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f APUILIC LEDGER COMPANY
LflWTlwi H. T.udlnalon. Vie-, rrealdent: John C.
run. secretary ana Treasurer) rnmpn. "'
n Williams, jonn -.1. spurjeon, uirrc.ur,..
iif KDtToniAi( noAno:
. .nua If, is., iCBTia, cjnairman
VID B. SMILE?
Editor
N C. MAnT.N....Oencral nmlne-a Manater4
Publl-h-d dally at fraiio T.rnflrn Tlulldlni.
T.Wxitn Cbmui Broad and t'heatnut Streets
rH
news nunKAUs:
k.-i"'tWnniicTo.- ntnriB.
Fai ?.- ! E- ror- Pennsylvania
V&fMMWV BDItlC
Ave. and 14th St
..The. Sim nulldlne
b,'TUVria Citt.... Prr-n-Union miuuinc
Kflw TotK ;oO Metropolitan Tower
BteTiioiT 405 Foist Bui d nr
fSr.jT. Irttii , ioo Kullerton liulldlnr
t8ICAeo. 1202 rrititme llulldlns
r'y'Wf.JUlMNDov BgitiD., London Times
fSHa! f,4'V fi Uta.vivo Piano I.rnacn learned to nib-
V WW frhM.n. , ..a . a - .- i . ,1. . .... .a
.-J.,wz,w, .
ja j wv-iweij. in t mianeipma nna mrrouiiuim. vui.t
Saw? ' ,he ",e of twelve (t.M cents per week, oajable
. .&' to the carrier.
r erVM'. tB-v m" to points out-M- of Philadelphia In
I J United states. Canada, or United Htntea rs
K '?;, alona. iim tree, tlfty I rn centa p-r month.
it!,iK no Bomn per year, pajaDie in on
.sh Tot"11 foreign count rle- one l) dollar per
l "XJ month. ,
,'1IHC Noncr Subnerlhera vrlhlne add'eas rhaliseil
fVVN1j.'lnuat 8le olrt we" "" ' addre-
T!, HEM . JOon WALNUT KE.STOM . MUN 3o
ftt?iy--
VfeW t2T Aildrrtli ntl omintvnlmllniK In Kr'vlno Public
S.'(V t-rli)'r. mfi-nenn'CTce flgwnre. PltllaMpMa
ENTtRKD AT THH PtltLAPKLrflU rOST OlUCf A
arroNB ria tn. mhih.
JWv rhilldflphl., fdnndy. June 1". lI
.fit . . . . ..
mt ' -- -
. SJ - THE MAYOR ST NUS FROM UM1KR
.?&THyTAYOn SMITH ery properly objects to
w t oviipiunu.r mi iiuuiijiiif. vv.m....
KJvjt, the contractors, olnp to nv .oiuinion1",
i'V'a.'K? hin fftiinrt Imnnsslblp tn fulfill wltllOllt
rf' ttanw ln-a Ato- mftll lm hfl0 ri1irM!rOlI
'aJ v ......t- ..v - ---r.--r--
l; jjpTfj- to ao Dusines wiin me cn
liar Kicn
?' hon
Mn.oi ) bomlitiR
5SJM cotnpany. If thej fall to mnKe pooil the
?V7"i bondlnc comnatu must rcimbiirsr the elt.
JCKlffS i .-, . . ttlll.t !. 1.....lt
fctLjiv i inctr conirauiH hip nuiimru int- uuuuuif,
J(XT7' company win eautjie nu irajiuimiujuu
s&MVr The Maor has askeil the rin.incc Coni-
'""Tnittee to iccommend tho passace ot nu
$$'&&? ordinance placing all responslblllt for ilcal
pi,ji Ins with contractora In the ptrycut eccp-
iYj 4!ntia1 rnnfUtlnns tinntl Pnlinrlls itself
"WhcHier contiactois who dlstmci tli.U
Im they liae mndo a bail lurcaln shouM lip
BrCyA allowed to back out Is -if' debatable m""-
fel'.,WV. trt T-tit f1irtn cm lin tin .lljancrrornifn t
Kynlj nn tho t.ronosition that no ni.m who has
, ,j r-.
had any thine to do ulth bondlni; thnn
should be allowed to hne any n whethei
IVF t . t.l 1.- f.... 1 t.. Ilia. ,,,. If. Illflll
contract or not.
Eerj tlmp thn Knlaor lauds his war
jilmn thoM of our loa nt the flout riow
keener and more accurate.
FOX AND nil'AKTISANbtllP
GOVERNOR BKUMBAUHU has np-
- pointed l.dwln J.
