davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1941-08-24
A NORMAL HABIT
BIZ the Right Rep. James Freeman d. D., ILL., D.. D. c. L,
Bishop of Washington.

destroyed while the spirit Of Wren lives?
What though Big Ben be silenced while
there is voice in Parliament to be heard
around the world? What though men
die if. their spirit lives?"
Are peopls thus minded 20 be defeated
and their age-old work to suffer impair
ment? Does their resort to prayer betray
weakness or is it the evidence of their
strength? Will the cynic suggest that
nation that prays is lacking in the
strong qualities that make for stability
and endurance? Even so, it is such
people that can wait and wait in patience
and confidence for the day of deliver
ance. We of America need to relearn
the lessons that were taught us in days
when we were less opulent and less pros
porous. We, with our genius and skill,
can make ourselves the arsenal of our
Allies, but is this all we are called upon,
individually and collectively. to do? Are
there no weak spots in our great state?
Have these latter years seen us growing
in moral and spiritual strength?
1t is consistent at such time as the
present to make just appraisal OF the
real values that must serve us if mis-
fortune or adversely be our lot. To any
casual observer of modern world trends
it must be evident that something is
lacking in our life. Must the tragedies
of war or the misfortInes that now and
again seriously affect our chosen way of
life come before we shall be moved TO
recognize that righteousness is the
strength and stay of the Nation. 1t was
written of Christ rnat, being in an
agony, He prayed more earnestly" and in
the Garden of Gethsemane on the night
of His betrayal He resorted with grow
ing intensity to prayer until at length He
was fortified for His great ordeal. A
praying individual, home sanctified by
prayer a nation that has found and
followed the ways of a devotional prac-
tice, are armed with power that all the
conspiring forces of life cannot over
throw or defeat.
Would we have national unity in this
trying time? Let us not think that it
will come because our leaders demand
it. 1t will come when the conscience Of
the Nation has been made sensitive,
when its common recognition of its need
of God is apparent, when once again it
turns to its altars-altars in home in
state and in church-and finds the quiet
ways Of faith and prayer, the ways that
make men strong to meet every exigency
and trial of life.
Evening star., 1941-08-24
Stretching q Point

Gilbert and Sullivan said, or rather
sang, long ago that the policeman's
lot was not happy one. He must
be tough enough, when he stops a
soul-shattering blond weeping in an
effort to avoid a traffic ticket, to go
right ahead and pass it out. He
must also be prepared at any time to
absorb a bullet or a blow from a
blackjack, and ask for more.
Usually he need absorb no blows
prior to joining the force, but not
always. The other day would-be
policeman, trifle too short for the
physical requirements, tried to make
up for his lack of stature by an ex-
cess Of brain power. As an approach
to the problem, he allowed bees to
sting him on the head to raise the
bumps necessary to increase his
height the required amount. These
proving insufficient, he tried having
a friend hit his head with a mallet.
Sad to say, he missed by millimeter,
after acquiring set of bumps which
took no phrenologist to classify as
denoting dogged determination. 1t
does seem that even if he failed to
stretch his height quite enough, the
authorities might stretch point and
let him in.
Evening star., 1941-08-24
A Sound Position

The position taken by the Dis
trict Commissioners in opposition to
union activity on the part of District
employees which would interfere in
any way with vital municipal func-
tionS is eminently sound.
AS enunciated by Commissioner
Guy Mason, the official position is
somewhat obscure in certain re-
spectS. For example, it is not clear
what he means when he says that
the Commissioners are opposed to
the organization of any local union
chapters in certain essential NUM-
cipal institutions but that there
would be no objection to the workers
Joining a national union. The pur-
pose of any union organization is to
give it's members sufficient collective
strength to enforce specific demands.
For practical purposes, it makes no
difference whether this is accom-
plished through national or local
union, and it is difficult, therefore,
to comprehend the distinction which
Commissioner Mason draws in this
respect.
There is no room for misunder-
standing, however, with regard to
the essential part of his statement.
'Tt should be borne in mind" he
declared, that the Commissioners,
as stewards of the public's interest,
cannot and will not tolerate inter-
ference in any way by any others
than lawfully constituted authorities
In the operation, maintenance and
management of such strictly govern
mental instrumentalities as the jail.
workhouse, reformatory, police, fire
and health departments"
In taking that position the Com
missioners should have, and un-
doubtedly will have, the whole
hearted support of every resident OF
the city who is interested in serving
the best interests of the community.
It is only necessary to consider some
of the disgraceful performances OF
unions which have succeeded in en-
trenching themselves in vital NUM-
cipal institutions in other cities to
indorse any effort to prevent a du-
plication here.
Evening star., 1941-08-24

