davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-05-09

wife repaired in a hurry to the mattress.
which now reposed once more on the bed /:
but search as she might in its folds she
could not find the precious bag. Accord
ineiy, M. Hamard. a we'll known Partisan
attorney, was sent for and the situation
explained to him.
After few preliminary inquiries In the
nefghborhoOd Hamard made straight for
the swagger new apartments Of the de-
parted stonecutter and his charming wife
he timed his arrival at the apartment in
the Rue ChAmpionnet well. for he reached
there just when the feast to the relatives
was at its height With the delicacy and
pol1tenesS which makes arrest one of the
pleasures of French ife he INTERRUPTED
the gaieties and took Hommet and his
weeping wife to the nearest police station
There they both confessed. and the former
handed over to his captor a so Confines
90 cents) piece. the surviving portion of
the $780, Not considering them of any
value, Hommet and his guests had
amused themselves by lighting their
cigarettes with the Russian bonds.
Hommet has gone to be a guest of the
French government for a considerable
term of years, while his wife, whose
youth and comeliness appealed to the
susceptible heart Of the French Judge.
has been set at liberty. Nine Schenk
has the consolation Of knowing that. be-
ing prudent enough to keep the numbers
of her Russian bonds, she will be able to
procure duplicates in five years. Thus II
is that her spring cleaning cost her only
$3.50. ----
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-05-09

the mind OF the Honorable Thomas JEFF.
ferson Pence Of Raleigh. North Carolina
Perhaps Cupid has found q joint In his
armor. Maybe his liver is out OF order.
But at any rate the Honorable Thomas
Jefferson Pence known from New York
to New Orleans as the original and only
dyed-in-the-wool circus enthusiast. at
tended only one performance OF the
Greatest Show on Earth. which came 10
our town early I'm the week.
Formerly the Honorable Thomas Jef-
ferson Pence was right there at all four
performances. More than that. he got
up at any old time Of night to see the
circus detrain on arrival and stayed up
to any old hour in the morning TO see IL
entrain at departure. He invariably fol-
lowed the street parade, hlled with JOY
and laden with peanuts. reiigiously keep
ing step with the very biggest member
of the elephant herd. He was In his
element and he splashed around In IL
like a thirsty fish.
Honorable Thomas Jefferson Pence went
to the circus just once. occupying q re-
served seat at the second matinee. And
when asked the next day IL he had en-
joyed himself he replied in a faraway.
distracted sort OF a voice that he mao
a right good time" that the elephants
were even more numerous than usual
the clowns just as funny and the spec
tacles as gorgeous. Further questioning
revealed the fact that the Honorable
Thomas Jefferson. Pence had spent only
81 o5 for peanuts this year as compared
with $40. 80 last year. Further interroea-
ton only served to make him fretful.
peevish and silent.
The friends of the Honorable Thomas
Jefferson Pence-and they embrace the
nNnrIlafiOn of the Atlantic coast
from Peoiod, Me- to the Gulf OF Mexico,
with a fair sprinkling in the middle west.
on the Pacific coast and in Canada-are
worried They want an explanation. They
demand of the Honorable Thomas JEFF
ferson Pence to tell them whether II is
love or whether 1t Ii liver. And they will
not be denied.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-05-09

riding on his shoulders They seem fond
OF their children and proud of them.
Uganda Houses.
These Uganda people live happily. They
are always laughing and smiling, and the
men and women go along hand in hand.
They have comfortable homes from an
African standpoint. They live in villages
scattered over the country. but each vii
lage covers a great territory and every
hut has its garden about it, in which
grow bananas, sweet potatoes and other
vegetables. AS rule the banana trees
shade the huts, and one often walks quite
before he gets to the house.
The houses are of different sizes, Some.
such as those of the chiefs, are of great
extent and are most deliberately made.
Out In the country they are more like
huts, and they look much like little hay-
stacks about twelve feet in diameter and
twelve feet in height, except that each has
a sort of brim which extends out and
shades the door. The huts are made of
reeds with matched roofs, the latter be-
Ing upheld by poles. Every hut has sew
eral rooms. which are divided by walls Of
mating and bark cloth. Even the poor
est house has two apartments, one at the
front and the other in the rear. In the
rear apartment are hunks around the wall
upon which the people sleep. Such huts
have but little furniture; two or three
stools. half dozen earthenware pots and
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-05-09

