4
THE BEE: OMAHA, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 1918
The Omaha Bee
DAILY (MORNING) - EVENING SUNDAY
FOUNDED BY EDWARD ROSE WATER
VICTOR ROSEWATER, EDITOR
THE BEB PUBLISHING COMPANY. PROPRIETOR.
EntcrM at Omaha pottofflet as seond-elass natUr.
Br Mall.
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OFFICES
OfliiMTs Be Bulldlfi. t hratfo Ptopit't Ou Batlalai.
Boat Omtht 28.1 S 81 New Yor-J8 Fifth lit
Council Biufft-14 N. Msta It St Idult-Ntw B'k T Coaumn.
lidooU utut Buiiaint,
W'MhlnttflO 1S11 (I St.
CORRESPONDENCE
AddreM nmntanlUont raltttni to newt tad tdltartll Otltttr to
Omb Be. Editorial DtptrUMnt,
JANUARY CIRCULATION
59,964 Daily Sunday, 52,534
irnin otrroiMi'. for tut annta. nbttrtb! tod ror m U DwltM
Vllllm. OrvuUtlon Hanwrtr.
Subscribers leaving tho city should hava Tho B ouDool
to thsm. Addroot chaaied M efta at rtquntoa.
A lot of the neighbors are truly thankful no
embargo has yet been laid on corn pone.
Uncle Sam may be forced to adopt the
heavenly rule and help only those who help
themselves.
Soldiers are also urged to save food and thus
set a good example for civilians. It all counts to
ward the victory.
The Poles are commencing to realize what the
kaiser's promise of independence held for them,
but it seems too late.
Vienna's joy over the Ukraine is described as
delirious; it means food for the starving as well
as continuance of the war.
Do not waste coal just because the weather
is milder. Think of next winter, if you have al
ready forgotten what occurred in January.
The city council still preserves its impressive
silence on the grade crossing question, but the
question itself is getting more clamorous every
day.
Striking ship carpenters and greedy con
tractors alike are working for the kaiser. The
world will not be made free nor safe for democ
racy by such methods.
Men who will not risk chance for profits to
help out in the war should look at the young
men who are risking their lives to save democ
racy and think of the future.
Japan i; r;idy to make any sacrifice that will
give half of Asia into the mikado's control. Its
dream of a pan-Asiatic movement will thus be
partly, realiied. The rest may wait.
Secretary Baker's reorganized general staff
has several life-sized rows on hand already.
Stirring up the bureaucrats at Washington is a
good deal like disturbing a hornet's nest.
Shifting train schedules to conform with new
tfptsat Ani4it!itiai ill Kfttitfitiiv tiitm i ttrtairtf.
1 dltt VaVVI WIIUIHWII & 10 Wl ll5 III a) IIVIHV V Jfty.V-
fice patrons the fact that we are at war. The
"business as usual" slogan has gone by the board.
Omaha is to be placed in the metropolitan
class on March 3 by the adoption of the near-side
stop on the street railway. That will be a mem
orable Sunday. The state railway board rec
ommends that "horse sense" accompany the de
parture and this applies to both people and company.
Between the Generals.
Brigadier General Littel has tendered his res
ignation and asked for retirement) because Major
General Goethals did not approve a plan under
which a number of majors and captains in the
quartermaster'! department would be employed
on work General Goethals thinks can as well be
done by civilians. Out of this incident is brew
ing a fuss that threatens to involve the newly re
organized general staff and the whole of army
control. Conceding that in its way General Lit
tel's construction of the cantonments was quite
as much of a feat as General Goethals' digging of
the canal, the fact yet remains that the officer of
superior grade should have the last say on any
plans. Goethals has proven his judgment, and in
the present instance is likely to be right. At all
events, while General Littel may be relieved as
head of the construction department, he will not
be permitted to retire as a brigadier, for he has
not yet served a full year in that grade. Room
for both of these valuable officers ought to be
found in the army, and each of them should be
proud of serving his country under the condi
tions. Quarrels that involve only questions of
personal judgment should not be permitted to in
terfere with the incomplete work of preparation,
already too long delayed because of differences
behind the scenes at Washington.
