page 2
The spmkg field news
Thursday, nECEMnran 26, lfito, ,
We wish you a
Merry Xmas
c
ox
GROCERS
Uncle Ted's Bed-Time
Stories
WHAT'S WRONG WITH UNCLE
SAM'S NAVYT
"Hurry up Sis," called Jack to his
sister who was upstairs working on
what she called her "secret Christ
mas gifts." "Uncle Ted is coming and
you know he said he would tell us all.
about his trip to New York."
There was a real boy's reason for
Jack's eagerness to hear about his
uncle's trip to New York. True. Uncle
Ted bad made many trips to New
York but on this particular one he
was lucky enough to carry a ticket to
the Army and Navy football game, j
vii,. .ii kavk wo. . f,.!
o. o e'-- j
ball fan and he had followed every
move of the two teams before the
great battle. He had waited what
seemed to him like years for his
uncle's return and for . the story of
the game from one who had been
"right there."
"Well Jack." said his uncle. "I
know what you want to hear so here
goes without any waits."
Jack sat with eyes popping, all at
tention as he drank in every word
from his big unc le who repeated move J navy so short of men'? That is a ques
for move of the two teams as they j tion that may be answeren by Jo
battled over the field at the b!g Polo j sephus Daniels, secretary of the navy,
grounds in New York city. As they It hasn't been answered yet. Why
neared the end or the game Uncle Ted children, since November 11. 1918,
said: "So Jack, you see it was a great! when the armistice with Germany
game, a wonderful game although I J was signed, so many men have been
Down to New
r rA A T3i M
' --JhJ' z
1 " ii i
Thirty billion dollars In gold at the bottom of the ocean In the
British liner Laurentia. was the Incentive which spurred lnvt4itora on
to perfect a diving suit which could be used successfully at new
depths heretofore Impossible due to the pressure of water And as
usual an American turned the trick. Here Is the armour which
Charles ti. Jackson (colored mechanic and inventor, shown on the
left), has perfected enabling the diver to go twice as deep ss former
ly. At the test, near Boston, this diver went down 360 feet and pur
formed successfully, thus establishing a new record In deep-sa div
ing. The trail for the British gold, sunk by t Germao submarine,
la to be made soon.
Cox
wanted to see the army win. having
been in the army myself but those
navy boys from Annapolis put up a
great right It was the first game
they had won from the West Pointers
since 1912 and you can bet there was
some celebrating thrft night. Now i ,hnp cruisers and five destroyers (of
children, ail this victory of the future j tn mw tvp, and (lv times that
officers of our navy brings up an j nmer not in full commission. And
even more Important story which I n tnoltp vessels are held because
want to tell you. It may mean the,tn,.re Br. nof ,nough men. The loss
future success of odr country in any
trouble we may have with othed coun-,
tries. It is about the condition of ouri
navy today."
"Is there anything wrong with It?" ;
asked Jack. J
"Yes. Jack there is. On my way
back from New York I stopped In !
Philadelphia where one of bur largest
, , , u..
uavj aius in IU( dli'ii. .uuit? (llHIl 11117
vessels of the great Atlantic fleet are
tied up to the docks there. They can't
be -moved, all because there are not
enough men in the navy to run them.
You can see that such a condition is
worse at this time than it might be
otherwise because of the threatened
trouble with Mexico. If we should
declare war on Mexico tomorrow It
would be a long time before these
ships could be moved. Now you will
ask, as does everyone, 'why is the
Ocean Depths
tfP3?2 1
discharged and so many others have
deserted that today there are only
two-fifths the necessary number of
men. to run the navy lu peace timet,
not to speak of war times."
"What do you mean by men who
have deserted?" asked Jack.
"When a man deserts. Mt means
that he runs away from the service.
If he Is caught he is punished and
must serve the rest of his enlistment
and In many cases some additional
time. Every enlisted man In the navy
knows that it Is a dangerous thing
to desert and no man ever deserts un
less be Is bound to get out and Is
sure he can't be discharged honor
ably, lie Knows he Is taking danger
ous chances, lie Is not only desert
ing his ship or post or wherever he
Is located but he Is also deserting his
country.
1 1 T ..II . 1 1 .11. . I W..A
i leu juu an una 10 snow mm
s a rule conditions must be mighty1
tad or something awful wrong before
men will desert. Rut despite all this,
more than 2000 men. or 2 per cent of
the entire number of men of the navy
have deserted In the last five months.
To show by example what this short
age of men means, some of the big
officers attached to the big group of
shipa tied up at Philadelphia sny
that only two of the war ships there,
the Nevada and the North Dakota,
could go to sea for any length of time
with the present number of men. At
best, not more than 20 per cent of the
Atlantic and Pacific fleets could be
manned for sea duty. The ships which
are idle at Philadelphia include, one
dreadnough. eleven pre dreadnoughts
to the government because these
ships ore idle means about $100,000
a day. The same shortage of men
holds good with the Pacific fleet, with
shirs tied to docks at Mare Island,
raliforn'a. and Itremertnn. Washing
ton, on the western const.
"All thla refers to the enlisted men.
, ' n "" "'" "
!" JUBt bai1 Thpy resigning
because they are not paid enough,
their salaries not having been in
creased during the last seven or eight
years.- or more."
"Whose fault is it?" asked Ruth.
"Secretary Paniels will no doubt
try to blame it on the present Re
publican congress but that excuse
won't hold good. Up until this year,
congress was Democratic during the
whole of the Wilson administration.
