San Antonio Express. (San Antonio, Tex.), Vol. 49, No. 5, Ed. 1 Monday, January 5, 1914 Page: 4 of 12
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SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS: MONDAY MORNING, JANUARY 5, 1914.
fan Antonio (Express,
By The Express Publishing Company.
MONDAY, JANUARY
1914.
filtered la the Posiofflce at Sun Antonio,
Texas, as Second-class Matter.
!♦ FOREIGN Bl.'WIN ESS OFHCE8.
** The John fcudd Co. ti
'* Eastern office, Brunswick Building, Now
■y ^
!, Weatcrn office*. Tribune Building, Chi-
cago, 111.; Chemical building, St. Louis.
£il»nouri.
' AGENTS AND < l)KKKSH)NHKM»
Washington, U. C- Austin I! llll liiiii, ■>'!111.
» Austin, Tel.—Eu S. Newton, llli k.i«t
*l«h Street, DrisKlll Hotel Building. Old
. -phone 1SSS. , , ,, ,
Traveling Agents—A. J. KenneliU, I*. J-
JElaea, A. X. Beuedic.
r. W. Pat ton, Circulation Manager.
Austin Business Office — S. b. l'attus.
112 fcast Sixth Street, DriskiU Hotel Bullil
■ ing. Old phone l(S6tt
ing human life. According to the an-
nouncement the institute plans to make
arrangements not only with life insur-
ance companies, but with schools, in-
dustrial establishments, clubs and in-
dividuals as well as to co-operate with
hygienic agencies and movements of all
kinds, including those connected with
the tuberculosis movement, the social
hygiene movement, the eugenics move-
ment, the public health departments,
Federal, State and municipal, and even
popular gymnastics and sports. It will
establish laboratories in the larger
cities for analysis of blood, etc., of the
persons examined.
The method to be used to prolong
ife is very simple, the same as applied
in philosophy that it may be expected
to apply in all cases where one extreme
is overthrown by another.
It is not expected that in this coun-
try anything like the excitement pecu-
liar to the French people would obtain,
even if financial and commercial con-
ditions were similar, so we may regard
with satisfaction the fact that some of
the greatest financiers of the United
States have decided to bow to public
sentiment. The most pleasing feature
of the change in the attitude of the
money magnates, however, is the pros-
pect that there is to be greater har-
mony betwen the money interests and
the people and that there is to be
greater tolerance on both sides, greater
TEXAS PRESS
PICKINGS
Opinions Expressed by Ivone Star
Editors on Social, Commercial,
industrial and Other Important
Subjects.
2.00
TEKA1S OJr SLBSL'BirHOJi,
,? By carrier—
. Daily, 1 month * ™
• Daily, « months *f"
Pally, 12 months ...
•Semi-Weekly, t) months ••• JM I
-Sunday Kdltiou, by mail, iJ months,
$1; 12 mouths
By mall -
JDaily, 1 month
■Kally, C mouths J -fl
Dally, 12 mouths
Semi-Weekly, 12 months !■""
«■ The postage rates for mailing The Ex-
"prtsa are as follows:
i 8 to U pages.. .01 52 to M pages.. 04
I# to o2 pages.. .02 <14 to 72 pages.. .(U
- 8au Antonio Express Special Newsyalier
Train (service inaugurated December Jo,
W05) leaves International & Ureat North-
era Depot at 3:20 a. m. for Austin, Taylor,
Georgetown, Uearn* and intermediate
feints. This train makes all railroad con
sections en route. Arrives Austin 0:2b
a. m.; Taylor, S:35 a. m.; Hearue, 11:20
a. m. This is the longest run of a news-
paper special tralu in the eutlre South,
Ming 1B2 miles, and this train is operated
1 »oleiy for the benetit of The San Autoulo
' Kxpress.
' BIG CITIES Ol TEXAS—CE>SIS IH10.
SAN ANl'OMO »#,#U
■ Dallas .
Houston 7S.80U
!?rort Worth >a.312
•CIRCULATION BOOKS OPEN
TO ADVERTISERS
to ordinary machinery—inspection and I confidence and friendship, which can-
CENSORSH1P OF THE STAGE.
repairs. After the human machine has
been inspected a full statement of the
results will be furnished and the in-
dividual will be advised to take this to
his family physician in time to check
?ny incipient disease, experts being
employed throughout the country to
act as medical examiners in co-opera-
tion with the movement and with the
medical fraternity. Looks like a pretty
good scheme, with some excellent men
behind it.
MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT.
not fail to result in good to the country
and it may be many a day before we
again hear of a successful financier
saying flippantly: "The public be
d-d."
A FRIENDLY CONTEST.
Comfort News: Well, we believe that the
News has one claim to distinction: Never,
during; the nine years of this paper's ex-
istence has the form "Xma«" been per-
mitted In Its columns; not even in an ad.
Rabbi Wise of the Free Synagogue
pt New York speaks out against what
^e characterizes as the hyper-sophisti-
tcated yellow drama recently produced
•on the American stage, in which he
says there lias been too much pander-
i®g t0 the salacious and purient in the
jguise of serious discussion of serious
problems.
In this the distinguished rabbi refers
more particularly to a recent form of
problem play which is supposed to deal
with the matter of morals with frank-
ness and seriousness, and his objection
is that there is too much frankness
■ and too little seriousness.
