miller, of whom London Tit-Bits tells. He had made this remark in a train one day on You Can Weigh the way to market, when a pompous indi- is a The last word in paint is zinc The best paint makers put it "Nonsense, sir. I can tell you a great many things which neither patience nor perseverance can accomplish." "Perhaps you can,' ," said the miller, "but I have never yet come across one thing." "Well, then, I'll tell you one. Will patience and perseverance ever enable you to carry water in a sieve?" "Certainly." "I would like to know how." "Simply by waiting patiently for the water to freeze." Trying. in their best paints. The best important jobs. Act upon the facts given in "Your Move," "Dear Sir," wrote the anxious mother, "I am afraid Johnny is not trying enough." "Dear Madam," replied the harassed trying enough. He is the most trying boy in the class." Couldn't Remember It All. Little Robert, says an exchange, rushed into the kitchen one day and asked his mother what kind of pie she was making. "Lemon meringue pie," she answered. The little fellow disappeared, but presently returned. "Mamma," he asked, "what did you say is the pie's middle name?" Not Their Fault. At a recent social affair the talk, according to the Philadelphia Telegraph, turned to sentimentalism, when Congressman Edward Gilmore of Massachusetts was reminded of a story about Uncle Josh. Uncle Josh was comfortably lighting his pipe in the living-room one evening when Aunt Maria glanced up from her knitting. "Josh," softly remarked the good woman, "do you know that next Sunday will be the twenty-fifth anniversary of our wedding?" "Ye don't say so, Maria!" responded Uncle Josh, pulling vigorously on his corn-cob pipe. "What about it?" "Nothing," answered Aunt Maria, "only I thought maybe we ought to kill them two Rhode Island Red chickens." "Say, Maria," impressively demanded Uncle Island Red Josh, "how can you blame them two Rhode chickens fer what happened twenty-five years ago?" Taking Life Easy. Senator Overman tells this story, and the Youth's Companion publishes it: In the southern part of Arkansas, where the natives take things easy, a man and his wife were sitting on their porch, when a The funeral procession passed the house. man was comfortably seated in a chair that was tilted back against the house, and was whittling a piece of wood. As the procession passed, he said: "I reckon ol' man Williams has got about the biggest funeral that's ever been held round hyer, Caroline." "A purty good-sized one, is it, Bud?" queried the wife, making no effort to move. "Certainly is!" Bud answered. "I surely would like to see it," said the woman. "What a pity I ain't facin' that way!" Might Get It That Way. An absent-minded husband, says the Ladies' Home Journal, was asked by his wife to stop in a store on his way down-town and buy her three articles of feminine wear. Of course when he reached the store he had forgotten what they were. So the young clerk behind the first counter was amazed to hear: "Excuse me, my wife told me to come in here and get her some things to wear and I've forgotten what they are. Would you mind naming over a few things?" women and have built up that many more scientifically, naturally, without drugs, in the privacy of their own rooms. You Can Be So Well! -if you only knew how well! Nervousness, Torpid One pupil writes: "I weigh 83 Another says: Last May I weighed 100 pounds, this May 1 weigh 120 and oh! I feel So Well. Won't you sit down and write now for my interesting booklet. You are welcome to it. It is FREE. Don't wait, you may forget it. I have had a wonderful experience and I should like to tell you about it. Susanna Cocroft Dept. 6, 624 Michigan Boulevard, Chicago Miss Cocroft is a college-bred woman. She is the recognized authority on the scientific care of the health and figure of women. ENUS PENCILS FOR PERFECT SATISFACTION Made in 17 degrees to suit all requirements; also 2 copying degrees. She Plunged Europe In War To Avenge An Epigram She ruled France more absolutely than any monarch because she had at her feet both the King and ministry. How she did it, how women have ruled the world's rulers and always will rule them is told in this new volume. Memoirs of Madame Du Barry It is a grippingly fascinating journal of the woman who had more power than any king of to-day. But it is more than that, it is a human document, the baring of a soul. Never having been intended for publication, it gives the gossip of the kitchen and the back stairs and the "boudoir cabinets" which Jeanette Du Barry dominated as mistress of Louis the XV. It puts you into the heart and mind of this extraordinary woman