Why didn't they do something about
it? The first bills to be Introduced
looking toward an Increase of 50 per
cent In the pay of enlisted men and
30 per cent In the pay of officers have
been Introduced by Republicans. Sen
ator James L. Wadsworth. Jr., of New
York has Introduced one In the sen
ate and Representative Walter R.
Stlness. of Rhode Island, has Intro
duced one In the house. Hut even ad
mitting that the small pay has some
thing to do with it. that does not ex
plain the great number of men who
have deserted
It Is very easy to get j
a discharge now through regular
means. Why Bhould they desert? It
Is therefore r.o wonder that everyone
Interested in the matter is asking,
'What's wrong with Uncle Sam's
navy? Secretary Daniels has talked
no much about how efficient he has
made the navy and yet here Is a Bit-
uation worse than any we have ever
been faced with. I think It Is up to I
Mr. Daniels to do some explaining.
If he will do his Job as well as the
future officers of the navy did theirs
on the Polo grounds at New York we
.will be able to protect ourselves on j
any of the waters of the world. We
have the ships, where Is the sys
tem r
WHAT ARE BEST YEAR8
OF A WOMAN'S LIFE
The best years of a woman's life
today are from 40 to CO, and my pen
hesitates ns I write CO. Such women
as Sarah Hernhardt, who has risen
above years and mutilation and suf
fering, and continues to conquer the
world with her genius, and Amelia
Harr, who, well over 80, turns out a
new novel every year or so, might
very convincingly quote Browning's
lines:
"Grow old along with me,
The best Is yet to he."
Why are the years between forty
and sixty the best In a woman's life,
and what Is It that middle age can
"HI Tell
says the Good Judge
The man who doesn't
chew this class of to
bacco is not getting
real satisfaction out of
his chewing.
A small chew. It holds
its rich taste. You don't
have to take so many
fresh chews. Any man
who uses the Real To-'
bacco Chew will tell
you that.
Put Up In Two Styles
RIGHT CUT is a short-cut tobacco
W-B CUT is a long fine-cut tobacco
offer that youth can not? And what
Is the prime of life? Is It not that
.period when, physically sound, one Is
capable of the greatest mi-ntat activ
ity? And between 0 and ' are the
years of a woman's prime. If she has
lived wisely and kept that saving
grace, her pride In her personal ap
pearance, tall It vanity' If you wilt,
she should be as attractive, In a dif
ferent way, as she was in her first
youth.
Many a woman who was a shy no
nentity In her girlhood, a pathetic
example of the wallflower, bus blos
somed Into beauty and charm in her
later years. She has had time to be
come acquainted with herself, and
.with life. She is past the tremulous
uncertainties of springtime, the cy
clones of emotion, the cruel doubts
and discouragements of youth. She
may have her moments of reverie;
! not as she Is usually portrayed in
fiction, engaged In mournful meillta
lions ou the first gray hair or lean
ing forward to gaze in the mirror and
trace, with a sinking heart, the com
ing lines about the mouth; but a rev
erie in which she looks back at the
girl she once was and rejoices in her
ecstacles and longs to gather her Into
her arms and comfort her In her
woes. Mrs. Wilson Woodrow In Jan
nary Sunset.
FIIIE PHOTOPLAY
SEEK HI BELL
CivesProof That Best of Screen
Plays May Be Seen Here
at Home Theater.
A play that Is declured by all mov
ing picture producers to be one of
the best yet produced. Is' "The Mir
acle Man," which run lust Saturday
and Sunday at the Hell theatre. The
large crowds that saw this picture
declare it to be the best they have,
ever seen. From the first glimpse of
the picture on the screen through the
entire eight reels one sat entranced,
held by both the fine theme of the
picture and the superb acting.
The management of the theater de-
clarea tha ne naH muny niore KOO,i
CHRISTMAS
GREETING
L. G. HELM
SHOE SHOP
the World
99
picures billed for his house, and If he
Is suppored by the tocul peoplo he can
give them as good a bill right here
at homo as they chh see at any other
theatre In the nearby cities, and a!
the siiiiie or lower admission rates.
The lli-ll t li-iit re has signed up ex
ceptionally good bills for the near
future. The fact that "The Miracle
Man" was shown here before being
played at any of the nearby cities I
no evidence of the alert business
mamrKement of the local theatre.
EXCESSIVE LUMBER COST8.
Uiillkenlng. the lumber Industry of
the west Is not directly dependent up
on exports to Kurope for Its prosper
ity. It Is booming now and will con
tinue to boom because there are not
enough houses to go round. During
four of the war years the country did
not build enough new structures to
compensate for the wear and tear on
4 he olil ones. Wo are now SO per cent
behind our normal building program
and we have not even begun to catch
up. Therefore the lumber business,
employing the largest number of
wngeearners in any single western In
dustry, Is now getting Its belated
share of the war profits.
There Is only one danger confront
ting litis Industry. Lumber prices
must not be boosted so high that
builders will turn to other materials.
Kvcn now the Itu reiise In the cost of
building wooden structures Is far
greater than the Increase in the cost
of concrete or brick construction.
Concrete construction bus barely
doubled In cost, whereas lumber con
struction has gone up almost three
times compared with pre-war prices.
If lumber goes still higher, a fnime
building will cost as much as a con
crete house of greater durability and
'much smaller maintenance expense.
The lumber men are entitled to com
pensation for ten lean, profitless
years, but self Interest should prevent
them from lifting the price until the
public Is forced to substitute other
materials for their product. Kdltor
lul In January Sunset.
Roscburg Is to erect a number of
large maps In Douglas county, giving
directions to cnmplng spots and other
information regarding the county und
its resources.
S