davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-11-12
THE CHINESE MOTHER
She is Steadfast in Affection for Her
Children
From the Pilgrim.

from the Pilgrim.
me Chinese mother is very fond of her
children. She is happy in their com,ap,,
and spends much time caring for thor,
IN chinese family the birth of a child is
greater event than with other orientaIs
Long before the child is born the mother
performs rites and ceremonies to propitiate
,Ee gods that her child may be a boy.
After birth the little fellow is wranned In
old rags and in winter is sometimes NUT in
bag of sand sewed close around its neck
to keep the little one warm, Great retoic-
ing follows the birth if the child rs a boy.
OTHERWISE there is an air Of chastened die
appointment But good Chinese parents
make the best of their little lassies. becom
ius very Iohd and even proud of them I
nave known more than one Chinese father
10 eXhlblt his toddling wee girl for an
proVal, though always with the customary
national verbal depreciation of whar haIonos
to one. Indeed, this evidence of excessive
courtesy may be found everywhere in this
strange land. 1t is good form to ViIlif,
Mnat IS Is mine and laud what is thine. My
sood-for-nothing family are all still troub-
ing the earth with their presence. How
is your honorable family?'
The fact that Chinese custom has be-
come nodded into certain set forms has
mlsled many travellers. 1t is, for instance
a generally accepted custom in this conn
try that a gentleman shall remove his hat
when he meets d lady with whom he is
acquainted, but a Chinese visitor would fan
into error if he assumed that this implied
that women, therefore, reduced men TO So
cial servtude. So in China a woman waits
on her husband while he is eating, because
it has been the custom from time mme-
mortal. In the same way if they were trav-
cling he would walk beside the cart while
she rode
The education of their children is mat
ter of no small interest TO the affectionate
Chinese mothers. They watch the little one
from the day he is born, to note supersti-
tious signs Let him cry Justify, and he viii
live long, say the old grannies. If he
teeths or walks too soon he wiz grow up
unlovable in disposition. At first the little
Chinese are not very attractive objects,
presenting rather a scaly appearance, due
to the custom of not washing them lest
they catch cold A month after his birth
the boys head is shaved. A great feast
is prepared and celebrated. the child now
receiving his ''milk-name. When he en-
tiers school this name is changed. as it is
once more when he receives his degree.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-11-12

more upon the parents than the children
or the boys are attracted by the bllboards
of the cheap theaters and steal a piece of
lead pipe to secure the price of admission
In fact, all the social and individual fac
tors that tend to produce poverty, distress
sickness, vice and crime contribute their
quota to neglected childhood.
What becomes of the children? They do
not starve, they do not disappear into thin
air, they are not swallowed up by the earth
OF the sea- Many and varied are the
courses which they pursue. Much depends
upon accident. There is no one plan or
method by which they are cared for. Many
circumstances enter into the life of each
child, and all the different circumstances
have their weight in determining his future
career. If poverty is the dominant fac
tor, then the child is apt to. be taken to
some office of the department of public
charities. II neglect on the part of the
parent, or misconduct the part of the
child. is the important fact, then the child
is taken to the children's court of which
there are two-one In Manhatta and one
in Brooklyn. In either case, however, the
child is apt to be sent to an institution
The choice of an institution is determined
primarily by the religious faith OF the
child's parents, for the laws provide that
when practicable children shall be sent to
INSTITUTIONS governed Dy the same religious
faith as that of the parents of the children
However, the division is only into three
general groups-Catholic, Protestant and
Jewish. No effort is made to send Protes-
tant children to an institution belonging to
any particular Protestant denomination
The child's stay in the institution depends
upon many things. Is one parent living
and of good character? Then the child re-
mains because of the possibility that later
on he may be returned to the parent. Once
a wear the parents are visited nv a rer,rA.
sentative of the city for the purpose of as
pertaining whether they have become able
to provide for the maintenance Of THAR
children. and In this WY from dir r 111la
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-11-12
CARING FOR HOMELESS
WAITS OF GREAT CITIES
BY HOMER FOLKS.

