davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1903-08-13
Eow Summer coarist Rates.

Via Chicago Great Western
Railway. Round trips to Colorado,
Utah, Black Hills, New Mexico
and Texas points. Tickets on sale
daily June LIST to September 3Oth
Good to return October 31st. For
further information apply to any
Great Western Agent, or j. P
Elmer, G.. P. A., Chicago.
The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1903-08-13
BASEBALL.

Standing Of the Clubs in the National
and American Leagues, and
American Association,
August Ii.
The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1903-08-13

i low CHduC0S Ol g0II1A AAs
asked Spike.
"Nothin' easier replied Tom.
There's veranda runnin' across
the front and half way round the
side with windows galore opening
on it; and besides. there's the
kitchen door that Jack says has
but one bolt. Dead cinch to clip
a panel
"Where is this crib?' asked
Spike intently.
Number Garfield Boule-
vard," answered Tom
"Well,'' said Spike as he wrote
the address in note book, 9Th go
out and take rubber at it to-.
morrow"
The next night Spike again sat
in his room, but a new light seemed
to be shining in his eyes. In his
hand he again held the photograph
of his wife. Again the peculiar
knocking sounded on the door and
Tom entered.
"Well, what luck?" he inquired
as he seated himself. "Were you
out there?"
"Yes.' answered Spike, Il was
out there, but I want to tell you
right now, Tom, we don't do this
| job-or at least I don't"
"Why, what tells wrong?"
growled Tom.
"Just this" continued Spike as
he arose and began pacing back
and forth. "When I was out there,
the lady who lives in the house
came out and passed me on the
corner. AS she did so, something
seemed to tell me that she was my
friend and had done me favor at
some time or another. l tried to
place her, but couldn't, and it kept
me guessin' till I reached home
and saw that picture of Nellie, and
then it all came back to me. Tom,
she's the lady that Nell was always
describin' to me in her letters.
Said she was always doin' some-
thin fer her. She's the lady that
took care of her and was at her
bedside when she died. She's.
the lady that wrote me kind letters
and sent me little punches of flow
ers. To make sure of this l again
went out and looked on the door
plate. Yes-there it was, Mrs. j.
lB. West"
>"Ah, g'wan!' muttered Tom.
"You talk like jungle gay-cat."
Vaay-cat or not continued
Spike as he seated himself again
at the table. Il don't turn that
trick, see? It wouldn't seem fair
to Nell and I believe she'd turn
over in her coffin if I did. No,
Tom, I can't and won't do il"
"Well," muttered Tom, ''if you
won't come there's plenty of other
guys dead willin' to-
Call right" returned Spike, ''but
I want to tell you right here, Tom,
if you do that job you and I quit
"Just as you say growled Tom
as he slammed the photograph,
. which he had previously picked
up, back on the table. "Quits it
/ is and all on account of that wo--
man, and he pointed at the photo
graph.
i Instantly Spike was on his feet.
To hear any one call his wife "that
woman" was enough to make him
commit murder. His right fist
shot out and Tom went Keeling
across the floor and fell in the COR
ner. Then stepping to the door
and opening it, Spike rushed
across to where Tom lay and pick.
ing him up bodily, he carried him
to the head Of the stairs and tossed
him down. Gordon and Blake
j had dissolved partnership.
The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1903-08-13

