davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-03-14
Fifty Years Ago in The Star

caterer Beseke was especially gay and
tender and pressed his wife and chill
dren to drink lots Of champagne. He
died holding his wife's hand tightly"
*
Described as "a boy teacher of men,"
Lonnie Lawrence Dennis was preaching
at Metropolitan AME
Juvenile Church half century
Evangelist ago. and The Star of
March 10, 1904, discussed
his campaign in an article more than
a column long. Dennis. it was ex-
planned, "is one of those beings who
seem to be endowed from their birth
with matured intellect, balanced mind
and gift of expression that is rare,
even after years of study. in grown
men and women. Chez looksNl like
an old painting and more like young
Indian than Negro. His face. framed
in the long, straight black hair, which
is braided to fall over his shoulders.
suggests the inspired work of one of
the old masters. There is a SIM
plicity in his appearance which seems
to pervade his whole being and every
thing he does. His words are simple,
his elucidation of the knotty problems
of religion are couched in language
the most ignorant can understand, yet
his diction and rhetoric are almost
without fault" The Star said Lonnie
had been born in Atlanta In 1893 and
first had felt the call to preach when
only 2 years Of age. He had visited
43 States on his missionary tours. On
March Is he was to sail for England.
having several engagements to preach
in London" Later he planned to visit
the continent and Palestine.
X
On March Is, 1904, The Star an
nounced that President Roosevelt had
nominated James
'Corporor Tanner Tanner to be regis
Appointed ter Of wills for the
District of Columbia
in succession to Louis A. Dent. The
news. it said. caused mo surprise" Mr..
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-03-14
Religious Unity on Peace

President Eisenhower's appeal. on
the occasion of World Day of Prayer,
for "the help of the Almighty to find
the way toward the goal of peace"
provides an appropriate occasion to
call attention to specific proposals for
world peace supported by religious
groups of various faiths, and their
leaders.
The General Conference of the Meth
odist Church in April, 1852, stated:
THE United Nations. If peace is to be
achieved, must be developed into
world federation Of nations" The Cen
trail Conference of American Rabbis in
June. 1851, recommended that our
Government take the initiative in pro-
posing revisions of the U. N. Charter to
eliminate the veto :. along with such
other Charter revisions as shall enable
the u. N. to move more quickly and
effectively in the direction of world
government" Pope Plus XII has said,
1.-THE leaders of the nations are
obliged to reach agreements that will
insure to the world peace for which
they, in honor. may assume respon-
sibility and all peoples may find bear
able. even though those agreements
mean the curtailing to some degree of
their several sovereign rights
All Of these proposals recognize the
basic necessity for political frame
work without which world peace and
the brotherhood of man can not be
achieved.
Anne e. Kidder.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-03-14
The Profiteering KremIin

Here is an interesting story about oranges
in the Soviet Union. where there Is never ending
talk about how the hardhearted capitalists of
the West are always exploiting the masses and
squeezing the last nickel and dime out of the
poor, downtrodden, half-starved working man.
few months ago, it seems, the Kremlin
spent the equivalent of $25 million in buying
about 100 million oranges from Israel. In terms
of Russian money, this means that each of the
oranges cost the Soviet government approx
mately 10 kopeks, of which there are 100 in a
ruble. But the very same oranges are now being
sold to the Moscow public at price so times
higher
In other words, II he can afford It, the Rus
sian consumer must pay between Az and
rubles apiece for these orahges-which is equi-
valent to between SLIP and $125 in our money.
Yet-again in terms Of our money-the Kremlin
bought them from Israel at price OF only about
2H2 cents each. Accordingly, taking the deal as
whole, the Malenkov regime-on an invest
ment of SIS million-has arranged to earn a
quick profit of well over 500 million
Need anything more be said? Was there
ever better example of hard-hearted profit
eering? The thing speaks for ITSELF AS with
oranges, the Russian people are being unmerci-
fully heeced in every field. They merit sym
pathy. They are in the hands of exploiters
whose ratings against capitalism add up to one
of the most monumental pieces OF hypocrisy in
all the sinful history Il mankind.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-03-14

