davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1893-01-22

Mr.. Cable thought the thing over care
fully. decided that his friend was right,
and the creole songs are now almost
dropped from his repertoire. Then he
took 10 tampering with his voice and imi-
tating this man or that until he has finally
succeeded In almost entirely Transforming
the character of his reading. with the re.
suit that the charm is greatly lessened.
And the unfortunate part of it IS that
having made these changes and modifica-
tons in himself, he is today poweriess TO
return to his original way of doing
things. One feels that there is some
thing artificial in his reading now, a lack
of spoutaneity, and he feels it also. and
deplores it no doubt, but can do nothing.
Mr.. Cable is certainly the most dimilu-
tive of American author-readers. He
weighs only 80 pounds. and is small In
proportion. He wears a full brown beard,
and his voice, though high and shrill
when be speaks, is of fine tenor caliber
when he comes to sing, which unfortu-
nately he does not do often enough. He
is the neatest, nattiest and most precise of
men, his handwriting resembling copper
plate, with never blot or an erasure, and
his clothes and linen always looking as if
they had just been pressed and starched.
He is a devoted friend and admirer of
perfection that Mark says he cannot tell
himself which is which in the dark.
When Mr.. Clemens and Cable were on
their reading tour together they used to
have warm religious discussions, Mr..
Cahie arguing from the orthodox side, he
being very strict in all his ideas, while
Mark, half for the fun of teasing his
friend. used TO go IN heavy as the cham
pion of the world, the flesh and the devil.
Every one knows how Mark Twain
comes upon the stage. how he drawls and
looks bored, how he thrusts his hands
deep down into his pockets. scans the cell
ing and seems preterna:uraliy solemn just
at the moment of bringing down the
house. He has got quite gray Of late
years and his face has the color Of ivory,
with scarcely a touch of color.
Now, word about the dress of our
author-readers. Do their clothes bear the
stamp of genius2 Do they fit? Are
there inkstains on their shirt fronts, and
do their shoes present an inspirational
run-down-at-the-heel appearance? That
Is another ridiculous idea many people
have about novelists. They imagine them
underfed. unappreciated. badly paid crea-
lures. who dress anyhow and treat the
whole moral and social code with equal
indifference. As matter of fact authors
ord their clothes at the best tailors and
are perfectly able to wear them gracefully
and pay for them. You have probably
passed more than one successful author
and mistaken him for millionaire banker
or p!easure-Iooking club man.
For instance. +. Hopkinson Smith, nov
elist, artist engineer and man OF the world,
The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1893-01-22
HOW AUTHORS READ.
Pen Pictures of Famous Writers
on the Platform.
4 STURDY LOT OF MEN.
James whitcomb Riley . Perfect EIo-
eutionist-Twain, Crawford, Egg
gieston aud Page.

