About Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 21, 1917)
4 5 THE SEMI-WEEKLY JOURNAL -ATLAKTA, GA., 5 NOBTH FOMSTTH ST. , Entered at the Atlanta Postoffi«’c as Mail Matter of the Second class. SUBSCfcIPTIOM PRICE. • Twelve months ' 7 “ c • Six months *® c ' ! Three months " 5c ; Th* Semi-Weekly Journal is published on Tues- day and Friday, and is mailed by the shortest routes i* for early delivery. • It contains news from al! over the world, brought , by special leased wires Into our office. It a ata “ of distinguished contributors, with strong depart ments of special value to the home and the farm. Agents wanted at every postoffice. Liberal com- • mission allowed. Outfit free. Write .R. K. BRAD- • LEY. Circulation Manager. The only’ traveling representatives we have are B. F. Bolton. C. C. Coyle. Charles H. Woodliff. J- M. Patten, W. H. Reinhardt. M. H. Bevil and John Mac Jennings. We will be responsible only for money paid tp the above named traveling representatives. NOTICE TO SUBSCRIBERS. ‘ The label osed foe addreesins yw paper sbowa the time yoftr subscription evptrea 8y renewing at least two weeks be , ’tore the date on this label, you insure regular service. . In ordering paper changed, be sure to mention you» old. as well as your new address. If on a route, please give the route k V&her. - • We caipiot enter subscriptions to begin with back numbers. Remittances should be sent by postal order or registered msil. Address all orders and notice* for this Department to THE SEMI-WEEKLY JOURNAL. Atlanta. Ga. Get Behind the Red Cross. ••First, to be able to care for our soldiers and sailors whenever and wherever that care may be needed. Second, to help shorten the war by relieving the sufferings and bolstering up the courage of the civilian populations as well as the armies of our Allies.” These vital war purposes of the American Red Cross, as described in the current number of the Review of Reviews, will be promoted or held back largely in proportion to the success of the membership campaign now in progress in At lanta and throughout the nation. As far as our own fighting men are concerned, the work of this humanitarian institution has barely begun. Its services, deeply important though they are already both at home and abroad, will be incomparably more so when American troops sweep freely into the conflict. When that time comes, and it is not _■* far distant, the Red Cross will need the country’s unreserved and organised support—not simply the support of generous dollars, but of ready hand and of understanding hearts. The nation’s w. patriotic and humanitarian zeal should be mus " tered behind this cause as completely as a com munity’s spirit responds to human needs in times of fire and flood or other disasters. To be prepared for the vast responsibilities of ’ the near future, the Red Cross must recruit its membership now. Furthermore, there is imme diate and profound importance to the work of re el lief and encouragement which it is carrying for- • ward in France, where suffering is unspeakably • acute and widespread and where America’s battles • have been herocially fought from the war’s very beginning. To have a part, however small, in this • aoble endeavor is an honor which every real American will covet and a duty which‘every loyal • American will fulfill. » J Constructive Criticism And Captious Complaint. There is no wider difference than between im -1 patient meddling and thoughtful investigation. In • so far as the spirit of the latter directs the inqui ries which Congress is making into various de- • yartments of our war activity, substantial good • will result. Questions of policy, it should be noted, are not involved. There is but one American pol icy either in the Administration or in Congress or . In the country; and that is to prosecute the war • with the utmost vigor until Germany is brought to • terms. These inquiries have to do with methods and details. • Is the task of preparing the hew National army (or service being performed with due thoroughness and speed? * Are conditions, sanitary and other wise all that they should be at the training camps? If not. whose is the responsibility and what is the , remedy? Is the incalculably important work of building ships for the transportation of troops and supplies and other war needs proceeding as effee lively as it should? If not. where is the trouble and what is the best way out? It is with such questions that the investigating committees are • soncerned. questions which, if properly treated •will prove highly helpful to the departments and perhaps the means to surprisingly swifter and bet ter results. As Secretary Daniels expressed it to jthe House sub-committec which is looking into nary conditions. "A taking of stock cannot fail bring about ways lor jitill further improvement and for still more efficient