Concerning the restraint that ought
ti> be placed on some of the stage de-
lineations the rabbi suggests that a
policeman's club could be employed to
better advantage than a censor's pencil.
He says: "We shall have no bettering
of the conditions of the drama until
the men and womt'n of the stage begin
to protest against the indignity which
Is offered them in that they are com-
pelled to waste their gifts upon the
inane and unclean things which the
modern stage too often gives us. The
stage, moreover, suffers from the
presence of a considerable number of
half educated men and women utterly
Incapable of interpreting the great
things of life and letters." Little can
be expected from the co-operation of
the men and women of the stage until
these shall have had a proper academic
training preliminary to a stage career,
he thinks, but even then no use of |
chloride of lime on the stage, however j
generous, will cleanse the polluted
minds on the other side of the foot-
lights and the only censorship that will
ever avail to better the stage is that
which will come from the home, fron-
<he elevation of the public taste.
TO PROLONG HUMAN LIKE.
A "life extension institute" ha:! been
incorporated in New York, with former
President Taft as chairman of its board
directors and Colonel Gorgas as
consultant in sanitation and hygiene.
It is the express purpose of ihis
concern to lengthen human life by the
application of modern science and the
service will be performed for both the
general public and for life insurance
companies by examining periodically
Now that the Chamber of Com-
merce, on behalf of the City of San
Antonio, has accepted the challenge of
the Dallas Chamber for a friendly
competition between the three leading
cities of the State in the matter of
poll tax payments, it behooves every
loyal citizen of San Antonio to get
busy in the effort to help swell the
number of voter papers to be issued
between now the first day of February.
Those who may be entitled to vote
at elections to be held during the year
1914 by the payment of poll tax or by
securing an exemption certificate
should not fail :o take advantage of
the first opportunity to qualify for
voting.
It may not be as convenient to do
so today as It might be 6ome other
time, but delays are always dangerous,
and what is put off until tomorrow may
never be done at all. Some persons
delay doing the things that ought to
be done at once simply from a bad
habit of procrastination, and, as a con-
sequence, there is always a rush at
the ending up, a crowding and exas-
perating in awaiting one's turn, and
sometimes a discouragement that
eventuates in failure to do the thing
that might have been done without
delay or annoyance if time had been
taken by the forelock as might have
been done.
In preparing the friendly contest,
which involves a showdown as to the
number of qualified voters in each of
the three most populous cities of the
State, the Dallas Chamber of Com
mere* says:
Indifference and neglect disenfranchise
men. In order to center attention on this
moet important function of good citizen-
ship wc suggest a friendly competition
between San Antonio Dallas and Houston.
The number of poll tax receipt* is a
barometer of growth and an excellent basis
for estimating population. We suggest a
friendly rivalry, to begin January 1 li»14,
and to end February 1, 1014. We will de-
posit $500 in any bank you suggest, cither
or both of you to do the name, the city
which has recorded the largest number of
poll tax and paid exemption receipts to
be the winner of the $1,500 prize. We agree
to use this money for some much-needed
civic improvement. *
Kemember. a thirty-day race for a
$1,500 price, each of the three largest cities
contributing $.VK). The cities that lose will
have made a good investment if by means
of this contest the citizens of our. three
great cities in Texas shall have been stirred
to their civic duty.
Through the efforts of public-spirited
citizens San Antonio has put up her
part of the prize money, and has been
entered In the contest with confidence
in her ability to win if the citizens will
do their full duty in the premises. The
last decennial Federal census gave San
Antonio a larger population than any
other city in the State, as the preced-
ing enumeration had done. Since then
the growth of population has been
steady and continuous, and it is hardly
probable that San Antonio has lost her
lead. However this may be, the ef-
fort to make the best showing as to
the number of qualified voters for any
commercial and financial affairs, is the | election of 1914 should be unabated
statement made by Mr. Morgan that: | until the books close on the night of
"An apparent change in public senti- j January 31.
ment in regard to directorships seems j The Express believes that the SI,500
now to warrant us in seeking to resign
The Cincinnati Bureau of Municipal
Research, after an investigation into
the management of the city's affairs
for a period covering two and a half
years, reported the finding of lax meth-
ods in some of the departments, but
nothing worse.
There was no regular classification
of expenditures and no proper account-
ing in some of them, but since the bu-
reau called attention to the defects all
the fixed property, equipment, stores
and accounts, receivable and payable,
have been placed under accounting
control, so that the exact financial con-
dition can now be obtained from the
books at any time, and the strictest
accountability is enforced with all em-
ployes responsible for the city's assets.
The bureau is said to have put into
operation and tested the standardiza-
tion of general supplies, with the es-
tablishment of a purchasing bureau by
which a saving of $70,000 a year has
been effected. The expense of lighting
the city has been cut down $55,000 a
year by better supervision, although
the territory lighted has been extended
and the system improved and in other
ways there have been improvements
and lessened expenses as the result of
more economical and effective admin-
istration through the co-operation of
the business interests with the admin-
istrative forces.
Municipal government in its best
analysis has ceased to be the refuge
and haven of mere politicians who have
only selfish interests to subserve, and
has become more a business affair in
which the body of the citizenship mani-
fests something of the interest of
stockholders in a corporation expect-
ing dividends upon their investment.
