La Grange Journal. (La Grange, Tex.), Vol. 40, No. 18, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 1, 1919 Page: 1 of 8
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K
They have edidently not taken a friendly
liking to Postmaster General Burleson, or they
wouldn’t be filling the daily press with com-
ments from the Democratic party leaders who
are bent on having Burleson removed, in a
measuer blaming him for the unpopularity of
the present administration. Well, I happen to
have an independent nature in most things, and
reserve the right to criticise when it suits me,
and in this instance I feel a great deal like the
old woman who watched the fight on the out-
side of her hut, a fight in which her old man
and a grizzly bear were having it out. She
merely nodded and said: “Go, it ole man, tain’t
no fight o’ mine.” That is about the way I
feel about the Burleson matter. But he has
certainly caused some hell to be raised, and he
is very likely to create some more. When it
comes to removing him and laying on his
shoulders some of the blame for the making of
the present administration unpopular, say,
that ain’t so easy. I have watched the spirit
of Burleson, he has what some writers term,
bull dog tenacity, and that is hard to over-
come. They may make it unpleasant for the
ol^ postmaster general, but unless his per-
sonal friends wait on him and get him to
yi^ld, I will have my doubts.
We all remember how Johnny Green, the
United States district attorney, who, as a shoe-
less lad, used to pad our streets, couldn’t stand
to represent the government in the telephone
case at Houston and resigned. Johnny felt
that his conscience wouldn’t permit him to
serve the United States Government and in-
jure the telephone subscribers, and in taking
this stand he was highly commended by the
legal talent of the State. But that doesn’t
exenorate him. He did what any man, en-
couraging the same idea and laboring under
the same strain would have done. Burleson
didn’t seem to care. He just simply applied
the rates. Too often we have heard it said
that talk was cheap. Forcibly now, it is
brought to us that this was after all, only a
street gag. Talk isn’t cheap at any price.
And there are many interned and deported
who can substantiate this claim. The demo-
cratic party will have to do a little cleaning
out real soon anyway, so I suppose they might
as well begin with Burleson. But—.
Another one of those unfortunate cases
has come to light at Houston, a trqrgedy in
which a man and a woman figured; the man
guilty beyond doubt, the woman, a mere girl,
guilty because of the yield .to the alluring
tongue and the words which maidens love to
hear. In this instance the pistol bullet is the
last character, and in ploughing its way thru
flesh and bone of the unfortunate woman and
the man, it has rendered uselss the brain and
tongue of two, who, if alive, might tell a story
that is both sympathetic and disgusting. Never
should it be charged against me that I can get
pleasure out of assaluting the memory of the
dead, or their misdeeds, but I can, modestly
and otherwise, condemn, not condone, the man
who forgets the marital vow and leave orphan
children to go through life with the stain of
the sins of the father. And I cannot sanction
the act of him who willingly and knowingly
destroys the character and life of a good, trust-
ing young creature who, blinded by her fasci-
nations, becomes his prey. Spreading the
great mantle of charity as I might, it shall
nevertheless serve as a warning to those who
may be inclined to listen.
And then comes politics just as freely as
it used to come. A headline in Friday’s .Hous-
ton Post reads: “Love yearns for governor’s
chair.” Well, I have often heard it said that
one yearns for love, and that it is the absence
of real love that makes the heart so sad, and
the face so haggard. Bright lines appear when
the word of love is heard; take the little child
who tiptoes to her mother and lisps: “Mama,
tiss me adin.” And then watch the happy
glow of love as it overspreads the countenance
of the young mother, and eclipses in beauty
even the greatest of Nature’s offerings. And
see the little one, in her innocence, hugging
mama. One yearns for love, did I say?. Yes,
yearns for it as the violet yearns for the little
drops of dew, as the meadow does for the morn-
ing sun, as the copper colored darkey for the
watermelon. But in Dallas there is a Love
who yearns for the governor’s chair. This is
not to be understood to mean that he wants
Hobby ousted so that he can sit in the big
chair, but it means that that fellow Love—
who is an astute politician by reason of eating
beans—wants to be governor of Texas and is
I’ll seek a four-leaved shamrock in all
the fairy dells,
And if I find the charmed leaf,
Oh, how I’ll weave my spells!
I would not waste my ma'gic might
On diamond, pearl or gold,
For treasure tires the weary sense—
Such triumph is but cold;
But I will play the enchanter’s part
In casting bliss around;
Oh! not a tear, nor aching heart
Should in the world be found.
To worth I would give honor,
I’d try the mourner’s tears,
And to the pallid Hp recall
The smile of happier years;
And hearts that had been long estranged,
And friends that had grown cold,
Should meet again like parted streams.
And mingle as of old.
Oh! thus I’d play the enchanter’s part
In' casting bliss around;
Oh! not a tear, nor aching heart,
Should in the world be found.
