8
EVENING LEDGIim-PHlLADELPHlA', SATUKDAY, FBBBUABY 20, 101.5.
-
IS
I'OJai.tX3 LKDGftl COMPANY
crnus tr. R. ctmita, rsuwxT.
,C7irtB H.LU(tJntcon,VtcPrr!int John O Martin,
ftr((f7 M Traiurtrt Philip e. Collins, John B.
tyilllame-, Plreolors.
CDtTOntAtifiOAHDt
Crtcs II. It CcxTin, Chairman.
j. M. WHAlifeT. ..... niMuttra Edlter
JOHtf C. JtAnTttt. General Duslncta Mana.ar
- 1 1 - i
tPubtlahtd dally At TibUO Lkpoii ttultdlnCi
Independence Squire, Philadelphia.
I.aMtn CttTiiL .nroad ami Cheatnut Streata
ATtlNtic Citt , rrtta-Unlon Bulldla
Naw Tonic i..,. 170-A. Metropolitan Tower
Cnidnio. ...... .. .817 Home Insurance nulldlnc
LONDON a Waterloo riace, Fall Mall, S. TV.
NEWS BUREAUS!
Kmiaacua BnnrAO ...... . . Th Patriot HutMlnr
tVAi!ttUT0N Uuoeau i . The Pear nulldlnr
Knf Yo- BeesMD The Times llulldlnr
Bialttt Buasttr .. ....HO Fried rlchatrante
l-ONnof Beaut)... . ,. ..,.2 Pall Mall Eat, S. W.
fiats licauu ....... 32 nua Louie la Grand
suBscmpfioNTEnsis
1Br carrier, Diil.T Onlt, alx eenta. Br malt, poalrald
oUtatde of Philadelphia, except where foreltn peat.
la required. Diilt O.ni.t, one month, twenty-five cental
Djit.T, Oilt, one year, three dollars. Alt mall aub
ncrlptlona payable In advance
sett aooo walnut
km stone, main aooo
MP Aidrts) all communications to Enntnp
t.t&atr. Independence Square, Philadelphia.
i. .
annuo at tui rnit.irtt.rui roarorrici n ircom-
CtlSB MilL UATTtn.
rniLAtiKi.riiiA, sATuntiAY. tr.nnuAiiv 20. ms.
Life is too short lor haling.
Beware of the Wiles of the Liquor Interests
OPPONENTS of local option nro doing
their best lo dlvldo tho forces In favor
of It In order to defeat tho reform. They
nro raising tho issuo of town or borough
option against couuty option, as though that
wore of any consequence at tho present time,
In comparison with tho principle Itself.
It will bo cany enough in tho futuro to
amend a county option law In whatever way
cxpcrlenco shows to bo wise, provided wo
have the law to amend. Tho thing to do now
Is to pass an act giving to tho peoplo of tho
counties the right to decide whether liquor
Is to bo sold or not. Moro local optlonlsts
favor this plan than any other, and It Is
a plan which Is more pleasing to tho State
wide prohibitionists than one which provides
for option In a smaller unit.
Thero never will bo universal agreement
on tho most suitable unit, and If tho Goncral
Assembly waits until tho friends of local
option all say that tho borough, or tho
township, or tho city, or tho county ought
to bo tho political division to exerclso tho
option for Itself, It will wait forever. But a
canvass of tho two houses of tho General
Assembly at the present time Indicates that
If all tho friends of tho principle of local
option bring pressuro to bear, an act can bo
passed this winter which will rcllovo tho
Common Picas Judges of tho unsuitable
function of deciding whether liquor shall bo
sold In a community or not, and will put the
wholo question up to tho counties. Tho liquor
forces aro cunning, and they will prevent
this union of tho tempcranco people If pos
sible. But every advocate of temperance
should refuso to play into tho hands of tho
enemy.
A Nickel's Value in Transportation
THE Connclly-Seger-Costollo transit pro
gram gives no guarantee whatever of tho
abolition of exchange tickets or a universal
live-cent fare.
The Taylor plan provides for both, and for
such comprehenslvo facilities that a uni
versal flve-cont faro means what It says
transportation from any part of the city to
any other part for' a nickel.
