.;&' , r i K&- ..' ? iw v IV- MS M& TV, a . j .i - ny. fVsJ i iv.; rit tf LEDGtR COMPANY , OfMOt Mi K.,' CURTI, PiwiBtin r M, bMnwten, viea praawentt John iTiwiug and Tnmuwi Philip s. .,Wlll&me. John J. Opurroon. ami Directors, ;v , BuuiniAu boahu: 'ernes H, K. ct'BTU, Chairman. ."WHALKT. Editor UAKTIN.kOtnoral Bualntas Manurar w. tMUM aajlr'at Ft-suo I.irwta nutMlnr. tMamnwnca squaro, rnuaaeipnia. CajrrajLi,. . , Broad and Chestnut Streets I CrtI .... .... ,Prss. tnfcm Bul'dma ........ i ....SOS Metropolitan Towar ill.. ............ .40.1 FarA Rlltlriln I. ...... .,409 (J'oee-DrmorU Hulldlna i.u rnoana uuuains NEWS BUREAUS) m BC1U0.... Tllars' nulMIn oK BcIiO.......Th rimes nulldlna- ' Btjann.,,.,, ..(to rrledr'chstraeso Mf BVBBAIT..... lfareil Vfonsi,. Atnnil Bdmad S3 Rue touts I arand SUBSCRIPTION TEBMS n JBnmiro Linos la eei-red to aubserlbara If Fall' adelDhla and aurroundlnar towna at tha a ok of twelv. (12) cnta pet week, payabla . thai carrier. Hr malj to polnta outald of Philadelphia. In leUnltaa Stale. Canada or United Statu poa- cottar rre. nny t.wi centt per "nSv,". aouara per rear. payania in 4- vR"mU tonla-n countries ona (ft) dollar per p. hajta. li nonce Subscribers wlahlnc address chanird '.' meat ilva old as well aa new address. i :,. ttttt- k i Eu-.awBiTALrarr keystomk. mainsooo Ff jKtoi Address oil communication to Euentns er, jnarprnaaaca li quart, enuaaeipma. arrtmio ai th mttinsirart. rostornca x MC0ND-CL1S1 MAIL MATTIl. ,HB AVERAdB NET PAID DAILY Cm- CtJLATTON or THB EVENINO LEDOEIl FOR FEBRUARY WAS 08.372 Phllsdelphls. SsluwUy. Mirth 24. HIT Most of us wero unaware there Were so many American 'ships afloat ntll the Germans started lo sink them. Congressmen are afraid of labor, hut newspapers are not. That Is because newspapers have to work and Concrcss Ken don't Tremble, sea tyrants! Guatemala hats forwarded to the Imperlat iGerman Government a "strong1 protest" against Ike ruthless submarine order. In the midst of the war crisis the ICtnlla Cablenews-Amerlcan crles, "Let s keep cool!" But even on peace days that's not an easy thing to do In tropical Luzon. The news that Ulzoro Zaudltu, the WW Empress of Abyssinia, has extended the hand of friendship In a letter to President Wilson Is about the only thing left for pacifist rejoicing. Is there any other city, oxcept Philadelphia with a' population o'f over one and a half mllllo.-ji, where one could ee ashes being dumped Into an open wagon on the principal thoroughfare In the heart of the city at high noon? Mediation at the last moment, 'tis Whispered, may get In front of the ava- knche of sympathy for Belgium, France, Poland, Russia and England, which is ;JM k ,HrfW TtnaTC vWAavO A"? . I WigBMVtO j I V "H I e PS, &&Axi - $ r- I && JZ BOlng to throw America's help into tho XQ B "upo uie nvaiancne wm pass rnpmiy IS anoueh in nllnnr tViA vtntlm in tm tntm ig&i n :l t .. ."v... w . xrora me ruins ative. N i?1 Phlladelphlans should blush with Knmn tli 1tM-r1 of tVtn MnKin1niiH nUA ijL. wa. ua, t.w.t vr. ii( miciuua JiU(,t'sa A in qock xxiucng made In war-torn France. -' .k men beyond military aid magnificent new jas" nii'iJ'iis ttccummoaa.uons navo neen pro $n Tided in record-breaking time at Bor- tX mu-r Ta TtnnViAltA Cf vn.ni 1 "- -."....u, uw. ..aMiIC tllld Havre, wim the excent nn nt iUa ino. ;t named port, none of these places com- .J' flftsWAB wV. T3l.l1n jaimi.i , . . . " "j' i-iiiuiuciyiiia in luuunu nnroor facilities. VTnlf fViA Affnrf ..,JJ l v.a '-. .... .aw u..w c. iiiucii iii Vflfthe. four French cities mentioned would P work a revolution in our own metropolis tejvjr " vv..i.n, iKCf, Return of the wily Moewo to a Wldy German port finally clears up tho mys 41? 4V . t.A 1m a . tJ Au T,. .. ,t I y, ; v.i mo uui mm un inienie snipping pi In the South Atlantic. Captain Donha- fc BcWodien reports a toll of twenty-five ves fe&Lwta. Considering those previously can- Klfc tured in the campaign in which tho Ap EHjWaln"wa8 causht, the Moewe seems to be pressing hard upon tho old Alabama for first honors as a raider. When the Ala bama w'as sunk by tho Kearsargo off Cherbourg, in 1864, Captain Semmes had been responsible for the destruction or capture of seventy Union vessels. If the 3gft; Moewe can stay on the seas as long as Vf we Alabama did, a hitherto unrivaled ,ieareer of a certain kind of naval war it Care stands a chance of being surpassed. The attempt to bring on what KkAiHnalre Belloo calls "an action In dlslo- ,vtlon, aer the fashion planned for the f;bavttle of the Marne, but then only partly P p eaecuted, becomes hourly evident in the M j reports of General Nlvelle'a movements. t(.awiouia vicxorj crown mis simultaneous ','pressure north of St. Simon and tho f jj4rive beyond Rolisons gain" speed the .