New Britain Herald Newspaper, August 9, 1917, Page 6

NEW BRITAIN DAILY HERALD, THURSDAY, AUGUST 9, 1017. : Bl‘itfl'l‘l Herald. LD PUBLISHING COMPANY. Proprietors. B dally (Sunday excepted) at 4:15 p. m., Herald Bullding, 67 Church St. At tie Post Office at New Britain cond Class Mail Matter. 4 by carrier to any part of the city 18 cents a week, 65 cents & month. lons for paper to be sent by mall ble in advance, 60 cents a moath & year. ly profitable advertising medium in oity. Circulation books and press om always open to advertisers. ld will be found on sale at "cl;’;' ®'n News Staad, 42nd St. and Broad , New York City: Board “Walk, Al itle City, and Hartford Depot. ‘Who Counsels Peace. fho counsels peace at this mo- mentous hour fhen God hath given deliverance to the opprest d to the injured power? ho counsels peace when venge- ance like a flood 8 on, no longer now to be re- prest:— n innocent blood York and Ohio, of miners from Penn- l sylvania, of cowboys from Wyoming, and of a polyglot laboring class from everywhere—to awake to the greatness of this cause or the pressing needs of the situation. Heaven kmows it took us long enough, and we were only a hun- dred the very heart of things! of experience—a Zeppeltn here, a torpedoed liner there awake spirit in five minutes than a ton of imagination can achieve in five years. natural that Ame: emoved from all risk of actual invasion, should re- quire a little time to adjust herself to new conditions, and to re-awaken that martial and indomitable spirit which has made her such a formidable fight- ing power in the past. The landing of General Pershing’s troops has already done much. The first casualty lst, alas! will do ten times more.” miles from An ounce —can morc national So it is only That is a good summing up of the sitnation as it was and is. ‘““America’s is not yet fired.” It will just as it was fired some nineteen years ago by the blowing up of the battleship Maine in Havana har- bor. Not that a tragedy will have to be enacted to awaken the American people; but there must be a grim real- ization that we are in the war. The heroic death of one American soldier may swing the people overnight into a new channel of thought. And when the imagination of America and its people is fired, watch out. Ian Hay recalls an observation made the other imagination be, however ‘om the four corners of the world cries out ir justice upon one head? accursed fge, woe to all both woe and [* endless shame | this ‘heroic land, Jise to_her feelings [ spotted fame, Ptdg out the olive to the tyrant's hand. and un bwn with the tvant; “murderer down! ROBERT SOUTHEY with the - TP TO US. tere is soothing syrup galore in imessage brought back from Rus- )y Ellhu Root and his commission | there to investigate conditions. le things are bad in Petrograd, are not as black as they have /painted. Some of the dispatches of the Russian capital have been ily magnified. The Russlan peo- 'true, did go on a bacchanalian of liberty shortly after the revo- n, and they have not yet entirely lvered from the terrible “morning . In due time, however, they iwaken to a sense of responsibili- nd then everything will be all | This is the sense and sub- e of the message brought back e American mission, the mem- of which warn the American peo- o set a good example for their fel- compatriots in Russia. If we, as premier democracy, cannot show ited front to the world, we cannot het overmuch from a newly made iblic. If we, on the other hand, ! up to the principles upon which government is founded, we will » materially in shaping the future lare of the United States of Russia. [WHEN AMERICA AWAKENS merica is in this war to stay, but American people have not yet ned to the spirit of it all. There b doubt about that. Fven with our hg men in army tralning camps, scores appearing every minute of day before local exemption boards, loa. goes along at the same old vin the same old rut, its people, as hole, failing to grasp the great idea, e are at war. From salesmen who el the country over, visiting all imain posts of trade in back woods frontier and city centers, we learn there is but one place in the na- \really alive to the war situation. scity is Washington, the nation’s tal. It could not be otherwise for the people of Washington cloper to war talk and activities paring for battle than any other ple in the land. Why this seem- apathy on the part of those not di- ly assoclated with the seat of gov- nent? We will leave the answer to Hay, & British army officer, who, r active service tha European hches visited this country and spent >h time writing and lecturing bng our people. Says he, in the don Times: America’s national imagination is [ yet fired. She wants time. The ¢ barrier which stands between | and the true spirit of the war— factor which prevents the Ameri- pulse from quickening into instant husiasm for the cause which Amer- has officially made her own—is the tic ocean. Such perable, as Canada