CZECH STATE
WASHINGTON, D. C., May 25.—
The Czech state of Bohemia has been
divided into twelve districts, with
advantages in the electoral domain
given to the German minority, ac
cording to reliable information reach
ing the state department . The
change was made in order to reduce
the Cech representation in the parlia
ment, and was at the instance of a
ministerial decree issued at Vienna.
This attempt to dismember and
Germanize the Czech state was the
prime cause of the recent serious ri
oting. which resulted in imposing
martial law on most of the districts
in Bohemia, according to official dis
patches from France.
25 PEI CENT
WASHINGTON, D. C., May 27.—
Director of Railways McAdoo has ord
ered the railways of the country to in
crease freight rates twenty-five per
cent and passenger fares to three
cents per mile over present rates, "the
increase is the largest in the history
of the railways of the nation.
The increase is made to pay the in
crease in the scale of wages paid to
empolyees. Two million employees
recently received a substantial ad
vance in their wages.
DIXIE HENCEFORTH
r.ut for several quart bottles of
pure cow’s milk Dixie Hall, former
chief storekeeper for the Alaskan En
gineering commission at Talkeetna,
and now in Seattle would not have
passed from the ranks of the civilian
to the military. Dixie is now a firm
believer in milk and believes that with
it.- aid and assistance man here below
n ay accomplish all things, even to
satisfying the adamantine rules and
regulations of the United States army.
Dixie left Anchorage several weeks
ago to join the army and more par
ticularly that branch of the army
which sees the enemy from the clouds.
Dixie upon his arrival in Seattle saw
one or two of the immediate bright
lights and was off for the recruiting
."lation. When he arrived and the of
ficer had put Dixie’s rather petite
form on the scale he discovered that
he was below weight by several
pounds.
Being desirous of securing the serv
ices of the keen-eyed youngster from
the northland the officer suggested
that he go out among the highways
and byeways of Seattle and while
there to drink copiously of the fluid
upon which Young America fatten and
become strong and virile. This Dixie
did. He bought milk from everybody
that even knew how to spell cow and
after several hours of milk drinking
and slow dignified walking about the
streets of the big village Dixie with
fear and trembling marched back to
the recruiting office to learn of the fat
producing effects of milk drinking.
The officer in charge put him on the
scale and smiled a cheery smile when
the team tipped the 121 mark and
Dixie became thereby a part and par
cel of the great army of Uncle Sam.
From now on nothing stronger will
ever pass the lips of Dixie. He is a be
liever in milk and says that milk will
whip the Terrible Hun and save the
world.
CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS.
As punishment for some lapse from
the rule of military duty he had been
put in the guardhause of one of the
regular army camps for a month. Be
ing the sale occupant he began at the
end of the second week to get tired of
solitude. He got a pencil and a piece
of paper, printed the following sign,
and hung it out:
“RECRUITS WANTED!”
Whether because of the appeal or
not, the very next day following the
provost guard appeared at the lock-up
with three more delinquents.
Free speech is all right in its way,
but a prisoner is apt to be even guard
ed in his remarks.
ECLIPSE OF
DENVER, Colo., May 25.—The to
tal eclipse of the sun forecast to oc
cur on June 8, has been postponed for
one hour. This is not the result of
any error in the calculations of the j
astronomers, nor is it due to an order I
by modern Joshua that the sun stand j
still, but is chargeable to the opera- j
tions of the daylight saving law, as a!
result of which the clocks throughout |
the United States were set forward
an hour on March 81.
In consequence the eclipse will be
gin in Denver at 4:12 p. m., will be
come total at 5:22 p. m., will pass j
j from totality at 5:24 u. m. and will j
| end at 6:27. The same variation ini
| the hours of the eclipse will prevail;
| throughout the length of the fifty
mile belt, extending from the south
eastern corner of Washington state
to the coast of Florida, in which the
total eclipse will be visible.
Preparations for observing the
I eclipse, the first total eclipse of the
| sun visible in the United States since
1900 and the last until 1923, are going
| ahead rapidly at the University of
! Denver observatory, where astrono
; mers from Yerkes observatory will
make their observations. Professor |
Edwin B. Frost, of the Yerkes observ
:tory at Green Bay, Wis., recently no
tified Dean Herbert A. Howe, head of
the department of astronomy of the
University of Denver that several
shipments of specially prepared in-1
struments are en route. Professor
Frost is expected here in the. latter
part of May to begin installing this!
equipment.
