davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1954-04-18

Easter so years ago came on April
3 and The Star of the next day report
ed that 'the usual parade"
Easter was spoiled by "old Boreas."
1904 explaining: I'm the morn
ing the bright sun gave
promise of beautiful day. That por-
ton of feminine Washington that had
connected with new garments with
which to dazzle the eyes of all be-
holders, took fresh courage on raising
the blind after the long and reStive
nights sleep. Arrayed in all the glory
of the new colors and twists of sar-
torial architecture. the ladies, smiling
a self satisfied smile, sailed forth from
their own fireside-and then wished
they hadn't" In other words, the
weather was cold and windy. But "the
Easter parade took place just the same,
and there were hundreds of people in
denomination were crowded. At St.
Patrick's the choir sang Haydn's six
teenth Mass" and the "Alleluia Chorus"
by Handel, a full orchestra assisting. The
sermon at the Episcopal Pro-Cathedral
Church of the Ascension was preached
by the Right Rev. Yates Satterlee.
Music at the Metropolitan Presbyterian
Church was directed by Jasper Dean
McFall. Swarms of children went to
the White House grounds to roll
Easter eggs on Monday morning. The
Star remarked The best of order pre-
vailed"
On April a. 1904. The Star reported
receipt of a despatch from Pensacola
saying that five
Bottleship Missouri officers and "a
Explosions men had been
killed in two ex-
plosions on the battleship Missouri.
The vessel had been engaged in target
practice when q charge of powder in
q 12-inch gun backflred and touched
OF a second blast In the handling room
under the turret. Capt. William Q.
Evening star., 1954-04-18
GIod to See Zumbeti Depart

It is very comforting to know that the
unscrupulous. intolerable Christache
Zambeti has been expelled from this
country for trying to blackmail Veleriu
Georgescu. l met Mr.. Zambeti about
two years ago when was called out to
the Romanian Legation for the express
purpose of teaching Mr.. Zambeti to
drive This was no new experience, be-
cause had taught two of his co-Work-
ers to drive some time before him. But
Mr. Zambet was a new one. He prob
ably considers himself a good Commu-
mist, but would be willing to wager my
last dollar that he will welcome Nazi
or Fascist overnight provided that the
money is right
Even though Mr.. Zambeti never di-
rectly propositioned me with any of his
evil nonsense, he made several remarks
concerning opportunities that were
mine if I were only willing to do certain
necessary prerequisites. He never went
into any detail because did all could
do to let him know just how repulSive
he was to me. After he was thoroughly
convinced that had no affinity for the
inferno that he so poorly represented,
he took the remainder of his training
without any more conversation than
was absolutely necessary.
Morris L. Ridley.
Evening star., 1954-04-18
Spires of the Spirit
Beyond the Veil

At Easter millions are facing what
is called the Great Unknown. How
many people think of life as we now
experience it as the Known, and the
life that stretches on In it's vast reaches
beyond death as the Unknown! About
US we see everything clearly with its
songs and sobs. But what is ahead we
see as through glass darkly.
The future life is an eternal ques-
ton mark. Hiding it is an obscuring
veil. A favorite way of referring to
the life after death is beyond the veil. !"
The inference is that the unknowable
is all on the other side: We have ex-
plored this side. And some day, when
this mortal puts on immortality. we
will be freed to explore the other.
Life under the sun has been called
glimpse and vanishing. The ques-
ton which will not down is what has
happened to the vanished. Eugene
Field puts it simply and poignantly. as
he looks wistfully at thee dust-covered
toys that no longer light fires of glee
in the eyes Of little child: "What has
become of little Boy Blue?" What has
become of those who were so much at
home with us here? Their merry
laughter is still in our ears. The light
that shone in their eyes haunts us.
They were part of our life. And
now :. ;! They have gone to the undis-
covered country!
No wonder man of sensitive mind
and cultivated spirit, surveying all that
could be said of the life to come, ex-
claims: ''It is not the worlds uproar
that Y11ovc hoyor ytifh o,,T v1or1yoc
is the maddening silence where we
yearn to hear voice." Saying that,
he was standingsvery near to Robert
1ngersoll. who moaned at his brothers
grave: 1--WE strive to look beyond. and
we cannot. We cry aloud and the only
answer is the echo Of wailing sob."
In such hours, with sense Of utter
desolation in a world that is strangely
different, we turn from a new-made
grave whispering to ourselves: "They
cannot be where God is not, on any sea
or shore: whate'er betides, Thy love
abides, our God. for evermore." All
there is our clue for thinking of life
here and there. It is the same God
with whom we have to deal on both
sides of the veil. For in all our thought
of the hereafter nothing less is involved
than the character of God himself
If there is any validity at all to our
faith, then death cannot possibly mean
fall into the abyss of nothing. 1t can
only mean that underneath are the
Everlasting Arms. If God so loved the
world. who can imagine for a moment
that He would consent to have His
love baked and thwarted and defeated
by death at the end of our mortal day?
Such mocking of the hope that that
Evening star., 1954-04-18
Easter and the H-Bomb