cure extradition where the deserter has
gone to some other state. 1t is safe to say
that among the twenty-five thousand chill
dren in New York city dependent upon
charity the number brought to their pres
ent circumstances by the desertion of the
father is reckoned by the thousands
WaywardnesS on the part of the child is
also a large factor Very frequently it is
the result of causes already mentioned
Given desperate poverty, parents too i'll or
too overburdened to look out for their chill
dren. or too poor to provide anything like
suitable surroundings, or themselves NOR
ally unfit, and you have all the conditions
for the production of juvenile crime. Many
of the children are committed ungoyern-
able-a fact which probably reflects much
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-11-12
for all the varied needs of children in more

Tor all the varied needs of children in more
humane and natural ways
Nor is there anything to prevent the ex-
penditure of public funds, large or small in
similar ways. II is now being done. The
agency boarding the largest number of
of Massachusetts. 1t has turned ALI tic or
phah asylums to other uses. The CITY of
Boston has likewise disposed of its Munici-
PAL Home for Children, and now pays their
board In individual families Here is evi-
IDENTIFY the solution of this grave nrohlan,
one which concerns the immediate future
or every self-governing people 1t also
furnishes an admirable outlet for the wise
anu altogether beneficial expenditure of
private fortunes. HOMER FOLKS
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-11-12
What is Happiness
BY MRS EDMUND GOSSE
:, Author of The Pleasures of Ignorance, etc
tan Rights ReservedD

A FTER ALL what is happiness? Ih9re
~ is apt to be a strange haziness IN
IA the minds of many people when
this question is presented to them:
A small boy. whipping at his top
m = 7 ondon pavement, was asked by Sc
date. elderly passer-by: Are you happy?
The hoy licked at his top two or three
times: then. turning up puzzled and SOL
ernn face to his interlocutor he demanded'
(Which hapuy?" Those two words are the
nutshell that contain the elusive kernal
called happiness. That is exactly what we
ALI of us want to know: what ii is that we
mean by happiness? as well as which kind
of happiness is II that each one of US in
dividuaIy most wishes to possess?
Happiness is like the Will-o'-the-Wisp
Chat looling-glass FASH of Tinkabell in
peter Pan" 1t is here; We see it dancing
around us; we reach out a hand TO grasp
il: II evades us: 10 is gOne-iike love through
The window at the entrance of poverty ~
the dGor-it has flown off far away; now
we see II out youdcr skipping about with
the hickering butterflies and the booming
bees among the herbaCeoUs borders Of the
flower garden. We pursue it, and II TWIN
kles its little lamp al ms from above, or 1t
tinkles its little bell at us from below;
bright eyes seem to blink and wink at us
out of the shadows Of the surrounding Dos
cage. And then. 1t is gone and nothing re-
mains of it-but stil, we say 20 ourselves:
at has been
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-11-12
Time Enough.

From the Catholic Standard and Times
Borroughs-"Say. old man, there was a
time when you promised to share your
last dollar with me-
Richley-"That's all right; haven't got
down to II yet
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-11-12


Sickness is one of the great causes Of
child dependence. Consumption, which
claims as it's own, sooner or later, about
one-eighth of the metropolitan population
does not remove its victim at one fell blow;
before the end there are weary weeks and
months of failing health. the burdens grad
ually becoming too great to be borne, and
the family goes to pieces. Accidents con-
tribute their quota
Then there are the more discouraglng
things which involve misconduct on the
part of the parents. The number OF chill
dren removed from homes because of par
entail neglect Is large and is increasing
Confirmed intemperance, shiftlessness, vice
all these in many varied forms and COM
binations, sap the home life, and some day
the Gerry" agent swoops down upon an
apartment in which children lie about in
rags while their parents are trying to sleep
off the effects of a prolonged debauch
The population of the orphan asylum is
appreciably increased. The parents may
be committed to the work house, or pos
sbly the penitentiary, or they may be
placed under bonds to pay something to-
ward the support of their children. Some
times they try hard to get the children
back; sometimes they do not mind it. 1t
usually happens that they become much
more anxious to get their children back
after the children reach an age at which
they begin to earn, and the pity of 1t Is
that they sometimes succeed.
Desertion Is becoming alarnningiy fire.
quent. Several states have recently passed
laws making desertion a felony. for the
double purpose of making the punishment
moreaseYerea and making ~ easfer 70 -
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-11-12