- V-Wwinch frAnfrAllftRlmn' r-hnnrnu in rtftvA Ij-wwedge In the German line where it is probably thinnest, between Iion and .Owionne, will be of dazzling brilliancy. Ktics like these could turn the entire ton new line by flahkin? it. Sneed fcv'ef course, the great essential, but ex- 4tremely rapid movements are now made ' peaM4e by the Allies' superb air service, Whlihjgreatly .diminishes the opportunity or JiJnaenburg surprises. It was tho jMejapleteness of the aerial arm which ipkieto.Foch's rush across the Marne -it Datember, 1914, so much the aspect M-IMP, la the dark. He took his das- nceABnd succeeded. Nlvelle'a tmitiiHy aWed by the expert ta'WhM air. scouting now works. ratfcMreT' Jnt;rlfy" and fair i,1.. eWMUbHehed trait of lfcMWt.HVhas,,el(iom had en.-! than. In the preposal kteatlja' a aiaitua' ia airrt nnrt ilptowat jnnjur. v - " truth. but tamloeit'on' the Vopenloor,, and fila noote 'opposition to tne poucy 01 cn bllng for territorial concessions have deeply endeared him lo Chinese hearts. Paris and CAracas have their Washing tons In marble, but such tributes lack something of the direct significance of tho proposed Hay memorial. That can only mean gratitude to a great American who ever sought to prevent lnjustlco to a helpless nation. A CHANGE TO MAKE GOOD rjlHEltE Is ns much truth as there Is poetry In the suggestion that has been made that If nn American expeditionary force Is sent to France It should fnc,o the Germans In Belgium. For Amerlcnns who understood noth lng else about the war did know about Belgium. They did know that tho black sin against God and tho black ctimo against man were committed In Belgium. Too many did not contrlbuto to the funds to feed those children, and nil Hoover's good deeds, which brought so much honor to tho country which Europo thought was supplying him with sufflclont means, hut which was not, will not wipe out that shame. There is a chance to make good, under tho spur of that suddenly awakened patriotism which covers a multitude of sins. Tho Brluinn Children's Belief Com mittee of Pennsylvania plans to let Phila delphia feed 100,000 children lti tho Prov ince of Antwerp for tho next six months. If It Is not done, then let no history of Philadelphia over dwell long upon Phlla. dclphla's scorn for Prussian brutality. To fall to undo brutal work Is to condone It. There is precisely ns much reason for us to help Belgium as there Is for us to go to war. We would never have helped tho Allies with food and munitions if wo had not thought Germany was wrong. Wo would never have defied Germany to the point of war If wo had not thought Bel glum was right. PATRIOTIC RALLY IS ASSURED THE Mayor has responded handsomely to tho appeal of citizens for official indorsement and forwarding of the plan, for a great patriotic rnlly to be held In Independence Square. He has set March 31 ns the tlmo for this meeting, which tho highest officers of tha national Gov ernment will doubtless rieslro to address. The occasion would need only tho pres ence of the head of tho nation to mojto It tho mot impre.sslvo and useful dem onstration of this whole titno of tension and doubt, indeed, that would clear away the last vestige of doubt in the mind's of a doubting minority that our Government Is aggressively determined to use etery atom of the energy nnd en thusiasm back of it to enrorco Us will for a right cause a cause which the overwhelming majorlty'of mankind deems right. The President has Just expressed him self ns "profoundly moved nt the evidence of the whole-souled loyalty of the people of Philadelphia." "It wns in Philadelphia," ho says, "that the. American spirit of freedom and liberty wns born." It was in the well-loved building in Independence Square that it was born, nnd from tho squaro which tho presence of that build ing makes sacred ground will go forth yet another trumpet call of freedom. MAGICAL DEMOCRACY IF WE will but Imagine a lot we may see a little. If we Imagine Liberal Russia becom? lng an Industrial State, wo may speculate that her twenty inhabitants to the squaro mile will become 100, which would In crease her population from 175,000,000 to 875,000,000. We may even, in a mood of wilder fancy, imaglno' American centers of activity relieved of their political Czars, allowing tho vast, underdeveloped stretches between our cities to command new resources. Then would our twenty eight inhabitants to the squaro mile in crease In like ratio, bringing our total to 500,000,000 souls. Tho two great democracies of Russia and the United States could houso and feed all tho people of the world, and tho few puny autocracies remaining, such as, for example, tho reactionary English Government nt