Last week Christian people turned
their attention to cross. In a sense they
bear that cross and climb up Calvary's
hill. They feel the suffering, they know
the shame of that instrument of de-
struction. Yet the return of the lenten
and Easter seasons has eternal Signifi-
canoe for mankind because of Christ's
historic triumph over death itself. The
cross. thing to dread and fear. be-
came forever symbol of confidence
and hope.
In our time all mankind staggers
under the weight of another instru-
ment of destruction-the hydrogen
bomb. We feel the shame of inf1icting
its terrible death on innocent people.
We dread it's enormous power. We live
in fear under the threat of its use.
With Gods help the spirit of man
can triumph over this modern cross
Let us no longer be weighed down by
its burden. The peace which men long
for cannot be built from fear. Whether
the bomb is tool to deter or to de-
stroy, it is not the sign by which men
triumph. Yet the very power which
makes it thing to dread and fear can
be used to free the human race from
starvation. to give man hope, to brina
new life Mans God-given intelligence
and ingenuity can transform this
modern cross into a symbol of conf
dence and strength, mot by might. nor
by power, but by My Spirit, saith the
Lord"
Herbert Nj. Hadley.
Evening star., 1954-04-18
Fifty Years Ago in The Star

CowleS, brother-inlaw of President
Roosevelt. Instantly ordered both COM
partments flooded with water thus
preventing further explosions. Physical
damage to the ship was estimated at
$4,000. Three men subsequently died
from injuries, so that the final casualty
list reached total of 80. Among the
dead were natives of Canada, Ireland
and Greece as we'll as of States of the
Union as distant from one another as
New York and California. Wisconsin
and Texas. The Missouri was repaired
and returned to service. She was dis
mantled under the Washington dis
armament treaty in 1923. Her success
Sor. the Mighty Mo of World War II.
was commissioned in 1914, won three
battle stars in the Pacific and now is
to be mothballed.
The Star for April IL, 1904, featured
an article about "a printing press which
can whirl off 10000 COM
Wonder pleted and folded eight
press page signatures an hour J"
This marvellous machine,
called ''the Goth century wonder" had
been installed in the new red building
of the Government Printing Office. 1t
weighed $4,000 pounds and cost Uncle
Sam S38,500. The builder was Hoe &
Co.. and the specifications to which it
was constructed stipulated that it must
replace two old four-page signature
presses. This huge piece of mechan-
isrn," The Star said, requires the
services of 10 men to operate it. One
of the most remarkable features of the
press is that its movements are abso-
lutely controlled by the touching of
three buttons. There are eight
stations on the press, at each of which
are the three manipulating buttons
the on button for starting the machine,
the 'stop-off' button for stopping the
press or reducing the speed. and the
safety button for bringing the machine
Evening star., 1954-04-18
Stafford, Va.
NJ. S. S.