has shown, to eternal glory. But this remote- s from the actualities of the con- will undoubtedly make it more cult for the average when we speak of the average erican we are speaking not of the in a barrier is not American— day by Lloyd George to the effect that America has never yet gone into a war except for the cause of freedom. We have known that all along; but the supplemented thoughts might not have occurred to us so strikingly. The British: observer say ‘““Her people are not a military people, but they are a warlike people, which means that they do not make war without good reason. Their reluctance to en- ter the present struggle sooner has | been largely founded upon a suspicion that this war was not a war for free- dom. The Russian revolution has cleared away many doubts on that score; so has the gradual exposure of German atrocity and Intrigue. Finally, the president, striking as usual at ex- actly the right moment, has clinched the matter with a slogan that has gone straight to the American heart: ‘Help to make the world safe for democ- racy!' " /So, finding America in the war, the outsiders speculate as to the ultimate influence America will bear. For in- stance, it is recalled that Germany, with her infallible instinct for divining the mental processes of other nations, has assumed and announced that America will do nothing. To this day, Germany has not acknowledged being at war. with America. The House of Hohenzollern takes the entry of Amer- ica in the list of enemles with benign contempt. On the other hand, Mr. Hay cites that the attitude of the allies is naturally one of confident expectation, coupled with extreme vagueness as to what America is really capable of doing. The fact is, America herself hardly knows what she is capable of doing. So vast are her resources, so great her population, so remarkable the individual capacity of her people, that her future as a military power is limited only by one thing—her will- ingness to submit to discipline. To make a nation efficient in a military sense a certain amount of individual liberty—Iliberty to go one's own way, to be one’s own master, and, above all, liberty to ask Why?—must be sacrificed; and the average American, to whom the word liberty is a sacred obsession, may prove difficult in that respeot. When all is said and done Mr. Hay, nor any other man from over the seas, need not worry about Ameri- ca and the part she will play in the great war. Her people will learn, for the moment, at least, the necessity of sacrificing personal liberty to the end that mankind in general may improve. Distasteful as many things connected with war are, the Americans will put up with them once their imagination is fired and they enter seriously upon the great work of making the world a safe place for democracy. CAN WHAT YOU CAN. There has been a lot of talk of gardens and gardeners and canning and canners ever since the war began; but we have until now failed to sce any one offer a substantial pri endeavor in these lines. It 1s good therefore to call attention to the offer of the National Emergency Food Garden commission to distribute five thousand dollars in cash prizes for the best canned vegetables shown at town exhibits and State fairs in Sep- tember and October. This offer, gen- erous as it can be, should stir up in- e for terest among the amateurs, gardeners and canners. Connecticut will have a State fair, it always had . In fact a series of fairs. We shall soon have the familiar scenes in Berlin. Then will be the time for local amateur as has erican of British descent, the elled American, or the American jer, but of business men from New or gardners to go out and collect some of this money offered by the Emer- gency Food Garden commission. The l city of New PBrifain will hold no such fete, est although there is enough inter- taken here in the municipal garden warrant such an affair. With a little urging on the part of a ! few committees the Mayor might be able to turn this hide-bound hard- ware center little while, at least, into agricultural district. There is doubt that the food- stuff is being raised by the amateurs and professionals with diligence and care. That, however, is but one part of the work the national government is urging all to take a hand in. The Taising of vegetables and other garden Products is but the first step in the campaign for national of foodstuffs. Preserving is the next and a very important step. After the farmers have produced the goods, the women folk of the farms are sup- posed to practice the art which has come to be known as ‘“canning” and preserving. In the Summer, we must not forget the Winter just ahead. Great quantities of frults are now being sold for modest prices on the market. They can be preserved and made last throughout the cold months. This is one of the reasons for the liberal offer from Washing- ton. Having gone to the trouble of | raising vegetables and fruit there ia no reason why they