Norwich Bulletin Newspaper, January 29, 1916, Page 4

"a year. 4 2 ea at the Postoffice at Norwich, a3 second-class matter. Telephone Callst u. tin Business Office 480. ! Ttorial Rooms 35-3. Bulletin B on Ornce 35-2. The Circulation of The Bulletin. has the largest circulation of any paper in Eastern Connecticut and from three to four times larger than that of any im Norwich. It is delivered to over 3,000 of the 4,058 houses in Nor- wich and read by ninety-three per cent. of the people. In Windham it is delivered to over 900 houses, In Putnam and Danielson to over 00, and in all of these places it is considered the local daily. Eastern Connecticut has forty- ‘nine towns, one hundred and sixty- five postoffice districts, and sixty rural free delivery routes. The Bulletin is sold in every town and on all of he R. F. D. routes in Eastern Connecticut. CIRCULATION 1901, average............e... 4412 --5,920 - 9,100 PRESIDENT ON PREPAREDNESS. Preside..; Wilson has fired his open- ing gun in behalf of preparedness and there can be no question but what he speaks with a full knowledge of what- he is talking about when he gives warning that plans for the re- adjustment of the army must be for- mulated and carried out without de- ‘lay. The condition of this country today when it comes to the matter of defense is such that it would be * the height of folly to do nothing what- ever in the way of preparing against possibilities. No war actually threat- this country, but as the president pointedly says, no man can tell what next day is gojng to bring forth and the only way to meet any crisis 1905, average....... | | danuary 22. that might arise is to put our house in order so that we will not be caught in a stata of unpreparedness which would be serious and costly. If the proper thought is given to the matter on the broad basis of na- tione’ welfare it must be recognized that Mr. Wilson is right when he says “we must protect our rights as a na- tion and the rights of our citizens in America anc outside of it as the-con- sensus of civilized peoples has defined,| them; must ensure the unembarrassed realization of cur political develop- ment within our own borders and must. protect the peace and politicpl autonomy of the Americas.” \ This is not a pertisan view; it is only that to which every loyal citizen of this country must subscribe if hej places country first and hand in hand industrial preparedness if the proper support is to be given to the needs of to stand in the way of needed action and from the recent declaration of Representative Mann there are good ~ reasons for believing that it will not. THE SHIPPING BILL. ‘When the announcement is being made that the shipping bill which has falled to get an endorsement either from congress or from the people is ‘about to be urged with greater deter- . mination than ever because of the _ hope that the changes which have _ been made in it will cause congress _ to look at it in a different light, it s difficult to understand how such measure can be urged with any stronger facts to support it than have _ already been put forward. " It is_impossible to get away from the governmental ownership feature and the fact that the government would be entering into competition with private capital in a business Where the laws of the nation are at the present time driving the American e g off the high seas instead of giv- \ing the encouragement which is de- | served and which ought to be forth- ~ coming. ‘There can be no question but what there is need of more ships by which ~ to handle the trade of this country * with foreign nations. That need is paramount at the present time, and nnder proper conditions capital stands ready to make the necessary outlay to meet the situation, but nothing whatever is being done to remove the obstacles. Neither is it apparent as to just how the government is going to pro- vide the necessary vessels when there - are none on the market and when the | shipyards of the country are choked . with the business which private cap- * itaf has provided. If the same amount _ of energy was used by the govern- ment authorities to get satisfactory shipping regulations and to give the ed boost ‘to the American mer- chant marine as is being put back of this bill there could be little ques- ‘tion about. the early solution of the| blem, but the shipping bill appears be another of those theories which essary aid when it comes to matching the efforts which the enemy is putting forth, and the manner in which the other allies are responding. A GREAT LESSON. President Wilson has changed his mind concerning a tariff commission and he offers in explanation thereof the fact that all the circumstances of the world have changed. That ex- cuse is of course opportune, but the president has been forced to change his mind in other particulars and he not only looks at the tariff in a dif- ferent light today, but he has differ- ent views upon preparedness. It is true that the war has given a new insight into many things, but it is also true that experience is a most valuable teacher and while the war has disclosed the weakness of this country when it comes to a matter of defense, it has been responsible for the era of prosperity which