The Governor Cuts Out the Graft .
THE Governor has made a good beginning
by cutting J98.S0O from tho gener-1 defi
ciency bill of J575.127. More than half of this
sum was taken from tho appropriations for
extra officers In tho Senate and tho House of
representatives; and tho greater part of tho
balance was from tho allowance for con
tingent expenses of various departments. Ha
even reduced tho appropriation for tho Exec
utive Mansion by J 1000.
This Is the kind of economy to practice
with tho public funds. If Doctor Brum
baugh keeps It up and holds tho General
Assembly down to a prudent husbanding of
the financial resources of the Commonwealth,
In big matters as well as In small ones, he
will have all tho money needed for highway
Improvement as well as for the ordinary pur
poses of government
But tho Governor has not stopped with
cutting down tho appropriations. Ho has
vetoed a bill providing for additional em
ployes In the General Assembly. The present
number Is large enough for all reasonable
needs of the service. Of course, the politi
cians are not satisfied. They aro anxious to
find places for their followers, on tho theory
that government exists for tha benefit of the
officeholders. If wo aro to have in Harrlsburg
for a while a government for the benefit of
tho people we may be able to get accustomed
to tt.
Relief Is Almost In Sight
PRESENT Indications point to a breathing
spell for business. Congress Is taking up
tho appropriation bills and planning to con
tinue the old appropriations for such depart
ments as cannot bo provided for before March
4, and the President himself Is making ar
rangements to take a needed rest by crossing
tho continent to see the Panama-Paclflq Fair
in San Francisco.
This Is a wiser course, both for him and for
Congress, than to do any more legislating,
The country haa started on tho upward road
tp prosperity after a long period of business
depression. If business la let alone, the prog
ress, will he more rapid, and the Administra
tion will get whatever benefit Is to be derived
from better times. Prosperity la a plant to
he nourished by Mr. "Wilson and his friends
with the greatest care for tha next 20 .months,
for without It ho will not have the slightest
chance of re-election. The abandonment of
tho extra.seMlqn plan, If It has really been
abandoned, Indicates that some one In Wash
iRgton has a little political wisdom.
How Clothes Become Charming
A WOMAN'S hat, considered apart from Us
.-nearer, cannot be considered beautlfut.
Of course, there are exceptions, but Imagine
an Irregular shaped bucket of straw, or
PtlftMifd cambric and wire, covered with
silks or velvets ,and adorned with a contrap
(ion. wMeh looks like a gigantic darning egg
tm a stlek, or some other Impossible) thing,
M"t 99 have typical headcovering of a
woman, 1(! not like anything in the
hAvta M'wve, tt the earth beneath or In the
VftM BAdor the tKtrth. Yet, put tWsr con
fslrtfeti - yea. coeo I the right wrd
jpttt tote ton teuton an the head of a woman
eusaj. u t transformed lata sonuthteg t sur
jiKjtsiai' tmuy
T- mi rule aj-piw 10 coats ami irejs,
....' ...:.. t iu aa the garments iatn43 U
ba seen oulsltle of tho boudoir. Even to
pantelettcs' And they say that these gar
ments of our grandmothers, or great-grand-mothers,
aro coming into rashlon again. Tho
Kaio Greenaway children woro them, and
tho twinkling foet that glittered along the
walks, fanned by tho little frills and em
broideries, wero a delight to tho eye. When
tho older maids don them this spring they
will bo provocative of similar pleasure, not
on account of their beauty, but on account
of tho wearers. It matters not what tho
women put on, they transform It into some
thing wonderfully Interesting. Tho law of
llfo seems to bo, therefore, not that women
nro mndo charming by their clothes, but that
tho clothes borrow a beauty and a fascina
tion from tho charm of the women who wear
them.
The Connelly Kind of Economy
Mlt. CONNELLY says that It Is tho duty of
himself and other Councllmen to con
servo tho city's funds and seo that no money
Is wasted, That Is why, no doubt, ho advo
cates building an elevated road through three
miles of farming territory Instead of In tho
city whero It Is needed.
No ProHt In a "Hidclt" Policy
NEW ORLEANS was for ycarB a victim of
tho "hlde-lt" disease. "HubIi It up" was
tho slogan If a caso of yellow fovcr appeared,
or anything clso which merchants Imagined
would hurt their business.