work in the future.” It ia important, however, that Congress and the country bear constantly in mind the great differ ence between constructive criticism and captious fault-finding. Incompetency should be weeded out with an unsparing hand wherever it exists, in quar ters high or low. Rut let it always be remembered that the object of true correction and reform is to »et better result®, not to engender discontent and distrust. As long as the war lasts it will always ‘ be right to investigate and to criticise, where crlt • Icism is needed, but it never will be right to "knock.” The test of criticism in this connection is the test of any act or utterance, the patriotism or wisdom of which is at all questionable: Will it belp to win the war’’ Will it make the tre mendous burdens which the Government has to shoulder and the vast problems it has to solve lighter and simpler or heavier and more perplex ing? Will it tend to solidify the nation’s senti ment and to inspire th'' people to more zealous - and. if need be. more sacrificial support of their country's cause, or will it tend to create a cynical » and pessimistic moon' It win oe well for the public to measure by this broaifly patriotic standard all the complaint and censure against the Government. This will become lucieasingiy important as the war stress f grows and the public nerves are subjected to more and more strain. There will be mistakes and mis- • fortunes and a never-ceasins demand for personal as well as national fortitude. There will be crit icism and agitation, some of it quite just but more . that will be unwarranted. Let us be watchful, ’ then, to distinguish between those critics who are - constructive and those who are carping, those who » have helpful ideas and those who have merely a • kick- those who are true friends to America and - those who are yellow-streaked self-exploiters. A broad-visioned survey of what the Govern- • ment has accomplished in the way of preparation 1 i since we entered the war can hardly fail to arouse pride and wonder in every generous American heart, in administrative details, it is true, there have been regrettable and f4?nnetinies deplorable • shortcomings. Wherever these arc the, result of negligence or of any kind of incompetence, the fact should be established and due steps taken to prevent their ‘ recurrence. Hut who that looks fairly upon the record of the last eight months can withhold approval of the Government’s -eneral course and hearty admiration for its total of achievements? The fact is, the United States has done marvelously well for a nation confessedly un prepared for war. Beginning with a bare nucleus of an army and with no machinery for raising one, it has mustered upwards of a million men to the colors: has placed large contingents of troops in France, ft“ansporting them across three thousand miles of ocean without loss or mishap: has inau gurated for all these soldiers and foT those to be called, as well as for the sailors, a system of wise and beneficent war insurance; has made the navy incomparably stronger in its enlistc- personnel and number of ships, and also has made it felt with telling effect in the campaign against U-boats as well as in the successful convoying of troop trans ports. These are but the a-b-c of the far-reaching and crowded war program which the Administra tion has put effectively under way. Well may we be proud of a Government and a country and a people that bring such things to pass. This does not mean, to be sure, that we can rest for a moment on what has been accomplished, for that is a mere beginning of what must be done. It does not mean that there should be any mini mizing of mistakes and incompetencies or any hes itancy to overhaul any,department where there is need. The present investigations by Congress are timely. Conducted in the proper spirit, they will be exceedingly helpful. And as evidence of Con gress’ desire for the most vigorous and most effi cient prosecution of the war possible, they are pecu liarly welcome. Let there be care on the part of Congress and of the country, however, that inves tigations shall always be thoughtful and that crit icism shall always be constructive. This will save much useless recrimination and many brainstorms. It might be possible to dine a man during the war. but hardly to wine him, too. Speed Up the Airplanes. Addressing the American people through the New York Times, a great French General gives this pungent advice: “Equip yourselves as if the war were going to last ten years, but speed your selves as if it were going to end in six months.” This applies to all fields of our preparation, but particularly to the building of air craft. For the Allies to have and hold the upper hand in aviation, says this authority, they must have “a far greater number of planes than the enemy, and better ones.” Germany is working desperately to win air mastery on the Western front before the Allied output of machines begins permanently to exceed the utmost that her own factories can do; and in this as in the matter of troops, her great aim is to .