s We ; sobriquet of Spike
A-~--~~~eS His mother had died
at his birth and his father had
been killed during saloon brawl
when he (Spike) was sixteen.
After the death of his father Spike
had supported himself by selling
papers and shining shoes in the
downtown district and it was while
following this vocation that he
took the initial step that event
ually landed him in the front rank
of his trade. This step was
shooting craps with his fellow
newsies while waiting for the after
noon edition. At first it was for
cigarette pictures, then for PEN
MES and finally for nickles, with
an occasional plunge for dime.
Spike entered into this fascinating
game heart and soul, sometimes
winning, at other times losing.
One day after an unusual streak of
luck, he quit the game winner by
Sc. That night after good sup
per, Spike entered Royals gam
bling rooms to try his luck in a
real game. Throwing a dollar on
the line he grasped the dice, gave
them a fantastic twirl, and with
an 'Aee-oo-'leven," sent them spin
ming across the table. "The gen.
tleman throws eleven" sang out
the game keeper. Spike had made
his first 'pass.' All that night he
played, sometimes losing, but more
often winning, until finally in the
wee small hours of the morning,
he quit the game winner by $l7O.
The next night he stalked into
the gambling rooms clad in new
suit, white hat, patent leather
shoes, red vest and Is cent dia-
mond blazing in the bosom of q
frey red shirt. Strutting up to
the bar as if the Standard Oil
Comp any was the least of his pos
sessions, be swallowed drink and
then stepped over to the crap table
and began to play But his luck OF
the previous night had forsaken
him. He lost steadily and by
morning was broke.
Spike was a hard looser. He
knew positively that if he could
raise a couple of dollars he could
easily win back what he had lost.
But how was he to get it? He had
given his shining rig to Mickey
Burns and even if he had it, it
would look undignified for gam
bier such as he to be seen shining
shoes in red vest. No, that
would never do. Perhaps he could
find his old clothes under the
bridge where he had thrown them ;
but his search in that neighbor-
hood proved futile, as they were
now occupying corner in a rag.
mans bundle. He must have mon
ey, but how was he to get it? All,
he knew! Old man Brown who
kept the little store in News Alley
left his side windows open atnight
during the summer months and as
he was little deaf, it would be
easy for him (Spike) to crawl in
and borrow a few dollars from the
cash drawer. Just the thing! He
would surely win this time and he
could then slip it back before the
old man missed 1t. That night
Spike committed his first burglary,
and from that time on, it was q
regular thing for him to- force an
entrance into some building and
replenish his Golfers, until at the
age of twenty eight he was an
adept at housebreaking and the
senior member of the firm, Cor
don and Blake, Burglars, (unincor-
porated).
He is man six feet tall,
smonthlv shaven. black hair. eyes
The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1903-08-13
SPIKES LAST
JOB

IB we
squarely set jaws that. denote his
bulldog tenacity. Altho but
twenty-eight years old, he had
served two terms in prison, and in
fact, had just completed his last
stunt of two years duration, there
fore his sallow complexion.
One night as he sat in his room
with his feet cooked up on the ia
BILE and a cigarette between his lips,
his thoughts went back to the time
two years before. when he had bid
den his wife good bye at the depot,
where he, shackled to a deputy
sheriff, was awaiting the train that
was to convey him to the peniten-
tiary. Intermingled with hyster-
ical sobs and kisses, she had bid
den him "cheer up" but as the
conductors call aboard" sounded
through the depot she had thrown
her arms about his neck and with a
cry ofanguish, faintedaway. Helit-
tie knew then that it would be the
last time he would look upon the
face of the only human being he
had ever loved. Two months be-
fore he was discharged from prison,
he received word of her death
after two-days' sickness.
Sitting in his room he seemed
to live over again the last two
years. In fancy, he again saw the
little house she had been SO fond
of picturing in her letters to him.
It was here that he was to start
life anew and live honestly. Again
the many good resolutions he had
made while in prison came to mind.
swell, it might have been differ
ent if she had lived" he solilo-
quized as he wiped something re-
sembling tear on his coat sleeve.
eff she was here, perhaps I could
ha' lived like other men, but now
she's gone and there's nothin' fer
me to do but go back to my old
life" Taking picture of his wife
from his pocket, he gazed at it. a
moment and was about to press it
to his lips, when a knock sounded
on his door. Instinctively, his
hand moved toward his hip pocket,
but another knocking more pecul-
lar than the first, seemed to reas-
sure him and stepping to the door
he withdrew the bolts and admit
ted Tom Blake, the junior member
of the firm.
Blake was man of about twenty
six, short in stature, snub nose, re-
ceding forehead and heavy brist-
ling eyebrows, from under which
peered restless black eyes. Saunt-
ering into the room he seated him
self and proceeded to light Gig
arctic from the box upon the ia
BILE. After it was lighted to his
satisfaction, he turned and said:
".Well, Spike, I've spotted crib
"Where is it?" asked Spike in
differently.
"Out on the west side," an
swered Tom. "You remember Jack
Morris who did two-spot fer that
Bronson deal? Well, I ran across
him today and asked him in to get
a drink, but he refused. Said he'd
reformed. What do you think OF
that? Good joke, hey! Well, I
jollied him up a bit and it wasn't
long before we were in saloon
bowling up to fare-ye-well. The
damn fool hadn't drank a drop
since he got out and q few drinks
put him to the bad and started
his tongue workin' at both ends.
It seems that while he was dom
time he got converted by q Prison
League woman and after he gotout
I~l>-..ua l:s,a a .ol 90 b,, 4lo, Il, h o.
The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1903-08-13


