davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
New-York tribune., 1906-06-03

Berlin police have forbidden the street sale OF
the reason given Is that two little bows Who had been
a3s 'Tenslstions Of mis- KIND Of literature had been
aaag % hold up and rob The passsrsby This article
lie 50 sresdiy read by the American boy to-day.
What 90 the average people in New York
feadF are they becoming more exacting in their
'sstesg Does the amusing the instructive
book find greater favor? Has the muluplica-
lion OF Libraries produced any marked effect in
populaT-zing literature? How fares the me-
rhanic. Whencs come the tears of the factory
grL and what does the messenger boy furtivey
devour?
full and conclusive answer TO these owes
Hons could not be given without months Of labor
ana corps OF extremely brazen census takers.
would be 2 task merely to mark off the aver
age people. adjudging the case Of the well-to-do
out ilterate shopkeeper. the INDECENT but cult
led clerk. the foreigner educated in home
classics YET innocent OF ours. Generalities are
dangerous. Too many exceptions turn up
Even facts and figures mislead when the precise
circumstances are unknown.
However, an Investigation by a Tribune re-
Porter yielded interesting results. 1t seems that
sociological and socialistic books are being
argey read by the workingman in New York
@ho, for the rest selects what viii help him in
ais special trade. Novels Of the ten best" list
ipDes 10 the women folk of Americanized toll
sFs buJ the East Side sternly rejects them and
ta-s for Shakespeare. Hawthorne Irving and
NE beloved Russian masters The factory girl
SUI asks FOR what an English writer quotes
NE choky book there must be abounding love
Aad romance. yet she is far advanced in
Pstrotism OF discernment that the homemade
I.llonalre hero is preferred 10 the noble lord Of
'rner Gays The multiplied Libraries have
Sused d vast increase IN reading for diversion.
general study and school work Messenger boy
Aefatvre IS believed 10 have improved in morals
&C arr quality. il is as strictly up to date
HyJhng in the market. New York publishers
Vut out weekly some seven hundred thousand
0p-es of fve-cent thrfllers. which, it is al
tsec, business men and judges OF the Supreme
0o-rt read occasionally
Mary, which book do you like better. the one
YOU were reading or The one let you have"
SAeo az uptown woman.
Well ma'anl." said Mary. the Janitress who
aSo had her share Of trouble. your book tells
tDout man who dresses fine. talks noble and
-e'os his wife so spending money. Ny book
,s-ls hoW man gets fun, grabs his wife by the
r. hair and throws her downstairs. / guess
Aats more true 10 life, but like the other story
'etter ma'ana''
ANS statement eliminates generally. A pref
''shee for the IDEAL and pleasant is shown by
-e narc~oTkiug class IS wei as those In mod
'a'e .reumstances. The Janitre:s knows that
-1spsnos do not hand cut SO often. The factory
'i A-s never come within remote touch OF ro-
--'ce. ana Tie messenger boys experience must
4 NM that Jack Harkawsy is a fraud; yet
New-York tribune., 1906-06-03
Stop Wasting Gas in Many Careless and Unnotced
Ways and the Monthly Bills Will be Greatly Re-
duced Without any Loss of Efficiency

lndexer is reading your meter. but you can. by
taxing account from day to day Of the amount
or cooking and lighting you do and comparing
mat with the amount of gas you burn. form
pretty clear idea of the quality of gas you are
getting and the variations in it: whether or not
there is too much air mixed with it some days
and so on.
Few women think they waste gas. but as a
matter of fact it is the easiest thing in the
world to do it. Take the process of ironing for
example. How common it is to see housewife
put each fatiron (two, three four of them), over
a separate burner to heat A fat metal heating
plate. which can be purchased at a department
store for % cents. will enable one to heat three
irons over blaze A covered iron heater is
better, but is more expensive; besides, the fiat
plate can be used also for baking cakes at need.
In households where there are careless ser
wants gas stands a good chance of being badly
squandered. Il watched my maid getting ready
to iron." said woman who lives in an apart
ment. 'She got the fatirons piping hot. and
then it occurred to her that she hadn't sprnkled
the clothes. While she performed this opera
New-York tribune., 1906-06-03

