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.THE EVENING TELEGRAPH
PUBLIC LEDGER COMPANY
.'ft
CTRU3 It. K. CURTIS, rarslPKNT
Mm II, Ludincton, Vice rresldrnt; John C
1, Secretary and Treasurer: Philips. Collins,
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EDITOniAL BOAIID;
Ctr.cs It, IC Ccitis. Chairman
WTD E. SMILET
Editor
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Manacer
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riilladrlphia. Tur-Jjr. Auiuit 20, 1018
LAST RITES FOR A LIE
h fTlHE interment services held along the
Avro over the "Francc-ls-bled-whlte" 11
, luslon had the merit of complete finality.
, Even Germany must confess that her
' favorite He has been burled.
' The Hun troops In this region were de
0 featcd the other day not by "shock"
legions, but by what are known as "sector
V divisions," composed of men whoso func
tion was supposed to be purely defensive.
The brilliancy of their aggressive attack
- surpassed even French expectations.
b The only thing white about France Is
'the incandescent flamo of lctory which
t refuses to be extinguished,
i- -
4 Hupprccht takes a "acatlnn," Von Cap-
pelle Is retired, Von Hoetzendorff Is shelved
' and hence we sec that, though crops may bo
poor, the canning season Is out for a record
e in Central Europe.
SENATOR HAM DOES IT AGAIN
rpiIOSE In France who know uS by our
- fighting men will be disposed, of course,
" to regard America as a nation most gener
j, ous and brave. Those abroad who are
If forced by circumstances to listen to the
p speeches of Junketing Senators and Con-
rjgressmen are likely to feel that America
w Is the home of the resounding platitude.
,. )'Vt'o shall have no compromise w-lth
despotism," declaimed Senator J. Ham
Lewis at a dinner given him In Paris Im-
fnerltntfiH nffor ji "Imir nf lnnprtlnn" nr
Ej ne ront- That Is the oldest principle In
STtr American pontics, lee u was senator
U2 Ham's message to France, delivered as If
e,lt represented' a new and novel point of
View.
What In the world did Senator Ham
u?h thlnk, that the French were thinking we
'Ivvwthlnk?
v.
! -,,,,. . . ,
, ine aeniai tnac opuin sent any strong
Ultimatum to Germany" suggests that ma) be
aome llberty-lovlng printer merely embel
lished the word "not" with a final "e."
THE REWARD OF VIGILANCE
"fc 46QAFK as a 'suo' soaked sea" suggests
J Itself as a handy simile. Recent re
marks of Herbert C. Hoover attest the
truth of the phrase. Outlining the merits
of the Bystem whereby the llberty-lovlng
tgc nations of Europe will receive the great
fe ' bulk of their food supplies from the
United States this year, the food adminis
trator emphasized "the comparative lm
Jmunlty of the Atlantic lane over all others
from interference by the enemy "
Peril is the best incentive to vigilance.
In selecting the Atlantic as the chief scene
of their U-boat outlawry, the German ad-
5fgfc,mlralty seems to have overlooked this fact,
t? and the reaction agalrtst piracy has been
,5. T mo w44a.nui w, uv iaib-ab uuu lUUSt, CI-
vf ItiM frtmriHftn rt tlir loirrnnf nnrl if.,aV a
fectlve ocean police the worm has ever
seen.
"lt " it ia itpuiicu uiiti jjinijerors wnneim
vf) nu jvari vfuiu ptiito ueiora Lnrisimas
" 3''merlca and the Allies ar dninir thr hct
to oblige.
SCRAPPING THE DESERT'S 'SHIPS"
i rpHE German dream that Important
(f J- enemy vessels would be retired from
trade routes as a result of the war has
"" come true in a way that was never Joy--.
ously contemplated in Berlin. The "ship
w of the desert" Is being scrapped. A dis
patch from Jerusalem describes the rele
O brution of the arrival of the first "broad
h gauge" railvv ay train from Cairo The
news that the Suez Canal Is now crossed
by a fine suspension bridge ts also for
' the first time disclosed.