In 1005 tho yellow plaguo settled on tho
Italian district. Not a word about It any
where. Traffic continued as usual. Visitors
came and went. Business moved along. So
did tho yellow fever. At last It could not bo
hidden. Tho news was whispered In tho
clubs, then on tho strcots, and finally tho
newspapers voro compelled to publish tho
facts. Then enrao the great epidemic, great
not on account of tho number of deaths, but
becauso It removed forever tho bogey of tho
Gulf Coast. That wa3 tho summer that
sclcnco fought tho mosquito, tho deadly
stegomyla, and drove It out of town. It was
a magnificent victory.
But did tho territory about New Orleans
bellovo It when tho announcement was mado
that tho epidemic was over? Not a bit of It.
"They lied before and they aro lying yet!"
was tho verdict. Tho hinterland was afraid.
Concealment had done New Orleans more
harm than tho fever Itself. It required
months to re-establish confidence. Tho
"hide-it" policy had a calamitous after
math. Would New Orleans hldo yellow
fever now? Not a bit of It. More likely tho
discovery of a case would bo put on tho first
pages of tho nowspapers as a varnlng to
citizens and a plcdgo to tho rest of tho world
that tho city was squaro and abovobonrd.
New Orleans has learned by bitter experi
ence that publicity does not kill, but cures.
Thero Is unemployment In Philadelphia.
Tho way out Is to recognlzo tho fact and
remedy tho conditions. Tho city that takes
caro of Its own need novcr bo afraid that
workmen or business will avoid It.
Shall Pie Crust Be Sewed or Nailed?
CONNECTICUT, which acquired an early
and perhaps premature and unwarranted
fame through tho wooden nutmeg, has onco
more been thrust upon tho centre of tho
stage through tho wonders of her home
mado condiments. It Is plo this time, and, of
course, every one knows that pies aro condi
ments. Charles E. Boylan, a pie lover of
Tennessee, bought a triangle of cherry pastry
In James Carson Jones' restaurant In Mem
phis, and at tho first blto broke a tooth on
ono of the nails In the crust. He was natur
ally surprised, Indeed, astonishment and
wonder almost mado him Insensible to his
dentlflclal loss. But he recovered, and Is now
seeking consolatory damages from tho Now
England company which produced the nailed
pics.
Tho ordinary cook books, through some
neglect to cover all contingencies, do not yet
recommend that tho crusts of pics shall bo
held together with nails. A moment's reflec
tion, however, Is enough to convince ono
that nothing more effectlvo than nails could
ba found for tho pics with leather crusts
such as brides make. A sewed or a pegged
crust has Its merits, but tho "waxed end"
used In shoo soles would give an unpleasant
flavor to the pastry, and pegs aro so difficult
to obtain In theso days of machlnc-mado
shoes, that only the rich could afford to In
dulgo In luxury of pegged pies. Tho Con
necticut company has really hit upon tho
best system. Wire nails, properly clinched
on tho under side, will hold the sole to tho
upper so tightly that Now England plea may
bo sent with perfect safety not only to Mem
phis, but oven aa far as Vlcksburg.
Injection of Morality Into the Electorate
POLITICIANS do not really believe that
women ara constitutionally incapable of
tho Judgment required of voters. What they
actually fear Is that tho feminine body Incor
porated In the electorate would refuse to bo
led by the nose. That la what haa happened
in States that have tried the experiment.
Imagine more than a modicum of women
rushing to the polls to voto for some manikin
because he was properly brandsd with a
party iron, Ts he clean and straight and
fair and square? That Is a woman's ques
tion and one which she never has any very
great difficulty In answering correctly.
Tho Austrlans, awfully arrayed, ara onco
more belching bombs on bellicose Belgrade.
The seat of government has been moved to
St. .uc!e, without, tho formality of an ordi
nance of Councils.
Who was It that said, "I caro not who
passes tho ordinances for the city so long as
I can write them?"
If only 900 British soldiers have earned
promotion In France then tho English moth
ers underestimate the merit of their sons.