the three fit over one burner, making a perfect
round The bigger ones are half-rounds, two
going over one flame. With outfit of the
triple saucepans the housewife could boil her
potatoes peas and fruit with expenditure OF
twelve TO fifteen feet of gas in the hour instead
OF from thirty-six TO forty-five feet. One fame
gives plenty Of heat for the three. Just to put
ones hand by the side of kettle steaming over
gas flame is to perceive that large part of
the heat spreads beyond the bottom of the kettle
and goes TO waste in the outer air. The open
work construction Of the gas stove top is not
calculated TO conserve the heat; the manufact-
urers know this and they make what is called
a flame spreader." adjustable solid top; but
these are expensive, and any housewife can
achieve the same result with much cheaper
devices
New-York tribune., 1906-06-03
FIFTY GIFTED AUTHORS.

A cover autographed IN gaudy colors and large
type makes the thriller outwardly attractive.
Smashing the Auto Record: or. Bart Wilson at
the Speed Lever" shows the hero passing the
grandstand in vernilion racer, and the blue
coated villain IS falling backward IN 6. cloud OF
dust THE Bradys and the Kansas Cone-ons:
or. Hot Work on Green Goods Case,s depicts
a terrific combat on a red housetop between a
blue detective and a yellow trousered villain
brandishing a packing hook A red shirted
Rube" In long boots is prostrate with a bullet
In his heart. while second detective holds a
revolver TO a brown coated. scowling green goods
man. According TO the inscription Old King
Brady, covering the green goods man with his
revolver. cried. This is yours II you move. Mar
tin Bigneyr'
The publishers receive every week hundreds
or letters from appreciative readers. whose ages
in general run from nine to fourteen years
Many grown-ups confess their enjoyment. One
woman wrote that me and my husband liked
this book best OF all" A negro elevator man
seornfully repudiated the writer's suggestion
that he read "thrillers." but admitted that his
WIFE did IL Is said that young mechanics who
have acquired the habit as boys find il difficult
TO break off, The reason why college graduates.
jurists and men Of affairs occasionally indulge
may be similar to that which impels them. after
smoking many 2S-cent cigars. TO recuperats
jaded appetite on the rankest stogies
The writing OF 5-cent literature Is an art In
It's way. and. there only about fifty authors
in the country They form a close corporation.
many have been at the busines for twenty years
some are eX-newspaper men. others former globe
trotterS AMI graduates of the old Ledger
school or story writing IL IS told that one man
produces "thrtllerS'' with his left hand and
dramatic criticism for weekly journal with
his right; another pens "5-centers' under a
pSeudonyme and uses his OWE name for the titIa
page OF dollar and half romances Each
author Is under contract and is expected to prO-
duce a thtrty-thOusand word story every week
The champion writer. who Is ALLEGED 10 get a
salary or $4,000 year. rides about the coun-
try on railroad trains. and In two days. time
or at the rate OF about thirty-fve words a min
ute and TWO thousand words hour, dictates An
entire thirty thousand word story 10 his svsnoc-
rapher He spends the rest OF the week revising
the typewritten sheets and DOING other literary
work. The average salary OF the authoxn ia
stated to be $1,000 q xaar
New-York tribune., 1906-06-03
READ YOUR OWN METER.

But there is a very simple way of guarding
against any cheating OF this kind-learn to read
your meter yourself. The gas people will. fur
nish on request card bearing a printed fac
siTnile of the d!als with movable hands, and
underneath the dials full directions for reading
the meter. You can practise turnin~ those
hands around till you can estimate the gas re-
corded at a glance. On the reverse of the card
is a space in which to note down the records
OF your meter. They use these cards in some
OF the public school cooking classes, teaching the
chlloren TO read the meter. In a little while
you viii not only know whether the company
New-York tribune., 1906-06-03
THERE'S A REMEDY.