the activity of their followers from
underground"
All this denotes the seriousness of
the situation with which the German
occupational authorities and the
Vichy regime jointly Is faced. AS
Berlin demands increasing Co
operation" from France, and as
autumn brings cold combined with
more stringent food shortages, the
rebellious temper of the French
population should grow to more dam
gerous proportions. Ruthless re-
preston may allay, but cannot
destroy, a militant unrest which has
such deep and vital roots.
Evening star., 1941-08-24
Sundays at Home

With a gasoline famine seemingly
q reality, some thousands of Wash
ington families are faced with the
prospect of spending series OF
Sundays at home. Such a change
In the pattern of life which they
customarily have followed may be re-
garded as a particularly offensive ex-
ample of the horror Of war, yet,
considering the indubitable fact that
the essential by-product of the pc
troleum industry no longer is per-
mitted to be wasted. there is little
to be gained by complaining.
The unexpected hardship, indeed,
at last may come to be accepted as
q blessing of a sort. A home, per-
haps, is not an altogether intolerable
place in which to rest during week
end vacation from ordinary routine.
The members of ones own family,
possibly, may be worthy of closer ac-
uuaintance Books which patiently
have waited to be noticed are apt to
Justify the courtesy OF reading.
Pianos not touched in years may
yield a music the sweeter for having
been neglected. Old gardens, old
games, old recreations of a dozen
varieties, old friends, talk about old
times, the revival of old memories
might not these frozen assets" of an
average life be helpful In a time
when what Is current Is tragic and
ead2
Of course, it was congenial in the
times before Hitler to fill up the tank
with liquid energy and speed away
TO Nowhere at sixty miles an hour.
Months may pass before the public
learns to appreciate exemption from
the habit of tearing over hill and
dale at breakneck pace. Not to be
obliged to negotiate the classic tor
lures of Sunday afternoon and eve
ming traffic on the boulevards of
Maryland and Virginia doubtless will
be a species of agony to all those
motorists who have educated them
selves to the endurance of such self
inflicted pain. Noise, dust, irritated
tempers, arguments, brushes with
unsympathetic police-add to the
listed aggravations together and the
result is savage sort of pleasure.
But the shortage of gasoline, more
soberly considered, may decrease the
toll of injury and sudden death
which has characterized the high
ways of the Eastern States on Sun
days. 1t seems logical to suppose
that if the number of cars on the
roads were cut in half, a similar re-
duction in casualties would follow.
Meanwhile, the average family
would be rediscovering itself, finding
once more the peaceful satisfaction
Of Sundays at home. For at least
two centuries Americans walked to
Church of a Sunday morning and
Evening star., 1941-08-24