Now that It has been demonstrated that
tha acoustto properties of the Yae Bowl aro
excellent, tha college yell can be given there
with full assurance that It will bo heard.
When that lost dog returned to his home
in North Broad street, after an. advertise
ment for him had been printed in the papers,
he showed more than human intelligence. He
knew enough to go home when ha was
wanted.
. , 1 .11 1 .1.
Tha Paris Temps wishes it tp be under
stood that it is a longer way to peaee than
to Tipperary. It statistician has figured out
that between 1498 3D. C. and Ui A. D. there
have been only 127 years of peace and 3130
years of war.
Ciun pQYle. who la regretting in the cible
Ulptos that ha suggested the bkxkade of
jgnglana by aubmarlaee la ooe of hi storlea,
wilt soon outrival Bwnard Shaw as "a hard
u4 w xpriacd advertiser," ta use
SUCCESS IS NOT
FPU THE DRIFTERS
Eichard Tiovithick's Llfo Was Ono o
Perpetual Promise and Repeated
Failure Cecil Rhodes and Alfrled
Krupp Never Dodged Difficulties.
By JOSEPH 1L ODELL
TWO things aro fatal to success vacllla-'
lion and drifting, John . Sherman, In n
letter to a young man who believed himself
to bo a failure, said, "No ship ever reached
Its port by salting for a dozen other ports at
tho samo tlme.' "Thero Is a limit,'' said
Gladstone, "to tho work that can be got o,ut
of a human body or a human brain. He is a
wlso man who wastes no energy on pursuits
for which ho Is not fitted! ho Is wiser who,
from among tho things ho can do well,
chooses and resolutely follows tho best."
Cecil Rhodes, tho South African mllllonalro
and statesman, said, "It took mo IS years to
get my flrBt mine, but I got It. Though my
boat may havo been slow In tho race, I knew
exactly what I was starting for."
Edward Emerson Barnard began life aa a
photographer's boy, his work being to sit
upon a roof and watch the exposure of
photographic plates. While thus engaged his
thoughts wcro upon tho sky and tho a tars, and
ho determined to know all about them. Alono
and unaided ho struggled through such books
as ho could get upon astronomy, studied and
mastered mathematics, scrimped and saved
until ablo to purchase a small tolcscope, and
finally, so great was his ambition, ho worked
his wny through Vandcrbllt University.
Nothing swerved or daunted him, rebuffs
from prominent astronomers who thought
him only a precocious boy did not dishearten
him, apparently Insurmountable difficulties
only served to sllmulato his determination.
Ho was graduated from tho university In
1SS6, nnd In less than 20 years found himself
ono of tho foremost of tho world's astrono
mers, the discoverer of tho fifth satellite of
Jupiter, and tho recorder of more comets
than any other living man.
Atlantic Cable Took Time
Such well-directed effort Is bound to win
fame, or power, or wealth, or whatever other
goal tho worker has set beforo him. Field
spent 13 years In laying tho Atlantic cable;
Webster gave 36 years to tho compilation of
his dictionary; Bancroft devoted 26 years to
the writing of his "History of tho United
States". It took James Watt 30 years to
bring his condensing engine to perfection.
"There Is no road too long to tho man who
advances deliberately nnd without undue
haste; there are no honors too distant to tho
man who prepares himself for them with
patience," said Ta Bruycre.
John B. Hcrreshoff, tho designer of tho in
vincible yachts which havo held tho coveted
"Challengo Cup" on tho American side of tho
Atlantic, was born blind. While still a boy
ho determined not to let tho terrible afflic
tion cheat him out of a successful life. Ho
viould not allow It oven to handicap him.
Tho business ho choso seems tho last
ono that n blind man should attempt. At tho
ago of 11 ho was learning tho lines of a boat
by tho sense of touch. Soon afterward ho
began lo mako models. Ho quickly learned
to select material by running his hand over
It, and a defectlvo beam or plank never
escaped detection. Beginning In a modest
way, ho mado rowboats and sailing craft of
small and simple pattern. He laid It down
as a rule never to excuse himself, never to
give way to a difficulty, never to accept a
problem as Insoluble, but to think nnd work
until every obstacle was overcome.