One of tne principal pieces of up-1
paratus is a special spectroscope to
be attached to t'ne 21-inch telescope
at the Denver observatory with which
to photograph the sun’s corona. Op
portunity to photograph the corona is
afforded only during a total eclipse
and astronomers are greatly interest
ed in the result of this work as af- j
fording opportunity to study the com- '
position of this great outer belt of
luminous gases which surround the
sun.
Photographs also will be taken of
the sky in the region of the sun in
search of any stray comet and also
of the mythical planet Vulcan, which
some astronomers have asserted has
its orbit so close to the sun that it
can be seen only during an eclipse.
The existence of such a planet is
doubted by most astronomers, how
ever.
Besides the staff from Yerkes ob
servatory, other astronomers are
planning to work at the Denver ob
servatory. Among them are Profes
sor A. V. Turner, of the College, of
the City of New York, Professor
Schlessinger of Allegheny observa
tory, Professor Beifield, of Dennison
university and Professor Moore of
the United States bureau of mines.
Although astronomers consider
themselves fortunate in that the pain
of the total eclipse includes the Den
ver observatory, with its high power
telescopes, they have experienced
much difficulty in obtaining special
, apparatus because of the war.
As a precaution against unfavora
j ble weather conditions at Oenver on
June 8, the Yerkes observatory also
j will have men stationed at Green Riv
er, Wyoming, and other observatories
; will have observers at other vantage
points throughout the mountain
J states.
Points at which the total eclipse
| will be visible include South Bend,
! Wash.; Chehalis, Wash; Hood River,
Or.; Baker City, Or.; Pocatello, Ida.;
Green River, Wyo.; Denver, Colo.;
Garden City, Kans.; Dodge City,
Kans.; Enid, Okla.; Guthrie, Okla.;
McAlester, Okla.; Arkadelphia, Ark.;
Yaoo City, Miss.; Jackson, Miss.;
Grove Hill, Ala.; Leesburg, Fla.; and
Orlando, Fla.
MARSHAL TAKES WIFE.
SEWARD, May 27.—Charles Mc
Callum, deputy United States marshal
at Unga, was married recently accord
ing to advice received here on the
Dora. Mrs. McCallum is an Unga lady
having lived there for years.
DETROIT, May 27.—Quantity pro
duction is to be the watchword of the
great Ford shipbuilding yard which is
being erected here for the construction
of the United States navy “Eagles,”
the little vessels which, it is hoped,
will rid the seas of German U-boats.
The assembling plan has been
greatly elaborated and will be applied
to the building of the “Eagles.” The
raw material will enter one end of the
plant to emerge at the other end a
completed fighting craft. Each of the
little vessels will be passed along by
powerful machinery from one group
of workmen to another and, as it pass
es, each group will add something to
the boat.
When the last rivet has been driven
in the steel hull, the boat will be pick
ed up bodily by a powerful hydraulic
lift and deposited further down the
ways where skilled workmen will in
stall the motor equipment.
Three ways have been constructed,
each to hold seven of the submarine
chasers. It is generally understood
that the plant will be able to put into
the water one completed “Eagle” a
day and some estimates have placed
the number as high as three for each
twenty-four hours.
There will be no champagne christ
enings nor elaborate launching cere
monies. No efforts are being made to
give the boats and touch of artificial
beauty, the sole effort being to turn
out with as great speed as possible an
efficient weapon against German ruth
lessness on the seas. Government
secrecy shrouds the major details of
construction.
“If these boats will hasten the end
of the frightful carnage and bring a
lasting peace, there will be no occasion
to worry over the cost,” said Henry
Ford in discussing the project. “This
is your war and my war, and although
we did not make it, we must see it
through to a successful conclusion.
Sixty days ago the land on which
the plant is being erected was a deso
late marsh, a vast acreage of mud
through which wandered aimlessly a
sluggish river. Now it is a net-work
of railroad tracks with locomotives
running between great buildings of
steel, tile and glass.
What enginers here say is one of
the largest buildings in the world will
be used to house at one time a score
of the little vessels. It is 1,700 feet
long, 300 feet wide. The building
where the boats are to be assembled
is fully half a mile from the Rouge
river. The launching basin adjoins
this building and thence a channel is
being excavated to the river.