am going to speak OF some dozen
American writer's and telD something of
how they read from their own works, how
they look on the stage, what kind of
voices they have and SO on. First as to
their personal appearance. Many people
lave an idea that authors are a pale,
worn-out. dyspeptic lot, with the fires of
inspiration burning in their sickly frames
ALI soul and very poor sort of bodies.
What shock such persons must get at
the first sight of Hop" Smith, the author
of Colonel Carter of Cartersville." who
looks like an army officer and has an eye
Is keen as a hawk. Alsosat the sight of
bluff Col. Knox, of boy Travellers" fame,
Who stands six feet one in his stocking
feet and has travelled all over the world
without getting seasick. Also at the sight
OF George KEENAN,, the burly Russian ex-
plorer, man who has the strength and
witness of panther.
The fact is American authors are good.
looking, sensible and healthy body of men,
with nothing about them of the melan-
choly shadow which is supposed to brood
over genius. Many of them could hold
their own IN rough and tumble fights.
You pass them on the street or in the cars
and never suspect that they are novelists.
They look pretty much like anybody else,
and some of them have been known to
live in humble boarding houses and be
perfectly satisfied. Before fame perched
upon their banners they may have been
bank clerks at $40 a week and worn ready
made neckties. Now that they are
famous. however. no one will believe such
things possible, and they are expected to
be full of fads and crotchets. That is why
people go to see them when they read in
public.
These are days when budding genius
never goes begging or pines away and dies
In lonely garrets. Let a new star arise
ever so few inches above the literary hori-
son and Immediately the telescopes OF So
ciety have it focused, magniied and glor-
lied before the poor thing has fairly got
its eyes open.
The American public insists on scruti-
MIXING its author-heroes at close range,
wants to stare at them through opera
glasses, TO see how their clothes fit, and
note the color of their eyes, to hear them
read laugh. sing, and, in general. to put
them through their PAGES
Some persons claim that authors have
no business TO be public readers. chiefly be-
cause they don't know how to read. That
is unjust and aside from the point. The
fact is. American authors are practically
compelled to become public readers. 1t
matters not whether they ought to read or
want to read. or are capable of reading.
Their constituents. male and female,
pounce down upon them. gush over them
and willy niliy drag them from their book
lined and smoke- A. yored deps w hara tbey
would much prefer to remain, to be exhi-
bited on the lecture hall stage so that all
the world may near and see just what
manner of men they are.
Take for instance the case of Thomas
Nelson Page, author of "Marse Chan"
The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1893-01-22
FOKSAK EN.

Crushed in the dust forsaken! o God. It can
not bel
My only fault was weakness-I hearkened to his
plea;
With love my heart was opened. like buds by sun
and showers;
could not see the serpent-twas hidden In the
flowers.
Thrice baser than the serpent that stings to
shield from wrongs,
But cannot reproach thee, though such to thee
belongs:
My broken heart forgives thee for all the ruin
done,
But was the f1eetIng plsasu not far too dearly
wont
1 would not thou shouldst suffer, but thou has.
done me wrong:
pass the night IN weeping, but thou In mirth
and song:
Thy fckIe heart finds others on whom to try thy
All! why was to me given alone It's baser par.?.
Thou goest forth to pleasure, thy heart i. light
aud free.
No shorns lie in thy bosom, thou wilt not think
OF me:
So goes the shining serpent that By the pathway
lay,
Nor heels not tha. his victim IS dying by the
way.
OF pain and grief knew not, but thou hast
taught me all;
The cloud that forms the rainbow may bring the
deepest pail.
Blithe a. bird IN springtime ere sorrow dwelt
with me,
That thou shouldst bring me anguish did not
then foresee.
The morn dawns warm and radiant, and from
the leafy trees
The happy birds are 1inging their music on the
breeze:
But /. still wrapt in sorrow, have wept the weary
night,
And there 10 naught 70 cheer me comes with the
morning light
Louis Lesh
North Yakima, Jan. le, 1893
The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1893-01-22

TO our colonel. Ten men under l4ieut.
Suplee were sent, and Capt. Augur with
fifteen more and baggage for all toaowed
Immediately. The nrst detachment made
the forty-ive-mile march TO Zuni IN six
hours. Lieut.. Suplee at once entered the
village with his men and attempted to
make the arrest, but his authority was
roughly resisted.
The news of Lieut.. SupIee's peril met
Capt. Augur on the way. and he instantly
ordered his men to proceed double time
The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1893-01-22

the Others were dressed as well. The girls
were as neatly clad as the bows, and looked
like American school girls. except that in
stead of hats they wore shawls. They
were amusing themselves like any other
school children, and appeared happy and
healthy They were pleased TO see the
soldiers, and crowded round Us offering
help and inspecting our accoutrements
with all the curiosity Of youth. One thing
that struck Us foreioly was their universal
politeness We visited the schools that
night. attracted by the singing, and at
first nodestiy looked through the win.
The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1893-01-22