shoppy questions. And I didn't particu-
larly relish the job. either, for he is
rather more grouchy than usual In these
uncertain days of the sessions close, and
bite But went to his committee room
opened the door and, strangely enough
found him there alone. The mountain
was sitting at the window. an unlighted
cigar between his teeth, gazing across
the Capitol lawn, where the light breeze
that rustled the wide expanse of grass
and the new green Of the trees breathed
into the musty air Of the great building
something of the mingled scents Of spring
And asked him the question-tho SLOPPY
question-that :! had come to ask.
He frowned. but never turned from
the window. D the Vreeland BILL
he commented briefly at length and was
silent again.
Then-"Sit down." he said.
And sat.
Young man." said the mountain, "are
you happy today?"
I didn't answer. I was stunned. mes
merized. and my tongue refused to was
at bidding. But he didn't seem to notice
Young man." he said again, ''you
ought to be. You are-oh. merely a child
and I am seventy, nearly. The days
that were-the days that were"
1.-The days that are-are better" muir
INJURED, platitudinously. finding my voice
For you. but not for me-" he said. "In
all solemnity, I would give anything
everything-wealth. position. reputation
to be just twenty again-just twenty
with health and strength and the prim-
rose path stretched wide before my eyes
And if a good fairy should come to me
now and say. BE what you please and
where you please for just an hour again,
1 would turn the what into twenty
years and the where into Lovers lane.
cit would be dusk and there would be
stars in the sky. There would be flowers.
too, that though unseen, made fragrant
the warm air with their mingled per-
fumes of the springtime season, and the
signing breeze would be strong enough,
no more. to blow across my face, in I'M
meant caress. lock of the ash-gold hair
of Laughing Eyes.
And Laughing Eyes-she would be a
composite, perfection, an idealization
of all the adorable femininity l had ever
known-and yet after all, she would be
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-05-09

down by the side of the road and cover
her eyes and face with her hands until
he passes. The wifes mother dare not
enter her daughters house without a
special invitation. and she is not sup.
posed to stay long when she comes
II she wants to see her daughter she
sneaks up to within fifty feet of the house
and waits until the girl happens to come
outside. The two then have their talk
together, and If the mother-in-law wants
to greet her on-in-law-still inside the
hut-she may yell out in the native Ian
guage. How are your The man., If ne
Is in a good humor, may respond with
"AI right. mamma" but it would be in
fra Dig for him to look out.
Widows Wear Hair.
Sassafras tells me that many Of the
women I see here who have let their
hair grow are widows, and that on this
account they have hair. The average mar
ried woman shaves frequently. and the
heads of the manageable girls are usual
ly as clean as billiard ball. A widow to
show her grief is not supposed to cut
her hair until two months after the death
of her husband, and il she is overwhelmed
with despair she may let her hair grow
for five or six months. have already
written of how the widows of kings are
supposed to spend the rest of their lives
watching in the tombs Of their husbands,
and how scores OF women are now doing
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-05-09
hat for some Of the passed-away kings

that for some Of the passed away kings
of Uganda.
AS to the children. see little black ba-
bies everywhere. and there are numerous
boys dressed in bark cloth and little girls
almost naked. I am told, however, that
this is land of small families. The
average man and his wife do not have as
many children as among the rich of Eu-
rope and the United States. The woman
who bears several children is the excep-
ton rather than the rule, and many of
the families have none. Indeed, the birth
Of a second son is always an occasion
for pride and rejoicing. The fact is an
nounced with drums. and the drumming
may be kept up for a month outside the
hut: This Is a sign that there is JOY
within and that the couples friends should
come In and drink some banana beer to
the health of the new arrival. The mother
who has second son is entitled to a new
dress for having brought this honor to the
family. This dress Is Of terra Gotta bark
cloth, and its ordinary cost is about 33
cents.
I like the looks of these babies. They
are bright little brown things good
natured and full Of smiles. The mothers
fasten them to their bare backs inside
their bark cloth gowns while working in
the fields and the little ones bob up and
down as mamma yields the hoe. Some
times they are tied inside goat skins and
thus carried. The men often go along
with their babies astride their hips, and
! occasionally see one with a pickaninny
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-05-09
epce Of The Star.
PARIS, May 2, 1908.

Special Correspondence Of The Star.
PARIS. May 2. 1908.
A THOUGH the. ordinary savings
~ bank has its drawbacks. it is also
- true that it has its advantages
over some hiding places favored by frugal
wives This truth has been rather rudely
brought home within the past few weeks
to Nine. Marguerite Schenk, who resides
in a modest apartment in the Rue Leib-
nitz.
Not having an overgreat belief in the
honesty of others and having a very sat
isfactory faith In her own care and
.watchfuiness. she kept her savings during
all the years Of her married life in q
pouch, hidden away in the fold of a mat
tress.
Beats Mattress Out Of window.
A couple of weeks ago Nine. Schenlx
had an attack Of the spring cleaning fever.
Among the articles thus treated was the
mattress in which lay the family hoard.
amounting to $4,000 in Russian bonds
and $3.50 in French bank notes. Now
Nine. Schenk had no court below in
which to beat 1t, 50. forgetting for the
moment the bonds and the bank notes.
she hung the mattress out Of her window
and belabored 1t with all the vigor and
enthusiasm which the spring cleaning
fever always develops in a healthy
woman
Next door to the Schenks lived a stone
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-05-09