and indirectly of all such women. Perhaps to-day some such woman is swaying your state, your community, unknown, as Du Barry was unknown to the French people of her time. This is a book for all times. You must read it. Sent On Approval Remit $2.00 and this beautiful and interesting De Luxe volume will be sent on approval, all charges prepaid. If after five days you don't want it, return it and your money will be refunded. Current Literature Publishing Co. 134 W. 29th St., NEW YORK, N. Y. CURRENT OPINION A VACCINE THAT PREVENTS FIRE 147 FIRE IS THE "GREAT RED PLAGUE" FROM WHICH EVERY BUILDING, OLD OR MODERN, CAN BE MADE IMMUNE-AS IF "VACCINATED" AGAINST FIRE Editorial Note: Our children will live to see the day when the dreaded fire peril will be as obsolete as log houses; the day when there will be no such thing as buildings or building contents that will burn. All buildings and their contents will be as immune from fire as if "vaccinated." This method is not a new and untested thing. It is old and practical. it is thirty years old. It has prevented many thousand fires from "getting away," putting them out with an average loss of only $265 per fire. A world-wide campaign against fire has begun. Great business concerns have consented to give their experience with this "vaccine," for the benefit of merchants, manufacturers, public officials and humanity, in the hope that their experience may lead every building owner or tenant to give his property the "treatment." The following is the first of these experiences, written by Mr. Frederick Reidemeister, Treasurer Steinway & Sons, one of the greatest piano manufacturers in the world. Read this Steinway Letter "The Steinway plant, located at Steinway, Long Island, has the regular New York City fire department - the best that money can buy-only 5 min utes away. "In addition to this city fire protection, we have our own fire department in the Steinway plant. We have two 50,000 gallon cisterns connected with a tremendous high pressure steam pump, and these are connected with stand pipes and hose throughout our buildings. We also maintain a fire brigade equipped with a chemical engine and have frequent fire drills. "These two fire departments would seem more than abundant fire protection. But they were not enough to get us a low insurance rate. "And until we could get a low rate of insurance we knew our buildings were not safe from fire. As the insurance rate, so the fire danger. "We found that only an automatic sprinkler system would reduce our insurance rate to the point where we felt out of danger. "We found that a fire department and a watchman system, however efficient, cannot automatically discover a fire in our buildings at dead of night; drench it instantly with a quenching BY FREDERICK REIDEMEISTER Treasurer, Steinway & Sons spray of water, and at the same instant send in a fire alarm. "We found that even in the day time, when our 500 employees are on duty, a small blaze might gain great headway, if no sprinkler was there like a sentinel to automatically discover it, drench it and automatically call for the fire department. Automatic fire fighting is obviously quicker and more fatal to fire than human attack. "We found that the Grinnell Sprinkler System is a vaccine which makes both building and its contents immune from fire. "Therefore, 3 years ago we installed a Grinnell Automatic Sprinkler System in our plants. Saved $15,000 Per Year "The initial cost of the Grinnell installation was $30,000. As soon as the equipment was in, the insurance companies reduced the cost of our insurance $15,000 per year. Thus during the three years which the Grinnell System has been in our plant, it has paid for itself and, besides, has earned a profit of $15,000. It will continue to earn a profit of $15,000 per year indefinitely-perhaps as long as we are in business. "This reduction may seem incredible, but when it is known that our rate dropped from $1.50 to 10% cents per hundred dollars as soon as the Grinnell System was installed, the fact that we effected a saving of $15,000 per year will not be astonishing. "Purchasing and installing an automatic sprinkler system in our plant is the most profitable business we have engaged in or known of. "When asked what first induced us to install automatic sprinklers, we replied "To get a low insurance rate," but that was not the only inducement. "For example, we have 500 employees working in our plants. We wanted them absolutely free from the peril of fire. Also, we wanted our employees free from any danger of being thrown out of employment. The Real Tragedy of Fire "Lastly, we did not want the business interruption