has open- ed up throughout the country. Tariff for revenue only has been the hobby of the administration. It has been -put into effect and its ad- vocates have brought about some big changes in the tariff schedules and the result has been that the revenues have been seriously impaired. There has been a revelation as to what such a tariff revision actually means and the taxation of the people of this country has been resorted to to make up for the losses sustained. The ef- fect must have made its impression even though it is handy to blame ev- erything just now upon the war. The fact of the matter is that a tariff commission is advisable at any time. The facts which it can pre- sent to those who must regulate the tariff are too valuable to be disregard- ed and while changed circumstances may get the credit for the altered attitude, it cannot help being inferred that the experience in putting free trade ideas into effect has likewise had its effect. It was a lesson coi cerning tariff revision which was found to have a Wholesome effect in the future whether the president had come out for a tariff commission or not. ARMED MERCHANTMEN. From the course which it is dis- closed this country has decided to take relative to armed merchantmen, it would appear that it had started out’on the difficult task of proving to the belligerents on both sides that they are wrong and getting them to agree to conduct their submarine war- fare in accordance with international aw. The details of the effort have not been made public, but it is appar- ently felt that safety on the high seas should be guaranteed by all the na- tions at war and that the only way in which this can be assured is to have them come. to an understanding on the matter, to the effect that mer- tmen_ will not go armed, even for defense’ purposes, and that all nations in the use of submarines will obey 211 the’ requirements imposed upon other vessels before attacking an en- emy ship. In view of the experience that this .country has had with the central pow- ‘ers us the result of the disregard for human life, the failure to give warn- ings to . ships -before they were tor- pedoed and the leaving of the passen- gers to the mercies of the high seas in small boats, it is evident that sim- ilar obstacles are going to be en- countered in putting forth such a proposition ‘as it appears this coun- try is endeavoring to do. That the proposition may be rea- sonable furnishes little ground in this instance, for compliance with it by those countries which are responsible for merchantmen carrying arms, ex- cept that it may be that they are ready to live up to the promises that have been made. There could be no oppo- sition to disarmament if it were not for the high-handed manner in which submarine warfare has been conduct- ed and the fear that promises made even now will not be respected. EDITORIAL NOTES. A few more of these balmy January days and thought will begin to turn to vacation plans. Everybody is eagerly awaiting Tur- key's description of the manner in which the Persia was sunk. The Jack of ice isn't vothering the dealers in that commodity any more than it is the would be skaters. It begins to look as if it would be the groundhog’s luck to strike a bliz- zard on the date set for his appear- ance. One of the latest signs of New York improvement is the decision that the Russian ballet is too naughty for the metropolis. It is not the wage earner who is doing the roet worrying about the recent dec'sicr upholding the income tax'n opstituiionailty. The man on the corner says: *Twould seem useless to try to con- quer half the world by love so -long as the other half carries a gun, administration insists upon trying before it will be satisfled. ~of 'all the opposition that|. offered and threatened comseription in England, it be- apparent from the vote taken the labor organization of that t: that it recognizes the situa- h which exists and does not intend place any obstacles in the way of u ful conduct of the war. e labor conference has been op+ to comscription from the first the last vote taken shows that 4bofly it is of the same mind A majority, but the very fact that at the same it does mot intend to embarrass ? nment in the prosecuf It begis to look as if the allfes ‘were leaving the Albanians to their own resources much the same as they did the Servians and Montenegrins. It the democrats turn the Filipinos loose within the next few years there need be no guesswork about where the next revolution is going to be staged. Rhode Island is opposing a higher state tax. That action is getting to be common throughout New England states, but it can only be dodged by the practice of economy and increased revenue. e Senator Clarke is so anxious to get rid of the Philippines that he would allow them to go to Japan. The chances ‘are that he is even willing that they should go to the dogs If our responsibilities could only cease. t improve by thinkin it to be impossible. One good leader with faith in himeelf and others never doing the most they could do with a hundred cents. The doing of good, the giving of money for benevolent pur- poses is a habit rather than a spasm. The widow's mite lifted her up on a pinnacle of fame