Can America Be Invaded? Perhaps Not
Now, but 136 Years Ago an Enemy Force
Brought Fire and Sword to Our Capital
By ELMO SCOTT WATSON
4Rel«*!tel by Western Newspaper Union.)
C>OULD the United States
be invaded by an ene
** my force?
“"Easily! ” affirm the pes
simists.
"Not a chance!” reply the
optimists.
Probably somewhere be
tween those two extreme
pcints of view lies the answer
to that question — qualified,
however, by many "ifs,”
"finds” and “buts.”
Without subscribing to
either point of view, it is in
teresting, however, to recall
tfiat once in our history an
enemy force did invade the
soil of the United States, that
It captured our capital city,
put our government to flight
and then burned the Capitol
and the White House. That
was during the third year of
our second war with England,
commonly known as the War
of 1812. And it is interesting
to recall that event, too, be
cause there ore certain paral
lels between conditions which
existed in this country previ
ous to 18i4 and those which
have existed up until recent
weeks in 1940.
Despite the fact that early in
1813 British warships were raid
ing up and down the Atlantic sea
board, the federal government
seemed to suffer from a strange
delusion that the national capi
tal, situated at the head of navi
gation on the Potomac river, was
in no danger.
in January. leH, came tne news
that 4,000 British troops, destined
for Aiher'ca, had landed at Ber
muda and two months later Ad
miral Cockburn arrived in Lynn
haven nay. just inside Cape Henry
in Virginia, with a 74-gun man-of
war, two frigates and a brig and
began marauding.
Although President Madison
seemed aware of the potential
danger, members of his cabinet
were strangely apathetic to the
impending danger. On May 14
the National Intelligencer, the
administration newspaper in
Washington, declared: “We have
no idea of the enemy attempting
to reach the vicinity of the capi
tal; and if he does, we have no
doubt he will meet such a recep
tion as he had a sample of at
Craney Island. The enemy knows
better than to trust himself
dbreast of or on this side of Fort
Washington.”
‘Fifth Columnists’ Then.
That there were “fifth colum
nists” operating even in those
days is indicated by the state
GEN. W. H. WINDER
ment of an early historian that
the government was lulling itself
'into a false se*ise of security,
/‘hostile marauders were in the
waters of the Potomac and their
leaders, employing competent
spies, had made themselves per
fectly acquainted with the con
dition of the country and of mili
tary affairs around Washington.”
Late in June the government
was shaken out of its apathy by
the arrival of news that a num
ber of large transports were be
ing fitted out in Portsmouth, Eng
land, to proceed to Bordeaux,
France, there to take on the
cream of Wellington's veterans
for service in America. On the
heels of this came word from Ber
muda that a large fleet of trans
ports was ready to sail from
there bound for some port in the
United States, probably the Po
tomac.
This report spurred President
Madison into action. On July 1 he
called a council of his cabinet
for a belated discussion of de
fense measures. William H. Eus
-tis, the secretary of war (of all
persons!) still didn’t believe that
there was any great danger. In
fact, as late as August, when the
enemy was almost at the door of
Remains of the Capitol (above) and of the White House (below)
after they had been burned by enemy invaders. (From contem
porary drawings.)
Washington, he insisted that the
capital was safe. "What the devil
will they do here?” he a«koi one
officer who warned him of the
weakness of its defense, “No, no!
Baltimore is the place, sir; that
is of so much more consequence.”
Apostln of Preparedness.
In contrast to his blindness was
the foresight of one man, an
apostle of preparedness whose
clear-headedness and patriotic
service amidst the blundering
efforts to wage war against Great
Britain, ere all but forgotten by
his fellow-Americans. He was
Gen. William H. Winder of Mary
land, who had served valorously
with militia from his state on the
Niagara frontier in 1812, been cap
tured by the British at Stony
Creek in Canada in 1813 and had
been held a prisoner of war until
the spring of 1814 when he was
exchanged.
Winder had prepared a well
thought-out plan of defense against
the threatened invasion. It con
templated establishing a camp of
two or three thousand regulars
between tht< eastern branch of
the Potomac and the Patuxent
rivers in Maryland and the con
centration of <0,000 militia near
Washington. Madison laid Wind
er’s plan before his cabinet and
it was at once adopted.