But is there no remedy no way OF lessening
tie steady outgo Of money each month from
ones pocket 10 the Golfers Of the gas company?
Assuredy there Is. Putting aside legislation.
which is a slow and uncertain way and
miraculous as the adventures of the S0-cent
Eas measure are demonstrating. there is another
method. or rather there are methods. and they
are within the reach of every housewife who
cocks her family's dinner and lights her home
with gas. They are simple methods. and per-
tectly honest, being only devices for securing
the desired results with a smaller amount Of
gas
It would be interesting. if the statistics could
be compiled. TO know just how much gas is
wasted. burnt UP needlessly, IN the city Of New
York every year. Most Of this is squandered in
atrle ways For example. a woman starts in to
prepare dinner for her husband and children.
She IS going TO have roast lamb. boiled potatoes,
peas and some kind Of stewed fruit. She lights
the oven burners and puts the roast of lamb in
The upper part OF the oven When IL is time TO
bou the vegetables she pares the potatoes and
pets them over one Of the top burners, and the
peas over q second. while the fruit is stewing
Bver third one; and al the burners. probably
going full blast AS the oven burners consume
about thirty feet OF gas an hour and each top
burner from twelve 10 fifteen, the gas bill is
being augmented pretty rapidly while that din
aer cooks.
Now, at any place where gas appliances are
sold one can get separable saucepans. as they
are called; they cost a little more than the Or
Binary saucepan, but they pay for themselves
n g few days IN the gas they save. Some Of
nheIn are IN sets OF three. heart shaped. so that
New-York tribune., 1906-06-03
A STOVE HAS LUNGS.


1t is very important to keep the lungs OF the
gas stove clean. These lie along the upper front
edge Of the stove, the little projecting knobs.
one for each burner. with shutters in them that
open and close, looking like a miniature copy OF
a damper in the pipe of coal range. and de-
signed TO let in the proper amount OF air to
mix with the gas. If the burner acts badly. If
the flame is yellow and unsteady, blasts out
with a loud report when one tries to light it.
that shows that the shutter is not rightly ad-
justed. letting in too much or too little air. or
else that there is dirt in the gasway. The gas
way being very small. larger than the head
of pin, mere speck of dirt there may make
trouble. Or perhaps the gasway is not perfect
ly round. as it should be. and requires roaming
out a little The stoves lungs should be cleaned
every day with a cloth. and in case of difficulty
readtusted by an expert
Sometimes. however. the burner blasts out be-
cause makes the mistake of putting the
match at the front of the burner, instead OF at
the back. as should be done in lighting IT. Some
times It burns badly because it is turned too
high. which latter. by the way. is a common
way Of wasting gas Ali that is necessary is to
turn the gas just high enough to produce the
clear. blue flame. the intense concentrated heat
on the bottom Of the cooking vessel. not a far
ing, yellow flame shooting wastefuly out around
the sides.
meter that is growing rather popular in
New York is the quarter meter. slot meter.
There are about 10000 of these in the city, il is
said. There are some in apartment houses; one
Of the largest model tenement associations has
installed them throughout its buildings; there
some in shops in stores and in private houses.
There is a difference of opinion as to whether
this is a more honest meter than the other kind.
Many consumers think 1t is. One Yonkers man
who had a slot meter put in his house not long
ago declares that he does not spend half as much
on gas as under the old system of paying once
q month.
New-York tribune., 1906-06-03

these readers continue to dream delightful
impossibilities tired mind in a weary body
may be partial explanation If the educated
but worn out scions of Wall Street recreate
themselves with vapid musical comedy and
novels Of historical humbug, small wonder that
the common people take to wares little worse.
After nine hours work in stuffy shop, the
mind is no more able to assimilate a serious
book than the body is able to digest large. sub
sta meal
New-York tribune., 1906-06-03

