davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The San Francisco call., 1898-03-27

- is tr9 last day of ,le Oregon's
 stay in San Francisco, and the
 E decks of the great battle-ship are
 X crowded with hurrying, perspiring
 throngs of bluejackets. h few
 hours she will be off to make a showing with the other Atlantic bat tle-ships in the spanish question. Every one who can is at work, appar- ently everything is in confusion, but in reality orderly discipline prevails and all the arrangements for the long voy- age which the ship is to make around the Horn for the Atlantic seab5drd are hsng carried out with matter Of fact pf ecision. Few people have any idea of the amount of labor involved in pre- pairing huge batGe-ship like this for sea. Theoretically 2 man-of-war. once commissioned. is supposed to be always ready for action. But in practice there is always a great deal to be done at the
The San Francisco call., 1898-03-27

last moment. especially when voyage Of such exceptional length is contem- plated. And in the Orogon's case the work was complicated by the fact that the ship had just come out O. drydock, where her sea-going qualities have been greatly improved by the addition of couple of bnge keels check the tendency to excessive rolling which the vessel formerly manifested.
 Thus all the ammunition which had been discharged previously to going into drydock had to be taken on board again; no light task considering that over AGO tons of shell and powder, gun cotton and other explosives, are slowed away far below the water line in the magazines.
 Each of the monster thirteen-inch guns in the turrets fires a shell weigh ing over 1900 pounds. There are four of
The San Francisco call., 1898-03-27

Continued on Page Twenty-six.
, 1898-12-17
A CLIMB or % 500 EEBT.

!. Sir W. NJ. Conway's latest 49, .evemeLr.
in the way Of mountain climbing, i. to ascend
the Yllimani in the Cordilleras-a peak the
summit of which is %. 5OUfr. above the sea
level. 1t took five day from tile Highest
point Of civiiisatfon." On the fourth dev ~
the party were m this middle IT a difficult
clid, The Indian. followers to(t4d. The last
hour the party suffore from great weakness.
though th"re was no actual ~iIlneos, The
view from the summit is described as "as-
t ding - SIR Martins next attack is to be
made on the, higndst peak IN tho CerdiIleras,
-nI perhaps in ,Sru'h Amerio, -YlIiampa.
, 1898-12-17
Church Family Newspaper, 4th NOv.)

have no doubt that Captain Dreyfus will
soon be on his way home. No matter how
this terrible tragedy may end, the victim
cannot fail 10 he still more narrowed. Sup
posing him TO be- Innocent, he will have to
face aotrementIous tide of unpOpularity in
france. and snpposing him to be guilty and
hisese"tenc~ confirmed, he viii 60 back to
his dom WITH all the penalties Of hope de-
ferred and final disappointment. No man,
by all accnouts, was ever MOE cruelty tried
aor 20 l,arbarouSly treated after his convic-
ton. l have never forgotten the shudder
With which | jead The account of his degra-
..ation from the rank Of 1ioer in the amy.
~Supposin. it all now to have been a brutal
m-lversation OF justice, nothing in the world
can recompense Captain DreyIus for all he
bas suffered.
, 1898-12-17
HARD WATER AND TUE TEETH.

A cylple : continental scientists hnve
been cole ting stntis!i les to determine wheth-
er the presence Of those alkaline suits which
redder 'Yater which ~ called hard" his
really any %ipjnriou effect upon the teeth.
The result f'vVurS a quite opposite conclu.
'lon- III 'eolh Of tine. people were found
TO be healthier aud 'o~s liable TO decay IN
districts where tn" drinking water was hard
tL'n where it was. soft. The hsrder tho
water the better the teeth.
, 1898-12-17

The earliest known Statue is one that has
been recovered from an Egyptian tomb. tits
tllak ot:a shelkh or !Aeadm'nI ST u village, is
made Of wood, wit6 eyes Of glass, and 10 evil
deutly " portrait. 1t is 5000 yeas old.
With the dsInoliAou Of Maza: Prison. in
Paris, the FIRST prison in France constructed
on the old cellular system has disappeared.
There YER 1900 cells, radiating like the
.spokes Of a wheel, and 30 arranged that each
j.. prisoner could see the chapel from the door.
sud listen to Divine service without leaving
his cell.
Smolensk, in Russia mas a peculiar lottery.
four times q year. A young gin is ratified
f4F IN 8 1000 one-roIble shares. The winnsr
marries the girl, and receives tile money
from the lottery "s her dowry. The girl,
however, may refuse to marry the winner, ia
which case the money from tho lottery is
divided between them.
AT Rouh"ix, one Of the Socialist strong
holds Of France; :tlre 1900 pubIic-school
children receive FREQ foodAud clothing at the
expense Of tile tWyn. Tile diMnor at school
consists of soup. bread Vegetables, meat, ant
" glass Of wife. At the beginning Of sum
NOR anti of winter each child receives "a
complete spit Of clothes.
, 1898-12-17
lllth NovtmJer.)

