-02
ready paid by nickel. Could you transfer mel" PROFITS ..

TEXTILE PROFITS
 When OPM Purchasing Chief Donald Nelson remarked at his press conference that textile prices were under scrutiny, his words went unnoticed in the press. But 10 textile insiders they sent cold shivers up the spine.
 What Nelson did not reveal, but which they knew, was that his assocaite, Leon Henderson, De- fense Price Regulator, had quietly completed a survey showing that | the mill margins (profits) are the highest in history. Henderson's figures show a jump in mill mar gins from 10.68 in June, 1940, to IS in February, l941, and still go- ing up.
 If the price paid growers for cotton had kept pace with that of textiles, 1t would be selling to- day at around 20 cents a pound instead of 10.7l - its present fig ure. Informally, Henderson has warned textile leaders to watch their step, indicating willingness to allow them to put on the brakes themselves.
 "When the President said there were to be no war million aires," Henderson told the mill men, T took his words literally. I'll give you time to try to work out the situation yourselves, but you had better produce results or I will."
 Copyright, 194l, by United
 Feature Syndicate, Incl
The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-05-02

Rain is the crying need of our state right at the moment. We need it for a number of reasons, but the most import ant one is because the countryside is gradually assuming that hard-baked con- tour which only comes late in the sum- mer. The warm weather is gradually be- ing mitigated by the lack of sufficient moisture to care for Mother Natures needs
The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-05-02

1. Which gem have jewellers elect ed for the April birthstone? .r.s~~
 ?. The Tropic of Capricorn or 'tiak Tropic of Cancer is north of ths Equator?
 3. Did Ulysses s. Grant ever ate tain the rank of @ full general?
 4. What is the Appian Way?
 5. Which state in the U. s. is the largest producer of raisills? MY
 6. Which of these metals, aluni- mum, magnesium or sodium, is lighter than water?
 2. The administration of which president was called the Era of Good Feeling? ee-
 8. For writing which book did Pearl Buck receive the Pulitzer Prize?
 9. What is the nationality of . child born in the United States to Italian parents?
 10. Who wrote "Freckles"?
The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-05-02
Daily Almanac

Sun rises $50 a. m; sets 7:49 p. m. (day- light time)
 All vehicles must be lighted thirty min- utes after sunset. May opens with promise of much the same type of weather that April offered. That is unfortunate. for there is more than great need of rain: there is urgent need. If June comes in with little moisture behind 1t, look for q disastrous growing season.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-05-02
Questions :: and Answers: 5:

YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED
 The Waterbury Democrats SeB- vice Bureau will answer for yOV free. any question of fact or inc formation, not involving extens sive research. Write your ques. ton clearly, sign name and ads dress, enclose Q three cent postage stamp. Medical or legal advice cannot be given. Address Water. bury Democrats Washington Scr. vice Bureau, 1913 Thirteenth Street, Washington, D. 0. @. What is the production oE. iective of the aircraft industry2 " A. The present program calls sfN 36,00O to 37,0O0 airplanes by thk middle of 1942, ranging from hug6 four-engineti bombers to traiiler1 About 2l 900 are for the U. s. Inilis tary forces and the remainder sfoh Britain and Canada.
  e. How many words are in~the 1890, 1900, 1910, and 1940 editicna of Webster,s Dictionary?
 A. In 1890 there were 175,000; 200 o00 in 1900; 100000 in 1910: and $50, 900 in 1940.
 
 e. Did George Washington lay the cornerstone of the White Hous& in Washington?
 A. An erroneous legend states that George Washington himself laid the cornerstone of the White House in 1792, on the three-hun- dredth anniversary of Columbus landing at San Salvador. The cor. nerstone was laid on that date, but the records show that. Washington was in Philadelphia.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-05-02

No more size nihcant proof of that st atement could be asked for than is fur nished by the refusal of Con
 gress to pass a bill authorizing an experimental blackout for the District of Oo- lumbia. The rea- son for the defeat was simply tha [ [ he congressman didn't believe the