davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Waterbury Democrat., 1945-09-08
Poor Butterfly

If any doubt fingers about the being over, this should clear it up Puccnis opera, Madame Butterfly which went underground Dec T. 1941 has reestabished beachhead in the reperory of American opera companies
 We understand that the San Carlo Opera already has sobized cast and redeployed it into rehearsal Further landings may be expected at New YorkS Metropolitan and elsewhere in our land where opera has a foothold.
 So it won't be long until the hearts of American opera fans again bleeding for poor Butterfly Butterfly you may may not recall the trusting daughter one of the prewar of heaven She met and fell for handsome young lieutenant of the U Navy by the name of Pinkerton. The armed services had rule against fraternzaton in those days.
 It's very sad story. But it might that were going in for forgveandoget stuff too soon and carrying 1t too far in restoring this story of the deceived Japanese maiden and the hearesS American sailor to the operatc boards.
 In fact it would definitely be bad idea if the fans hearts going to bleed for Butterfly weren't opera fans. But the opera fans will hear Madame Butterfly sung in Italian as they always have Most of them won't understand the words and won't They'll be on hand just to listen to the music which lush lovely and about as Japanese as grind-organ aria.
 So there's very little danger that American opera patrons are going to confuse poor Butterfly with the poor Japanese Besides might turn out that alert postwar opera ipresaros will have transformed Butterfly into Chinese g and transferred Lieutenant Pinkerton to some mythical Graustarkian navy. Who knows?
The Waterbury Democrat., 1945-09-08

CTS to Office Of FrIce AdmlnWtratIon or National Housing Agency. OPA or MIA would make an ap- praisal set fair price and then grant permit to build and sell at its ceiling figure.
 3. proposal to remove all controls on private home building giving the industry the green light The background fighting over these questions is hot and heavy. Final decision will be made by Office of War Mobilization Director John w. Snyder, with the nod of the President himself. It Is that important
 
 Recommendations to Snyder are now. being worked out by Construction Coordination Commit. tee, headed by Hugh Potter of Houston, Tex, real estate developer who was in Washington with the building code authority in NRA days On his commit. tee are the heads of the top agencies They are lined up like this:
 Potter and WIPE Chairman Kyug favor removal of all WIPE controls at once.
 Office of Economic Stabization Director VIII H
The Waterbury Democrat., 1945-09-08
Your Postwar Home
By Peter EdSOn

Davis and Housing Administrator John B. Blandford, Jr, say controls must stay on If controls are re- moved, they argue there will be mad scramble that will shoot up prices and start imitation.
 oPA Administrator Chester Bowles has favored retention of price controls building materials but ,as not committed himself on trying to establish ;eiling prices on completed houses.
 There has just leaked out of OPA however, six-page memo signed by Karl Mathiewson of the Building Materials and Construction Price Branch and John g. Clement of the Industrial Materials Price Branch. It spells out in pretty complete detail plan for putting price controls on all building ma tertals and all new houses-controls far more srin- gent than were imposed during the war. While OPA admits copies of this memo have been sent to their field offices, denial is made that the plan s official or that 1t constitutes 'an order
 But when copies of this document fell into the lands of the National Association of Real Estate Boards, National Association of Home Builders, and the Producers Council, made up of manufacturers oi building materials, they very properly hit the ceiling and raised the roof They want all government con- t.ols removed immediately and completely,
 No government agency, they argue, can process md grant permits to build the million or more new louses needed for the next 10 years The red tape involved will make builders refrain from building.
 Further. they argue that the new price controls now being considered would cause imitation rather than prevent 1t because there are now price con- trols on the 30 million old houses now standing,
 Competition between builders plus new experi- ences gained during the war in mass construction of housing say the contractors, will automatically take care of keeping the prices down.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1945-09-08
By Drsv Rs0gs0s.

