The evening world. Newspaper, June 7, 1918, Page 20

ss % Wag A INO = ce Vraiv x Che ESTABLISHED BY JOSEPH PULITZER. Pudlisheé Daily Except 5 by the Press Publishing Company, Nos. 63 wa Park Row, New York. ma \ 7 PULITZDR, President, 63 Park Row. ANGUS SHAW, ‘Treasurer, 63 Park Row, ZBR. Jt, Beoretary, 63 Park How, — - MEMBER OF THP ASSOCIATED PRPSS. . \ | exotic Gerttas cedltod 18 Bs Sioa new Sel VOLUME 58.. IS YOUR ALDERMAN INTERESTED? A‘ G the many letters received by Tho Evening World offer- aeesNO, 20,744 ing facts and figures to confirm the justice of this newspaper's demand for an official check upon rent profiteering in New York, the following presents « particularly clear and concrete case: To the Editor of The Bvening World: Myself and family, and my father before me, have been readers of your paper for a great many years, and of all the various causes you have championed in behalf of the general public I recall none more worthy/or deserving than your pres- ept campaign against profiteering’ landlords. Your editorials and writings on the subject have’ been true in every respect. Here is a case fh point: ‘ I occupy an apartment in a six-story apartment house (address given) on a plot 132.6x100 feet, having a total of fifty- four tenan! There ts one elevator. ‘The rent of my apartment for the five years previous to last year was $45 per month. Last October it was raised to $50 per month. I have just now received the following notice from the agents: Dear Sir—Owing to the fact that general mainte- nance costs, taxes, etc., have been enormously increased, we are compelled to advance your monthly rental to $60 from October 1, 1918. If you desire to remain as « tenant {t will be neces- sary for you to notify us to this effect in writing on or before July 1, 1918. If we are not advised of your intention, as stated above, we will assume that you do not desire to renew your lease, and will therefore endeavor to re-rent your apartment. » Agents, Here is a raise of 381-8 per cent in two years. And instead of getting any more in the way of service, otc., we are actually getting less, as last winter we were with- out heat for over two weeks at a time, and it is rather the ex- ception than the rule that we are furnished hot water. The house is kept in much poorer condition than when I moved in. At the same proportion of raise demanded of me, the rent roll of this apartment house from next October will be in- creased $5,760 for the coming year. Figure as they will, there is no way of showing an increase of expenses over last year amounting to even 50 per cent. of this rent increase. There is one janitor, one day and one night operator, each for elevator and switchboard, a total of fivein help. Figure any reasonable inerease you will for these employees, then add increase for coal and supplies afd finally add the increased tax rate of 34 | points over last year (the house is assessed at $195,000, the tax | raise $663) and you can readily see that the landlord's in- creased expense in no way justifies. any such rent increase as | is asked. | Your paper has accomplished things in the past that were considered impossible when you first advocated them, and I give you my heartfelt wish for success in this just cause, A CONSTANT RBADER. The Evening World has verified the assessment figures and the tax increase on the property in question. Here is an instance where the “enormous increase of taxes,” upon which landlords lay such stress this season, amounts to an extra $663 to be divided among fifty-four tenants, making $12.28 a year for each tenant, or a trifle over $1.00 each per month! Suppose the wages of the five employees advanced $10 per month | each. A total of $600 a year extra expense for the landlord in this} direction would work out at about 93 cents a month for each of the t-fty-four tenants. An average raise of $1.93, pr say $2.00, in the monthly rent of each tenant, providing an increase of $1,296 a year in total rentals, would therefore cover the landlord’s additional burdens in the im- portant items of taxes and higher cost of service. But the increase in this rent roll is figured at $5,760. Is the landlo#d, then, prepared to maintain that he must collect an extra $4,464 to meet merely the increased cost of his coal and repairs? Must it, at the same time, be a case of exacting from ten- ants steadily CLIMBING prices for steadily DESCENDING standards of service? In answer to questions like