Happiness is not unlike verb: it may be
active or passive-it is very often irregular!
1t has its lenses and its moods-that tire
some and even eXasperating. conditional
mood. and the ever insistent imperative
case! There are many persons who seem
not to be conscious of having ever pos
sesSed the present tense of happiness at
all; with them it has always been either
with sigh the past or else with fever
ISL lmpatiepcel the future. On propound-
ing this view TO a young girl she laughed
saily and exclaimed: What drolI idea.
that is of yours. Why, ] laugh still when
l remember how perfectly happy / imag-
ined myself to be. ever so long ago (when
l was still quite young)-and when l little
dreamed how really happy | should be
now!
SO that after all. there seems to be no
theory about happiness which will suit
all minds. Can it be that happiness Is an
idea only That each mind forms for itself
an ideal. after which it is ever striving:
so that there is In reality no such thing
as happinesS-that happiness does not ex-
list? And yet that suggestion will not
please nor will 1t convince any one as
long as the germ of happiness remains
planted in the mind of every child. 1t be-
comes very much a case of personality
and of temperament; of will power and of
belief. To believe ourselves happy Is TO
find ourselves already we'll on the high road
that leads to the sunny land of happiness.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-11-12

- HERE are always about 2o'ooo
homeless children in New York
ci+v-a verv considerable num-
her more than enough to make
nm a good-sized town-and all OF
them so unfortunate that IAes
cared for by strangers.
yybore does this army of children come
from? Why are they homeless? VINO
cares for them? Do they starve? what oe-
comes of them? Answers to these ques-
+ions would take one far afield, but would
be ranlete with intensely human interest.
Many and varied are the causes Whlch
throw children upon the kindness of the
n,,bIic The one most commonly thought
of is orphanage. Many institutions for chill
dren are named orphan asylums and often
the entire group of institutions that care
for needy children is thus alluded to. Or
manage is, however, a much smaller factor
than is commonly supposed. Only very
very small proportion of this army of chill
dren is made up of those who are both
fatherless and mOtherless. II very rarely
happens that both parents die, ana when
both do die it usually happens that there Is
some means left behind. or some near re4d-
rive nroyfdes home for the children. There
are many more half-orphans than orphans
When the mother dies the father Is
HELPLESS creature. and very Oflen, Hol 50
much on account of his poverty as on ac-
count of his masculinfty and general unnt-
ness for the task of rearing small cnlldreh,
he turns the job over to some institution
Usually the city asks him to pay some
thing if it considers him able to do 50, put
in only a small number of cases is ne really
held to his responsibility, the city obliglng-
" paying the bill if he fails TO do So
The death of the father is also apt 70
throw some of the children upon chafltaple
support though widows seem more hkely
20 take up their unusual burdens with
greater courage and persistency than Wid-
overs Some societies provide a HmTted
number of pensions to enable widows to
keep their children at home in fact the
present trend of opinion among thinking
charity administrators is decidedly against
breaking up the family of widow II she
is al all qualified to rear her chlldfen,
thinking 1t better 10 aid her in her nome.
While this is generally believed to be the
hes. plan it is far from being the universal
rule and many children are stu sent 10
asylums and institutions for the sole rea-
son that the mother is too poor to care Tor
them at home. This is, indeed, cruelty
to children well as to the mother, form
of cruelty which should be outgrown.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-11-12

Some people cxclaim shortly" Ha Dpiness2
VIII. is tbr state of your liver Others.
-. 80. -, =. >, Ill. d,
'h7' - N'N4''S ''' '"'' "'''
few persons tbHt these are OBVIOUSLY 100 IL
logical to be worthy of consideration say
tt,at +,re I,,,,-fr,ss consists I'm letting other
-, .,. - -, ,,,t,{ro -
Pe"I's - -. ~" 80 ,,t,,lss is ~
iIHi 80 ~ nc 3 tu.I " -, ti,o a.
mo I.t,e't ~ ' "a, ,,'t anoth@r
f ti i - ~, M ,,et to tin bannna;s
80 go - 49,. ~ =, b,,,I,nI Ife in q
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-11-12