sure to change their code, aud thus we wouls lose one c6 our nest priceless wartime assets.
 eecy. of the Navy Knox. owner of thS ckicago Daily News, an opposition paper to the Tribune, was lcath to prosecute 60 was Roosevelt He feared t would look like attack on his severeSt newspaper critic The Navy however, insiste6, So William D. Mitchell, Republican attorney-geneFal under Hoover, was selected to present the case to Chicago grand jury
 What finally happened during that trial has never been revealed. The Navy which had been inslstent in demanding the prosecution, suddenly backed down. It refused to let Mitchell tell the grand jury abcu the secret Jap codes and the isct that the Tribunals disclosure tipped oft the Japs tnat we were breaking them down.
 For in the middle of the trial U, 8. code experts found that they were sti able to break the Jap grand jury would get back to Japan and prompt the Japs to change their codes again.
 Thus the props were knocked out of MitchelpS case, and the whole thing fiU1i:d'
 Although citizens of Independence Mo, admit the Secret Service agents assigned to the summer White House aren't the most soclable people In the world they openly admire the efficiency and eert- ness with which the agents have kept hundreds of persons from treSpassing the forbidden ground of the Truman home But even the Secret Service mutfs one now and then,
 Not long ago, Miss Florence Carvin entertained several lady friends at her home 800 North Delaware street-just two blocks north of the summer White House When the guests prepared to leave they ais  from their handbags. One of the victims was Miss Marion Mcclellan, of 3800 Walnut street, Kansas City, Mo- assistant executive secretary of the Wom- ems City Club of Kansas City.
 During the evening, a sneak-thief had entered the Carvn home, emptied several of the handbags, and escaped His loot included about $26 in cash, plus ration coupons.
 Interesting fact was that two Secret Service agents of the summer White House staff were liv- ing at the Darwin home, They were upstairs in their rooms when the theft occurred,
 
 During the recent separations negotiations in Moscow, Ambassador Averell Hartman frequently reminded U. s. colleagues how the Russians had cleaned out every movable piece of Nazi machinery from their gone of Germany, even removing ma. chnery from what later became the American zone of occupation in Berlin.
 Hartman termed these operations footing"
 When the U g. separations party got to Potsdam, Hartman inspected several plants in the area which he U S. had taken over from the Russians All had ,een stripped clean Hartman kept muttertng, Those lussians! What looters!"
 Finally the party came to a glass works which ne Russians had been through, They had removed most of the machinery. but had overlooked some fn- shed fancy glassware on work benches. So when Ambassador Hartman left the factory, he took few sIass souvenirs" with him.
 One member of the party who had heard Har- rman denounee the Russians looked at him critically Laughing, the ambassador remarked:
 T was talking about Russian looters, wasn't IF"
The Waterbury Democrat., 1945-09-08
Needs For A Peacetime OSS

Some of the wars most surprising and interesting "now it told" stories the first ones describing the secret activities of the Office of Strategic Services They probably will become more interesting as details o the dangerous and dramatic OsS operations are revealed
 It is certain that lot of people heard of oSs during the It also is certain that nobody outside the highest government circles and OSS itself knew exactly what this superscret agency was doing But the people know And having become acquainted with OSS, they must decide whether they want to keep it.
 The United States never has had foreign secret serv ce perhaps because Americans just haven't liked the idea because government has been little too honest, trusting and innocent But other countries have had such services and will continue to have them
 So it would only sensible that we carry over to peaceme form of organization to collect and coord- nate foreign information Maj Gen w. Donovan, head of OSS, has suggested.
 Already there talk of smaller occupation forces and shorter occupation for Germany and Japan than were originally planned Some day we shall be getting out or both countries But it is naive and dangerous nonsense to think they will not need watching for long tme or that influential groups in both countries not already think ing about coming war of vengeance
 If had had OSS before the war; the disaster at Pearl Harbor might have been averted certainly mini nzed To prevent another such disaster will require con- stant vigilance probably maintained in secrecy It seems safe to say that international spy system little too sinister and meodramatc for the tastes of most of us But if it avoid the inaccuracies, confusion croSspurposes and delay that led up to Pearl Harbor, let's have it.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1945-09-08