A new military district was
formed and Winder was appoint
ed commander ct it. Next the
government made a requisition
upon the states for a total of 93,
000 militia to be organized at
home and held in readiness to act.
The naval defenses tt^ere entrust
ed to Commodore Josnua Barney,
who was in the Patutent with a
small flotilla of gunboats.
Winder would thus have an
army of 15,000, the largest force
of militia that had yet been put
In the field. But it sooV. became
evident that it was only a paper
army. For there was air lost un
believable official stupid ty and
delay in carrying out th* plan.
Although the governor of Mary
land lived within an easy day’s
ride from the national capital, he
did not receive a copy rtf his
requisition until six days after
it was ordered and the governor
of Pennsylvania did not receive
his until 10 days afterward.
And it was not until July 12,
when the British appeared in
heavy force in the Chesapeake
bay, that Eustis placed in Wind
er’s hands a copy of the requisi
tion and then it was accompanied
by a cautious order telling him,
in case of an invasion, to “be
careful to avoid unnecessary
calls, and to apportion the call
to the exigency.”
A Heartbreaking Task.
Undaunted by what must have
seemed a heartbreaking task,
Winder started out to make the
best of a bad situation. He vis
ited every part of the region to
be defended, inspected every forti
fication and bombarded Eustis
with urgent appeals for haste in
making preparations for defense.
On July 16 he wrote "The door
of Washington (meaning Annapo
lis) is wide open and cannot be
shut with the few troops under
my command.” Fort Madison
there was defenseless and too
unhealthful for troops to occupy
it. He begged in vain for ef
forts to Save that post and mad*
stirring appeals for the people of
Maryland to corny forward to help
defend their state.
; Notwithstanding all his appeals
l and the imminence of the danger,
the peoole seemed 3s apathetic as
their federal government. By
August 1 Winder reported that he
had in camp only 1,000 regulars.
About 4,000 militip. had been en
rolled but they were yet to be col
lected and, so fat, the govern
ment had neglected to call for
cavalry and riflemen, both of
which were vitally needed.
The result of all this blunder
ing wa'j inevitable and is too well
known to all Americans to need
retelling at length here. Briefly,
it was this: On August 16 the
small British squadron in the
Chesapeake was re-enforced by a
fleet o-' 21 ve*sel.* under Admiral
Cochrane who was joined by an
other under Commodore Mal
colm. These had on board several
thous< nd soldiers commanded by
Generhl Ross, one of Wellington’s
best subordinates.
This British force bottled up
Commodore Barney’s flotilla in
the Pi-tuxent and, when it became
apparent that it was about to be
captured by the invaders, he
burned his boats and with his men
joined the American land forces.
By this time the situation was so
alarming that militia and volun
teers began flocking to Winder’s
standards to help repel the invad
ers. Eventually he had a force of
some 7,000 men, of which, how
ever, only 900 were regulars. It
is probable that with this force,
if concentrated, he might have
been able to have repelled the
enemy.
civilian interference.
But his efforts were nullified by
constant interference from the
President and members of his
cabinet. They were totally with
out military experience, with the
possible exception of James Mon
roe, secretary of state, who had
served in the Revolution. But he
probably did more harm than
good by his interference when the
American forces came to grips
with the British at the Battle of
Bladensburg on August 24.
As was to be expected, the
hastily assembled militia and un
trained volunteers broke under
the onslaughts of the British reg
ulars and Winder’s forces were
soon in full retreat. Among the
heroic dead was Commodore
Barney.
Late the next evening General
Ross and Admiral Cockburn, with
a guard of only 200 i»en, rode
into the deserted capital. For the
President, members of his cabi
net and all other high govern
ment officials had departed im
mediately after the disaster at
Bladensburg. The President, who
had gone out to see the battle,
had sent word back to his wife, ;
Dolly Madison, to flee. But she
had paused long enough to anatch
up the precious parchment on
which was written the Declara
tion of Independence and to take
the portrait of Washington, paint
ed by Stuart, out of its frame in
the White House before seeking a
place of safety across the river
in Virginia.
In retaliation for the Americans
having burned the government in
York, Canada, aarlier in the war,
the British decided to do some
burning themselves. So the torch
was applied to the unfinished
Capitol, the White House, the
Treasury building, the arsenal,
the barracks which had been oc
cupied by 3,000 troops, the office
of the National Intelligencer, a
tavern and a few private homes.