Anna Laughlin, "the youngest Soubrette
now before the public" played Dorothy
Gale, "the little Kansas maiden :. who
is blown away on the wings of terrific
cyclone" Lolita Faust, Allene Carter.
Gertrude Mackenzie, Ella Gilroy and
Marie Clayton also were featured The
cast had at least one animal member
"a magnificent horse" that pranced
around drawing hayrack." Judging
by The Stars preliminary account of
the production, it did not follow the
Baum narrative very closely.
A cable dispatch from Berlin. print
ed in The Star on March 8, 1904. read:
LIT. Carl Beseke retired,
Trooedy after long and steady
In Berlin decay of fortune, yester-
day took his last money
and gave splendid dinner in honor
of his 19-year-old daughters birthday.
8eseke then poisoned his wife, daugh-
ter two sons, respectively, IL and 16
years old, cadets at military academy,
and himself with cyanide of potassium,
which he seemingly inserted in the
mouth of each in the form of pill
dlbC1 LtlCy !ldQ SOAAC 11lUO q
sleep. The sheriffs had taken charge
of everything in the house and labels
had been attached to Besekes furniture,
ETC., which would have been sold at
auction today. After a brilliant career
and marriage with an heiress, Beseke
reached the end of his fortune. He won
the Iron Cross during the war of 1870
II with France, married the daughter
of rich hotelkeeper. thereby having to
leave the service. as he had married out
OF his caste, and started newspaper.
The lieutenant wrote well, but the
paper was not successful, and he be-
came sales agent for manufacturer
and then manager of a mapmaking
enterprise. He lived beyond his means
for 80 years. Last night the Beseke
family had box at the circus. At 10
o'clock dinner was ordered in from .
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-03-14
Numbers Come

The wildcat speculation Of the num-
Der separated in Government ran the
gamut of from 20 to the more familiar
1856 and on to President Eisenhower's
fabulous 1900 Philip Young, chair
man of the Civil Service Commission. in
the latest showdown, comes up with
the weird number 1855, with this
breakdown: "Subversive Activities"
422; Sexual Deviation" 1893: "Misde-
meanors," Gil: "Others-loose talking,
heavy drinking. etc." ,424. And now,
If we can get down to a definition of
terms, We may yet come to a common
ground of understanding. What does
Mr.. Young mean by "Subversive Activi-
ties?" Destructive acts which were
proven to have been committed against
the United States Government by the
separated individuals so classified?
Sexual Deviation" by actual legal guilt,
or by word-of-mouth hearsay of a
neighbor? ''Misdemeanors. being a
legal term should need no further def
milton. But. in this case, does MIR.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-03-14
The Case Of Mrs. Moss

It IS understandable that the explosive
and potentially decisive issue which Is shaping
up between Senator Mccarthy and the Army
should have overshadowed the case Of Mrs.
Annie Lee Moss. AS the principals in the larger
controversy prepare for showdown, however,
1t may be worthwhile to take look at the case
of Mrs Moss. For it is case which seems to
point up some of the evils which characterize
the procedures of the Mccarthy committee.
Mrs. Moss is Negro cafeteria worker; who
subsequently got job as mechanical teletype
operator in the Pentagon communications CEN
ter. In Senator McCarthy's exaggerated words
she became code clerk in sensitive job.
About three weeks ago Mrs. Stalcup Mark
ward, former FBI undercover agent, appeared
before the committee. She testified that the
Communist rolls some years ago had listed
Mrs. Annie Lee Moss as member Of the party
But she could not identify this Mrs. Moss as
being the same person. The Communist MEM
Der could have been another person with the
same name, or some one who assumed that
name. Mrs Markward didn't know.
Mrs. Moss wanted to testify in her own
defense. At first Senator Mccarthy put her
off, saying that she was not well and warning
that she faced prosecution for perjury if she
denied being Communist She finally obtained
denied the accusations against her-in the face
of the perjury prosecution threat. This brought
from Committee Counsel Cohn the statement
that the committee had secret evidence against
Mrs. Moss which could not be produced at
the time.
Quite properly, Republican Senator Mundt,
presiding in the absence of Senator Mccarthy,
ordered Mr.. COINS remark stricken from the
record. Quite properly, Democratic Senators
Mcclellan and Symington were outspoken in
their condemnation of this shabby procedure.
But the damage had been done. Mrs. Moss
has been suspended from her job and is desti-
tute Her denial under oath of Communist
afdliation has been countered and largely
nullified by Mr.. COINS claim of secret evidence
against her. OF course, 1t is possible that
Senator Mccarthy and Mr.. Cohn have evidence
which will show that Mrs. Moss did not tell
the truth. II So she should be prosecuted.
But the point is that for all practical purposes
she has been indicted, convicted and condemned
at this stage on the basis of some alleged secret
evidence-evidence so secret that not even the
minority members of the committee know any
thing about it. This is procedure which flies
in the face of all our traditions And it is
just one of the things that is wrong with the
methods of the Mccarthy committee.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-03-14