Japan and Eastern Siberia.
Dr. Iyenaga, Japanese publicity expert in New
York, may or may not have substantial reasons
for suggesting that Japan will not stand idly by
and see all of Siberia brought under bolshevik
domination. Whether he is speaking by the card,
or merely sounding sentiment in his utterance, he
outlines what is becoming more than a possibil
ity. From the beginning Japan's position in the
war has been anomalous. With the exception of
the expedition against the Germans in China, the
Nipponese have been strangely passive, although
at all times professing the utmost of concern as
to success for their allies.
Uprooting the Germans in Kiao Chau, the
Japanese expected to establish themselves more
firmly in China. In this they were thwarted by
the attitude of America. With the collapse of
Russia the Japanese see their mission in a call
to preserve order in eastern Asia, which will lead
them directly into Siberia. Here they will find
a situation made to order for them, with no gov
ernment to protest, the great powers of the earth
too busy at war to object, and nothing to hinder
the establishment of Japanese authority as far
back into the country as they care to take it.
China has assifmed responsibility for and control
of Harbin, but may very easily be persuaded to
allow this to pass to its more energetic neigh
bors. Vladivostok, of course, will go into the
hands of the preservers of order, and Russia's
dreams of empire stretching from the Baltic to
the Pacific will be over.
Premier Ttrauchl has said his government
will not hesitate to act in the interest of civiliza
tion, which in this instance runs fortuitously
parallel with that of Japan. Just how the move
will be adjusted under the no-acquisition plank
of the peace platform is not plain, but it is cer
tain that eastern Siberia will have to pass under
some government. Its few inhabitants scarcely
can maintain themselves, and so it seems Japan
may come out of the war the greatest gainer of
any, so far as territorial expansion is concerned.
"Freedom of the College."
Professors engaged on faculty work at Co
lumbia university are now assured that the trus
tees of that institution propose to retain control
of its academic functions. The board has declined
to turn over to the faculty council the determina
tion of whether a professor is wholly justified
in going outside the university to disseminate
views at variance with the position or general
policy of the institution and for which he would
have difficulty in gaining a hearing if it were not
not for his connection with the school. It is not
reasonable that a professor be permitted to use
the prestige of a university to support his attacks
on the course the institution has adopted as sound.
The point was acutely raised last summer when
some professors were summarily dismissed and
at least one other resigned because of opinions and
views they had expressed. Discussion has been
general and long-cantinued on the principle in
volved. Principally this debate turns on the individual
and generally it partakes of the nature of abstrac
tions. Just for the reason that it is impossible
to lay down hard and fast rules for the teaching
Of political or social science, just so it should
be accepted by the teacher that on account of his
position he should be the more careful as to
the soundness of his thought, The difficulty that
is encountered generally arises from the fact that
the more radical the views held the more insist
ent the professor is on expressing them. In such
cases he must not be surprised if he finds him
self standing alone or nearly so.
Academic freedom carries with it many privi
leges and some rights, but it also entails certain
responsibilities. How to establish the balance
that will produce the harmony between the two
is the problem. It is essential that thought be
free in order that the race may progress, and it
is equally necessary that teaching be sound or
error will thrive. No great university can close
the door to progress, nor can any afford to re
move all restraints against unsound teachings.
Liberality in thought must prevail that enlight
ment may endure, yet the trustees of Columbia
will be commended, because they have held firm
to what they believe to be the obligation of the
trust of which they are the guardians.
The Hired Man a World Problem
Prospective Shortage of Farm Labor Menaces Production
By Frederic J. Haskin.
Washington, D. C, Feb. 16. Who is to
harvest next summers crops?
That is right now one of the biggest
problems in the world. It was a serious one
last year: this year it will be doubly so. Las
year the production of foodstuffs in Europe
fell far below normal because of the short
age of farm labor, while in this country the
shortage was with difficulty made up through
strenuous and well organized efforts by the
Departments of Agriculture and Labor. This
year in Europe more men are being called to
the colors to resist the impending German
drive and in this country the draft and the
munitions industry have taken hundreds of
thousands that worked in the fields last
year.