The ways of a religious life are as
common to man as the ether he breathes.
They are as common in practice with the
savage and uncivilized as with the re-
fined ana cultivated. True, there may
be periods when their practice is less
frequent If not abandoned but sooner or
later the devotional habit is resumed and
affords peace which is satisfying and
reassuring.
Efforts repeatedly have been made
to ban religious practices and to close
religious institutions, but such efforts
have proved wholly futile. If you destroy
the peoples God today, they will invent
a new god tomorrow" said Robespierre.
Russia under the Soviet gives no en-
couragement to religion and religious
practices, yet the people refuse to be
denied a way of life that is renewing
and stimulating. 1t may be difficult to
define in what way the practices OF the
devotional life bring satisfaction and
peace, but the testimony of the ages
affirms the universally of the religious
habit 1t may be said with confidence
that in times of great emergency this
habit asserts Itself and grows strong
despite adversely and the tragedies of
life.
An English paper that comes to us
weekly, broadly representative of the
religious life of Britain and European
countries, tells in stirring and eloquent
language of the revival of religious prac-
tices, such as these countries have not
experienced for a generation. Great mis-
fortunes but accelerate the faith of these
peoples. They are finding, even in the
face of disaster and dire perils, new
consciousness and realization of the
value of the devotional life. A recent
statement expresses this in striking
phrase The writer says: Above all,
Britain has learned to pray. That Se-
frain sounds again and again. In the
presence of adversely, she is learning to
walk with the Lord. Her dross Is being
purged away that her gold may shine the
brighter. She has lost much, but it is
the loss of the smelling furnace. The
Britain of grinding slums is rubble; but
the Britain of Stephen Langton and
Magma Carta is imperishable. The
Britain of insular pride is no more.
Britain has learned to pray and she
stands today greater nation than in
all her great history. What though the
Hood be lost while the spirit of Nelson
remains? What though st. Pauls be
Evening star., 1941-08-24
The Defense Record

In the light of the Presidents re-
ply to Senator Byrd's charge that
we have failed "miserably" in the
production of mechanical military
equipment, it seems that the Sena-
tor was substantially correct in some
of his complaints-notably that with
reference to the lag in the aircraft
program-but was beside the mark
in other important categories.
The significant thing about this
difference of opinion, however, is
not the fact that Senator Byrd
seems to have been in error in some
respects, but rather that, taking the
Presidents own figures for produc-
ton, it is evident that our showing
has been anything but satisfactory.
And in this respect it is gratifying to
note that the President himself says
that our armament production never
has been satisfactory to him.
This country, with its vast pro-
duction facilities, has been specific
ally cast in the role of the arsenal
of those nations resisting the Axis.
And in this role it is only to be ex-
pected that the demands upon us
will continue to increase as the war
spreads from one battlefield to an
other. Obviously, production
measured in terms of few hundred
tanks, sixty-one modern anti-air-
craft guns a month and two or three
or four hundred anti-tank guns
month Is going to be woefully
inadequate.
In his reply to Senator Byrd, the
President again alludes to the great
increase in production which may
be expected in the future, nor is
there any doubt that the increase
will be forthcoming. But it has been
long on the way.
Time still remains the vital factor
in this struggle for world control
And American industry, whatever
the reasons, is not running it's best
race. If the pace is to be stepped
up-and it can be stepped up-Mr.
Roosevelt will have to supply the
driving force, for he has retained in
his own hands the general direction
of the defense program. 1t has been
said before that most military fall
ures can be summed up in the words:
TOO little and too late" But that
is truism which cannot be en-
phasiZed too often.
Evening star., 1941-08-24
Capital SideIiehts
BIZ Will p. Kennedy.