No longer are the slipshod methods
which fail to produce the best results
tolerable and no longer are the stock-
holders willing to grope in darkness
as to the disposition of the funds
which they hive contributed for the
support of government. Modern mu-
nicipal government is far better than it
used to be, and it is growing better all
the while.
MONEY AM) PUBLIC SENTIMENT.
Dallas Times: There seems something
very appropriate In the fnet that the cele-
bration of Bishop Alexander C. GirreWn
forty rears' service among us should nave
come close to Christmas Day. The time
of Christ's birth is a fitting time to show
our appreciation of a man who has fcirlv«n
so hard to bring Christ closer to men.
Peculiarly qualified to enjoy a lire
among men In whom the scholarly Intel-
lect predominates, Bishop Onrrett left; a
scholarly civilization to go out on the
frontier among rude men and to fight for
their salvation. He heeded the call of his
heart, rather than the call of his brain.
The desire to help humanity was stronger
with him than the desire to enjoy the so-
ciety of those, human beings who naturally
attracted the intellect.
Exceptionally fitted to shine among in-
tellectual lights, exceptionally fitted to re-
ceive honors and dignities among learned
men, he put aside what would have been
a life of relatively delightful intellectual
ease to fight the good fight on what was
then the frontier of civilization. To the
call of the wild he answered "Adsum, as
they do In the English schools. But he
went Into the wilds, not as a hunter seek-
ing to slay, or as an adventurer athlrst
for exciting Incident, but as a hunter
seeking human souls that he might save
them.
Iience It is a very proper thing that the
people for whom he has done so much
should hasten, as they did. to show their
gratitude for one who has striven for them.
Since Bishop Garrett's desire to do good
has riot limited itself to doing good mere
ly for members of the Episcopalian Church
so the marks of affection he has received
have not come merely from Episcopalians.
All the community is eager to honor a man
who is, himself, a high honor to that com
munity.
Dallas News: It may be Just as well to
.forget the sins of the past when it comes
to the Christmas tree business, just as
Lawyer L'ntermyer would have the powers
that be do In case of the minor offenses
of the trusts. But, beginning right uow
every Texan who delights in cedars and
other evergreen trees should unite in a
protest against the practice of slashing
and destroying trees for Christmas use.
The time will soon come in some localities
when the basket worms and other pests,
assisted by the dealers in Christmas trees,
will have destroyed all the cedars, mag-
nolias, hollies and wild peaches unless a
stop Is put to the customary depredations
The word "depredations" is used because
heaping wagon loads are taken every year
from the lands of those who would not
think of destroying the groves and brakes,
of course the enjoyment of the festivities
that is derived from the green tree with
many bright: lights and tempting presents
on it is great and must not be lost, but
even the quest for Christmas cheer does
not Justify the heartless destruction that
is no wgoing on. The very bad habit o*f
disfiguring the groves and forests has re-
quired legislation in other States, and the
same remedy may be found necessary in
Texas, but there may be other means of
discouraging this sort of commerce. In the
State of Maine fir or spruce or cedar can
be cut. but in its place three young trees
must be planted. In addition to this, a
tax is levied on every Christmas tree, the
fund being devoted to reforesting the va-
cant hills. It Is a notable fact that in
some instances fewer than one-tenth of the
trees brought into the towns and cities are
sold. Immense heaps of them lie in the
yards of the tree sellers after the holiday
is over. Therefore, instead of n waste of
"five million trees" a year, it may oe put
down that, counting those sold and those
unsold, ten or twenty million would be
nearer the correct estimate. It is claimed
that more than $2,500,000 a year is spent
in this country for Christmas trees.
A Brief Biography of a Clown
$ $ CIRCUS BABY GREW UP TO BE PIERROT $ $
Tells of Experiences Under Tent
WHAT EXPRESS FILES
TELL OF YEARS AGO
»IOGRXPHIES buve been written about
' poets, statesmen, warriors, orators,
inventors, shopkeepers and myriad others
of the breed of men; but who has ever
ventured into print with the story of a
clown V
Harry La Pearl is the leading clown at
the Hippodrome. He was "born iu circus
trunks. Yet there is not a hint of the
jester about him. A sturdy, stocky, un-
smiling chap, be is more likely to be
taken for an ordinary clerk with outdoor
tendencies than one of the strange crea-
tures of pierrotland. When he was asked
to explain this paradox he said: "A man
who is a fool on the stage must be serious
off the stage to think of something foolish
for his act."
But let aim tell his fwn story:
"I began my circus career at the age of
5 with my father's circus in the Middle
West. The only cradle I ever hud was a
circus trunk. The upper compartments
would be taken out and there, like dozens
of other circus babies, I first made my ac-
quaintance with the world. One night the
lid of my cradle came down with a bang
and the circus nearly lost a future per-
former. I was nearly half smothered be-
fore I was rescued.
"At the age of 5. when most boys are
just allowed to venture out of the back
yard. 1 was doing a single trapeze act
twenty feet in the air. The property man
used to hold a tarpaulin under me, and
many a time I spoiled his balance by tum-
bling into it iu the middle of an act. I
owe my success as a clown to the fact
that that tarpaulin was under me.