should be con- sumed for the mere sake of getting rid of them. Join the canning clubs. to for a an no conservation LEST WE FORGET. In all the discussion anent slackers and their activities in evading the selective draft law let us not forget those boys who rushed to the colors when the call first came. New Britain is sending a remarkable quota to the front. Her men and boys have answered promptly and well the demand for soldiers to fight in the great war. Some of these young fellows; away from home, went to recruiting offices in other parts of the country and signed thelr names high on the books of Uncle Sam. Yesterday there was recalled In another part of this paper the story of a New Britain man who enlisted in Stamford and who is now serving with an outfit from that city. Had it not been for the interest of a friend the name of this young man might not have been added to the list of New Britain’s soldiery. There are | other such as the returned | blanks prove. Parents and friends | are urgently requested to send in the names of all our boys who have al- ready gone away, and those who en- list before the new natlonal army is drafted. These later names will be easily available. We must not forget those who have gone before. cases All Russia needs now to make the situation complete is the fuss and fury attendant upon a national elec- tion such as the United States enjoyed last November. Some day the Crown Prince is real- | ly going to win a battle; and then | watch out. Colonel Roosevelt, Salute General Taft! Major- Kerensky Back Again.—News Ttem. | Rather a Russian Finnigan, with his | “off agin” on again business.—Pat- | erson Press-Guardian. | And, by the way, who remembers | when there were bashful young girls. | —Bridgeport Telegram. There's a great chance for someone to become a gerat leader in congress. There’s no competition.—New Haven Union. Oklohoma's draft rioters are ap- parently bent on seceding from the Union until the war is over.—Spring- | field Republican. Draft dodgers used to take the “underground” to Canada, but the | only road to a place where slackers are now welcome leads further un- derground than that.—Boston Tran- script. Some stanch officeholders in Georgia still insist that the name of their senior United States senator is Hoke Smith and not Hock Smith.— New York Sun. Those prodigious pockets In the lat- est fashionable women's bathing ap- parel do not seem absolutely neces- sary for swimming comfort.—Spring- fleld News. A man takes his vacation as soon as he gets the money. A married woman takes hers when she dies.— | Capper's Weekly. No one is heard remarking that he wished he had Kerensky's job. And | no candidates have vet appeared for the presidency of China that Li Yuan- hung refused to take back.—Water- bury Republican. The first two lines of the Russians’ new national anthem are: “Da za- dravst-vu-yet Rooseeya svobodnaya stra na, Svobodnaya stlkeeya veleekot soozhdena!” And yet some people insist that the noise the Russians are making now comes from an Insurrec- tion.—New York World. Argentina’s submarine controversy with the Berlin diplomats is strongly | ones. reminiscent of our own tedious and fruitless discussion on the same sub- Ject, and it will be surprising if it has a different ending.—Providence Jour- nal. When Hoover reads the debates in the senate and the opinions that Reed and other eminent copperheads entertain, concerning him and his work his reminiscences of Belgium and Von Bissing must be in pleasant contrast.—Chicago Post. “UNCLE JOHN.” EEray There is no little hoy to call me “Daddy”. Although, forsooth, I've entertained the thought And often dreamed and wondered just how glad he Might be bought; ‘What though there is no son and heir to please me And take my place when I have travelled 1 have a little friend who, me No matter where, he calls me *Uncle John" with little presents I had when he sees He s 2 lad of tender years uncertain, He may be three, or four, he doss not know; Nor am I able to withdraw %he curtain And let you ocount the Summers might show. Regardless of his age or predilection, He sports the courtly grace of Spanish on < When he runs up the street and, with af- tection, Proclaims to all, “Here come o s my Uncle he My chest expands and throbs with manly pleasure Whene'er this child comes out to greet me so; I know it would require Bertillon measure To mark the way my head begins to RTowW. I feel as if my heart would beat to pieces, My vest and coat defy an Amazon. I run so fast my trousers i0se their creases, And all to hear this kid say, *Uncle John™ There may be other joys to court at leisure, There may be wiser heads with worldly views: Tet, there can be no sweeter, purer, treas- ure Than Innocende that walks in baby shoes. And, so0, each day while on Life's busy highway, The while I meet the lowly and bon-ton, I always long to get back to the by-way Where plays a boy who'll welcome “Uncle John”. * The world can whirl