The heart that had been mourning
O’er vanished dreams of love
Should see them all returning,
Like Noah’s faithful dove,
And Hope should launch her blessed bark
On Sorrow’s darkening sea,
And Misery’s children have an ark,
And saved from sinking be.
Oh! thus I’d play the enchanter’s part
In casting bliss around;
Oh! not a tear, nor aching heart,
Should in the world be found.
—Samuel Lover.
already laying his plans. Guess the people
may as well make up their minds to have him
to deal with, and give him the great shake at
the proper time. .
Can’t some folks get real mad! You know
I predicted that there would be a lot of dis-
sension at that peace table in Paris, and if
we can accept the published dispatches as they
have appeared in the dailies as true, there
can be no doubt about that prediction. The
Italians have shown a very clear-cut determin-
ation to stand by their claim, and have, thru
their premier, Orlando, said some unkind
things about our president. Which, neces-
sarily, cemented the opinions of' both Repub-
licans and vDemocrats at Washington. It isn't
becoming my nature to be very flattering, but
I am going to advise that bunch of spaghetti
cannibals that our president doesn’t ignore a
bluff, nor does he cower a bit. And from the
way in which the bunch has squirmed, I am in-
clined to think that the Italians have encour-
aged similar opinion. Italy may just as well
pull the bag out of the knees in her trousers
and set down again in a peaceful manner at
that peace table. There are other dishes yet
to be served.
All indications point to the fact that the
Victory Loan campaign is going to close with
the most gratifying results. People have
reasoned it very slowly and deliberately, and
they have, at least that is the way it seemed
to me, concluded that to finish the job was the
right thing to do, and they have come forward
with a willingness that is charming and very
pleasing. Many of my exchanges have had
large advertisements from the various indus-
tries in their city, and from professional and
business men, but I have adopted the different
method, which was to run some of the cartoons
and to appeal to the people in articles that were
written by the contributors and such news as
the chairman of the Victory Loan for Fayette
county has given out. These articles have
been read, and the committeemen over this
county have been informing Mr. Lenert that
they are going over the top with a whoop. It
will not be said against our county that she
failed in this instance. The people from other
counties can crow all they want to, but they
will not outcrow this sheet when it comes to
saying something about the patriots, and we
have patriots, good ones too. I refer with
pride to those of our county who have given
as prizes, fifty-dollar bonds to the school dis-
receiving a bit of
cork and metal hinge
to replace a leg;
where still another,
suffering from shell
shock, crawls and
lopes across the floor
like an infant or an
animal, and looks un-
comprehending at you
thru narrow, nervous
eyes. You feel no
sympathy for these boys, save, perhaps the
one whose bright young mind is shatteered
by the horrors he endured and he, if he knew,
would be indignant that you pitied him. For
all of them, permanently crippled in one way
or another, impress you, not with their misery,
but their bravery.
They don’t whine, they don’t complain,
they don’t feel sorry for themselves. They
just make their way about limping or on
crutches with a joke and a smile, until you,
somehow, catch the spirit of the thing. And
you go away from them, thinking only that
a big part of the Victory Liberty Loan will go
to completing this work of “reconstruction,”
and that the boiyls you buy to help finish the
job they so splendidly began will be but small
return to our wounded heroes.
They don’t like to talk about the war, those
boys who know its wretchedness.
“It brings it all back,” they say, and
shudder. “We want to forget. Or maybe
some mother would hear how her boy died and
was buried—and, oh, we wouldn’t hurt the
mothers.”
But listen to Sergeant Benjamin Froasier,
a Texas boy of the 141st Infantry, 36th Div-
ision, tell, reluctantly, of the battle which cost
his leg: f
"It was -last October in the Champagne
(Continued on page 8.)
tricts which have made up and gone over
their quotas.
Well, we have the national sport again.
Gee, how some of the boys did miss this daily
dope, and how they wondered if their favorite
would come back and make good at his regular
batting game. They have commenced the
score marking in Texas and you can see the
fans daily, as they congregate at the depot
and wait for the daily paper to see who made
the most hits and who had the spit ball under
control. There must be something to excite
the nerves of the American fan. He soon
tires of the wrestling match, of the foot ball
game and of the prize fight, but you can’t wear
him out when it comes to base ball. It is one
game that enables him to sit in the grand-
stand and cuss the umpire and in the next
breath commend his judgment when his favor-
ite batter gets to first by the skin of his teeth.
It is the one great game that can make the
seat of the grand-stand becomingly soft and
cause a feller to forget his worries from the
daily grind. It is the one game that makes
the grandmother die oftener than any other
human, and it is the one game that will make
sinners out of even the most conscientious
saints. And yet there are many who don’t
care a snap for it.