 day before Pearl HaEbor, that the Japs were going to hand him an abrupt note flatly refusing his peace proposals. That was why Gen. Marshall was censured in the Pearl Harbor report for being out horseback riding on the morning of Dec. T. so that word of this pending break in U,S-Jap relations was not flashed to Gen. Short ct Pearl Harbor until such time and through such . slow channel that he re- ceived 1t only after six American battleships were at the bottcm of the harbor.
 That was. also why two weeks before the Battle of Midway, the Navy knew that Japan was prepar- ing a mighty attack on our key island base of Midway which, if successful, was to be followed by tremendous naval drive on the Hawaiian Islands and the California coast. The information had been picked up from Jap radio messages immediately after the Battle of the Coral Sea in the South Pacific and gave time for the U s. fleet to rush everything it had north to Midway and prepare trap for the unsuspecting Japs.
 Ships and planes from all over the Pacific were sent to Midway The West Coast of the United States was left almost unprotected Had the Japs become aware of what was happening and shifted their tac- cs the cities of San Francisco Los Angeles, Seattle, etc., would have been almost defenseless. But the Japanese coded radio messages were unmistakabe, They gave the name of every ship in the Jap Fleet which was steaming to attack Midway,
 The result of that battle is well known. Not well known however, is the manner in which the Chicago Trbunes Stanley Johnston revealed the Nays secret and how he escaped prosecution,
 Johnston had been aboard the ill-fated Lsxing- ton which sank in the Battle of the Coral Sea, taken aboard another ship which rushed north to participate in the Battle of Midway and while on this ship he learned that the Navy knew in advance the Japs were preparing to attack Midway and tha, We even knew the name of every ship in the Jap Fleet.
 After landing in the United States, where he wa, not subject to naval censorship, Johnston wrote the Chicago Tribune published story regarding this even naming the complete list of Jap ships. Thi, information which U. S. naval officers obviously could not have obtained without being able to decoc Jap secret messages, and the Navy hit the ceiling
 Admr Ernest King, commander of the fleet, calico at the White House and demanded that the Tribune be closed down He pointed out that the Japs
The Waterbury Democrat., 1945-09-08

as usual Instead of scrappng the religious mumho- jumbo so closely tied in with their miitarsm Em- peror Hirohto solemnly attired himself in his full ceremonial hawbuok harness and made personal calls at the shrines of his deceased predecessors persona ally to inform these royal revenants that Japan has been forced to surrender It would be interesting to know what else he told them, or thought he d!d
 Good reporters, long familiar with the Japs from protracted prewar assignments, say the ferment of politics Is already starting to work, that Hiro hito has materalized to his people as truly able leader that militarists who are damned as hav- ing made all the trouble. This is the same type of scape-goating the Germans are using It means load ing the blame of the lot on the backs of a few
 The danger of this sort of American-dodging to lasting peace is too obvious to point out The check 1t is the brains of the people who handle the job for and the policies they're instructed to follow From what saw in Germany, the brains of most of takeover people, rendered down to thin luhri can't wouldn't be sufficient to grease the hinges of your grandmothers spectaclss
 We've got lot of funny looking people over there and coveys of others are arriving. That statement has nothing to do with the corhbat-military The shooting part of our representation and those who served them were strictly OK I'm talking about the ragtag g-and-bohtail that then moved in to carry on Instead of our keeneat and best moving in to nall down the thing wsd won at such bitter cost, the branches began Co swarm with what looked, end usually talked like lot Of broken down parsons, out-
The Waterbury Democrat., 1945-09-08
By BilI Cunningham