Nothing worthy can bo accomplished by
tho man who simply drifts. Thousands of
life-failures may be thus accounted for every
year tho men who never decide, only drift.
They wero born Into the world without any
conscious effort on their own part, and they
wish to continue to the end with just as
much case. So they dodge difficulties and
evade responsibilities; nothing Is so distaste
ful to them as the act of decision, or so Irk
some, ns sustained application. They drift
Into school and out again; they drift Into
tho occupation that prcsonts tho fewest
Initial difficulties; they drift from Job
to Job, from city "to city; they drift from
pleasure to pleasure, from meal to meal, from
drink to drink, from sleep to sleep. And
most of them aro languidly cursing the Crea
tor and tho constitution of the universe be
cause things were not so ordered that they
could drift Into fame, or wealth, or honor, or
power.
Trevithlck's Futile Brilliancy
No more striking illustration of failure as
the result of lack of persistence nnd concen
tration can be found than that of Richard
Trovlthlck. Trevlthlck was born in Corn
wall, England, just ten years before George
Stephenson. In early years he drifted about
tho mines, refusing to go to school, and thus
lost the discipline which application to Btudy
gives to the will as well as to the brain. As
ho grew up he developed a most original
mind, great mechanical skill and a fitful kind
of Industry. Ho preceded many well-known
Inventors by his novel plans and construc
tions, and showed a fertility in many lines
of engineering that was truly marvelous. He
Improved the Watt engine by doing away
with the condenser and introducing a sim
ple and economical high-pressuro system.
He also used for the first time a cylindrical
wrought-tron boiler.
In 1803 Trevlthlck constructed the first
steam carriage and ran It successfully on a.
road for 90 miles. He then took It to Lon
don, and won tho admiration of Sir Humphry
Davy and other distinguished scientists. But
for some unknown reason ha developed the
scheme no further, broke up the engine and
returned to Cornwall to resume ordinary
mine engineering. Later he built another
engine, which was really the first of all rail
road locomotives. Its cylinder was 44 Inches
In diameter, and was placed horizontally, A
big flywheel was geared through intermedi
ates to the four propelling wheels, which
were smooth-rimmed. It ran on iron rails,
and under 40 pounds steam pressure made 64
miles an hour drawing heavy loads, and was
In every way an astounding success. But he
grew tired of struggling with the difficulties
of a pioneer and drifted back to the familiar
and easy life of general engineering,
In 1803 Trevlthlck undertook to ballast all
ships leaving London by lifting mud from
the bottom of the Thames with bucket
machines. Two years later he invented a
means of discharging cargoes by machinery;
and in 1809 ha took out patents for construct
ing armored vessels by means o( wrought
iron plates. About the same time he organ
lied a company for junnellps the Thames in
the busiest part of London, but, after ex
cavating 1100 feet, difficulties discouraged
him on be &ava up the project. This
was tQ&ovtifl by experiments in stsaw
btitfK construction, and his patents spsey
aa4 describe, among other marvelous thtaxs,
"THE
our modorn screw propeller. Later ho built
a number of engines for pumping out aban
doned silver mines In Peru, but tho enter
prise failed and ho was left ragged and pen
niless in South America.
In splto of all theso brilliant beginnings
Trevithlck's llfo Is a record of missed possi
bilities, tho Btory of failure through lack of
patient persistence. Ono of his biographers
speaks of this fcaturo as "a trait of char
acter that in tho end ruined his llfo and do
prlved him of tho honors and rewards that
might havo been his desert." Ho died In 1833
so deeply In debt that ho was burled by sub
scription raised among tho men who had
worked for him, and net even a simple slab
marks tho resting placo of tho vacillating
man of ability. Nearly every ono of his
projects was subsequently carried out suc
cessfully by some ono else.
Tho Iliao of Alfricd Krupp
Set over against that story Is tho success
of Alfrled Krupp. Dwlght Goddard says
that "extraordinary application and dogged
perseveranco explain tho success of Alfrled
Krupp. Many a life of promise haB como to
nothing from scattering its forces. Alfrled
Krupp surpassed expectations by concentra
tion and perseverance." When Alfrled was
It years old his father died, leaving as nn
Inheritance a forge, a laborer's cottago, and
tho secret of making steel. Tho boy went to
work Immediately, Impelled by a vow to
succeed where his father had failed. "For 25
years he worked unremittingly, by daylight
at the anvil and forge, by lamplight at his
accounts and books. For years he could
hardly pay the wages of his men, let alono
any profit for himself. After 25 years tho
clouds of care began to lift, and henceforth
success came In almost geometric progression
tho marvel of tho world."
