How To Write Special Feature Articles

ossibilities in order to choose the one method best adapted to his subject and his purpose. His chief consideration should be the class of readers that he desires to rea

f working out his subject, he will be able to d

n is not attracted by pure exposition. He is attracted by fiction. Hence the narrative and descriptive devices of fiction are employed advantageously to supplement expository methods. Narratives and descriptions also have the advantage o

f one or more persons affected. In explaining a new piece of machinery the writer may well describe it in operation, to enable readers to visualize it and follow its motions. Since the reader's interest will be roused the more quickly if he is given tangible, concrete details

in the operating-room of a hospital where it was being given to a patient, showed just how it was administered, and presented the result

suffering from what, to the lay mind, seems a hopelessly incurable injury or malformation. This particular patient had a crippled and paralyzed leg, and to restore its usefulness, it was necessary to cut deeply into the heel, stretch the "Achilles tendon," and make other changes whic

nd a gallery filled with a hundred or more of the leading medical men of the metropolis, he certainly seemed a helpless speck of humanity with all the unknown forces of science and modern life arrayed against him. Under ordinary conditions he would have been etherized in an

e. Dr. Jonnesco, who had landed in New York only two days before, had come to the United States with a definite scientific purpose. This was to show American surgeons that the most difficult operations could be performed without pain, without loss of consciousn

k into the desired position-that of the typical bicycle "scorcher,"-making each particular vertebra stand out sharply under the tight drawn skin. Dr. Jonnesco quickly ran his finger along the protuberances, and finally selected the space between the twelfth dorsal and the first lumbar vertebr?-in ot

a colorless liquid spurted out-the famous cerebro-spinal fluid, the substance which, like a water-jacket, envelops the brain and the spinal cord. Into this same place Dr. Jonnesco now introduced an o

dinary had happened. Dr. Jonnesco patted him on the back and said a few pleasa

nding surgeon asked, after the

matedly, "'cept that my legs fee

t proceedings. There was, naturally, much holding of breath as Dr. Virgil P. Gibney, the operating surgeon, raised his knife and quickly made

thing, my boy?" aske

'," came the response fr

tissues were cut, the tendons were stretched, the incision

own experiences in a confession story, for example, a writer may be able to show very clearly and interestingly the da

nted as to be even more interesting than fiction. Conversation, character-drawing, suspense, and other methods familiar to the writer of sh

such as (1) the interview, (2) the personal experience story, (3) the confession article, (4) the "how-to-do-something" article, (5) the personality s

on interviewed; or it may be made up partly of direct quotation and partly of indirect quotation, combined with the necessary explanation. For greater variety it is advisable to alternate direct and indirect quotations. A description of the person interviewed and of his surroundings, by way of introduction,

vents, explanations, and opinions given in the words of one who speaks with authority, have greater weight than do the assertions of an unknown writer. Third, the interview is equally effective whether the writer's purpose is to inform, to entertain, or to furnish practical gu

ders would like to have answered. Since it is the answers, however, and not the questions, that will interest readers, the questions in the completed article should be subordinated as much as possible. Sometimes they may be skillfully embodied in the replies; again they may be implied merely, or entirely omitted. In studying an interview article, one can generally infer what questions the interviewer used. Second, he must cultivate his memo

Arbor Day, a Washington correspondent used the following interview with

DAY

w than a 30-minute Arbor day address by the president of the school board and a patriotic anthem by

ot mean much unless the roots planted receive proper and constant care. For what the Fourth of July is to the war an

upply, Dr. Mulford has been making a study of trees best adapted for streets and cities generally. And

d planting one of the first considerations is a hardy tree, that can find nourishment under brick pavements or granite sidewalks. It must be one that branches high from

aurel oak, and there will be thousands of them planted this spring. It is

irable, and in many places the swamp maple grows well, tho

against it, though, is the 'elm beetle,' a pest which is spreading and which will kill some of our most beautiful trees unless spraying is consistently practised.

