davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The sun., 1903-12-27
THE MEMORIAL
| TABLET HABIT.
What It Will Lead To If the Supply
of Notable Events
Holds Coed.

Az the personally conducted English
tourist was led into City Hall Park the
fierce rays reflected from the shining bronze
almost blinded him
My word" he exclaimed, blinking his
~yes, "Wny, there's protected fortress
completely armored with six-inch plates
What a very droll place for it.
The personal conductor seemed puzzled
Suddenly his face frightened.
"Oh you mean the tablets on the City
Hall Them amt armor plates. Thems
inscriptions.
inscriptions? | say, now, really"
"Sure they're Inscriptions | amt mis-
conductin' you. When we get up close
you can see for yourself.
by Jove Blessed if you're not right"
said the astounded EngliShman when they
were in front of the City Hall "Why,
this place must have been fairly reeking
with big events. What are they all about?"
well, takin' 'em in chronological ORDER"
began the guide, first of all we have that
insignificant little plate to the left of the
steps there. Near this spot in the pres
ence of George Washington don't know
Just when he was Mayor-'the Declaration
of Independence was read and published
TO the American Army / just mention
that one because it happens TO be the oldest
of the bunch.
"Gettin down to the more important
ones we come to this inscription we're stand
in on This is where Mayor Van Wyck
removed the first shovelfu of earth from
the subway
Gracious" said the Engishman taking
in the size of the tablet at his feet, what
an enormous shovelful it must have been
And so this is where they started your
famous subway"
my. no. The subway was started up
at 157th street and Broadway-over nine
miles from here" explained the guide.
This is merely where the Mayor stood
when he dug the first shovelful."
The tourist seemed bewildered
"Oh ha, hal" he suddenly burst forth.
.I see. American joke. Ha, ha! Capital,
by Jove"
The personal conductor became slightly
alarmed and sought to change the subject.
He took the Englishman's arm and gently
turned around.
See that tablet on the fountain over there
in the middle Of the park?" he asked That's
The sun., 1903-12-27
Never can get over the frightful men,
ory of my former life There is no doubt
of it--I was Joan of Arc"

We arrived at Paris at o'clock the follow
ing morning, four hours late. Our aunt,
Sehora de Alvarez, who had not seen Dolores
since she left that city at the age of 5
years, was anxiously waiting for US at the
station.
She offered us the hospitality of her house,
which gladly accepted, as, since the scene
on the train, the condition of the child had
caused me the greatest alarm and required
the care of some member Of the family.
We settled ourselves, therefore, at our
aunts house, where rooms had already
been prepared for us. Dolores, exhausted
with the fatigue of the journey, went inn
mediately to bed, and l retired to my own
apartment.
In spite of the natural wearness caused
by thirtyfour hours of railway travel, l
arose early and gave my aunt an account
of the strange mental disturbance from
which Dolores was suffering, and at which
the good woman was in no small degree
surprised. | remembered that one OF my
friends, Spanish physician. was at that
time in Paris, and | went to find him at the
hospital where he was perfecting his studies
on diseases of the nerve centres, for the
cure of which he was a specialist,
| had the good fortune to find him and
to secure his immediate attendance upon
my cousin. She was still asleep when the
doctor and arrived at the house.
DO you wish me to wake her up?" in
quired my aunt of the doctor, while inviting
us to seats in the salon,
NO, sefiora,', said the doctor. Permit
me first to make some inquiries of you.
This gentleman has told me of the oc-
currence in the train, and l now desire to
know other facts necessary to the diagnosis,
How old Is Dolores.?"
Fourteen years. replied my aunt.
Has any other person in the family
suffered from nervous disorders?"
"No one" said /.
And you, sehora-you have known the
child from infancy?"
-She was born in Paris, in this very house
and | was like second mother to her until
she was taken by her parents, at the age of
5 years, TO live in Madrid
did you notice anything extraordinary
about her while she was with your"
"ies; vividness of Imagination and fine
ness of sensibility. She had perfect pas
sion for the marvellous, but, as this is so
common in children. attached no impor-
tance to it,"
And you,' said he, addressing himself
The sun., 1903-12-27
new YORK'S POOREST MOBILES.
THEY ARE SZEkELS, AND THEY
ARE THE REAL THING.
Not Readily to Be Distinguished From
other Immigrants, ThOush-Repre-
sentatiyeB of a Transylyanlan Race
with Long HistOry-PrOud n Poor.


