davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Meeker herald., 1902-12-27
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The medieval fortress of Voltsrrs
ID now = formidable prison-houss
When last visited It thers were ats
prisoners within it, walls. all Of them
murderer. It II IN uncanny sensa-
ton to look upon nearly 500 human
beings each one of whom has taken
the life OF at least one other human
being.
One hundred and forty-nins of them
were condemned for life. and that
meant murder Of = brutal and cold
blooded description; the remainder
were imprisoned for periods ranging
from fifteen to thirty years. and that
would mean murder with sxtenuating
circumstances-murder the result Of
Inconsistency In sweetheart, or frailty
In wife. or faithlessness in . friend.
The confinement is vigorously solitary
and cellular: the exercise courts are
cellular; there are cellular smithies
and cellular workshops; nay, the very
chapel is cellular. Two tiers of cells
run one above the other. and the pris-
oner In each, while unable to see his
fellow convicts. can. through a long.
narrow loophole, see the altar and the
priest who Is saying maap.
As I walked round the ramparts OF
the great fortress l couh look down
into the rows Of high wsiled exercise
courx-not more than u feet by 10,
Ishould say-in each Of which the con-
vict was taking the hour Of exercise
which he is allowed daily. Every
prisoner saluted respectfully. and
showed his white teeth In
pleasant smile. glad at the sight
Of any fresh face. Italian pris-
oners are models of good order and
cleanliness, and the cheerfulness and
natural patience Of the Italian temper
ament does much to tighten the labor
OF ltalian prison ofncials. The con-
victs get two full meals of beans, LEM
ills or paste, cooked in lard. and meat
on Sundays and holidays. Every pris-
oner may spend Is centesimi day. II
he has it or can earn 1t; therefore wine
70 BY no means an unknown luxury in
the prison.
The system Of rigorous solitary con-
dnement leads to frequent cases Of
madness. Indeed, there IL often talk
OF the italian government abolishing
the system on account of the great
expense Of maintaining criminal luHA-
tae asylumA-6t James Gazstta.
The Meeker herald., 1902-12-27

Since President Eliot has made the
amende honorable 1t seems to be up
to MI. Gompers to explain that his al
fusion to Judas Iscariot was meant
In Pickwickian sense.
The Meeker herald., 1902-12-27

The scottish-American declares that
the length Of mourning for 4 mother.
in-law 10 six months Grape and six
months black. What man would
grudge the time?
The Meeker herald., 1902-12-27

Washington's theater managers have
decided to stop wasting money. They
have voted to abolish window litho-
graphs and to advertise hereafter only
in the newspapers.
The Meeker herald., 1902-12-27

Dried corn A. an article of diet has
caused the separation Of husband
and wife in Ohio. But this il mere
patch on the trouble corn has caused
throughout the world after 1t has
soaked awhile.
The Meeker herald., 1902-12-27

Millionaire Clark offered $1,000. 900
for his first grandson. and his son
w. A. Clark. Jr.. has won the prize.
Has the czar or King Humbert tried
this plan yet?
The Meeker herald., 1902-12-27

Chicago's gambling king il bank.
rupt. He admits. however, that other
professional gamblers were the ones
who got 1t.
The Meeker herald., 1902-12-27

Asia will probably derive more
pecuniary beneft from the visit Of
President Schwab Of the steel trus,
than America got from that Of thu
Crown Prince of Siam.
The Meeker herald., 1902-12-27

The Brooklyn genius. who has sec
cured . patent for nursing bottle
holder for baby carriages, dreams Of
miilions like Col Sellers with his
eye wash.
The Meeker herald., 1902-12-27

Gabrielle dAnnunzio, among othe.
things, had seventy-two shirts and
twenty-four dozen pairs of quiet tint.
Cd" silk underwear. And yet they
tell M It does not pay to write poetry!
The Meeker herald., 1902-12-27

An Eastern paper wants to know
what co-education has done!" Well,
nom all accounts, 1t hasn't done q
thing to DR.. Harper.
The Meeker herald., 1902-12-27

THE greatest blessing in life, no
doubt. IL 10 give" says DR.. Lorenz.
And yet young Mr.. Vanderbilt com
plains that his father left him 70 much
money that there is no mission In life
for him.
The Meeker herald., 1902-12-27

The way to . masculine heart from
time immemorial has been via the
digestive apparatus. but 1t has re-
manned for Hoboken lady to love
and marry . man because Of the pies
he manufactured.
The Meeker herald., 1902-12-27

King Leopold's blast Of defiance to
anarchists II doubtless made BY his
comfortable assurance that anarchists
are poor shots.
The Meeker herald., 1902-12-27

Gen. Tribe Uribs has been sentenced
to death. The wonder IL how did he
manage to live 20 long with name
to mention which u to disturb the
The Meeker herald., 1902-12-27

Another diamond mine has been dis.
covered In South Africa. Will some
one please put an extra chain on the
dogs Of war?
The Meeker herald., 1902-12-27

A French army ofncer claims to
have invented q gun that makes
neither nash nor sound nor smoke,
Now let us have one that makes no
wound and we may listen for the com.
ing Of the millennium.
The Meeker herald., 1902-12-27

John L. Sullivan is without his 81.
100000. But the rich memories Of the
gorgeous time he had In blowing It
in remain to cheer his declining Year,.
The Meeker herald., 1902-12-27

The football fatalities. appalling .,
they are. might have been worse. Sew
era! games were unavoidabiy post
poned.
The Meeker herald., 1902-12-27

Trains that can run = hundred miles
In . hundred minutes are almost q
common now - men who can eat
thirty ducks in thirty days.
The Meeker herald., 1902-12-27

Sometimes. says the Homely One.
thank the Lord for that am not good
looking. Tor then l might also be q
fool.
The Meeker herald., 1902-12-27

Expeusive lingerie works mot for
nodssty. When = girl il wearing
the finest Of SILK stockings, every
street crossing looks muddy to her.
The Meeker herald., 1902-12-27

Sig. Marconi continues to send mar
conIgrams across the ocean through
his hat.
The Meeker herald., 1902-12-27

We probably have to do the things
We ought to great deal oftener than
We dare to do the things We want to.
The Meeker herald., 1902-12-27

Pennies long saved amount to dol.
lars at last" said Franklin, and 1t II
Just ~ true to-day of cents.
The Meeker herald., 1902-12-27

A big sturgeon In the New Yori
Aquarium Is reported to have com
mitted suicide. Sounds fshy.
The Meeker herald., 1902-12-27

The man who succeeds best is gen
orally the one who has the talent to
advertise himself most tudiciously.
The Meeker herald., 1902-12-27

France il making the French duel
. felony. Plng-pong will surely come
In n Q misdemeanor
The Meeker herald., 1902-12-27

It IL fortunate for royalty that an
archists are so frequently bad shots.
The Meeker herald., 1902-12-27

Charles N. schwab IL simply tired:
tlrcd spending money.
The Meeker herald., 1902-12-27

THE HERALD.
AEEKHR COLORADO.
Charles N. schwab IL simply tired:
ttred spending money.
It II fortunate for royalty that IN.
archists are so frequently bad shots.
.aYI AIS
Sig. Marconi continues to send mar.
eonigrams across the ocean through
his hat.
France 10 making the French duel
felony. Plng-pong will surely come
In as mIsdemeanor.
pennies long saved amount to dol.
lars at last" said Franklin, and 1t II
Just ~ true to-day of cents.
A big sturgeon In the New Yort
Aquarium Is reported to have com
mitted suicide. Sounds nshy.
The man who succeeds best IL gen.
orally the one who has the talent to
advertise himself most tudiciously.
We probably have to do the things
We ought to great deal oftener than
We dare to do the things We want to.
Sometimes. says the Homely One, I
thank the Lord for that am not good
looking. Tor then l might also be .
fool.
The football fatalities. appalling a.
they are. might have been worse. Sew
eraa games were unavoidabiy post
poned.
Chicago's gambling king ID bank.
rupt. He admits. however, that other
professional gamblers were the ones
who got 1t.
Another diamond mine has been Dis
covered In South Africa. Will some
one please put an extra chain ON the
dogs Of war;
King Leopold's blast Of defiance to
anaYchists II doubtless made By his
comfortable assurance that anarchists
are poor shots.
An Eastern paper wants to know
What co-education has done!" Well,
nom all accounts, 1t hasn't done q
thing to DR.. Harper.
Trains that can run hundred miles
In . hundred minutes are almost q
common now - men who can eat
thirty ducks in thirty days.
ga
Gen. Tribe Uribs has been sentenced
to death. The wonder il how did he
manage to live 10 long with . name
to mention which u to disturb the
peace.
The Brooklyn genius. who has sec
cured Z patent, for nursing bottle
holder for baby carriages, dreams Of
millions like Col Sellers with his
eye wash.
Millionaire Clark offered $1,000, 900
for his hrst grandson. and his son
w. A. Clark, Jr., has won the prize.
Has the czar or King Humbert tried
this plan yet!
The scottish-Americand declares that
the length Of mourning for = mother
in-law 10 six months Grape and six
months black. What man would
grudge the time?
Washington's theater managers have
decided to stop wasting money. They
have voted to abolish window litho-
graphs and to advertise hereafter only
In the newspapers.
Asia will probably derive more
pecuniary benefit from the visit of
President Schwab of the steel trust
than America got from that Of the
Crown Prince Of Siam.
Since President Eliot has made the
amende honorable 1t seems to be IN
to MI. Gompers to explain that his al
fusion to Judas Iscariot was meant
In \ Pickwickian sense.
"The greatest blessing in life, no
Omaha daily bee., 1902-04-20

hand, and possible promotions or the for
fixture of official favor on the other.
This "lionizing' of officials has resulted
in the almost utter neglect by Washington
society leaders of the stage f]ayorites who
are the particular prey of the "tuft hunt
crs" in other cities. The celebrities of
the musical world are somewhat more for
tunate, for they are usually entertained at
the home of Reginald DE Koven, the oper-
attic composer, who, with Mrs. De Koyen,
an authOress Of some prominence, main
tains a salon that is the hub of the liter
AIRY and artistic set in Washington.
~DipIomntists at the Top.
The really enviable positions in Wash
ington society are held by the members of
the diplomatic corps. AS in the case of
senator's, only a small proportion of the
ENJOYS of foreign powers are possessed OF
great private fortunes, but practically all
the representatives of leading nations re-
ceIve from their governments ample al
lowances for entertaining in a manner
commensurate with the dignity of their
positions. These masters of statecraft are
necessarily among the guests hidden to
every official function of any interest or
importance, and they are also eagerly
sought by the entertainers Of the residen-
tial set, who prize above all else the cos
mopolitan atmosphere which the presence
of foreigners lends to a social gathering.
In the shadow of the diplomatic contingent
with all its glitter and gold lace, however,
turks that omniprescnt bugbeaT, the ques-
ton of precedence, in the breach of which
is found the rock on which many a social
ambition has been stranded.
After all. the competitive game in which
the official and residential forces Of the
capital are pitted against each other most
keenly is the highly important one Of pick
ing the coming man" The benefits to be
derived by foresight of this kind are well
illustrated by the Roosevelt regime in the
White House. The members of the official
and residential sets who bestowed at,en-
ton upon the Roosevelt family when the
president was merely a civil service COM
missioner or assistant secretary Of the
navy are now reaping their reward. So,
too, the young man who springs into proml-
nence suddenly, as, for instance, did Sena-
tor Beverage, is watched most closely by
the social forecasters. Coming events cast
their shadows early in the social donna n
at the capital. For Instance, II Senator
Hanna is to be the next president of the
United States, society in Washington will
be indicating the probabilities, while yet
the politicians are moving I'm the dark.
In "A comparison, based on the hard cash
expended, the advantage is not all on the
side Of the newly established residential
set who have selected Washington as the
best place in which to scatter gold. Sec
rotary OF State Hay, who occupies the
most desirable residential site at the can
CONTINUED on Eighth Page.)
Omaha daily bee., 1902-04-20

are yet inclined to admit to the social for
tress any possessor of a large bank account
who is willing to deplete il by lavish en-
tertaining, unless mayhap the applicant be
one of those who has refused to let down
the bars for the newly rich" at a former
place of residence. Such a one generally
encounters the opposition of some one on
the inside who is thirsting for revenge.
On the other hand, there are living in
Washington a number of old Virginia and
Maryland families who are unwilling to
accept this new standar of social eligibil-
ity, and in self-defense have grown clannish
and ultra-eXclusive
The AntngOnism is Growing.
The antagonism between the two general
divisions Of Washington society, which, de-
spite the covering of good breeding and
social tact, is growing in bitterness, is due
primarily to the differences in tastes and
sources of power, and to the exalted opln-
ion each set holds with regard to its own
claims of superiority. The official %conting-
ent has the advantage in som respects,
but must needs be chary of those mani
festations of disregard for public opinion
in which many of the well-tO-do residents
delight. 1t will not do for the office hold
ers to displease the people on whose votes
they are dependent to keep them in Wash
inEtOn.
There are bound to be certain occasions
on which the official crowd has a monopoly
of the social swoetmeats. This was forcibly
illustrated during the recent visit Of Prince
Henry of Prussia, and incidentally it might
be mentioned that no other one event has
been provocative Of so much envy and
jealousy. The ambitious rich folk who had
the houses and the funds w%herewith to
entertain the royal visitor in regal style
did not get the opportunity, and indeed
very few Of them even enjoyed the boon
Omaha daily bee., 1902-04-20

of meeting him. So, too, the people who
are in Uncle Sans official retinue have
the best of it with reference to social func-
tion at the White House, to which, of
course, a certain popular interest always
attaches.
The reverse of this picture of the ad-
vantages of social oficialdom is presented
by the people who have the government
positions, but lack the money to maintain
them, socially speaking. The family that
comes to Washington hugging the popular
delusion that in official life ones social
position is cut out and only awaits assump-
ton is bound to be rudely disillusioned. The
congressman who comes to the capital
with nothing but his salary is likely to
find that he is no larger a figure on the
social horizon than is a policeman in his
own home town. With wealth he may be
enabled to climb to one of the pedestals
in the society gallery, but without it his
only chance is to wait until he has made
a name in congress-, a process which, under
the existing rules in the house Of repre-
sentatives, is a sadly tedious one, neces-
stating a strong and unfailing political
pull" at home.
Great Cost of Entertaining.
A host and hostess may spend $50, 600
a year in entertaining in Washington with
cut their entertainments being exceptional
in any respect or attracting even passing
attention. Therefore, many a congressman
who appears wealthy in the eyes Of his
rural constituents finds it out of the ques-
tion to attempt to dispense hospitality IN
Washington. The members of the house
Of representatives who entertain other than
on the most modest scale may be counted
en- the fingers of one hand. There are
Senators Hanna, Depew, Lodge, Kean and
Elkins-each of these expends several times
the amount of his salary every season
in entertaining, but they are few in proper
ton to the total membership of the upper
house of congress; there are veteran wear
eTs of the tOga today who are almost solely
dependent upon their salaries and who year
in and year out reside in boarding houses.
For most of the assistant secretaries, or
bureau chief of the executive departments,
entertaining in a formal way is out Of the
question, since none of them receive sal
aries in excess of 81 500 a year, and II is
by no means an unheard OF thing for a
member Of the cabinet to reside at a fash
ionable apartment house and ignore all but
the most urger. social responsibilities.
Were it not for the Strengthened circum.
stances Of a number Of the people in politi-
cal life in Washington the struggle between
the official set and the residential set would
be a very unequal battle. As it is a number Of
the people who have been given social stand
ing by reason OF their occupancy Of gov
eminent positions are forced either to
withdraw from social life altogether or
else accept the invitations OF those who
are willing to extend hospitality with no
expectation of reciprocity, and thus the
Omaha daily bee., 1902-04-20