along in stated fashion With all its moods and moments grave and gay; tears and passion So long as I have with me here today A little boy who always will befriend me Like one my dreams have ever dwelt upon,— The little lad that Fate has failed to send Its laughter hold for me no me, The boy who'd call me “Dad", not “Uncle ohn’. Yet since there is mo other little ranger To go a-riding bye-bve on my knee 1 'spose I've got to take this little stranger, Although he’s nefther kith nor kin to me; I 'spose I've got to pamper and to pet him, And keep my own identity anon. And, yes, Tll do all this to simply let him Keep blieving that I am his “Uncle John". JOHN J. DALY. COMMUNICATED THIS WAY OUT. If They Ever Catch Boggs in Hartford, Good Night, Irene! They’ll Murder Him., £ “To the Editor of the Herald: My! My! This is too much for too much! Here is Henry Willis Mitchell, of Plainville and way stations, and ¥rank K. Fenton, of Hartford, both in the same issde of your paper slapping me on the back and inviting me out to dinner. Did you ever hear of such luck? Despite the war and its at- tendant sorrows the world is getting to be a rosy old place in which to live. Some day when L get over Plainville way 1 must invite Mr. Mitchell in for a nice little tete-a-tete and a bite to | eat at "Colling’ Restauraw,” the place that reminds me of ‘“Casey’'s Tabble Dote” on Red Hoss Mountain, Colo- rado, referred to so eloquently by liugene FKields. As to the offer of Mr. Fenton, I fear me Hartford is too far away at this time, and such a hot trip on the "“Dinky.” Which offers a sub- Ject. Not the “Dinky,” but the trip to tlartford. Why do so many New Britain people rush to Hartford upon the slightest provocation? That is something that has amused and puzzled me since my entry into this greatest of all hard- ware centers. Why anybody should want to ga to Hartford day in and day out is beyond me. To begin with, it offers no more attractions than New Britain. And, as far as the town goes, 1 would not give a rap for Hartford. To be perfectly frank, I think it is about the nearest approach to an overgrawn village in all New England. It is somecihing like a gawky country kid who is too young to put on long trousers and too tall to wear short And Hartford at that is an old town; aolder, in fact than Governor Holcomb. In Hartford they like to poke fun at New Britain. Yet you will notice that the fun-making is of a very sickly sort. Hartford has nothing on New Britain, and knows it. Understand, I am not a New Britain man, nor do I profess to undertake the role of town de- fender; but trot some one out who can show me where Hartford is one iota better than New Britain. I would like to see some one other than an egotis- tical, purse-proud Hartfordanian,—I presume that is what they call them, Hartfordonians,—defend that place. As Omar Khayyam did not say, “I sometimes think that never blows so hard the braggard but he'd steal a player's card.” Any man who talks ! about Hartford with all the bluster and bragadocio I have heard from its champions would cheat at a social poker game. It is all tommyrat, I am sorry I choose such a subject. It makes me mad to think how foolish New Britain people are in helping Hartford foist its own game on an in- nocent pubiic. A visitor to Connecti- cut, if he happened to hit Hartford first, might be easily led to believe that there is but one city in the state. If the capitol building were not in Hartford the town would not count for much. What other sins may be chalked up against those who are con- tinually hollering Hartford, deponent sayeth not. If New Britain peaple are so bent on going some place, why do they not patronize the nearby towns that do samething for this city? Hartford is the blood-sucker. It takes all the virile juice it can steal from New Britain and gives nothing in return, but a few hard knocks. Fie on such a place! Why go there when a five cent piece will take any person out to the enchanting province of Plainville where dwells my newly acquired friend Henry Willis Mitchell? Just so soon as I can spare the time I am going out that way. And, when I hit that town, Wowie! As for the invita- tion to meet Mr. Fenton in Hartford, I must decline. If they ever catch me in Hartford after what I have just written it'll be GOOD-NIGHT, Irene. Yours for the old town, L. K. BOGGS. New Britain, Aug. 9, 1917. FIRST FIRE FIGHTERS. Chief Crassus of Engine Company No. I, Rome, Also Dealt in Real Estate. To the Editor of the Herald: How many firemen or citizens of this city know the origin of our or- ganized fire fighting system? The sys- tem out of which our own grew was as unique as it was efficlent. Marcus Licinius Crassus, who lived in the first century B. C., was abnor- mally greedy. He wanted to pile up wealth in his own coffers. Moreover, he wanted & quick and sure way of acquiring money. He had under his control a band of 500 trained slaves and whenever a fire broke out in the Imperial