It is evident that the situation rails for
the most extreme measures and in all of the
allied countries they are being taken. Eng
land is teaching women to work on the
farms; France is contemplating the imports
tion from her colonies of dark men, who are
not able to stand the climate on the fighting
line, for farm work in her southern provinces.
Our own Department of Agriculture is hard
at work' on the problem. It is beginning
scientifically with a survey to find out just
what is needed in the way of farm labor and
where. It has already a system of finding
and distributing labor, as has the Labor de
partment, but these excellent organizations
had all they could do to meet the situation
last year. This year calls for a more desper
ate remedy.
Undoubtedly one important measure is to
make the American people realize what they
are up against that if labor is not forthcom
ing to harvest the crops, there will not be
enough to eat for anyone. The situation
could be improved if patriotic citizens would
volunteer to spend their leisure, their vaca
tions in doing farm work. Some did so last
year. Seven hundred Boston street car em
ployes put in their vacations working for
Massachusetts farmers. Many retired farm
ers went to work for their own tenants. If
the urgency of this need for volunteer hired
men could be driven home through the
newspapers the need might be met.
Secretary Houston has a number of plans
for relieving the situation. In addition to a
survey of the problem he intends to make
fuller use of the boys of high school age who
did such good service in the working boys'
reserve last year; he recommends that men
be released for farm labor by employing
more women in industry; that the Depart
ment of Labor's system for the transfer of
labor to the sections where it is most need
ed be extended; that farmers co-operate
more fully in the use of labor; that more labor-saving
machinery be made and used; that
all able-bodied men be compelled by law to
do a full day's work.
These are all recommendations for the
improvement of measures and agencies used
last year, except the last.
Secretary Houston's suggestion that the
lazy man and the man of leisure are poten
tial assets in this situation is a new and in
teresting one. He points Out that this is a
matter for state and municipal rather than
federal action. In Maryland a law has al
ready been passed providing that every able
bodied man must do at least six hours work
per day. Such laws should certainly apply
also to able-bodied women. If they were
really passed and enforced in' all of the
states they would reach the two extremes of
the social scale the idle rich and the idle
poor. The idle rich would be forced into
some sort of more or less congenial and
possibly useful form of activity. The idle
poor would be the net gain to farm labor. In
effect it would be a conscription of elderly
hoboes.
One serious difficulty in this country is
that American women have never learned to
do farm work. Women have come forward
in a great variety of other industries; their
response to the call of war has in general
been admirable and sufficiently admired.
But we have been unable to learn of any con
siderable number of women going into farm
ing. The woman's committee of the Council
of National Defense is known to be aware
of this need for women on farms and to be
working on the problem. It may be that it
will offer a solution, although it will be dif
ficult to train women in time to be of use
this year.
Prof. W. J. Spillman, now of Cornell uni
versity, who organized the farm labor work
of the Department of Agriculture last year,
prophesied that at least 30,000 women would
have to take the place of men in the fields
this coming summer. He also prophesied
that they would do it and were fullv able to
do it. He asserted that farm labor with mod
ern machinery is not too heavy a drudgery
for women, that it is more healthful than
much of the industrial work into which the
war has called them.
Only recently the farmers of tidewater
Maryland served notice on the government
that unless the drain of labor from the farms
to the factories is stopped food production
must decline. The government replied, in
effect, that it must have munition workers;
that the farmers would have to do the best
they could.
Our Red Cross in France
Magnitude of Work in Caring for Innocents of War
Question of Railroad Control.
Senator Cummins, debating the railroad ad
ministration bill now before the senate, touched
the most vital point at issue. That is the ques
tion of control; are the railroads operated under
government management, or merely under gov
ernment direction? Does the great revenue now
pouring into the treasuries of the companies be
long to the government, or to somebody else?