''Ship me somewhere east of Suez'" no
Jonger calls forth the picture of a lazy
camel caravan The modern mind en
visages a less romantic ticket ofllce where
comfortable passage may be booked for
the Slnal Peninsula, Gaza, Jerusalem and
f-way stations. The new trunk line was
born directly of the war, for English rail-'
- 1 A 1I . .
mo nuuj3 iiiaiLiuiiK 10 victory jn jeru-
ty, -'Baiem in me last. 01 ine crusades.
f4 tS ' It is not, however, war, but the civilized
lSj peace to come after it which will profit
most by the wonderful new Egypt-Pales-
?.t jtine railway. Unquestionably. Jerusnlpm
itor centuries a laggard among historic
LHowns, s now destined for a modern de-
mveiopment, similar to that which has trans-
reformed Cairo.
Ls TJie isolated short line from the Holy
jijMty to the port of Jaffa was ah Insuffl-
rvfAVJeni mairuiueni vi progress, ine nucleus
?o?-a. great railroad system which will revc-
The
i, Moslem built .Damascus - Medina line, a
;jargo part 01 wmen is now controlled by
'the new
ite of
jfictor In,
Independent and anti-German
Arabia, will be an Important
th desert network.
Qrcus camels will be more plentiful and
r.A.wono remaue can spare these
L'fro its tratic'.UnM without a.
'WMmhs;
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TAX THE PROFITEERS
But Congress Must Firt Be Sure That It Is
Mulcting the Guilty
rpHAT figures don't lie, but that linrs
" dan figure, is ono of the trite aphor
isms of the literature of statistics.
No ono is inclined to chnrge the clerks
who prepared tho report of the Treasury
Department on profiteering with delib
erately lying. There is n w'desptcad
feeling, however, that the report does not
tell the whole truth, and that it is there
fore misleading.
No ono doubts that theie has been
profiteering, but no expert accountant
will admit that it is possible to discover
what business man has been making nn
unfair profit nnd what business man has
been earning merely a fair return on his
business merely by computing the per
centage of profit on tho capital invested.
The men who have gone into the busi
ness of making munitions on a "shoe
string" -and are accused of making large
percentages in profits may or may not
be guilty of profiteering. Jt is impossi
ble to decide on the evidence so far made
public.
What the country wants to know is
whether the manufacturers of munitions,
the shoe manufacturers, the flour mill
ers, the garment makers and all the rest
have been charging a fair price based on
the cost of production, regardless of the
capital invested in their business. If the
pi ice is not fair, if an exorbitant per
centage above the cost of production has
been charged, then there has been
profiteering. But if a manufacturer has
made, say, $75 on every $1000 worth of
munitions or clothing or shoes or flour
that he has turned out he is guilty of no
offense which would justify any one in
pillorying him as a profiteer.
Tho basis of computation of profits
adopted in the Treasury Department
statement is not wholly trustworthy
without corroborating and amplifying
facts. It is up to Congress to get at the
truth in fairness to the business of the
country.
Tho program seems to be for the
House of Representatives to jam tho
Kitchin bill through, with its provisions
for heavy taxes on excess profits and on
war profits, without any inquiry to dis
cover whether those taxes will work in
justice to legitimate business. It will be
the duty of the Senate, therefore, to
make such an inquiry into tho amount
of tho annual overturn in the businesses
to be taxed and into its relation to the
profits earned as will enable it to form
some sort of a defensible conclusion as
to the justness of the extremely heavy
taxes proposed in the bill.
The man who seeks to get rich out of
this war deserves no sympathy, but it is
useless to shut our eyes to the fact that
many men will make fortunes out of it.
It is admitted that after the money has
been made the Government is justified in
taking a large part of it by taxes upon it
in order to help pay the cost of the war.