"When I was 7 years old I inherited
all the joy in the world by starting to
ride the ponies In the show. Tour or
five years later I was the youngest somer-
sault. bareback rider in the world. But
taking lift' seriously under the big tent
was evidently not in my blood. About the
finest music in the world to me then was
the ballyhoo of the clowns as they tumbled
into the sawdust from the dressing tents.
I began to try to mimic them. One night
I was riding one of the horses around the
ring when an idea that I thought funny
struck me. I Jumped off the horse's back
to the ground and landed on my feet, but
I wanted people to think I had landed on
my face. So I fell forward and broke my
arm. I got a laugh out of the crowd,
though.
"The circus was In my blood then for
fair, but I was only a boy, and the boy's
spirit is always active and healthy. One
of my greatest pleasures was to meet the
boys of the town where we showed as
they pa me snooping around the tents and
take them in to ride the ponies. I guess
I'll never forget the wonder and admira-
tion with which they looked on me—a
boy of their own kind and yet a bareback
rider with the big show. Even to this day
men occasionally call on me whom as boys
I had allowed to come under the canvas
and ride the ponies.
"After I broke my arm I was sent to a
hospital and fold to stay there for about
six weeks. But the longest I could stand
was two weeks. Then one day the circus
gypsy spirit took hold of me and, with
my arm in a sling, I rnn away and re-
Joined the circus. Because of my Injury
T was told off to play the bass drum In
the side-show band. I boomed away at
that for six weeks. Then I went back to
riding, and for a time rode the'Roman
standing races with my arm in splints.
I remember one time when we showed In
the East I played to the Vanderbllt family,
who, unable to get seats, came in and sat
on the straw.
"Perhaps you wonder what thoughts
pass through the mind of a boy as he
standb on the back of a flying horse with
a sea of white faces banked on all sides
of him. Well, he has only one thought,
and that's the audience. When, after H*y
act, I heard that clatter of hands from
the tiers of seats. I used to swell up like
a king.
"But. after the show I'd become an ordi-
nary boy again. I would meet the boys
of the town and go swimming with them.
I liked the winters at school, where I was
always the great hero. I used to teach the
boys somersaults and other circus tricks
and at Christmas time I would put on an
entertainment for the school. I remember
on one occasion my circus training came in
very handy. I Jumped on the back of one
of a team of runaway ponies in Danville,
111., and when I couldn't stop them drove
them into a tree. This little bareback stunt
saved the lives of two girls.
"But although I liked to go to school I
always dreaded the breaking up of the
show for the winter. These circus people
are a soft-hearted, generous lot. After the
last show there would always be a sad
leave taking. All the girls would cry and
some of the men couldn't keep the tears
from their eyes. We were like one great
big family, the strangest family in the
world, perhaps, but a mighty kindly and
sociable one at that!
"The most popular members of the show-
were the clowns, and from the time 1
joined the circus I always liked to be with
them. I believed that their very make-up
made different people of them. Some of
them were ordinarily the most serious peo-
ple In the owrld, but as soon as they got
their make-ups on In the dressing tent
they became funny. We had one clown
named Marks who used to amuse himself
between times by playing a little tin whis-
tle When the boys couldn't stand that
mournful tooting any longer they'd put
IiIlo out of the tent and make him play
his whistle In the surrounding woods. He
was very serious about that tiji whistle of
his. and any Jollying on the subject
would always make him sulky.
"When I was 14 tny father lost his cir-
cus and took out a vaudeville show, in
which I had my first experience as >1
clown. I played the Billy kid in a sketch,
and afterward clowned in various panto-
mimes. All this time my serious ambition
In life was to do something funny. I re-
garded the clown's life as one or the
greatest achievements in the world. IP
the laHt. year of my father's circus I met.
Ilan Kiee, the famous clown, who was
then a kindly old mun. He spun me great
yarns about all the fun a clown got out of
life. Dan Rice became my big hero. That
same year he died, and I made up my
inlnd to grab the first chance 1 had to
become a real clown.
"After a time my father retired, and
for two years I was away from the circus.
But that was the longest I could stand.
The glamour of the sawdust took hold of
me again and I went back as the principal
clown In the Barnum show, where I re-
mained until 1 came to the Hippodrome, a
year ago.
"As a rule, the clowns in the show al-
ways traveled together. We had a clowns'
club, and one of our greatest delights was
the Sunday picnic in the woods. There
we would get together, prepare a Mulligan
—the clown's term for a stew—tumble for
one another, sing a few songs and play
the clown for our own amusement. It
was hard work for some 'of the fellows,
too, because they were naturally serious.
A few, of course, are naturally fools, but
most of them try to forget their parts as
soon as they shed the clown's cost unit.
"The clowns were always, as I said, the
most popular people in the company.
When anybody in the dressing tent had a
birthday it was the clowns' band that did
the honors. They were the most warm-
hearted people in the show, with a real
liking for kids that was spoiled only when
one of them got popped In the eye with
a peanut thrown by one of the youngsters
in the stands. That always made them
real human.
"During the winter some of the clowns
would go into vaudeville, others to farms,
and others take up business. But with the
first warm breath of spring in their nos-
trils back to the show they would come.