Dublin, would expire for lack of subjects to tyrannize over. Boil down these dreams to tho bono and we have a residuum of practical truth. We know that democracy calls men from the ends of tho earth, slowly, man by man, family by' family, but surely. We know that charltnhlo folk In London, In peace times, send Impov erished Englishmen to Canada nnd Aus tralia, because the only thing that keeps them home is tho lack of a steerage ticket. Wo know that the entire popula tion of an Italian village has found Its way to a Chicago tenement: retaining Its communal life, accepting squalor, but gaining tho chance to eat. Touch but an arid ncro with democracy and it blooms with corn nnd children and nil good things. Oust but one city gang ster and you may. Indirectly, recover one golden acre from the desert. PAYING A DEBT TO RUSSIA IN BEING the first nation formally to recognize the new Russian Govern ment, the United States has discharged a debt of gratitude long overdue. Throughout our Civil War the great Slavic empire stood between France and England and recognition of the Southern Confederacy. Gladstono himself ox pressed ill-considered hopes of Confed erate victory- Napoleon III was almost an open enemy, Russia stood firm in support of the United States. Thus were knitted between tho world's largest autocracy and Its greatest repub lic ties' of friendship never strained until the Manchurlan war sent a curious wave of pro-Japaneset sentiment throughout most of the United States. A few years later Russia's persecution of the Jews resulted In our abrogation of the long ex isting treaty, and our feeling, that Nich olas's empire had. turned her f&ce against world progress was given definite expression- - The, resolution has changed all this, 'arid ''Ambassador Francis's official call on ,the Russian Council of Ministers not only 'ineasirailtional syrapathy with free awernauatbut deebfjard for a. loyal vmfm MMVEtdW " DOCK BUILDING AH Records Broken by French Engineers in Equipping Ports for Wartime Com merce By HENRY BAZIN Svtcfnl Correseondcnt o the F.vninB Ltdotr In J'rance PAniS, Feb. 20. "OEFORE Uin war It had been unanl O mously recognized that facilities for docking vessels and "the discharging and loading of freight at French ports wero In adequate for existent and growing needs. Serious official study had been made of these open facts nnd plans tentatively prepared for increasing the methods and means toward greater and moro rapid handling of Incoming and outgoing freights. Out of tho war's necessities the plan not only developed Into Immediate action, but a new-born plan produced virtually Imme diate nnd definite result. Before August, 1914, coal was tho most Important article of commerce so far as quantity was concerned, Hlnco then coal freights have not only maintained their position, but hnve Increased In nstoundlng proportion. In 1913 17,738 tons of coal were landed at Treport. In 1914 fil.OOO tons ar rived at the same port of entry, with 273,000 tons In 191ft, an Increase of 1500 per cent over tho year before tho war's outbreak. The total coal tonnage received at Treport for 1916 to October 15, Inclusive, Is In round figures thirty per cent Increase over ths wholo year previous. At Rouen, where 2,827.000 tons of coal were received from England and the United States in 1913, a total of 6,021.130 tons were debarked during 191 ft. That figure was surpassed by over a million tons lnpt year. The same ptoportlonate rates of In crease apply to tho coal Importation through the great and small ports of Ilonlletir, Caen, Oranvllle, Salnt-N'nrnlre, Nantes, Leagup-Salnt-neleiic La Rochelle, La Palllro, Brest and Bordeaux In nddltlon to coal, every artlclo essential to the needs of war nnd Internal consump tion that came Into France from foreign shores Increased In extraordinary propor tion. Because of special facilities for re ceipt Iron and steel arrived mostly at Nantes and Salnt-Xnzalre. Tho same ma terials from England reached Franc through Treport. Horsc3 from the United States for tho needs of tho army came via Brest, Salnt-Nnzalro and La Bochello. Dieppe, Rouen, Havre and Bnyonne, with, on tho Mediterranean, Marseilles and Cette, received tho great mass of wheat and food stuffs Nitrate and pyrlto arrived at Bor deaux. L-i Rochelle. Rochefort, Nantes nnd Salnt-Nazalre. All Atlantic ports received Incoming supplies of refrigerated meats, paper pulp, gasollno products, phosphates, machinery, munitions In varied state of completion, rotton, wool, leather nnd shoes, to mention but some of the great mass of foreign product Imported. In substance every port In France Increased not only its receipts, but its facilities for handling to a degree out of all proportion