davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-05-16

couple of DAYS after the verdict he ap-
neared for duty clad in wondrous frock
coat. one of those comprehensive. inter-
cbangeable garments that serves equally
well as coat tent. bed quilt or an
awning. With this were other gents fur
nishings of quite parallel dignity.
X +
With the clothing came evolution. and.
skippipg the Intermediate stages. il is
only necessary to say that nowadays
when Mr.. Crockett appears at the House
with a message from the Senate he waits
frowningly until policeman and two
attendants open the door for him. and
then enters the chamber with deep-sea
swagger. Arriving at the proper point
in the center aisle. he halts. hooks his
right foot over the lower rail of the near
est desk takes the message from beneath
his arm. sazes grandly over the cham
Der. speaks 10 couple of friends.
scratches his head. flecks speck Of dust
from the tent -awning- bed-quilt frock
coat irritates the calf of his left leg with
the toe of his right boot adjusts his tie
and finally with the House in, a state Of
violent peevishness and suspense. bawls
out the title OF his message. This COM
pleted. he delivers the document to Mr.
Kennedy bows conde scendingly to the
Speaker and swaggers down the aisle and
out
This performance has become so conf
cal from constant repetition that nova
days when a newspape man happens in
the gallery and sees Crockett in process
of entering The chamber he goes out and
within calling distance.
One optimiSt has ventured the prediction
that Speaker Cannon will throw his gavel
at Mr.. Crockett some fine young spring
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-05-16

HAVE often wondered whether there
is anything connected with the mere
act of formally delivering a message
II 10 the Senate or the House of Rep
resentatives that might he over
towering tn the imagination or racking
to the mind IL would seem so. for
don't believe I ever saw a man blow into
either chamber with a message tucked
under his arm and give even a reason
ably correct imitation of a human being.
Yet the procedure is simple enough.
Take the House for instance. The Sec,
rotary or clerk. or whatever the title of
the message bearer may be. kicks open
the door OF the hall and steps inside. Then
he wiEwagS until Bert Kennedy, the
wavy-haired and otherwise ornamental
announcer of the House. sights him and
Bert and the MESA ge-bearer-advance
down the main aisle while. the Speaker
thumrs briskly with his gavel and all
business stops. \ message from the
Whatchumacallem.' says Bert. and the
bearer is supposed to bow deeply. make
his formal announcement, bow a little
less and back out.
| leave it to anybody if that shouldn't
he as simple II sounds. But the gen
tlemen who have been bringing formal
messages into the House during the past
five years or SO have made mighty hard
work of it.
There was Benjamin r. Barnes. who
once upon a time was an assistant Secre-
tarv to President Roosevelt Mr. Barnes
didn't like that message bearing business
a little hit He never told me so. but
he had the fact writ large all over his
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-05-16

sengers' eyes. Meanwhile. in the tower.
the operator has before him a long case
along the bottom of which are the num-
bers of every track in the station. Above
each number are three glasses ike those
in the train shed labeled Conductor. OPP
rator and Gateman. respectively. When
the conductor turns his key the light
flashes in the top glass of the row above
the number of the track his train Is on.
Immediat ely the operator signals back the
light shows in his second row and also to
the conductor and to the gateman as well.
At the exact train time and when all pas
sengers are aboard the gateman turns his
key. the light shows TO the operator In
the third row and TO the conductor in his
second the operator gives the block to
the train and 1t is off Very simple when
one knows how isn't 1t? But a little thing
like that took many months of designing
and planning and then many months more
OF experimenting before 1t was perfected.
There are two towers which are direct
ly concerned in dispatching trains from
the station. These are the X street tower
which Is the key to the whole system and
the one at the station end of the tunnel.
Mr. Wilson has his Office at the
street tower and from his desk is able to
see the movement OF every train in the
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-05-16