But we should not fall into the error of
assuming that because a company with
a capital of $1,000,000 has made $1,000,
000 profit on a $10,000,000 annual busi
ness it is guilty of a crime. American
business men as a class are not crimi
nals. They are as patriotic as American
Congressmen.
What the country desires is a fair tax
law which will raise the needed revenue
by distributing-.the burden as widely and
as equitably as possible. The man in
the street knows enough, about what the
economists call the repercussion of taxa
tion to understand that if the shoe
manufacturer, for example, has to pay a
tax equivalent to twenty-five cents on
every pair of shoes he produces the tax
will appear in the retail store in the form
of an increase of fifty cents or one dol
lar in the price of a pair of shoes. If
any one doubts this all he has to do is
to recall that when the coal operators
had to pay the miners about five cents a
ton more for mining coal the consumer
was compelled to pay twenty-five cents
more a ton when the coal reached this
city.
At the best, the taxes which Congress
is proposing to levy on the manufactur
ers of commodities in general use will
be handed on to the consumer doubled if
not trebled. Thus the country will be
compelled to pay the tax two or three
times over at the least, while the national
Treasury gets it only once.
If Congress would levy some form of
a consumption tax, to be added to the
retail price when the article is sold, the
country would have to pay the tax only
once,' and the possibility of such tax
profiteering by the manufacturer and
middleman would be lessened.
But in any event, every business man,
great and small, and the public at largo
are entitled to know what justification
there is in the charge made by inference
in the Treasury Department statement
that our industries have been making
excessive profits. When the charge is
proved then the profiteers can be mulcted
of their gains with no injustice done to
any one.
That even low shoes will be high this
year Is at once ono of the saddest and truest
of paradoxes
RIOTS AND CHRYSANTHEMUMS
LIKE every other civilized country, Japan
J considers its form of Government Ideal
for Its peculiar needs. The system of ad
ministration in Japan is founded upon a
nice adjustment of racial trends, religious
leanings, resources, geographical environ
ment, tradition and inherited pride with the
national goals.
Toklo has aimed to make ordered gov
ernment a progressive and flexible science.
It has recognized, as every othsr admin
istrative system must recognize, that the
factors of race, character and geography
must always dominate over merely ab
stract theory. It has clung fast to many
ancient princlnAs including class and
IOMand &cpeifM poverty The outside
.-it
EVENING PUBLIC LEDGER
world looks with various emotions at
Japan. It regards with admiration and a
touch of nwe tho placidity of Japanese
existence and often Is willful in its con
templation of the peace and color, tho
poetry and the contentment that are per
ceptible everywhere in a country where no
llfo Is so hunibls as to surfer tho allllctlon
of ugliness oj ungraciousness In Its en
vironment. Patriotism among the Japanese
is as deeply rooted as religion. And yet
tho country Is being torn by food riots 1
Even the closplv woven llfo of Japan Is
not adequate to leslst In tranquillity tho
stupendous reactions of tho war. Tho food
riots in the various cities are, howover, no
sign of governmental weakness or of Im
pending confusion of a more serious sort.
What Is being witnessed In tho Mikado's
country Is of far more significance to tho
observer abroad than to tho people who
rioted because they were hungry. Tho
Japancso have Inherent pitrlotlsm, philos
ophy and simple needs to mako their
courso easier, and jet they havo not been
ablo to resist the lnioads of the interna
tional dlscaso of profiteering. They, too, J
have been overwhelmed at tho prospect of
easy money. Tho get-rlch-qulck theory
rushed tho minds of tho people. They
couldn't help themselves. But they will.
Because humanity learns only by experi-,
cnco. And its means of defonso are Its
laws, which are the result of experience.
Japan's food riots, therefore, show that
human nature everywhere Is pretty much
alike and that It must always bo suscept
ible to direction nnd to discipllno of a sort
devised out of common experience for the
common good. I'ntll wo have been bet
ter civilized, men will not bo proof against
temptation. The collective will of a na
tion directed In tho Interc-ts of all sorts
of people must make Itself felt In emer
gencies. Russia In one way, America In
another. Japan In stll' another way show
more vividly every di that law Is neces
saiy to justice, that most people and most
classes become tyrannical with power nnd
that an accepted rule and balance, founded
on a just view of richt nnd wrong, is
necessary to maintain society In a stato
of stability.