In 1826 when Krupp began his work he had
two helpers but no tools. Theso ho hod to
mako himself. In 1832 he had ten work
men; in 1845, 122; in 1876, 60 years after his
discouraging start, tho Krupp works at
Essen employed 25,000 men. How many thero
aro today no ono knows, but to the Krupps
must be attributed most of tho marvelous
equipment of tho present German army; in
fact, it has been freely Bald that tho nrmed
power of Germany could not have been but
for the dogged perseverance and courage of
Alfricd Krupp.
ONE VIEW OP CHILD LABOR
To the Editor of the Evening Ledger:
Sir There seems to be a great agitation at
the present day in regard to child labor. Never
theless, this law Is causing great hardship upon
persons with large families, making it often
necessary for boys to start at an early age to
help to support their motlier.s and other little
children, otherwise dependent upon the uncer
tainty of charity.
To start work In early life will harm no one.
My father, who Is 85 years old, started Into
work at the age of 12 years. He was so little
he had to stand on boxes, and there are thou
sands of people today well up In years who
can say the same, especially when It takes some
years to learn and be master of a trade.
Yet Governor Brumbaugh, In his Inaugural
address, advocates that persons not be allowed
to work under IS years, but go to school. Edu
cation In our present day for many positions Is
almost secondary. We have known graduates
from high school and college finally wind up
as a motorman or conductor on a trolley car
or chauffeur, There are other things,
such as smoking cigarettes and other vices,
that are undermining the health and growth
of our children, and not work,
DAILY READER,
Swarthmore, February 18.
STILL FOR THE TAYLOR PLAN
To tht Editor of the Evening Ledger!
Sir Tlte Councllmen wllj reallie what they
have done next November. I am a Republican,
but, at the same time. I'll pledge that my vote
will not go to the Organization at the Siext
election and that I will never vote for a Coun
cilman that's now In office. Business men
have spoken this way to me also, as well as
the working-men. The people are still In con
trol of this Government, and McNIchol, Vare
and Connelly, though they feel that they own
this city, will realise that they are far In the
background.
We are fighting hard for the Taylor plan and
we dare not let up. The Idea of a few men ta
dare have the audacity to tell the people of
Philadelphia they can't have what they want
and demand! New York haa $123,000,000 invested
In rapid transit, and Is still Improving in those
line, and Philadelphia-no wonder it's ridiculed
when we have auch worthy representatives.
Wake up citizens; keep wide awake.
Philadelphia, February ". STANLEY.
VALUE OP TABERNACLE SERMONS
To the Editor of the Evening Ledger:
Sir Since the Sunday campaign I have bought
two Lsoasas i day, and after reading the
morning Ludoeb, have sent it to a college In
Ohio, where it !a read by the students. Eternity
alone can tell the good you are doing to this
and other communities by PMbllshlog Mr. Sun
day's sermons, and the more complete you
publish them the better your splendid paper
will be appreciated by njuUituda of readers
who are not prejudiced against the iiiolo and
the great good now being done
C CLAY QUMMif.
JfWUUJfhls February l
'FORTY-NINERS' HAD A
9
' ' iiiiim jll
THRILLS IN WAR AND WORDS
There Is Some Humor Left in Incidents of Battlefields and Some ojj
jroetrys very stun:, nui .umciency Jtias Knocked
the Spirit Out of Romance.
By WARREN
"Ol
UR idea of a good occasion for emo
tional thrills," writes tho editor of a
popular magazine, "Is tho British soldiers
moving by night' and silently entraining,
crossing the channel and marching Into
Franco for tho first tlmo in 100 years. If
there is any poetry left in Kipling, tvj ought
to havo it now." Thin was beforo Mr. Kip
ling had written tho spirited doggerel which
contains tho line, "Tho Hun Is at tho Gato"
lively lines, yet, however lively, less stridently
jingoistic than somo of what has gone be
foresince In fact ns well as poetry
There's nothing left today
But atccl and flro and woe.