tilted II. and none of the rest Of us had
the least thing to make il worth our
while sticking around at fitting match.
So faded in turn.
Dave danced back at the Chinaman
for S:aD and Ali Fong was right there
for "A 81 .HB push-alorg. Dave boosted the
Celestial another Sl.C0ID. which was seen,
and tnen | was ready to hand them some
papers. kalakaua hadn't taken his cards
up from the table yet. having only pulled
up the corners. So when / asked him how
many cards he wanted. he merely pushed
500 stack to the center to indicate
that he was pretty we'll fixed in the mat
ter of papers il stood. All FOng didn' t
think he needed any. either He didn't
say out loud. but instead of fooling
around with chips he said that his was
a thousand better, and then seeing that
there were going TO be doings. ] got out
pencil! and began IN keep tab on the
chipless raises back and forth What was
on my penciled schedule of back-and
forth bets represented something like
s9.Jr1. when upon lending his ears to II.
kings final boost. All Fong gazed out Of
the open window At the whipping blue
sea with the early morning sunlight
dancing upon it. and said:
. That is very good David.
We'll. is call II night then su.-
2ested one of the party. and. we were
all tagged out. the suggestion went.
Dave. said All Fong then. leaning
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-05-16

would return the gold bag. with all It's
contents. to us in Paris should he he UNI
able to find the bags owner within
stated time. Also he took our address in
Constantinople. so that he would be able
to notify us in case he found the owner
Of the bag Immediately before our leaving
We were a bit dubious as to these terms
but as had taken the chance. We
had no other choice but to accede to them
We returned to the. rug baZaars and
remained there for couple of hours.
When we returned to our hotel. the
charming woman who had found my jew
elry at the Pan-American Exposition two
years before was in the hotels reception
room. awaiting us. I was delighted to
see her but ] could not connect her with
the ownership of the gold bag until she
spoke.
~ am too grateful to wish to appear
automatic was her first greeting but
one good turn surely does deserve an
other does it not?
And she held up the gold bag ! had
found She had driven TO our hotel
straight from the Office of the police chief.
to whom she had reported the loss. He
had given her the bag upon her naming
it's contents. and he also had given her
the name Of the bags finders. On the
following day We met her husband and
we iourneyed to Paris together. Since the
termination of that incident | nave had
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-05-16

imagines himself safe And generally he
is. but 1t is owing to the eternal vigilance
of one man that this is possible. With
the hundreds of switches. it's myriad of
red. white and green lamps at night and
the same number of targets and sema-
phores by day. single lapse of mind or
the pulling of wrong lever might mean
the loss of hundreds of lives. Railroads
recognize this danger and every precau-
ton is taken against It; every mechanical
device that. will in any way tend to avert
disaster is adopted and the men who
have these In charge are selected for their
ability to do the right thing at the right
time. Most important of these is the
man who has charge of the towermen. He
must have careful training before being
placed in the responsible position of safe
guarding thousands OF lives. Washing
ton is most fortunate in the man who fills
this important position. This man is
Yardmaster w. j. Wilson.
Mr.. Wilson is the busiest man at the
Union station, but. to look at him. one
would never imagine that the fate of 30
trains day with their freight of thou
sands of human beings concerned him in
the least. 1t is fact, however. for long
years of experience have developed within
him the powers of a human dynamo and
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-05-16

ritating to nervous players around ia
bic. but that's my kind of poker, and l
pay the tolls. and / can't help il. l was
some stunned on this occasion. l think
may mention. when I picked up four
queens one right after the other. l tossed
white beam mea ming a five-dollar thing.
10 the center. and opened it with what
plumed myself upon being a fine simula-
ton of indfference-the indifference. well
saw of somebody who has pair or
knaves to open with and doesn't much
care for the prospect of having folks stick
along and draw against him.
Dave dealing. as / say, took peek a
the margins of his cards then. and then
he gaZed ref1ectively at the ceiling for
quite a Bit; I'd seen him do that before
especially when. not so long before that.
he chased All Fnng to the cactus with h 3
pair of lacks. So | wasn't worried. no.
wasn't excited. either. except with the
certainty of conquest. when he tilted u
500 % draw things. The others couldn't
see that, and there was I. all heeied 10
stake an anointad king To the trouble Of
his whole poker career. Well. | was so
far ahead Of the game that money didn't
look more than fifty cents on the dollar to
me and So I handed Dave one Of those
81 un hoists III say ii to his credit. he
inst saw H. and that was all
".How MANY" he asked me. | told him
I Thought I'd try to worry along. best !
knew how. with what he'd given me in
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-05-16