Ko, :i Demon nth-
lawyer of lSaslon,
bmch.
to the Kuptpmc Court
Sir. Fox Is said to hap Iipcii i pi out
mended to the Governor bv A. Mitchell
Palmer, to hom the position was offered
Mr. Palmer Is 11 reorKUiilzatiou Demo
crat, opposed to the nllllintlon of his party
with the Penrose Republican organization
Mr. Bri.mbjUKh is nfllllated with tho Ki-
b?. niihllrnn far:tlon onitosed to tho Penrosn
EMi.').-, arranlzation and he has madfc few aDnolnt-
pSieS' vBients which were not approved by the
lleSK The curious will at once becln to wonder
Swvwhetli(r the Vare faction Is attempting to
'VJi Dringr atout an alliance wan the uenio-
cratlc reorganizers.
Thn Kltimtlnn la nno uhlpli ch.mlil hpi(a
&
C'i the Interest of the Democratic leadeis mpnt.
K!S- lnB hi Harrlsburp today.
V&VSJ- i
"i?X The fourteen brldses which the Aus-
V? trlans have thrown across tlie Plave may
prove decidedly useful for tho return trip.
A JOB FOR MR. HOOVER
fJ?i"' mUF'.rfE'. c n Irlnil nf nrlnn.lK Inr. I., ,1 l,tnl.
I 'm" " ' ' ... ... I'.i. ii.tii.h iu ..uiiii
' jfr ' the most scrupulous economists cannot
X ohject.
VPjfi" j It Is tho llxlnc of prices to proven t
't'"?0i proflteeriiu;.
jtfwL, ' Tho price of beef has advanced ciht
"-CT& en and "ftcen -"ents -l pound, according
tSSre" n flip put. within n mnnlli I.oir nf Inmh
gjiv,
JL.. .riaji ennn nn ten cents. Vp.il rliiins Htiil
W aL.fvc tlvpr pni.t (nn npnto morn unit nllipi
l'''7T& meats aro hisher.
JJfw There is no adequate reason for these
'KntfWVl-i.1.
f'ifyitn oarint? prices. Mr. Hoover would cam
"fc;, the gratitude of every householder If he
r"rti?trould civn instant attention to the snh.
.virv - - -
F'1 , I I u
SfVt AilVJ litiu lyui. iviiiiiiit:ii iiiu uiv mail
'.lllitf aia.r,,lnnn tr. l.n i.nVlHo.1 In 1II nit.1 I ..
tXwjjj'.ondon uriccs are Uent down at a. reason.
?l? Jab'c flSure' Wo nre oortainly as capable
'&&! a the English or the French to deal w 1th
L' v??" The proflteer Is not tho retail dealer.
Th ti nmn lips tnrtnpr li.iru. .Mr llnnvot
SjI , M . , ,,..,.,
rjand devise a remedy.
Airplanes llyine overhead will attract
little attention after tho shorter-sKlrt
'Uu. -urn
. fuhion begins.
WAR POWER VS. RED TAPE
r Jii .milE deep, direct cut which the Govern.
, '.i
.tJjT -Lment has made through a jungle of red
k tape by the decision to construct at once
.37 7 a new trolley road between Darby and
' i1iMter. which will link tlio latter citv to
.rhlladelphla by a through double-track
'iSJroute, far transcends In importance any
CfenBlneerlng dill.'cultles of the line. It Is
j5j, imperative that both speedier and cheat er
'-jTtmam nmnln !.- lif. nfftA&A a, HiMiennj
llWiapuiiiiuuii uw .uu.u tut. iiiuuDuium
t, workmen engaged in Chester's war ac-
fllvltles, her ships, her Bhells, her rifles.
MThe need for this work has been obvious
t C. 1. !-. V.... .. !... ..n n 1 .1
if.Qr i JU1IK illllCf UUk Ull IlllJUSSa Ul aCftCtl
(obstacles halted tho enterprise.
Tlie whole mass has now been swept
A'aslde by the Government, which goes over
l the top of turnpike, trolley, water, i;as.
electric company franchises and other in-
"j 1Strats along the Chester 'pike, and even to
' nie extent commandeers the power cf
tW.' . .- ..un- c . - . .
xhq l'ennsyivaniu. I'uuuu oerviL-c v.uiniu:s
(Mhn.
JPiich a swift exercise of authority is
. Urtllng, Indeed, but military necessity
itlfles the Federal action and that plea
pfinanswcrable. As the immediate relief
f, congested and Inadequate service could
v0W0 no other way, the Government had
rCnOlce In me matter, xno war mm hi
rkmen had to be served.
rJIrjrUie time all the threads of the ob-
nary a.rf,uinoutn uru jjiicu uij 111c
W4J1 probably bo built. Its completion
-for, November, une jnri;on
k;.b coat" of this unique and
e?li--' "
Efii1.iiSt.r. i. 'id 1
U
L
I INDUSTRIAL VOLUNTEERING
CAN PREVENT CONSCRIPTION
Labor Is Confronted by the Necessity of
Choosing Between Force and Consent in
Engaging in Work lo Help Win War
rpHERE is no escaping cither the logic
or the abstract justice of the war
labor order that has come out of Wnsh
ine;tbn. We have drafted men into the army to
fisht and, if need be, to die. We con
sented to the draft because it seemed to
be a faiier way to raise a big army than
to depend entirely on volunteer enlist
ment. The selective principle distributed
the burden over nil industries and over
all paits of the country'
The drafted men cannot fight success
fully if the war industries, which supply
them with munitions and food and ships
nnd clothing, arc handicapped for lack
of labor. The volunteer system ought to
ptovidc labor enough. It is lo be hoped
that it will do so.