some of the children sent back to their
homes. If, however, both parents die. or
if one parent is dead and tire other is unfit
or incompetent or if for any other reason
it seems reasonably certain that the child
can never be cared for again by his own
parents then he may be sent out from the
Institution to some private family, possibly,
if he is still a young child. for legal adop-
ton
\ much larger proportion Of the Protes-
tant children are placed out in families
than of the Catholic or Jewish children, for
the reason that there are more Protestant
families that are childless and that seem
disposed to receive friendless children into
their hearts and homes. Recently both
Catholic and Jewish agencies have been es-
tablished for providing homes in families
for orphan and other children who other
wise would remain long periods of time in
institutions.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-11-12

AT the beginning of this year Lutzow was
carried out to sea in the Methodist mis-
sion cutter which had drifted away owing
to adverse currents and when the boat was
recovered some considerable time afterward
it contained the corpse of the deluded mu-
sican. His loss was sad blow to Engle-
hardt, but he still refused to leave his be-
loved sun grove, and still continued to con-
form strictly to the rules which he had
drawn up for the sect. He subsisted entire
ly on cocoanuts. AT last he was stricken
with a severe illness
Learning of his condition the German au-
thorities sent their medical launch to the
island, and despite his protests insisted on
conveying him to the hospital. At Engle-
hardts request he was placed in such d
position on the little craft that he could
gaze upon the island as it receded in the
distance. He spoke no word to any one,
and by signs rejected the nourishment that
was offered him. When at length the island
vanished from his sight he closed his eyes
in death.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-11-12

wise supervision, that children are not
placed in bad homes, are not overworked
and kept from school. this plan has excel
lent results.
AS to what finally becomes of the chill
dren. much the same happens to the chill
dren placed out in families to ordinary
children They become farmers, laborers
mechanics occasionally teachers, physi-
clans or ministers Some go through col
lege, and quite a number have attained po-
sitionS of great eminence and response blity.
Plenty of county and municipal officers not
a few judges. a governor of Alaska and a
governor of North Dakota are included
among the number.
AS to what becomes of children brought
up in institutions and later on returned to
their parents or a relative in the great city
little Is known. No systematic oversight is
maintained after they leave the institu-
tons, and while many guesSes have been
made as to the proportion who become self
supporting and make good citizens. such es-
Inmates are merely guesses at the best.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-11-12

AS to the children who are not sent ont
to families, many of them remain in the in
situations until they are from thirteen to
sixteen years of age, and are then reclaim
ed by some relative, or, il not are provided
with employment by the institution. The
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-11-12

An emblematist of old might have de-
scrihed happiness as the instant of the ex-
treme swing of the pendulum, or as the al
most imperceptible pause at the highest
point reached in the revolution of a revolv-
ing sphere. Then some solemn, but fancy
Drained draughtsman OF those times, In IL
lustraticn of this idea, would have depicted
In one OF those delightful. soft-lned wood
cuts of his, the airy figure OF happiness
herself clad in floating, scroll-like dra-
peres-encumbering not. however, the free
play of a well-turned ankle and knee-she
would stand. that fascinating, but tickle.
goddess with her smiling and evasive face
turned from us, as, with one sandled foot
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-11-12