Who employs the 2,000,000 operatives engaged
in carrying on the work? Here are two vefy
pointed questions that are yet unanswered. The
government has engaged to pay the owners of
the railroads a profit on the investment; it has
or will set aside a very substantial sum where
with to finance extensions and improvements, and
has undertaken in several ways to unify the sev
eral systems, but nothing has been done to settle
the important matters mentioned by Senator
Cummins. Until these are decided, the business
of railroading in the United States must be in an
unsatisfactory if not a chaotic condition.
New York Evening Post,
Not even the reports from our soldiers . with scarlet fever,
in Lorraine bring stay-at-homes into a feel
ing of closer touch with those on the other
side than does a summary of the work of
the Department of Civil Affairs of the
American Red Cross in France. The names
of the chiefs of bureaus and their assistants
read like a roster of New.York experts in
philanthropy. The director of the depart
ment is Homer Folks. The chief of the Bu
reau of Refugees and Relief is Edward T.
Devine. The consultant of the editorial and
historical division is Paul U. Kellogg. New
York is not alone represented in the list of
names. Boston sent Dr. Richard L. Cabot,
and Johns Hopkins has given Dr. J. H. Ma
son Knox, one of the country's leading spe
cialists in the feeding of children, and he is
applying his skill in the Bureau of Needy
Children and Infant Mortality for the benefit
of the France of tomorrow. The department
was instituted upon the arrival of the Red
Cross commission in France last June, and
in July was placed under the charge of Mr.
Folks. By September an organization of
nine bureaus with 60 workers was com
pleted, and the staff now numbers 364, ex
clusive of members of the Friends unit. The
budget for the six months beginning with
last November is $10,000,000.
The matter-of-fact report of the first six
months of the work compresses it into a
sentence:
"From the single definite undertaking of a
shelter for refugee children, the Department
of Civil Affairs has grown since July 24 to
include regular work under its direct charge
in 63 towns and cities besides Paris, and it is
extending aid to relief and health activities
in hundreds of cities, villages and hamlets
where Red Cross money and goods have
been distributed through other agencies."
A reader is soon lost in the mass of de
tails, but gains the impression that if he
could get away from the trees he would see
a considerable forest. The report is rigidly
unsentimental. It does not stress, for in
stance, the daily tragedy at Evian, where the
repatriates from occupied France and Bel
gium are poured in, several hundred a day.
They must be promptly started for points
somewhere in France to make room for the
incomers. Every arriving train is met by
automobiles and ambulances with Red Cross
chauffeurs to help the aged and the infirm.
Daily the mayor addresses the arrivals with
a speech of cheer and patriotic spirit and
they are sent away to begin life over again.
Wherever their destination, they are met
again by Americans wearing the Red Cross.
There are 29 of these, and they manage to
cover 32 departments, in which they co-operate
with local organizations, public and pri
vate, in advance of the arriving men, women
and children, establishing livable homes, pro
vided with something in the way of fuel,
furniture, clothing and food.
Writ large upon every page is the care
of the innocents of war the children. Four
teen thousand have passed through Evian
since November 5. They are examined by
Red Cross doctors and nurses and sent to
the American Children's hospital and the
medical dispensary. The first 250 treated in
the hospital included 44 with measles, 16
and others with diph
theria, whooping cough or other communica
ble diseases. The name of a tuberculosis ex
pert connected with both countries, Dr. Ed
ward L. Trudeau, who was of French par
entage and whose work is well known in
France, has been given to a tuberculosis
sanatorium capable of accommodating 200
women and children that received its first
patients on Christmas day. It is situated in
a beautiful park, six miles from Paris, which
the Department of the Seine had purchased
for development as a garden city. But the
war came, and now the department has lent
it to the American Red Cross for the dura
tion of the conflict and six months afterward.
Repairs and installation of equipment have
been made at comparatively small cost
through the co-operation of members of the
American Friends unit, of whose willingness
to tackle -any job, even the most uninviting,
and of whose celerity in finishing it wonder
ful tales are told.