city he rushed his band of slaves to the spot and bought the burning property or that immediately adjoining it, when the despairing own- ers would sell for a song. Then he ordered his trained slaves to put out the fire. Thus the greater part of Rome fell into his greedy hands. Crassus dled In 53 B.C. but his or- ganized system of fighting the fires has survived to this day. Very truly yours, THEODOSIUS, LORNA DOONE’'S VALLEY. ‘Where Strong John Ridd Met His Sweetheart and Fought the Brigands. One of the prettiest seaside resorts in all the south of England is Lynton in Pevon, says a writer in the Chris- tian Science Monitor. Once arrived there, perhaps coming either by old- fashioned coach or motor down the steepest of 'steep hills which drop down into Lynmouth, you may choose whether you will find lodgings in the lower town or mount another hill and enjoy the view which the higher town affords. For, you see, the blue ocean is at hand, bordered by high heather- covered moors; yet, if you turn your back upon the sea you have before you what seems to be a village of the hills, its little terraced houses, with thin blue smoke curling upward from their chimneys at tea time, edging a rushing, gurgling mountain stream which tumbles into the sea. This is the little river Lynn, as pictuesque and lovely a stream as was ever seen, and, if you like, you may stay at the inn which overhangs it. After all, it 1s a simple matter to climb up to glorfous Lynton either by road or railway, and it is deliclous to come back again to sleep at the inn where the sound of rushing waters is always in your ears. Mpre than that, the landlord has the key to the valley of the Lynn, through which the stream flows, and, if he is pleased with you he will loan you the key; you may unlock the valley gate, let yourself in lock the gate behind you, and have the place to yourself for an entire afteroon. Tt is a steep little valley, full of paths and big bowlders over which the stream breaks or around which it finds its hasty way; overhead are leafy trees in the freshness of ear- ly summer, and all about you there is no one, no sound except the rushing brook. Then, when you tire of the charms of the Lynn Valley—if such a thing is possible—there are other excur- sions which you may take about the country; in fact,—there are many of them. You may climb that steepest of steep hills and wander over the purple moors; you may visit Dunster and Dulverton, both quaint, gld-world villages of narrow, twisti streets and thatched cottages; then, of course,, you may explore Exmoor— that corner of it, rather, which is called the Doone Valley. If you have read Lorna Doone, don’t expect to find just the sort of place which the book desoribes, for it is really not so wild as Blackmore paints it. Still, after you have pas- sed the village of -Gare and Bag- worthy (pronounced Badgery) Water, and come to the farmhouse which stands at the beginning of the Doone Valley, it may seem to you a wild enough place, after all. Tts beauty is rather bare and lonely; there are not any friendly trees—only wide, bold, rolling hills inclosing the valley, the stream in the middle, the rough paths and rickety little footbridges here and there. All day you may wander through the valley meeting no one, listening to the brook and the birds picking the -wild flowers, thinking about Lorna Doone and John Ridd and those fearful brigands, the Doones, who were the terror of the ; countryside. If you continue your walk as far as the very end of the | valley you will come upon a ruined stone hut, which is supposed to have been one of the cabins in which the | Doones dwelt. It will make you want to get out your old copy of ‘Lorna | Doone,” and read it all over again, with the pictures of the place fresh in your memory. In the beginning of the book you may read how John Ridd first met Lorna, on the day when he was toil- ing up along the brook, searching some loaches for his mother’s dinner. | John had walked far through thae clear mountain stream, his fishing pole over his shoulder; farther and farther up stream he went far beyond the point to which he had ever been | before. His feet was cold, it was growing dark and he wished that he might turn and go home to his mother, but he had not finished his errand so he went on. The way was very steep. “The water was only six inches deep, or from that to nine at the utmost, and all the way I could t see my feet looking white in the gloom of the hollow, and here and ey v there I found resting-place, to hold on by the cliff and pant awhile. And | gradual'y, as I went on, & warmth of | courage hreathed in me, to think | that, perhaps, no other had dared to \try that pass before me, and to | wonder what mother would say to it * e “How I went carefully, step by step, keeping my arms in front of | me, and never daring to straighten my knees, is more than I can tell | clearly, or even like now to think of, because it makes me dream of it. Only