Germany reduced her bread ration yes
terday, but there Is (.till plenty of food for
thought In tho Central Kmplre.
Tho Kaiser's anxiety
This My to get his men out of
i:plnln It the trenches byChrlst-
111 is may bo duo to a
fp.ir that If he doesn't succeed he may have
to put In the babies.
THE STILL, SMALL VOICE
VXTHY Is It that the bank cashier always
says to us, even before he looks at
the check, "will you have It In ones?"
Lines to a Familiar Music
O why, O why should my little coal bin
Still bare and empty be?
O why, Mr. Garfield, have you sent
No chestnut, egg or pea?
Months with an It, now rapidly op
pioachlng, arc notable for other things
besides oysters coal shortages, for ex
ample. When My Ship Conies In
Years ago I used to say:
This I'll do and that I'll do
If my ship comes in today.
With gold to spend and give away
That was ere I had met you.
Then remember how we planned,
Sitting in the summer glow.
What dream-riches we'd command
When our treasure ship would land
That was ere you had to go.
Now there's but one ship for me.
Just n transport, battered, too;
But what gladness there will be
When peace flashes o'er the sea
And my ship comes in with you!
T. MORRIS LONGSTRETH.
William Blake as a Prophet
The New York Times has called atten
tion to the fact that ono of William
Blake's engravings to illustrate Dante's
Inferno shows a fiend whose face looks
remarkably like that of tho Kaiser.
An equally interesting forecast seems
to us the following passage In Blake'3
"America, a Prophecy," published in 1793:
Solemn heave, the Atlantic waves between
the gloomy nations,
Swelling, belching from Its deeps red
clouds and raging fires.
Albion Is sick' America faints! Enrag'd
the Zenith grew.
As human blood shooting Its veins all
round the orbed heaven,
Red rose the clouds from the Atlantic In
vast wheels of blood,
And In the red clouds rose a Wonder o'er
the Atlantic sea
Intense ! naked ' .1 Human fire, fierce glow
ing, as the wedge
Of iron heated In tho furnace ; his terrible
limbs were lire,
With mjrlads of cloudy terrors, banners
dark, and towers
Surrounded heat but not light went thro"
the murky atmosphere.
This may certainly bo conceived as a
very Impressive vision of the tiubmarlno
pestilence and the gathered lightnings of
American vengeance. And Blake's poem
goes on to a remarkable passage which
also predicts the American Civil War. The
pnly difficulty about tho prophecy, which
stultifies it for these days, is that Blake
also seems to foreshadow a war of exter
mination between England and America.
After all, one has to take prophets In
small doses.
Tom Edteon, John Burroughs and Iaii.V
Ford haie gone on their annual fishing
trip and taken Vd Hurley along with them.
Ed has slid so many things into the water
lately it seems only fair he should take
something out in return.
In answer to the old query "Is life worth
living?" it might be retorted it depends
upon the flivver.
The Kaiser has called on a "retreat spe
cialist" to take charge of the German
armies on the Bomme front. If he is a
specialist now he vMll he an expert ot the
time roch gets through with him.
The Fat in the Firing Line
Sousa has written a new march called
"Solid Men to the Front," and is playing
it at Willow Grove. Does that eighteen-toforty-flve
draft refer to waist measure
ments as well as age?
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- PHILADELPHIA, TUESDAY, &UGKJST
Lullaby for a Baby Tank
(Apologies to Lord Tennyson)
CQUAT and low, squat and low,
Tank of the western front,
Feared by foe, bravo Gouraud
Welcomes thy features blunt.
Over tho rugged trenches go
Crawling from Soissons or Belleau,
Trundle foreshortened runt.
Creep, my little one, over each brittle.
Hun, creep.
Creep and rest, creep and rest,
Rest on the Teuton's Iocs;
Sleep, sleep on the Franco we'll keep,
Victory bring thee repose.
Lie in thy cradle a crater depressed
Deep as German hopes in tho west,
Sunk in their August woes.
Sleep, my gritty one, wee, unpretty one,
sleep.
H. T. CRAVEN.
VACATIONING IN 1918
By Raymond G. Fuller
SEVERAL weeks ago, jou may remember,
I promised myself aloud and In your
piescnce, Mr. Editor that I would write
some artldeB for your editorial page. Of
course, I knew that there was gravo danger
of wasting my time, for you never seem to
be hard up for good stuff to print, but tho
literary urge and the fact that Fred B
(deleted by the censor) hadn't paid back
the ten-spot he borrowed and hasn't yet,
for that matter combined to spur me on to
action. And where aro tho precious manu
scripts now? In my trunk nnd where that
Is only heaven nnd the United States Rail
way Express Company havo any means of
Knowing, and the express company maintains
a silence which I am forced to construe as
Ignorance. My only consolation Is the
thought that Heaven knows.
SO I can't send jou the manuscripts until
the trunk comes. A man In the smoking
compartment of the sleeper told me 1 ought
to have had It checked and sent as baggage.
He got on at Northampton and said ho had
waited tlnro months I think it was for
an express ptikage from New York. It may
havo arrived on the train by which ho left.
Tho trunk supposedly was shipped from
Philadelphia only ten days ago, and my
vacation is up In ten days more. I had to
stay In the house jesterday while the tailor
was pressing my suit of clothes. He Informed
me over the telephone, when I called him up,
that four men had recently come to town In
tho same boat that Is, being Interpreted,
with no trunk and no extra suit to wear.
Cost la guerie, as they say In France.
In other words, we aro living my wife
and I In a suitcase, and having a grand
and awful time.
WE HAVE been traveling, you see. This
Is my wife's homo town, but not our
destination. If the trunk comes tomorrow we
aro going to Greenwood Lakothe following
day. All her middy blouses and all my fish
ing tackle are In that trunk. (Also the
manuscripts.)
AS I said, we havo been traveling. Not
.far not to the Rockies, nor jet to the
Sunny South but wasn't It Thoreau who
wrote that a man could travel without ever
going outside of Concord? Or was It Emer
son? Neither of them, however, could keep
away from Boston. Everjbody, even now,
goes to Boston. We didn't go to Boston
on this trip. It wasn't necessary, as we used
to live there.
WE MADE the journey from Btandyvvlne
Summit to our West Philadelphia apart
ment In a friend's automobile, starting on
a Monday morning. It was nearer noon than
morning. Did jou ever start an where by
automobile with a party and start at the
time planned on the preceding evening. No,
jou never did.
ON TUESDAY wo packed the trunk, put
ting in everything we expected to need
In camp at Greenwood Lake. (Also tho
manuscripts, which awaited a few finishing
touches.) In the afternoon I called up tho
Pullman ofllce nt Broad Street Station to
engage chairs on tho 1 o'clock train Wednes
day. I learned that the world moves and that
you can't get reservations by telephone any
more. It was raining hard, so J. let tho mat
ter drop with the receiver, and we traveled
to New York In a plain, ordinary coach next
day and had a seat together.
WE DIDN'T stop In New York any longer
than we had to. We saw a conductorette
while riding across town. At the Grand Cen
tral we got some Ice cream, but no Pullman
chairs. At Bridgeport we saw the Reming
ton Works from tho" car windows. Bej'ond
Bridgeport we saw five ships building on the
ways. At Springfield we changed trains,
with no time to spare. , On the northbound
train we secured sleeping berths and thanked
our lucky stars, but we'd have gone on to
old Verrhont If we had had to sit up all
night.
The conductor Informed me that my B.
and M. and C. V mileage books left over
from last jcar wee no good, not having
received the Government's official O. K. I
counted my cash, and ho took it and put if
in an envelope. But, I gave the various rail
road and Pullman conductors encountered en
route a good run for the monej At the last
junction point, at 4 o'clock tn the morning,
the C. V. conductor was still figuring the
sum total of carfare, extra fare, Pullman
faro and war tax when the station was
called. He followed me Into the branch-line
train to convince me. No, there wasn't any
quarrel. Everything was straight. Merely
this: I am no mathematical prodlgj. I re
ceived thlrty-Blx cents and four ten-cent re
bate slips In tho envelope In which my small
fortune had been deposited when we left
Springfield. C'est la guerre!
CASUALTY lists from France boys we
know or whose people we know boys
that went to school to iny wife sons, broth
ers, husbands, sweethearts of sweethearts.
Some dead, some wounded Boj-s from right
here in Barre. Right across the street.
C'est la guerre.
The neighbors have shown us letters that
they havo received from the boys over there.
..... Inln.aatlnt. lull... Vi. .... ,!...
iney uru iiucisauui, ..., wm juuia imuii
interesting, for they are significant by reason
of the spirit they express. They are all
cheerful, some of them humorous. Somehow
they make a man feel small and mean even
a man whose staying at home is obligatory.
People are talking about the new draft.
It concerns me, as I shall be one of the
registrants next month
There's no apathy over the war up in this
... m .(.a luinnl.v Tim r.lt ahm.. .,... ,,.
nccK oi urn ,wM....rf. -.. v..i,.ciuy uuii i una
war any better than they ever did, but they're
behind this war in good earnest. There
seems to be a sort of consecration among
the people, and yet, at other times, thelid
seems to be the feeling of the young recruit
who was congratulated on his supposed de
sire to help make the world safe for democ
racy. "Hell ! that ain't it," he responded. "I
want to get the boche that said the Ameri
cans couldn't fight!"
POSTSCRIPT I am finishing this letter In
weather as hot as the weather was when
I was writing those manuscripts. Those
manuscripts If genius Is 80 per cent perspi
ration ought to Be Important documents.
The title of one is "Free Verse in the Light
of Poetry." Another Is called "William
Hohenzollern in the Shadow of Hell." Sorry
I can't send them, but I've just received
word that the trunk Is still In Philadelphia,
ARE we going camping? Oh, yes; there
.are some clothes we can borrow, and
some we qin buy, and some we can do with
out The gospel of doing without is popular
these days, you know. There is one thlnr
my wife and I cant oo -witnout
this year.
and that la oreenwooa ik.
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JOYCE KILMER
By Christopher Morlcy
I WONDER if there is any other country
where the death of a young poet is
double-column front-page news?
And if poets were able to proofread their
own obits, I wonder if any two lines would
have given Joyco Kilmer more honest pride
than these:
JOYCE KILMER, POET,
IS KILLED IN ACTION
which gave many hearth a pang when they
picked up the Pudlic Ledqeh last Sunday
morning.
JOYCE KILMER died as he lived "In
action." He found life Intensely amus
ing, unspeakably interesting; his energy
was unlimited, his courage stout. He at
tacked life at all points, rapidly gathered
its complexities about him, and the inore
intricate it became the more zestful he
found It. 'Nothing bewildered him, nothing
terrified. By the time he was thirty he
had attained an almost unique position in
literary circles. He lectured on poetry, he
interviewed famous men of letters, he was
poet, editor, essayist, critic, anthologist.
He was endlessly active, full of delightful
mirth and a thousand schemes for outwit
ting the devil of necessity that hunts all
brainworkers. Nothing could quench him.
He could turn out "copy" in any
emergency. When he was run down by a
train in New Jersey, he continued dictat
ing from his bed in the hospital, and his
weekly article for the New York Times
reached the printer on schedule.
BUT beneath this whirling activity which
amused and amazed his friends there
lay a deeper and quieter vein which was
rich in its own passion. It is not becomlngV
to prate of what lies in' other men's souls;
wo all have our secrecies and sanctuaries,
rarely acknowledged even to ourselves.
But no one can read Joyce Kilmer's poems
without grasping his vigorous idealism, his
keen sense of beauty, his devout and sim
ple religion, his clutch on the preclousness
of common things., He loved the precarious
bustle on Grub street; he was of that ad
venturous buoyant stuff that rejects hum
drum security and a pelfcd and padded life.
He always insisted that America Is tho
very shrine and fountain of poetry, and
this country (which is Indeed pathetically
eager to take poets to Its bosom) stirred
his vivid imagination. The romance
of the commuter's train and the sub
urban street, of the delicatessen shop
and the circus and the snowman In the
yard these were the familiar themes
where he was rich and felicitous. Many
a commuter will remember his beautiful
poem "The 12:45," bespeaking the thrill we
have all felt in the shabby- midnight train
that takes us home, yearning and weary,
to the well-beloved hearth:
What love commands, the train fulfills
And beautiful upon the hills
Are these our feet of burnished steel.
Subtly and certainly, I feel
That Glen Rock welcomes us to he.
And Btlent Rldgewood seems to stir
And smile, because she knows the train
Has brought her children back again.
We carry peopjo home and so
God speeds us, wheresoe'er we go.
The midnight train is slow and old,
But of It let this thing be told,
Tn its hleh honor be It said.
It carries weary folk to bed.
TO A man such as this, whose whole
. fervent and busy adventure was lit
within by the lamplight and firelight of
domestic passion, the war, with its broken
homes and defiled Banctlties, cam as a
personal affront. Both to hut hunter for
20, 1918 ; ' V - - -y - ' y.lB' '' ,v 1
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the glamour of such a colossal drama, and
to his sense of what was most worshipful
in human life, the call was irresistible.
Counsels of prudence and comfort were as
nothing; the heart-shaking poetry of this
nation's entry into nn utterly unselfish
war burned away all barriers. His life
had been a fury of writing, but those who
thought ho had entered the war merely to
make journalism about it were mistaken.
Only a few weeks ago ho wrote:
To tell the truth, I am not Interested In
writing now adays, except In so far as writing
Is the expression of something beautiful.
And I see daily nnd nightly tho expression
of beauty In nctlon Instead of words, and
I find It more satlsfactorj". I i.m a sergeant
In tho regimental Intelligence section the
most fascinating work possible more
thrills In It than In any other branch, ex
cept, possibly, aviation. Wonderful life!
But I don't know what I'll be able to do
In civilian life unless I become a fireman!
A8 JOURNALIST and lecturer Kilmer
Xi. was copious and enthusiastic rather
than deep. He found a good deal to his
own secret mirth women's clubs and
peetry societies sitting earnestly at his
feet, expectant to hear ultimate truth on
deep matters. His humor prompted him .to
give them t,he ultimate truth they craved.
If his critical Judgments were not always
heavily documented or longr pondered, they
were entertaining and pleasantly put.
The earnest world of literary societies and
blue-hosed salons lay about his feet; he
flashed in it merrily, chuckling inwardly
as he found hundreds of worthy people
hanging breathless on his words. A kind
of Kilmer cult grew apace; he had his fol
lowers and his devotees. I mention these
things because he would have been the
first to chuckle over them. I do not think
he would want to be remembered as having
taken all that Bort of thing too seriously.
It was all a delicious game part of the
grand Joke of living. Sometimes, among
his friends, he would begin to pontificate
in his platform manner. Then he would
recall himself, and his characteristic grin
would flood his face.
AS A Journalist, I say, he was copious;
. but as a poet his oong was always
prompted bj; a genuine gush of emotion.