so high that she has never been overshadowed by the givers even unto this day when they hand out dollars by the tens of mil- lions. Yearning to do good and benev- olent things is the way Conceit has of forming a bad habit. There is noth- ing to an empty wish of this sort. It doesn’t amount to as much as glving a penny to a poor boy in winter to buy mittens with when mittens cost ten cents a pair. Do not swell up and tell the great thing you wish you could do, but humbly and secretly do the little helpful, comforting things right at hand. Many people who attempt to stand upon their dignity make as much fuss about it as an amatuer does in his first attempt to walk a tight rope. ‘The reason is that dignity was never designed to stand upon; and the true quality has never been decently imi- tated.” While dignity is reserved and closely allied to modesty, being devoid of pomp or brazeness, the assump- tion of it never lacks the bumptious- ness of pride nor the glare of effron- tery. The counterfeit is too often mis- taken for the real thing because it flaunts itself upon public notice, some- thing whihch quality is never guilty of. Most people are not aware that true dignity is manifest power cloaked with modest reserve. Bumptiousness never looks dignified to the intellegent whatever form- of expression it may l:,:ke, for it is simply conceit on par- ade. When we reach a d genalogist to fix the roots of our genealogical tree and to build up a fine trunk and beautifully spreading branches we are In nomood to think of the possibility of _there being breakers ahead; but when the genaol- ogist comes hack and tells u: T doubt if you will be pleased with it. Your ~ great-great-grandfather was hanged for murder; your great-grand- father was imprisoned for robbery; your ‘grandfather was tarred and feathered for beating his wife. That's not a very good record, is it?” We do not look upon the picture with the satisfaction and glee the fellow did reported by the Boston _Transcript. He replied: “That shows the family is Eetting better with each generation. I'm an improvement on the _entire bunch—never been in jail yet. Let me have those records—I'm proud of 'em.” He realized that he was an ancestor from which the family could take a new start—the root of a ne wfamlly tree. He had them all where they would have to look up to him in ad- miration. This fellow doeen’t . look like a_fool ‘when you come to think s The great. Sanitary gineers of this age all agree that disease can- not be eliminated so long as there is poverty, a clear revelation that we must “fight the erronious _industrial systems of men and the bad habits of individuals as well as the micrococcus or any otherscoccus. There is too much of this killing the fly and the mosquito and neglecting the muck holes and the fermentitious flith where flies and mosquitoes become laden with germs. When Charles Wesley, a hundred and twenty-five years ago, told his congration “Cleanliness is next to Godliness,” he could not have com- prehended the scope and power of this truth he uttered. All the doctors in the world cannot prevent man from becoming the victim of his own negli- egnce and slovenliness. Knowledge lifts man above himself and action is his salvation —physical and spiritual. ‘When man becomes intelligent enough and unselfish enough to overcome poverty and disease the race will be on the direct highway to perpetual peace. ire to employ & How many debts we owe, we who owe no man a dollar. The debt to our parents and ancestors for their tem- perate habits and achievements which gave us surroundings which were full of promise and pointed us to appor- tunities we should not have recog- nized without them. How much we owe to the teachers who rendered effi- clent and sympathic aid, and the good friend who spoke the words which awoke us to the consciousness that we are all children of the King and that this pretended superiority of an- cestry rests upon vanity not upon fact. Our obligations to those who have gone before are worthy recogni- tion and they cannot be paid for in gold—they must be liquidated by ser- vice to others—we must do for oth- ers what others have done for us. This generation must increase knowl- edge and inver.tions and opportunities and everything which will add to the comfort and happiness and hope of those who come after us. Some people get so religlous they venture to tell the Lord how he ought to deal with their neighbors and gov- ern the earth. It sounds funny to hear mortal _man instructing _the Over-soul in His duty when he finds it very difficult to recognize his own work "and to_do it. 1 have mever thought the Lord needed any human advice, or listened with any patience to those who flatteringly tell him of his goodness and power. He knows us and is more consclous of our needs than we are ever likely to be. He knows what poor miserable sinners we are without our telling him. He knows a grateful heart that cannot in words express its feeling and he knows the petitions which have no foeling in them. He knows whether ‘we ask believing or not; and there is no doubt He blesses all of us beyond our deserts. He doesn’t require us to approach him in awe, but he does re- quire that we should be