I must acknowledge that the greatest danger of all was just where I saw no jeopardy, but ran up a patch of black ooze-weed in a very boast- | ful manner. being now not far from the summit.” Then John Ridd tells us of how he tripped and fell, lying on his back for a while in the soft grass. When he looked up again he saw Lorna Doone bending over him. “I had never heard so sweet a sound as came from between her bright red lips, while there she knelt and gazed at me; neither had I ever seen any- thing so beautiful as the large dark eyes intent upon me, full of pity and wonder. And then, my nature being slow, and perhaps, for that matter, heavy, I wandered with my hazy eves down the black shower of her hair, as to my jaded gaze it seemed; and where it fell on the turf, among it (llke an early star) was the first primrose of the season. “ ¢ ® * * But How you are look- ing at me! I never saw any one like you before. My name is John Ridd. What is your name?’ K “ ‘Lorna Doone,” she replied in a low voice, as if afraid of it, and hanging her head so that I could see only her forehead and eyelashes; ‘if you please, my name is Lorna Doone; lan(‘l I thought you must have known £ And so John Ridd made the ac- quaintance of Lorna Doohe, who be- longed among those dreadful brigands of whom all the countryside was in such awe. But Lorna was not at all like the brigands herself. NEW BOOKS The Aristocrat, a play, by L. N. Lane, An incident of the French Revolu- tion. Good for reading aloud. P Comrades in Arms, by Philippe Millet. “A brilliant and sympathetic study of the British army.”—Spectator. Confessions of a War Correspondent, by W. G. Shepherd. .o German Road to the East, Evans Le- win, An account of the “Drang nach osten” and of Teutonic arms in the near and middle east. .o My ®Mother and I, by E. G. Stern, with a foreword by Theodore Roose- . velt, The Story of the Americanization of a Hebrew Girl. L One Thousand Hints on Vegetable Gardening, by M. S. Croy. .. x Peacock Pie, by Walter De la Mafe. “One’s first thought is that it is a collection of poems for children. But before you have gone far you will find that the imaginary child you set out with has been magiked into a change- ling.”"—Boston Evening Transcript. P Souls in Khaki. Being a personal investigation into spiritual experiences and sources of heroism among the lads of the firing line; by A. E. Copping, with a fore- word by Gen. Bramwell Booth. .. Strawberry.Growing, by 8. W. Fletcher. Popular, acurate and more complete than other books on the subject. Dis- cusses planting, cultivation and train- ing the plants, picking, packing, meth- ods of transportation and marketing. Gives estimates of cost of production and a list of varieties. Of value both to the commercial grower and to the home grower. .. War; a play in four acts, by M. P. Artsybashev. © “A simple, restrained, and most polgnant presentation of the cruel facts of war. o .. Fiction. Bromley Neighborhood, Brown. by AHce e Empty House. A story of the childless woman. Seen and Heard Before and After 1914, by Mary and Jane Findlater. Six stories of Scotland, full of pa- thos and quiet humor, showing what effects the war has had on various Scottish types. “Incldent and atmos- phere and character projected upon a tiny canvas, with sympathy but with- out sentimentalism.”—Nation. “Short stories touched with hu- mor.””—Outlook. e Snare, by R. Sabatini. o Sorry Tale, a story of the time of Christ, by “Patience Worth,” com- municated through Mrs. J. H. Curran, edited by Casper S. Yost. An historical story of the days of e Christ. | Cap'n Ab&, Store-keeper, a story. of Cape Cod, by J. A. Cooper. Tell It To Sweeney. “] knew a man once,' remarks a writer in the Hartford Times, “ a Russian by the name of Spudowski, FOOD BILLS PASS SENATE WITH RUSH Little Opposition to Control and " None to Survey ‘Washington, Aug. 9.—All is in read- Iness today for putting the food con- trol and food survey bills into effect as soon as they become law with Pres- idént Wilson’s signature. He will sign the bills tomorrow after the presiding officers of the Senate and House affix their signatures to the measure. This could not be done today because nei- ther house was in session. Final congressional action came late yesterday when the Senate in rapid action approved the oonference re- ports on both bills. They already had been approved by the house. The conference report on the food control bill was adopted by a vote of 668 to 7 and that on the survey bill by a unanimous vote. Those opposing the control 'bill were Senators Hard- wick, Hollis and Reed, democrats, and Benators France, Gronna, LaFollette and Penrose. The first step in putting the neww legislation into operation probably will be the appointment by the presi- dent of Herbert C. Hoover as food ad- ministrator. The food control bill establishes, during the war, broad government control over foods, feeds, fuel, fuel oils, natural gas, fertilizer and its