The labor order is intended to dis
tribute the volunteer labor where it is
needed nnd to pi event one war industry
from bidding against another for work
men. It is intended also to induce em
ployers engaged in nonwar industries to
consent to the withdrawal of such pait
of their foice as may be needed to sup
ply the imperative demands of the war
industries.
The order comes as near as possible
to conscripting labor without actually
consciipting it Employers are reminded
that if they do not induce their lnboters
tn volunteer for war work the railroad
management, the fuel administration
nnd the war industries board can inter
foje so successfully with the conduct of
their business that ther will not have
work for thpir men lo do. And labor is
1 (.minded that it can get no work with
out a card from tho Government employ
ment bureaus. All this means that if
the men do not oluntecr they will feel
the arm of the Government about them.
The men who nre allowed to work at
home in order to help win the war ought
to be glad lo volunteer, but there will
hrvc to he 100 per cent volunteering to
pi event the Government taking the logi
cal step of actually consciipting all labor4
and assigning it to industries where it is
needed. When .1,000,0(10 men arc drafted
into an army and sent to France to fight,
.r,000,000 men remaining at home cannot
with justice object to being dtaftcd into
work necessary to keep those fighting
men fed and equipped.
The fact that the. present unsatisfac
tory labor situation was pioduccd by
bungling in the first place docs not help
matters. Labor has been demoralized
by the bidding of one war industry
against another. War conttacts have
been let providing for the payment of
the cosl of production, plus a 10 per
cent ptofit. This arrangement made
some of the contractors indifferent to
economy. The more they paid for labor
the larger would their profit be up lo
the limit allowed. So they offeied ex
travagant wages to unskilled labor, with
the result that men went from one plant
to another seeking more money and get
ting it. Labor was unsettled and pri
vate employers found it difficult to keep
their help, and we ate now confronted
with the necessity of drastic Govern
ment action.
The first result of the new plan ought
to be a scaling down of wages to a rate
that is fair to the taxpayers as well as
to the woikers in nonwar industry. This
will create dissatisfaction among the men
who have been getting big pay, but it
will not diminish their obligation lo
work. It may force the absolute con
scription of all labor.
The possibility of such an outcome is
foreseen in Washington, where they arc
talking of reducing the age limit for
the draft to eighteen years at one end
and raising it to forty-five years at the
other. It is intimated that some plan is
under consideration to force the men
between these ages to work or to fight.
Large numbers of men between thiity
and forty-five years old are said to be
engaged in no useful occupation. Their
services arc needed. If they cannot be
obtained in one way another way must
be found.
1
The nation is determined to win the
war and it will submit to methods which
under ordinary conditions it would fight
to the last ditch rather than accept. The
Administration is aware of the national
temper and it makes its plans with con
fidence. It is unfottunate that anything ap
proximating the conscription of labor is
thought to be necessary. But if we can
not win the war without it we must con
sent to it and make the best of.it. The
decision lies wholly in the judgment of
the President.
Since both food Vnd fares have become
almost prohibitive In price, we may be taxed
for Indulging in luxuries whether we travel
or stay at home this summer.
HOW PARIS KEEPS CALM
TJINDV must feel aggrieved at Parls's
" refusal to get worried. Raiding Gothas,
Krupp monster guns, Rosner's report that
the Kaiser is bronzed and bright eyed, none
of these things disturb the cool Insouciance
of the queenly city.
And now Ilindenburg has lost his last
chance to give the French capital a cr.ji
des ncrs. The fishing season has opened
In France. Once more the Seine is line 1
with philosophic anglers. On the quays
and bridges, along the Hlc gauche where
the bookstalls are, leaning over the para
pets with bamboo poles and worms du.;
from hea en knows where, all Paris Is fish
ing. It is the recreation sant parell for
convalescent soldiers, 'It stills the mind
it promotes harmony of all the goodly""
faculties. It arouses cppetlte, its drowfty
languor is sweetened by excellent tobacco"
The meditative Parisian sits watching hU
cork and Wondering why tobacco imokc
,rf . . -t.I-l.js? .iViiAlF --,"ii-
KtilLk - "? isat-i. P ,.' -t-iJMnMiiiiit
I Uses blue from the bowl but Bray when
w!l! ! . "l8' ,-
The Selno has been sacred to the angler
slnco time unrememberable. Once wo were
wandering through the criss-cross of llttlo
streets on the left bank opposite Notre
Dame. We found a quaint byway running
down to the river and called Hue du Ghat
qil J'cche Street of the Fishing Cat. Even
the cats go fishing Irt the Seine.