over any precedent In year or total quantity ever known Dock Builciinp in Record Time This was not only successfully accom plished In time of war and under the handi cap of decrease In number of ntevedores nnd workmen thiough mobilization, but with genuine lack nt the outset of Ktifllelent cranes and unloading machinery On November I. 1914, a few weeks nfter the victory of the Marne. a victory that above any other single thing was the direct Incentive toward Inaugurating t rally mar velous economic progress In France, work upon new docks began In Bordeaux. With such French labor as wr-s beyond military age supplemented with Italians and Span lards, a new dock 900 feet long, begun In Octoher, 1914, was completed and In active use by late April, 1915. Below Bordeaux toward tho sea, at Basscns, a new dock 1200 feet long was begun and completed In less than five months from October 15, 1914. At Blayc, s-tlll nearer the sea on the Garonne, a dock 900 feet long was con structed In the period between January 1 and June 1, int.". At Tounay Charante, near La Rochelle, n coal dock with every modern appliance was ready and put Into commission In three months from January 1, 1915 At Salnt Nazalre hy December 20, 1915, a dock 1164 feet long, with ends at right angles, each 400 feet long, was in use. It had con sumed less than seven months in tho build ing. At Havre. whlci has become nn Eng lish base, three new docks of important slzo were In use five months after Germany had declared war against France, while during the same peitod tho landing plnce for Havre - Southampton steamers was transferred to u new dock, that the old might, with better advantages of position, be utilized to land men and supplies from England. At Dleppo and Treport four new dtjeks, averaging 700 feet In length each, were becun and completed In seven months nnd sixteen days from September 1, 1915. In Botien docks that had been In leisurely course of construction from tho beginning of 1911 were completed In seven months' time, nnd a new one for coal purposes only placed In working order In ninety-seven days. In tho Installation of cranes and freight moving machinery at all the ports on tho Atlnntlo and tho Mediterranean. 207 new In stallations wero made In 1915 through the combined efforts of the Government and various steamship companies. These aro electrically and steam driven. In Rouen alone, where 175 such appliances were ex istent In August, 1914. 254 are now work ing, with twenty-six moro nearly ready to be Installed. Machines Do the Work of Men New freight sheds covering 20,000 square meters have been erected In Marseflles, and the llko to a squaro meterage of 16,000 In Bordeaux. In all other ports, exclusive of these two Important ones, new sheds cover ing a combined nrea of 85,000 squaro me ters havo been built since January 1, 1915, Bailway extensions havo been built in like proportion, In tho cases of Bordeaux, Mar seilles nnd Havre, in very great quantity. These extensions run from dock to main lines of railways. Freight from ship to car and car to the rails of destination Is now the general order. Ingenious nppliances too technical to detail hero are being utilized to make unloading machinery do the work of human hands, even to the unhooking of Bllngs. At Bordeaux, Salnt-Nazalre, Mar seilles and Havre tho work' that before the war necessitated nn average of 100 men Is now performed with an average of sixteen and the machines they manipulate, And some of theso men have a wooden stump for a leg, or an empty sleeve. The mass of the able-bodied aro greybeards. Only a small proportion are r foreign birth, and they mostly Spaniards on South Atlantla or Mediterranean ports, The greatest individual Increase In reg istered tonnage of freight In every desert o- Hon has been at Rouen, where tho total for 1916 Is much greater than the 1916 rec ord of 7,277,060 tons, itself an increase of a round 2,000,000 over 1914. Havre comes next, with 1,800,086 tons Increase, and Bor deaux third, within a few hundred of 1,000, 000 Increase. Salnt-Nazalre, Dieppe, La Rochelle, Treport and Nantes show between them over 4,500,000 tonnage of merchan dise received In 1915 over 1913, with thirty per cent average Increase beyond that for 1916. Collectively, all the ports of Franoe show totals for 1916 at an average of forty per oent Increase over the full 1915 year.' There will come a day after a while when all these facilities will automatically be placed at the full disposal of peaceful ex pert and Import purposes. That day will at anmething like an even proportion be tween the two. That day will aee the re lease of many a man In uniform to the re wearlng of .a. workman's .blouse. It will see the