So far-reaching is the work of reconstruc
tion undertaken that occasionally one may
forget that he is reading of abnormal condi
tions. Thus we come upon an "educational
campaign," for which a moving-picture film
on the care of a baby has been prepared,
with illustrated pamphlets of advice on child
hygiene, and posters and panels to help in
combating infant mortality. There is even
a traveling exhibit, accompanied by lectur
ers, scheduled to start from Paris on a tour
of the departments. At the capital, "housing
is the crux of the refugee problem." An ex
amination of all unfinished apartment build
ings, a list of which was prepared by the
prefect of police, has been made and 19
buildings have been turned over to refugee
and housing organizations for completion.
These buildings will shelter 554 families, or
2,800 persons. The Red Cross provides fur
nishings in all cases. Tn villages allotted to
the Red Cross by the French government an
experiment in provisional repair is being
tried. A gang of French workmen, under
Red Cross direction and pay, is repairing
houses and barns in order to permit a (?rad
ual resumption of normal conditions of liv
ing. In the reconouered regions there is an
organization with five delegates and district
warehouses through which farm machinery,
furnishings, clothing, food, "whatever is
needed to reconstruct home and land," are
distributed to local agencies and thence to individuals.
People and Events
Medicine Hat persisted in spieling through
its winter lid. Will some generous soul
donate a spring style?
Talk about luck! A homeowner at Ot
tawa, 111., while scraping the bottom of his
coal bin for the makings of a fire actually un
covered a vein of coal. The real thing, too.
Wouldn't that beat a coal combine?
Thrift, economy, conservation either
term flags the evolution of the times. Upper
berths of sleeping cars now draw more pa
trons than ever before. The nimble climber
thus conserve his roll and takes the upper
roll.
One Year Ago Today In the War.
Ex-Ambassador Gerard was en
thusiastically received In Paris.
Colonel Roosevelt reported to be
planning to raise an American force
of 200,000 men for service In Europe.
The Day We Celebrate.
W. D.'Grffln. attorney at law, born
1154.
Brigadier General William L. Ken
ley, U, 6. A., born tn Baltimore 64
years ago.
James P. Goodrich, governor of In
diana, born at Winchester, Ind., 64
years ago today.
Russell H. Chittenden, assistant
to Food Administrator Hoover, born
at New Haven (2 years ago today.
Edgar E. Clark, member of the In
terstate Commerce Commission, born
at Lima, N. Y., 62 years ago today.
Rt Rev. Theodore N. Morrison,
Episcopal bishop of Iowa, born at
Ottawa, 111., 68 years ago today.
rhJs Day In History.
Ills President Madison signed ths
treaty of peace- ending ths second war
with Great Britain.
1166 Ths United States flag was
again raised over Fort Sumter.
1190 Count Julius Andrassy. fam
ous Hungarian patriot and statesman,
died at Abazxla. Born March I, Hit.
IS 81 -General Henry H. Sibley,
first stats governor cf Minnesota, died
In' St Pa.nL Born in Detroit Feb
ruary 20, 1811,
Just SO Years Ago Today
Mason P. Davenport of The Be
left for a trip to New York.
Ths net proceeds of the great char-
jig
lty ball given sometime ago amounted
to S40.
Miss Maggie Kress of Bsnnison
Brothers left for a trip to Chicago.
There was a gathering of democrats
at Silberstein'a, 1406 Farnam street,
for the purpose of organising a demo,
cratic club for tho coming campaign.
The following officers were elected:
President, W. R. Vaughn; vies presi
dents, J. E. Boyd, S. H. Calhoun, Dr.
George I Miller, John A, McShane,
William A. Paxton. John A. Crslghton.
Charles H. Brown, A. E. Coggeshall,
M. V. Gannon, Richard Kitchen, J. C.
Regan, A. I Pallock and Patrick
Ford; treasurer, J. E. Rilsy; seers
tary, J. H. Lamar.
Mr. and Mrs. J. Jf, H. Patrick en
tertained at dinner and covers were
laid for 12.
Twice Told Tales
Father's Wish.
"I kind o' wish I was in the army,"
said Farmer Corntossel. "I'd like to
be along In the company with my boy,
Josh."
"So as to cheer him up?"
"No, to bs a corporal or something,
so that for once in my life I could
make him stand around and do ex
actly as I tell him." Washington
Star.
Napoleon's Big Moment.