The Germans will never shake the morale
of Parilans as long as they can sit along
the river with a rod and line. Fishing Is
a MMtid sedative, Parisian fishing espe
cially, for not within tho memory of man
has the Peine yielded the excitement qf an
avtual fish.
"Kerensky Aid Arrives in Washington,"
sas a headline. But it's still extremely dila
tory about reaching Polrogiad.
AS TO LOOKING GIFT STATUES IN
THE MOUTH
rpiIKRC would have been no squabble In
-- the Senate over the proposed statue of
lames Buchanan if the niece of the former
Pieildcnt had not willed $1 00.000 to pay
for it A grateful nation had not et been
moved to honor him at Its own cxpenae.
But this Is not the first complication that
has betn produced by the eagerness of the
kinsfolk of the conspicuous lo do honor to
tholr dead. There Is not a city of any size
which has not been asked to erect a statue
of ome local celebrity of greater or lesser
desert at the expense of his heirs. And
the public officials have in many Instances
been loath to look a gift piece of sculpture
in the mouth.
tn recent years we have created art
commissions whose duty It Is to examine
all such offerings for springhalt, spavin
and saddle galls, heaves and blind stag
gers, with the lesult that artistically at
any rate our public sculptures have Im
proved. But we have much lo learn in
the matter of the choice of men to honor.
There are statues of many great and near
gieat and so-far-from greatness-that they-nsver-onco-gllmpscd.lt
in this city, but
Stephen Decatur, for instance, lies in a
humble grave In a local churchyard with
no adequately sculptured urn to mark his
resting place.
An art commission to pass on the quality
of the public monuments does not seem to
be enough. There ought to bo n commis
sion to deride who shall be honored nnd
who shall be allowed to remain In merited
obscurity.
LISTENING IN
The Smell of Smell i
T SMKt.T it
if you kno
the other morning I wonder
o)i know the smell T mean?
It had rained bard during tho night, and
tiecs and hushes twinkled In tho sharp
early sunshine like ballroom chandeliers.
As soon as 1 stcppeil out of doors T caught
that faint but unmistakable musk In the
air; that dim, warm sweetness. It was the
smell of summer, so wholly different from
the crisp tang of spring.
It Is a drowsy, magical waft of warmth
and fragrance. It comes only when the
leaves nnd vegetation have grown to a
certain fullness and Juice, and when the
sun bends In hl.s orbit near enough to draw
out all the subtle vapors of field nnd wood
land. It is a smell that rarely if ever can
be discerned in the city. It needs the wider
air of the unhampered earth for Its cir
culation and play.
I don't know just why, but I associate
that peculiar aroma of summer with wood
piles and barnyards. Perhaps because In
the area jof a farmyard the sunlight is
caught and focused and glows with Its
fullest heat and radiance. And it is In the
giasp of the relentless sun that growing
things yield up their Innermost vitality and
emanate their fragrant essence. I have
seen fields of tobacco under n hot sun that
smelt as blithe as a room thick with blue
Havana smoke. I lcnipmber a pile of birch
logs, heaped up behind a barn In Pike
County, where that mellow richness of
summer flowed and quivered like a visible
exhalation In tlie air. . It Is tho goodly
soul of earth, rendering her health and
sweetness to her master the sun.
Every one, I suppose, who is a fancier
of smells, knows this blithe perfume of the
summer air that is so pleasant to the nostril
almost any fine forenoon from mid-June
until August. It steals pungently through
the blue sparkle of the morning, fading
away toward noon when the molstness Is
dried out. But when one first Issues from
thu house at breakfast time It is at its
highest savor. Irresistibly It suggests
worms, and a tin cari'Wlth the lid Jaggedly
bent back, and a pitchfork turning up the
earth behind the cow stable. Fishing was
first invented when Adam smelt that odor
In the air.
.
Tho first fishing morning can't you
Imagine it! lias no one ever celebrated it
in verso or oils? The woild all young and
full of unmitigated sweetness; the Garden
of Eden bespangled with the early dew;
Adam scrabbling up a fistful of worms and
hooking them on a bent thorn and a line
of twisted pampas grass; hurrying down
to tho branch or the creek or the bayou
or whatever It may have been; sitting
down on a brand-new stump that the devil
had put there to tempt him; throwing out
his line; sitting there in the Bun dreaming
land brooding
. And then a tug, a twitch, a flurry in the
clear water of Eden, a pull, a splash, and
the First Fish lay on the grass at Adam's
foot. Can you Imagine his sensations?