these, New York rent payers are en- titled to something more definite and reassuring than vague talk about the high cost of everything and “the inevitableness of economic readjustments.” ? There is a basis upon which rents may be fairly and reason- ably advanced. For the protection of New York tenants that basis should be established now, at a time when landlord profiteers are obviously taking advantage of the same conditions which have favored prof- iteers of all sorts since the beginning of the war. A resolution lately introduced in the Board of Aldermen called for every member of the Board to inquire into conditions of rent raising in his particular district. What interest is your Alderman showing in the safeguarding of tenants against rent advances that pass all bounds of necessity and fairness? Stirred Up When Gold Was Cheap| T h EDITORIA Friday, June 7, 1918 L PAGE. a Hornets’ Nest! By the Rev. Thomas D. Gregory Copyright, 1918, by The Press Publishing Co, (The New York Brening World), cently when a British vessel was sunk by a German sub- marine in the Mediterranean was & man named Granger, who was on his way from the gold fields of South Africa to his home in England. Granger, !t appears, had been suc- cessful, had struck “pay dirt” in great shape, and at the time his ship was struck by the torpedo had along with him @ good sized sack of the precious yellow dust. But circumstances alter values as well as “cases,” and when Granger realized the situation he was in he frantically offered his bag of gold to any one who would assist him tn es- caping the remorseless waters that threatened to engulf him, Of course no one paid the least at- tention to the man’s pleadings, and his bag of gold lay on the deck of the sinking ship uncared for and unno- tleed, no one bothering to pick it up. Gold was cheap that day, Every man aboard the ill-fated vessel re- alized that his life was in immediate peril, that Old Death was reaching out for him then and there, in “dead earnest,” and at « time like that what did gold amount to? ‘ Gotd by the aide of life? Even all the gold of all the gold mines along- side of the precious thing that those waves were threatening? Perish the thought! Let us ltve—and the devil take al! the gold in all the strong boxes on earth! It was the most natura] thing imag- A MONG those who perished re- Letters From the People Foreman Tells of yard To the Editor of The Kreniog World: Any one who doubts the charges about shipyard slackers, as some of your readers intimate, need only visit one of the yards around New York where three men falling over each other to do a boy's work. And for this they get anywhere from 60 cents to $1. an hour, A great many of these high-priced loiterere are foreigners and a considerable percentage of un alien enemies—"German-A meri- cans’ with the American left off. So badly are the yards organized that men with Gorman sympathies are put im the place of foremen, and these hire other foreigners and enemies in- stead of Americans. The average) “What's the matter at your church?” shipyard contractors do not care who| “Some people have put up a sky- ia bired or what happens. They get a| scraper next door.” big slice of their contract "money in ome uate thet bee er fe oe our — City Journal, jaekers. some way, some how. Why should |they worry so long as the profit is good? Some of the contractors stem afraid to make their employees work for fear they will quit altogether, And between the two extremes we have a big body of sullen, carelese foreign- ers who simply loaf about and grin when patriotism 1s mentioned, Mean- while our boys are going across to de- fend America for such men. The old stock will be wiped out and the worth. loss left to claim the land. ASSISTANT FOREMAN, ____ Shipyard, CITY LIFE, advance and the work ie put through 300-foot steeple. inable that,Granger should Lave of- fered his gold in exchange for his life; and yet—such Is the strange per- versity of human nature—are we not daily and hourly offering our life for gold? When suddenly brought face to face with the truth we perceive, in- stinctively as it were, what a wortb- less thing gold is in comparison with life; and yet for this same worthless thing we eacrifice ourselves right along. For gold—which in the supreme crisis of life we perceive to be but @ glittering sham—we deliberately give up health and length of days, honor of @oul and peace of mind, self- respect and the esteem of those about