She condescends to a railroad king who isn't
bald and dyspeptic Mothers and spinsters read
some of the best sellers, cookbooks and house
keeping works. Almost nobody here cares for
poetry and the drama.
The younger generation seems to have gone
back on Robinson Crusoe." while remaining
loyal to Jules Verne. Dickens. Scott's "Ivanhoe"
and "Kenworth." The boys are described as
absolutely crazy over the works of Horatio AL
ger. who tells of bootblacks becoming rich in
night. They devour AIger two or three
times in succession and then reluctantly turn
to something less exciting. 1t is doubted by
authority whether a public library confers any
benefit by providing boys who ought to be
playing outdoors with such pabulum Ten TO
eleven year old children spend evening after
evening in the library reading room porting over
Alger. Their parents. it is presumed, neither
know nor care what they are doing
SHAKESPEARE ON TOP.
We have no call for current fiction" said the
librarian at the Rivington street branch
Shakespeare is the most popular author Few
girls down here read for mere recreation, and
the sentimental story is not favored All the
English classics. including the works of Dickens
Thackeray, George Eliot, Washington Irving and
Hawthorne, are popular. We never have enough
copies of Twice Told Tales Mill on the Floss
foreign languages the Yiddish lead and are fol-
lowed by German Rumanian. Russian and
French There is a large demand for Tostoy
Dostoievski, Turgenieff and Gor1y in the original
We think this compares favoraby with the best
sellers Of uptown branches.
Works on pure socialism by Karl Marx
Kautzsky and Sombart, Kropotkin's Theoretical
Anarchy and London's War of the Classes are
read by many, along with sociological books
like SpargO's Cry of the Children Hunters
Poverty Brookss Social Unrest The Long
Day, by Miss Richardson. and Sinclairs social
istic novel The Jungle The debates at the Uni
versity Settlement clubs create demand for
all kinds of books on immigration civil govern
ment and what not Twelve-year-oId girls come
in and ask FOR information on weighty topics
sc they can use it In school debate The call
for serious and instructive books might be partly
explained by the fact that school children and
young col!egians of this neighborhood are un-
able 10 afford books OF their own II Is pre-
sumed that uptown readers OF the best sellers
have gone through the English classics in their
early days. while our readers just catching
up TO Shakespeare and Irving. but l do not
quite agree In the presumption. The Russian
people particularly noted tor their solid taste
New-York tribune., 1906-06-03
HINTS ON HOW WORKERS CAN BEAT THE Gas TRUST as

On a recent Sunday one OF the ministers in a
town not many miles from New York preached
8 sermon on the duty and the beauty OF for
sfveness. As the worthy people Of the congre-
cation streamed homeward. by twos and threes.
they discussed the words of their pastor.
We'll" remarked of the elders OF the
ehurch. as he mounted the steps OF his home.
I'm willing TO forgive everybody but the gas
oomrany I can't do that"
Probably he felt as the man did who had Just
eaten an unusually good dinner This man
stretched his legs out comfortably under the
table, drew a sigh Of huge content and said to
bis wife:
'clow. wish had enemy. so that could
forgive him"
There's the gas company" the wife suggested.
The gas company isn't my enemy merely. {"
said the man, Its the enemy Of the human
race Who am / to forgive the gas company"
II the gas company is not the enemy of the
human race, al least there is no other institu-
non that IS so generally objurgated. within the
sreas over which it sheds its illumination and
its bills. See three or four househoIders talking
together. and il is ten TO one that before the
group breaks up one Of them will say:
speaking Of abuses my gas bill is getting
bigger every month. and here is the season when
the evenings are getting shorter. It's extortion.
that's what It is, and told the collector So"
Maledicuons DO no good. though You may
hurl them at the collector till your tongue IS
weary bat he merely, with a perfectly blank
and wooden face. leaves the bill and goes away.
OF course. II you object TO your gas bill you can
refuse 70 pay IL, but then your gas viii be shut
Of and then where are you? A wanderer in an
impeneuable forest who has lost his matchbox
is rot So helpless. for he can kindle fire with
two stones and handful Of dry leaves as is
the average New York fat dweller with his
gas shut of
New-York tribune., 1906-06-03
REGULAR OSTRICHES

This, ladies and gentlemen" said the guide
''is a real theatrical chophouse. You will notice
the signs on the wall. Watch your hat, and
Keep an eye on your umbrella"
Great sooseberriesP' exclaimed the old farmer
in the party. Il often heard tell that these here
actor folks We're half starved. but I didn't think
they would eat hats and umbrellas "-Cyhicae-O
News
New-York tribune., 1906-06-03
SOME QUEER TRICKS.