transformation of many an old and new factory from a, place of ' manufacture of death-dealing appliances' to, the manufac PWWW1 ture ec--' &0?ofaitr;. ' ftr4loi tor Kiman v-MW't wy-w Tom Daly' a Column TUB VILLAGE POET Whenever Ws a Saturday ati" thing are looking solemn. On heights commanding Chestnut street J mobilize my column, An', tvith my merry followers X do the ' best J can To keep the tear from getting in to harm my fellow man, I've sentries posted all about, an' if you should observe us I'm sure you'll, never catch us looking timorous or nervous. We try to make the best of things an' wear a smiling face Despite the icild reports of tear explod ing 'round the place. You may observe a twitch or two that inioard fervor brings, Like those which stir the thrush's tail or robin's when he sings: But if relief from war's alarms to what you wish to know, Ju.it let this little column stand between you an' tho foe. For when it is a Saturday an' things are lookin' solemn, On heights commanding Chestnut street I mobilize my column, An', with my merry followers I do the beJit I can ' To keep thp war from netting In to harm my fellow man. YELLOWED by twenty-eight count 'em! years Is tho sheet 'of Crane linen bearing the "seating plan of the recep tion and banquet tendered Mr. A. G. Spalding and fellow round-the-world baseball tourists by tho Sporting Life, of Philadelphia, nt Hotel Bellevue, Phila delphia, April 11, 1889." Tho relic was sent to is by Mont. H. Wright, of tho John B. .Stetson Co. "I thought this might Interest you," sez he: and so It does, but not for the reason ho thought it would. There was a placo reserved for one "T. Daly." 'Twas not we, Mont. Wo wero too young then to attend "dinners with wine," nnd wo were not ns prominent ns the gentleman who ate off that plate. Ho was the famous catcher of the, old White Sox nt that time, And we were only s. s. on the Fordham varsity. But what flocks of memories rise from the list of names upon this time-worn printed1 sheet! Tho toastmoster wns F. C. Rlchtor, and at his right sat A. G. Spnldlng nnd at his left Senator A. P. Gorman. Then there were: A C ("Pop") .nnn. th (treatest Roman nt them nil Tom Iiandn nf th" Sporting I.tfe fHmllv. llenrv Chartn-lrk. thn "father nf Ilnseball" Harr Wrlsht. who, som be. lleveil, wh. rpilte a worthy of reverfnr ns CnndHlrk Kranels WlUon, whose comic npera KtancilnK wan niontly due to his ls; Lew Simmons. M.itk-fHre romedtan Louis. V MesarKi'" brilliant journalist nn . Shlb and A .1. rte.irh who were making nil the basehnll supplies Spaldlnff didn't: V M Smith, uhnse .name mnn nothing to Phlladelphlnns now hut who waa then ih "Pnndy Xtnvor" Colonel A K. Mc riure. the veteran editor. .Inhrr M Ward, s s nnd hlsh-slarled. .1 Kinle Tcner. ball plaer nnd others too numerous een to net In aerate. Hut nit In one quiet corner there were three plntes laid In a row for three men vhoe nnmes nlwavs stir us when spring leads forth the baseball season Anderson, Fofrarty and Wood outfleld of the Phillies In 'fin' And of thes Jimmy ToEarty, c. f., lives forever, our beau Ideal' Our Fair City JOHN MOLITOR, of the Common wealth of Pa.s Dept. of Health, is if wo may use such nn' extravagant word "egging" on Nicola d'Ascenzo to send us a carload of junk gathered from one block on Ludlow street In tho hope of stirring us up to the point of boosting clean-up work, which is Mr. Molttor's raison d'etre. Mr. d'Ascenzo, by the way, has for soma time past been heading his busi ness letters, "Sixteenth and Ludlow streets, Fllthadelphla." DcludtherinM Sir I don't know how you feel about It, but I'm told there are certain Celt.s who lather expect to see KAISER WILHBLM MAKE IRISH WKLL Tours anagrammatlcally, W. L. SACREY. WHATEVER else vers llbre may be, says Bert Leston Taylor, It plainly is ideal for primer making. Exnmple: Trlmer (Alfred Kreymbore, In The Toetry Journal.) Why does the man flay the horaa? If he Is late acnln, The boss will discharge him. Why does tho boss hay the man? If trade won't Improve, Ills wife will be grumpy. Why doea the wife flay tho boss? If oho weara that hat much longer, The nelghbora will aneer. See tho man flay the horse! Thafs not a bad label for free verse Primer Stuff. Or, let us say. Perennial First-Grade Poetry. BABY SISTER Twinkling butterflies so fair, Softly playing In the air Hands of baby sister. Violets seem clustered there; Sweet are they beyond compare Eyes of Baby Sister. Ever lives the sunlight where ' Lips of angels touched her hair; Lovely baby sister! MACKIE. Dr. Merry Sunshine, whoever that may be, has been dosing our morning mall with tiny envelopes containing pick-me-ups to be used at intervals during the day. This one was marked, "To be taken