us, and die, long before our time, wretched and unmourned. Are we fools or iunatics that we can @o persistently and doggedly do such altogether unreasonable ; ud sul cidal a thing? Hyppotized by the gilded sorceress, we filng away the jewel and press to our hearts with mad devotion the empty casket. “Gold! Gold! Gold!” Such {fs our frantic, furious, ne nding ery, and in the getting of the gold, or in the attempt to get it, we overlook the only wealth that is really worth hav- ing—the wealth of life, of high and noble thinking, of clean, happy liv- ing, of Drave doing, and of the chee. fulness of eoul which the poorest may have for the asking, but which the richest of the eons of men are unable to buy with all their piled-up millions. Life! Therein ts to be found the crowning riches. To be thoroughly, grandly alive— physically, mentally, morally—alive to ajl that fs true, beautiful and good in nature and in humanity, in the world without and the world within—who that is thus alive is going to be fool enough to bother himself about gold? Pioneer of Modern Farming Long Unhonored HE first agricultural investigator to make use of drill sowing was Jethro Tull, an English scientist, who died in 1740, His invention ot drill sowing of seeds and his insist- ence upon the need of frequent hoe- ing were among the greatest improve- ments in farming methods up to that time, and revolutionised agriculture. ‘Tull was educated for the law, but {ll pealth compelled bim to retire to a farm, where he spent his life in agtl- cultural experiments, His farm at Shalborne, in Berkshire, may be said to have been the birthplace of mod- ern agriculture. Respite the Jeers of “practical tar- * he carried bis methods so far that he succeeded by improved culti- vation in gathering good crops from land that had always been considered worthless for farming purposes. His invention of drill sowing enabled far- mere to save at least one-third of their seed. While generals and states- men have been honored with mighty monuments, Jethro Tull, lies in an uo: marked gra —_—___ TABLE FOR AUTOMOBILES. A new table for automobile tour- {sts folds to but two inches in thick- ness and can be conveniently carried ae the cushion on the seat of a f. prrigt. 1 br The Nee Pawn (The New York Brent; e Jar By Roy L. Coprright, 1918, by The Press Publishing Co, (The New York Evening World.) 667M expecting some young friends in, the Cackleberry girls and Mr. Alfred Bullwinkle,” re- marked Mrs. Jarr, “Their frivolous chatter would not interest you, I am afraid, Mr. Graves.” The mournful visitor Mr. Jarr had brought home for dinner only sighed, but gave no evidence of being about to depart. “Come on, old top, I'll take you around the neighborhood,” said Mr, Jarr, knowing the storny signals were set against the gloomy guest. “I might as well stay here, I need cheering up,” remarked Mr. Graves. “Oh, it will do you good to get in the open al. said Mrs, Jarr, bring- ing the guest's hat. “You are wear- ing crape on your arm, and a flower in your buttonhole, I see.” “Yes,” the morbid man from Ro- chester replied. “The crape for my first wife, the flower for my bride~ both lost to me. Simply because, while in Washington on our wedding trip, I went with some friends to Baltimore, only an hour away, to drink her health”"—— “Yes, yes, I know,” said Mrs, Jarr. “But a@ walk in the open air will do you good, You should play golf.” “Our golf course near Rochester is right beside the cemetery,” said the sloomy visitor, “And when I think of fat, perspiring men whacking gutta percha balls with clubs of gruesome shape near what may be my last resting place, will it recompense me then to know that all balls knocked over the cemetery walls are out of play?” “Wouldn't you rather have the play than the Jay?” asked Mr, Jarr. “That is, wouldn't you rather be playing golf than reposing in the cemetery?” “I would not,” aid the gloomy guest. “Golf is simply a pastime that prolongs the lives of undesirable citizens.” “Well, I am sorry you have to go," sald Mrs. Jarr, leading the way to the door, for, as she afterward said, the way that man talked her the creeps—and for once in her life she let Mr, Jarr go out in the oven- ing without telling him not to forget he had a home, Mr, Jarr led the morbid man from Rochester to Gus's place at the cor- ner rejoicing In the thought that there was euch @ haven near, To take uch & man into an ice cream parlor, Mr. Jarr felt, was more than