I knew of one clown who had five butcher
shops in Philadelphia, but every summer
he'd give up bis cleaver for the clown's
costume. Can you imagine a funny butch-
er? Yet this clown told me that he'd be
thinking of funny stunts for the show
while he was trimming chops for his cus-
tomers.
"You know, most people think that the
clown Just has to tumble into the ring
and act funny naturally. They don't know
that a clown must also be an acrobat, a
dancer, a rider and a man plucky enough
to take a chance at anything. The simple
looking falls of the clown have to be prac-
ticed continually or he would break his
neck. A lot of serious thinking off the
stage makes the clown the fool that
seems.
"Of course I get lots of fun out of it.
When I make people laugh I enjoy it as
much as they do. But I don't feel like a
fool.—New York Evening Sun.
VIEW POINT
OF WR.ITERS
Who Discuss Current Topics of In-
terest Touching Politics, joc.ol-
ogy. Industrial Efforts, Business
Outlook and Matters Generally.
UNIFORM AUTOMOBILE LAWS.
A commission Is now at work preparing
a code oC iaws for the licensing, operation
and control of automobiles which will be
considered next week in New York City,
when delegates from the New England
States, New York, New Jersey, Pennsyl-
vania, Delaware and Maryland will pass
upon Its provisions. AVhen the code has
been settled upon II is to be referred to the
Legislatures of the various States for adop-
tion. The verv fact that the movement
will be of little value unless all States
agree on the code imposes au unusual
amount of work upon the commissioners,
who must prepare not an Ideal but a prac-
tical plan which all States may accept.
It is undoubted that some such agree-
ment is necessary, not alone for mere con-
venience of drivers of automobiles, but to
establish u corpus ol' law lor repressing
the reckless and criminal drivers, who are
ttie greatest danger to the Industry as well
as to the public. Various States have passed
laws upon imperfect information or on small
consideration. Largely this is due to in-
experience, but the time has come when it
ought to be easy to formulate rules which
are workable, who do exact Justice to nil
and do not merely offer a source of petty
graft or persecution. . , .
The reckless driver should be punished
more severely than now. The criminal
driver—he who through his own fault kills
or malms a person—ought to be dealt with
more harshly, aud this can only come
through making precise statutes which
shall define the responsibilities and obliga-
tions of a driver. The automobile has not
only come to stay, but is in the very in
fancy of its development. It has a very
decided sociological importance, and while
necessarily the public must to some extent
adjust its conduct to such an important
factor, it is essential that the responsibili-
ties of the driver be defined and that he
be required to live up to them.
If the commission at work can accom-
plish this purpose it will be a notable
achievement. In n few years it may be
called upon to do the same for aeroplanes.
—Philadelphia Inquirer.
EUROPE A HEAVY SELLER.
One of the first results of Democratic
legislation is becoming apparent, for it f
stated that Europe has recently become
a heavy seller on the stock market. Tu
other words, the English capitalists ar«
letting go of their American securities.
This Is likely to be the case for some
time and the suspicion arises that It Is on
account of the Income tax. An English
Investor's attitude toward that new levy
can be readily understood. His contribu-
tion to the cost of running the American
Government is deducted without his ,:°b-
sent "at the source" and he gets his divi-
dends from his investments in the United
States minus 1 pet cent.
Thereafter he is compelled to pay still
another tax on the same Income, his own
government swooping down on htm for ils
share. Naturally he objects to securities
that are subject to double taxation and
concludes that he b:id better put his
money where It. will be sliced only once.
So lie sells out his American stocks and
will buy something at, home in their place
Of course It would be a mighty flue
thing if we could jeer at the English cap-
italist and tell him to take bis money out
of American Investments and go with it.
but we have not reached the stage where
we can do so with safety. English capital
has financed many of our greatest institu-
tions and is today providing them with
the sinews of their very existence-Okla-
homa Times.
One of the most significant features
of the resignation of J. P. Morgan Jr.
and seme r>f his associates from inter-
locking directorates, a step which, by
the way, occasioned considerable sur-
prise, not only to the public, but to
brokers and speculators presumed to
be able to forecast important events in
Thirty-five Years Ago Today—-1870. '
Greenlaw, the Sherman carriage maker. !
outstrips all rivals in Texas, having made 1
and sold S.'iO buggies and carriages last
year. The timber of Texas is the best in
the world.
♦ ♦
Rixty thousand young salmon were turn-
ed loose in the river at Jefferson on De-
cember The fish commission Is Just
now stocking up the waters of Texas.
♦ ♦ ♦
The re< m ruling of the Postofflee De-
partment at W ashington that products of
the papye;:graph electric pen and munlfold
process inusi nay letter rates of postage
was bas?d on law, as it Is not, as the de
part ment thinks It should be, among the
amendments proposed by the postal au-
thorities to Congress, is one which will
lermlt the admission of matter prepared
these processes at third-class rates
Some Tricks of Hotel Employes
t£j INGENIOUS SCHEMES TO FLEECE $ $
Employed by Dishonest Help
per
by
whenever trie communications are net
the nature of actual correspondence.
of
from some of these connections."
This is in striking contrast to the
remark of a great financier a few
the physical condition of policy holders years ago who, when asked by a re-
ind other individuals and by dissemi- j porter for some information of his af-
uating life-saving knowledge.