Tanner, better known as Corporal"
Tanner, was a native of Richmondville.
N. Y, born on April 4, 1874. He had
served in the 87th New York Volun-
teers in the Civil War. taking part in
actions at Warrenton, Bristow Station,
Manassas and Bull Run. at the last Of
which both his legs were shattered by
a shell, necessitating their amputation."
Subsequently, he was doorkeeper at
the capital at Albany. Employment as
clerk in the War Department brought
him to Washington, and "he stood by
Lincoln's death bed and took notes Of
the first official evidence of the assassi-
nation" In 1866 he returned to Scho-
harie County N. Y. to marry and to
study law. After admission to the bar,
he served in several political positions
in Brooklyn. The Grand Army of the
Republic chose him its commander in
1876. President Harrison named him
Commissioner of Patents, but he re-
signed after only few months and
opened an Office for the private practice
of law, serving meanwhile as judge adj
vocate general of the GAR. An elo-
quent and persuasive man. Corporal
Tanner was famous for his patriotic
lectures and orations, delivered from
coast to coast.
&
Featured in the book page of The
Star on March IL, 1904, was a review
of "Tillie, a Mennonite
New Books Maid" by Helen r. Mar
Rev;ewed tin, described as "a de-
parture in matchmaking"
and "a book to hold the attention"
Next considered was Jack London's
"Peorie of the Abyss" a study of "the
hopeless poor" otherwise known as
"the submerged tenth" Shorter COM
ment followed on Joan of the Alley"
by Frederick Grin, Bartlett; 1.-THE I'm
rerialist," by Sara Jeanette Duncan
(Mrs Everard Cotes); "A Country In
terlude," by Hildegarde Hawthorne:
THE Queen of Quelparte, by Archer
Butler Hubert, and 1.-THE Gordon
Elopepent." by Carolyn Wells.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-03-14
Letters to The Star.
Pe11-nanaeS may be used If letters carry
10riterS' correct names and addresses.
All letters are subject to condensation.

of dividends to stockholders. When
threatened with court order to re-
strain them from paying the increase.
they say that the etc is in wonderful
shape and can well afford it. Two
weeks after being allowed the fare
increase. they consider asking for an
other. How do their statements CO.
incide?
They speak Of comparable fares in
larger cities. Do they ever consider dis
tences one rides for the amount he
pays? Take New York City. for instance
where at the present time one can
travel for two hours. by subway, to his
destination for Is cents-which fare has
only been increased by stages within
the last five years from S cents One
can ride, via trolley. from one end of
Washington to the other in not over an
hour. If they want to make COMPARE
sons-why not try that for size? What
they should consider, is reducing the
fare from its unprecedented amount to
a reasonable rate.
Westinghouse are getting sick and
tired OF having to read about this peri-
odic squabble. besides having to live
through it-and be continually gouged
H. L. H.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-03-14

