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Show I I THE SPECTA TOR 11 I 111 - AM indebted to il' I II Mrs. Don R. Jill 1 III Coray for( a most . -'-n. Hi interesting out- HI line of the won- is being accomplished accom-plished by the War Work Council of the Y. W. C. A. Mrs. CoriRy is, besides being a war mother,, one of the local leaders in the movement to consolidate consoli-date the activities of the Y. W. C. A., 'the Y. M. C. A., the Knights of Columbus, Col-umbus, the Jewish Welfare association, associa-tion, the Library association, the Sal-, vation Army, and all similar associations associa-tions engaged in war work, into one ' mighty organization to be known as the United War Workers of America. It is a magnificent undertaking, and what the great-hearts of America will be able to accomplish with all these splendid organizations pulling together to-gether and operating under a central board of control, is most fascinating to contemplate. Among other things, Mrs. Coray tells a stirring story of what she saw and heard while attending conferences con-ferences of the United War Workers at San Francisco and Cheyenne. One of the most surprising things to me is . her narrative of the work that the Salvation Army women are doing in the war zone. It appears that these women, according to a statement made by one of their own number, have been specializing in "pie, prayer and good old-fashioned American-made American-made doughnuts." And this story follows fol-lows : Our boys in France are being well fed, as army fare goes, but they hunger for the cookies and cake and pie that "Mother used to make." It seems that plenty of French pastry is available behind the lines, but this is a poor substitute. The boys call it "a rasher of wind." It isn't satisfying. satisfy-ing. As one doughboy put it, they crave for something that "they can got their teeth into," and that "sticks to the ribs." Even General Pershing Ci&vas overheard to say one day that he 'would give almost anything for "a piece of pie." Well, it so happened that one of the Salvation Army women heard of the general's wish, and a happy idea struck her. Apples were available, and so was flour; so she proceeded to 'jafco an old-fashioned American ap pie pie for the commander-in-chief, which was forthwith presented with the compliments of the Salvation Army. Then the idea began to grow and other pies were baked and passed iliround to the boys; and Anally the general and his staff became impressed im-pressed with the possibilities of this sort of service and decided to encourage encour-age the pie-baking. The quartermaster quartermas-ter was authorized to render the pie-bakers pie-bakers every assistance possible, with the result that the Salvation Army women, are now dishing out pie by the wholesale to the boys all along the line. And so with doughnuts. Of course, this Ib only one of the thousand and one things that the women war workers of America are-doing are-doing to give the boys abroad a touch of home life, but it is a fair sample of the service that is reaching out along the far-flung battle 'lines. ' And what a wonderful service it is. WHEN Director General McAdoo recently warned the railroad employees that he would no longer tolerate their "public be damned" attitude, at-titude, he Inadvertently dug up a much discussed phrase that' has been freely used by demagogues in times past to the damage of the memory of the late William H. Vanderbilt and to the detriment of other deserving men of great wealth. Just how the successor to old Commodore Vanderbilt Vander-bilt came to give utterance to this sentiment has been a. much mooted question, but Ashley W. Cole of Pennsylvania comes along with an authentic account of the incident, which I quote in part: The late William H. Vanderbilt, favorite fa-vorite and most capable son of Commodore Com-modore Vanderbilt, used the phrase some thirty-five years ago, about a fortnight after the Pennsylvania Railroad Rail-road company had put into service the first, the pioneer, fast train de luxe of the period, between the East (Philadelphia) and Chicago. The new daily "limited" train, with its gilt-edged, gilt-edged, cushioned appointments, and its sustained high speed throughout the journey, made a sensation. Soon afterward Mr. Vanderbilt was in Chicago, Chi-cago, on one of his frequent visits to that and other railway centers on the Vanderbilt lines and uttered the famous fa-mous defiant phrase. Only a few days later I was in Chicago Chi-cago with my employer, the late "Uncle" Rufus Hatch, and at our rooms in the Palmer House we were called upon as- usual by Clarence Dresser, Dres-ser, a very capable young "railway newd" reporter for The Chicago Tribune. Tri-bune. After the usual chat regarding the object of our visit the conversation conversa-tion turned to the Pennsylvania's new and dazzling train and to Mr. Van-derbilt's Van-derbilt's defiant phrase. Mr. Dresser had chronicled the remark in The Tribune, and we asked him under what circumstances Mr. Vanderbilt used the phrase. Mr. Dresser said: "Well, I asked him what the New York-Central was doing, or going to do, to meet the Pennsylvania's big challenge. Mr. Vanderbilt said he didn't know that the Central was going go-ing to do anything; or that it was called upon to do anything. Of course they were observing the new train and its operation, and if the circumstances required it the Central might put on a competing, a rival train. 'But,' I said, 'Mr. Vanderbilt, won't the public demand it of the New York Central?' lie" looked at me laughingly, in his usual good-tempered way, his eyes sparkling, and replied, musingly, 'Oh, the public be damned!'" Dresser was smiling and laughing all through the narrative to us of, the incident. Mr. Hatch and I (being also a newspaper news-paper man) puzzled Dresser somewhat, some-what, as to Mr. Vanderbilt's manner and the meaning he intended to convoy con-voy by the use of the now historic, 'but! commonplace, phrase whether it was 'a defiance. Dresser was clear, emphatic, in saying that he believed "Mr. Vanderbilt was somewhat amused by the suggestion that 'the public' should enter into the question of equipping and operating costly luxury lux-ury trains for the New York Central he thought the administrative and operating staff of the Central would determine that matter; not 'the public' pub-lic' There was no defiance it seemed to amuse him." As the public knows, Mr. Vanderbilt Vander-bilt soon afterward put on the famous Lake Shore Limited, New York and Chicago train, and that has since been supplemented by the Twentieth Century Cen-tury Limited. The New York Central has never defied the public it has at times had to defy and resist politicians and public officials. As I was for over six years a member (chairman) of the New York State Railroad commission, com-mission, my opinion on that subject may be entertained with some credence. cred-ence. SO Sheriff Corless has been listening listen-ing to the song of the "third-term" siren until he is quite overcome with an exaggerated sense of his own in-dispensibility in-dispensibility as high peace officer of the county, and his hat is in the ring. What matters it that he thereupon was obliged to break faith with "Cap" Burbidge and leave his former trusted and trustworthy lieutenant away out on a limb? Hasn't he the assurance of the Democratic powers that be that he will be renominated "hands down?" And has he not also been led to believe that his retention in office of-fice is essential to the continuance of good government, and to the successful success-ful prosecution of the war? And because be-cause of this and some other reasons rea-sons that have not been made public, why should genial Jack stand on ceremony? Especially when he thinks he has a show to cut the mustard again. But I can name some other fellows 'just as slick as the present sheriff, and just as strongly entrenched politically pol-itically who got the Idea In their heads that they could' beat the anti-thlrd-torm bugbear.' But they couldn't. Several third-term candidates made. H furious races down the home stretch but they were always nosed-out at the , wire. The people simply won't stand , H for a man perpetuating himself in of- ' flee, nor will the politicians. The H chief trouble with politics, even for the party in power, is that there isn't' , H enough jobs to go around, and when a fellow has been bl 3d with two terms in a tat office it has always H been deemed that he has had enough. But his henchmen say that Jack's-- case is peculiar. It most certainly is' H in this respect, at least. For I re- H call some years ago how the present sheriff bitterly opposed Joe Sharp's H candidacy for a third term, on the- grounds that while his chief (Jack H was then a deputy) made an excel- M lent officer, it was bad public policy' to give a sheriff a third term. That H argument prevailed with the people then, and the chances are that it will again. And as to the claim that it is neces-, M sary to keep Jack on the job for the M good of the service; well, the only way in which I can see that ho has M the bulge on the other fellows after M the office is in his mastery of the M tricks of the bootlegger's trade. His ' M familiarity with the ways and wiles of M this class of lawbreakers is not to be M questioned. But do the people merely M want the sheriff and his force to be familiar with these fine fellows, or do M 'they expect something else? Of course, M it is to be admitted that the sheriff M has been trying to clean his skirts of M late. That,' some say, accounts for M the "resignation" of Carl Carstensen. M But does it? Let's wait and see. M What with Carstensen and Cleveland M and Burbidge all running at large M and each one as sore as a boiled owl, M there is bound to be something in- M teresting in store for all concerned. M H T CALLED attention some weeks agoi M J- ago to the red literature that the, M I. W. W. was surreptitiously spread- M ing about the community. Nothing f came of the warning, and now it M seems that they have been up to iheir M dirty work again. This is a fine time M to be flooding the city with the in- H flamablo stuff that emanates from the M furnace of the class-haters. It's high M time for all good citizens, as well as M the peace officers, to bo on guard ' , against these sowers of sedition and . , internal strife. There are all too iH many in our midst and they ought to ;H be shot on sight. How to detect them H is a difficult matter. However, I have, jl a notion that if the loyal labor union ' men would keep their eyes and ears H open they- might bet n)ii to locate the ' source of some of this treasonable H propaganda. Anyway; if the whole . V town has got to sit up nights on, , watch, this sort, of business must bejj stopped. i 1H |