of.work school teachers and frustrated spinsters
 They thereupon proceeded to try to get things going in their particular spheres and from a sde- line seat 1t looked as if most of them were being outsarted on every play. The Germans, themselves. were laughing at them. They were supposed. of sponsh!lity influence and personal comfort, yet in practically every town the German citizens conn., plained that exactly the opposite had happened.
 The NaN party members, said the complaining kauts, had merely destroyed their files. changed their lines and sold themselves to these guhle geese as people to trust. It was impossible to dig through al these charges to get to the facts but it seemed significant when the same charge was made every where. Ina not trying to say 1t was always made In good fath for these skn-saving Germans were often the most contemplate of informeTS
 saw . German woman storm into an American billeting office and complain bitterly because her residence had been requisitioned for the use of some officers It outrage, she said because she was an anti-NaM and her house had been taken, while right down the street still enjoying his home, was man who'd been practically the sauieiter Of the neighborhood
 whats his name and addresss" the Army Offi- cer asked her.
 She gave it. The officer wrote 1t down. She wait- ed until he finished and then she asked, And now when can move back into my own house2"
 You can't move back into it at all" the officer said, "Our Army needs 1t as matters now stand. When 1t gets through with 1t, you get 1t back, but not before
 The woman thereupOn lunged across the desk and tried to snatch the paper bearing the name and address of the man she'd just turned In. The officer beat her to it, and two soldiers had prac- ticay to drag her out of the office She'd thus turn in a Maxi, or perhaps falsely accuse neighbor of being Nazi, but only to get better break for her. self
 There undoubtedly is lot of that, and they're individual cases but some of the master po!cle: looked at least questionable Germany is tn the worst mess of any nation n the history of the world-un' less a uncovered Japan proves Co be worse it Eeeds brains and the best brains to try to aaivaes whAty left and to try to prevent collapse Into chaos that might drag an entire continent down with ik.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1945-09-08
Building Program For Connecticut

An extensive public building program for Connecticut planned for the future An estimated $0O000OO will be spent throughout the state Other states have adopted sim liar programs The State Finance Advisory Committee In cooperation with Governor Baldwin approve the ex pendture which will give new character to the general a pearance Building at standsl during recent years some communities present down-at atthe-heel look.
 great many of the public buildings in our ctes are such that no dsntegraton is noted such some of the fine public buildings in Hartford and in Waterbury On the other hand institutions and schools in many instances need to be replaced Every city and town is in position and condition to welcome reasonable amount of build ing.
 The financial plan to take of the project in the state seems to be sound one. It will probably be some time before the actual work gets underway but at least the public building future of the state seems assured
The Waterbury Democrat., 1945-09-08
BUGGY WHIPS
(New York Times)

(New York Times)
 The praises of stylish fringed-top surreys and humble democrats have been sung. But sparse is the liter ature regarding one of the essential accoutrements. Time was, a genera ton and more ago, when farmer or villager was discriminatory particular about the whip. Not that 1t was used very much. MT. Web- ster's definition-an instrument con- sisting usually of a lash attached to a handle used in whipping-should not be taken too seriously. The country man who felt some degree of pride in his turnout wanted a whip as a sort of finishing touch to his equipment. A man with a spanking lively roader and vehicle well polished and painted desired 3 whip in keeping with his outfit.
 The General Store always kept a good supply and it was an impor- tant decision when the time came to get a new one. A whip could be purchased for 30 cents, but expe- rience had proved that a larger capital investment paid dividends in satisfaction and wearing quail ties. The colors of the handles and the colors of the tufts at the tops of the whips constituted the chief problem. A deep blue handle with narrow bands of red plus red tuft at the end of the lash was 8 satis- flying color scheme. There were combinations of yellow, blue and black that made an appeal. Black and red was e standard that kept in fashion. The whip had to have charactear, color and feel right in a mans hand.
 Then when a lad was sent to town on an errand and was allowed to take the Morgan mare and the buggy he knew he could hold his own. Not that 8 boy believed in horse racing, but if 1t should so happen that another lad turned into Main street with good horse at the same time, there was deep psychological satisfaction in hold ing the whip in ones hand and pulling up in front of the store with big hourish--a few yards ahead of one's rival. It was simply coinci- dental that a lad picked the whip from itse socket as he turned into Main street. The fact that the mare always let out at top speed if the whip were left in had noth- ing to do with the situation. A buggy whip was simply part of the equipment. !
The Waterbury Democrat., 1945-09-08

tully pfoeeeuted TOT ToVealing certain war secrets at the time of that battle,
 It has now been made clear through the Pearl Harbor reports that the u. s. Navy was in pose session of the Japanese secret code and thus was able to break down messages sent between Tokyo and Washington and be- tween various units of the Jap Fleet,
 That was how Cordsll Hull
The Waterbury Democrat., 1945-09-08