SHERMAN’S FAMOUS
STATEMENT WAS NOT
MADE IN HEAT OF WAR
SEATTLE, May 27.—General Sher
man’s famous statement, “War is
Hell,” was not made during the heat
of conflict betwen the north and south,
but nearly twenty years later, accord
ing to Reverend Thomas Ewing Sher
man, a son of the general, who has
been visiting here. Before the battle
of Atlanta, Rev. Sherman says the
general asserted that “War is barbar
ism and cannot be refined.” In the
early 70’s while addressing students at
the Michigan Military Academy, he
gave utterance to the crytic phase that
was revived when the pi’esent world
conflict began.
“My father characterized war as he
did in order to discourage militarism
in the students at the academy,” Rev.
Sherman says. “This does not mean
that he did not believe in prepared
ness, because he was a soldier and
nothing else, and firmly believed that
the nation should always be ready for
scientific warfare. But it was mili
tarism of the kind that characterizes
Germany that he decried.
“He declared that ‘war was barbar
ism and cannot be refined/ and yet he
furnished transportation from Atlanta
for all non-combatants before attack
ing the city.”
MOTOR DRIVING BY
PROMINENT WOMEN
FOR THE SOLDIERS
SAN FRANCISCO, Cal., May 27.—
Motor driving for soldiers in the after
noon and taking them home for dinner
is coming to be a popular pastime for
San Francisco women.
A broad shady highway leading
from the city down through the or
chard filled Santa Clara valley has
long been a popular drive, and now
the stops at “Fremont” are frequent.
One woman reported that she
“drew”, in response to her request:
two Yale university graduates, a
farmer boy and a profession cook. She
and her husband took them on a trip
culminating in a picnic supper at
which the cook served, in compliance
with is own request.
TREITSCHKE
IS LARGELY
PHILADELPHIA, May 27.—Hein
rich von Treitschke was described at
the “Win the War for Permanent
Peace” convention today as one who,
next to Bismarck and Emperor Wil
liam had done most to mould modern
German political thought and bring on
the presnt war. The speaker was Dr.
Richard Heath Dabney of the Univer
sity of Virginia, who studied under
Treitschke in Berlin. Dr. Dabnek’s
topic was “Germany’s Dream of Do
rmiiiuu.
“Treitschke’s whole aim,” he said,
was ‘to Prussianize Germany and to
Germanaize the world. I heard him
at the height of his powers, from the
fall of 1883 to the spring of 1885.
“Upon other peoples he poured forth
hate, scorn, and contempt, pai’ticularly
upon the English and ourselves. ‘We
German idealists,’ I heard him say,
have time to meditate upon beauty:
The Americans chase the dollar.’ It
might surprise Treitschke, could he
now arise from the tomb and see Am
erican dollars and Amreican men pre
paring to chase the kaiser back to
Berlin ?
“Treitschke’s theory of the state as
an all-engulfing power has seized hold
of the German mind. The German,
submerging his own personal identity
in the state, seeks dominion, through
the state, over others. The American,
intelligently combining with his fel
low-individuals, seeks rational free
dom for himself and for them. If
Prussia conquers our armies, the
Prussian theory will conquer our souls,
and the American conception of the
state, as an organization deriving its
moral authority from the collective
consent of intelligent individuals, will
perish from the earth.
“The two men who best embody the
American and Prussian ideals respect
ively are Patrick Henry and Frederick
the Great. The latter, you remember,
carried upon his person, during the
Seven Years’ War, a vial of poison—
to be swallowed if ever the time
should come when his and Prussia’s
power must fall. Dominion or death.
These were the alternatives for Fred
erick the Prussian.
“Xot so for Patrick Henry the Am
erican, whose immortal words might
well be adopted today as our battle
cry and that of our heroic allies: ‘1
know not what other may say but as
for me, give me Liberty or give me
death.”
FARMER WANTED TO KNOW.
Sir Horace Plunkett is one of the
/
most popular members of the Irish
convention among all classes in lie
land. He has striven hard to develop
a system of co-operative farming in
Ireland on the lines followed in Swe
den and Holland.
In this connection a rather amusing
story is told of a conversation he had
with a small farmer in the south of
Ireland adbout the advantarges of the
co-operative farming system.
“Under the co-operative system,”
said Sir Horace, “you always have a
market for your produce at the co
operative headquarters. Say you have
eggs to sell. Well, at the co-operative
headquarters you will always be able
to sell them at, say, tenpeace a dozen.”