The decision of the French O. 5inet flor
such, in eff set, it wns) not to discuss the
Fashoda episode in the Chamber was wall
advised. For once, at least, the Press of
P"ris has teen wise in admitting hat the
less said tic soonest manded. The Mot;n.
one OF the few l~lain-speaking French iouxn.
ais, acknowledges that ever sincG France
refused to cooperate with England in
Egypt her statesmen inaugurated a policy
OF playing tricks pOn Britain which had
no definite object, mud which was bound to
turn out badly. "'hey now find themselve,
cQntrohCed by people VINO have at last boon
exasperated by the CONTINUAL pin.prioks
which they have sust"irted."'. There could
not possibly bI a more accurate description.
of public feeling in England to-day. Siam.
Madagascar, pTunis, Newfoundland, and Egypt
have all been sources Of p~ettifogging action
on the part Of France, and Englishtnen have
at last struck. This determination has inn.
pressed itself on the Government, and is at
the bottom of the naval preparations which
have been 80 urgently pressed oh OF late.
The point which haSbeen missed, however.
is that Lord Salisbury has boen of Get Dur.
pose utilising his graceful CONCESSIONS" all
these years, in order to make a Rnsl
coup when. the question of the Soudan was
settled. .B
, 1898-12-17

L5rd Cromer's title to greatness nav he
summed up in Ia eixtfe; binary fidelity
to the idea If converting Egypt into a tho
roughly c~ivilised State. and using all the
marvellous .sources of the country for the
benefit Of the people of Egypt. Formerly
the wealth and people C Egypt were used by
the Khedive and his pashas for their ,wn.
private .beboOf. Ill that vile system is cow
swept away. Western IDEAS If Justice md
The times., 1898-11-06
"The Blindman,. Mo-,a ;,

THE Blind Mans World, and Other
Stories" by Edward Bellamy, is volume
of sketches, most of which appeared in
the old scribner's Magazine under the
management of ]. G. Holland. Some of
them are, therefore, nearly thirty years
old, and deal with American life in the
early seventies. The introduction by w
d. Howeils, is not the least interesting
part OF the book, and in it the character
ana scope OF the stories Is clearly indf-
Gated. ar. towels gives the keynote of
tne Dook ana the authors peculiar genius
when he says:
somehow whether he knew or not, he unerrinr
ly felt how the average man would feel and ajl
tnc webs of fancy that he wovs were essenti,jly
OF one texture through this sympathy His inagi-
nation was intensely democratic it was inaI;en.
ably plebeian even-that is TO say humane II did
not seek distinction of expression: il never mn,
the simplest and plainest reader to shame hr
the assumption of those fine gentleman airs which
abash and dishearten more than the mere literary
swell can think. In his short stories his
types are village types. They are often such
when he finds them in the city, but for much
the greater part he finds them in the village: and
they are always therefore, distinctively American
for We are village people far more than we are
country people or city people, Our
average is practical well as mystical; il ia
FIRST the dust Of the earth, and then il is
living soul; it likes great questions simply and
familarly presented, before it puts its faith in
them and makes its faith life. 1t likes to
start to heaven from home, and in all this Bel
lamy was Of it.
When Mr.. Howeils adds that in Bel
lamy we were rich in a romantic imagi-
nation surpassed only by Hawthorne,
most OF his readers: will open their eyes.
They will not see in Bellamy's work. and
especially in this volume, with what Mr.
Howeils very properly calls Its public
The times., 1898-11-06
departmental pitties.~

