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Reports on William C. Durant's mark on United States history as holding the record for the largest short-term real losses. Definition of short-term paper and short-term real losses; Durant as a major figure in the history of the American automobile industry; Rise and fall of Durant's career; Number of automobile companies created by Durant; Durant's relationship with General Motors company.

In July 1899, the New York City newsboys formed their own union and went out on strike against Joseph Pulitzer's "World" and William Randolph Hearst's "New York Journal." A confederation of children challenged the two most powerful publishers in the US. The newsboys were in the enviable position of being irreplaceable as the newspapers' major distributors. These newsboys were different from the earlier generations of street waifs. The wholesale price increase in Hearst's "Journal" and Pulitzer's "World" lead to the strike. The first reported events of the strike were in Long Island City when newsies discovered the deliveryman had been cheating them and giving them a short count on their bundles of papers. Morris Cohen may have led the strike in Manhattan. The newsboys prevented the delivery wagons from leaving with papers. The "Journal" and "World" were reluctant to take the strike seriously at first.

Looks at the history of the paper ballot, originally devised to protect the voter from intimidation. History of paper ballots in pre-Revolutionary America; How paper ballots became confusing; Why the paper ballot was ideal for dirty tricks; History of the ballot-reform movement; Introduction of the modern voting machine.

Presents a letter to the editor of the July 1991 issue of 'American Heritage.' Comments on an article about the history of banking; Disagreement over who the first country was to issue paper money.

Discusses instances in history showing Americans' tendency to invade others' privacy for politically-related gains since before the Revolution. Blount conspiracy in 1797; Burr conspiracy in 1807; John Henry papers in 1812; Credit Mobilier scandal in 1871.

Describes the development of the Waterman pen, an innovation which made it possible to carry around a slim, reliable, affordable, and graceful writing instrument. Actions of the device's inventor Lewis E. Waterman; Famous people who used these pens; Impact of ball point pen technology.

Discusses the invention by Lewis Edson Waterman of the ink-feeding device for fountain pens in 1884. History of writing tools and fountain pens; Description of the ink-feeding device; Establishment by Waterman of the Ideal Pen Company, which became the L.E. Waterman Company in 1887; Signing of the Treaty of Versailles by Lloyd George with a gold Waterman pen.