Wa read that penny reprints of Kipling's
"For All Wo Havo and Aro" havo s.ld llko
bread on tho streets of London. But it is
time to ask ourselves tho question, What Is
the world war doing for literature?
Tho glorious days of tho war correspondent
aro ancient history now; during tho Russo
Japaneso war ho scaicely had a look-In, and
his status has not Improved since then. And
yet and yet there Is tho Bplendld feat of tho
correspondent of tho London Express (I
have seen It heralded nowhere savo In the
headlines of that Journal):
AUSTRIAN WARSHIP SUNK
By J. A. Sinclair Fooley
Express Correspondent.
But not all war correspondents are Pooleys
fortunately for tho Teutons' navies.
War plays aro another matter but neither
Barrio's play about "Dcr Tag" nor any of
tho other dramas that havo so promptly
come from patriotic pens reward ono's read
ing. Verse Is another matter, too; poets
don't need to reach tho front to write good
verse, nor do they need to tremble lest tho
words, "Deleted by tho Censor," replnco their
purplest patches. And Britain's poets havo
been mobilized mobilized as ono man, from
Maurlco Hewlett to popular Harold Bcgble,
from William Watson to tho Poet Laureate,
they have all fired their shots and their
Bhots have found no echo overseas. Verily,
verily Js this a war of machines and only
Kipling nnd some of our extreme modernlsta
can hear tho musio of machines. Less verse
has been perpetrated by Frenchmen than by
Englishmen so far and though the French
verse may be mediocre, tt is at least medi
ocre. Surely Young
"There is an appalling soullessness about
it, and that Is savagely unhuman," writes
tho London Mail's correspondent. "Men turn
handles, and death files out In large bundles."
And yet even this war, conceived and exe
cuted In inhumanity, has Us emotional thrills,
There Is humor In the Incident of the
wounded German officer's notebook In which
he had Jotted down French phrases that ho
was evidently memorizing for future repeti
tion much as a dyspeptic might turn to a
cook book for courage to survive his regi
men of broth and rice pudding. "Give me
three chickens"; "I want two bottles of
champagne"; "Three bottles of very old bur
gundy"; "Give me somo of your best cog
nac"; "How can I reach the Moulin Rouge?"
One sympathizes with the young officer why
la it that one Is sure that he is young? yes,
eyen though one may rejolca that he isn't
marching Into Paris with his corps. One can
Imagine John Masefleld, who has already
achieved his "August, 1914," writing a grimly
humorous set of verses round this young Ger
man's disappointment a hospital prisoner
instead of a roysterer on the boulevards! But
there are other incidents, less humorous,
more moving. t .
Somo of them concern the airmen; the
bomb-throwers careless pf the lives below
them; the men in their machines careless of
their own lives. There is Jules Vedrlnes,
who in three days sent to earth two German
Taubes. In times of peace D'Annunzio and
Itostand have been thrilled by air flights, and
have made poetry out of their thrilling. What
should they not find to write of duels at a
height of 7000 feet? But the most heroic of
all the actions in the air have been those of
a French and a Russian aviator the one on
the Franco-Belglan frontier, the other on the
line between Russia, and Qallcla. But here is
tho newspaperman's matter-of-faot accounj:
Captain Heateroff. the first Russian aviator
to "loop the loop," was returning from an aerial
reconnalsance when he saw an Austrian aero
plane hovering oVer the Russian forces, pre
sumably with the Intention of dropping bombs.
The Russian Immediately changed the direc
tion ol the machiae and headed straight for
that of the Austrian at full spd The force
of Ui impact cauaed the feUpj of hetis
CINCH!"
M
. N. m -HP " 'W j -VJ&& J, , IS
BARTON BLAKE
macnines. wltlcli plunged to earth, the two
aviators meeting Instant death 'J
This proso Is not poetry, Indeed, but It li
pootry'3 very stuff.