earnest and gincere becsuse He is our Heavenly er. - At the end of a long life a woman| was asked which of the Lord's mercies she felt most thankful for and her reply was: “Victuals.” God's contin- uous Dbounty had impressed her above all else, and why should it not. It is the fact that more depends up- on victuals than we think. They are a visible source of heaith and strength. This_bas been ‘ectly demonstrated i the investizationa in Before sailing, she had been thus ad- vertised in the Norwich Packet of Nov. 17th, 1778: The fine new ship Governor Trum- bull, Henry Bilings commander, now lylng in the harbor of New London, mounting 20 carriage guns, will sail in six days. Apply on boat,or to How=- land & Coit, Norwich. The ship’s capture was_thug an- nounced in a Tory paper in New York: April 5, 1779. The rebel _frigate Trumbull is taken by the Venus and sent into St. Kits. . The Venus herself was originally an American ship called the Bunker Hill, captured by the British and her name changed. Reference was made last week to the building of the big frigate Confed- eracy, by order of Congress, at Nor- wich, under supervision of Major Jos- hua Huntington, as agent of the Gov- ernor and Council of Safety. In Hunt- ington’s accounts, the charges to the ship Confederacy amounted to a sub- stantial sum £29,369 and over. His commission upon this was £1,453, making the total cost of the frigate £30,823 and over, or about $154,115. A number of the Mohegan Indians were among the workers on the ship all being paid by the day, though at varying rates. Uncas, Ashpow, Quo- cheets, Wyox and other Mohegan names appear in the list of workmen and crew. The big shipping firm in Norwich at that period was Howland & Coit, al- ready mentioned. Merchants in the ‘West Indies trade had very uncertain luck during those troubleous years, S0 much so that Miss Caulkins says their trade resembled the continual running of a blockade. Several of the Norwich shipmasters with their craft fell in- to the hands of the enemy. Old ac- count books and the weekly news:. papers hint at this. Among those who ran many risks which it has been found that to 10,000 of the well-fed classes there are only 10 deaths of this disease to 40 deaths to the same number of poorly-fed people. Mortal sustenance keeps us all fit to perfect a basis for our im- mortal hopes. She might have said food had she been younger, but in her youth victuals had not been put into the list of gross words. Some people are 50 refined they are shocked by the truth if it is not tunefully or sweetly expressed. Victuals form a solid e sailed again; and the Rext reference to hlm is the significant Capt. Elisha . in & from Norwich, bound bo. tos West Tadies, 1s captured and carried to Bermuda. Building of vessels of many t must have gone on continuously in from occasional mar- ine items which history has preserved. Capt. Davison left the river Nov. 13th, 1781, in a small coasting sloap bound for Boston. In rounding Cape Cod, he was blown off by strong north- erly winds, driven out to see, and aft- er thirty-one days arrived at Guada loupe, his crew famishing, for want of provisions. He_ encountered upon the ocean neither friend or foe, sold his sloop well, and returned to Norwich in a Boston brig. From Poquetanuck went out a gal- lery in April, 1782, commanded by Capt. Meech, of Preston, which slip- ped into Fire Island inlet on the Long Island coast and captured three Bri- tish coasters, one which Capt. Meech engaged to ransom for £500, £150 of which was paid upon the spot and divided among the crew. However, be- fore the victors could get well away which was pald upon the spot and leys appeared off the inlet, retook the prizes, and to prevent the capture of their own galley, the Americans scut- tled and sunk her, escaping themselves by land. Two famous Norwich brigs were the Young Cromwell and the orit The Cromwell was successively com- manded by Captains William Wattles, Hillard, Buddington, Reed and Cook. The Cromwell brought in her last prize Nov. 1st, 1781. In her next cruise she was_taken and her crew thrown into the New York fatal prison-ship, where seventeen of the number died of pesti- lential fever. In May, Cook, her com- mander, escaped by dropping himself overboard during the night and swim- ming to the shore, whence he made his way_home in safety. Nothing daunt- ed, Capt. Cook, a few weeks later, em- barked in the schooner Turn-of-Time: on a trading voyage to Demerara; but he was again captured, and carried to Bermuda. The other brig, the Favorite, captured Sept. 1781, by the British frigate Iris, and taken to New York. The ship Fortune, commander, was another Norwich- built craft, completed in 1781. She lay at the mouth of the river, nearly was ready to sail for “Hispaniola, France | and a cruise,” when the town of New London and its shipping were burned by our Norwich townsman, Benedict Arnold. The Fortune and a few other Vessels were sble to escape up ver. Following the proclamation of Con- foundation for mortal life, and no one need apologize for using the word. Sunday Mowning Talk LITTLE FOXES. In the flelds of Palestine long ago there roamed the “little foxes that spoil the vines.” As the Australlan farmer fights rabbits and the New England farmer woodchucks, so the Hebrew farmer of Bible times had to contend with foxes, little pests that trampled his vines and nibbled his grapes. Discouraging indeed must have been his toil when, in a night, marauders with bushy tails could spoil the ripening crop. A little fox is not a formidable creature and will run at the crack of a popgun. But he can be destructive in a measure altogether out of pro- portion to his size. Wherein he re- sembles some of the traits of human nature. A fault may be apparently insignificant, but etill capable of tre- mendous damage. There are some sins, besides those of the first order, against which one must be on his guard. It is here not a question alone of eternal salvation or loss, but of present symmetry, beauty and effectiveness of character. A little fault may spoil us, The size of a thing is no measure of its power. ! A battleship looks big in the water and seems-a mighty instrument of de- struction. There is, on the other hand, a tiny germ called the tubercle bacil- lus 80 small that 900 of them can find room on the point of a needle. Yet the bacilli destroy more lives each year than all the battleships of all the navies. Goliath fell before David because he refused to take the Mad seriously. “When the Philistine looked about and saw David, he disdained him, for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and of a fair countenance.” Not otherwise do we disdain many an apparently in- significant opponent—and to our cost There is, for instance, the habit of procrastination, the willingness to put things oft. How many mortals are never quite ready to do the thing they ought to do? They will write that letter and make that call—to- morrow. After the manner of our easy-going Southern neighbors, they say placidly, “manana.” Not all the Mexlcans live in Mexico. There is the habit of exaggeration. How easily may one, anxious to tell a good story, or to give a vivid de- scription, fail' into it. It is possible 50 to dress up an event in the nar- ration of it or so to flll one's recital of some experience with Inaccuracies as barely to escape the charge of falsehood. One might almost as well have the reputation of a liar as of one who habitually tells “blg stories.” Gradually people begin to_ distrust one who does so, and to set him down @s an unreliable person. There is the habit of discourtesy. A host of people who are impolite would not, to be sure, steal your purse, but,’ at least, their impoliteness adds ' no luster to their honesty. Morals are above manners, and even if the latter are bad the former may be good, which is often consoling. But how much more attractive the good morals would be if they had manners to match them. In the life of a clvilized community the boor is heavily handicapped. For him many & fair vine of opportunity is trampled down. The difficulty with _the control of little foxes is that they won't stay little. They grow up' all the time and their appetites grow with them. By and by they are too big to be fondled, or petted, or laughed at. They are more like wolves who travel and hunt in packs. The best protection is to catch them young and put them se- curely in limbo. THE PARSON. gress, April 11th, 1783, announcing a cessation of hostilities between Great Britain and the United States, the ‘West India trade was given a new im- petus at Norwich. In 1784, Leffingwell was appointed the first naval officer of the port of Norwich, with. Thomas Coit collector of the rev- enue. The horses, cattle and produce of a thriving back country, crowding to be disposed of, added to the fact that Norwich merchants and ship-masters had suffered less than those of more exposed ports during the war years, resulted in lively seeking of .2 market abroad. stock, provisions and lumber et ly were demanded by the West and it is an interesting fact that even flour was at that time an article of export rather than of import since considerable wheat was then raised in the eastern portion of Con- necticyt. The Norwich vessels seldom took on their live-stock cargoes from the lo- cal wharves. Sheep and swine might be received directly from the land, or from light craff as they lay in the stream; but horses, oxen and cows were generally driven to New London and then taken aboard. It was rare for a vessel to tarry her deck cargo down the river. Joseph Wi vessels in the 1791, the ship Josephus, 228 tons, Brig Bnterpriser 130 tons, Snow Federal, 110 tons, schooner Nabby, 87 _tonms, sloop Prosperity, 70 tons, sioop Nego- tiator, 70 tons, as evident vessels of very light burden and small draft. The Snow was described as “all federal; hull, rigging, sails, and every material manufactured from the produce of America.” The packets running from Norwich to New York and Boston, as well as the coasting sloops, kept the river lively; while the hammers at the ship- yards made music day by day. THE DICTAGRAPH. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR What February Will Be. Mr. Editor: One hundred and thir- teen days of southerly winds since the sun crossed the line in September—27 days In January, and not a single one without the wind being in a southerly point at some part of the day, and there you are. Over and over again I have watched the equinoctial wind, and it has never yet failed. There wili be six weeks more of weather with the prevailing wing the same, and when Old Sol starts back in March you can all keep a rec- ord of his pranks that day and have good idea of general weather condi- tions. In spite of the winds being south, A YEAR AGO TODAY Jan. 29, 1915. Germans were checked in two at- tempts to cross the Aisne. Yeer flood area drained by the Germans. Russian wings advanced in East Prussia, closing in on Insterburg and Tilsit. Advance in Carpathians made by Russ fortified Ezreum and ex- pelled civilians. italian soldiers of First and Third categories called to colors. Polish legion formed at Warsaw. Germans won a victory in the Argonne. Russians cut ralway between Memel and Tilsit. Russians overwheimed the Turks in the Caucausus and captured Ta- briz, Pers Germans _submarine sank three British steamers in Irish channel. italy placed contracts for war supplies in United States. Henry _Billings | we note that Christopher | | { | i the | | Reo WHEN YOU CONSIDER that Reo the Fifth is today the oldest chassis on the American market,and there- fore in the world—and that. this car has outlived scores of cars that tried to compete with it in that “thousand dollar will agree that this must be a truly wonderful motor most class,” you car. FOR sailed any model. parts. BUT THEY DO — the “bargain hunters”—and we in the automo- bile business have learned to dread that kind of competition—just because there is so little substance toit. NOW FIVE YEARS—this is the sixth season—Reo the Fifth has held first place in the esteem of buyers and users against the most terrific competition that ever as- NOT ALONE HAS IT CON- TENDED against other successful makes — always maintaining its lead—but it has withstood that wickedest of all competition—the failure—the car originally priced several hundred dollars higher but which, its makers bankrupt, was finally thrown on the market at a price lower than Reo the Fifth. STRANGE THAT ANYONE would buy such a car—no factory behind it; no one to make good the guar- antee; nowhere to get replacement the Fifth Must Be a Wonderful Automobile BUT REO THE FIFTH has with- stood many such storms and always came out with flying colors. THEN THERE WERE THOSE FLURRIES occasioned by new makers jumping into the arena, or old makers projecting new and sensationalmodels in frantic efforts to stem the tide of Reo the Fifth popularity—and still the great model triumphed. MUST BE A GREAT CAR—must be—and it is. NOT ONLY IS IT made of the best materials known to science; not only is it the product of the great- Fifth. est corps of mechanics and the best equipped factory ; but it has proved to be the simplest car to operate; the most accessible and the lowest in maintenance cost—and these combined account for its suprem- acy—the invincibility of Reo the PRICE OF THE LATEST model— same famous chassis. but refined and improved wherever that could be done—is $875. ONLY PROBLEM that confronts you and us is—how to get one. Demand is tremendous—many times the capacity of the big Reo plants. ONLY WAY is to order now— immediately—and get a definite delivery date as soon as may be— we’ll tell you just about what date you may expect your Reo the Fifth, WILLIAM R. FRISBIE, Norwich, Conn. southeast and southwest during the month of February, that does not mean summer weather—not by a long sight. February will open cold; next Tues- day is ground hog day, and unless all signs fail he will not see his shadow at any time of the day. A big storm is due early in February, another from the 10 to 13th, another from 22d to 25th, and a_rip-roaring sizzler from the last of February to March 2. There will be many zero days in February, 1916, and aléo more of these balmy days like May. The coldest period of the winter will be the first week in February. The stormiest period from Feb. 29 to March 4. Don’t think because wasps, worms, flies and even mosquitoes are out that January ends winter®-for a cold snap, and very cold one, is right at hand. I am writing this Jan. 27, a day or two earlier than I should, owing to the fact that several people have written me that I take the last Friday in the month’ to tell the following month's weather by. I do nothing of the kind. The moon changes tonight, and conse- quently my date is here, Friday or no Friday. The fellow who follows Friday signs is like the one that expects some one to die when a dog howls. As a rule, some one does die—that is, when a dog howls in Boston some one may die in Chicago! THE CLOUD DIGGER. Jan. 27, 1916. Stories of the War Kashan, the Place from Which the Wise Men Started. The brief despatch that the Russians have taken Kashan in Persia orings another romantic name into the the- ater of war operations. It is almost a sacred name, as tradition says it was from Kashan that the Wise men start- ed on their holy pilgrimage to Beth- lehem so many Christmases ago. Every step taken both by the Rus- sian and British expeditions in this corner of the world is in a country of interesting history and tradition. The British, from a base on the supposed site of the Garden of Eden, operated against