so many Arbor day trees d

out tender rootlets a child brushing against it or 'inspecting' it too closely will break them off and it dies. Or

ch of these are lost in transplanting that the large trunk cannot be nourished by the remainder. With nursery

rst place their branches are too low and unless carefully pruned their shape is irregular. Then they are su

much to the landscape. Pecan, chestnut, walnut and sha

y other state. This was in 1872, and Kansas was the second to observe the day, fall

the Union recognizes the day and New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin and others have gotten out extensive

nts is shown in the following article, which was published anonymously in the Sunday magazine section of the Ohio State Journal.

cahontas of

West is West, And neve

rs. Hark to the words of "

the grass should grow and the waters run,' has been taken from us. It was barren and wild when we received it seventy years ago. Now it is rich with oil and cultivation, and the whites coveted our possessions. Since it was thrown open to settlers no Cherokee holds sovereign rights as befor

twentieth century Pocahontas-who travels

of the Cherokee Nation. She says she is proud of every drop of Indian blood that flows in her veins

they say, 'Back to the blanket!' We have few blankets among the Cherokees in Tahlequah. I am the

m "Cooweeskowee," John Ross I., the rugged old Indian King who held out against Andrew Jackson back

-eye view of New York housetops, the white man's permanent tepee. Some spring birds a

now what they have called me, the old men and women who are wise-the full-bloods? Galilolie-'One-who-does-things-well.' With us, w

nto our quiet villages and ordered the Indians to go forth leaving everything behind them. My great-grandfather, the old King Cooweeskowee, with his wife and children, paused at the first hilltop to look back at his home, and already the whites were moving into it. The house is still standing at Rossville, Ga. Do you kno

our homes and lands, cattle-even furniture. A treaty was made solemnly between the Indians and the

lomatic suavity of Uncle Sam when he meets her in Washington. "Year after year the Cherokees waited for the Government to pay. And

aration for the wrongs inflicted by whites, had given us the riches of the earth. My people grew rich from their wells, but a

s clasped before her tightly, as if in sil

offered to pay us for the land they took back-the land that was to be ours in perpetuity 'while the grass grew and the waters ran.' We were told to file our claims with the whites. Some of us did, but eight hundred of the full-bloods went back forty miles into the foothills under the leadership of Red Bird Smith.

to me because I am my father's daughter. My Indian name means 'One-who-does-things-wel

if I can, before our President

s. Told in the first person, such stories are realistic and convincing. The pronoun "I" liberally sprinkled through the story, as it must be, gives to it a persona

person interviewed objects to having his name used, it is possible to present the material obtained by the interview in the form of a personal experience story. In that case the article would have to be published without the wr

e "how-to-do-something" articles are to be most useful to readers, the conditions under which the personal experience was obtained must be fairly typic

th in the story below, by means of the personal experiences of one woman. The article was published in the Woman's Home Compani

Me the 'H

a Small-Town

IE L.

ou get out of it? New York or some other big city is the place for you. There's wh

signment, and he was idling away spare time in our office. Before

ece you put in the paper about us. You ought to see the eatin's folks ha

ly left fatherless, a mother and three small children in real poverty.

ing here. Maybe it isn't fame in big letters

ut before he could retort another c

y putting it in the paper that I ser

so?" I meek

nd coffee, and that makes two courses. See that

n for your staying here. When we write anything about a

I am writing, and live with them. That's what brings the rewards in our business. It's the personal side

r, for the small town is essentially conservative and suspicious of change. This war, however, i

d managing editor. During this time I have been tempted many times to go to fields where national fame and a larger salary awaited those who

d with those who succeed, what have they more than I? They sign their names to articles; they receive big salaries; they are famous-as such fame goes. Why is a signed name to an article necessary, when everyone knows when the paper comes

and inhabitants. That is, I supposed I was going to be society reporter, but before very long I f

ffice, as the news department of a small-town newspaper office is sometimes called. I was embarrassed and nervous, and sat anxiously awaiting the arrival of the city editor. In fiv

g with a large city, forty miles away. It was no easy task to approach strangers and ask their names and destination; b

in the smaller towns better suited to women. Any girl who is bright and quick, who knows the ethi

s telegraphy that excels the Marconi-neighborhood gossip. But in the larger towns it is not so easy. In "our town," whenever there is a party the ice cream is ordered from a certain confectioner. Daily he permitted us to see his or