trate Toms plans and still not
jeopardize the liberty Of his for
mer friend and partner.
On the night of the 18th, or
rather the morning of the 10th,
a tall figure might have been seen
standing motionless against a large
tree in the grounds surrounding
the house at Garfield Bonl-
.evard. A drizzling rain was fall
ing, but the overhanging branches
of the tree acted as an umbrella to
the silent figure at it's base. Now
and then cab rolled noisily by,
but that, with the occasional
splash, splash" Of a belated pedes-
trian, we're the only sounds that
broke the stiffness. Within the
house all was dark except small
red glow in the vestibule. As the
clock on neighboring steeple
struck one, the tall figure moved
cautiously toward the house and
springing nimbly onto the veranda,
approached one of the numerous
windows. From a side pocket APP
peared q small tool, which, with a
slight scratching noise, was drawn
across one corner OF the glass.
From another pocket came piece
of ordinary fy-paper which was
pasted over the same corner. A
slight pressure of the hands and
the paper was Withdrawn with q
piece of the glass adhering to it.
Twas then but the work Of a min
ute for this steaNhy figure to in
sert a hand through the opening
thus made, throw the catch, raise
the window and after listening
moment, to crawl in. Fifteen
minutes later this same figure
emerged carrying a large bundle
in one hand and small black box
in the other.
An hour or so after the first mys-
terious visitor had vanished, an
other form appeared upon the
scene. Unlike it's predecessor,
this one was short, squatty and
compactly built. Gliding from
tree to4ree it at last approached
the kitchen door and afew minutes
later thrust it's arm through hole
in the panel which it had just cut,
and throwing the bolt, swung the
door noiselessly back and entered.
Five minutes later it reappeared
muttering curses and was soon
lost to view in the gloom of a
neighboring alley.
Next day the papers reported
the burglarizing of the West home.
They stated that quantity ofplate
had been taken, together with $3.50
belonging to the Prison League,
and after presenting the usual wise
conjectures of the police, concluded
by saying that the house had ap-
parently been entered twice the
same night.
Late that same afternoon an
American Express messenger rang
the bell at the West home. In his
hand was letter, while at his feet
lay large box. Mrs. West an
swered the bell in person and after
receipting for the box, opened the
letter and read:
"Madam:- Accompanying this
letter will be box containing sew
eral articles I borrowed from your
home last night. A friend of
mine was also DESTROYS of borrow
ing them, but knowing his ability
to forget small matters, and think
ing he might perhaps forget to re-
turn them promptly, I took the
liberty of borrowing first.
ssNot wishing to go into Details.
I will say that you may thank
yourself for their return, as I do
il in payment for your having at
The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1903-08-13

DIN Wesley Gordon
was the name given
him at his christen-
ing, but among his
friends and associates
he answered to the
sobriquet Of Spike. :
His mother had died
The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1903-05-15
+***ss% +sst+s* +s+*4*++++++
A LESSON IN HUMILITY.
" From :" Letters Froma selfAade Merchant to Hiss SOM b Gcuse Horace ormn.r
4 i ss..4 -. -.

counts in all businesses that must en-
ter into the question of success or fail
ure. You have profit and loss, wear and
tear, depreciation of plant, etc. Fathers,
as a rule, never place such accounts
against their sons. I figured out when
mine came to be about 4 and was be-
min to feel his oats that I must al
low him a certain amount of wear and
tear, deviltry, degeneracy, profit and
loss, depreciation and futures. I agreed
with myself-and his dear mother
that in his fifth year he must raise hell
about six times a day. soil three suits of
clothes, tell a few white lies, be saucy
to his mother and chum with me.
IF he exceeded the allowance for
which he was credited I entered into
communion with him.. In his sixth year
l learned that there was more deviltry
and wear n tear in him than in his
fifth, so I expanded his credit, as it
We're, and never interfered with his al
lowance until he exceeded it. Pretty
soon, in his seventh, eighth and ninth
years, there was a perfect understand
ing etween US, and we could talk over
the matter like two partners in a firm.
If I seemed to make o small an al
lowance for wear and tear he would ar
que the subject, and it was the same
with every other kind Of steam that q
healthy, live boy with an active brain
must let out or burst. If I have sue
ceeded thus far in my first experiment,
l may try a second. My father cramped
me to death when I was growing up,
and perhaps it is due to tha recollec-
ton that I am allowing my boy plenty
Of latitude II longitude. The main
object Is to improve the physical ami
NAL in early youth, and no boy will
grow fat and solid, hearty, frank, fear
less and active if he is bounded for
every peccadillc. When my boy Is 10 I
shall pay closer attention to his mental
| ~deYelopment.n -.
The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1903-05-15
AN EYE TO THE r
A Horse That Made His Own Plans for
a Comfortable Old Ace.