How he yelled to Eve to come look see,
and how annoyed he was because she
called out she was busy. ....
Probably It was in that moment that all
the bickerings 'and back-talk of husbands
nnd wives originated; when Adam called to
Eve to come and look at his First Fish
while it was still silver and vivid in its
living colors; and Eve answered she was
busy. In that moment were born the
men's clubs and the women's clubs and the
pinochle parties and being detained at the
oftice and Kelly pool and all the other de
vices and stratagems that keep men and
women from taking their amusements to
gether. Wcjl, I didn't mean to go back to the
Garden of Eden; I Just wanted to say that
summer la here again, even though the
almanac doesn't vouch for It until the 21st.
Those of you who aro fond of smells, spread
your nostrils about breakfast time tomor
row morning; and see if you, detect it.
.' SOCRATES.
."".V.-iSi Si . -3' J.f. - J a (--Ua ,.
JLk"--" . .lia! 'J, .aS .tb
I v . v ., - ' vl I
1 fiV Y' C' tf UT 1
I,awrence Perkins, a nephew of the late
John Lowbcr'Welsh, of this city, volun
teered some months ago for service as a
A. M. C. A. hut secretary in France. He
had had no previous experience In such
work and was doubtful of his success, but
they would "not accept, him In tho army
nnd he wanted to do his bit. Ho suc
ceeded so well In managing his hut near
Toul that nt the request of the officers,
when tho soldiers whom he had been
serving' were moved to the trenches, he
went with them. He suffered severely
from shell shock and was compelled to go
to Paris to recover. Ho was accompanied
from Toul to Paris by Howard Butcher.
Jr., of Philadelphia, to whom be lias
written the following account of his woik
with the soldiers;
T.V "WORKING with the United States
Army Y, M. C. A. In France there is
one great thing that stands out above all
others oppoitunlty. It Is always there,
whether one's work Is a success, mediocre
or a failure. The Y. "M. C. A. gives us Just
that this wonderful opportunity and wo
must do the rest. It gives It to us with
both hands; virtually unhampcied (so
many people seem to think otherwise, and
we must work out our own salvation by
help of our reason, our common sense and,
best of all, our hearts. There can be nb
frills or shams with tho American soldier
In France; It Is the real stuff that counts,
nnd It is Just plain man to man always,
so If he makes Rood and you make good
you both succeed, andilf .you don't you fall,
T KNEW 'little about the Y. M. C. A in
America and Imagined Its viewpoint of
life differed radically from my own, so I
scarcely dared- hope to be accepted as a
secretary for war work In France when'
I offered my services In New York, I told
the committee I smoked, took a drink when
I wanted one, and I am not -sure, but I be
lieve I said I occasionally swore. However,
they gave me my opportunity, for which I
shall ever be grateful.
If
KNEW as little about opening a hut as
did about opening a hotel, but after
two days of being general utility man in a
well-run" hut In i large town t was told I
was to have one of mjown, all my own to
sink or swim by. Iato one October after
noon I was set down from a motortiuck In
a small village In northern Franco with a
load of canteen supplies and a. piano, and
told to "go to It." In a moment I "was
surrounded by a mob of excited boys, and
the piano was being played before It
touched tho ground. It was bedlam! 1 was
deluged with questions:
"Will you help with a mlnstiel show?"
"Did you bring a football?"
, "Do you think wo will be out of this
damned place by Christmas?" etc., etc.
I won't dwell on my struggles and dis
comforts thoso first few weeks. I hato
sweeping a. floor, "and tobacco chewing,
with the usual nccoinpanlmcnt, makes it a
filthy job. Also I still consider trimming
and filling oil lamps an undignified pro
ceeding for a man of more than forty. Tho
boys soon thought so, loo, and came to my
lcscue. My hut was In the loft of a ruined
mill with tho mlllracc running beneath,
a wonderful room with great beams and
deep shadows, full of charm and sugges
tion, nnd it was the happiest of homes to
us all for tho four months wo were there.
My boys were not born with a silver spoon
In their mouths nor with a golden tongue.
Their language was dreadful, luiid. I
thought tho matter over carefully and
reasoned something llko this: It was as
natuial for them to swear as to bieathc.
My Job was to make them as happy as pos
sible, and they could not bo happy unless
they breathed, so I let them swear away,
but I drew the line If' they swore in anger
at each other, I made my greatest bid for
their lespect and affection and I won out,
though It took me weeks to find the key to
some of their hearts. They are all "my
boys" now In overy sense, and I love them
all. the good ones and tho bad ones only
there are no bad ones and I am prouder
of their affection than of anything that
has ever come to me. They call me I.any
and Kid, which is pleasant to hear when
one is moio than forty, and since I have
been with them in the trenches I am known
less elegantly as "I,arry, the Louscr," be
cause of the affection the cooties lutvo
for me,
I
WANT to put down ono or two Inex
pressibly touching incidents among many
that have come to me. One day a young
ster, a meie lad In whom I had taken an
Interest, said: ,
, "Look here, Larry, you, don't know It,
but I huve always been a crook, a thief,
but somehow I guess I won't bo any more."