. I knew that men rarely read the social column. One day a man said to me that he always called his wife his better judgment instead of his better half. That appealed to me as printable, but where to put it in the paper?

ife and sayings. In order to get these in I used the initials of my title

intended, and there were some amusing results. For instance, when I said in the paper that "a certain man in a down-town sto

exchanges. Of course, I was careful to hurt no one's feelings, but I did occasionally have a little good-natured fun at the expense of

editor and owner was a politician and was away much of the time. It was then that I began to realize the responsibility of my position, to grapple with the problem of dealing fairly both with my employer and the public. The daily life

k; but her knowledge of "how" they work is generally vague. It was on my third day as city editor that I realized my woeful igno

last night. Power was off. Better come out

te are sent for selection, but in my ignorance I took up the slabs and tried to read the type. To my astonishment it was all backward, and I found myself wondering if it were a Chinese feature stor

ype operator came to me wi

l have to grab off a paragraph here and there. My machine's

found the linotype operator eager to show me how his machine works, and the foreman was glad to take me around and instruct me in his department and

he crowded, hostile cities, but remain in the smaller places where their work can stand out distinctly. A trite phrase ex

familiar home scene. A smell of fresh ink comes to me,

an. "We got out some p

has been twenty years at his trade

y work unhonored and unsung, I recall a quotation I read many years ago,

, "Buried in this burg." If a person h

ng a more glorious song than his neighbor, though he build his h

ing is demonstrated in the following article taken from The Designer. It was illu

oom in

factory Room i

ERINE V

room, the sleeping-porch and kitchen, and allowed to express their delight and satisfaction while we w

and again stand and wait. We know what is coming, and, as we revel in the expressions

sfaction in making a

ects to undertake room

s an original creati

be duplicated in our p

n this

rters under the rafters. It would be an easy enough matter for carpenters and plasterers to put a room in the attic, but we lacked the money necessary for such a venture. And so we puzzled. At first we thought of curtains, but the high winds which visit us made curtains impracticable. Then we thought of tacking the curtains top and bottom, and from this the idea evolved. The carpenter whom we consulted proved to be amenable to suggestion and agreed to put us up a framework in a day. We helped. We outlined the room on the floor. This took two strips of wood about one and a half by two inches. The other two sides

lly the distances between the tacks in order to keep this trimming uniform. The two walls supplied by the framework were quickly covered, but the rough wall of the attic necessitated some cutting, as we had to tack the burlap to the uprights and these had not been placed with yard-wide material in view. Above the screen-d

ing for the ceiling. The ceiling was merely the inner surface of the roof. The builders had made it of boards of varying sizes, the rafters were rough and splintery and there were myriads of nails sticking through everywhere. It looked a hopeless task. But we bought more stain and we

t. We put in a couple of small rugs, a brass bed, and a white bureau. We hung two pictures securely upon the uprights of the skeleton. We added a couple of chairs and a rack for clothing, put up a white madras curtain at the window, and regarded the effect with the utmost satisfaction. The room answered the purpose exactly

ut an equal. The idea is not patented, and we who deem ourselves its creators, are only too happy to send it on, in the

veal more personal and intimate experiences than a writer would ordinarily care to give in a signed article. Needless to say, most readers are keenly interested in

ble material for them from others. Not infrequently his name is attached to these articles accompani

an or woman, for example, is probably little concerned with the problem of the poorly paid college professor, but hundreds of thousands doubtless read with interest the leading article in an issue of the Saturday Evening Post entitled, "The Pressure on the Professor.

fairly typical of that of others in the same situation. In order to show that these experiences are characteristic, the writer may find it advantageous to introduce facts and figures tending to prove that his own case is not an isolated example. In the confession article mentioned above,

overcome prove helpful to readers laboring under similar troubles.

ing story but may serve as a warning to others, is shown in the confession story below. Signed "F.B.," and illustrated with a pen and ink sketch of the coupl