That night, lighted by the glare
of the flarpes which could be seen
as far away as Baltimore, the
invaders marched out. They left
behind the blackened walls of our
Capitol and the home of our Chief
Executive monuments to a fatu
ous belief that “it can’t happen
here.”
Entrancing Rubber Flowers
To Wear With Your Swim Suit
By CHERIE NICHOLAS
A THEME for poet and painter,
and as to those whose mission
it is to tall the story of fashion in
columns such as this, the dictionary,
quick! It’s super-glamorous adjec
tives we must have to describe the
beauty of water-sprayed flowers
worn by fashion’s mermaids. The
happy thought about these flowers
is that, being made of rubber, they
come up out of watery depths look
ing as fresh as flowers in a summer
garden.
It is indeed a pretty fashion that
has been launched of wearing flow
ers made of rubber to wear with
swim suits. There is simply no
limit to the possibilities this fashion
envisions in the way of picture ef
fects. When one sees the charm
ing bathing ensembles by Kleinert
that are enhanced with flowers, one
is brought to a realization of the
importance of the role rubber is
playing in the fashion realm.
Faithful reproduction of the color
and design of real flowers has taken
years of training in workmanship.
It requires artistic ability-plus to
successfully reproduce in rubber re
alistic camelias, violets, water lil
ies, anemones, sweet peas, forget
me-nots, gardenias, roses, cornflow
ers, dahlias and chrysanthemums
such as fashion offers this season.
We are showing below in the picture
just a few types available, and if
you go in quest you will be shown
many more where swim suit ac
cessories are sold. The swim suits
here pictured are most as interest
ing as the flowers that trim them,
in that they are made of a new
rubber fabric that has a crepe-like
knitted surface that can be softly
draped to give a dressmaker touch.
From the outside these attractive,
practical rubber suits appear to be
seamless. In reality the seams and
reinforcements have been scientific
ally designed to prevent the possi
bility of ripping. Being of rubber,
when you emerge from the water
your suit will dry quickly, fit
smoothly and feel wonderfully com
fortable.
Were the accompanying illustra
tion printed in color, as we wish it
might be, one would see how amaz
ingly realistic are the tones and
tints of the flowers. The lady shown
to the left is putting out to sea in a
dressmaker swim suit which reflects
Hawaiian influence in its wide-skirt
ed silhouette and garland of tur
quoise and coral sweet peas that
outlines the bodice top. Dress, flow
ers and matching turban are all of
rubber. The striking beachbag flung
over her shoulders is rubber lined.
The picture centered below gives a
close-up view of the flower arrange
ment.
The costume to the right presents
an interesting study in rubber flow
er culture. This clever maiden se
lected a flower bedecked suit in deep
pink. Under the flower cluster a
“mad-money” pocket is hidden,
which also holds locker key and lip
stick, which is self explanatory as to
why this suit is called “pocketeer.”
And now for another revelation
in rubber artistry. This time it is
rubber jewelry. Note the matching
halo to hold tresses in place and
bracelet which the lovely lady pic
tured in the center at the top is
wearing. Blue and yellow corn flow
ers form the straps of the bathing
suit and the jewelry. This ensem
ble is called “debutante” no doubt
in honor of its wearer.
(Released by Western Newspaper Union.)
Red, White and Blue
"Three cheers for the red, white
and blue” and it’s fashion that is
joining in the chorus in accents loud
and clear. This stunning hat and
bag ensemble sounds a patriotic
note in its red, white and blue color
scheme It is woven of cord in the
three colors and emphasizes the
importance of matching accessories.
Accessory sets simply thrill with ex
citing adventures such as a bag and
hat made of print cotton of the old
fashioned calico type. Polka dot
bags and hats are the rage. Latest
is hat, bag and shoes made of print
in bizarre colorings.
Field Flowers
Daisies seem to be the winning
design in the flower group, with daf
fodils and lilies next.
Gingham Gaiety
Brightly checked gingham is a
gay touch to add to a tailored sum
mer suit.
■ — 1 ■ ■ ■ I
Felt Cartwheels
In for Popularity
If hat designers have their way,
big-brimmed hats will be the out
standing successes of this summer.