before the crowd arrives": Cheer up! the sky Is bluer1 Than It was a year ago : The very smiles are gladder And have a richer glow. Tli o raining and the sunshine Are helping you and me; The world Is growing better Than it ever used to be. - U-. Old Stuff! VOUNO MAN TO PACK AND WllAP MERCHANDISE 16 to 20 yeara of age; experience not nacea aary. Apply, etc. ad in o, o. d. p. MANY'S the time we'vo heard that "a miss la as good as a' mile," but how any one could figure "girls" -and !yars" as synonymous is beyond us. Tet here comes to one of our office mates a mimeographed postal soliciting insur ance for furniture In steragr Ca you afford to take the risk your self rather than place It with' a re sponsible company when 12.60 Wfil ' cover a damage of $500 for three giHa? Trusting- you will think the matter over .jia.it us hear from you.we.rei pv --.fitt' VZtrW - "''(. r. . . , lis . J. i a. . Vt . . ...... ----MaMlaau.-st?sWC'-'L?Vffjaj'. mmmmMmMammhmvxmnMmwjmKBmmammvxrn ft. I H ' "YVL &LHT?ktt If.'lLa.WV NK. 2VJ n- .wr- IM ... -Cv- Through the good offices of the Belgian children's relief committee of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia expects to feed 100,000 children in the province of Antwerp for the next six months. THE VOICE OF. THE PEOPLE Mr. De Koven Takes Issue With a Critic Concerning His Oper etta Mother Answers Miss Repplier MR. DE KOVEN ANSWERS CRITIC To the Editor of the Evening: Ledger:, Sir A telling commentary on the re marks that I had the honor of making be fore the University of Pennsylvania, on Monday last, anent musical snobbery In this country, and critics who only criticize, wns furnished by the two notices of my opera. "The Canterbury Pilgrims," pro duced with evident success for the first time In Philadelphia last night, which appeared In the columns of tho Public Ledger and tho Evrnino Ledoer. Tho ono in the Public Ledger, dignified, fair-minded, Intelligent and competent; dis criminating In its comments nbout the work, pro or con, was a pleasure for any com poser to read and an honor to have Inspired. The other. In the Evening LEDOEn, pert, badly written, critically valueless, because of the evident prejudice which defeated Its, equally evident purpose to do harm, was an illuminating illustration of that destructive criticism, selfish, self-seeking and In so far Incompetent which has done and Is doing more to Impede and retard the development of native art In this country than any one Influence. I would like, as a critic of some reputa tion and stnndlng myself, to buggest to your readers that any work accepted for production by the Metropolitan Opera Com pany on its merits and after careful con sideration, and the production of which by that rompany, one of the most beautiful and expensive operatic productions ever made In this country, was convincing evi dence of their confidence in Its merits, could not have been as vapid and tepid ns your critic wuld have them believe. I would also suggesti that any honest effort for the furtherance of native art la not, so far as I know, an Indictable of fense, punishable either by fine, Imprison ment or tho pillory. And yet. in the 'no tice written by your alleged critic, positively Insulting to every one concerned In tho production, because of the contemptuous brevity with which It treated a work which the New York Sun thought important enough to devote nearly two columns to, your critic absolutely pilloried by direct implication the Metropolitan Opera Com pany, which has certainly deserved well of the American public; Mr Percy Mackaye, arknowlcdgod to be our best dramatic poet, myself, and, last but not least, Mr, Arthur Bddansky, one of the best conductors and musicians who ever came to these shores; whoso leading of the score has been ac claimed without exception by every critic who has written about the piece, with the single exception of your own. I quarrel with no man's honest criticism of my work, but I would suggest to your critic that, as the piece was accepted with pleasure and enthusiasm by a Philadelphia audience on Tuesday night, he transgressed the first canon of competent criticism by misinforming his readers whom he is paid, save tho mark, to Instruct. In the Interest of that fair play which has always characterized your great Journal and which after all is a Jewel, I would ask for a place for this communication (a copy of which has been s'ent to' the Philadelphia press generally) In your valued columns. REGINALD DE KOVEN. New York, March SI. That acceptance of a new operatic work, even by the Metropolitan Opera Company, does not necessarily Imply Infallibility of Judgment Is a matter of record. Mr. Qattl Casazza'a list of Unsuccessful novelties In eludes