not surrender the bag to the proprietor of
the rug bazaar. A number of experiences
that we had had throughout Turkey and
especially In Constantinope, had not
served to give us the best impression
as to honesty OF the Turkish tradespeople.
$50 we hurried from the bazaar. sum-
moned conveyance and drove about
while we considered what we should do
with the gold bag. | looked into the bag
TO see if it might contain a card or other
means of placing its owner. but the bag
held nothing of the sort. 1t contained
number OF sngularlysar and valuable
diamond ornaments. bracelet of the
most superb sapphires ! had ever seen
and large sum in Turkish bank notes.
AS we drove about leaving our route to
the will of the driver of the carriage. we
passed the office of the Constantinople
police. and that decided us as TO what
we should do with the bag We had lit
tie knowledge as to the efficiency or hon
esty of the Constant.nople police, but we
decided. the men say, to take a
chance.
THE police official in charge. we found.
was a very civil man who spoke English
we'll. He took the bag from us and COM
mended our judgment in not leaving it
with the proprietor of the rug bazaar
We were about to leave COnsta ntnOple.
and the police official took the name of
our Paris bankers and told us that Ire
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-05-16

his guns out o it, and blazed away a.
just tn instant his podner plunked At
him. I never heard two shots SO near
what you call simultan'us.
1T was some fine shootin' too. FIR
both OF EN-. They wa amt sttin' more'n
eight foot apart. 1t waant no clever
projeck fr the one that woke first and
meant L put it on his pal hombrey fr
he had time t. git bead. but ii was
cute borin'. sure nough. f'r the boy that
got startled out o his sumber by the
janglfn' O the gun belt buckle against
the cartridges seem that he didn't have
no time at all, but just nachully had L
blaze away.
But however. bout all like that. they
got each other plumb in the middle o.
their forehaids. like you seen wher I
brought them in. and neither o EN- ffved
q minute. Neither Of 'em knew anyrh n
bout my bein' prowin' around and had
nothin' T. do with their cashin They
was just obl!gin' 'nough L make 1t easy
fir me. that's ALL and all / had L do
was t lash 'em L their cayuses by their
blanket straps and lead 'em in
That's the way 1t happened. hon.
brey. Clint wound up I'm telling me the
story. and il sure makes me some het
up around the neckband. not L say loco.
t hear all o this chewin bout thing
lHdt a nNc-N 81 CdSci hiu toulu I'D
done II he had got the same kind o
break in that hunt l did
That's the way Clint TaZwell, the man
who refused A reputation for daring. told
il to me. and he told il afterward to
others I'm about the same way. But I'm
afraid none % the others believed him
and I don't know whether believe his
way of telling II yet or not. The men
down my way have got an nndeserved
reput alton for being some bragful about
their lOinRS. and I'm telling the NJ
Clint Tazwells rounding up ~ coupls
of stick-ups to show that We brought ont
one man down there. anyhow. who didn't
hesitate to give himself what was in all
likelihood the worst of it,.
CLARENCE l.. CULLEN
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-05-16

they save those who were employed In
giving the position OF trains.
In addition to these other features the
X street tower has another saving
device In front of the window facing
the station the operators have series OF
miniature semaphores. one to each track
The minute q train yacates certain
track the paddle Of the baby semaphere
drops. Consequently one tell at
glance which tracks are occupied
tower. the one In the station proper.
is small edition of the one at * street.
II has only a small size blackboard and
a fewer number Of indicators. There Is
no necessity for more. as this tower only
has to do with the movements of trains
through the tunnel north and south
bound In addition to the other instru-
ments. however. there are diais by which
the movement of trains through the tun-
mel are determined.
Such is the most perfect system Of yard
signalss and switching for modern rail.
reading that the ingenuity of man has
been able to invent. Genius can reduce
physical labor II can add to the daily
comfort and safety of the human race.
but all its attachments are useless without
the direction of the master man. whose
eye and brain are necessary to the sue
cess Of its every achievement
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-05-16