Felts as big as cartwheels are
shown again and again and, to make
them more interesting, their brims
and crowns are intricately manipu
lated. Some are arranged in fan
shape, others swoop back from the
face and are trimmed with gay
feathers. Almost all of them, even
the largest, are trimmed with veils
—some long enough to reach the
waist.
Bag and Bracelet
In Red Style Note
The fashion for bright red hats,
bags, jewelry and other accessories
is going strong this summer. Try
this' combination to enliven your
navy, white or black costume—a
stunning bag in red leather of fab
ric, together with a striking red
bracelet which may be of the carved
plastic type or one of the new poppy
red flower effects. It is within the
bounds of good taste to add a match
ing necklace if your enthusiasm for
red carries you that far.
Trim It With Lace
Is Now Sure Fire
When in doubt trim it with lace.
Bolts and bolts of fine lace edging
are contributing to the news in sum
mer fashions. Hats are very smart
with bows, bands, brims and crowns
of lace. Accessories include match
ing lace bags and belts of lace—and
it’s chic to carry a lace parasol,
tool
Exercise Is the
Best Way to
Reduce Weight
By DR. JAMES W. BARTON
(Released by Western Newspaper Union.l
THERE is often the argu
ment as to which is the
better way to reduce weight,
exercise or a reducing diet.
The reducing
diet is the sim
pler because if
enough food is
not eaten to sup
ply the body’s
needs, then some of the fat
on the body must be used and
so that much weight is lost.
Exercise is really the better way
for the average healthy overweight
because exercise not only burns up
fat but replaces the fat with mus
cle, and with this extra muscle he
is more willing to exercise or work,
and so more and more of the fat
is lost. Unfortunately, there are
many cases where the exercise so
increases the appetite that more
food is eaten and no weight is lost.
Another difficulty is that exercise
makes the individual thirsty and he
drinks more water, thus increasing
his weight. I have spoken before
of an amateur oarsman who took
off three pounds of weight daily
boxing in the gymnasium yet at the
end of the month he was the same
weight as when he started. He had
not lost a pound.
Why? Because he drank a great
quantity of water. Similarly with
fir. Barion
the Turkish bath.
Two to four pounds
may be lost during
the bath but the
drinking of water as
you rest a short time
before dressing puts
all the weight back
on your body.
If the overweight
is willing to exercise
more, yet not in
crease his food in
take nor drink more
than his usual amount of water, the
results will be much better than by
dieting alone.
Must Make ‘Sacrifice.’
It is just as hard for some fat in
dividuals to cut down on their appe
tite, especially for starch foods, as
it is for another to take vigorous
exercise. Cutting down on food or
taking vigorous exercise both mean
“sacrifice.” It is by sacrifice, how
ever, that one loses fat and gains
figure.
An item in Newsweek some time
ago put the matter of reducing
weight as follows:
Careful eating, not exercise, is the
best way to reduce, according to
Dr. C. C. Sturgis of the University
of Michigan. Although a football
player may get rid of 14 pounds in
a strenuous game, only 4% pounds
comes from fatty tissue; the re
mainder is water loss that will soon
be replenished.
WWW
Treating Diabetes
With Insulin
WHEN Drs. Banting and Best,
of Toronto discovered insulin
and Dr. Collip, now of Montreal,
made it safer to use, it was felt that
all had been learned about insulin
in the treatment of diabetes. Many
research workers then began ex
perimenting with insulin in the treat
ment of other ailments such as lack
of appetite, dementia praecox (per
sistent dream state) and others.
In the treatment of diabetes how
ever, research workers sought to
prepare insulin in such a way that it
could be taken by mouth instead of
by the hypodermic needle three
times a day. While no method of
preparing insulin so that it will be
effective taken by mouth has been
discovered, what is helping the sit
uation to some extent is the new
treatment byprotamine zink insulin.
Increase in Number of Cases.
What would, on first sight, be con
sidered a most unfavorable result
from the use of this new insulin
compound is the apparent increase
in the number of cases of diabetes.