We Learned

good time was one of the primary necessities of life. Such were our ideas when we married on a salary of one hundred dollars a month. We took letters of introduction to some of the "smart" people in a suburb near Chicago, and they proved so delightfully cordial that we settled down among them without stopping to

musements, but hardly more than were due charming young people of our opportunities and tastes. I think that was our attitude, although we did not admit it. In September we rented a "smart" little apartment. We had planned to furnish it by means of several g

other would slip a bill into my always empty purse when we went shopping; or mine would drop a gold piec

e hired a maid, good-humoredly giving her carte blanche on the grocery and meat market. Our bills, for all our dining out, were enormous. There were clothes

en, in spite of our furniture money and our birthday checks, we found ourselves two hundred and fifty dollars i

d; eight months later, after our first baby came, we were over a thousand-and by that time, it seemed, permanently estranged. I actually was ca

iage was a failure and our love was dead, to the most poignant memories of our engagement days. But its

s affairs. And my firm is the kind of firm I want to work for. This next year is important; and if I spend it dragging through a nasty divorce business

where there were two younger sisters, or leavin

t hours a day into a home, it might amount to something sometime. The thing resolves itself into a choice between the things we

cigarettes," I said; and, surprisingly, on

down. Silk socks and silk stockings! Out of all possible econo

very late-after dinner-and stay just for the dancing. And we could get out

ut them, so we can talk intelligently. W

alk well enough if we do that, and people won't kno

ld betray our economies-so impressed with our social "position" and what people mi

a sore heart those long spring afternoons when I pushed his carriage conspicuously up and down the avenue while the other women motored past me out for tea at the club. Yet those long walks were the best thing that eve

wed a decrease of $16.47. I shall always remember that sum, because it is certainly the biggest I have ever seen. I began to ask the prices of things; and I made

g, on a side street not so very far from the proper avenue. I investigated idly, and fou

o had the cou

s the address," he said, "And that isn

n one from a good tailor. I carried half a dozen dresses from the dyer's to a woman who evolved three very decent gowns; and then I toted the

and cross when we refused some gayety for economy's sake. We resolutely decided to read aloud the evenings the others went to the theater c

discarded the wines that added the "smartness" demanded at formal affairs. People came to those dinners in

necessary to substitute a determined tramp for the Sunday morning golf game; but we presently gave that up. We were becoming garden enthusiasts. And as a substitut

, and I took over the cooking. Almost immediately, in spite of my inexperience, the bills dropped. I could not cook rich pastries and fancy desserts, and fell back on simple salads and fru

rentice hand on a budget; and that was the ye

house and moved farther out. Several people whom we liked best among that first "exclusive younger set" have moved out too

cigarettes (unmonogramed), and patronizes a good tailor for business reasons. But in everything else our substitutions stand: gardening for

es to me via the Christmas tree a box of stockings, and for Max a box of socks-heavy sil

warded the first prize by the American Magazine in a contes

s Bartered

lasm. I know, for I bartered forty precious

d only brother were killed in battle during the Civil War; our slaves were freed; our plantations mel

sperity. My husband was making a "good living." He was kind, easy-going, with a rare capacity for enjoying

ent love-making with, "And we will work and save an

down the years his big tender laugh, as he'd say, "

, with love, enough for any bride. But I-I saw only the ancestral mansion up

ssed each of my palms before he put the money into them. My fingers

I kept the books at home, and I wrote all the business letters. So it happened when John came home at night, tired from his day's work

rs to me, while I, my aching head near the big hot lamp, wrote on and on with hurried, nervous fingers. Outside there would be

m! I loved John, too. I would willingly have laid down my life for him or for any one of the children. And I intended sometime to stop and enjoy John and the

lives together were passed! The day came when the last little fellow trudged off to school and I no longer had a baby to hamper me. We were living now in the big old home.