-•trike in advance of America s full arrival at the front. As to just how much is being accomplished ii> airplane production in this country, little is pub licly known. But as Congress already has appro priated some seven hundred million dollars for this purpose and stands willing to add as much as may be needed, the administrative departments are free to proceed as rapidly and extensively as practical conditions allow? Os one thing, the pub lic have heard with some definiteness and a great deal of interest —the Liberty motor. Represent ing the combined ideas Itnd facilities of the coun try’s leading motor producers, who patriotically tendered the Government tneir patent rights, the Liberty Was aroused and, as far as the tests have gone, has justified great expectations. Heretofore the weakness of American airplanes as compared with the French and British has been in the*en ginc. It is peculiarly gratifying, therefore, to have the promise of an American motor that will be a world model for strength and speed and that by means of standardized methods can be turned out at a prodigious rate. Air supremacy is pre-essen tial to the great blows that must hurl the Huns ba<k across their frontiers and crush their mili tarism forever. The sooner this supremacy is gained, thl lighter will be the cost and earlier the arrival of victorious peace. And the more vig orously America bends to her all-important part of the task, the firmer will that assurance be. Where is the old-fashioned man who dined too well? —♦ • The Turks Deepening Plight. The weakness of the Turks which forced them to surrender Jerusalem appears to be deepening to disaster. The remnants of the eight Ottoman armies under the command of FaJkenhayen of the German General Staff, official dispatches announce, have met decisive defeat at the hands of the Brit ish. l4e fact that so eminent a strategist as Falkenhayen was assigned to the Turkish problem shows how important it was in German estimation, and the fact that all his efforts have proved un availing indreates to what a plight the Kaiser's Moslem ally has been reduced. While the Palestine campaign has grown con tinually more distressing for the Turks, events in Mesopotamia have brought them no grain of com fort. Indeed, the British forces in that region, though compelled to mark time at frequent inter vals. have made substantial progress since the fall of Bagdad, so strengthening their general position that the enemy has no hope of a formidable offen sive and only a most desperate hope of a sustained defense. Thus in the two war areas which mean most to the Turk’s imagination, developments are of a character to take the heart out of their al liance with the Huns. The consequence may prove to be great beyond all proportion to the purely military importance of the Palestine and Mesopotamian campaigns. If Turkey should abandon the Teutons within the next six or eight months, the result would go far toward offsetting the advantages that have accrued to them through Russia’s defection from the Al lies. Conceivably, indeed, it might prove the break in "the armor which would mark the begin ning of the end of the Kaiser’s defense. The kaiser, in a never-published .interview, predicted the war as far back as 1908. showing the kaiser was warlike during the period he claims I to have been for peace. THE ATLANTA SEMI-WEEKLY JOURNAL, ATLANTA GA., FRIDAY, DECEMBER 21, 1917. More Audacious i han Ever. There is nothing anomalous, after all, in the German Socialists’ objecting to a separate peace with Russia. Eager as they are for an ending of the war, they realize that the elimination of Rus sia alone would serve to prolong rather than fore shorten the conflict; for it would so strengthen and embolden the Imperialists that such elements of political liberalism as have managed to take root and grow in Germany would be ruthlessly trampled down. The war aims of the Hohenzollerns are mtjre audacious today than at tuiy time since the battle of the Marne and Verdun curbed their first wild ambitions. The German occupation of the Rus sian port of Riga on the Baltic and of the pro vince of Courland and adjacent lands has deter mined the militarists to annex that territory, which in the earlier stages of the war they iiad not hoped to obtain, in addition to their previous conquests. Furthermore, the success of the in trigue which has put Russia out of the fighting and the consequent military advantages to the Kaiser's lines in France and Belgium have brought him and his war lords fresh hope of retaining much of the loot from their raid in the West. When the Allies are smashing