in- gredients, tools, utensils and equip- ment required for the actual produc- tlon of all such products, designated ‘“necessaries”. In establishing government control, the bill authorizes the President to enter into any voluntary arrange- ments, create or use any agency or agencies, to accept services of any per- son without compensation, to co-oper- ate with any agency or person, to util- ize any department or agency of the government, and to co-ordinate their** activities. In pursuance of such authorization, President Wilson plans to appoint Herbert C. Hoover food administrator. Control of other necessaries named may be accomplished through other agencies. The House provision for an individual food administrator was en- acted only after the President hagd prevailed upon the Senate and House conferees to eliminate a Senate amendment, inserted by two over- whelming votes of 68 to 19 and 60 to 23, proposing a Board of Food of three subject to Senate confirmation. Comprehensive powers are given in the bill, passed as a war measure to assure adequate supply and equitable distribution of the named necessaries, to facilitate their government; to pre-# vent, locally and generally, scarcity, monopoly, hoarding, injurious specu- lation,’ manipulation or private con- trol affecting supply, distribution and movement. Other provisions of the bill fix a minimum price for wheat beginning next year at not less than $2 per standard bushel; provide for coal and,. coke price, fixing, commandeering and government operation of factories and mines producing necessaries; for gov- efnment purchase, sale and requisi- tion of various necessaries, and for federa] licensing of agencies produc- ing and handling them. The bill appropriates for a fund of $150,000,000 to be used in its admin- istration and $10,000,000 for federal purchase and sale at cost of fertilizer. The prohibition provisions, a com- promise for ‘“bone dry” prohibition proposed by the House, prohibit man- ufacture and importation of distilled liquors for beverages during the war, authorize the President to suspend manufacture of malt, fermented and vinous liquors or to limit their alco- holic content and “authorizes and di- < rects” the President, in his discretion, to commandeer distilled beverages in bond or stock when necessary for re- distillation into alcohol for military or other public defense purposes or to conserve foodstuffs. = Congressional leaders understand the president does not intend to com- mandeer distilled gpirits or to curtail, " who applied to a jndge of the superior court to have his name Americanized. The judge having an analytical mind said: “Spudowski is the Russian plural | for potato; spud, potato: Spudowski, | potatoes. A potato is a Murphy. By virtue of the authority vested in me by the statutes, 1 herehr confer upon | you the American name of Murphy.” “But Murphy isw't an American name,” protested the little man. “It isn’t, eh? Well, you go out antl | tell that to somebody by the name of Murphy and see if it isn't: but first you better leave a farewell note saying “I do this because I'm tired of life.” their consumption unless military exi- gencies require. The so-called Smoot amendment, directing federal pur- chase of distilled beverages in bond at cost plus 10 per cent..profit, was eliminated. In lieu of house provistons author- izing the food administration to flxf minippum prices for all necessaries, the law provides that the food ad- minjstration shall ix a minimum price for wheat alone. Until May 1, 1909, the bill provides that the basic price shall not be less than $2 per bushel, based upaon No. 1 spring northern at all primary markets. Sweeping powers to control coal prices also are provided. The Dbilk authorizes the president, through the tederal trade commission or other agency. to fix coal and coke prices, at the mines and among wholesalers and retailers, to regulate method of! sale, shipment and distribution among' dealers and consumers, and to requi- sition and operate mines or other coaling facilities. o A system of federal licensing of all agencies related to the production, transportation and distribution of the designated necessaries also is provid- ed, and rigid provisions against hoard- ing, speculation and monopolization established, under heavy penalties. Farmers are exempted from the hoarding provisions. The bill also authorizes the pres- ident to requisition, for military or public defense needs, all necessaries named, and, to guarantee reasonable prices to producer and consumer, to’ buy and sell fuel, wheat, flour, meal. beans and potatoes. The bill also au- thorizes the president to requisition and operate any factory, packing hous mine or oil pipe line, at ju compensati~n, for military or pul defense uses. PR Regul of grain and other tou stuff markets to prevent injurious 7 speculation or undue enhancement of prices, is another power conferred up- on the food administration throughy the president. -