New York receives every year some
scores, perhaps some hundreds, OF noble
immigrants from single little corner of
Europe.
Mobiles turn up occasionally among the
immigrants from Italy, Germany, Austria,
Russia and the Scandinavian countries,
and pretended noblemen from many parts
of Europe come to America to seek their
fortunes by means OF matrimony or other
wise. but Pennsylvania is the only country
that sends sure enough mobiles in considera-
able numbers.
The Transylvanian mobiles are Szekels.
All the Szekels who come are noble, 30. too,
are all the Szekels who stay at home, for
the Szekels enjoy the distinction Of being
the only race Of Europe composed entirely
of MOBILES
Should you see the incoming Szekels
you would never take them for mobiles; in
fact, you would never take them for Szekels,
for they speak the Magyar tongue and
look much like the poorer Magyar immi
grants Of rural origin. For this reason it is
not accurately known how many Of these
noble immigrants come to New York.
The Szekels are not willing to be called
Magyars, and thus they proudly seek to
distinguish themselves from the proudest
race of Hungary.
The Szekels or Seekers, as the Germans
call them, are a mountaineer race dwell
ing in southeastern Pennsylvania, between
the Transylvanian Saxons and the Car
pathan Mountains, which separate Tran
sylvania from Roumania. They occupy
the departments of Haromsezek, Czik and
Udvarhely.
They proudly believe themselves de-
scended from the Huns who overran this
region under Atta more than 1900 years
ago Nobody knows certainly whether
this is true or not. The Magyars smile at
it, and students of the subject take diver
gent views.
A dsused alphabet which occurred in
ancient inscriptions found in Szekel
churches is unlike any other known. and
is held by some scholars to be true Hun
The sun., 1903-12-27
SHORTEST RAILROAD OF ALL,
1T rs IN BROOKLYN AND IS ONLY
FIVE BLOCKS LONG.
Not Toy but Business Proposition on .
Paying Fhsis Though 1t Has Bcen
Running Only q MOnth-Its Equipment
One Locomotive and a Passenger Coach

The shortest steam passenger rallroad
i'm the United States, If not in the world,
has recently been completed and is now in
active operation in Brooklyn.
1t is single track standard gauge rail-
way and runs from the Brooklyn terminus
of the Thirty-nnth Street Ferry as far as
Forty-fourth street. a distance of five
bloc ks. 1t is owned and operated by the
Bush Company, Limited, the owners of tho
dock and warehouse property through
which it runs
The roads equipment consists of an
ordinary passenger coach and one loco
motive similar to those used on the elevated
railroads. The train is manned by a crew
of an engineer, fireman and conductor.
1t makes regular trips connecting with each
ferryboat upon its arrival from the Bat
terry.
The fare is five cents, or twenty ii, kats for
half dollar, The road has already so
many passengers that it is on paying
basis.
At the Bush docks arrive the steamers Of
the Prince Line the Hawaiian American Line
and the Scandinavian American Line Most
of the arriving and outgoing passengers On
these vessels patronize the railroad, and in
addition there are lots of people having
business on the doc ks who ride on the train
daily and thus avoid walk of several blocks
around from the ferry.
Another novel feature in connection
with this railroad is that, although it has
been running less than month, it is already
on a paying basis. 1t wa not the intention
of the ush company to make money
on the road when it was constructed, the
idea merely being to accommodate The
people who have business daily on the COM
panys docks
Still another feature of this roai is that
no franchise was required for its construc-
ton and operation, as the line runs cx-
clusively on the property owned by tho
Bush company. The company is, however,
seeking permission from the Board Of
Aldermen to extend the road to Sixty-fth
street.
The sun., 1903-12-27

, to me, "have you observed during her STAY
| in Madrid, any unnatural excitement,
delusions:, monomania, or anything else
| strange in her conduct?'
None whatever; but she has shown a
thoughtful and serious tendency unnatural
to one of her years"
And what does she most enjoy?"
Reading, in the first place. She knows
the history of France, especially at the time
of Charles VII. She also knows to the
smallest detail the life of Joan of Arc"
r, ..When, she was mere baby" added
Sonora de Alvarez, Joan of Arc was her
fayorite heroine; she often asked me to
relate that story TO her.
"Can you remember when this prediec-
ton for the celebrated Maid of Orleans
beEan?'
Did she see her adventures at the
theatre?'
"She was never at the theatre while in
Paris"
The doctor remained buried in thought
FOR moment, and then, mechanically
liking his gaze on picture hanging on the
wall of the salon, said;
Did you not say that Dolores lived in
this house during her first five years?'
"Yes"
Did you own that picture at the time?"
Yes, and in fact it hung opposite her
"Here, them" exclaimed the doctor
We nave lhe corpus 0chch, ana with
this he rose to look more closely at the
picture.
1t was a colored lithograph-a copy Of
the painting by Eugenio Devera in the
Antwerp Museum-.rapresenting the exc
cution of Joan of Arc The heroine is
depicted as standing on the burning pile,
the fire of which is being fed by the ex-
ecutioners, while priest holds before her
a crucifiN
Corpus delich,' repeated the doctor,
looking attentively at the picture.
-Sehora, said he to my aunt, you may now
awaken Dolores and prepare her to be
seen at once" And my aunt left us alone
together.
How do You explain the origin of this
haiucination. doctor?"
Very easily; the child was a peculiar
subject; she, frequently. saw this picture
and finished by identifying herself with
the principal figure, We have here case
of outo-suggestion.
Sehora de Alvarez soon announced that
Dolores was ready to receive lis. We en-
tered her room, and the doctor, with much
Kindness and tenderness. avoiding all
allusion to the scene on the train and to
her peculiar hallucination, submitted to her
The sun., 1903-12-27

nish alphabet. Whatever scholarship may
say, however, and in spite Of the fact that
Magyar has been time out Of mind the
language Of these people, the 900, 900 Szekels
of Pennsylvania cling as one man to their
belief in their ancient descent.
There are no poorer mobiles on earth than
these same Szekels, and in this they contrast
oddly with their neighbors to the west, the
Transylvanian Saxons, who have no mobiles
among them and are in effect all burghers.
but they are relatively we'll to do, and sell
dom mere unskilled laborers.
The Szekels, who are largely shepherds
and farm laborers, work for and after their
proud fashion despse, their wealthy Saxon
neghbors. Some of tho Szekel farm
laborers cross the frontier in harvest time
and help to harvest the crops OF the Rou-
manian proprietors.
Whether in Transylvanian Saxony or in
Roumania, they work for less than fourth
of the wages that as immigrant mobiles they
can earn on the streets Of New York.
1t was in their capacity as defenders OF
the border from attack from the east and
south that the Szekels became mobiles. The
burgher Saxons obtained special privileges
of self-government for the sane service
but the Szekels were ennobled as whole
race at single stroke of an early monarch's
pen, and they have ever since clung with
pride to their empty nobility.
In theory, as being all noble they are all
equal. They cling also to curious old GUS
toms, and are intensely conservative.
If you happen to meet on the East Side
beyond Avenue A. and not far from Houston
street, big-chested man with an open air
complexion, horny hands, queer boots, an
odd foreign looking felt hat and green
tie. be careful how you treat him, for he
may be one of these same SZekel mobiles.
The sun., 1903-12-27

where the Mayor removed the first cupful
of water for the North River tunnel.
"Ah, how very interesting. But tell
me more about the City Hall. What does
that tablet up there commemorate-the
long, thin one over the door,"
@fhat? Why. that's where they laid
the first rail for the 225th street crosstown
trolley line.
"The 225th street crosstown trolley line?
OH Ha! Another joke, by Jove! Ha.
hal"
There's a good one" broke in the per-
brass one, second story left. That's where
the last reform Mayor pressed the button
that made the first horse drink out of the
new stone watering trough on i9lst street;
And that one Just above it there, ne
[ssd yo Gn hu'1Syd pSsd hss e rns MhsFe bss as
opened the buds of all the trees that the
public school children planted in Bronx
Park on his sixty-third birthday anniver-
sary.'
-Remarkabe," muttered the Englishman.
Most remarkable. just fancy. the whole
with EN-, all except ,the-Why, bless my
soul If they haven't even got one on
the cupola, too! | say, my good fellow.
do tell me what that one is
-Oh, they just put that one up there,
because the place looked bare explained
glasses and maybe you can read it for your
self I've forgotten the exact wording.
They only put 1t up last week"
The English tourist focused the field
glasses on the cupola tablet With some
difficulty he managed to decipher the fol-
lowing.
so lar as is known. !:
nobody I:
The sun., 1903-12-27