Cntalanl's "La Wally," Puccini's "Le Villi," Charpentier's "Jullen," all by for eign composers, and the American works "Mona" and "Cyrano de Bergerac," by Dr Horatio Parker and Walter Darorosch, re apectlvely. Also a matter of record Is last Tuesday night's reception of "The Canter bury Pilgrims," by an audience which, however generously friendly, gave few evi dences of really rapturous enthusiasm. It ,is a human falling to interpret favorable notices as consM-acttvely appreciative and unfavorable reviews as destructively un Juat. Furthermore, Mr..De Koven' Ions and honorable musical experience should suggest to him that national origins of vac wuyiuuHuiu wo ori comparatively rTHE 'IjJOSTEfcRAHfiil v- 'iaaalBiaia..1X ijuaHBHByaiHBHiBSilKaaiaw Atamw -, M - 4Vt . iAmtfai-SSFKmkL)-l if If -"' feSgSv JM!i:MnEIWU?zr . i -- . I or v'Hr JMiX imMM'JXM2iJmmmitoNW&fdaKA-r!: A 1 ,i IH- V s- . .. il f I r-S' .svuv I t t j -'I I .1- 4- i" ' vV - "Bobln Hood" an operetta of world-wide celebrity Is based chiefly on Its intrinsic merits nnd not on considerations of home talent. Editor of the Evening Ledoer. A MOTHER OF TWELVE REPLIES TO MISS REPPLIER To the Uditor of the Evening Ledper: Sir By what authority does Agnes Bep pller mnke such a statement that my chil dren belong more to their country than to me, their mother? I have exactly one dozen children, nnd I do not need any one to tell me to whom they belong. Thoso who havo families can send them to war If they want to nnd thoso who have none cannot. Not one of my family will go to, war to he slain for the sake of maniac kings or for Wall street. A MOTH KB OF TWELVE. Bryn Mawr, March 23. ALL-WAGNER PROGRAM The Orchestra Heard in Excerpts From Music-Dramas of That Composer There Is a stock phrase of theatrical criticism In which plays are described as "leaving nothing to he desired." Usually the misuse of hyperbole brings Its own penalty with It, but the concert yesterday by the Philadelphia Orchestra .Is entitled to some such designation. Wagner programs are frequent and popular In this city, as in others, and "the unconscious tendency is to treat them as a recurrent and unimpor tant flow of soul, minus the feast of rea son. The Orchestra disabused .the untidy think er of any such notion, yesterday's con cert was not without Its little technical errors. It wasn't always quite perfection in Its contrast of numbers. But as an elucidation of Wagner, as a torch In the gulf of that composer's strange Individual ity, it was superb. The men seemed, at times, a little weary, and not always was the tempo kept with metronomic accuracy. Mr.Stokowskl, usually erring (If It Is an error) on the side of the emotional Mux, rather than that of the precise notation, gave a performance that was all the same full of Inspiration, But he has, too, in reading Wagner that ca pacity for Infinite pains that illuminates and makes precious even the "usual things." So his work is never slipshod, nor does the meaning of what he plays vanish In a froth of nervous excitement. It Is splendidly vi tal, but it Is also polished and rounded. One hears a great deal about prpgtain music these days, and Its deleterious effects on the structure of concert, programs. The distinction between the program music of Bichard Wagner and, for Instance, Richard Strauss (as In the Slnfonla Domestlca) la 111 t 1 nfAkiAh i.hYAi,iiAA'i tar svs.1 am1 Jt I " "MICH7UI.O -.. ,. hi "u u.a. mond. The first is picturesque, and mirrors fire and grandeur of color and a score of a nnd r o nrlatll fT nll and n .. shifting, burning thoughts. The latter may be picturesque, but It exists, for Its own sake alone. It has no body, no reason for contemplation. The correspondence In the Wagnerian music between the beauty of the thing itself and what the thing stands for Is brilliantly brought out by Mr. Stokowskl. From the sweet throats of the violins (especially lovely yesterday) the leeds, the brasses he conjures up landscapes and seascapes', throngs of men and women, vivid flashes of Incident and crisis. But all these con jurations are Interesting and thrilling quite aside from their outer pictorial qualities They are Informed by a deep and searching spirit the spirit that abides In all lands and people and the spirit of divining melody that lifts the veils from t,he human heart, and renders to every searcher for "the gleam" a common tongue and a com mon impulse. If thlB be program music it is tha music of an eternal program. Phlladelphlans have heard the Venus musio from "Tannhaeuser" to often this season that they might complain of its repetition, were It not played by tha local orchestra' as it Is. To shake the senses with .the sort of ecstatic madness Mr Stokowskl educes from It Is no petty ac' compllehment. When to such demon wonl ders he adds the celettlal power of th. knightly "Lohengrin" prelude, realized with a poetlo Inflection of majesty and dellcahv there la little to be said. WctlVei , .so cheap. "pie Melsterslnaer." n Flltgan4 Hollaender." "Tristan und inoM.