The remarkable versatility of Rudyard
Kipling's genius is still causing the
world to rub its eyes; and it is shown with
particular clearness in the little collec-
tlon of rhymes called Departmental Dit
ties" which was his first book. The
new edition contains some of his later
and better-known poems. Anyone who
cares to see what Kipling's prentice
hand was like may do so by reading this
volume. The rhymes concern the life of
India in the civil and military service
and most of them possessed in their time
a particular sting for somebody or other.
E. Kay Robinson, Killings old comrade
in Indian Journalism, is authority for the
statement that "The Story of Uriah''
voiced the indignation of many of Jack
Barretts" friends. and that all India
knew the story of the false woman and
faithless friend who sent him TO his
death. In view of that there is a scathing
fire in the last stanza:
And when the last great buglecall adown the
Hurnai throbs,
Wien the last grim joke is entered in the big
black Book Of Jobs,
And Quetta graveyards give again their victims
to the air,
] shouldn't like to he the man who sent Jack
Barrett there.
Most of the rhymes are in lighter vein
than this, and there is flippant, youth
ful cynicism in many of them. There is,
however, a fine warning of future great
poems in ''rhe Last Department" which
Is in the Omar Khayyam measure one
of the quatrains runs thus:
A breath of wind Border bullets flight,
he
The drcning of the fat Sheristadar
Ceases, the punkah stops, and falls the nigat.
There is the reckless gayety of SOL
diers Three" in the war ballads, but most
of the ditties are in the tone of plain
Tales from the Hills" book which had
all of its authors faults and some of his
virtues. Certain Maxims of Hafiz" re-
veal a worldly knowledge which, in a
youth of twenty-five or three, is positive
ly appalling. 1t would be considerably
worse. however, as the honest sentiment
of a man of forty. In that case the cyni-
cism would be grim reality
Among the poems which follow this coll
lection are some of the best of the au-
thor's work. There are '.The Gift of the
Sea-" with its marvellous pathos: the
Ballad of East and West" called by
Tennyson the finest thing of its kind in
the language: THE Conundrums of the
Workshop" ''The Vampire" and that
greatest of sea chanteys. THE Ballad of
the 'Clampherdown', which stirs the
pulses like the boom of cannon, and is re-
sponsible for more bad limitations than
most poems of recent years. Perhaps the
gem of the collection is THE Galley
The times., 1898-11-06
"Roden,s Corner.v

"Roden's Corner" by Henry Seton Mer-
riman, is likely TO be one Of the best
selling books of the year. not because it
is great, but because 1t is extremely clev-
er. 1t is, in brief, the story of huge
swindling scheme disguised as chari-
ty. society Is started for the ameliora-
ton of the condition of workers in Nal
gamite, q substance used in paper max
ing. 1t is pretended that a new process
of making Malganlite has been discover
ed, which will render the trade healthful
this the workers are collected and plae
ed in a set of buildings on the outskirts
of The Hague In reality, the process
used is even more deadly than the old
plan, but is cheaper, and by thus col
lecting and controlling the workers. the
men at the bottom of the scheme secure
a monopoly for year or two, and have
the prospect OF making a huge fortune
before the swindle is smashed by COM
bination of paper-makers. This monopo-
ly is "Roden's Corner" Roden himself
Is not especially remarkable In any
way; It is his partner. Won Holzen, who
is the deliberate and consistent devil of
the book. The hero. SO far as there is
one, is Tony Cornish, sort of English
edition Of Van Bibber, a London man
about-town, who, we are given to under
stand from the first, -conceals immense
stores of intellect, wit and sagacity un-
der frivolous exterior. He also proves to
have a rock-ribbed. iron-bound conscience,
and the villains are finally f-o-i-l-e-d
by him In most delightful style There Is
an agreeable young lady, sister to Roden,
who rewards Cornish for his various noble
actions. and there is widow. one Mrs
Fansittart, who plays small part In the
discontinue of the villains.
The plot is fairly well worked out,
and the character drawing is reasonably
good, but the distinctive characteristic of
the book is a certain smart, epigrammatic
cleverness which will make It popular.
Some of the epigrams are true, some are
only half true, and some are not true at
all. but they are all clever and they are
scattered through the book with the alb
undance and regularity of punctuation
points. The author is especially fond of
moralizing upon woman. Sometimes his
epigrams hit the mark and sometimes
they would not hit a barn door. but their
brightness is invariable and a little tire
some.
Aside from the epigrams the humor of
the novel is supposed to be furnished bv
a siangy and nearly impossible maiden of
seventeen, and big, clumsy, brave
Major White. whose idea of life is that
IL Is an opportunity to thump people.
On the whole the book is entertaining
the interest Is well sustained, and It is
likely to add 10 the authors reputation
New York: Harper G. Bros.)
The times., 1898-11-06


South ins certain chapters, but on the
whole his delineation of those stirring
times is n fairly accurate one Burletson,
at any rate. Is rather a type than an ex-
ception. From a literary point of view
the book is thoroughly readable and inter-
esting. whether one cares for its politics
or not. New York: D. Appleton & Co..
n.60.)
"A Great Love-" by Clara Louise Burn
ham. is, like many other novels by the
same author, a story of New England.
and Boston New England, at that The
hero, Burton yandyke. and the heroine.
Margaret Carrsth, are two entirely un-
exceptionabie young people. and there
seems no real reason, except the cruel
will of the author, why the book should
not end happily, but 1t does not. and the
maidens who read the last pages will be
moved to tears of admiration for hero
Inc who can give up such a thoroughly
lovely hero and devote herself to life
of good works. Meanwhile, the hero is
set to devote himself to marrying and
providing for a woman he does not love.
Viewed In the light of common sense, the
ethics of this story seem little odd, but
common sense Is not romance. Boston:
Houghton, Miffiin & Coz
THE House of Hidden Treasure" by
Maxwell Grey, seems likely to be the
most popular work of its author since
1.-The Silence of Dean Maitland" In the
first place. an old house. full of memories
and traditions, situated in an English
town. Is always q fascinating place for
the noyelist's fancy. and this particular
house, having mysterious treasure
somewhere about 1t. according to popular
legend. is rdoubly interesting. In addi-
tion to this the author has gathered into
her book many interesting people of the
English country folk type made familiar
by Jane Austen, and the plot of the story
is we'll worked out. The heroine Grace
Dorrien, is a sweet and true woman, and
a fit central figure for any novel. Alto
gether the book deserves great success.
New York: d. Appleton & Coz
The times., 1898-11-06
"scribes and pharisees.,

"Scribes and Pharisees," by William LIE
Queux, is a book without much plot or
much realism, although 1t affects to have
great deal of both. 1t is rather dreary
study of what the author calls Literary
London. and is the story of a young man
called Bertram Rosmead, who earns his
living by his pen, and for no very ade-
quate reason except that he is rather sor-
ry for her and has just been badly treat
ed by another woman marries light
headed little chorus girl with whom he
can have nothing In common. In the end,
1t is proved that the chorus girl commit
ted mysterious murder with which the
reader was plagued at the beginning of
the book, and the last sentences of the
chapter in which this mystery is solved
read very much like the average dime
novel.
"Bertram,'' walled his wife. in hoarse, trern-
bling voice. ''will you not forgiven and once
again she threw herself before him.
'Never!' her husband answered firmly, and as
the artist unlocked the door, they all three passed
out without further word, leaving the wretched
hysterical woman still upon her knees, blanched
and ghastly in an attitude of supplication.
When they had gone, she gave one piercing
shrek, which sounded through the house, and
with outstretched hands, fell forward upon her
face; where she lay. white and motionless as one
dead. -
The reader who enjoys blood-curdling
emotions. and who can read that passage
without being reminded of the heroine of
"Rudder Grange" who. with one wild
shry-ik" allowed her hearts. blood to
1patter that princeiy home of woe NAV
enjoy this book; and there are really some
very clever bits of character drawing
and description to be found in it. But it
shares the fate of many other mediocre
The times., 1898-11-06
CURRENT VERSE.
Chickam.asa ..af,er or D..tb. !,

Chfckamauga "Rfvef Of Death.u
Oh, We marched down TO the river Of death,
Seventy thousand strongl
Fire in the veins, and delight IN the BREATH
Joy at the start and hope in the heart;
Burning to right wrong.
hed-biooded, frm-bodied. brave enough-men
We were-witness that-then
Rank Of US. hle Of US, did foot Iagf
No-by God and the hagl
So we drank deep Of the river Of Death
Pollution. ard fever, and fate;
The poison that flies on the wings Of the breath.
IL soldier ask bread, set cross at his head
Oh rot him in camp for the Statei
hush! They have marched to the River OF Lie
Comrades We left behind;
VINO begged for the front, and who ached for the
strife,
10 them 1t was given to erumble TO Heaven,
We wonder-what did they find?
Slowly We crawl from the river Of death
Try us-we're thousands weak.
Shrunken in spirit, and shortened in breath.
Vail II you will. But the missing are still,
And the slain refuse to speak
Spent-bodied, taint- -blooded shades Of the strong
Cry: Who wrought the wrong7
Right Of it, wrong OF it-did a man lag?
No! By God and the Flag.
Elizabeth Stuart Phelps.
The times., 1898-11-06
The Average Man.

When IT comes to a question OF trusting
Yourself to the risks of the road.
When the thing is the sharing OF burdens
The lifting the heft Of load,
In the hour of peril or trial, s re-t
In the hour you meet as you can,
You may safely depend on the wisdom
And skill Of the average man.
lis the average man and no other
Who does his plain duty each day.
The small thing his wage IS for doing.
On the commonplace bit of the way
'Tis the average man, may God bless him,
Who pilots us, still in the van,
Over land, over SEA, We travel,
Just the plain, hardy, average man.
So on through the days OF existence.
All Dingiing in shadow and shine.
We may count on the everybody hero,
Whom haply the gods may divine,
But who wears the swarth CRIME Of his calling
And labors and earns he can.
And stands at the last with the noblest,
The commonplace average man.
Margaret E. sangster
The times., 1898-11-06
q 14l:.i ! Dj.il|llt|i'1la'l ! u !

Slave" 1t is the quintessence of Kipling,
and one of the most thoroughly original
poems which he has written. The type is
one which he has almost marked for his
own by the peculiar effectiveness with
which he has used 1t. 1t Is the poem
which tells story, dramatic in itself, and
full of strong human interest, yet corre-
spending in every smallest detail to some
deeper allegorical meaning. 1.-THE Truce
CT the Bear is such poem, and so Is
THE Vampire" In 1.-The Galley Slave"
the song of the freed slave is sung. He
is bidding good-by to the galley and is
seized with the formless regret which
means that a part of ones life has been
lived, outworn and now is torn away.
The life may have been hard, but that
makes no difference The rougher the
service the greater the pang of regret.
This pang is keenest in the soldier, the
sailor and the pioneer. the man Of action.
Men of quiet life seldom know 1t in Its
intensity. THE Galley Slave" is, per-
haps. the first utterance which fully ex-
presses this feeling. 1t is hardly possible
to quote it In sections. but two stanzas
express the thought In part:
But today l leave the galley, and another takes
my place,
There's my name upon the deck beam-let it
stand little space;
am free TO watch my messmates beating out to
Free Of all tzat Life can ofer-save to handle
sweep again;
BY the brand upon my shoulder, by the gall of
clinging steel;
By the welts the whips have left me; by the
scars that never heal;
BY eyes grown old with staring through the sun
wash the brine.
/ am paid in full for service-would that serv-
Ice still were minei
This poem has layers. like an onion
three layers of thought. Outside is the
simple and obvious story of the galley
slave Then comes the subtler signifi-
canoe, to be seen only to those who know
the history Of the poem. The galley in
this case is service in India, from which
the young author was freed after seven
years of drudgery on the Civil and Mill
tary Gazette. Leaving India he could
say: ...
God be thanked-what'er comes after have lived
and toiied with men.
And the inside meaning of all is one
which is as old as the world-the secret
satisfaction which man knows in hard
ship and peril-the joy of the adventurer.
and of the artist who starves for the
sake of realizing his IDEAL the delight
OF every man who does not shirk pain and
weariness and who through endurance
wins 10 a clear and sane knowledge OF
life and contempt for pettiness and
pretense. That is the inmost meaning of
."rhs Galley Slave" and like all great po-
ems II was probably written by sort
of instinct, the author himself not know
ing how much 1t meant. That poem alone
is worth the very modest price of the
book, for 1t is not found In other collec-
tions. (San Francisco: William Doxey)
The times., 1898-11-06
Unfinished stiII.

baby's boot, and skein of wool.
Faded and soiled and soft;
Odd things. you say, and no doubt you're right
Round a seaman's neck this stormy night,
Up in the yards aoft-
Most likely It's folly, but mate, look here,
When first went TO
A woman stood on the far-of strand,
With "a wedding ring on the small. soft hand,
Which clung so close to me.
Ny wife. God bless her! The day before
She sat beside my foot,
And the sunlight kissed her yellow hair,
And the dainty fingers, deft and fair,
Knitted baby's boot.
The voyage was over; came ashore;
What, think you, found there?
A grave the daisies had sprinkled white,
A cottage empty and dark as night,
And this beside the chair
The little boot, twas unfinished still
The tangled skein lay near.
But the knitter had gone away to rest,
With the babe asleep on her quiet breast,
Down in the churchyard near.
Anonymous
The times., 1898-11-06
"wcre But My Spirit Loosed.p

We're but my spirit loozed upon the air
By some High Power who could Lfe's chains
unbind,
Set free to seek what most it longs to find
To no proud Court OF Kings would repair:
would but climb, once more, winding stair
When day was wearing late, and dusk was kind :
And one should greet me 10 my failings blind
Content but shared his twilight there.
Nay, well l know he waits not as OF Old
could not find him in the old time place
l must pursue him, made by sorrow bold.
Through realms unknown, in strange Celestial
race, -s
Whose mystic round no traveller has told,
From star TO star, until see his face.
Louise Chandler Mouton