Ex-President Taft, chairman of the
board of directors, is said to have be-
come an enthusiast in the possibilities
of modern hyg:cne since his experience
In the Philippines and Panama, and hi<
Interest is largely of a humanitarian i
fairs for the public, said: "The public
be d—d." Those were days when "big
interests" could better afford to defy
public opinion than now, and the
change indicates a more healthy com-
mercial and financial situation.
As long as public sentiment is safe
•ort. E. E. Rittenhnuse. president ol | an(j Sane. so long as it does not go to
the institute, «as the first life insur- an extreme, it ma\ be trusted to de-
ance executive to give policy-holders mand only what is right of individuals.
In his company free medical examina- j no matter in what sphere. It is when
tions to promote longevity, and among ! sentiment becomes inflamed, however, j
the other directors are such well | m hen, after having borne with cordi- j
known bankers, scientists and others
for some needed civic improvement
which will be available after the con-
test closes will be easy money for San
Antonio, if we go after it with energy
and determination; but. even if we
should not get the money, we would
have the satisfaction of knowing that
Col. Sam T. Kobb of Trinity killed a
hojj of the Poland breed 4 years old,
weighing i.luo pounds. Extreme length
when hi'.Pit up eight feet, girth six feet
nine inches around the smallest port of
foreleg.
Fifteen Years Ago Today—1809.
In the if'lice court yesterday morning
D. D. Willis, superintendent of the San
Antonio Street Railway Company, was
arraigned "n the charge of "digging on a
public it.reft and leaving the same m a
bad condition," and President W. If. WHus
of the same company was arraigned oa tiie
charge of 'keening street railway track in
bad <^>ndition.' r.ach party was fined
and eaeh gave notice of appeal in opcr
court.
♦ ♦ ♦
There is no uht that tJie Gulf of Mex- (
icn once cov r«.j th»» entire State of Teias.
a great number of citizens who might | In Vh-V.r.nS!, '
otherwise have failed in the perform- i of oyster shells wer* found in great quan-
. . . . . . . . , titles, many nf them varieties not now
ance Of a civij duty' had been roused known. These oyster shells are on the tops
j to a sense of patriotic obligation. > ,tlnbS! section, us
! plains. Near the to" n
If you have not paid your poll tax. j ot Henrietta they have opened a quarry in
~ bank of these ahoils, and use theia for
I HAVE been in the hotel business twenty
years I have been about everything
tUere Is around hotels except clief. I ejn't
cook, but I can wait. 1 have been all the
kinda of waiter there are, including °tUD'"
bus. Yen, I've hell-hopped in. hotc4s from
the Canadn line down to Florida. 1 ve
book-kept, room-rlerked, been steward, hau
charge of the wine room, so 1 can fairly
claim to know the hotel game.
I'm up state now, attending to an affair
of uiy own and have concluded to tell
people a few things about graft in the
hotel game Here I'm Just setting down a
few of the flim-flam tricks that hav« come
under my observation. There are scores
of others. My stories may help to put you
wise. The wiser you are the nonester the
other fellow uiust be, and that makes for
Eood Citizenship, toward which, after
knocking around the world all these years.
I've come to believe that every man should
do his best. It's likely that more guests
than managers will read what I ve written,
but Mr (iuest. don't yon think that you
are' the only one grafted on. The pro
rlctor Is the biggest victim. }ou are
today and off tomorrow. He a on
do so at once. If that duty has already-
been discharged, interest yourself in
the further duty of influencing some
one else to go and do likewise.
■s Frank A. Vanderlip, president of
the National City Bank of New York;
Robert W. LleForest. president of the
Metropolitan Museum of Art and of
the Russell Sage Foundation, and Prof.
Irving Fisher of Yale and Francis R.
Cooley. The institute has a hygiene
I reference board of nearly a hundred
leading experts on various subjects
pertaining to health. The purpose of
Hilt board is to help determine the
*ruth on hygienic questions referred to
1 The chairman of the board is Prof,
•'/ying Fisher of Yale, who was among
first to interes* ]ife insurance com
Vi'aco records the death at the age
tions until patience has ceased to be of 116 years, of a icgro woman whose
a virtue, until it has been excited by
demagogy or by abnormal conditions
that danger must be guarded against.
As long as public opinion is logical
and fair capital can afford to be re-
sponsive to it, but the moment the
other extreme is reached, public opin-
ion which has rebelled at domination
of wealth may become as great a
menace to society and to good govern-
ment as money autocracy. Tn the re-
bound through which France passed
after a reriod of financial intolerance
the intolerance of the cotnmnnc was
none the less harmful, and indeed this
-s in tlw possibilities of lengthen-1 law of reaction is so well established
youngest of nine children died twenty-
years ago at the age of ,Vi. The oldest
of those nine children, if still living,
must be nearing the century mark.
Texas men should bear in mind
that the next holiday will be the last
day of January, when each should
have a poll tax receipt in his pocket.
Yonder how anybody ever came to
put the "ant" in Santa?