According to The Star for March Z,
1904, President and Mrs. Theodore
Roosevelt were present
Bible Society at service at St. Johns
Anniversary Church. Sixteenth and
H streets NV, the pre-
vious day, in celebration of the centen-
NAL of the British and Foreign Bible
Society. DR.. Daniel Colt Gilman, pres
ident of the American Bible Society;
Associate Justice David j. Brewer and
Senator j. p Dolliver of Iowa were prin-
cipal speakers of the occasion. The benz
ediction was pronounced by the Right
Rev. Henry Yates Satterlee, first Bishop
OF Washington. "At the conclusion of
the service the President left the build
ing by the H street exit and, after see
ing Mrs. Roosevelt in her carriage, set
out at his customary brisk gait for a
walk down H street and up Vermont
avenue"
A telegram from San Francisco to
The Star of March Is. 1904. disclosed
that the mint in
Gold Coins Minted that city was
For the japanese making Unite d
States coins for
the japanese government. gold being
sent 49,. for coinage into money,
which will be used in the purchase
Of food and other supplies for the
army and navy" Two steamers re-
Gently had brought So million of gold
bullion from Japan.
r.
Fred. r. Hamlin's ''princely produce
tlor OF the century's supreme success
based on L. Frank
'Wizord OF Or Baum's popular book,
IN Town The Wizard of o."
for children, was the
attraction at the National Theater half
a Gentry ago. and The Star for Febru-
airy q, 1904, explained that the cast
consisted Of the original company,
headed by Montgomery and Stone and
Including $50 people. mostly gkls."
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-03-14
Spires Of the Spirit
A Painted Ocean

"A painted ocean and painted ship
are fitting symbol Of the spiritual Inn
potence Of multitudes. AS st. Paul put
it so long ago, they accept religion as
form, but will have nothing to do
with it as force.
Lent holds the secret Of life for this
spiritually bankrupt generation. Our
desperately sick civilization. rich in
things and poor in soul. never will be
saved by tanning fires Of hatred for
dictators abroad; neither will it be
redeemed by legislative panaceas for
our ailing social order at home. It
needs blood infusion Of religious
reality. That is exactly what Lent
offers as an antidote for the deadly
anemia Of Secularism and formal
religion which is practical atheism.
Religion either is everything or
nothing. In every city of the Nation
multitudes these lenten weeks are ex-
posing themselves to the searching APP
peal Of q religion which is pungently
real. During this hallowed period, in
teeming centerS of population. churches
are crowded to hear prophets Of the
Eternal whose message burns like fire
in their bones. Even cafeterias share
lunch-time with churches. The in
creasing popular response to the proc
lamation Of spiritual verities grows out
of a realization. now painfully evident.
that mundane humanitarianism and
mere sentimental expressions of BROTH
erly love are utterly inadequate to sat-
isfy the heart hunger of this lost gen.
Grafton, which as Walter Lippmann
puts it, lis homeless in jungle of ma
chimes and untamed forces"
X
The one great and glowing mission
of Lent is to bring vivid sense of the
relevance of the Christian religion to
this bewildered generation. Regarding
this fallacy of supposing that human
life can be made happy and secure
by purely secular means, T. s. Eliot,
with persuasive finality. declares: THE
search for material remedies to cure
our spiritual distresses can have only
one end, failure. Only when we accept
the truth that man does not live by
bread alone will there be laid the foun-
dation stones Of civilization worth
the name"
The potentially of Lent is that it can
mean commerce with the highest Spir-
itual values OF course, it can be Just
formal part of the church year whose
ecclesiastical traffic rules are to be slav-
ishly obeyed There is nothing auto
matte in what these days may do for
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-03-14
On the March Against Polio