“And what do the co-operative con
sarn do with me eggs?” asked the
farmer.
“Oh;, sell them at a profit—say, a
shilling a dozen!” replied Sir Horace.
“\\ hy should I not sell me eggs at
a shilling a dozen meself?” replied the
farmer.
PARTIES CANNOT
GET TOGETHER
WASHINGTON, D. C., May 27.—
Plans which might have delayed work
in congress, but which involved a
working agreement between the re
publican and democratic parties dur
ing the continuance of the war, have
fallen through.
THE RULING PASSION.
“How is Mrs. Dumpley? I under
stand the doctor gave her up?”
“Yes, he did. But she’s better. The
other day she thought she was sink
ing and sent in a hurry for her wom
en neighbors.”
“Well?”
“In ten minutes they were playing
bridge.”
REGISTRATIO
OF THE BIRTHS
UNO DEATHS
WASHINGTON, D. C., May 28.—
The recent inclusion of Hawaii has
extended beyond the limits of contin- ‘
ental United States the area for 1
<
which the census bureau annually col- ,
lects and publishes death statistics. 1
Within this area now reside abut 73 I
per cent of the total population of
continental United States and Ha
waii. It comprises, in all, 27 states,
43 cities in other states, the District ‘
of Columbia, and the territory of Ha
waii. East of the Mississippi the only
states not included are Alabama,
Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois,
Mississippi, and West Virginia, while
west of the Mississippi the only ,
states included are California, Colo- |
rado, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, .
Montana, Utah, and Washington.
The annual collection of death sta
tistics from states and cities maintain- .
ing adequate registration systems
was begun by the census bureau in
1902, the first report covering the
calendar years 1900 to 1904, inclusive, ^
and for each succeeding year a sep- ^
arate report has been published. The
original registration area contained '
40 per cent of the total population of
the country. It remained unchanged
until 1906, since which year it has
shown an almost uninterrupted in- I
• . i
crease in geographical extent and in
proportion of total population, until ^
at present it contains nearly three
fourths of the country’s inhabitants.
In birth registration highly satis- ,
factory progress has been made dur- J
ing the p^st two years, although
there are still a number of states in j ]
which adequate death registration j ‘
prevails but in which the registra- J
tion of baths has not yet reached a
sufficiently close approximation to
completeness to justify the accept- ’
ance of the local Records by the cen- *
sus bureau. The birth-registration
area, as at present constituted, com- ’
prises 19 states—the six New Eng
land states, New York, Pennsylvania, j
Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina,
Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, '
Wisconsin, Minnesota, Utah, and ,
Washington—and the District of Co
lumbia. This area is estimated to
contain about 51 per cent of the total
population of the country, as against (
31 per cent when the collection of
birth statistics was begun, a little i,
more than two years ago, from an1
area comprising the six New Eng
land states. New York, Pennsylvania,
Michigan, Minnesota and the District 1
of Columbia. ,
This growth, in so short a time, is ,
very gratifying indeed. It. is, how
ever, unfortunate that in the United j
States the registration of vital phen- .
omena has thus far depended, first, ,
upon adequate state or municipal leg
islation, and, second, upon the ade- (
quate enforcement of that legislation.
As a result, some states and munici
palities maintain cd'icient registra
J tion systems while others do not. Un
I til the matter is placed under federal
control or supervision it is not (ike- j
ly that reliable birth and death rec
ords, approximating completeness,
will come into existence throughout *
the entire United States. Since the
military registration of June 5, 1917, .
the desirability of maintaining such
records has become apparent to all.
FINES ARE USED
TO HELP PURCHASE
WAR THRIFT STAMPS
NOGALES, May 27.—Fines for vio
lation of traffic laws, with the re- ,
ceipts therefore given in thrift stamps
is a feature of traffic education and
thrift stamp campaigning here.
The town marshal recently took his .
stand on a corner, where the traffic .
was heaviest, and began to halt drivers
of automobiles and other vehicles, •
whenever he detected a violation of
traffic ordinance. Given .the ordinary -
traffic ordinance,and the ordinary mot- ;
orist, the marshal said, he could al- <
ways find something to “hang on i
them” and his theory proved correct.
As every technical violator drove up, ■
the marshal brought him to a halt, ,
assessed a fine, told the offender that
the fine should be paid on the spot—
and then offered thrift stamps in the
amount of the fine by way of a receipt.