forward, the idea of giv ing up Belgium receives a measure of considera tion from Berlin: but let the fortune of war veer even slightly in favor of the Huns, and the tone of mock conciliation rises again to bold defiance. From the day they got Belgium fairly in their grasp, the German militarists set out with cold blooded calculation to reduce the country’s popula tion as far as practicable in order that the land might be free for German settlement after the war. The Belgian people, as the Huns viewed it, were an encumbrance to the soil; wherefore, let the people be wiped out! Is it to be supposed that a Government which entertains such theories and practices such barbarity will ever give up its robber conquests except at the point of the bayonet? Is it supposable, indeed, that a Government so in grained with crime will ever be amenable to the laws of truly civilized nations? For the same reasons that German Socialists look with disfavor on a separate peace with Rus sia, the people of the allied democracies will best serve the cause of just and durable peace by re jecting any suggestion of a settlement which would leave Prussianism in the saddle, still confident and free to prepare another raid against mankind. The effect of the militarists’ recent successes in Rus sia and in Italy and at points on*the Western front has been to make them drunk with new ambition and a new sense of power. The Imperialist Ger man press is more boastful than it ha* been for many a season, and more savagely intolerant of liberal thought within its own empire as well as more defiant of the ideas of free peoples in the world at large. Whether or not a separate peace with Russia, or rather with the Bolsheviki in whose clutches Russia’s liberty and honor are for the time being held, will be negotiated is yet un certain. But in any event, the Russian collapse has given the militarists a renewed confidence, re newed power over the German people and a tem porary advantage of which they will make the utmost. The only wise course for the Allies, there fore, is to deepen their resolve and quicken their stride in the fight for peace-bringing and peace keeping victory. ALCOHOL AND INSANITY. By H. Addington Bruce. —♦ — SCIENTIFIC authorities differ on not a few points in the alcohol problem. But there are some things on which they are absolutely in agreement. * One of these is the preponderating part which alcohol plays iu causing insanity, and the imperativt, necessity for total abstinence by all persons wh.i have a family history of insanity. Such persons, if they leave alcohol hlone, stand an excellent chance of escaping the fate of their in sanity-stricken ancestors. Imbibing alcohol, they are far more liable than the ordinary man to men tal wreckage. As all know from everyday observation, alcohol has a selective action on the brain. It disturbs the functioning of brain-centers high and low, clouding the intellect and causing muscular inco-ordination. The drunken man thinks badly, speaks badly, and walks badly. Not until he has “sobered up’ docs his brain again work as it should. If he permit drunkenness to become habitual with him, organic degeneration bf his brain is a sure result. In the case of persons inheriting auy brain weakness a similar result may follow eveu the occasional imbibing of small amounts ot liquors. Here not only tnay the alcohol itself be a direct cause of insanity, but it operates to produce insan ity by breaking down the resistance to inherited abnormal mental and nervous tendencies. Directly and indirectly, then, alcohol is responsi ble for an enormous percentage of insanity. Dr. August Hoch, a conservative authority, estimates that it is the dominant factor in causing the insanity of nearly a quarter of the population ot our hos pitals for the insane. “In statistics from some hospitals for the in sane of New York and Massachusetts, covering some 15,000 admissions,’’ he says, “I find that as many as 24 per cent of the male patients suffered from alcoholic insanity. These figures are not unusual, since in some communities the percentage is still higher. "If we reflect upon the fact that syphillis is the cause of about 14 per cent of mental diseases in men. and that an additional 24 per cent are due to alcohol. "If we bear in mind these figures and the fact that the specific alcoholic psychoses do not repre sent the full extent of the damage done to the mind by alcohol. “And if we allow for variations in different com munities, we shall not regard as very much exag gerated the statement that nearly one-half of the cases of insanity are due to venereal diseases and alcohol.” Ponder this statement. Ponder it particularly if, being a user of alcohol, you are at the same time a member of an insanity-tainted family. For in that case you are running greater haz ards than other men if you persist