even his optimistic nature could have stood, “My friend, Mr. Phil Graves, from Rooberter, Gus.” gaid Mz, Jarre, By Helen COULD not have believed it! I light opera, religion, ments of fancy That I should Like this one! wantonly mutilated— To see boats that sail under the five miles— of Darius Green—— dinners and foodless nations—— Tunning street cars; Ups, I could not have believed it! But NOW, I can believe anything! Eternal Youth, I should not be surprised Or @ faultless woman, or eternal cook! (And I should not be surprised if cept it!) No indeed! I should not even be surprised . of Woman! Disheartening? Never! And the wonders of Divinity! It {s a trumpet call to those who For they are living in the Age A few short yester self-complacent, and pessimistic— But today I can believe ANYTHING! Can't you? r Family McCardell Gus remarked he was glad to st¢ jbim, but didn't look it. “You strongly resemble a man I knew in my home town,” said Mr. serving me the rickey when he dropped over, dead! A rickey, please. “EL ome and give this gent @ rickey, id Gus in @ hollow voice. “I won't say that such a thing could happen to you,” continued the mournful man, “but I knew another jman, also a cafe proprietor, just about your age. But HIS heart was sound. He was shocked to death by electricity when he went to turn on an electric fan. Gus, ‘who was just standing on tip toe to turn on the electric fan, stepped back, and remembered he was not feeling well. “Mr, Graves, Mr. Dinkston, poet and war song writer,” said Mr, Jarr, introducing Mr, Michael Angelo Dinkston, who came in humming biithely at this juncture. “Glad to meet you, glad to meet you!” sald Mr, Dinkston cheerfully, “If I were to tell you that you bear @ yemarkabloe resemblance to a man I knew, a close friend of mine for years, who contracted hasty con- sumption and passed away inside of five weeks, wh would you say?” inquired Mr. Jarr’s joyless friend, “I could only reply to that in the to many of our readers that we were actually at war with France at one time. True, the breach in our friendship was of short duration and was happily ended with but little bloodshed. It arose largely as @ by- product of the great Napoleonic War in 1798 between France and England, into which we were temporarily drawn. Capt. Richard Dale in the Ganges of twenty-four guns was the first to put to sea, after war became inev- {table, followed in a few days by Capt. Truxton in the frigate Constellation, thirty-six guns (now a training ship at Newport), and ¢ .‘, Stephen De- catur in the Delaware, twenty guns. These vessels were only to attack such French frigates as were molest~ ing American ships and were not ex- pected to “find and destroy the en- emy” as in actual warfare, The Americans were reluctant to give up their traditio friendship with the French and sought to avoid any act that would widen the breach beyond repair. But they had scarcely set |sail before they encountered the _ * | Croyable, a French privateer of four- words of the poet,” replied Mr. Dink-| | eng in the very act of despoil- 1|\Vhat Every Woman Belie Copyright, 1918, by The Press Publishing Co, (The Now York Evening Worl.) “This War Is a Trumpet Call to Those Who Slumber, Awake and See—For They Are Living in the Age of Miracles”, I would NOT have believed that I-—— i A woman born in the placid days of joy and ease, and cynioal verse, and problem plays, and nouveau art rugs, and And bursting out of its chrysalis of hard propriety and plush furniture and potted rubber Into the sunny realm of beauty-worshi, I could not have BHELIEVWD in my wildaat a> ‘That I should have lived to see cathedrals wrecked and works While men march bravely out with a George M. Cohdn song on I should not be surprised to-morrow a5 It some modern Ponce de Leon should actually find the Fountain of And likewise, nay verily! ' How Our Torpedo Boats Got Their Names. By Henry Collins Brown Graves. “You are just bis build, just s bis complexion. Yes, and just about Copyright, 1918, by The Press Publishing Co, (The New York Evening World), 49, [his age. I went into bis place and The Dale. Soeed dim top 8 Tiekey.: He) Weel ao will no doubt come surprise |American forces under he name of ston aftably. ‘ {ng an American vessel, Capt. Dale Tage us the canniken clink, 04) at once attacked the Croyable, and ee a man, and life's but a | after ® short and spirited action won A soldier's ) @ but ine first victory in our war with span, |rance. Her crew was imprisoned Why, then, let the soldier drink!” | and the sbip itself transferred to the Rowland Just when the world was awakening to ® newer and finer senso of brotherly love and @ higher ideal of { 7) have lived to see a WAR sea and cannon that shoot To seo the “flying machine” gloripusly justifying the fatuous To seo fireless cookers and turnless ice cream freezers and To see women voting and ploughing and making munitions, & To face the arch-enemy of civilization! 