wealthy hostess of the residential set is
always able to fill out her guest list with
people of official prominence. 1t will thus
be seen that each of the two main sections
of Washington society is indirectly and
heavily dependent on the other, and yet
each would be only too glad to cut loose
with a declaration of independence IL 1t
but dared.
Professional Diners-Out.
This odd state of affairs has bred the
diner-out, usually of the masculine gender
Despite the nuh.5er of statesmen and poll
iticians who throng Washington in season,
there are many social gatherings where
men are at a premium, and if he be ~courtly
and an entertaining conversationalist, the
unmarried official or the congressman who
has left his wife at home need seldom
be under the necessity of paying for his
dinner, Even in the case of a married
man, the ability to pay back" does not
figure at all. For instance, there might
be cited the case of General Miles, who,
this season, and particularly since he was
reprimanded by the president, has been
one Of the most extensively entertained
men in Washington, Yet the head Of the
army is in moderate circumstances and not
in a position to return the compliment to
more than a small portion Of his hosts.
Even in the securance of the more desirable
Of these professional diners-out the spirit
OF rivalry between the wealthy members Of
the residential set and the possessors of
private fortunes in the official set con
stantly crops out. Thus the young official
who is open for invitations is often com
PEELED to choose between two opposing
claimants and must mako tho decision witt
due regard to future invitations on the one
Omaha daily bee., 1902-04-20

tional capital is rapidly resolv-
- ing itself into a civil conflict. 1t
IWNEANI no longer merely presents the
- spectacle, familiar in other cities,
Of rival social queens competing for the
position of supremacy, although this phase
of the matter is not lacking, to be sure.
But, underlying and influencing all the in
dividual campaigns for popularity and tran
scending them in importance is the gen
eral contest between the people in official
life and as a body and the coterie OF
wealthy residents of the city on the Po-
tomac, sometimes denominated as the
smart set"
This warfare. of which the country at
large already has some inkling, is the re-
suit of latter day conditions at the Amer
lean seat Of government. In the early days
Of the republic when Washington was so
unattractive that the nations rulers and
their families, who were compelled to re-
side there, cordially detested it and fed
Immediately after the adjournment Of con-
gress in the spring, the social circle was
not divided into two great rival factions.
The. present genteel struggle has come
slowly through the gradual trans
formation of Washington into the most
beautiful city in America. This and the alb
sence of vast industrial activities make 1t
an ideal city of leisure and the most at
~tractive place of residence on the con-
tinent. 1t is not surprising that there has
grown up a colony of wealthy folk, whose
social ambitions have increased with each
new recruit added to the fold.
About the Two Sets.
There are not less than 1000 persons
in the official set, which means that there
are that number of individuals directly or
indirectly connected with the political life
of the capital who are sufficiently prom
inent to entitle them to invitations to a
certain number of social functions. In
the list is embraced everybody from the
president, senators, diplomats and mem
bers Of the supreme court, together with
the women OF their households, to the fam
lilies Of assistant secretaries and bureau
chiefs of the various government depart
ments, and the army and navy officers.
The list does not stop with the immediate
members OF the families even; there are
not a few people in public life at Wash
ington to pry open the social gates for
nieces, cousins and friends.
The members of the fashionable residen-
tial circle are not so numerous, possibly,
as their opponents. Exclusiyeness is the
pride Of this elite contingent. However,
this resident set is a house divided against
itself as to whether wealth or lineage shall
constitute the password for admission.
There are a number OF millionaires-som
of whom have made their money too rapidly
to satisfy the social arbiters at hOme-who
have come to Washington to idle. While
these AFFECT a certain exclusiveness, they
Omaha daily bee., 1902-04-20
Copyright, 1902, by Walden Fawcett)

iE merry social war at the ma
tional capital is rapidly resolv-
ing itself into a civil conflict. 1t
no longer merely presents the
spectacle, familiar in other cities,