Thero Is courage enough nnd to srare.lnl
una ui, me iiigmnnucrs who drop behind
their fellows to blow up tho bridge over'
which thoy have just passed (an actio?
morally certain to bo followed by their o'i
death); tho men In planes, safo from thSa
rifles of the enemy only at a mile and
quarter In tho air; tho Belgian hello girl nhijlj
stuck to her switchboard and reported to ths;
officers In tho field Just how their shells cri';
falling till she wns discovered bv a German
shell herself: thn nwvv 'Pnmmto , i.i"?l
' . " v .-
name ucrman Howitzer shells "Jack John.
sons," because, on Impact, they send ud thick
columns of greasy black smoke oh, they are?
iicruea juai ua mucti as xsapoicon a grenadiers
wero heroes, or tho men of Pickett's charge,
or tho Japanese of Thousand Metre Hill. Anil
there has been unreckonlng courago on the
German side from princes down to plumben,
from field marshals to farmers. But the fact
remains It Is a war of machines.
Machines In tho air; machines under the II
surfaco of tho water; armored machines that
raco the roads; machines called slego BUiw,j
that demolish tho most ponderous fortlflca-wl
tlons; machines that aro called bombs, andff
exploding, poison with their gasi whole,;
trenches full of the chemy, arresting In, thi
pose called death; It is nil a matter of ma-
chlnery. Suppose this last Invention Is "in'
vention" indeed; that only shows that lniagi'
nation Itself sets itself practicing at me
chanics. Much of the old-tltno glamour of.
war raocd out of It when suits of mall anH
swords and lances wero largely superseded
by powder and ball. Today, men still coma
to close quarteis tiench warfare has en
foiced that; they still spit ono another 01
cold steel; hut tho principal weapons In thelri
most deadly combats nro machines that puni
bullets across largo distances. Death bym
chlnerj'iyel tho machlno never created th
life It destroys, nor can create. The Joy ol
battle Is fainter in this 20th century; not s
much that we aro ao very much more elvrj
lllzed, but becauso thero is in modern wfj
fare less of romanco than of "efficiency."
Middllnrr Cobbler. Good Cook
And great martial poems aro scarcely to b
looked for now, becauso even poets bat
como to understand the nature of moders
war. They cannot read much heroism inl
thn work of thn mlne-lavcr. or the subaWlnt
that comes as a thief In the night; they MM
(to see the'knlghtly chivalry of an slrsniR
attack on a city of hospitals and schools wj
churches und homes of working omeaj
whose husbands are shivering In botsft
trenches somewhere else. They cannot 'm
hate their Individual enemy In the good m
way. for thev know that ho Is merely a
lm nt hi rinvprnmpnt's mlsrenresentatl"
exnloltatlon. sunerlor force. The soldier '
is on the other sldo thero Is a middling
cobbler, a fairly good cook, or possibly eYr
a maker of flaxen-wlgged dolls; one ca"'1
hate him. one can only hate the msi'l
forces that havo brought him Into action!
"Third Murderer," And without haling P"
how can your Homers strike their lyres cv
vlnclngly. today?
"I have never written love songs excg
when I loved; how, thep, could I have wrv
nn mnn nt hntroil without hatlnC?" A
That la tha wav Goethe answered Ecktfi
mann's question, when the German PshW
asked why ha had never written """5
poetrv a la Theodor Korner
"Glve-a-Job" Movement
m ram ina oprMS"cfu iwyuwuvs" iivb
... . ..( .n.i.tlu (nit Inf
.IaKM ninvamoiil Ti rp.-inlxatlOll Wtffl JJSe
better perfected It would be easier to nw
n,l.nl. 4nh nut nt thn finirmelltS WIlICS S '
many p?oplo In the same neighborhood r;
eacn contribute
SONG
When I am dead, my dearest.
sing no sau songs or J""
Plant thou no roses at my
bead.
Nor aliatjy cypress tree
?), ti,- ..n v.,,, ohnv me
With showers and dewdrppa wei
And If thou wilt, rcmeraoer,
And if thou wilt, forget,
j shall not see the shadows,
I shall not feel the rain
J shall not hear the nlghUngai
Sing on, as if In pu .,
And dreaming ttroush the twun
That doth not rue nor sei.
Haply I may rejnen.ber "
w JMP& may teK -..m, -
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