Then again, Just before Christmas, I was
working on the tree when I was grabbed
from behind and a voice said, "You do
everything for us and we love you," and he
kissed me on the back of my neck nnd was
gone.
EARLY in February tho long-expected
order for active service at the front
arrived, and with It my permission from
the Y. M. C. A. to go with the men. I
have been on two battlcfronts, always with
ythem, whether front-line trenches, sup
port or reserve. My ofllccis have been
goodness itself and have given me every
opportunity. They agree with me that the
moral effect Is very strong In having some
one with those boys, some one who does
not hae to bo there, but who goes as a
friend to live their life and to share their
dangers. When possible. I carried In. sup
plies, sometimes even Into the front-line
trenches, but more often It Is Just for a
chat of mother, sweetheart and home, and
together for a time we can almost forget
the .foul mud, the rat-Infested 'dugouts and
the incessant shellflre.
THIS is the chance for se;vice the Y, M.
C. A. makes possible for us older men,
surely the finest of chances, to do some
thing to make this grim ganye of war less
terrible for these poor boys, many of whom
'have little understanding for what they
are fighting, butie ready to bleed and die
at their country's call. At times the suffer.
Mng and tragedy of It seem more than one
can bear, but It is for all of us to strive
to look ahead as hopefully as we may. One
day I was walking over what had, once
been a green field of fair France, now a
torn and ragged waste from boche shellflre.
Out of the yawnlngcrater of a shellhole a
skylark rose and soared, singlpg, up and
still up until It was but a small cross in
the blue sky, I need say no more.
Uncle Sa'm not only
expects to feed the Al
An Altrubtte
Atlaa
lies, but to give Oer-
many all ot tha bump.
ia"alaaaf VaaiVa balma" aU-AnS. j i-. X .5 it?
JZijmmz,zz:.Z'zr'i??i3at
SS3J
aflBMf"'
a.l.H"??''' aadlB -
. '. If"flHtr.
THE GOWNSMAN
T)OETIC license is a convenient term, de
signed, like charity, to cover a multi
tude of sins. Like charity, too, poetic li
cense Is likely to-begin at home, somewhat
to the disturbance of the home. Bpt unlike
.charity, which is often bedridden and un
able to go abroad, poetic license Is an out
rageous gadabout. In fact, poetic license
gads and egads about everything, ruffling
the icspcctnblo furbelows of Mrs. Grundy
and exasperating all the little rulo-of-thumb
critics who sit In big chairs and tell us how
we ought to do things otherwise.
"POETIC license Is a double-edged weapon
- of offense. It may merely affect what a
man writes or says when he gets hl.s singing
robes on. And tho Gownsman 'may remark
parenthetically that wings and a halo are
not en icgle for all singing robes. Or It
may cut back, this license of tho poetic
temperament, and affect tho poet or shall
we call him tho licensor? It may make
him absent-minded so that he takes or
mistaken somebody elso's Ideas or some
body olse's wife for his own. It may
elevate his thoughts to such a degree that
ho neglects the trivialities of life, such, for
example, as the, payment of the butcher's
bill though possibly this is not so accu
rate a case of poetic license as of poetic
justice In these days when the fleshpots
of Egypt have become a double snare, for
the soul and the purse.
-.
THE art of shocking Mrs. Grundy, like
that of the old masters, seems now Ir
revocably lost. It was at ono time a flour
ishing, often a highly lucrative, employ
ment, as the triumphant successes ln many
fields of Byron, Shelley and Oscar Wlldo
call attest; or I'oe, Whitman and Whistler,
to come nearer home. For each In his
own sweet way ruffled the feathers of re
spectability If respectability Is an old
bird, as seems quite likely; or fluttered the
lawns which deck tho pudgy shoulders of
conventionality to return to Mrs. Grundy
with the poetic license of "pudgy shoul
ders" graciously forgiven. Whether this
excellent old lady, the guardian of our
public conduct If not of our private morals,
has belled the eyes of Argus and fallen
asleep, dropping her lorgnettes In her lap,
or whether old age has actually fallen
upon her, certain It is that she cares less
and less what people do, although she oc
casionally awakes to what they write,
IF YOU aio not possessed 6T genius and
so few of us are tho next bst thing
Isvthe achievement of notoriety. Get your
name In the papers it does not much mat
ter for what. Contrive to have somebody
It does not much matter who call your
book or your speech or your conduct "scan
dalous." Get Postmaster General Burleson
to prohibit you and your wares the use of
the United States malls and, my boy, you
are made. You have emerged, you are at
last visible to the naked eye. And. now, to
keep It up. Do not do things In the man
ner in which other people do them. Any'
man-can attract a crowd on the street by
turning a handspring. It Is not difficult
to turn a handspring; scarcely more too
than to turn a hand-orgap. To leave fig
ures, Qf which the Gownsman confesses
himself as fond as an actuary. If you write
the things which courtesy and title-pages
call poetry, do not rhyme rhyming is difll
cult, but you must call It "hackneyed." Do
not descend to counting syllables; no great
poet ever does, and besides. It Is likely that
you will count wrong. Above all, do not
makyour meaning clear; what has poetry
to da wiin meajns7 Mystery, profunouy,
ia, these are. the thlgf:
!Jri
Ba - ..7 -
ar" -
"I thought they wouldn't let Roosevelt come over."