Members of the college on Wheels
"a students enrolled at the South
western Institute of Technology-sit-
ting in the gallery of the House the
other day, were introduced to the mem
bers from the floor by Representative
Victor Wickersham of Oklahoma, who
told his colleagues that the institute,
"one of the most outstanding colleges in
the United States" has as its president
James B. Boren, a brother of Repre-
sentative Lyle Boren. The group, he
explained, is making an overland trip
through many Eastern States under the
guidance and instruction of Prof. j. G.
Naiman, professor of biology. While in
Washington they attended picnic of
the Oklahoma State Society.
The Grand Old Man" of the Senate
Senator George W. Norris of Nebraska
now in his thirty-ninth consecutive year
of service in Congress, recently was 80
years of age. Attention of his colleagues
was called to this fact by Representative
John E. Rankin of Mississippi, who, on
account of his single-track devotion to
hydroelectrical development, is famil-
iarly referred to as Dynamo" 'Kilo-
watt" or "Sparkplug, For years he has
been a disciple of Senator Norris. Mr..
Rankin said: Il have fought with him
on the greatest economic issue con-
fronting the American people-the power
question. In his devotion to the masses
of the American people, to the cause of
the common man, he has been as con-
sistent as the North Star, of whose true
fixed quality there is no fellow in the
armament. His name will 60 down
through the centuries for the service he
has rendered to the power consumers
of America" Senator Norris has served
in House and Senate combined longer
than any living member-since March 4,
1902 He was the eleventh in family
of II children. His father died when he
was a small child and his only brother
was killed in the Civil War He worked
as farmland to earn his way through
school and graduated from law school
So years ago. He served 10 years in the
House before coming to the Senate.
\
A saga of the Far Northwest was writ
ten into the Congressional Record by
Representative Homer D. Angel of Ore
gon, a descendant of covered wagon
pioneers who describes "the return of
the musk oxen to Alaska" after an abb
sence of more than 100 years. More
than II years ago Congress appropri-
ated $4,000 for work along this line.
The musk OK is one of the most inter-
esting mammals of the bleak Arctic,
and In one of the most dramatic under
takings in big-game conservation, Mr..
Angel points out, this herd was trans
planted by boat and railroad more than
$4,000 miles to become re-established in
Alaska-the longest and most hazardous
journey in the history of transplanting
any mammals for restocking purposes.
Evening star., 1941-08-24

that there are going to be many months
of very serious disruption of industry
and very much lost melton In the period
ahead when there is hurried effort to
tie the general run of manufacturers
into defense production.
It is this failure to train industry to
wartime requirement, and it is this effort
to center armament production in few
huge industries superimposed on regular
industry, that gave the British supply
minister his shock. The same failure will
probably be found to lie back of the
inability of this country either to equip
its own Army or to send very large sup
plies to the armies that are depend
ing upon it.
Now that the first method Of creating
a special arms industry is found not to
give adequate results, an effort is to be
made to bring all of industry into the
picture, but with results that are going
to be disrupting and somewhat startling
70 the country.
Evening star., 1941-08-24
Mexico ToIks Back

Mexico Tulks Back
The action of Mexican authori-
ties in ordering the closing of all
German consulates in Mexico, fol-
lowing the exclusion of Mexican
consular representatives from Ger
man-occupied Paris. confirms pre-
vious indications that our southern
neighbor is in no mood to accept
Nazi dictation.
This latest incident traces back to
the denunciation by the Mexican
government several weeks ago of a
German note virtually demanding
that Mexico protest against the
United States blacklist of pro-Axis
firms in that country and warning
of unpleasant consequences II this
were not done.
Condemning the American black
list in strong terms, the German
Minister asserted that 1t violated
"the liberty of commerce and even
the sovereignty of Mexico" He there
upon attempted to throw the burden
of combating the blacklist upon the
Mexican government by stating that
it was its duty to protect the black
listed firms by diplomatic action. AS
so often happens in German diplo-
macy. a demand was coupled with a
thinly veled threat, when the Min
lister concluded that resigned &C
ceptance" of the blacklist by Mexico
could not but influence the de-
cisions of the German government
upon renewing commercial relations
after the war;
If Berlin thought it could eajole
or coerce Mexico into opposing
Washington's blacklist policy, it
quickly discovered its mistake The
Mexican government, speaking
through its Minister Of Foreign Al
fairs, answered curtly that it alone
was the judge of what constituted
an injury to its rights or an infringe
ment of its sovereignty, and that it
could not permit" a foreign Dip
lomat to advise on such matters.
Going further, the Mexican reply
affirmed the principle of inter-
American cooperation as the basis
of its present and future policy. As
for the German warning, it was stig-
matized as pressure, imperious and
unjustifiable," which would not be
tolerated.
Nothing could better attest the
sincerity of President Camacho in
his policy Of Western Hemisphere
solidarity against external dangers
than this resolute squelching of a
German attempt to make trouble
between Mexico and the United
States. 1t is doubly gratifying be-
cause pro-AXis and anti-American
elements in Mexico continue to agi-
tate. These elements are grouped
mostly on the extreme right and the
extreme left. Reactionary conserva-
tives tend to be responsive to Nazi
and Franco propaganda. while the
Communistic wing of Mexican labor,
headed by ultra-radical leaders,
still assails Yankee imperialism"
despite the Nazi attack upon Soviet
Russia.
However, such agitations cannot
get far under the most stable and
popular administration which Mex
leo has had in many years. The
friendship of the Camacho regime is,
for the United States, a major asset
in the Latin American situation. It
certainly has shown itself to be
proof against Axis intrigue.
Evening star., 1941-08-24
Terrorism in France