Mr. Eaton contributed ths only ac
tually immortal saying of the after
noon. It originated with a Massa
chusetts legislator, although Its retail
er was sura it had crept down to Naw
York by this time and been attributed
to Oliver Herford. Here it Is: "Na
poleon's greatest triumph was when
Theodore Roosevelt stood silent at his
tomb." New York Sun.
Interior Decorations.
An Irish soldier coming out of
ether in ths hospital ward after an
operation exclaimed audibly: "Thank
God! That is over!"
"Don't be so sure," said the man in
the next cot, "they left a sponge in
me and had to cut me open again."
And the patient on the other aids
said: "Why, they had to open me,
too, to find one of their instruments."
Just then the surgeon who had op
erated on ths Irishman stuck his
head in ths door end yelled: "Has
anybody seen my hat?" Illustrated
World,
Peppery Points
Washington Post: Some women are
kept so busily engaged in reading ac
counts of the "house beautiful" that
they never find time to dust the man
tleplece. New York World: According to a
bulletin of the food administration. It
takes 28,000,000 eggs a year to clarify
the country's soup. Is this a prelude
to a.soupless day?
Minneapolis Journal: Now, that
women are getting ths ballot, will
they consent to stand up in the street
cars? Indeed, no. They will vote for
a law requiring enough street cars,
since ths men seem to have over
looked that
Louisville Courier-Journal: The
inventor of barbed wire punished un
offending horses to his heart's con
tent, but died Ignorant of the future
In which his invention was to be used
to bark ths shanks of mankind on
European battlefields.
New York Herald: "When the envy
of our enemies forced me to call up
all the powers of our people for the
defense of our home soil," chatters
the kaiser between blasphemies. Was
it Belgium that was envious and at
tacked Germany, or was it Serbia?
Brooklyn Eagle: Some bold Briton
Is nominating Louis D. Brandels, one
of our supreme court justices, as
president of a new Palestine. We
can't believe the nominee was con
sulted in advance. He likes to track
big game, and there are no trusts to
be hunted In the holy land.
State Press Etchings
Hastings Tribune: How about re
moving those coal sheds on Lincoln
avenue.
Nebraska City Press: A Nebraska
City spinster has acquired quite a
family in the past year. First she
adopted a French orphan; later she
became godmother for a Sammis, and
now she is corresponding with a
sailor. One of these days, if she
keeps on batting .600, she may get a
husband.
Beatrice Express: A Beatrice man
who was asked to invest a part of his
savings in government bonds, said
that his money "had to earn 10 per
cent or better." This particular indi
vidual has been playing with the 10
and 15 per cent game for years, and
has yet to make his first safe Invest
ment. The concerns he invests in
usually pay dividends out of subse
quent stock sales and when they get
to the end of the rope the receiver
tries to find enough to pay ths closing-out
expenses and a few of the
debts. It takes some of these wise
guys a long time to get acquainted
with themselves.
Exceptions to the Role.
Widow Do you think marriage is
always a failure?
Bulflnch Always a failure! Well,
I should say not. Why I know a
case where a wife fairly idolizes her
husband, and he why he can't keep
away from her a minute.
Widow Bless me; how long havt
they been married? .-
Bulfineh Nearly a week. Phila
delnhia I jAoar
Castor Beans as Fuel.
Prosser, Neb., Feb. 14. To the Edi
tor of The Bee: We have ma :e a dis
covery here at Prosser in the line of
cheap fuel. The other day we threw
a few castor beans into the cook stove
to get them out of the way and they
made such a hot fire that we had to
open the doors, the heat was so in
tense. My brother says that it would be
easy to raise 200 bushel on one acre
of ground and if this Is the case it
would take the place of several tons
of coal and give better heat. We will
plant ail we have got left for fuel and
we think that by cutting them up
stalks and all that they will do all
right that way.
If they were soaked tn water and
made in pulp and pressed in my
opinion it will more than take the
place of coal and personally I wish
to suggest that this letter be pub
lished and try and urge others to try
this experiment and all report to The
Omaha Bee next year.
A SUBSCRIBER.