"They vvouldnt; that was the marines 1"
epigram not epitaph;
enough.
that will come soon
rjlHE greatest triumph In modem art
- which tho Gownsman has ever seen
was a something at a "icbels" exhibition of
rt" In Parlsv under the skeleton shadow
of the ElfTcl Tower. "It" was on a pedestal
In tho center of the sawdust-floored atcHr.r
(this word, to show the reader that his
Gownsman Is on easy terms with French.
uo not imitate too obviously). "It" could
I be viewed from e-ery side, and looked
pretty much tho same from any. Could it
bo statuary? "It" was painted vividly;
varlegatedly, venomously. Could "It" be a
picture? "It" seemed made of pieces of
material curiously bent1 and distorted.
Could "It," after all, be only a species of
ingenious mechanism?
"Ah!" exclaimed a fair Frenchwoman nt
my back, with brightening eyes nnd .hnn,ds
dasped In ecstasy, "C'cst un pocmc r.ivls
aantt" And I was satisfied; the thing was only
poetry, nfter all.
rpHE Qowiisman doulitsnot that the artist,
- the constructor, the plccer together of
"It" was a decent enough person, doubtless
with one wife and that his own and six
or seven children, and addicted to no
gi eater Irregularity, let us hope, thnn a
modicum of stimulant for an Imagination
that must conceive, under the tules of the
new art, a something that never had been
shown heretofore on land or sea. The
poetic license of our day has been trans
ferred from the poet to his works, a blessed
amelioration In the habits of poets and a
boon to all respectable biographers. Who
cars how many commandments anybody
breaks In a book? Who cares If any poet
Is disrespectful to the Westminster cate
chism or flippant about the thlrty-nlno ar
ticles, as was Shelley? Free verse Is more
haimles3 than free love; and delirium tre
mens in plaster or In marble may be some
what hard on the public who become tho
real sufferers, but the perpetrator at least
escapes the fate of Poe.
"pOHEMIA, alas! Is dead with all the dear
-' disreputables who once inhabited Its
hospitable shores. Poetic license, which
once was wont 'to break out In rash con
duct and deck the sinner scarlet; poetic
license, that had Its fling and after the
fever wrought many a great name back to
recovery and fame, now customarily strikes
In, leaving on our literature, our art, our
music, our architecture ever the decadent
symptoms of singularity, egotism, postur
ing, stridency and absencejrof, beauty In
fo'i m. .
"I1THKN the Gownsman began this papej"
he Intended to tell his readers about our
own Ezra Pound, who has defv'ed Into the
poetic past of prehistoric China and as
tounded tlie English In their own. capital,
Mr. Pound Is not la dernier crl of futurism
or even of post-futurism, to say nothing
of cubUtry or paralleleplpedonlsm, Mr.
Pound, the Gownsman is credibly Informed,.
nas squared the circle of all poetry and
stands today In the future 'bf futurism,
where we may appioprlately leave him.
" It the Kaiser will
' An Auut come to Philadelphia
(Ireetlnf ill a month or two, we
" will be glad to let him
have our place In the euu.
Now our Congressmen
Keataiirlng can have a happy,
heedless summer, An.
cording to news from Washington, there is i.
';.''IPough.lrk Tor alL" ,.1J,.' ...A ,. 1 ,.
- T - - ' -, .,;. 1. . - ra. - th .i fi' . ,
-4
s
l'ltzp.itrlclt In the St Louis ro8t-DIpatch?j
THE READERS' VIEWPOINT
A New Yorker Pays His Respects
To the Editor of the Evening Pubhi Ledger:
Slr-r-Apropos of the editorial In today's ;
Imuo of the I.vkmwi Pum.10 LrfixiRn, with' l
lis sarcastic (omments In refnenc-e to Now 1.
York and the so-called idiosyncrasies ofyy
ew- lorKers in general, permit me to slater
that Philadelphia Is not tminuno from atr"J
attacks by German airplanes, with which yoi
state New- York Is threatened.