Dr. E. P. Joslin, Boston, whose
name has been associated with dia
betes for many years—long before
insulin was discovered—points out
in the Michigan State Medical Jour
nal that protamine zink insulin has
probably increased the number of
diabetic patients using insulin by
70,000. This due almost entirely to
the fact that the new insulin is in
jected but once a day, whereas the
original insulin is injected three
times a day, a regulation that many
diabetics would not or could not fol
low.
* • *
QUESTION BOX
Q.—Please suggest an effective
deodorant to check excessive perspi
ration.
A.—You should get examined by
your physician and try to find out
why you are troubled with excessive
perspiration. May be due to some
condition of the body itself—goiter,
bronchitis, nerve ailment.
Q.—What foods will help put iron
in the blood?.
A.—Liver, beef and green vegeta
bles will help to increase the iron
in the blood.
Old High-Back Chair
Changes Personality
By RUTH WYETH SPEARS
I-JERE comes the Bride again!
1 Many of you have met her in
Sewing Book 5. She is the same
resourceful young lady whose ad
ventures with an old dresser, a
fish bowl and a piano stool are
described in that book; and who
remodeled one of the old rockers
in Book 5. Today’s sketch shows
another of her slight o’ hand tricks
with a chair.
There it was in a junk shop win
dow. “Did you ever see anything
!ri rr CHAIR PAINTED DARK
ftou/M GREEN WITH GREEN
AND WHITE CUSHIONS
HEAVY I . * • 'I *# ;.
.fAcn ' • f
f THS Ul
"HPl SEAT OF ANft
OLD CHAIR SEEMS®
HIGH, SHORTEN 'is
THE LEGS
so impossible?” I said, “It looks
like a pompous old dowager with
• a pompadour.” And the little
bride said, “Yes, but I think its
personality could be changed; I
can see it as a jolly little old lady
sitting in the corner with a ging
ham apron.” Sure enough, the
next time I went to see the Bride,
there was the chair sitting in a
corner painted a cheerful green
and with white gingham cushions.
The legs had been shortened, as
shown here, and the pompous top
heavy back had been cut down.
That was all, but the change was
complete. If you are interested
in adventures in homemaking be
sure to send for Book 5. It has
32 pages of money saving ideas
that you can put to use at once.
Send order to:
MRS. RUTH WYETH SPEARS
Drawer 10
Bedford Hills New York
Enclose 10 cents for Book 5.
Name ....
Address ...
Sea Bed Reveals Historv
J
In 10 feet of sand and mud on
the Atlantic ocean bottom scien
tists can read a million years of
history of the Ice age. Samplings
have been taken from the sea
bed across the North Atlantic with
a cannon-like tube that is shot by
gunpowder into the floor as it
touches bottom. From these sam
plings the United States Geolog
ical Survey scientists have found
evidence of advancing and retreat
ing ice, of one-celled animals and
of periods of volcanic activity, the
latter indicated by layers of ash
thrown off perhaps by eruptions
in Iceland.—Popular Mechanics.
WALNUT LOGS
CASH PAID
FOR WALNUT LOGS OR TIMBER
Midwest Walnut Co.. Council Bluffs, la.
Do Good Now
I expect to pass through this
world but once. Any good, there
fore, that I can do, or any kind
ness that I can show to any fellow
creature, let me do it now. Let
me not defer nor neglect it, for
I shall not pass this way again.—
Author unknown.
JUST A
DASH IN FEATHERS..
I .. H
s $ $ s $ $ $ s $ s s s s $ s $
V/e Can All Be
EXPERT
BUYERS
9 In bringing us buying Information, as
to prices that are being asked for
what we Intend to buy, and as to the
quality we can expect, the advertising
columns of this newspaper perform a
worth while service which saves us
many dollars a year.
9 It Is a good habit to form, the habit
of consulting the advertisements every
time we make a purchase, though we
have already decided just what we
want and where we are going to buy
It. It gives us the most priceless feeling
In the world: the feeling of being
adequately prepared.
9 When we go into a store, prepared
beforehand with knowledge of what is
offered and at what price, we go as
an expert buyer, filled with self -confi
dence. If is a pleasant feeling to have,
the feeling of adequacy. Most of the
unhappiness in the world car: be traced
to a lack of this feeling. Thus adver
tising shows another of Its manifold
facets—shows Itself as an aid toward
making ail our business relationships
more secure ond pleasant.
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