to a stop in case of accident" 1t was
principally for the printing OF the
Congressional Record that the new Hoe
press was intended. This work now Is
done by n1illion-dollar battery of
three Cottrell presses, installed in the
new GPO Building in 1852. The press
on which these words were printed
few hours ago in The Star pressroom is
known in the publishing trade as Scott
extra high speed" Four of them are
required to produce an average days
run of an average days paper-at AZ
900 copies an hour per press!
X
The Star of April Is, 1904 reported:
The remains of Filippo Costaggini
the Italian artist
Filippo Costoeoini who died at his
Ao,.nn1 home near Brad
''"e shaw. Baltimore
County, Md. on Wednesday. were
brought to this city today and inferred
in Mount Olivet Cemetery. .. Signor
Costaggini was born of distinguished
Roman family -. August 13, 1887. 9.
He was an artist of exceptional ability
and did a great deal of work while in
the United States In 1879 the
italian artist Constantine Brumidi was
employed by the Government to design
the frieze (of the Capitol dome), but
before the completion Of half he
died 1t became necessary therefore,
for another artist to complete the
work and Costaggini was decided
upon as the best man for the purpose.
(He) had studied under the same
teachers and in the same schools as
Brumidi and was competent to
follow out the designs left by him
Castaggini completed the work up to
the last group. which represents the
finding of gold in California in 1849.
There he stopped not from inability
to go on. however, but from the in
ability of those in charge Of the work
to select the next epoch in American
history to picture" The Star praised
Evening star., 1954-04-18

same God implanted in the human
breast would be a heinous hoax.
Now that faith is not just "whistling
in the dark" Even apart from the
deathleSS proclamation of Easter the
new and growing knowledge regarding
this side of the veil quivers with inti-
nations of Immortality. Never was it
so apparent as it is now, with all that
science has revealed and is revealing
in this woncrous age, that life goes on.
From logical point of view never was
it so easy to believe in the life ever
lasting as now. The lifting of the cur
tains OH this side of death which have
concealed so much of reality makes
life-to-come not only plausible, but in
evltable. The new facts of science
make even matter seem almost spiritual.
I'VE are no longer tempted" declares
Eddington in Science and the Unseen
World" Ito condemn the spiritual
aspects of our nature as illuSory be-
cause of their lack of concreteness. We
have travelled far from the standpoint
which identifies the real with the
tangible" should say we have, when
science tells us that even all the So
called solid, substantial things we see
and handle in reality are masses of
whirling electrons. And in the realm
of the highest values all the basic
realities of the universe are invisible
love, the greatest thing IN the world,
and truth. and personality, and con-
science.
The world we know, as we peer
through the little lancet windows of
the five senses, is but glimpse of the
whole. There is more Infinitely more
than the senses report. For aught we
know, a hundred new senses might be
created in us, and each find outside its
answering reality. There are color and
sound vibrations going on perpetually
around us, of which our eyes and ears
report nothing. There are wonders
Evening star., 1954-04-18

Vice President Nixon may have had any one
of several purposes in mind when he told the
American Society of Newspaper Editors that
this country might have to send troops to fight
in Indo- China. His talk may have been intended
as an informal warning to the Chinese Com
muniSts. Or perhaps it was designed to organ
ize public opinion in this country behind
bolder program in Southeast Asia. In any
event, it was a speech which broke the ice.
After much marching up the hill, and march
ing down again, the people of this country at
last know that serious consideration is being
given to the possibility that American boys may
be called upon to fight in the shadowy jungle
war in Indo-China.
This decision, however, is one which will
not, and which should not, be made tomorrow.
Mr.. Nixon hedged his own statement At one
point, he spoke as though American troops
might be sent in only in the unlikely event that
the French should withdraw He also expressed
the view that the Communists could be beaten
in Indo-China without the help of American
ground forces. His basic and final position
however, was that we must take the risk of
putting American boys in the fight if there is no
other way of winning it. Logically, this would
seem to mean that even though the French may
keep fighting American troops will be COM
mitted If the French and native forces prove
incapable of holding of the Communist armies
The military situation in Indo- China is both
critical and dangerous The seeds of World
War III may we'll have been planted in that
faraway country. In the long run the security
of the United States may be determined by
the course Of this remote and little-known war
This being so there is considerable reluctance
to question the views of an official with the
access to confidential information which Mr..
Nixon enjoys.
Mr.. Nixon however, seems to be thinking
basically in terms of decision which can be
had by force of arms. There are those who
disagree One of these is Democratic Senator
Mansfield of Montana, whose approach to this
matter has been both restrained and nom
partisan in spirit His view is that 1.-The ulti-
mate answer is not going to be found in French
forces and American aid; It is going to be
found in the will and determination of the
Wet Namese. They will either win or lose their
own freedom, regardless of what we may do"
Majority Leader Knowland has said much the
same thing in different words. He has put it
this way: ''No matter how powerful their
friends abroad may be, unless people desire
freedom and have the will to resist, their re-
sistance will not be effective :. -. there must
first be the will to resist"
That will to resist is not much in evidence
today in Indo- China. Too many of the native
population are sitting on the fence. And they
will continue to sit there unless the French
assure them of real independence and equality
of status Certainly no American troops should
be sent to fight in Indo- China unless and until
these demands have been satisfied. For until
they are satisfied, in Indo-China we'll as in
other lands, there is no victory in sight for
us in Asia.
Evening star., 1954-04-18
By Frederick Brown Harris
Minister, Foundry Methodist Church;
Chaplain, United States Senate.