. Died in what should have been

left I was afraid to stop and think. So the years hurried by! One by one the children grew up and

: "What did you do with the wonderful gifts Life laid in your lap-the love of a

bartered Life's great gifts for Life

wives who exchange the best years of their lives, their husband's comfort, his peace of mind, if not

" that I give my dearly bought bit of experience. Stop holding your breath until y

ticles. In the simpler types the directions are given in the imperative form; that is, the reader is told to "take" this thing and that, and to "mix" it with something else. Although such recipe directions are clear, they are not particularly interesting. Many readers, especially those of agricultural journals, are tired of being told to do

In an interview article, a person may indirectly give directions to others by describing in his own words the methods that he has used to acco

le process is so clear that he forgets how necessary it is to describe every step to readers unfamiliar with it. The omission of a single point may make it impossible for the reader to understand or to follow the directions. Alt

forth in the following combination of the personal experience and the "how-to-do-something" types of articles. It appeared in Sys

Do John

C. H

n, last Tuesday morning. "I've put Fanning on his machine, but that won't help much unless

nd. But I told Begg

ggs. He was able to run Fanning's machine while the lat

experience and adaptability to do other work than that which they are hired to do. Such men are invaluable to know about, especially when an operator stays away for a day or perhaps a week and t

write his name and the job he is to fill on the outside of a 9 by 12 manila envelope. Into this envelope we put his applic

ployment record envelope, 12 inches. When a man tells me in his application that he not only can operate a drill press, for which he is hired, but has also worked at grinding, I fit my card

if Beggs should suddenly telephone me some morning that his grinder is absent-sick, or fishing, perhaps-I need only take my cardboard list and, starting at A, run it down my file unti

necessary explanation to the man's own fore

mfortable living from a small farm. It was illustrated by four half-tone reproductions of photographs showing (1) the house, (2) the woman at her desk with a typewri

es and

d in the city. Everybody laughed when she

E MARY

, unusually fond of frocks and fun. She had been reared in the city. She

in six months,"

untry. Moreover, she is supplying eggs, chickens, honey, and home-canned g

ation for the woman who feels the modern desir

r two, I had hours of time on my hands. The corner bakeshop, the laundry, and modern conveniences had thrust upon me more leisure than I could use. Mr. Tupper is a you

ing, women's clubs, and social pleasures. I longed to be a real partner to

uild. One day it flashed upon me: 'Why invest in city property? Why not a lit

uri, an hour's drive from Kansas City. Mr. Tupper's salary furnished working capi

lines are a pig and a registered Jersey cow. She looks after the poultry, works

Mrs. Tupper explained. "I visited farms and studied the me

poultry experiment station for instructions. While I was living in the country supervising the building of the bungalow, I rea

rything to the rules and directions of government and state agricultural experts, which may be had for the pr

ons, and reared in poultry houses built from experiment-station designs. From the first they have been practically free from lice and

second season I harvested $265 worth of comb honey from twenty

tite for bulletins, her belief in experts, and her rigid insistence on pur

sumer route; but again she did not. From the first she planned to plug the leakage of farm profits in middlemen's commissions. When she had anyt

ly-not expensively or ornately-is a valuable a

de against him the instant I look at him. So I reasoned that a trim, pleasing appearance would be as valuable an asset to me as to the men who

or that my shoes were shabby, not only would I be timid and ill at ease, but my appearance would suggest

tive of poor quality, but it would frighten away a careful buyer. Likewise, I do not illustrate my egg sales talks with a sample dozen of odd sizes and shapes. It is needless to add that goods delivered to cu

She disposes of every pound to private customers and to one grocery store which caters to "fancy" trade. She sells eggs from her 400

he christened her 10 acres "Graceland Farm," and this name is stamped on everything that leaves her place. She had cards pri

sted. "A typewritten letter on letterhead stationery, mailed promptly, creates a pleasant impres

'd stand a good chance of losing a customer, wouldn't I? If I didn't miss an order outright, I should certainly l

ly to create the good-will which is as essential to the farmer business

customer. Many of her city patrons have the habit of driving to the farm and returning with a hamper laden with eggs, honey, bu

at her zeal for fair

ether; it's busines

Kansas City last fall; but Mrs. Tupper felt repaid. She won first prize on hen, first and second on pullet, a

icken I have, and to all my poultry products. T

for my business. I was on the job for days. I met scores of people and distributed hu

try house and apiary, Mrs. Tupper serves appetizing meals. She finds time for

hen is an efficient little workshop lined by cupboards and shelves. Mrs. Tupper can sit before her kitchen cabinet and pre