-i and tte WatfrM My wer'e ".JK TX .inrJP f.7-ja?JJ J I" -' KfiiBtft' m wm , or..H .-SIT' ... -Or Ok. "5X1 a-r Ci ff.1 ::nr. :i o J What Do You Know? Queries of genent interest mill be ay.iwtrti in this column. Ten questions, the answers (a which cicrv icelMnormed person should know, are asked dailv. QUIZ 1, What whs the first nation to reeomlze tha new Rnsslan Government? 3. Who la Miss Loretta Walsh? 3. Who la the eommander of the German coa- meree rulder Moewe? 4. What la the meaning of "esoteric" an! how la It pronounced? 5. What Is the navy's so-called "iraa- nile"f C What la a itenerallsslmn? 7. What are the Russian lemstvns? S. Whai rommander and fleet bombarded Now Orleans durlnit the Civil War? 0. Who la Bonar Law? What famous animal trainer reeentlj wai killed by bear? Answers to Yesterday's .Quiz 1. Herman military exDcrta declare that tha "strateate retreat" of the Herman forces In, the west makes It Impossible for Ilia Allies to strike a blow at the new po sitions nlthout tremendous losses. 2. A clarla (pronounced either "clajr-als" or "ulassls") In military Innauase Is an no protected slope over which the enemy must advance exposed to Are. 3. The Australian ballot system provides thai the names of the candidates ho placed on one Kheet of paper. i. .Mollere, whose real name was Jean Baa list roquelln, was a French dramatist, bom 1622. died 1813. 6. Prince tieorie Lvoff ia the new licisilin Premier. Yeomen In tho nnvr doln elerteal work. nre petty officer! 7. The Chinese Empire la railed the Celestial Empire because the relcnlni dynasty, recorded aa appointed by heaven to rule, was called the "Heavenly Dynasty." 8. Hinterland meana Inland country beyond tha roaat. 0. Ilutter la heavier than Ice nnd each It Hunter than water. If water Is 100, but ; ter la 04 and Ire 92. 10. MCMXVII are the Romaii numerals far 1B17. Zionism INQUIRER. -The Zionist movement wal founded in 1896 by Dr. Theodor Herzl, of ' Vienna, who proposed an autonomous i, , Jewish State in Palestine .under Turkish W suzerainty and guarantee of the great Powers.' Even before this there had been attempts to recolonlze Palestine with Jews, and by 1915 nearly fifty such colonies had been established. The war, which disturbed the plans, tended to center Zionist actjvlty -y in America, where Justice Louis O. Bran- ', dels, of the Supreme Court, Is chairman of j the provisional committee for general Zlon; -, 1st affairs, nnnnernlnff the nlms of Zionism " .it. Ti. me jiaccabaean Magazine (Zionist) repii" ;, tha, ,,, mnv.m.nl , ,anu.u a wwsi . . .- ' iM "legally secured and publicly recognized! home for the Jewish people as such In Pal : estlne. While the war, which is,essen- .Vl Hiiy ur, uv least, it is so ciaimeu a "- ii for the protection of the small nationalities. J has created Conditions favorable toward tnt , .-l,l- . . . . . . n-l.., L. . ruiaufisnmenioia jewisn nome in rai""'"1- i. realization of Zionist aims Is held en "v tirely apart from the war, whoever be Jbt jj victor. That Jews will return to Palestln ' at the end of the war we are quite icer ft tain. Influential forces. In this country sna; abroad, outside as well as. Inside of JewiT$M aro worning ror tne realization or mo "'""rva 1st program. Great statesmen, politician j and authors the world over have not oniy,-i given tneir consent to Zionism, out. s BPtlvetv ilinnnvllnv I Tk. siiieQllnil of thi J Messiah la n matt,, nt nns'l nffn beliefjl Whlrh (InM nn pnnn.in , The ZlOnUH? organization deals with facts and not y"Ma 'nrnmlftea ' JH Spoonbill Catfish T. Vt T1. iiitmA attmm T,tail of FlStl erlea hAH nn rerteH nf a' nerflimeor related M-- . .... ' -Ll,t !. 1 proauci derived from tne spoonoui -"Jcj na.n, more properly called tne paqos-c, but will make Inquiries. The bureaii sayti'j "So far as we are aware, the names Po'r1 dlefish' and 'spoonbill cat' are appiieo ,''j oniy one American species, polyoaon vJ . mo twaibaum). , This fish has no near m i tlve in this country, and there Is ppjy ; other representative of the family order In any part of the world, vlaV't-J irean-water flan' of China. . The oniyt merclal products, derived from, the pad nth, so jar aa we have a record.') J" 1" "- . -al :-r,c,iry v .rr mJ M4al alaaL '. ;. "?' '.-a .VltJ.V' "f"i""lia gi Mil 5 ... .'::-"'"!": ,- i; '- r ,' '.'.r ' -WinUMAtir- NHu,anu.u,e re.;whlB. la aMMPMa-S ,?, ,l' : ' .-ta., '!-"
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers