Evening public ledger. (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, September 12, 1918, Night Extra, Page 8, Image 8

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LIC LEDGER COMPANY
ktTS M. K. CtlnTIS. PsssiniNT
I M. Ludlr.ston, vice President: John C.
P-eiars- ana 'ireaaureri -iuup. wonins,
Illiamt, John J. Spurceon, Directors.
j Y BDtTOMAI. BOARD:
:f Cues It, K. Cams, Chairman
fcVH). SMILET....;
.Editor
re. MARTIN.... General Business Manacer
fMMakM dally at Praua Loom Bulldint,
A ...-.ladcpcndcnce Square. "Philadelphia.
MMkiCa-iTiiL.... Broad and Chestnut Streeta
, pma-union limiuma
,...t....20e Metropolitan Tower
, :. 403 Ford Hulldln
1008 Fullrrton llulldlng
1202 Tribune Uulldins
T ' NEWS BUREAUS !
STOX Bciaic.
iB " DaiinaiilWBiila A oat bi4 1JIK Qt
OBKBcaitiu t The Sun Ilulldlns
snuo i.onuon rimes
qi SUBSCRIPTION TERMS
ijfiTIMMl i'CBLlo L.KDQCK is served to BUD
ira In Philadelphia and surrounding towns
'$
rsie ox iweive u cems per weea, payaDio
vV fcr. mall to points outside of Philadelphia. In
H. united States. Canada, or United states pon-
&
tioni, postage tree, ntty tool cents per montn.
(I) dollars per year, payable In advance.
mssiw
''T.'IKaVth.
foreign countries one isij uouar per
ft'V CTtmcav suoscriBera wisnina oaaress cnansea
Ffjnust give old as well as new address.
?,WLJL M0 WALNUT KEYSTONE. MAIN iOOO
f," ;
ft " AAArtm all communications to Evening Vubllo
E $&! Ledoer, Independence Square, Philadelphia.
lk?K v Member of the Associated Press
S "MTB ASSOCIATED PRESS is cxclu
&,Icm!Iu entitled in thn ttup. Inr renublieation
& Mil-news dispatches credited to it or not
Mertpfoe credited in this paper, and also
t'' local neics published therein.
;;, flouts of republication of special ais-
uicnes nerein are also rcservea.
' flill.dtlplili, Thurid.y. Seplembrr 12. 1913
j'rWE ARE WILLING TO DO WHAT IS
!:f wrrKtnv
sV.mHE exnlanatlons bv tho local fuel con-
P I
R s servator of the greater restrictions put
t'Upqn the consumption of fuel here than In
Li, other cities are only partly satisfactory.
K, The concentration of war Industries here
gJki greater than In New York, for example,
f and necessarily makes a greater drain upon
jf the ordinary supply of power and fuel. This
?( condition compels, the greatest possible
ra conservation of Dower and of fuel which
k'Cinrni'liiPKK. It. Hut there are nersons who
vi'i" . . ". .7 . .... ..: ,,,. . .
K,irin warn to Know wny aw iur. is iiul
liSsliaked .to reduce Its consumption of fuel
!?jS4fT:ertaIn purposes as Philadelphia has
S been compelled to do In order that the coal
ssmvea in xew lorK, wnicn is not ousy wun
Rfwar Industries, may be used here. The
announcement that New York's surplus
Cipower Is to be diverted for use here only
F'!r ., ... .,
byj&vuy answers mis quesuuii.
Kr ''A MnillAnaHAii rt tViA iiloa .AO f r) n 1 1 n rr .tin
-j ..ira.,.u.uvu u ...u .u.-a .v..w....n ...w
ff elevator service In the large buildings,
' which it is announced is soon to be made,
t& mrill .& waWmail no o mnnenra ctf fpnl
mT mjinnmv f ftoftnnmv nf nmvr It l trnp
ir.but economy of the time and consequently
.V erf. the monev of the persons doing business
pfln the big office buildings.
flf i The city has obeyed the regulations of
ROii ifuel conservator, as it will obey any
lv:i&anilBttnni made which seem to be neces-
(Mry to the accomplishment of the task on
gjwhlch we are engaged. But It ought to
aAnaiirpd ihnr thn rpstrlctions nre npe.
BBawiry.
f
pV'. Bulgaria and Turkey, quarreling over the
K'polU,1 Inevitably present the concomitants
yf ' rotten affair.
U'Tl THE WAR IN POLITICS
ST regrettable in the wringlo be-
,lnn Mr. Tnmultv and TVllHam II.
tvs- z1-- . :' ..:.. .
j.Haya, national itepuDiican unairman, aoout
Mth merits of the two parties In relation to
rothe war, are the plain evidences which
ir'that the challenges and charges
i;th"rough which the international situation
zyaavy do urawn, into me neia 01 uomesiic
?',pllUcs nre intended only for the lmpres-
Ssionable and gullible among voters. Jlr.
ffJHavs Is said to have declaimed that the
Democrats would make a "peace of com-
promise" if they were given an opening.
p;'vCr. Tumulty now has challenged him.
"fjf'Thls 'sort of thing is sad or ridiculous.
L according to your point of view. Nowhere
t!;Je any of the utterances of the politicians
re the elementals of the war even, touched.
l' livery politician worth his salt is aware
Et$Mt the issues of the war and the prob-
w.ltms of a peace are for too remote, too
Kilsjyolved, too complicated and too delicate
I"wr, Intelllgeni discussion upon political
rfwjqw .or in political controversies. The
-iinaillir phrases like "war to the limit"
reptil ''compromise peace" that are likely
8J,w"rinT up and down the land in coming
r-JM,'nat orn tint fhp mprpqt Rnrr nf
.'generalities.
wSThe nature of the peace will be dictated
J iL lC- HM.nnln..nA nf nl ..41 to 1... n t. rl nn,
yMSy UIQ MKJlia.in.v ui wiiHiuwii miu iiu.
if J the predilections or a political party.
linly Mr. Wilson Is not in a mood for
l. Ineffectual peace. This is evident. And
it. Tumulty, heckling Mr. Hays, Is open
rVloTa charge of engaging In superfluous
p'iMnployment, while Mr, Hays, on the other
s&iB&na,, ir ne saia wnai ne is saia to nave
fj-jiildj may easily be indicted on a charge
KC,poor Judgment and worse taste.
! s
?! 'Uncle Sam Is not ordinarily superstitious.
i:.tit, today he Is fully prepared to believe in
fojlB thirteen million of 'em.
Kjr .-.
W ANOTHER SUBMARINE FIASCO
rntlB failure 01 tne uerman suDmannes
Vatriously to interfere with the shipment
W$Vnerlcan troops across the ocean Is
.lllttKnite.d by the sinking of a loaded
I ' VMii'nrt off the coast of England on Frt-
rymfternoon, news or which has just
HM mis country, ah me men on
ll'were saved. We have sent more
r'amillIon six hundred thousand men
fcrope and the Germans have been
fcfO.Ket only, two ships with fatal re-
It'JTlio first was the Tuscanla, which
ubk off the Irish coast In February
itjn'tfce loss of only 204 lives, and the
I.Waui a transport carrying men from
I to .trance, uniy nny-nve Amer-
Jt their lives on this. Here is a
Of '259 fatalities out of more than a
..and a half men.
hone considers the desperate at-
at, the Qermans to interfere with
KHiort service this record is so
ter than we had any reason to
that' the "Navy, Department, which
charge of convoying the ships.
i the highest praise.
'there' will be rejoicing In Ger-
the latest attack on a troop-
, peisorted there. The truth will be
mtt .the, German high command
tM,nodent no consolation.
MBiuuiirfpaHiior
7-. xv
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-
TODAY'S REGISTRATION-
It Should Have a Vivid Meaning for the
Peace-Seeking German Diplomatists
"W1ENNA, 'which always has been tho
" rallying ground for German fears
and terrors, launched another elaborately
contrived peace propaganda yesterday.
The scheme collapsed ht a word from
Washington. Baron Burian mournfully
seeking peace parleys at a moment when
the United States is preparing swiftly
for the most powerful army ever or
ganized is n sorry illustration of the
blindness and futility of Hun statesman
ship. The news is not censored for Ger
man diplomatists. So Burian must have
spoken in desperation rather than in
hope.
When the registration places close this
evening the Government of tho United
States will have material immediately
available for an army of 10,000,000 men.
President Wilson will actually direct tho
destinies of this unexampled military or
ganization in every instance of ultimate
importance. Centralization of command
is a process that has been brought about
automatically in the United States.
. Aside from his relation to the army,
the President is still the most powerful
man in the world at the present hour.
Congress grumbles insistently, and yet,
whenever a sharp decision is to be made
the proposal for extensive dry zones
in Philadelphia is a good example the
matter is usually left "to the discretion of
the President." So the President at a
word could close almost every saloon in
Philadelphia. He can, whenever he is
ready, call the men between the ages of
eighteen and forty-five for active mili
tary service in an army over 15,000,000
strong. There is no industry that he
is not empowered to seize, as the occasion
requires it If the President were so
minded he could now press the war to
the complete extinction of the German
nationality. If, on the other hand, he
were cowardly or emotional, he could
bring the war to a premature close.
Europe is in no mood to interfere with
any effort for tho utter annihilation of
Germany. And, again, Europe will, by
the very force of circumstances, be com
pelled to follow any lead made by tho
United States.
It is not nt all surprising, therefore,
that every peace-seeking diplomatist in
Germany tunes his pipes for Mr. Wilson's
ear, as Burian did yesterday.
The amazing thing now is to find that
in Austria and Germany there am states
men so hopelessly misled that they can
not read an answer to nil their peace
feelers in the process of registration
carried on throughout the United States
today.
The new draft law was put through
Congress at the urgent request of the
President! In its operation today this
law makes all that we have done so
far seem like merely preliminary steps in
military preparation. . It is plain that
the nation which has President Wilson
for its interpreter and spokesman has
but one purpose now. That purpose is
to win the war and to win it completely
and thoroughly.
The nation is properly convinced that
until the war is won nothing else mat
ters. For no scheme that the wisdom
of humanity might evolve for the good
of the race or the peace of the world
would be workable while Germany re
mains unbeaten or while any vestige of
the German military system is left upon
the earth to survive and grow.
It may be some such consciousness as
this that has caused the nation to put
into President Wilson's hand power and
authority greater than those ever be
fore allotted to one man. Men are
registering today just as they gave up
their Sunday motor rides, as they ac
customed themselves to two ounces of
bread at a meal, as they turned out their
lights and gave up their money. This
sort of service is not for Mr. Wilson,
or for the President, or for Congress.
The people are merely expressing their
own collective will as it is interpreted
through the Government and through a
personality which, in Mr. Wilson's case,
happens to be singularly responsive,
sensitive and adequate to the occasion.
Provost Marshal General Crowder has
sensed this aspect of the situation. In
successive pronouncements he has ap
pealed to men of the service ago asking
that they be not too eager to fight abroad
and that they seek exemption if they
are needed at home. General Crowder
was speaking of his experience with
earlier drafts, in which claims for exemp
tion were amazingly few.
Were Baron Burian a better statesman
he would have delayed his peace move
to a date on which it might have ap
peared less fantastic.
America itself does not yet realize how
tremendous and various is the force
which it has accumulated and left to the
direction of the President Aside from
all criticism that may be made of Mr.
Wilson's earlier course, there should be
comfort for the country now in the knowl
edge that the sword of its purpose is in
the hands of a man of conscience, whose
view is tranquil and passionless, yet en
gaged clearly with the chief aim of the
race the complete extinction of the
Hohenzollern, military theories as factors
in world politics.
Hymn for rash U-boats:
cradle of the deep.
Blocked in the
GOMPERS ANSWERS BURIAN
TTTHILE Burian and Czerrln are talking
VY about peace by negotiation, acting as'
the monkeys to pull the Kaiser's chestnuts
out of the fire, Sampel Gompers is ex
pressing the sentiment of the plain .people
I of tne Aiuea nations jgnunc I'russianuwn.
&&f$4fc$i&&--m?' Wtaj
of the Allied nations flghtlnc Pruaeianlam
.-.-. s.."
jEVEittNG- ITBLIO LEDGEPliljADBLpHlA, TOTftfcDAY,' StePTjfefeR
. i
meet In London next weok to dlncuns their
war alms. "Our first business,'? says he,
"Is to win the war and then negotiate.
But imperialism and autocracy must bo
crushed for all tlmo. No sacrifice is too
great to achlovo that end."
Tho significance of such words frorn a
labor leader occupying no official Govern
ment posltlt may bo lost upon the
Kaiser, who now thinks that war and
peaco can bo made by cabinet ministers,
but he is likely to discover that he has
arrayed against him something more pow
erful than any official group, namely, tho
allied democracies of self-governing na
tions who are determined that democracy
shall vindicate itself.
It seems altogether natural that the
object, of tho present great ganio of drafts,
should be the capture of kings.
A DRIVE INTO GERMANY?
TF YOU will look at any war map you
will observe that tho Allied lines Vun
for many miles within cannon shot of tho
German frontier in the area Immediately
north of Switzerland. General von Ar
denne focused tho nttentlon of the world on
that southern end of the line when ho said
the other day that tho German frontier was
mennced. It Is In this region, according
to the recurrent Intimation from France,
that n tremendous force of Americans Is
being gathered. Does this situation ex
plain the precipitate retirement of the
German lines further north?
Were the Americans, in a sudden push,
to turn the German lines at the southern
extremity they could bring long-range
guns to play on the Ithlne fortifications.
Should they succeed In making tho turn
ing movement a progressive one the Ger
man armies In Franco would ultimately
have to choose between capture and a
retirement to their own territory. Tho
Rhino Valley is narrow. Once a counter
movement were started northward by the
Allies no German forces could cross It.
Such a development as Is here outlined
may seem too vast In prospect to be real
ized. And yet the development of the sit
uation In Franco seems to have put such
a climax and an American drive into Ger
many among the possibilities of the near
future.
In the initial stage of raising a new
army the pen can claim an indisputable
superiority over the sword
THE CITY WILL BACK HIM UP
I
F THE Mayor can hasten affirmative
action by tho Capital Issues Commis
sion by going to Washington he should by
all means go there and impress upon the
members of the commission the Imperative
need of this city for money to carry on
public improvements to which it is com
mitted. The commission has held up work on
tho Broad street subway by refusing its
consent to the necessary bond Issue, when
It ought to have consented to the bond
Issuo and urged the priority board to give
orders that the steel needed "be supplied
to the contractors. The subway Is an Im
portant war work required for the trans
portation of men engaged in essential In
dustries. The city needs $10,000,000. If the Mayor
can Induce the commission to consent to
a loan he will deservo all the praise that
will be heaped upon him in recognition of
his achievement.
Whenever It spems
A Text for that peace talk in Oer-
Today many has a logical ba
sis, remember that the
only government now existing in Russia it
dominated by the most sinister elements of
the German military system, and that the
Huns, left to themselves and freed from the
menace of the Allied armies, would, within six
months, have established In Russia a strong
hold of kultur from whiph they could menaco
and defy tho world for generations.
I
About the kindest
thing that may be
said of Wagner,
Tills Is SlarkeVie
Thursday
Klllefer and the other
big league strikers who sulked at Fenway
Park, In Boston, Is that they were merely
observing Tactless Tuesday.
By this time doubt-
And a Kulser less the Hun mind Is
Substitute? busy in a search for
a hope substitute.
Victory substitute, truth substitute and nerve
substitute are also essential needs of the
hour In Germany.
The astronomers have
discovered a new star
In the careless heav
Who Has a Tele
scope Ills Knoush?
ens. If they worked a
little harder they might be able to find one
among the Pennsylvania Democrats.
Tho Germans, It ap-Tliej-
Mean pears, cannot tell the
Kvery Hour truth. The reports
from Berlin announce
that each day the armies are In new posi
tions. The simultaneous
Kloquence realization of what's
at stake and what
Bteak',s at seems to havo prompted a Jot of
beefing lately by the Huns.
"Comln" through the riots"
tlonably the rage In Pctrograd.
Is unques-
You can't be all-wool Americans unless
you have gone through the carding process.
Tho modification of milk and elevator
service proceeds on similar lines. Both are
made more sterile,
Poor Richard revised for the draft regis
tration: You can't put off till tomorrow
what you must do today.
Pretty soon the only beer made will be
the kind on which the Kaiser's hopes are to
be laid out flat
Particularly as regards the scrapping of
the Hun standards Is Philadelphia's unflag
ging industry to be commended.
It Is inevitable that the humblest citizen
between eighteen and forty-five will have
"class" as a result of today's national event.
Despite the fact that America is eager
I to finish what -she starts nowadays, jt'
.pely to be a rough draft fcV&r a wil
finish what ehe starts nowadays, it's
The Decree of Mik-Ah-Doo
"ITfrrHOUT looking like either of them,
"''Secretary McAdoo bus somehow made
us think of Browning and Coleridge. The
four-course, square meal for a dollar which
he promises on tho Federal dining cars
gives now point to the former poet's in
vocation: "Ride, ride, forever ride."
The tip Is suggestive. If tho railroad
administrator makes good In his new ven
ture some of us may bo Inclined to pur
chase tickets to, say, Wilmington or Tren
ton, during tho dinner hour, in order to
savo restaurant bills a( homo. Coleridge
comes to mind partly because he was one
of the most visionary of poets and partly,
because his "Kubla Khon" Is all about a
decree of a ruler almost a. powerful as
Mr. McAdoo. "Kubla Khan" Is nearly as
mystifying as Mr. McAdoo's assurance
that ho will really give us a dollar's worth
of good food for a hundred cents. Think
ing the thing over, wo got Kubla Khan
and his. transcendental delights all mixed
up with the dictator of our transportation
destinies and we Just couldn't help doing
this:
TN WAH-SHIN-GTUN doth Mlk-Ah-Doo
A stately bill of faro devise
For all his favored subjects who
Have funds to buy their tickets to
A station on his tics.
AND he decrees In accents which
.Do make the lorn home-dweller itch
With envy that a humble dollar bill
Warrants a banquet rich enough to thrill
Whichever traveler the menu spies,
And with four courses guarantees a "fill"
Of foods and fruits of Government em
prise. AND a
dir
ah! that bright romantic whizzing
ner.
With gleaming tableware and spotless
napery!
Can there be e'er a vision fairer, finer
Than that of late rococo Pullman drapery?
Yet are we lured by mero official vapor?
He
That conjures up the picture is designer
Of transport plans in magnitude imperious.
And yet the query, "Is this Ah-Doo
serious?"
Occurs to us whose restaurant bills have
been
So high that Everest setms not the peak
Of altitude; to us who know the grin
Of cafe keepers that have lured us In,
Whose smile informs us that no cheatlcss
t days
Exist for those who seek a modest
luncheon,
And that he's mastered scores of subtle
ways
To make more costly what we meekly
munch on.
And, as the check is punched for meager
fare
In figures both exorbitant and rude,
I-o! ringing through the nation every
where The voice of Ah-Doo, prophesying food!
rpHE luster of that car of pleasure
- Methlnks within the dens of greed
It stamps tho shrinking dollar's measure
Upon a fairer cost of feed.
Ah! what a miracle of rare device
A tasty meal from smoking soup to Ice!
A WAITER with a tray bedlght
"With edibles my dream reveals.
It Is a Senegomblan knight
Intent on serving sane-priced meals.
Watchful of my solvency.
Could I sustain within me
Belief in Ah-Doo's song
To such a deep delight would win me
That with music loud and long
And rich symphonic blare
I would wreck home bills of fare.
False counter slabs, hash-haunts untrue,
Through every restaurant keeper's snare.
To all who came I'd cry "Beware! Be
ware!" With flashing eyes and deadly stare
I would raise a cry and hue
And all who heard me would be led
To say on banquets he has fed
And sipped the soups of Mlk-Ah-Doo!
H. T. C.
How to Get a Commission
TT SEEMS to be agreed that many thou-
sand eighteen-year-old boys are not to
be sent to the regular training camps for
months. They are to gp to college and to
enlist In the army as members of the
Students' Army Training Corps, where they
will receive, along with their instruction
In academic subjects, a certain amount of
military drill and a certain amount of in
struction in military tactics and strategy.
Out of the members of this corps it Is
planned tq draw first and second lieuten
ants for the armies to be made up of the
drafted soldiers.
The New York Commissioner of Educa
tion has Issued a call to the young men
of that State to enter the colleges to tho
number of 14,000 In order that they may
be prepared for the tasks of the future.
The conditions which exist in New York
prevail In every other State, and the rea
sons which should Impel eighteen-year-old
boys there to enter college this fall apply
also to Pennsylvania boys. If enough
boys should enter the colleges In this Com
monwealth to supply the demand for offi
cers the colleges would find It difficult to
accommodate them. There are not more
than 10,000 male students In the collegiate
departments of all the colleges and uni
versities here. In New York, where they
want 14,000 boys to enter the freshman
classes of the State colleges, there are not
more than 13,000 students In all the
classes. If the plea of the State Commls
sloner of Education receives such response
as he wishes the colleges would be
swamped with new students; but the
problem of defldlts arising from the fall
ing off in attendance on account of tho
war would bo solved, for, according to
present plans, the Government is to pay
the -tuition of the men in the Students'
Army Training Corps.
Parents of sons ready to enter college
are likely to be Intensely interested In the
educational and training features of the
new draft law, which look to the colleges
tp prepare the eighteen-year-old boys for
shoulder straps. They will appreciate the
fact that the shortest road to a commis
sion for their sons, temperamentally fitted
I "r commano, is inrpugn, xno gate or4 a
J-jeogntoed. cpUewlUi. 8udht'
for command, Is through,' the gate oti m,
P7TV ' v Tf-TSffpw TV ?
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TRA VELS IN PHILADELPHIA
By Christopher Morlcy
Over to Camden
A DECENT respect to the opinions of man
kind requires that one should have some
excuse for being away from the office on a
working afternoon. September sunshine and
trembling blue air are not sufficient reasons,
it seems. Therefore, if any one should bru
tally ask what I was doing the other day
dangling down Chestnut street toward the
river I should have to reply, "Looking for
tho Wcnonaft." Tho Wcnonah, you will Im
mediately conclude, Is a movlng-plcture the
atre. But be patient a moment.
IOWER Chestnut street Is a delightful place
J for one who does not get down there
very often. The face of wholesale trade,
dingier than the glitter of uptown shops, is
far more exciting and romantic. Pavements
are cumbered with vast packing cases;
whiffs of tea and splco well up from cool
cellars. Below Second street I found a row
of enormous sacks across the curb, with
bright red and green wool pushing through
holes in the burlap. Such signs ns "WOOL.
NOILS AND WASTE are frequent. I won
der what noils are. A big sign on Front
street proclaims TEA CADDIES which has
a pleasant grandmotherly flavor. A little
brass plate, gleamingly polibhed, says
TirKTrA-nv CONSULATE OF JAPAN.
Beside immense motortrucks stood a shabby
little horse and buggy, restored to service,
perhaps, by the bhortage of gasoline. It
was a typical one-horse shay of thirty years
ago.
I CROSSED over to Camden on the ferry
boat Wildwood, observing in the course
of the voyage her sisters Brldflefon, Camden,
Salem and HntnmoiKoii. It is curious that
no matter where one goes, one will always
meet people who are traveling there for the
first time. A small boy next to me was
jrazlng In awe at the Btalwart tower of the
Victor Company, and snuffing with pleasure
the fragrance of cooking tomatoes that
makes Camden savory at this time of year.
Wagonloads of ripe Jorsey tomatoes making
their way to tne soup .i.ij,j j.-
sleht across the river Just now.
Kvery ferry passenger Is familiar with the
rapid tinkling of the ratchet wheel that
warps the landing stage up to the level of the
boat's deck. I asked the man who was run
time the wheel where I would find tho
Welonah. 'Stie lays over In the old Market
street slip," he replied; and cheerfully showed
me Just whero to find her. "Is she still
used?" I asked. "Mostly on Saturday nights
and holidays," he said, "when there s a big
crowd going across.'
THE Weoah, as all Camden seafarers
know, Is a ferryboat, one of the old
timers and I was Interested In her because
she and her sister, the Beverly, were Walt
Whitman's favorite ferries. He crossed back
and forth on them hundreds of times and
has celebrated them In several paragraphs
In Specimen Day. Perhaps this is the place
to quote his memorandum dated January 12.
1882. which ought to Interest all lovers of
the Camden ferry:
Such a show as the Delaware presented
an hour before sundown yesterday evening,
all along between Philadelphia and Cam
den, la worth weaving Into an Item. It
was full tide, a fair breeze from the south
west the water of a pale tawny color, and
Just enough motion to make things frolic
some and lively. Add to these an ap
proachlng sunset of unusual splendor, a
broad tumble of clouds, with much golden
haze and profusion of beaming shaft and
dazzle. In the midst of all. In the clear
drab of the afternoon light, there steamed
un the river the large, new boat, the
IVenonoh, as pretty an object as you could
wish to see, lightly and swiftly skimming
along, all trim and white, covered with
flags, transparent red and blue, streaming
out In the breeze. Only a new ferryboat,
and yet "in Its fitness comparable with the
prettiest product of Nature's cunning, and
rivaling It High up In the transparent
ether gracefully balanced and circled four
or five great sea hawks, while here below,
amid the pomp and plcturesqueness of. sky
and rlyer. swam this creature of artificial
beauty and motion and power, in its way
no less perfect.
Youl will notice that Walt Whitman 'de
nTibe the Waitonofc as being white. The
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'Pennsylvania ferryboats aa wa know the.'
tD.Bri:-r eoior. inat.u lastHi
.' yr Mtat sjnaf atlsnf' - rrabs;lri
'12, lfiS
C)ID YOU? : . j
:" iJiV- ""11 --" ," !:.:
gators of the Camden crossing can tell us
whether the boats were all painted white In
a less smoky era?
THE Wenonah and the Beverly were lying
In the now unused ferry slip at the foot
of Market street, alongsldo the great Victor
Talking Machine works. Picking my way
through an empty yard where some carpen
tering was Rolnc on. I found a. deserted nler
that overlooked the two old vessels and
gave a fair prospect on to the river and the
profile of Philadelphia. Sitting there on a
pile of pebbles I lit a pipe, and watched the
busy panorama of the river. I made no
effort to disturb the normal and congenial
lassitude that is tho highest function of tho
human being: no Hindoo philosopher could
have been more pleasantly at ease. Two
elderly colored men were loading gravel on
to a cart not far away, I was a little wor
ried as to what I could say If they asked
what I was doing. In these days casual
loungers along docksldes may be suspected
of depth bombs arid high treason The only
truthful reply to any question would havo
been that I was thinking about Walt Whit
man. Such a remark. If uttered In Philadel
phia would undoubtedly have been an
swered by a direction to the chocolate fac
tory on Raco street. But In Camden every
one knows about Walt. Still, the colored
men said nothing beyond returning my greet
ing. Their race, wise in simplicity, knows
that loafing needs no explanation and Is Its
own excuse.
IF WALT could revisit the ferries he loved
so well. In New York and Philadelphia,
he would find the former strangely altered
In aspect. The New York, skyline wears a
very tJIfTerent' silhouette against tho sky,
with Its marvelous peaks and summits draw
ing the eye aloft. But Philadelphia's pro
file Is (I imagine) not much changed! I do
not know Just when the City Hall tower was
finished: Walt speaks of It as "three-fifths
built" in 1879. That, of course, Is tho domi
nant unit Jn tho view from Camden. Other
wise there are few outstanding elements. The
gradual rise in hclcht of the hniMinn-u frm
Front street gently ascending up to Broad,
gives no startling contrast of elevation to
catch the gaze. The spires of the older
churches stand up like soft blue pencils, nnd
the massive cornices of the Curtla and Drexel
buildings catch the sunlight. Otherwise the
outline Is even and well-massed In a smooth
ascending curve.
IT IS curious how a man can stamp his per
sonality upon earthly things. There will
always be pilgrims to whom Camden and the
Delaware ferries are full of excitement and
meaning because of Walt Whitman. Just as
Strntford is Shakespeare, so is Camden
Whitman. Some supercilious observers
flashing through on the way tq Allantic City'
may only see a town in which there is no
delirious and seizing beauty. Let us remind
them of Walt's own words:
A great city Is that which has the great
est men and women.
If It be a few ragged huts It Is still the
greatest city in the whole world.
And as I came back across the river and
an airplane hovered over ua at a great
height, I thought how much we need a Whit
man today, a poet who can catch the heart
and meaning of these grievous bitter years
who can make plain the surging hopes that
throb Iri the breasts of men. The world has
not flung Itself Into agony without some un
expressed vision that lights the sacrifice
If Walt Whitman were here he would look
on this new world of moving pictures and
gasoline engines nnd U-boats and tell us
what It means. Think how he would have
dramatized Camden's Tuckahoet His great
heart, which with all Its garrulous fumbling
had caught the deep musio of human service
and fellowship, would have had true and flna
words for us. And yet ho would have found
It a hard world for one of his strolling med
itative observancy. A speeding motortruck
would have run him down long ago!
AS I left the ferry at Market Btreet I aaw
. that the Norwegian steamer Taunton
was unloading bananas at the Ericsson pier.
Less than a month ago she picked up the?
survivors, of the schooner Itadrugada, torpe
doed by a U-boat oft Winter Bottom Shoal.
On the iladrugada waj a young friend of
mine, a Dutch sailor, who told me of the
disaster after be was landed In New York.
To, com unexpectedly on the ship that ha4
rescues mm aeerota a sKaU-asivanture.:
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ALIGNMENT
By Stanley Kidder Wilson
W10
VV i
are these heroes dedicate to fame
That make up rank and file of
Pershing's huskies?
American you'd know them by the name:
There's Terence, eldest son of the
McCluskeys, (-
Who led a charge at Fere-en-TardenoIs,
So nobly seconded by that fine fellow i
Whoso handle stamps him doughboy tool
hurrah
For Arlstides Agramontebello
Nor Is it harder to Identify
That group of three who hewed thetf
way twixt Scylla
(In Plcardy) and Its Charybdls nigh
And took that Hun defense: Captala
Avllha,
Sergeant Yohannan and that firebrand,
High private this one, no more and no '
greater, i.
Whose monakor is Just as .purely scanned: .,
Ludwlg von Ishkablbblo Fllegenblaetter. ...
Then there's besides that pair so strangely
twinned ,.,
In. the melee that centered on Lasslgnyt
Gawge Johnslng, nicknamed "Snowball" t ,
you'd have pinned ,
"U. S." to him and never blinked tae
"Sheeny" ,
His pal, Abe Isaaqpteln, had borne frona..
Just to show philology has Its Jeer ,
Yqu'd never look to find on mother earth , -A
truer Sammle than Sam Butzclewlt(' ,.
ski, j f
And so on dqwn the list the roster) t
manned
By cognomens concerning which no
question.
As to their nationality would stand
Who'd challenge NJord who proved him
self the best Jan
Of all the Johnnies at Montdidler?
And If tho paper cited Hanky-panky '
Among the lot.'l'll go so far to say '
We'd blandly swallow him too as
Yankee!
Old Mates at Odds
It was something of a shock when at Le
Chateau British battalions who bear "Gib-
raltar" on their colors first encountered Han
overian units with the same distinction, won
by their ancestors when hired by George III'
in his capacity ,as King of England from him
self as Elector of Hanover to help In Ellotfa
famous defense of the Rock. London Spec
tator. What Do You Know?
QUIZ
What of flee In the Austrian cabinet Is belt
br Baron Harlan?
Who was CaiUoatrof .-i
What Is tbe larcest cltr la Ireland?
Whs said "Men are but children of Isnar
growth!"
What color Is a lobster before It Is epokedr
What Is the title of the ruler of Persia?
7. What, Is. the lanest planet In the Mia
arsiemT.
What Is aaompan?
What Is meanlnk of the word taboo and I
what lancuan Is It taken?
What Is the "Nutmea State"r
10,
Answers to Yesterday's Quls
The ward boon In
oanlon" means s
nlal or JeTlr. It ea
from the JTrench "bon," teed
Vlttorlo Emanuele Orlando la Prtne Hlnlhst
f Italr.
French U the lancaake ef Haiti.
, A planet la a beaTsnlx bodr dlsttarakkadj
from a nied star by havtac aa eeBaraisi
motion of Its own,
, "God helps- them that belM theeaselTM" If
from JftsDklln'a"PMr Kichacd'a AWaaaelj
I br art easiest
m mni wTinww inr
AA -llkl. . -k..
7. Xaatka It tbe tfUml efjaaaaas. f
a. j a a' a-eu h a.i .- h -i.
m wwiJK- r1 jmnmt -;&.;
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