times each year, and a little work each morning with dust mop an

um is only plain business sense. Laundry work, scrubbing, and dishwashing have a low economic value. Such unskilled labor eats up the time and

not been great enough to be heralded in the press. What appeals to us most about these individuals is, not mere biographical facts such as appear in Who's Who, but the more intimate details of character and pe

readers inspiration that may bear fruit in their own lives, (3) to give practical guidance by showing how one individual has accomplished a certain

haracteristic actions, (4) quoting their words, (5) giving biographical facts, (6) citing opinions of others about them, (7) showing how others react to them. By a judicious combination of several of these metho

out men and women whom we know well than it is about those whom we have never met, or with whom we have had only a short interview. Inexperienced writers should not attempt to prepare sketches of persons whom they know but slightly. In a single interview a writer who is observant, and who is a keen judge of human nature, may be able to get an impression sufficientl

in the department of "Interesting People" in the American Magazine; the second was sent out by the Newspaper

1

joys Straighte

SON RAP

University of Illinois seeking an education. He inquired his way of a group o

said gayly, "an

Mr. Clark had just finished persuading an irascible father to allow his reprobate sophomore son to stay at college, and although he was facing the problem of advising an impetuous

ith a glow of hope, inspiration, and security which only a genius in the art of graciousness and underst

-dressed, his gray hair smartly parted, with kindly, clever, humorous blue eyes and a smile that is an ecstasy of friendliness, "Tommy" sits behind his big desk in the Admi

ty on fraternities and their influence, and a power for making that influence constantly better and finer. In business, farmer, and school circles in the Middle West Mr. Clark is famous for h

e dean's office one fall, set his suitcase on the floor, and drawing two one-dollar

've come to work my way through

yes, his wide, compact lips and strong jaw. Reaching over, he

you to be handicapped, so I'll keep this two dollars. You can get work at -- Green Street waiting on table for y

expenses out of his own pocket. The student recovered, and two years after he was graduated sent "Tommy" a letter enclosing a check for five hundred dollars. "To redeem

all incoming freshmen are taken and filed away. And many an humble, unknown freshman has been exalted by the "He

about peoples lives or living those lives with people. And he chose, with the result that at all times of the day and night it's "Tommy this, and Tommy that"; an accident case may need him at two A.M. in the hospital, or a crowd of roystering

e West's finest contributions to

2

nvented for the U.S. Army

RRY B

. 12.-"Well, Old J.M

of Hartford, New Haven and Bridgeport, where the bulk of the rifle

gain" is the simplest and most direct way of stating t

by the United States government, contracts for immense numbers of each have been signed, and work of production is

wning? You neve

ain behind practically every basic small firearm invention in the past 40 years.

imous verdict of the gun experts of the Colt, Remington and Winchester plant

ost "gun-shy" genius in the country when it comes to publ

ished a little story about his success as an invent

0 cash than have had that s

ould know something about this firearms wizard,

or six weeks at a time, with only his gun for company. He was only 24 when he worked out his ideas for a gun carrying a magazine full of

istols, rapid-fire rifles produced by the biggest firearms

army pistol is a B

ale of Belgium was made the standard equipment for th

e Nationale, King Albert of Belgium knighted the modest

pt for a rim of gray hair, and wears a closely clipped gra

of his career as an inventor, he can't help ta

gun. When you begin loading a gun up with a lot of fancy contraptions and 'safety devices,' you are only invi

un so 'safe' that

d-fire gun, weighing only 15 pounds, which can be fired from the shoulder like the ordinary rifle. Each mag

d, it weighs, water jacket and all, only 28 pounds. For airplane work, where the firing is in bursts an

valuable additions to the eq

in the first person, whereas the term "narrative article" as used in this classification is applied only to a narrative in the third person. In this respect it i

n the process as though it were an incident in a story. The story of an invention or a discovery may be told from the inception of the idea to its realization. A political situation may be explained by relating the events that led up to it.

roduced into narrative articles to increase the interest and strengthen the impression. Whenever, therefore, material can be given a

ed to explain a new institution like the community kitchen, or the methods of recruiting employed in the army, i