in alcoholic in dulgence. Your one safe course is to get on the water wagon without delay, and stay there. (Copyright, 1917. by the Associated Newspapers, i KEEP ALERT FOR THE SPY! —>_ < The Macon News.) Every German or Austrian in the United States, unless known by years of association to be absolute ly loyal, should be treated as a potential spy. Keep your eyes and ears open. Whenever any suspicious act or disloyal word comes to your notice communi cate at once with the bureau of investigation of the department of justice. We are at war with the most merciless and in human nation in the world. Hundreds of thousands of its people in this country want to see America humiliated and beaten to her knees, and they are doing, and will do, every thing in their power to bring this about. Take nothing for granted. Energy and alertness in this direction may save the life of your son, or husband, or your brother. OTHER THINGS A SOLDIER NEEDS. Feminine Smiles, Fraternal Handshakes, Music and Fun Are Just as Necessary C As Beans, Bacon and a Bunk. • WASHINGTON, Dec. 19.—The first scout that went out from the United States forces stationed at Camp Devens, Mass., was a scout of a new kind. He was a social scout, but none the less a part of the regular army organiza tion. for he represented the Recreation Association of America, which is a branch of the commission on training camp activities of the war Mepart ment. ♦ ♦ * The quartermaster’s corps supplied the soldiers with necessaries, such as fcjpd and clothing and blankets, and The commission with essentials, such as smiles and relaxations. The smile sleuth from Camp Devens faced quite a problem. Boston was thirty-five miles away and Worcester eighteen—both too far to serve as sources for the kind of intangible supplies that he was seeking. But there were half a dozen smaller places within a radius of ten miles. So he picked the most likely-looking of these, which was Ayres, population three thousand, distance from camp only three miles. He sought out a prominent cit izen and explained the case at some length. “I want invitations to dinner for two enlisted men,” he concluded. • * • “Bring 'em along,” said the prominent citizen The social scout went back to camp and spent four hours selecting the two men. For it was vitally necessary that the two men should make a hit. In order to make a hit they must be men ot the sort that would probably be congenial to that particular prominent citizen and his family. ♦ ♦ ♦ This does not mean that the scout intended to discriminate in favor of men of any particular so cial status. But he realized that all social rela tions are and must be founded upon congeniality. • • • Now, a man in khaki loses, to a great extent, his social identity. The occupations, companions, clothes and habits that made up his social person ality before he became a soldier, have all been taken away from him. In the community to which he is transplanted he has scant means for getting in touch with the people that would appeal to him, and they have even greater difficulty in finding him. / • * * > Hence the need for the social scout. Exercis ing his judgment, and no doubt also his luck, he selected the two men that he thought would suit— and they did. Their dinner invitation resulted in arrangements, in whicn sundry feminine brains had a large part, for a dancing party. The two first men supplied the others from among the friends they had made in camp. » « * Meantime the social scout had been diligent in other quarters, had secured other invitations, and selected other men to fill them. Within a few weeks there might be seen at Camp Devens every evening a line of about fifty automobiles which haa been sent by the people of the town for soldier guests. ♦ ♦ * This is only one of a number of activities which are being carried forward by the commission to supply those things which are no less necessary to men than food and clothing. In a camp like Camp Devens, which contains thirty-five thousand men, while the entire civil population within a radius of ten miles is but seventeen thousand, there are naturally not enough smiles, or at least not enough SWEET POTATO PUDDING —The Tifton Gazette. Down through the dim vista of the years past comes the memory of sweet potato pudding of fifty years ago. Os course, there are puddings now, but-they have lost their savor. There is too much of the twentieth century about them—too much sugar, condiments and the cooking range. The only sweet potato pudding worth while was sweetened with cane syrup, seasoned with orange peel and cooked in an open fireplace, in an iron spider, with a tire of corn-cobs. The sun had not melted the morning frost when Mother and the boy began collecting mate rial for a pudding for dinner. The boards which closed the door of the sweet potato bank were stuck with ice and the ground