The conquest of poliomyelitis has never
seemed so close as it does now. Although an
restrained optimism would be premature, all
signs indicate that the time is not too distant
when the disease, like smallpox and other once.
terrible scourges, will be eradicated by vaccina-
ton and kindred immuniZation techniqueS.
In fact, there is reason to believe that the
conquering agent-or at least the precursor of
it-may already be available. At any rate,
judging from the results of new tests involving
about 5000 children it looks as though DR..
Jonas E. SalkS celebrated anti-polo vaccine
or some refinement of it, may turn out to be
effective enough to immunize its recipients on
a long-lasting and possibly permanent basis
Certain unknown factors remain to be re-
solved, of course, but the prospectus DR.. Salk
has just reported it to the New Orleans Grad
uate Medical Assemblies undeniably bright.
Thus, DR.. Salk, who is associated with the
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine,
and whose work has been sponsored by the
National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis,
has revealed that the latest tests with his
vaccine indicate ~ that it provides immunity
against all three types of the disease and (2)
that the immunity, far from being short-lived,
is enduring and may even prove to furnish
complete protection for the lifetime of each
inoculated Individual The incubation itself,
as given up to now, consists Of three separate
"shots"-the first two week apart from each
other, and the third, the booster" a month
after the second
! The results of DR.. Salks tests have been
so impressive that his three-shot treatment will
be given this spring to between 100000 and
100000 children throughout the country The
program, which will be carried out under the
auspices of the National Foundation for Infan-
tile Paralysis, will cover boys and girls ranging
in age from to years. Next year, assuming
that the findings continue to be good, the
same process can be applied to 100000 or
more. And in due courSe-if the vaccine is
actually as effective as indicated-our entire
American population can be made as immune
to polio as it is to former great killers like
smallpox.
Some cautioning voices have been raised
against all this. For example, Dr. Albert B.
Sabin, who is working on another type Of
immunizer at the University of Cincinnati feels
that the projected spring inoculations should
be deferred to permit further study of possible
toxic effects. In addition, he suspects that the
substance to be used may be too expensive for
general application. But DR.. Salk, with the
National Foundation apparently in full agree
ment, has unqualihedly declared that the
vaccine-which is grown in medium contain
ing some small bits OF kidney tissue from
monkeys-can be nass-produced economically
and that all the thousands of tests with 1t
have shown it to be thoroughly safe and
non-toxic.
OF course, neither Or. Salk nor the Ma
tional Foundation guarantees that the i'm
pending project will live up to all thA hopes
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-03-14

Young mean persons, presently or in the
past, convicted of miSdemeanors who
will be or have been duly convicted by
our law? "Others-loose takers, heavy
drinkers. ETC." BY what gauge is such
condemnation determined? Where
does. ETC." begin and where may it
end?
If the chairman of the Civil Service
Commission can substantiate his pres
ent breakdown with such Qualifications,
then and only then can there be a
satisfactory end to the controversy con-
corning this issue. We look to Mr..
Young's elucidation on what is meant
by the categories he has so carefully
spelled out. He owes this to the Re-
publican Party to clear it, If he can,
of the demagoguery Of which they have
been accused.
Jessie B. Solomon.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-03-14
By Frederick Brown Horris

As asSsss sGS SE.d Hs; .s:.. .s saeseh'
OF figures and Of men who trust IN
facts,
This pitiGble. hypocriticdl iporld,
Where men NTH blinded eyes and
hObbled feet
Crepe dotOn a Maroon gorge and cali
1t life.
The lifting up Of that which the au-i
thor Of these lines calls the iron cur
tain" which hangs between us and
those inner eyes, those better eyes, the
pure eyes Of the SOUL" means beckon-
ing vistas of spiritual progress in the
enrichment of our own lives. But the
summons Of Lent is not only to be good,
but to be good for something. This is
the time for every Christian to become
transmitter. witness to the faith
to the outside world, a crusader giving
to the cause exactly what the deluded
Communists are giving for the reach
ing Of their goals, body and soul.
=
Christianity must win through Chris
tianS. We are seeing now the most CO.
lossal exhibition of witnessing that the
world has ever known, as our ears are
bombarded by the fanatical devotees of
a worldwide conspiracy aggressively
and violently broadcasting their twisted
faith. Every individual Communist Is
a broadcasting station, as everything
we hold dear Is under terrific fire. Once
again. as in the first centuries. Chris
tianity, which had become compare
lively safe and respectable and COM
Portable. now knows that it is fighting
something-the very gates Of hell; yet
the vast majority of those processing
the faith tremendous, that denies all
that communism proclaims. in their
timid attitudes suggest kinship with
Lord Balfour, who was Prime Minister
of Great Britain and a distinguished
philosopher. 1t was said of him that he
believed that two and two make four;
but he felt that a gentleman would not
press the point.
The Christian faith must be pressed!
1t is light and truth. That faith COM
mitted to us sounds forth in the New
Testament like 10000 triumphant
trumpets. That faith is to work not
only in us, but through us. The symbol
of such faith is the vast deep. with
its wide sweep, and its waves, its tides
and its winds. And blowing through
the heaving sea ship. sure of its
power and Of its desired haven. In con-
trast. a negative faith lightly held. that
does nothing to us and nothing through
us. is as idle and futile as a painted
ship upon a painted ocean.