Stevenson by name. He had dropped into
Honolulu harhor on his schooner-yacht
few DAYS before. He was an old friend
and pal OF kalakaua and he liked 10 look
uion large pokerishness. although he
PLAYED only Il small game himself and
preferred cribhaee. at which he was pow
erful. This poker game took place on
the porch of my house in Waikiki. a sub
urb Of Honolulu. We sat in at 10 o'clock
at night and played along until 3 in the
morning Stevenson sat coiled crosS-leg-
ged on a couch back of kaakaua. slipping
Scotch and burning about a million cigar
cites of his own manufacture in the prog
ress of the play. and he stayed till the
finish when all hands went into the surf
for dawn bath. That was one OF the
nights when il was pretty hard Ia head
me- | went right out in front almost
from the first dishont. and ! stayed there,
not even Swaying or AT any time begin
ming 10 curl mp. till right AT the finish.
Then | got Slammed by the king
.Hn was dealing them himself. and.
barring him. the dealer. | was the last
man who had to make the talk about
onening the pot They all raped their
knurkles on the hoard to indicate that
they didn't see anything i'm their arrays
of papers I'm a great hand not 30 look
a, nv cards in a jackpot arrangement
iii the fellows ahead Of me have cracked
i, or passed ii along. and then | gener-
ally pick EN- up one by one. which is IT.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-05-16

very poor opinion of the worlds size.
"A few years ago | was seated. one
evening on the lanai. or portico. of no.
tel in Honolulu. chatting with our man.
ager out there said Boston man in the
oriental shipping trade. when man
strolled along the porch whose face was
very familiar to me. though I could not
possibly place him. He took a seat at
table close to ours. and I noticed that he
eyed me AS If he. too. found my counte-
nance familiar one.
Our Honolulu manager spent most OF
his life in Boston. and he asked me
great many questions about the growth
of the town of Chelsea. where live and
where he had lived also. At the mention
of the word Chelsea. the man at the other
table whose face was such puzzle to me
got up and walked over to the table at
which We sat.
II trust you will not think have been
eavesdropping. he said to us. but heard
YOU use the word Chelsea. VIII you par
don me for inquiring whether you were
adverting TO Chelsea in England or Chel-
sea IN Massachusetts?
Massachusetts. Of course. l replied
and even as spoke ! remembered why
his face was familiar to me. For
years we had been going into Boston
from Chelsea by the same route OF morn
inss And even as this recollection flashed
upon me it caught him He sat down
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-05-16

have a steady supply in case Of general
breakdown and consequent stoppage or
the current
This is the principal feature Of the new
system as far as the actual operation of
the switches is concerned. but there are
many new devices helpful in the control
Of the yard which are very interesting to
the layman.
No doubt half the people who pass
through the Union station-excepting
those who make regular practice of
rushing in at the last moment and grab
bling their train as 1t pulls out-have
asked one or the other of the attendants.
What are those funny little boxes with
the round glasses placed on the posts?"
To which the attendant has been unable
to give satisfactory answer.
One minute before the time set for the
train to leave its conductor takes a key
from his pocket fits 1t I'm the box and
gives 1t turn. A second later a light
flashes in the upper of the two glasses.
minute passes and then the lower glass
lights up. the conductor gives the key
another turn. waves his hand to the en-
gineer and the train pulls out.
Taking a Train Out.
That is what happens before the pas
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-05-16

pickpocket grabbed at my watch chain,
broke II, got the watch and leaped from
the car. leaped right after him. turn
ing several somersaults in the sand dunes
on landing. and. when / picked myself up.
took after him. | am. rs you see rather
long legged. and I got him. He handed
me back my watch. was content to
take him by the back Of the shoulders and
give him good kicking. which | did.
Then | boarded the next car that came
along for the Sutro baths.
Last fall | was riding on the rear NJ
an electric car in Budapest. 4 man he
side me asked me- in English. what the
time was. Without turning 10 look at
the man. l pulled out my watch.
Very wel-its a! right merely
wanted to see IL you still had the same
watch. said the man who had asked me
the time. turned about and saw the
American pickpocket. whom ! had chased
and kicked SO soundly and satisfyingly out
on the San Francisco sand dunes years
before. There was broad grin on his
shrewd. weakened face.
But might have known that YOU
still had the same clock said the pick
pocket. he clutched The rail prepara-
tory to swinging off the car. Say. dye
know that I've been taking my meals
standing up ever since. and he jumped
off the and mingled with the passing
throng.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-05-16
day. I just hope I'll be there when II
happens.

Representative Thomas of North Caro-
lima is a sure-enough southern statesman
He is the type. He embo6ies it: is IT.:
lives it, And having made this fiat. une-
auivocal statement. I'm pretty certain
that about seventeen other southern
statesmen will quit speaking to me.
Mr.. Thomas is legislator. He legis-
lates in his sleep. Never does he slip a
cog and relax the strain under which he
labors. To him life Is one awfully Sc
rious grunt.
T'other day. or maybe twas t'other
press gallery that he desired to see the
representative OF The Evening Star. as he
had piece of important news to impart
for publication. This was a bit out of
the ordinary. for usually when southern
statesman HAS anything to impart in the
line of personal publicity he comes around
with the goods and delivers with much
back-slap piping and rib-tickling and many
expressions of regard and esteem.
But. anyhow. / chased down to see Mr.
Thomas. full of anticipation and news IN
stinct. and sent In for him. In the course
of a quarter Of an hour or 50 he came
out. placed his hand upon my shoulder in
a pa tronizing manner and smiled seriously
upon me.
Young man." he inquired. you are. l
take it. The Star representative here?'
I admitted It.
You are their regular man."
Yes"
THE reason ask continued Mr.
Thomas. sis merely that I continually
have trouble with unreliable members of
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-05-16

how correspondingly relieved | was over
the sight of the bag. She handed the bag
to me. everything intact, jewels. money
and all.
ut appeared that she had taken dinner
at the same table a the restaurant at
which my daughter and / had Sat-hav-
ing succeeded us at that table-and she
had accidentally kicked the dropped bag
with her foot. In order to seek sonnet hing
with which to identify lie owner she had
of course. opened the bag. had found
some recent letters addressed TO me, and
had hurried around to the hotel at once
to restore the bag to me.
She was plainly a woman OF refine
ment and wealth. and was leaving the
city with her husband that night. Before
she went / sent to her hotel the incest
box of orchids that could be found in the
city.
The world still would he of IFS Gus
tomary iarseness If the story ended there
But two years later my daughter and l
were visiting a rug bazaar in CONSTANT
nople. We were dawdlins, over a heap of
tapestries when l CHANGED to see. pro-
jecting from beneath a nearby pile Of
small rugs gold chain bag. Without
being observed by any OF the shopmen.
picked the bag up and showed i, to my
daughter. We were undecided what to do
with it. but We were of single mind as
to one point. and that was that We should
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-05-16

the first place. When he tossed the deck
away and calculated that he. too. might
trudge along without needing any new
stuff. / wasn't bit Worried-as why
should l be. with Helen of Troy, Cleo
patra. the Queen of Sheba and Catherine
the Great. more than a hackload in my
hand?
1T was my bet o. course and I was
just on the point of beginning the thou
sand-dolar stuff when I had a sudden
bunch. 1t wouldn't be decent reflected
kalakaua had always been more than
fair to me in a lot of transactions and IL
didn't seem just like the goods for me to
bet on the tours of the size 7 was holding
~ think. David I said then. that
we'd better call this showdown. I've
got YOU sewed in here and I like tn he as
decent as I know how in all my worldly
relationships. No gentleman ought ever
to bet on
ON the kind of cards that I'vn got
here broke in King Dave right there. tn
my intense surprise and I was just about
To say the same thing when you took
the words of my mouth and he
spread his papers out in front OF him.
while did the
His was seven tn jack sequence flush
of hearts. and he could have put me in
the poorhouse with IL IL he had no. been
as he was-the sduarest and best hearted
ducky man that ever ruled over an island
kingdom.