"A poet Is only a glorified reporter," ho
used to say; he took as his favorite as
signment the happier precincts of the
human heart. As he said of Belloc, a true
poet will never write to order not even
to his own order. He sang because he
heard life singing all about him. His three
little books of poems have always been
dear to lovers of honest simplicity. And
now their words will be lit henceforward
by an inner and tender brightness the
memory of a gallant boy who flung him
self finely against the walls of life. Where
they breached he brpke through and waved
his sword laughing. Where they hurled
him back he turned away, laughing still.
1ET us spare his memory the glib and
J customary dishonesty that says "He
died as he would have wished to." No
man wishes to die at least, no poet does.
To part with the exhilarating bustle and
tumult, the blueness of the sky, the sun
light that tingles on well-known street
corners, the plumber's bills and the edi
tor's checks,, the mirths of fellowship and
the Joys of homecoming when lamps are
lit all this is too close a fiber to be stripped
easily from the naked heart. But the poet
must go where the greatest songs are
singing. Perhaps he finds, After all, that
life and deatb are part of wi mm irnynMj
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When We Come Back
WHEN wo come back, remember
the things wo planned to do:
The little house upon the hill with room
enough for two,
The casement with the ivy, the grass so
soft and deep,
The singing roof where drops of rain
would lull the night to sleep.
You said you'd hold me tight and never let
mo trr firrnlti-
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luua hiss eucn scar upon suy tan aiiu
every mark of pain; A
When wo come back, remember you , J
laughed when it was said
I might be out an arm, but you would hug
me twice instead.
I'll know you will have suffered far more
than even I,
I'll know the sleepless nights when you
could only walk and cry.
Remember, proud of heart, dear, if I should
chance to fall,
You'd rather I had not come back than
never go at all
When we come back, remember
the things we planned to do:
The little house upon the hill with room
enough for two,
The casement with the ivy, the road
winding track,
The little houso upon the hill, and
and when we come back.
Charles Divine in "City Ways and Com
pany Streets."
Nobody Gives a Tinker's Dam
It is a desperate undertaking at this sea
son for any ambitious candidate to seek to
arouse popular Interest In politics New.
York World.
Not to Mention the 4Ss
The thirty-five and forty year old fellows
who have been expressing regret, that the age
limit prevented them from going Into the
army are not looking as happy now as they
did a short time ago. New Orleans States.
Must Feel Like Doing Something
No doubt the Kaiser will soon think of
exempting the Crown Prince from military
service on the ground that he has a dependent
wife and children. Cleveland Plain Dealer,
What Do You Know?
QUIZ
Who Is the present Chancellor af Germaajf
What l plbroth? .
Who la tho rommander of tho Amorieaa '
troops In Siberia?
What was tho real name of Mark Twain?
Who aald"Womnn will be tho last thins elf-
lllird br man"?
What ronntrr In the world produce the satse
coffee?
What Is a winch?
Who was Vice Tresldent under Taft?
What is a touare?
Why are actors called Thespians?
Answers to Yesterday's Quiz
Henry Waterson rcrentlr retired from th
active editorship of the Louisville Cornier
Journal, Copra Is the dried kernel of the coco-nut.
The Don Cossacks are so called because (
their residence In the country drained by
the ifivrr uon. in me aouinern pan
Russia.
Asteroids are small, Irrrcularlr shaped plan
ets, lylm between Jupiter and Mars.
, General McClellan ns tho Democratic can
didate for l'reoldrnt defeated br Lincoln la
tho election of 1S04.
, Newark' Is (he lariest city In New Jersey.
, The small Islands of M. Pierre and MIqmIm
form the only North American poaaeaalen
of Krunie. They lie off tbo southeast ceait
of Newfoundland.
The line, "The DJths of dory lead but. to the
crave," occurs In dray's "Xlerr,"
The stlnthan. formerly the llamburr-Aasef-
ican uner vuieriaua, is mo urges pbmb an
lha urnrld
Carmen Hi Ira U the ten name of the n)Ya)ss W
jUowaacr at KuanaiiU. wtdaw at'Kli;JH
' Charles I. Hhe Is HstlninUka a . tM
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