About Pinto Beans.
Lincoln, Neb., Feb. 15. To the
Editor of The Bee: The brief certifi
cate of good character I gave the
pinto bean in your columns a few
days ago has brought me grief. An
avalanche of letters from old friends
and new ones, demanding where seed
may be obtained, how to plant, what
the yield is, etc., has descended upon
my desk.
First of all I have no seed for sale.
Second, all interested in pinto beans
should address the College of Agri
culture, Lincoln, Neb., for seed and
for information upon raising the
crop.
I may add that my crop of pinto
beans was grown upon breaking
ground planted with a corn planter
about June 10, the rows one-half the
distance apart of corn rows, at the
rate of about four acres to the bushel,
that the yield was between 10 and 15
bushels per acre and the altitude
where these were grown about 4,000
feet.
One of the most patriotic services
which can be rendered is that of
bringing millions of acres of western
Nebraska land into profitable food
production. The pinto bean will help
this cause. - '
ADDISON E. SHELDON.
How to Burn Con I.
Council Bluffs, la., Feb. 12. To the
Editor of The Bee: The writer hap
pens to be in Omaha at this time and
would like to see the public made fa
miliar with the following correct way
of getting 100 per cent efficiency out
of each ton of coal.
Practically 10 per cent of the coal
delivered and put in the bins or base
ments Is usually wasted on account of
not knowing how to burn this size
coal, caused by air slacking and
breaking of lumps in the bin. There
could be a saving of millions of tons
yearly if the simple method of burn
ing what people term as "unfit for
use." When banking the furnace fire
at night shovel the fine coal in a coal
bucket and wet down so as to moisten,
open the furnace door and instead of
throwing the contents over your fire
and smoldering same merely tip the
bucket on the frame work of the fur
nace door so as to let the coal roll out
and will form a pyramid on the burn
ing coals. The fire will start along
the sloping side of the pyramid and
keep burning during the night, and
in the morning all that is necessary
is to spread the remaining coal on
your grate and immediately have a
hot fire.
Hoping this may be of some assist
ance In the saving of fuel, I am
KALLMAN BARNETT,
Assistant Superintendent Rocky
Mountain Fuel Company, Denver
Colo.
Patriotism and Profits.
Omaha, Feb. 16. To the Editor of
The Bee; Men who interfere with the
draft are traitors. What are nrnn
who interfere with tho graft? It ap
pears that any person who objects to
abnormal profits on the part of men
and corporations who have loaned (?)
their services to the government are
to be placed in the list of unfriendly
critics of the government
We know that in times of danger
the government has no timge to
haggle and bargain. We must have
supplies even though we pay ex
orbitant prices; but we should have
some means of punishing those who
take advantage of the government's
necessity.
The head of the ship building cor
poration calls upon the workers in the
name of patriotism to keep at work
regardless of wages to be paid, but
when has he called upon the owners
of ship yards to keep at work regard
less of the profits to be earned?
One corporation manager when
called upon the carpet is quoted as
having said that "corporations cannot
live on patriotism," but these same
corporation managers expect some
workingmen to live on patriotism or
something intangible since there is no
assertion that wages have advanced
in the same proportion as the cost of
living, i
One concrete example: For years
the difference in the price of raw cot
ton per pound and of manufactured
drilling per pound has been 9 cents.
The United States now uses millions
of pounds of drilling. The difference
in cost between raw cotton and manu
factured drilling today is 34 cents a
pound an advance of more than 300
per cent. The advance in wages has
been practically nothing, but the pa
triotic profiteers must have the money
or will not produce the goods. So
much for the two brands of patriot
ism. II. H. CLAIBORNE.
ing a rush of work on state printing,
it may be said, that inasmuch as the
boy in question is regularly i-lassiiicd
in the department of printing, where
he works two and a half hours every
dav under an instructor learning the
business, extra time that he puts in
in the printing office is profitable to
him in gaining knowledge and skill
in the line of his trade. And finally
it should be said, the board in no way
restricts the employment of extra
help whenever and wherever such
help may be needed.
F. W. BOOTH, Superintendent
Pay for Postal Employes.