~--Ob1N~e-~t
which there is nothing in our present
physical equipment to register. Yet
humans, with their little fragments
of seeing and feeling, talk sagely as if
they knew everything about the Here,
and that the Unknown is the particular
problem Of the Hereafter.
AS he neared the end of his earthly
pilgrimage very wise man remarked:
'The veil that hides things from us is
not death. 1t is our own limitations"
It is rational to conclude that life is
gallant adventure filled with meaning
and is heading toward something else
besides ''juSt dying off at the top. It
is going somewhere and nails cannot
stop it,"
Even what is called Evolution, which
so many once thought of as a deadly
foe of faith, is now discerned as but a
stairway. 1t pictures lite as perpet-
ual ascent. Life pauses on one stair
step, appropriates all that is beneath
1T, adds something never known before.
and takes the next step upward. In
Natures book even death is often seen
as but the portal to higher planes of
existence. The coffned chrysalliS and
the butterfly baSking with iridescent
wings in balmy air tells us that. If, as
science has long contended, matter is
mdeStructlble. why should it be thought
OF as wishful thinking to assert that
the highest thing in the universe. per-
sonality, also is immortal? It is the
same stairway we now are climbing.
with just a little bend we call death,
that goes on up behind the veil.
This sense of the eternal led a great
thinker to say to a contemporary who
was inclined to discount man at his
present stage: well, even if you insist
that am naught but a tadpole, will
still insist that I am tadpole of an
archangel."
In lines that sing like a lark on
morning wing at Heavens gate, one has
beautifully captured the truth regard
ing those who now know only in part:
I gaze Gloof at the tinseled roof
Where time and space are the 1Ddrp
and tpoof
Which the King of Kings like a
curtain filings
Ger the dreGdtulness of eternal
things
But if could see in truth they be
The glorieS that encircle me,
should lightly hold this tiSSued fold,
With its glorious curtain of blue and
gold.
For soon the 1Uhole like a parchment
scroll
Shall before my amazed eyes unroH.
And 1Uithout screen at one burst
be seen
The glory in tphicE / hare GllCdyS
been.
Evening star., 1954-04-18
On Boosting Fuirfux Tuxes

At the Fairfax County Public School
Board hearing in March. those attend
ing were mainly persons closely con-
nected with the schools-teachers, prin-
cipals. PTA presidents, etc. Naturally,
they voted for a 5000 teacher salary in
crease and approved other school re-
quests. One gentleman made the COM
ment that we presumably all of Fair
fax County taxpayerS) would gladly pay
SIS more year, and the others cheered.
Evidently those present at the hearing
only owned homes. What about the poor
farmer, the one who owns land? An in
crease in taxes for him would amount
to from $25 to 500 difference in his
tax bill.
Teachers. principals, supervisors. SUI
perintendent, PTA presidents, school
Evening star., 1954-04-18
Life Against Death