The plan worked, as the marshal
turned in $216 to the thrift stamp
committee after spending only a few
hours at his task.
THEN IT HAPPENED.
“A dollar usually meets with a ter
rible death,” sighed the Rummy, as he
put his glass back on the bar.
“How’s that?” demanded the Bar
keep, as he grabbed a bungstarter.
“It is always drawn and quartered
isn’t it?” said the Rummy as he head
ed' for the door.
SERVICE ONLY
WASHINGTON, D. C., May 28.—
With the establishment of a regular
lirplane mail service between Wash
ngton and New York, the post office
considers that the project is experi
nental only in the sense that a now
ramiliar means of locomotion is to
>e put practically to a new use. The
var has demonstrated effectively that
he airplans as a conveyance is al
nost as dependable and safe as an
lutomobile, so that the only real ob
stacle in the way of successfully op
srating the new air line lies in main
taining service under all kinds of
veather conditions.
The war department has furnished
twelve large training planes for use
n the new service. Aviators have
)een detailed from the ranks of fight
ng airmen, as war department offi
cials feel that the newly-commission
“d fliers will acquire valuable train
ng in piloting the big mail carriers
>ver long cross-country flights.
The planes, each capable of a mini
num of ninety miles an hour, are
milt along the lines of the regula
ion bombing machine. They are one
seaters as a maximum of space is de
sired in the fuselage for the storing
>f mail bags.
The schedule provides for the de
parture of one plane each day from.
>oth Washington and New York. The
nachines leave promptly at 11:30 in
he morning, and it is hoped to have
he mail deposited at the terminals
lot more than three hours later.
Starting from the Mall in Washing
con, near the Washington monument,
he trip to Philadelphia, about 135
niles, is expected to be made in about
in hour and twenty minutes. At the
langars in North Philadelphia anoth
:r machine will be waiting, ready to
start the flight to New York as soon
is the incoming plane lands and the
cransfer of mail bags is made. The
second leg of the journey, from Phil
idelphia to Belmont field, in the Long
island suburbs of New York, should
>e made in about an hour. The larger
planes carry about 600 pounds of
nail, or approximately 24,000 letters.
Hie smaller machines will carry
ibout half that amount.
Emergency landing fields will be
istablished at Baltimore and Havre
le Grace, Md.; Wilmington, Del., and
it either Princeton or New Bruns
vick, New Jersey. In the case of a
nachine breaking down at some in
cerurban point in its journey, the mail
sacks will be rushed by motor truck
:o the nearest railroad station where
hey will be sent forward in care of
i courier.
The rate of postage has been estab
ished by law at 24 cents an ounce or
Taction thereof. However, this en
citles the sender to have the letter
'orwarded to the addresses by special
lelivery service, in case the airplane
irrives too late for the regular city
Letters mailed at Washington,
Philadelphia or New York for deliv
ery in any part of the country may
lave their delivery facilitated by
sending them on the first part of the
ourney by airplane. In each city
postmasters have designated the sta
ions and the hours at which letters
?or airplane dispatch may be mailed.
A special stamp has been designed
'or the new service. It has a red bor
ler, and shows an airplane in flight
>n a blue field.
The first stamp was sold to Post
naster-General Burleson who addres
sed a letter to Postmaster ratten, of
\Tew York. After cancellation of the
stamp, the letter was autographed by
President Wilson, and placed in the
irst consignment of mail directed to
\Tew York. The letter will be sold at
luction, the proceeds to be devoted to
var relief.
During the first months of the sen
dee no flights will be made when
storm conditions make the journey
^ery precarious. On those days the
sacks will be forwarded by rail and
lelivered by special delivery service.
Dtto Praeger, second assistant post
naster general, who has charge of
she new service, believes that suffi
cient experience will be gained during
;he summer to make pssible an effect
ve maintenance of the service during
:he winter. The great difficulty is in
anding successfully in a heavy fog,
fain or snowstorm.
As the present routes prove suc
cessful, plans will be made for ex
panding the service next spring to
other parts of the country. The first
extension, Mr. Praeger says, proba
bly will be from New York to Bos
ton. To eliminate delay, arrange
ments are being worked out for the
construction of large nets on the roofs
of the central postoffices so that the
bags may be dropped while the ma
chine is in flight.
Job Printing of Distinction at the