Omaha, Feb. 14. To the Editor of
The Bee: In an editorial of the
World-Herald of February 13 I notice
a letter in regard as whether the
postal employes should, be granted
an increase of salary. In the reply
following the inquiry, I note the edi
tor of said paper pleads ignorance as
to how much they are paid and also
further states that they were either
overpaid before the war or else are
not paid enough now.
nn mhn is in the service let me
state that neither statement is true
and as for an increase there is not
much chance when we get such a
wrlteup as the World-Herald gives
us in the issue of the ISth.
Perhaps we don't deserve it, but
from experience it won't be any too
mnnl, anH linlttfifl we rifl Cat it S0IH6
one is iii for a very big surprise. It
! ah,, nt time smnp nf thfSS DeODle
should get clear over on one side of
the fence or the other. By asking a
few simple questions anyone can find
out all about what we get and how
we have to work. Yours for better
pay. ONE WHO IS THERE.
Moics and "King Booze."
Omaha, Feb. 13. To the Editor ol
The Bee: Last night in your paper
I read an article in which several of
the ladies of Omaha expressed their
opinions on the moving picture
shows of the city. I also wish to say
what I think about them. I think
that the moving picture shows had
a good deal to do with making the
state prohibition. Pictures were shown
in which men and women became in
toxicated in, less than five minutes
and all kinds of tragedies occurred
from the influence of liquor, and to
this day it is almost impossible to go
to a show where the drinking of li
quor is not shown. I have always
had liquor whenever I wanted it up
to the time prohibition took effect
and have raised as respectable a family
as there is in the city of Omaha. Now
if I want to have any I will have to
break the law to get it. I have often
wondered how whisky was made,
and the other night at a picture show
a still was shown just as plain as any
body would care to see. As I said be
fore moving picture shows had a great
deal to do with the prohibition move
ment. Now picture shows are putting
out pictures which will give people
who wish to make it an idea how it is
made and break the laws of the
United States. Not that I intend to
do it myself, but this is just what I
think such pictures tend to do. Just
think how a person who has always
been used to have his beer and liquor
feels when he goes to a movie show
and see them drinking to their hearts'
content in a dry town. J. W.
Scraping the Can.
Every time the president makes an
address the pikers on the stock ex
change pick up a little loose change,
regardless of what he says. St. Louis
Globe Democrat.
iiolaiMate
tlie
-tali- tlieji
Over the short southern
Golden State Route of
speed, safety, comfort,
and luxury.
Down to the last detail
the model through train
of the West in comfort
and courtesy yet it
costs you no more.
The CaWomian is another
famous fast train to Southern
California via the El Paso
Short Line.
Our representative will be
glad to plan your trip for you.
Tickets, reservations, mtor
mation on request
411 South 15tb Streef
rtnllwky Exrbang Building
J. 8. MrXally D. P. A.
Bock Island Lines
Omaha Neb.
At the School for the Deaf.
Omaha, Feb. 14. To the Editor of
The Bee: I feel constrained to reply
to the letter in a recent issue of The
Bee, criticising the Board of Control
for its alleged practices in the line
of economy In conducting the affairs
of the School for the Deaf, and par
ticularly in requiring the boys to do
extra or unusual work about the heat
ing plant.
I would say that the practices re
ferred to were wholly administrative
and the board in realty had nothing
to do with them. They vere counted
by the management necessary in or
der to meet exceptional conditions in
cident to the unusual severity of the
past winter with at times coal of pobr
grade for the furnaces. In emergen
cies that arose, the boys were called
upon several times to help out the
overworked men in the boiler plant,
and to their credit be it 3aid they ren
dered the needed assistance always
willingly and cheerfully. At no time
has the closing of school been thought
to be necessary for the reason given
by the critic; nor is the boiler plant
badly out of repair, the entire plant
being In daily and constant use.
Then as for the young pupil doing
extra work In the printing office dur-
THE OMAHA BEE INFORMATION BUREAU
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Enclosed find a 2-cent stamp, for which you will please send me,
I entirely free, "German War Practices." I
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