man could be more absolutely methodical
than the creator of Col. Carter" who
rises early. builds lighthouses and viatucts
until in the afternoon at his office on Mas
sau street. where he is Francis IL. Smith.
then becomes L. HopkInson Smith until
p. m, and in that time does his literary
work. goes abroad TO Italy every summer,
where he spends exactly tifiy-one days and
paints exactly htty-one pictures. which
bring him In on an average $1,000 each
am not a cent less
Mr. Smith in his public reading follows
no plan but his own and has been in
structed by no teacher. His voice is full
and pleasant, his manner vivacious and
intense, and there is IN his way of putting
things and interpreting his own books a
certain magnetism which never fails TO
hold and entertain his audience He
works in many thrilling stories of advent
ure, changing quickly 10 the humorous or
pathetic and in his deiIneatIon of charac-
ter shows that he has in him the stuff for
a brilliant career on the stage should he
choose TO annex that profession to the
many in which he has already achjev ed
success AS teller of after dinner stories
there is no one in New York who has a
better claim 10 the first place than Hop"
Smith.
If include F. Marion Crawford in this
list there are many who Will tell me be is
The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1893-01-22

dows. Within some OF the grown boys
and girls were shouting Gospel hymns
with a fervor and interest that would
shame a Christian child. At length, sum-
moning up courage, We entered another
school and witnessed a display of stolid
Indian diligence
The round trip CT $50 miles was made in
nine days, during continual storms. For
many miles horses and mules were knee
deep in snow. but they reached the camp
in pretty good FORM
The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1893-01-22

dispensed with brown beard in which he
Is familiar to Americans, and now wears
only heavy mustache. His long resi-
oence abroad has given him decided but
not unpleasant English accent and he rolls
ms RS strongly. He reads from the printed
page In an easy, unconcerned manner and
does not seem to feel that he is doing any
thing OF any particular consequence or
that MS reading has any particular merit.
his favorite selection for reading are the
stories from Zoroaster Of "Belshazzar."
the hunchback love scene in THE Witch
OF Prague" and the "Song of the Siren"
from The Immortais." As he recites
such familiar lines as:
ave have sober lips and hearts of lead,
10 kiss and earess till the sailor is dead"
there came into his voice depth and re-
sonance of tone which was particularly eff
fective. For one who has only made his
debut as reader within few weeks Mr..
Crawford had certainly developed remark
able power.
Thomas W. Knox, who is generally
called colonel" and has made himself
loved by boys all over the land for tales OF
adventure. comes on the stage with a
bluTf. hearty manner and kindly smile
which tells OF an unlimited reserve of
good stories. As already stated he is over
SIX feet in stature, being one of the "Ti-
tans," big stout man about 50. with a
full grizzly beard which was once black.
Col. Knox speaks as he talks, his genial
personality giving a pleasant flavor to
everything and the absence of all preten-
sion adding to his charm. He reads with
scarcely any gestures and uses simple Ian.
guage, addressed really to young people
but appealing to all.
George KEENAN,, the Russian traveller
and author, is wiry, dark-eyed man,
powerfully built, though of medium size,
who Impresses you mainly with his in
tense earnestness. As he moves across
the stage you see that his limbs are supple
and feel that he carries with him store
of physical strength and an indomitable
will capable of taking him through diff
culties as big as the continents he has
crossed. He is a very serious man. al
though he expresses himself in rather
matter of fact way His face is thin and
pale, and the man looks overworked. His
hair is still black and brushed away from
his broad forehead, under which a pair of
dark eyes snap with resolution and rest
less energy. Mr.. KEENAN, is a nephew OF
the great Morse, and was at one time an
exrert telegraph operator.
Mr.. KEENAN, seems to get on fire with
anger and sorrow as he tells the tragic
story of the sufierings and horrors he wit
messed in Siberia. Now and again he
passes into q vein of sarcasm as when he
tells how the governor of q certain prov
ince signed his name to the Lords prayer
without having the remotest idea what he
was approving, whether a death sentence
or pardon.
One of the most charming of our Amer
lean readers In public IS Charles Dudley
The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1893-01-22
IN DEATHS SHADOW.
Nerve on the Part of an Army
Officer Saves His Troops
FROM AN INDIAN MASSACRE,
Marrow Escape Of Soldiers while TRY.
ing to Arrest Zuni Chiefs for Tor
turing . Medicine Man.

Some time ago body of United States
troops from Fort Winga,e stoed in the
shadow of the dreadful fate ts1at over
whelmed the brave Custer and his men.
and but for commanding officers calm
ness in a moment of peril the country
would have been shocked by story of
savage butchery from the land of the
Zunis. The incident arose out Of the SUI
perstition and the cruelty of shese In
dians.
It will be remembered that the Ennis
The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1893-01-22

" -'~'N'' HAcctS anu OLeIS 10
give public readings.
But | don't know how to read in pub
lie" protested Mr.. Page, who is a singu-
larly modest man.
No matter" said those who were clam
orins for him. read any way you please,
or simply talk to u.s."
But am no orator and know nothing
about elocution. In my whole life have
never taken a lesson in voice culture"
Never mind" was the answer, 1--WE
want YOU anyhow. Say what YOU like, do
Is you please. but have you we must"
And have him they did, as is apt to be
the case whenever the great American
public wants anything.
Mr.. Page was enough out of the ordi-
nary in his style and personality to appeal
strongly 10 those whose chief pleasure is
found in discovering and bowling down to
idols of the beaten track He made
brilliant success from the very start. and
stands today in the foremost rank of
native authors who read from their own
productions. He has beautiful voice.
which he uses as nature taught him. with
no acquired tricks of meditation and tone
production. He makes no attempt at
rhetoric. employs no iorid gestures and is
In no way whatsoever sensational. When
this novelist OF the South Is reading, YOU
may close your eyes and fancy before YOU
some negro telling his simple story in his
own homely way. with his swift and char
teristlc changes Of fancy. now ludicrors,
now pathetic. but always the old negro.
The vowels are sounded broad and rich,
Just as one hears them along the Potomac.
aud the printed words OF the authors
books seem TO take new life "a Won hear
them spoken thus in faultless dialect
30 much you see with your ewes closed,
but open them and there stands before Won
on the platform. impossible though it
seems, young man OF medium stature
whose manner and bearing show him 10 be
what he -, an aristocrat every inch Of him.
one Of the genuine +. +. Va, favorite
with women. a cultured gentleman. With
al that he has young face and almost
loEat expression and YOU catch the
twinkle IN his gray eyes whenever he lifts
mem from the book, which he does. by the
way, iotrequentlv.
MI rage IS awidower-another charm
snd IS only Is wears old. He was law
The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1893-01-22

q large audience as he talks in a drawing
room to a company of friends and ac-
quaintances. There is plenty of ANNA
ton, but no elOcution. If he reads from
his own works he does indeed bring out
all the points. but without emphasis or
seeming bent upon making an impression.
James Whitcomb Riley as a reader or
recitationist is like himself and no one
else in the world. He renders his poems
better than any one else could, and alto
gether the entertainment given by him is
SUI generis Whoever has heard him recite
the verses having for refrain:
An the gobble-uns III git you
Efyou
Don't
Out,
will bear witness that he IS the perfection
of an elocutionist, although doubtless he
never took lesson in that art all his lite.
He seems TO be entirely absorbed In all he
reads or recites and never fails to carry his
audience with him. There is nothing stiff
or strained about what he does and al
though he brings much art to the plat
form he c0Rtinues to make it appear art
DR.. Edward Eggleston. the author of
the "Hoosier Schoolmaster" and other
good things, is typical Yankee in appear
ance, very tall, with full, iron-gray
beard, ana nlgn-pltched voice with the
nasal character predominant. He reads
with very little pretension, but in force
full way. which captivates audiences fond
of old.fashioned fireside scenes, in which
he excels. He is very deliberate in his
manner, and one pleasant feature Of his
readings is tendency to suddenly change
from the serious TO the humorous. and in
terard side-spittlng story of quaint
Yankee picture in the midst Of his more
serious deineations He has also guarded
his personality and the flavor of his own
originality intact from the invasion of
vandal elocutionists.
The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1893-01-22