The vicious circle of revolt and
repression which has made some of
history's grimmest pages has clearly
begun in France. Stirring from the
paralysis OF defeat, the French people
are commencing to strike back at
their oppressors, both foreign and
native, by widespread sabotage,
demonstrations, riots and, finally,
assassination. The recent stabbing
of high German officer In the Paris
subway was clearly political mur-
der Others may follow.
To combat this rising tide of un-
rest and incipient revolt, the Ger
man occupational authorities and
the Vichy government are taking
ruthless countermeasures. Whole
sale arrests have occurred in both
German-occupied and unoccupied
France. The most drastic action
occurred in Paris, where the French
police, under German direction,
blocked of the entire Eleventh Ar
rondiSsement, a municipal subdivi-
sion corresponding to our city ward,
and winnowed the whole population
to catch suspects. This section is
inhabited largely by radical-minded
workingmen, and under the Third
Republic was a Communist strong
hold. Several thousand arrests were
made in this gigantic police dragnet.
The arrested persons are described
officially as being native Communists
or Jews mostly of foreign origin.
This last accusation smacks OF
propaganda, because the Eleventh
ACCOMPLISHMENT has never con-
tanned large Jewish element.
That the militant opposition is
much more than Communist is
shown by the fact that one of the
men just executed under the new
regulations was condemned for De
Gaullist recruiting activity. The De
Gaulle movement is essentially pa
triotic and conservative, with no
NUIIlLlullloU dllllluIlOilD,
Sensational charges are being
made in the German-controlled
Paris press. One paper reports the
alleged uncovering of a worldwide
revolutionary plot with American
financial backing. The story impli-
Gates the Du Pont and Ford interests.
The idea that those conservative in
dustrial groups are financing revo-
lutionary conspiracy of worldwide
scope certainly would amuse Ameri-
can readers. Equally fantastic Is
the charge that our imperturbable
Ambassador to Vichy, Admiral
Leahy, mixed "excitedly" in the af-
fair. Those Paris journalists should
brush up on their local color. They
really could cook up something
better than that.
The German authorities have
taken the extreme step of holding the
arrested suspects as hostages, with
the threat of random executions In
numbers proportionate to the rank
and Importance of any Germans
henceforth assassinated. Vichy has
not yet gone so far, but is penalizing
Communist activity with equal Sc
verify. Evidently, it is trying to turn
the moderate Socialists against the
"anti-national" Communists by re-
leasing certain Socialist leaders from
internment. But the hunt Is on
throughout France for the leaders
of the French Communist party, who
have long been tn hiding, directing
Evening star., 1941-08-24

suffered no special hurt from the
experience. During a similar period
they spent Sunday evenings at their
own firesides and were benefited by
their serenity. Times have changed
for the worse in some respects. Is it
conceivable that now, despite sug-
gestions to the contrary. they are
altering for the better in others?
Evening star., 1941-08-24

Many German resort hotels now
have been turned into hospitals.
Russian resistance mus. have caused
the Nazi Army command to issue
more operation orders than antici-
pated.
Evening star., 1941-08-24

Goering, having erred in his state
ment that not a single bomb would
ever fall on the Reich, has reluc-
family given up the notion of claim
ing that the present daily British
donations are ping pong balls.
Evening star., 1941-08-24

A counterattack hard to beat for
ferocity is conducted periodically by
women shoppers in department
stores ca bargain days.