5 Or invent an elixir which would produce perpetual life, Or discover a serum insuring everlasting beauty! Y, . If eome one should discover Perfect Happiness—or a Perfect Man, love, or painless marriage, + Or a tipless waiter, or a grouchless husband, or a nagless wife, or @ cryless baby, or a fibless beauty cream advertisement, or a non-removeble I should not be surprised if somebody should invent © A changeless “style” for women’s clothes. And free them forever from the tyranny of three minute fashions, a few non-foolable women should ar: & | If somebody should invent a face powder that will STICK, Or discover a husband who would remember to mail @ letter!. _ Such is the effect of this war upon the farsighted and prophetic soul It 18 @ thing to fill the heart with boundless hope and unquene \ faith in the marvellous power of Man if slumber to awake and SEE! of ‘Miracles! : ys ago I may have been smug and skeptical and) Retaliation and put under the oom- mand of Licut. William Bainbridge. Dale was first heard of in 1777 on Ooard the Lexington, one of American privateers fitted out in France to prey upon British eom- merce. She had some fifteen prises to her credit when in turn she was captured by the British ship \Alert, Her officers and men were sent te Plymouth and thrown into Mill Prig- on, Dale among them. A year later he made his escape by calmly walk- ing past the guards dressed in a Brit- ish uniform, When the escape was discovered the officials were thrown into great excitement, but the pris. oner had vanished. He made hig he France and there joined »Pagl ones on the Bonhomme Richard. He became First Litutenant and in the contest with the Serapls Bore himself with great honor, , After Dalo's services in the Rewo- lution he was promoted to « eap- talncy in the new navy created to cope with France. That war beiag over, trouble commenced with Y and Dale, now a Commodore, x placed in command of a fleet oo: ing ot the President, forty-four lagship; — Phil; the schooner Enterprise, twelve ‘eon sd and set sall for Tripol! Under his command 1 “| would not mind it in the least, except for two reasons,” replied My, Graves of Rochester, “Tho first rea- son is that you are not @ soldier put @ civilian, and the second reason ts that if you were @ soldier, the law. forbids the serving of stimulants to |men in uniform, Is that not ao, Mr. Jarr?” And he turned for confirma- tion toward Mr, Jarr, It was a fatal move, for when he so! turned Mr. Dinkston, with intentional absent mindedness, drank the rickey | that Elmer had placed before the ta er gloomy man, and thus always, as Mr.| To promote the home manufacture | Dinkston afterward remarked, will! of drugs the Japanese Government th. lyric be supreme over the dirge: has encouraged the cultivation of the —_————_. poppy and the preparation of opium, Pyle elt A musician in Burope has invented bellows operated by.the fect that sup- ply air to a man's ntouth to help him play wind instruments, year ‘A glass cover has been invented to prevent steam or hot water escaping from radiator valves and injuring wull- paper, carpet or furniture, | TO THREAD NEEDLES EASILY, | | ‘To help persons with impaired eye- A revolving fan that an Indiana sight to thread needles an inventor man has invented is attached to the Newest Things in Science’ has patented a magnifying glass to back of a rocking chair and whirled be fastened to ——_—-- @¥9r @2 Qocupant’a bead ea be rocks, A Chicago inventor has apparatus for kiln drying hay go? that it can be brought unten ae quickly or at the conven, quickly lence of | e O25 After many years Pyrenees Mountains pierced by a tunnel that French and Spanish railr connected, The North by an whom of effort “the have Been will enable ‘ads to be Sos te timber possibilities of Bet Borneo are to be inves! expert from thi the Govern haa emcee vernment has employed. It is estimated tha bs 000, 000 acres of Iasah yon than t in British % Africa are cultivated an ny out of a pr] "