Mrs Julia Ward Howe. The author of Mr..
IsaaCs' when boy vas sent to 81. Paul's
school in Concord. \. H, and he still
owns a home near there, to which he
hopes 10 bring his beautiful young wife
some day and i've there within sight of
the White mountains.
As Mr.. Crawford comes upon the stage
he strikes one as serious, cultured man,
who carries himself st ease as II accus-
toned to being with the best sort OF peo-
PIE. lie is tail. about six feet, and seems
perfectly strong and well. He has recently
The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1893-01-22


has a taultless
figure clad in the
latest style I'M
ported from Bond
street. He Is above
ordinary height
and straight as a
soldier, wears his
iron gray hair in
a becoming bang.
and although past
50 years of age
seems to- be and
is in the prime Of
health and activ-
ity, His eyes tas-
cinate you, look
ing out with a
dark luster from
IL n d er heavy
black broWs. No
The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1893-01-22

In Ole virginia,
1.-Two Little Confed-
crates" and other de-
Ii s b tful Southern
stories. Years ago
people began to like
his books and yield to
the charm of his SIM
pie style and wonder.
full n gro dialect.
Straightway til e s Q
same searchers after
new lines determined
to find out all about
the unknown author,
and Mr.. Page was be-
sieged with letters,r re-
quests and offers TO
The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1893-01-22

w arEeI, W L . > q
hair is 50 white
that a casual OBJ
server would take
him tor an old
man. The fact IS
he is compara-
lively young for
one who has done
30 much, having
been born in 1929.
He is a delightful
speaker, although
rarely or never
using gestures. His
m g { h cd on the
platform might be
called the COLO
quail. That is, he
The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1893-01-22

not an American
author. but they
are mistaken. Mr..
Crawford. it is
true, was born in
lta.y thirty-eight
years ago, but his
father and mother
were both Ameri.
cans. the former.
I h o. as Craw-
ford, being the
scu !ptOr " h o
made the " ash.
IN gton IN y n u
ment, the latter
n,i0r the sis-a-of
The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1893-01-22

yer before he be-
came IA writer. His
lit erary ability
comes 10 him from
his father and a
good stock of an
cestors. No one
else could get the
exquisite effect in
rea d IN z "Marse
Chan - that Mr..
! age gets for the
simple reason that
there is no other
pubic reader in the
Country who has
the same mastery
OF the negro as well
- they do them
selves aud writes Il
with the same pre-
cislon a college pro-
lessor puts into the
study OF s. foreign
ron que
Furthermore the
natural sweetness
OF his voice has re.
manned unspoiied
hN any cut and
The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1893-01-22

Ladies' and chiliren's knit jackets at cost
Beaver shswis at manu- fsctursFs' prices. O. W.
Peterson 4 Bro, corner Front and Depot streets,
North seattle.
The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1893-01-22

The tine corrected daily 10 second from the
Nosthfield observatory ST Bssye'S
The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1893-01-22

o'ri Moor e. Of etCcIiion teachers
ana mat trlOss ME 10 the next point:
an author who wants 70 become a IA
'orite a. 4 reader should know that IN
irving TO Improve himself or make any
aaatefiaI changes IN his natural styls liz.
y. pretty apt 10 xiii the goose that laws
VIZ golden eggs. His admirers have
summoned him from his seclusion not
The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1893-01-22
Evening Train on Great Northern,

Mixed train daily. except sunday, for points
north. a. rs p. m Passenger coach on this
train between Seattle aud Everett
The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1893-01-22

Dr. J. Eugene Jordan has removed from the
Yes.er residence TO safe Deposit building.
The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1893-01-22
In 1898

All roads lead 10 Chicago. The Chicago, MIL
waukee & So Paul railway leads the van. Ex.
cursion rates to the Worlds ials.