Easter and part of the first day of Passover
occupy the same date of the calendar this year.
All over the world earnest Christians of every
school of thought and sincere Jews today will
bow their heads in acknowledgment of one God.
These people are of different faiths but they
are drawn together by one inclusive conviction
namely, that there is a Divine Power ruling
the universe. They also are brought into prac-
tical unity by their realization that the major
coSnic principle is being challenged now as
never before by other forces
Men have tasted of knowledge which is
amenable to perverse and maign uses. They
have learned to set nature at war with herself
to their own presumed advantage. Constructive
employment of their new learning has had to
wait while destructive application of it has been
hurried into history. The resultant shock has
Mortified millions of men and women. To them
1t seems clear and plain that the Creator of all
things has been defied by new Lucifers. A new
"day of wrath" appears to be threatened and
the entire earth may be devastated and depopu-
lated by its violence.
Materialism has brought US to this pass
expediency has opened the doors to this dread
full prospect of annihilation The question in
evitably raised is: Has religion a corrective for
the danger? In quest of a convincing an
Swer Christians and Jews and their neighbors of
good will turn back to Moses and his tablets of
Sinai with Jehovah'S Ten Commandments and
Jesus of Nazareth and His Sermon on the
Mount. His parallels and His reassuring Beati-
tudes. In thousands of churches and temples
today they lift up the Scriptures as an alterna-
tive to the evil potentialites of the broken atom.
They affirm life against DEATH peace against
final war.
No other Easter, no other Passover in the
remembrance of living generations has been OBJ
served under so dark shadow. Long before
similar coincidence of these occasions takes
place in 1881, the ultimate catastrophe may have
happened. In that event this planet will be as
dead and empty as the moon, God will have
been Knocked beyond His endurance, His chill
dren will have perished utterly.
But there still is hope. There are multi
tudes of individuals in every land who today
will join in common prayer for release from
the prevailing menace, pledgng their hearts and
their minds to Gods service contritely and
devoutly.
Tighten our darkness, we beSeech thee, o
Lord; and by thy great mercy defend us from
all perils and dangers of this night
Evening star., 1954-04-18
Another Mess

On the basis of allegations of irregularity
already revealed, President Eisenhower was
justified in taking firm action to clean up
what looks like another Washington mess-this
one in the Federal housing field. It is reaSsur-
ing to know that two-way investigation will
be made with the executive branch and Con-
gress concurrently digging into the developing
scandals.
The administration acted with understand
able dispatch when it became evident that at
least some of the alleged frauds or Irregularities
have taken place since the Republicans came
into power. Senator Douglas of Illinois had
been pressing for executive action on numerous
complaints made against Federal housing Off
cials by some of his constituents. These COM
plants mostly concerned Federally insured
home improvement loans said to nave been
promoted by "high pressure" statesmen at the
expense Of gullible citizens. The homeownerS
are reported to have been induced to sign up
for non-essential or defective repairs by Or
ganized crews of "racketeers," moving from
town to town. It would seem that RESPONSE
bility for such unwiSe loans must be shared by
private institutions which made the loans, as
well as by Federal authorities who agreed to
underwrite them.
Belated action also has been taken to fix
responsibility for overly generous loans made
during the previous administration under
section of the housing act later repealed. 1t
is said that "windfal profits" totaling $500 mil
lion were collected by builders who took adtan-
tage of the loan program. Moreover, it has
been estimated that Federal appraisers ap-
proved large apartment loans totaling many
millions in excess of property values At best
this was incredible, inexcusable laxity. The
FBI is investigating to see if anything worse
was involved. Meanwhile, the public will hope
that the inquiries announced by Senator Byrd,
chairman of the Joint Committee on Nonessen-
tial Government Expenditures, and by Senator
Capehart of the Banking and Finance Commit
tee will not be hampered by intercommittee
Squabbling over jurisdiction The situation de-
mands co-ordinated probing by both groups.
The more light thrown on this latest mess, the
better.
Evening star., 1954-04-18
Letters to The Star.

board of Fairfax County, beseech you
to be little considerate Of the ones who
would bear the brunt of your requested
tax increase and fight for more equi-
table system of taxation to meet the
needs of the schools.
AS farmer and a landowner, l, as
we'll as many others know, object to
any increase in the tax rate. I ask the
taxpayers of Fairfax who object to an
increase in taxes to come out to the
budget hearing April 10. Otherwise be
silent and the taxes will mount and
mount until we are driven from our
homes.
TLnvnuSnn
Evening star., 1954-04-18

tenders. The Soviet press always is able to de-
tect communicating American influences.
But it is particularly interesting, and per-
haps explains much of the Soviet concern, that
these "hoonganS" have habit of addressing
each other as mister" rather than "comrade," }"
that many of them speak English and that
some have been arrested for "anti-Soviet plot
ting" These mannerisms, if they become COM
mon among Russian youth, could be far more
serious than ordinary delinquency. They could,
in fact lead to some very beneficial changes in
world affairs.