ConroreapIe Old Age.
Mrs. Pelton, h author of "a Tar
Heel Baron" a new novel of North
Carolina which is winning general
praise by Its character drawing, has
for one Of her special friends among
the mountain people in her home in
North Carolina, the village assessor,
wagonmaker, blacksmith and vender
of paints. putty and other useful COM
modities. His various duties sit light
lv uDon him hoSyeyar and ba hoe
The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1903-05-15
Race Suicide - ]: :: !; s !; $: :$ !; ;; ~: q /

Mrs. May Wright Sewall, president OF
the International Council Of Women, in
the indianapolis News, made the fol-
lowing reply to those who see a ma
tfonal danger in the fact that families
are not SO large as they used to be:
Our country has always suffered
from the delusion that size counts for
everything; we measure value by bull,
n by numbers" she says ""This is a
surprising mistake. History teaches us
that 1t is not the countries of the great
est territorial extent that have pro-
duced the greatest civilization; it is the
small countries that have served hu-
mainly the most effectively. For ex-
ample, Judea, which gave us our relig-
ion: Greece, which produced our art;
Rome, which originated our laws; all
We're small countries.
1t is the same Judgment
which leads US to measure national i'm
portance by te-ritoriai possession that
leads US to measure the importance of
families by the number of children pro
duced in them. Is it not time that we
should attach rather more Importance
to quality han to size?
As for the decadence of American
families, l believe it is chieay in the
newspapers that American society is
decaying. 1t is undoubtedly true that
the average number of children born
to a family at the beginning Of the
twentieth century is smaller than the
average number born to q family of the
same class at the beginning of the
nineteenth, eighteenth or seventeenth
century.
II dare say, however, that it is much
better that a home shall have from two
to five children, strong in body, vigo--
Gus in mind, all of them so equipped
that in the course of nature one may
expect them to live to maturity, than
that there shoald be from twelve to
eighteen, half of whom are doomed to
die in infancy and less than half of
whom will be fairly educated and
equipped for life.
Il quickly admit that the higher edu-
cation of women has a tendency to di-
minish the number of children born to
g family. The reasons are IL tous.
First, it postpones marriage. The aigh-
er education Of wornen Is not tho only
factor hat has contributed to this post
ponement, but it is an important fac
tor.
A the beginning of the Nineteenth
century the average of girls who mar
ried is reported to have been 16 years
and 4 months: at the end of the Mines
teenth century the average of the same
The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1903-05-15