sat down to look out Of the window. An
immense bonfire had been built, by the
light of which workmen were engaged in
clearing the road, and which projected
their figures in grotesque, moving shadowS
upon the snowy winding sheet that coU>fed
the earth.
After looking q while at the fantastic
picture before me, called my cousin, who,
rising to her feet and approaching the
window, remained short time silent and
absorbed, looking at the flames with fixed
and staring eyes. Then, as if taken with
sudden attack of insanity, she eI-
claimed:
Look! there are my executioners-they
lead me again to torture! And what tor
ture! Oh, my God, to die by fire! The
smoke suffocates me; the flames seize
upon my garments; the heat burns me;
| grind my teeth and bite my lips; my limbs
writhe and twist, my body trembles, shrinks,
and vainly struggles to be free!'
l was astonished and alarmed at near
ing these words. Poor Dolores! Had she
lost her reason? Was it passing delusion,
amomentary aberration-or serious symp-
tom OF incurable insanity?
hui tIaNH hcNi lhS SuildHl diNt
taking the child in my arms laid her on
the sofa, covered her with my travelling
wrap and seated myself at her side, without
taking my eyes from her face. She was as
white as wax, and her staring, CLASSY eyes
filed me with alarm.
They gradually closed, and she fell asleep;
but her breathing was heavy and her slum-
ber disturbed. After a while she awoke
and rubbing her eyes as if trying to over
come a nightmare, sat up, looked around
and said to me:
'You cannot imagine the fright that the
bonfire gave me-
"The bonfre!" replied, what was there
frightful about that?"
And who We're the people that were
moving around it?'
"The people? Only the poor workmen,
who, in spite of the cold weather, are hurry
ing to clear the track so that we may go on
They are suffering with cold and perhaps
with hunger, while we, after suinptuous
dinner, can keep ourselves comfortable
by these heaters. What compassion and
even gratitude you should feel for these
disinherited ones of fortune!"
THAT is true! They do indeed move
me to compassion and awaken my SYM
The sun., 1903-12-27

pathy; but seeing them in the freight con-
fused me and disturbed my mind. All,
you little know the scene, the terrible scene
that they evoked in my memory
since your birth; your life has glided quietly
and pleasantly along in the companionship
of loving parents. No sad or tragic event
has disturbed your happy existence"
"If you only knew! But no, ] do not wish
to tell you; have revealed it to no one;
Ashamed? or what have you to accuse
yourself?n
"Of nothing; the fault is not mine but
that of my destiny
your destiny! 1t is with Il is word that
we pretend to Justify all our faults"
Il mean that have committed none"
"Of what, then, do you accuse your
destiny?"
very well. / will tell you. am going
to make confession to you-to you alone.
| have always loved you as if you were my
brother, and know that you will appreciate
the sincerity of my words without making
them the subject of Jest
$50 on"
"You must know that suspect why do
say suspect? believe firmly that have
existed before in this world and that my
soul once belonged to another woman"
what Madness"
Madness? No, it is a profound con-
viction."
But to believe this is a SIM
IF it be a sin, l cannot help committing
it, for, in spite of me, and against my will,
j preserve indeliby the remembrance Of
my previous existence"
wild delusion!"
Not at all! On arriving at Orleans the
remembrance of my former life came
vividly to my mind l remembered my
poor parents, sad, alone and abandoned
in their miserable home; while |, weak
woman guided by divine inspiration and
encountering dangers without number,
combated the enemies of my country
"And later when in sight Of the bonfire,
my imagination recalled the tragedy of
Rouen, the memory of which freezes my
blood and sets my hair on end
Bound to the dreadful stake. the butt
of the jeering, scofiing multitude that filled
the place of execution, / saw at my feet
the sinister light of the fire; | heard the
swapping and cracking of the wood as it
mounted the pile; ] saw the increasing
flames stirred up with fiendish eagerness
by my cruel executioners; they reached me,
they enveloped me, and I felt the supreme
agony of the moment, when, my torture
having been completed, my soul was freed
from my suffering body.
The sun., 1903-12-27
A Genuine Mess age in a Bottle.