Even this, however, would not fluster the
slow and leisurely life of Philadelphia. Even
a few bombs dropped over Billy Penn's head
would hardly arouse the Inhabitants Of the
Quaker City from the lethargy with whlchf
tho majority of them are affllcteM. If, as you
state, "ennui Is a plague of summer in the'.
Inexplicable city of Now- York," there Is only
one other place to be compared vvltirthe all-year-round
dullness of Philadelphia, and that
Is a section of "the battlefields In France re- "
cently "gassed," where every one Is uncon-,
sclous. Speaking of gas, -I cannot help but, a
smile when I think of the way the nonf'
chalant '-.Sergeant' Major Ryan" "gassed" the
gullible. City of Biotherly Love. ,
' J. It. MORROW.
1777 Broadway, (New York, June 17.
Clips "Funnies"' for Soldiers
7'o the Editor of the Evening I'ubUc Iirdger: 'I
.511 -. huu.w i.nc iw ,&. .-..mi- iiuiumiini
what species of insect "the young lady arross
the way" belongs to, for, surely, she "reasons
all 1 .. mil.. II.A ... ....I. ....... .. H . .. . I - ' a
not." She hardly has the Instinct of Insects ;aH
yet. In spite of tills fact, I miss her greatly 51
when sho Is hidden. Last Saturday I fell
Komethlngvamlss when finishing- the Evening
Puni.ic Lkdobr, and convinced myself this
morning It was the absenco of our "young'J1!
is my custom every day (before sending ",
the "yestei day's" paper to tho cellar), foP '
iny soldier envelope. By the way, I wonder ,
how many mothers and sistepi do ibis for J I
"some soldier lad? My soldier savs. "PleTuVI
keep sending me funnies from Philadelphia I
papers; anything lo keep me laughing. ;
Well, to continue about "the young lady
across the way," to my Burprlso I saw her In 1
the middle or me page, entirely miasma uer ti
on Saturday. The satisfying "Unit" was
united. So out she came by the scissors ana
Into inv soldier envelope. I keep ono ad-
dressed, and as i-oon as full send It off, 1
addressing another ono for the next three
days' funnies. MRS. J. F, F.
Philadelphia, June 18. '
"Can you tell me, Mr,
A Utile Ilallad Bones, In what! re
win T"niin. siiect the food ndmln-
IsU nllon and the vvarM
labor department aro alike?" "Well, lr.
Tambo, wherein lies the similarity?" "Be- v
cause they are both opposed to much loaf
ing," What Do You Know? .
QUIZ-
CUhat la "tlie litabeat.mnk In the United 1
" Ms lea nuvy anil the. hlihrit crade nw
held
1. Where la tlenern.1 Karrall? A
.1 WIlUl 1M pcrilaUV. .
a .!.-, I- Ik. ...lltl nf Ytat A'lraliilaf 'J
'. What flop-er Jiaa heen mot swrallranrajj
noted aa the floral rinhlem uf the l'hlte3
blule7
6. Who wrote "The Mnrllun"?
7, Who la the (litem ot the lit Ilium.?
. Where, la lbon!
, Whs la Mra. Maud Ilafllnjton llontli?
10. Whut la meant br "nerhilien"?
Answers to Yesterday's Quiz
1 IfH-al.. -.rr Iu .I. r,mlar nf Ilnlvarlfl.
Vre-Unatlon has rerentlx' been minorrd, Z&
I, TUB ewer, a me -lean aeriora in , rranrti a
at Tout In Lorraine an .Monlaidlfr
3. field manual U the hlsheat inlllturjr rtakl
I. V.. ....an.. Ml a Wl
4. nrlaaded. 11 terra ued it filenole the nathaj- '
M-lloii of -ertaln American uaita M 1
French and British dlilalona; . t M
- Ill bBIIM.-il aiail... -
French and lirillah dlilalona.
8, Oenernl von Maltka was the Orrmaii ChW
of Staff In the early dilia of tho war. " I
Is ruim.reil thai lie la to be rettorco I
M I ..V. . , a.
..!.. all.
0. "I.etlr nf rriinoliiiulit runner." fj3j
aerlea of iai;ra i e"-r-) filiation aWEI
rlvan,.i or (ha Catonl-la .irl(ln ?M J
Islm lilrkinwtu a.. .out leu ear urlor :,.
Ib llevolulloii. , p rj
1, t'timii l.. near Wflliltun, .N, J. y
a. IIUc. ia river of Kriinie rl dnr from li
Ireaina and .Honing uiitliwri.t utiti t
v , , Heine, near ( onllaua, - - '-
... .a I a ... . l.t vaa
two rroaldeuta rath (0 tha atloa.-,
Uufnrr Adam wua tho asn of NH M
? t . UMS!UT1fi
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