:i
All the holiday fun is over now ex-
cept paying the WU»
building purpose*. The shell* when first
taken out of thn quarry are aoft and al-
most pliable. When put in a bulldir.g end
exposed to the air they make a very h-id
*tnnet and mntiv ,,f the large buildings are
constructed of this material. A number
of Texaa town* us<» theae obeli* for street
paving purpose* Th»»re Is no question
thst they were formerly In the bottom of
t.he Gulf of Mexico,
♦ ♦ ♦
"The American ha* elways been an ex-
pansion!}*-. ir nas hi* expansive tendency
which led to the exploration of the regions
of the West and resulted in bringing un
der the fla* <>f hi« country the griiiari*1*
which now fe*d the world; it was uis ex-
panalve tendency which Jed him across
the Rablne snd Red River to grapple with
the Indian* and Ihe tawny desretidants of
Spanish adventurers. In a mighty strnugh
for the mntehles* empire which la failed
Texas. Has anyone who enjoy* the bless-
li.gs of .American freedom ever yet regret-
j ted the** glnrlona n'bllttnns to uur coun-
try and lr view nf the remrd of a Ctbtury
j of territorial n>-<]|]t*itlon is it waaonable
J to enntond that th* t'nlted Htate* U auopi
lng a daBfemva cotir*e in aenmrlng new
i territory. wh1"b U as fair and fertile as
the *un e'er «tion* on The superior qnci-
Itlea of American citizenship have ihejeto-
fom sueceaafnlly *olred all such i»ro«d*ma.
and will prore equal to this. Expansion
I* an American idaa."—Waco Tlae»Her-
ft"
hand nil the time and, well, if you 11 read
through you'll realise that the grafters
have about three chances off you to ten off
hlTake this, for instance. I was wine
steward in a South California resort hotel
fine big place and with lota of wealthy
patronage. The manager was o^t to make
all the money possible aud he told th
man at his bar that he expected every
bottle of whiskey to yield eighteen drink*.
Measure out a quart yourself and >%i II
see he had put a pretty hard ortlcr. It
was DIV part to furnish liquor on the boss
barkeepers requision and he had to mak.>
Bood to the house what in* account called
for He seemed to be dolug a rushlnx
business hut I noticed he turned In uilfchty
few orders to me to fill. I scenltd J
game. After I got back Kast 1 wrote to
his assistant and asked what wns doing
he explained that as his host was only
responsible for what he got from the wine
room he concluded to beat It by buying
liouor hluiself tn Los Angeleg and selling
it over tiie bar and putting the profits
in bis pocket. He would not hare done it
but for the order t.. get eighteen drinks
out of a whiskey bottle. That hotel man
ager lost o*er S1.200.
I worked in another South California lio
lei owned by an Inrestment company.
'I her hlted a mtn.iger from tofton al n
good salary. He hired a young valet from
Maine, paid him *73 per month out of his
own pocket and farmed out the tailoring
game to Mm. The tailor took in *1.400.
which went to the manager instead of to
the hotel ,
However, you'll be more interested in
the other, your side, of the game.
Have yoa ever rnr a banquet? To nil
who have ever arranged at a big hotel
or restaurant for .1 large dinner with wine
this yam will appeal.
Th* particular hotel at which thi* oc-
eurr.il I* about nineteen miles outside <-4
New York, and it happened a few year*
ago You 1 know the name qaiUi well If I
mentioned it. 1 waa a private waiter there,
ono morning the wine steward told i*:« to
carry 2W empty quart bottles of chsm
pegne of a certain brand up to the kUeben
bar. I was mystified, but did aa I wa*
ordered. A bit later I found out what for.
That night there waa a Mf banqaet at
tW* hotel—one of those tett dollar* affairs
and all the wine you need. My part was
to serve the wine. There were 32R guests
—a remarkably sober crowd—only drank
about 200 quarts. After it was over the
chairman of the entertainment committee
went out with the boss to the kitchen bar
to check up the empty wine bottlefe. To
his surprise he found 4o0 of them.
"Gee," he said, "I dichi't think they'd
get away with that much."
Out to the office he went and wrote a
check for $2,029.90. On the empties
the canny proprietor had gathered in Just
$1,125.50. Not so bad?
Here's another.
Most iiotel goers are scared of the ty-
phoid bug and won't drink straight water
even if it s filtered. They want th* high-
priced Imported fizzy stuff or the well-
known American bottle waters. One hotel
right. In New York where I spent a season
began the year with 200 cases of a well-
known brand. In each case were twenty-
four half-gallon bottles, costing about $U.0O
per case. There being a big demand, the
supply was exhausted before long. No
more wis bought, though. Why? Well
the 4,-SOu ha If-gal Ion bottles were refilled
with common water. The hotel made Just
about $".000 out of tap water that season.
What they collected out of the other wa-
ters I did not keep track of, but 1 know
that the corks an dcapsule* of the several
brands were carefully kept and the bottle*
refilled. The steward used to drop the
corks into warm water and they'd come
right down to the proper slse.
Mind you, this hotel was no exception.
It's done In scores of others that call
themselvea high-class. IU bet this graft
neta about $200,000 a year, all told.
You think they csn't get the seal light
on the top of the bottles and that a smart
man can detect the deception? Well, I've
seen the seals of a certain company print-
ed and pasted on after the bottles have
been refilled. I told the head man of one
of the water companies £bout this game.
He said he guessed it, but that It was not
so common as I thought. That's where
we differed, though.
I»ou't take it that I'm saying all hotel*
are dishonest. It's not true. The worst
grafting, as I've said before. Is done bv
the help, and proprietors as well as guests
are the victims.