-o-
They say that up in Detroit, or was it
Milwaukee (?) merchants are selling what
comes mighty near being , a small brewery,
and there isn’t any law that can prevent them.
At these stores you can buy the malt, you can
buy the hops, you can buy the kettle and all
those things which enable an average family to
make beer sufficient in quantity to keep them in
a good humor until they are ready for an-
other brew. You see, this demonstrates that
freedom of a certain people is such that when
you curtail it, they seek another method in
which to enjoy it Injunctions, delays and all
that sort of technical unnecessary doings, isn’t
going to make a change in a people who have
set their minds on doing a certain thing. The
law lill have to be so framed that the penalties
will be too severe to permit the operation of
anything that may look like a brewery or a
pacifier factory. And when you have that kind
of a lew—well, it won’t do to aay too much.
This old story of a long lane having a
turning point is about as good as one could
wish for. Leastwise I am inclined to that
opinion since I had the pleasure of being in
attendance at the big meeting held at the court
house last Thursday afternoon. 1 am in a
happy frame of mind right now to state that
it was one of the finest meetings we have ever
had, relative to good roads, and the most com-
mendable feature is that it wasn’t a bully
ragging and wind jamming affair. It was a
get-together party and decide upon a matter
that has been crowding the people’s think
tanks for a good many years, and if I am to
pass correct judgment, I might add that it
has come to the turning point. That long lane
—even though it has been one of those black
lanes which never result in good—has a turn
in it, and the folks have taken the road North.
And they are going to continue to travel up
higher until they have secured what they are
determined to have.
Now, that’s putting it plain, isn’t it?
When the crowd got together, it was schedule
time, it was the hour that the promoters of
the movement had agreed upon—three o’clock
—and say, would you.believe it? When the
clock in the tower of the temple of justice
chimed the hour, Judge Ehlinger stepped for-
ward and told the big bunch what they were
called to LaGrange for. And with that he
announced that it was in order that a chairman
for the day’s meeting be named ,and some
feller, I don’t remember who, yelled out that
George Lenert, the man who was making such
a good success of the Victory Loan drive, was
the right man. George was sitting over at
the far end of the court room, and making
everyone believe that he didn’t hear the motion,
and that he was hell-fired busy with the sum-
ming up of totals of Victory Loan subscriptions
—which he was—but he came up smiling,
when the folks gave him the unanimous vote,
and he didn’t mince matters. He said one of
the finest things I have ever heard him say,
and that was: “My friends, this is going to
be a meeting to determine whether we are to '
have good roads or not, and we want your
sentiment on the question, but we are not
going to have any long-winded speeches. I
am tired of all this talk, and if we are not
going to get right down to business, we may
as well adjourn and go home.”
It is possible this isn’t exactly what
he said, bpt it comes mighty near it. Anyhow,
the boys in the audience—they weren’t the
town dudes with the cigarette stump, but the
boys from the field and furrow—boys who had
driven to town over some of the most mis-
erable roads that ever disgraced the good old
county of Fayette, and they were there to tell
the people that it was a case of getting better
roads or—well, you know when a people get
to the end of a joke they want a change. And
right then Henry Presun had the secretary-
ship hanged onto me, as though I didn’t have-
enough trouble already dodging }he arrows of
my critics and seeing local work carried to
other towns, but the bunch treated me just as
they did George, and I took my seat at the
table, assumed a dignified look, and began to
make notes. And then I got back at Henry
and had him named treasurer. He screwed
up that little cucumber which serves him as
a nasal organ and coughed once or twice, but
it was all right; he was a good roads booster,
and as such he had to take the job. And the
fireworks then opened.
Leo Frede made the motion that the tax
payers of Precinct No. 1 petition the County
Commissioners’ Court to hold a road bond
election to determine whether or not this pre-
cinct shall issue bonds to the amount of
|160,000. W. L .Taylor offered a substitute
motion, asking that the amount of bonds be
(200,000, and before the substitute motion was
placed to a vote, Geo. L. Haidusek asked that
some one who had given the subject some
thought explain the needs and some other
things and Alex Rosenberg wanted to know
what was meant by a “highway.” Judge
Ehlinger responded, and read from one of the
pamphlets issued by the highway department,
but I ain’t er going to take up all the space
and tell you what he read and said. But he
spokjB of the proposed highway from Schulen-
burg, through Swiss Alp to LaGrange, and
from LaGrange on through Rutersville, Old-
enburg, Warren ton, Round Top and Carmine
to the Washington county line, which were
designated highways. And he sought very
earnestly to impress upon his hearers these
highways were under government supervision,
(Continued on page 4)
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La Grange Journal. (La Grange, Tex.), Vol. 40, No. 18, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 1, 1919, newspaper, May 1, 1919; La Grange, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth997985/m1/1/: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Fayette Public Library, Museum and Archives.