1

PUBLIC

E COOLI

unity Ki

unity Ki

le soup

ew half

ans half

otato and cup full of b

puddi

d pea

oa with milk

hree cents' worth

enough beef stew

e upturned toward the top of the bright green counter which loomed before them. Two pairs

nts," she said. "It is four cent

d all and cook it and put a quarter in the gas meter, it's cheaper to get it

an, carefully lowering the filled p

owed the little procession down the length of the

rs. William K.

e proximity to the newly established People's Kitchen, situated on the s

much talked of, long hop

availed themselves of its benefits. Within three years, it is promised, the community kitc

by Edward F. Brown, executive secretary

d frankfurters, beans and rice pudding is vested in Mrs.

ng to be of interest to every housewife and t

ultimately reduce the cost of living by almost 50 per cent. This much has been demonstrated already to the extent that the Tenth Avenue kitchen has not

imum cost. This cost includes rent, light, heat, power, interest on investment, depreciation, cost of food

e the food will be prepared and distributed to the smaller kitchens where, by means of steam tables, it can be kept hot and dispensed. The character of the food to be supplied each district will be cho

t had been at one time a saloon, the kitchen of the c

ide them encircle the room on two sides. Their use was

careful not to disturb their wives and families, and heading straight for the new kitchen on the corner. From trains running along "Death Avenue" came blackened trainme

the three tables w

the men, pushing the empty tray from him, after draining the

ren from the school

n this rice puddin', ain't there?" He carried the saucerful of pudding over to the table. "Only three cents," he w

ch!" exclaimed

e smiled happily and dished out pudding, beans and soup with g

," she cried. "I'll

e busy woman with the tin pail in her hand. "There's a t

poor lunch

entered, late in the afternoon, "It's hard to go home and cook

dren poured in with pai

one. "It's just like a store, you k

you've got children to feed and clothe. When I go to work by the day it's little that's cooked at home. Now-" Sh

2

IN THE R

NGSLE

or the Unite

ster displayed before the small-town recruiting office. In his rather dull mind he pictured himself as he would l

s more than I'm gettin' now on the farm! I'd see the world; I might even get to learn a regular trade." He scratched

ughly honest mind worked slowly. He had been pondering the opportunities o

rned and started to plow his furrow toward the road he noticed that a motor cycle had stopped just beyond the fence. "Broke down," the boy commented to hims

was dressed in the regulation khaki of Uncle Sam, with the U.S. in blo

oy queried, droppin

and continued to po

the boy continued,

ng up and taking in the big, raw-boned physi

say's

riends in

op

uiting officer's attention now, for he was a recruiting office

sy life, don't they?" Evidently

pulled out a pipe, and sat down comfortably

cruit more closely. To his experienced eye the boy appeared desirable. Slouchy, dirty, and lazy-looking, perhaps; but t

ree; of good-fellowship and fraternal pride in the organization; of the pleasant evenings in the amusement rooms in quarters. And then of the life of the big world, of which the boy had only dreamed; of th

as I'd like to join,"

s your

e Bis

he next time you're in town," said the

a whirl of red dust. Nor did the farmer boy think to wonde

em to join; but we do sort of give 'em the idea. Like joi

ted the stairs that day, resolved to

found his friend the corporal banging away at a typewriter. "How are you, S

lit his pipe again, and leisu

ke to soldier wi

was flattering to be considered on a basis of equal

he replied, a

old are y

all right, then; no tedious formality of securing sig

tion, details of physical condition, moral record (for the army will have

hich branch of the service he ought to be connected with. If he wants to be a soldier just for travel and adventure, I advise th

d out if the applicant is capable of violent exertion and to discover any minor weaknesses; an exa

ral finally says. "In about a wee

' to do till then?

ch has a yearly contract with the Government to take care of just such embryo recruits; "in the daytime you can hang around town, a

men who have been accepted by the non-commissioned officer are put through their paces again, and

station at Columbus, Ohio, and twenty-eight cents apiece for coffee on the way. In these boxes you

ents buy a big pail of hot coffee for the bunch at the station lunch-room. Then the corporal takes them all down to the train, tells them briefly but plainly what is expected in the way of conduct from

g station, have taken the oath of allegiance, and are safely and