around was crisply frozen. The boy crawled inside, pushed /way the straw and handed the potatoes to the Mother wait ing outside, who carefully selected those of the right shape aud size for grating. With a supply, they returned to the log kitchen, where a nig fire blazed on the hearth. The potatoes were washed, trimmed and peeled; then the grater was taken down from where it hung on a nail against the kitchen wall. This grater was of tin. in half cylindrical shape, with holes punched from the inside, leaving jagged proturber ances on the outside of the convex surface. With one end of this grater in a large tin pan, the other held at an angle by the handle on the end in the left hand, the potato was grated by simply catch ing it in the right hand-and rubbing it briskly over the grater. While this was going on. the boy stood watch ing. getting his reward In pieces of juicy yam, too small to grate, after the potato was worn away; occasionally getting a treat in a wad of succulent parts adhering to the grater, even winning the privilege of cleaning it off when the grating was done. With the potatoes ready, out of a drawer TRAVEL IN MANCHURIA Although it is much easier to reach Manchuria now than it was ten or fifteen years ago, the man ■who would travel in the interior of this primitive part, of China, as soon as he leaves the few ralL roads. must rely upon means that were standard a century ago. If it is winter he will rattle over the frozen mud in a cart drawn by three horses. At night he will stop at an inn where he must supply his own bed and a large part of his own food, unless he is willing to be satisfied with a little boiled corn. The walls of his room will be of paper and eyes will peer at him through holes hastily punched for the purpose. In the morning his driver will awaken him before daylight and start him on an other long day of jolts and freezing. In the summer travel is easier and pleasanter, but also much slower. A boat may be taken upon one of the rivers. It will crawl along between pleasantly shaded banks and green fields,' every little while coming to rest upon a sandbar, so that progress is unbelievably slow, even going down stream. Against the current the boat is laboriously poled and dragged with heavy ropes. By these means the travelers may penetrate into a region where change is unknown and the principles of Confucius still rule. He will meet na tives who have never seen a watch or a railroad train, although they nominally belong to one of the oldest civilizations; he will see the squalor and dirt and disease that go with ignorance. The fact yill be forcibly brought home to him that modern progress travels over good roads. The pocket money of most women comes out of Rome man's pocket. Until Cupid recovers his sight marriage will continue to be more or less of a failure. By Frederic J. Haskin. TRAVELETTE—By Niksah smilers, to go around. It is not wise to give more than three thousand men leave at one time. But there are numerous ways of entertaining those who have to stay at home. The Liberty theaters, which . are going to open on Christmas, and the Y. M- I C. A. auditoriums, and the two large Thautauqna tents in every camp will accommodate about all of the men that stay homg. , And the entertainments at these places are planned with a full understanding of the soldier psychology. They are not designed primarily to improve the mind —although they may do that, too. They are intended primarily to divert, to make a man laugh, thrill and forget himself. They offer such plays as "Cheating Cheaters,” such operas as “O, Boy.” A lecturer who wanted to discourse to these young disciples of the arts of flestruction on "Kindness to Birds” did not get a chance. And the refusal was no rsflexion upon the desirability of being kind to birds, either. • « « The experience of those who are concerned • • with entertaining the soldiers seems to show that the modern warrior is a good deal like the warriors of all other ages. Sinking, dancing, feasting and good fellowship are cravqs. For that mat- f ter, who doesn’t crave Item? They are for all of us the natural reactions from the serious and dull things in life, and the soldier’s reaction is greater because what he faces is more serious and his daily' routine is more dull than ih most civilian occupa tions. • « • Lots of interesting experiments in promoting good fellowship are being’ tried at the camps. At one of them a college* night was held. Standards were erected bearing the names of “alma maters” for the men to rally rrund. Old friendships were renewed —friendships that might otherwise have, been forgotten—and the evening ended in an ear splitting burst of competitive yelling of college yells and singing of college songs. ♦ • ♦ Not all the good fellowship is between men who have come of similar environments and social tra- z ditions, either. For example, the captain of a com pany wanted a elfcuffeur. A young enlisted man who had followed that calling applied for the place, and with him came a friend and boon companion, anxious for his success. • * • “How do I know you are a good chauffeur?" the y captain demanded. '"Can you give any recommen dations?'’ * t * “I can testify to the fact that he is a darn good chauffeur,” put in the’ friend. “He drove my car for three years.” • • • • This aggregation of unassorted humanity in khaki —this gigantic shuffling of the nation's man hood —is bringing forth a good deal of such proof that neither in ability, nor in taste and manner, are people as different as they pretend to be. Perhaps the greatest stimulus to good fellow ship of all is the practice of community ginging. The men are enthusiastic it. First officers are trained, and then they train their men. For „ the big “song fests” as many as four thousand voices are sometimes brought together, and the resultant music has something of the volume and quality of a great organ. So contagious Is the spell of this singing that people of nearby eommnni ties have asked to be allowed to take part In it; ’ and there have been held some great gatherings at which soldiers, sailors and marines merged their | voices tn the old songs that anyone can sing. « ' ~m— i — itmti ■ in the kitchen table was taken the nutmeg grater, a miniature repetation of the potato grater. In a receptacle at the top, closed by a spring lid, was a store of orange peel, kept as a treasure from - -’ the orange on which the boy had feasted on Christ mas before. This was grated over the potato, and to this was added powdered allspice and grated nutmeg. Into this mass was poured cane syrup, the whole kneaded until all was a thick paste and the flavor ings were thoroughly mixed into all parts. Then it, was set in the spider to cook, with slow fire un derneath and on the lid. When the pudding came to the table at noons, it was a feast in itself. Perish the thought of wait ing for dessert, when such good things were to be had for a full meal! We could barely wait for it to get tool enough, and often blistered the tongue in impatient tasting. Around edges and over top, juices of the potato and syrup had candied; from the mass, dark brown, almost black, arose the de licious odors of the orange, spice and nutmeg; even as you ate ,in wholesouled enjoyment, occasionally \ you would find a delicious bit of orange peel, too small to grate and thrown in for good measure. If the pudding was good while hot for dinner, it was ten times better cold for supper. By that * time it was congealed until it could be cut into portions, each better than the first. Fortunate those days when indigestion was unknown— such quantities would call oqt the doctor now. And if by good fortune any was left from sup per, what a pleasing midforenoon feast It afforded next day, making you regret that .you had eaten so much the day before, that there might have been more left of the substantial delicacy. Great those days of the sweet potato puddings —gone with the times that produced it, the one who cooked it. and the appetite that made ft a feast fit for the gods. THE DESERT OF KARA-KUM When the caravans in olden days went up from ’ Samarcand and Bokhara to Merv for silks and carpets,- or carried spices for Europe to the Cas- «■ pian ports, some of them occasionally wandered off 4nto the desert of Kara-Kum, and few of these ever returned. This desert which is smaller but, more terrible than Sahara came to be known as "the tomb of caravans.” If you were to venture into the desert of Kara- ~~ Kum you would travel by camel. At first you would pass through 'a land of scrubby bushes, and rest at noon near a well, surrounded- by a tiny native village at the bottom of a dimple in the desert. Ana nere you would feel first touch of the desert heat —a heat that reaches 163 de grees in the sun and is hurled into your face by the wind like a veritable sheet of flame. > In the comparative cool of evening you would push fin into the desert proper. Presently from the top of a slight elevation you would see it reach- 4 • Ing before you—a petrified storm at sea, an ocean of sand. There is nothing but sand, and it is tossed by a ceaseless wind into billows miles long ~ that creep forward perhaps a foot a year, bury ing everything in their path.* The wind tears ban ners of flying sand from their crests as you look, releasing cascades that go rumbling into the burn- 4, ing hollows. The patch across this desert is marked only < by bfts of bone and stick, occasionally by a human skull. It is easily lost in the dark, and it is the thread which connects one shallow, muddy well with another. Marly have lost it, and they are still in the desA-t of Kara-Rum. Many a so-called self-made man is the handi work of his wife. £