Bagdad, the city of the Ara- bian Nights, and the Russians in their advance on Kashan recently took Ha- madan, the ancient Ecbatana, whicn contains, according to the Mohamme- dans, the tombs of Esther and Morde- cai. The belief that at Kashan the Wise Men of the East first saw the star of Bethehem has found _support among learned Christian _theologians. But —————————————————————— DOWeVer that may be, Kashan became ] OTHER VIEW POINTS l ‘War rumblings may disturb Sweden at present, but Denmark pretty cer- tainly is going to keep out of this war. She wants to keep out, and both Ger- many and England want the same thing. This much is gleaned by cor- respondents from _conversations with officials in Copenhagen and well in- formed persons there. If Denmark fights at all it must be with the allies. She lost Schleswig-Holstein to Ger many 52 years ago and has hated the Germans ever since. But Germany could cross the imaginary line sep- arating the two countries and over- run Denmark within a short time. Hence Denmark cannot afford to fight. New London Telegraph. The boys at the Connecticut Re- formatory at Cheshire write, put in type, edit and publish a monthly mag- azine or newspaper called the Chron- icle. The special number, dated Jan- uary 1, 1916, is now at hand and is highly creditable to its makers. It glves many illustrations of the insti- tution and of its working force and of the life of the boys. In one article the contributor calls on “Mr. Taxpayer” a great city In ancient times, especial- Iy after it was rebuilt by Zobeideh, wife of Haroun-el-Raschid. It once had 6,500 houses and forty mosqu and was renowned for its silk weav- ers and brass workers. But civil wars, earthquakes and economic causes brought about its decay. There Is still seen the famous leaning minaret, 130 feet high, which once served as an ori- ental divorce court. Unfaithful wives were dragged up the spiral staircase to the top and shoved off. Four ailes from Kashan are the remains of the wonderful palace built by Shah Abbas, the greatest of the Persian monarchs. The. oasis constructed by the Shah is still green, its pavilions are gay with paintings and mosaics and its gardens full of roses, watered by streams. that run through blue tiled channels. In this palace a political tragedy was en- acted in 1863. Mirza Khan, prime min- ister and own brother-in-law of the Teigning_Shah, was condemned to death. "He asked permission to com- mit suicide, and opened a vein in his arm in one of the ancient, tiled bath- rooms of the palace. The ruined pal- ace with its summer houses amid trees and gardens, surrounded by des- ert, is described as the most beautiful thing of its kind in the world. Kashan is also famous for its scor- pions, which are said to be among the largest and most polsonous reptiles in the world. to get busy and inform himself abouf the reformatory. The Courant can say from positive knowledge that such is also and more strongly the wish of the directors, who are trying to carry out the fine purposes of the state in establishing it. Whoever gets a copy of this particular number of _the Chronicle should keep it at hand. It is a handbook of the institution.— Hartford Courar* 5 — . Congressman 1. .15 Oakey is et- ting into deeper water when he offors to co-operate with the schemers who are trying to touch Uncle Sam for the New Britain canal. That canal prom- ises to be the last ditch for more than one ambitious politician's reputation, and Congressman Oakey is no better swimmer than the others. If he wish- es to serve Connecticut well he must keep out of the mud in that and sim- ilar plans to dig into the U, S. treas- ury.—Bristol Press. To cut off the few immigrants who are arriving here now simply because they cannot read and write is more foolish by far than cutting off the nose to spite the face. 'Besides, the immi- grants who cannot read and write are not the ones who do the damage, if any damage is done; it devolves about those who are possessed of well round- ed educations, of those who can speak fluently and write with ease and grace. Those are the ones to watch, if there is going to be instituted a system of “safety first” Let the laborers in.— New Britain Herald. It is to be hoped that the president can muster a sufficient number of cun- gressmen and senators to take _this first step to remove our tariff problem from politics. That done, the rest would follow naturally and inexitably. Once given a demonstration of the ef- ficiency and value of the commission plan no sane person would ever think business, the partisan wrangling and of going back to the unsettiement of the futile accomplishment of a revision of the tariff byo;;ollum It would be laughed out court, once its folly has been fully demonstrated by the application of business methods to this national problém.—Ansonia Sen- tinel. We congratulate Gov. Holcomb on his choice of Anson T. McCook of Hartford for the vacancy on Cheshire reformatory board caused by the death of the lamented Max Adler. Mr. McCook is most capable, with fine record as a citizen and a lawyer. He recently showed what he could do by conducting a successful campaign in behalf of Connecticut’s food ship for Belgium. He will be one of the