proposals which are now being considered at those trite old high est levels in Washington:
 l. A proposal to limit the cost of a new house to, say $l2,000. The present limit is $S,000. Originally 1t was te.0oo, But even at the SS,000 figure, home builders say they can make no profit at pres. ent high prices of labor and ma. terials.
 3. A proposal to have the plans and specifications for each new h0liAe submitted hv the hlIild.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1945-09-08

but who Is 1t, and how smart Is he, she or ito It's all right to wave our soEnbreres and crack our lungs over "Victory," but all we've won Is a third World War unless we call the right plans and drive on through to an indisputa- ble score that will stay in the records.
 It's easy to read from the in. terviews now coming through that the Japs still consider themselves g nation and that they're pro. naAAisan an khA NAAna0sAal alAA ni,n,aA
The Waterbury Democrat., 1945-09-08
PERTINENT QUESTION

PERTINENT QUESTION The smell of perch or mackerel clingS
 To platter and to plate; Il is among the many things That do exacerbate
 The glutton, as the epicure, And I might also add That other ordors that endure Are those of bass and shad, Of bluefish and filet of sole, O. the expensive sword; Nc fiSh's after dinner role Is to be deplored.
 Comes now the hint that all is well, A simple one for the fault, That drowned is the offensive
 smell
 In water that is salt. .. IL well may be: I can't deny That 1t would suit my wish, Put cannot help but wonder why It never helped the fish.
 Shortages always come at the wrong time. The soap shortage ar- rives just at the time when Junior comes back from swimming all day and needs 1t most.
 The Army's new P-S0 can travel at $50 miles an hour at an altitude of A5,OOO feet. There's a big future in the air-but not for the billboard people.
 Incidentally, the Army will have about 45,0OO planes awaiting dis p.,Sal by the end of this year. That wont prevent 1t from killing off the most likely customer for them.
 Senator Downey of California wants to give all veterans of this war a free trip abroad after Japan $ whipped. The original CT joy over the proposal will be dampened, however; he wants them to take their wives. Political Field Note Come, raise your glasses to Boston,
 The town of the bean and the cod, Where a man who's not running for
 mayors either funn!ng Or most unaCcountably odd.
 An American sentry took shot at tFaveling comedian who was pro- ceeding to his next soIdieg-Ghow date in Germany the 0ther night. Maybe he had caught the show the night before.
 The Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery announces the development of a mosquito repellent that is ef- fective on the skin up to eleven hours. There's always @ drawback where the mosquito Is concerned, however; the buzz is as bad as the bomber.
 Mayor Arthur J. Frawley of Lynn, unlike our own Mayor Monagan. IS irritated because a freighter, rather than Q fighting ship. was named af- ter his city. One more generation and we'll be speaking with pity about the men who go down to the sea in cabin cruisers.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1945-09-08
SECESSION THREAT

Upper section of Wisconsin Is threatening to secede from the state and join either the upper Michigan peninsula or Minnesota. Dissension is caused by new Wis. consin anti-gambling laws.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1945-09-08

WASHINGTON, Sept. S-Au the din now heard over rumors of new government controls and price ceilings on that new house you are supposed to be wanting to build seems to boil down to three principal
The Waterbury Democrat., 1945-09-08
JAPANESE ATROCITIES

(New York Herald -Tribune)
 Wanton murder and heStial tor ture of prisoners of war is charged to the Japanese by the State De-
The Waterbury Democrat., 1945-09-08
Waterbury Of The Past

25.Years Ago
 The Democrat was running a series of articles explaining the League of Nations.
 The Waterbury Brasscos were los- ing several games at Hamilton Park.
 15.Years Ago
 Police were probing two breaks, one on Watertown avenue and the other on Waterville street, in which nothing was stolen.
 City tennis fans were clamorlng for lights at Hamilton Park SO that night games could be played.
 6.Years Ago
 Peter Albert. iSS Fulton street, was being accepted as a student ct Pratt Institute. Brooklyn, N. Y. An Industrial Golf Tournament Was opening at Chase Country club
The Waterbury Democrat., 1945-09-08
World Salvage

It's announced that Gen. MacArthur will rule the Japs through . Sour-man commission We're ruling the Germans through . four-nation commission Somebody, somewhere. must be calling the signals