Why, at one summer hotel where I
served a season or so wns a barber who
was as wise with the cards as with the
razor. His trick waa to locate the easy
marks among the guests and put on a
friend of his who was a sharper. As
soon as the mark* were selected the friend
turned up at the hotel posing as a New )
York banker. A game was organized
six of the barber** selection took part,
and when it wa* through the sharper had
cleaned up $2,500, of which the barber
got his half. This same master sharper
was mixed up in the Cambridge National
Rank caae. but was too allck to get caught
and Is still doing his tricks around Itos
ton.
The hotel wssn't to blame that trip
Then there are crooks, lota of the swell
one*, who bang around hotela looking for
prey. You hav* to watch out for these
gentry all the time One summer I was
waiting In one of the Mg White Mountain
hotel*, and at my table In the grill were
two tine, smart young chap* who wore
noUbg cloUta and flaahed lota of money.
Wall, they drank q«it» • lot and tipped
more this plentifully. I eonld eonnt on
$7 and $i • day. which la some going in
tips. Stopping also at the hotel was a
blonde widow whose Jewelry was the talk
of the place. She came In with a party
to the cafe and they had drinks. One of
the chap* pulled my ear down to his
mouth and whispered: "If that blonde
should leave her key on the table and you
should get an impression of it between
two cakes of soap it would be worth about
5200 to you." Hut she didn't leave her key
on the table, and the chaps had to skldoo
when I let the manager know what their
game was. 1 guess they must have been
following that widow around, for they got
her In au Atlantic City hotel and looted
her room of $4,000.
Here's another—on the proprietor, too
Did you ever hear of a roof bar? I gues*
not. ' it's a little game of the bellhops-
A bunch of them stock up on various
kinds of liquor and stow it in one of tiie
help's rooms around the roof. A guest
rings for n boy and orders cocktails or
whiskey. Instead of taking the order to
the real bar. the kid scoots upstairs and
fill's It from' the bellhop's bottles. Then
he pockets the cash and divides the profit,
with his bunch. Of course, he is out if
the guest says "Charge it," for the cinch
would bo over if he were to ask the clerk
for a check.
Here's one that was pulled on a wealthy
Chicago family at a big Florida hotel
everyone knows the name of, not so long
ago.' A mother and her three grown
daughters were down there at the height of
the flossy season. They liked to flash
their diamonds and pearl Jewelry which
they alwavs put back In the hotel safe
every uigh't. That is, their maid, a jaunty
young French witch, fetched and carried
the big silver casket back and forth. Well,
among the bellhops was a cute, good-look-
ing kid. Dick by name, who made love to
the maid, and after be had her overboard,
whispered to her that be needed some of
her ladles' Jewels.
She told him that they were mighty
canny and kept track of every trinket
and if ono were missed she'd be blamed
He said: "Put. that out of your head—it
will be id to the office. You do as I tell
you." There was a high-life party a few
nights later at the hotel lots of wine. The
four ladles were a bit late getting to
their rooms. The maid took their gauds
off and carried them to the office. But
on the way she met Dick and palmed him
four valuable diamond ring*. The smart
hop atarted right off to a friendly dealer
in a near-bv town, who substituted paste
stones for the sparkler*. W hen the maid
went to the office that night for the casket
he slipped her the flam rings and she put
them back. The ladles wore them and did
not iret hep that the stones were on the
blink until a month later. By that time
thev had rounded up at another hotel and
thev accused the people there of the fraud.
Well the clerk In charge of the safe got
in bad, and there's a suit against the
house.
Just because these things are pulled off.
don't think everyone you meet around a
hotel is crooked, localise It isn't so. You've
got to watch out. And watching ont in
eludes looking out for your change. Take
thia one. . . „
I wa* a captain in the cafe of a well
known hotel on Forty-second Street. \»-w
York, some seasons back. About 11 o'clock
a big down-town lawyer dropped around
late, sat down, and ordered a pint of Bass
which cost at this hotel 35 cents. Then lie
had another Hi* check was 70 cents and
be paid it with a $100 bill. The waiter
went off and brought him back $4!»..'iO. He
said, quick. "I gave you a hundred —
where's the other $50?" "You gave me Just
said the waiter indignantly. He
ailed me and 1 sot the manager, the
cashier and the bouse detective. Cashier
said the waiter had turned iu a $,"m) bill.
Well, they searched the chap and all they
got was $2.75. the amount of his day's tip*.
So they told the lawyer that he was wrong.
Six weeks lat»»r the waiter quit. He and I
had ?i talk l»efore he cashed In. lie told
me that sure the lawyer had jjiven him
the $100 bill, but that he had been carry
ing a $50 bill In hi* pocket for six month*
waiting for something of the kind to pop.
He knew they'd go through htm and he
had *llpped the $i<m under a mat. That
night he got off with the l»ooty.
After ill * said and done, i-rooks aie a
small pen-entage of the population, but
you never know when you'll run up agalo*t
them. So keep yonr roll In the safe, yonr
eyea wide open and no one will ever Hit
yon.—New Tori World
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San Antonio Express. (San Antonio, Tex.), Vol. 49, No. 5, Ed. 1 Monday, January 5, 1914, newspaper, January 5, 1914; San Antonio, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth433179/m1/4/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Abilene Library Consortium.