From the Manila Cdbloneus.
Six years ago the British schooner Ethel
mysteriously disappeared en- route from
Bombay to Port Said. Her owners. Bark
foot & Co. of the latter port gave her up for
lost, and since that time until last month
her fate remained mystery to the world
1t was an empty and tightly corked wine
bottle that brought the story Of h her fate and
that of Capt. Lee and his crew to land. The
bottle was discovered by Capt. Lombard
on the beach of the island Of Fukave, situated
in the South Seas, and the note it contained
reads as follows:
will the finder of this inform Messrs.
Barkfoot & Co, of Port Said that their
schooner, Ethel. foundered about / 900 miles
from Bombay? This note is written by the
sole survivors Capt Lee and Seaman Thomas
who are in heir last hopes. Signed j. T..
Lee Jan 20 or -. 1897"
The sun., 1903-12-27
On this spot,
SO far as Is known,
nobody
ever did
anything.
Moose Illegally Killed in Maine.
From the Bangor Nous

From the Bangor Neus.
Reports that have been gathered from
various sources state that during the hunt
ing season that has just closed thrty-two
moose were illegally killed in Washington
county. 1t is not known positively that this
includes all that were killed, but from the best
available sources this number was gathered,
and it probably includes practically the en-
tire number 1t was reported at one time
that a COW moose had been killed in the vi
cinity of Cotton Tail mountain. about two
miles from Whtneyvillle and an equal distance
from Jonessboro station. The affair was
Who Visited the place and found Evidence
of illegal killing The feet and udder had
been cut on and to all appearances the carcass
and taken from the woods The track OF
the team was followed until it came into the
road in the vicinity OF Whitneyville, when
it was lost among other tracks. making it
impossible for the warden to trace II further
No further clue was ever found. and the mat
ter was dropped
The sun., 1903-12-27

by any means their worst feature. They
at least had small covering for the upper
part of the arm, but the shaped
corsage Of the sos had not the ves-
tige of a sleeve and was very low in the
neck besides.
In fact. for sheer stinginess of covering
those V-shaped bodices were unique,
and yet the days Of the SOS are, on the
whole, held to be extremely respectable
ones.
What about that reign of the low necked
frock in the early half of the nineteenth
century, that period when responsibility
was enthroned and excessive refinement,
not to say squeamishness and prudery,
was the order of the day? During that
period gowns were worn low morning,
noon and night and in full dress had
that falling away effect which the
clerical critic quoted SO much deplores,
The sun., 1903-12-27

nearly so low, so given to falling away
as is considered good form in society to-
day
Now, if the morals Of the French Revo-
luton are the goal Of womankind at pres
ent, it would be a great relief to know il
they aAe to be pre- or post-revolutionary
morals In fashion. these two varieties
were quite as different as the clothes with
which they were worn.
The fashions of the first period were
elegant, elaborate and magnificent; those
of the second. Of bold and unashamed
simplicity; but it must be conceded
that they were alike in the particular
The sun., 1903-12-27
A NeErophobe Town.

From the Russell tOkiahomO American.
Not coon gal, yallnr gent or any mixture
Of Niger will be allowed in Russell not even
in the capacity of servants lis so and
will continue to be a white mans town Not
even niger drummer drivers are wanted in
Russell especially over night Even the
greatest living Indian Chief. p. Porter.
would be barred as resident here-his hair
IS not on straight.
The sun., 1903-12-27
The jug Boat" Didn't Come.
From the Mavfcid fKv) MESSENGER

From, the Mdvfcd tku) Messenger.
The jug boat" went out from Paducah
the other day up the Tennessee River with
10000 gallons of whiskey aboard. and it was
rumored here that she might come up May
field Creek as far as the city landing on the
Benton road, near the city. When the Beau
mont Soap Company blew it's whistle certain
parties thought the jug boat was coming in,
and went down to the landing to see her come
in and tighten her cargo, but they we're only
too sad to learn that the boat went on up the
The sun., 1903-12-27

psychology Of modesty and clothing be.
lieves shat the genesis Of modesty is to bs
found in the activity in the midst of which
it appears and that it has primarily no
connection with clothing whatever"
The sun., 1903-12-27

clothed with voluminous and stately
draperies.
Things are not always what they seem
to be in this world. An authority on the
The sun., 1903-12-27

An interesting question is suggested
by the address of the clergyman who, the
other day, poured the walls Of his wrath
upon the immodesty, foolishness and ex-
travagance of the fashions of the period.
"Jn the most degraded days Of France"
said he -the gowns Of women were not
The sun., 1903-12-27

that they sHoWeu UouIces OF 1TIe Io"e"V
cut.
Even in those days. however, a pretty
woman occasionally covered her neck from
the public gaze and even had her portrait
painted in high bodice. Two examples
are given in one Of the pictures. Was this
departure from the usual custom prompted
by extreme modesty? In the case Of the
larger portrait, at least, that of Madame
de Pompadour, one is inclined to think
not and to suspect that that astute person
had some other reason.
The extraordinary frankness OF the