which a fire always entails "Disrupted organization is of vital moment to Steinway & Sons, because the sweet tone of the Steinway piano which has a world-wide reputation is the product of a peculiar organization that has handed the method down from father to son. No one or two of our artists and artisans can produce this Steinway tone, but the whole organization working in harmony, is what creates it. "Therefore, if through a stoppage of our plants by fire, this organization were disbanded and scattered, the loss to us would be a calamity. And we propose to have no such calamity.” (End of letter) No Investment Needed The reason why many reputable Construction Companies offer to furnish an automatic sprinkler system free of charge is quite clear, when you consider the large saving on insurance. These construction companies purchase the sprinkler system, have it installed in your plant; let the insurance reductions pay for it, then deliver it free and clear to you, taking a small margin of profit for themselves. Small Concerns Benefit as Well as Large Smaller concerns than Steinway, which need to keep their working capital undisturbed, should see in this new method a great opportunity to make money without investment. Any obstacles (local or foreign) which are preventing you from installing sprinklers can be overcome by our experts. We have shown hundreds of merchants and manufacturers how to get sprinklers in spite of seeming obstacles, such as short leases, inadequate water supply, indisposition to invest working capital in sprinklers, despoilation of artistic effects, exposure hazards, lack of watchman service, unheated buildings, etc., etc. Many concerns which now have Grinnell sprinklers thought it impossible to have sprinkler protection until they wrote us. Dictate a short letter to your secretary-now-telling the reasons, if any, why you think you cannot have a Grinnell System. The Grinnell Automatic Sprinkler System is manufactured and installed by the General Fire Extinguisher Company, 276 West Exchange St., Providence, Rhode Island. A.REVIEW OF THE WORLD THE STRUGGLE OVER THE SHIP-PURCHASE BILL AND THE ITS EFFECTS ON THE WILSON ADMINISTRATION HE most serious situation that has developed in our relations with the warrgations, especially with Germany, found us last month in the midst of a bitter political struggle in Washington-the most bitter that has taken place during the Wilson administration. In the Senate, resort has been had, and by such Senators as Root, Burton and Lodge, to that most extreme of all forms of opposition, the filibuster. The floor was held by Senators in opposition to the ship-purchase bill, its advocates refusing, for tactical reasons, to join in the debate. The life of this Congress terminates by law on the fourth of March, and the effort of the Republicans was to delay a vote on the bill, if necessary, until the end of the session. Test votes indicated that 45 Democratic Senators and 3 Republicans were ready to support the bill and 41 Republicans and 7 Democrats ready to vote against it-48 on each side, leaving the Vice-President to cast the deciding vote. With no rule in the Senate for the closing of debate, the defeat of the bill became simply a question of physical endurance, lung-power and constant vigilance. The Democrats stood the delay until within fourteen working days of the end of the session. Then, with most of the big appropriation bills yet to be passed, they brought in a clôture measure, and the Republicans promptly proceeded to filibuster on that. Then a new turn was made. A Republican bill-the Weeks bill-that had already passed the Senate and had gone to the lower house, was entirely made over in the House by means of amendments into a modified ship-purchase bill, was then adopted and sent back to the Senate in the hope of satisfying enough rebellious Democrats to secure a clear majority. The important change made in this new Weeks-Gore bill was one which provided that the experiment in government ownership and operation of merchant ships should automatically end two years after the close of the European war, and the ships should then revert to the navy, as naval auxiliaries, or, if not suitable for such use, might be leased to private owners. As this is written, the fight on this new form of the bill is still on, but the passage of the bill seems to be impossible. President Wilson's Hold IT HAS become increasingly clear that this contest over the ship-purchase bill is a sort of premature opening of the next presidential contest. The division in both houses of Congress has been pretty nearly on. partisan lines. Altho Democratic leaders