People do queer things with gas stoves some
times. Settlement worker on the East Side
called the other day on a woman who had just
acquired one for the first time in her life
The woman appeared troubled. and finally
she confessed that the gas stove was disap-
pointment. Sure I've had mate bakin' in the
oven folve hours she said, "an' it's as red an
raw as whin it cut from the baste it grew
on"
Let me look" said the Settlement worker
She investigated. The woman had merely light
ed the pilot burner. which is meant just to act as
a match for the oven burners. and the said pilot
New-York tribune., 1906-06-03

was fiickering lonesomely. consuming perhaps
two feet of gas an hour.
That was not so dangerous the mistake OF
the bride who received a gas chahng dish as a
wedding present. One day the giver got dis
tracted note. II can't imagine" the note ran,
what ails that pretty .chafng dish. 1 can't
light 1t. and when 1 turn the gas and try
such a queer, sitting odor from it, The
friend hurried and discovered that the
bride had carefully fitted the tubing which con-
Quoted the gas from the burner in the wall
above over one of the curved legs of the chafng
dish why. isn't that the place where the gas
goes imp she exclaimed Why she was
blown UP the friend never understood.
When one considers what ticklish stuff gas is
to monkey with. it seems rather remarkable
that there not more accidents with it, How
often for instance, does one recollect to open
the doors wide before lighting the oven
burners? And yet there is always the possibiI-
ity OF the being filed with escaping gas
Experts say that fiue pipes a fruitful source
of explosions: they are specially periIous on
high ground. along upper Riverside Drive
The wind, blowing down the pipes puts out the
TO see why the gas isn't burning at the same
time striking match to ignite 1t, and then is
surprised to find herself against the opposite
wall and the kitchen in flames. But Give me a
1ue pipe is a frequent demand owing to a
belief that il makes the stove work better As
a matter Of fact, it does not; when the stove
works badly It is because the stove itself Is out
of order. not that a fue pipe is needed.
New-York tribune., 1906-06-03

ton she took the irons off to cool a bit, as they
We're too hot, but she forgot to turn the gas
down meantime. Then they got too cool she
put them over the blaze again but before she
began to iron the iceman came. and then the
grocer's boy, and when she had finished with
tnese callers the irons once more so
not that they had to be put through the cool
ing process a second time before they could be
used"
New-York tribune., 1906-06-03
SOME SAMPLE TID-BITS.

Mick Carter the Detectivs" Buffalo Bill 20
Young Rough Riders" "Old Diamond Dick
the pioneer of modern thrillers; THE Liberty
Boys of 70" "Old King and Young King
Brady a New York detective series, and one
Of Boys Who Succeed in Business are lead
in the list Original plots and plenty of incl
dent are demanded. Things must seem fairly
natural. a recent phOnograph detective story
was founded upon a Custom House auction sale
of phonOgraph record. which. being placed on
a machine. gave forth the shrieks or a mur-
derer's victim. Another writer used the kinetO-
scope and a telescope in a gambling house that
Illuminated by the new vacuum light Rob
berries on Long Island gave rise to series OF
the Sound Pirate"
The following is an example OF the terse style
now used in place of the old fashioned exclana-
tory padding
By jingo,' he finally exclaimed Am awake
OF am l only dreaming?
Il guess you are awake. all right" was the
ply DO you sim insist on relieving me OF my
No! That is nonsense. You have got the upper
hand now; You are wonder. young fellow, Just
tell me who you are anu my MIND VIII 6e easier
Well II II will do you any good III tell you who
am. go by the name OF Young Wild West be-
Young Wnd West, the Prince Of the Saddle and
Champion DeadshOt OF the Vest muttered the
ast hs 0qs So% vHs W6o OSy are 70 HaF
Il Dandy Lou. the outlaw King I have
operated successfully in seven states and terri
'Outlaw king eh?' said the boy with a laugh
II have met several outlaw kings in my day. and
a fellow mapping they are all right but II a fellow
happens TO turn the tables them they are as
meek as newborn lamb Dandy Lou. the Outlaw
King, Ell? Ha ha. ha!
They fight duel with bowie knives, and this
is the outcome:
':S1irtasi'' roarsd th~ Outlaw King Put Una