with living close TO nature all the time.
BY going without clothes, bathing constant
ly in the sun and eating nothing but frult
he declared his followers would eventually
be able to subsist without food OF drink OF
any sort and gain the power of transport
Ing themselves at will to any part of the
world without having to patroniZe railways
or steamships.
On taking possession of his island. Engle-
hardt discarded his clothing, and armed
with a palm leaf to keep off flies. feas and
mosquitoes, confidently awaited host of
regeneratng recruits. lot of folk in
Germany had sgnified their intention of
joining him when he got his paradise start
ed but when it came to the scratch all but
two backed out Some pleaded for the privi-
lege of at least being allowed to wear
shirts; others clamored for concessions in
the shape of beefsteak. and some base
backsliders declared that they would not
tackle the paradise job unless permitted to
bring their wives with them.
But Englehardt was adamant to all these
appeals. He would admit 10 one to member
ship in the Sun Order who was not willing
TO adhere to all the rules and regulations
which he had laid down for its guidance
and which he faithfully observed himself.
The two men who jo-ne him on these terms
were Max Lutzow. . musician. who con-
Quoted an orchestra that bore his name in
Berlin. and Heinrich Eukens, native of
HeligoaEd. who had settled in the same
city. They consigned Heir clothing to the
sea on landing on JNabakon. and settled
down to a course of worship and fruit
diet
But the sudden change to an equa torial
climate, exposed to the fierce heat of the
sun all day and sleeping the sand at
night with no bodily aourishment but cocoa
nuts soon reduced Eukens to d condition of
extreme physical Weakness In that state
he was s1ni;ten with malaria. In accordance
with the rules of the order he took rem
edies. but lay in the direct rays of the sur
and tasted for three days. On the fourth
day he succunEed to the hunger cure
But his fate did not weaken the faith of
the two other men. Sceptics might sneer,
but they only felt certain that they were on
the right track and that through them the
human race would ultimately be regener-
ated. Stark naked and with their skins tan
ned to the color of leather they wandered
about the island and seemed quite happy
and contented with their primitive life and
frugal fare. The natives regarded them with
Supcrstitious reverence, and settlers who
visited them occasionally looked upon them
as harmless lunaticS,
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-11-12

The needs of homeless children have,
since the days of Stephen Grard, the foun-
der of Girard College, in Philadelphia,
which has a larger endowment than any
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-11-12

There are all kinds of happiness. the
snort ones as well as the long One of The
shortest is the pleasure of catching a train
-alter brisk run for it. To drive n good
bargain seems to produce in some natures
sensation of satisfaction that is aImogt
AKIN 10 happiness. There is, for some a
feeling of pleasant superiority in being the
successful bidder, where the hammer 0uirK-
" raps out the answer to the nod at an
auction, causing them to say they feel
thoroughly happy. Then there is the farm
or JOY at having a better crop of turniDs
IMAM any OF his neighbOrs. The brief smile
OF SO happy to have met youu' There
are even more sanguine persons who at
hrm that they can be happy though at
Std-ShOWlng that there still exist patiant
natures, whom nothing will daunt Such
People must be akin to the stuff of which
the early saints were made-those exalted
spirits who delighted in hot ploughshares
and reVeled in starvation Certain folk
50 through life in a strange state of dis
content, they always imagine themselves
to be, as II were, in the wrong box-be-
AeFlng that happiness could have been
theirs if only such and such a thing had
happened differently yesterday-an uncom-
Portable sort of thimble-ring view of life
1 his state calls up vision of the figure
We must all of US have met with in our
Journeyings-the travelling visionary and
mis- tiresome matchbox, which, whenever
il was wanted was Invariably found to
have been left at home in the pocket of
the other coat
OF all the passive and active kinds If
happiness, one of the most obvious Illus
trations can he found in the way in which
some men will find comfortable satisfaction
oy sitting in the shade, on q hot summer s
day, and in watching other fellows in the
full glare of scorching sun. rushing wild
ly about in the heat of a contention over
some field sport. And, at the same time
those other heated men. who are rushing
about, are also most keenly happy.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-11-12

she lightly balances herself on the swing
ing pendulum. Behind this allegorca
fancy, there would be spread out a busy
landscape wherein would be seen groups
of shepherds and shepherdesses, scattered
over the beflowered and lamb besprinkled
lawns; while, wandering beside the Won
orous serpentining streams of those leis-
urdy times, could be espied pairs of happy
lovers, strolling hand in hand; all of them.
shepherds and lovers alike, contentedly un-
conscious of the evasive little winged fig
ure IN the foreground, poised so lightly
there upon the highest point of her revolv-
ing sphere. But enough of sentiment, That
which dissatisfied people believe to be the
true happiness, and which they long to en-
JOY, is whatever they do not happen TO
possess at the moment. Thus the hungry
man dreams of a feast, the sleepless one
pines Tor oblivion. the doubling man yearns
Ior pehel; and, while the overweight man
may De longing for the soothing calm of the
long days spent languidly afloat in a canoe.
the sufferer from monotonous life will he
craving after all manner of absurd excite
neht' such as Jaunt TO q band-ridden res
taurant, or a spree in a flying machine