like Clark, Underwood and Kitchin are opposed to the plan, yet the appeal to support the administration was made effectively, Speaker Clark himself, in the Democratic caucus, saying: "You have wandered in the wilderness for sixteen years and unless you follow the leader of your party you will wander again." The President's power over his party was never more signally shown than in the case of this bill. According to one Democratic Senator, quoted but not named by Colonel J. C. Hemphill, there are not twelve Democratic Senators who are at heart in favor of the bill. It came as a surprise, the program for this session being to pass the appropriation bills and not take up any other important measures. Yet, "under the spell of the White House," the President's followers in both houses have gone to the limit in support of the measure. With a big deficit looming up in spite of a "war tax," an income tax and a corporation tax, they have consented to the unexpected appropriation of the $40,000,000 carried by this bill. They have given it the right of way over all the other appropriation bills, and, after a month of futile effort to overcome the obstruction of the Republican filibuster, the House caucus again, on February 16, by commerce is being seriously hampered and ocean-rates intolerably increased, in some cases tenfold above the normal; and that no one has proposed any other method by which the situation can be met except the system of subsidies, which has been explicitly rejected by the Democratic party over and over again. "Opposition to the measure," says the N. Y. World, the most vigorous champion of the bill to be found in the press, "offers nothing but subsidy in its place": "In the view of the elder statesmen, it is all right to make a gift of $30,000,000 to ship-owners who agree to take out American registry, but it is all wrong to expend $30,000,000 for vessels which the people will own and control. Here INTERESTING DEBATE ON THE SHIP-PURCHASE BILL WHICH CLOSED IN THE U. S. SENATE LAST EVENING -McCutcheon in Chicago Tribune a vote of 154 to 29, registered the will of the President, every one of his wishes, according to the New York Times Washington correspondent, being "observed to the letter." Yet there seems to be no doubt, in the minds of Democrats themselves, that the political situation has been very gravely affected by the fight over the bill. "There is no question," says the Charleston News and Courier, "but that President Wilson is face to face with a dangerous crisis." "It is freely said," remarks another Democratic paper, the Buffalo Courier, "that this ship episode has knocked out President Wilson for a second term. Maybe it has. The President certainly doesn't act like a man fishing for a second term." NEVER Government Ownership versus EVER before, perhaps, has a measure that has made so much of a stir received so little discussion. It was proposed as an emergency measure, to meet the conditions resulting from the war, and was, for that reason, rushed through the lower house. In the contest in the Senate the Democrats have refused to argue the points raised, on the ground that prompt action rather than argument is demanded. Hardly a Democratic leader has been heard from on the measure with the exception of Secretary McAdoo and Secretary Redfield and President Wilson himself. Even the President has had very little to say in public, his reference to the measure at Indianapolis being very brief and his speech before the National Chamber of Commerce not touching on the measure at all, much to the surprise of those present. The defense of the bill has been almost entirely confined to two lines, namely, that there is a ship famine, in consequence of which our "We have come into a period of confidence."-President Wilson. Puzzle: Find the confidence. -Cesare in N. Y. Sun again it is monopoly and privilege and plunder on the one side and Government ownership on the other. Confronted by such an issue, with no other way out, most of the Democrats in Congress adhere to Government ownership, and The World agrees with them. "Government ownership is a last resort, to be accepted not because it is Democratic but because it is the one final remedy for political and economic 'hold-ups.'' The same paper lays stress on the fact that six years ago, under the Roosevelt administration, the federal government bought and proceeded to operate the Panama Railway Company and with it a line of steamships running from New York to Christobal, an experiment in government ownership that "has not undermined the Constitution, demoralized ocean rates or injured any private interest in its continuing." |