\ class was "a years INC 8 months. Why
we should deplore this increased ma
turity at marriage I am unable to un-
derstand.
marriages of India, while in reality the
change in the custom in our W coun-
try in the last century is quite as great
as the change which Christianity has
effected nj seeks to effect in India.
To my mind, one of the desirable eff
fects of higher education is that it does
postpone marriage. Let US bear in mind
hat to postpone does not mean to pre-
vent.
The higher education undoubtedly
makes the girls more critical Of men
and more Independent Of them. These
effects lave both their good and their
bad aspects.
1T is well that a girl no longer feels
that in d to preserve the affections
of her own family and to avoid becon1-
ing an old maid, a useless piece of tim
Der, a ship without a rudder or haven,
she must marry. 1t is better for society
that the better developed faculties of
the collegebred girl nave given her in
creased Independence.
THE well educated woman knows
that there is no ideal home excepting
the home created by a man and a wo-
man who are working together to
maintain it in the bonds of love; but
she also knows that, independent of any
man. she can keep a roof over her
head, have a charming social position
and share many OF the Measures of
life.
Another reason the higher educa-
ton of woman dilninishes the size of
families is that the better educated,
the more intelligent, the more develop
ed they are, the greater is their sense
of responsibility. Understanding the
laws of physiology, OF hygiene and of
heredity, they realize what is due chill
dren in physical equipment. With this
increased sense of responsibility there,
comes to highly educated women a
greater sense of personal dignity that
is not felt by women less developed.
Let us not lament the diminution of
families; let us rather remember that
overproduction in a family is one of the
chief causes of asylums and poor
houses. Let us remember that wise
parents will consider how many chill
dren they can take proper care of, to
how many they can give the nurture
and culture which will be worthy the
incarnated soul, and which Will enable
that soul, through the body, to serve
humanity. 1t is to the higher educated
woman, not to her %untaught sister, that
bearing and rearing a child becomes a
serious, conscious, responsible bus-
mess.
The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1903-05-15
THE CROWN WAS TOO HEAVY.
But a Bit of Stage Business Saved the
Actress FEELINGS,

Clara Morris, in McClure's: Another.
happy accident came to me later on. +
could i'll support the dragging weight
of the royal robes, while the crown. was
SO cruelty heavy thai the pain from it
became at last almost u~nbearable.
When in the banquet scene the tense
watchfulness, the swift changes rung
upon the emotions, the royal dignity
and calm assurance had all been In
vain; when the woman's whole splen-
did line Of defense had broken down
under Macbeth's second outburst Of
mad, a~ll-revealing terror, the player
was physically as shattered, shaken,
spent as was ever Lady Macbeth spir-
ituelly. It was the momentary pause
that followed the exit of all the guests
that I realized that, In addition to the
weight, the unpadded edge of the metal
crown was actually cutting my brow.
Lady Macbeth's last line had been
spoken. Macbeth turned and walked
with somber mien to the R. l.. f., re-
peatfng his exit speech. AS he reached
the line:
my strange and self-abuse,
Is the initiate fear, that needs hard use,''
the queen, unable longer to endure her
suffering, raised both her hands and
lifted the crown from her head. and in
the same instant the king, turning,
noted the action with such a surprised
frown that, quick as a flash, the queen
uiOppeu IL " IT'S pace again Inc
bravely smiled in his face-while both
were startled by the swift-following
applause Of sympathetic comprehen-
sion. He added his suggestive:
We are vet but young in deed,
and so made exit, and Lady MacbetI,
kept her forced smile till he was quite
gone-then it faded. Slowly she re-
moved the crown and stood looking at
it, calculating all its cost, until tears
tricl1led down her wan cheeks, when
hearing q sound outside she hastily re-
sumed it and with listless hanging
arms and dropping shoulders, feebly
dragged her royal trappings, her mis-
cry and herself out Of sight as the cur
tain fell.
That had not been the business" !
had prepared, but it was better, as
warm impromptu action is apt to be
superior to colby thought effects.
Il A H. 1~~r - ~ - H,a.E.
The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1903-05-15
One Fathers Way.

Victor Smith, in New York Press:
once in a while there is a perfect faith
er. He is the IN in a million. I know
such a one. Bringing up q boy" said
he, in reply to a friendly comment upon
his 10-year-old, lis like keeping a set
Of books for a wholesale and retail mer-
camille house. There are certain ac-
The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1903-05-15

One of the morning newspapers.
not ranking with the foremost, has q
luck In stumbling into beats, every
now and then which has become pro-
verbal. This is the story of one Of its
lnadvertent victories.
Late n evening in the summer Of
1901, at a time when the yacht to de-
fend the Americas cup against Sham
rock II: a not yet been selected, but
when the regatta committee of the
New York yacht club was known to be
On the verge of a decision, the papers
Yachting reporter received a cabIegram
from a friend who a week earlier had
, gone TO London. It contained a single
word: columbia
The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1903-05-15
The Professors Rules.

Chicago Tribune: There are three
simple rules" remarked the professor,
"by observing which no woman will
ever be robbed of her earrings by bold
thieves.
Il. Never wear diamond earrings
when u of doors or in crowded places
"2. Never wear any kind of earrings
when in UGH places.
"a. Never wear any Kind of earrings
at m time or in any place. They are
relics of barbarism."