some wicker or grass basins constitute an
| outfit for beginning married life. and II In
addition a woman can have hoe or SO
and a scythe she is full ready to assume
her part of the contract.
AS to food, the chief staple is the bana-
ma. There are many varieties OF these in
Uganda, and they are more important to
that country than wheat and corn are to
ours. The banana, which serves as the
chief food, is much longer than any that
comes into our markets. 1t is a sort OF
plaintain. 1t is eaten green, the fruit
being first peeled and then cooked with
a little water in an earthenware pot. AS
1t steams away the flesh softens and
soon becomes solid mass of mush. When
done 1t Is taken off the fire and turned
out upon some fresh banana leaves. These
gathers around and gets ready for the
meal. Each first washes his hands and
gives them a shake to get off the super
fluous water. The father then takes
knife and divides the pile OF banana pulp
into as many divisions as there are mem
bers at the board. In the meantime
bowl Of soup or fish gravy has been
placed inside the ring. This is used in
common. Each person takes up q hand
full Of banana muSh and kpeads it into a
ball just big enough for one bite. He
then dips the ball into the soup. and with
wonderful sleight of hand conveys ii to
his mouth without dropping bit of the
grease. By the time the banana mush
is all eaten the soup bowl is empty.
Choice Food for Mere Man.
These people also have Indian corn.
peas. beans and sweet potatoes. They
raise chickens, sheep and goats, and oc-
casionally have meat. They do not seem
fond of eggs, and the women are not al
lowed to eat them after they are mar
ried. They are not permitted to eat
chicken or mutton. such viands being re-
served for the men of the family. They
may, however. eat beef or veal
The Baganda have fish from Lake Vic
toria and from their numerous streams
They eat locusts and are especially fond
or white ants. The ants are caught by
smoking their hills about nisat.al and
trapping them as they come out They
them for sale in 'the markets. One can
buy handful or SO for = cents. and
great lot for q rupee. The ants are
wrapped UP In banana leaves when taken
away.
These people are now making sugar
IRON cane. They are growing tomatoes
ana twenty different kinds OF peas and
Deans. They use many roots as food, and
also green vegetable much like spinach.
see little fields of tobacco here and
there. The soil is as red as that OF Cuba
ana the plants grow without much Guilt
walton. The tobacco is used for smoking
and Is consumed by both men and women.
They gather coffee from the wild trees
and chew the pulp. but so far have not
learned to use II as a drink.
Since the British have taken possession
or Uganda they have introduced many
kinds OF food which are becoming pop
uiar. and they are gradually creating
market here for European goods Some of
the natives are now using tea, and jams
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-05-09
4 THREE DGzARLdEE. AND HER BABY

prominent. Other maidens whom I have
seen have hair decidedly woolly, and
i doubt not this girls is the same when
grown out. Through my guide. Epifras.
or saSsafras, as l call him, I discovered
her age. She is just seventeen. and.
understand. she is about to be married.
The girl told us that her prospective
husband was just twenty. She simpered
little In talking Of him and was evil
IDENTIFY proud of the fact of her approach
love match and that such matches are
common in Uganda. These people are
the most civilized of the natives Of the
central parts Of this continent. They are
respects they remind me of the Japa-
neSe.
Girls and boys go around hand in hand,
and there seems to be considerable affec-
ton between the young men and young
women. 1t used to be that a man could
have as many wives as he pleased. King
Mutesa had his hundreds, and until lately
every chief had his harem. After the
country was converted to Christianity,
slavery was practically abolished, and
among the Mohammedan believers, who
are each allowed to have four.
Divorces Not Infrequent.
There is no seclusiop Of women in this
part Of Africa. and the boys and girls
play together. If two fall in love. the
girl takes the young man and introduces
him to her aunt, and in due time he is
presented to her father and mother. They
examine him carefully, and if they like
him consent to the marriage. The price
Is then paid. and the man gets his girl.
The marriages take place in church, and
after that the two go to themselves. All
marriages are registered, and If there is
any dispute between the two this regis
tration entities them to have 1t settled by
the courts Divorces are not infrequent
and the common complaint of a woman In
such affairs Is that her husbands love
has cooled or that he is making goo-goo
eyes at some other woman.
There is considerable complaint through
out the country at the fixed rate for
wives. Parents say that it is not just
that a man should pay as much for an
ugly girl as for beautiful one and that
the questions Of age, intelligence and
family ought to be worth considerable.
The grooms say the same. This was
different in the past. and even now be-
lieve a chief pays more for his wife than
a common man and that according to hts
rank. If he is of the lowest order, the
sum is S.. If of the second grade about
SO. and Of the highest Of all he is ex-
pected to give a little over $13 and live
cow.
Among the queer customs are those
regarding mothers-in-law. The wife's
mother seems to be even more unpopular
here than at home. and she has no rights
that her son-in-law is bound to respect.
She cannot speak to her daughters hus-
band without he first speaks to her. and
II she should meet him accidentally sne
must turn aside and cover her head. In
case she has not enough clothes on at
that time for the purpose she may sit
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-05-09

and biscuits are gradually coming into de-
mand. This Is. Of course, among the
Weather people, and especially among
the chiefs who buy these things to serve
at their teas or dinner parties. Another
article which is becoming common IT, the
umbrella. Both women and men use 1t,
and I often see a crowd of dozen or so
well-to-do natives going along with UNI
brellas in their hands.
Within the past few years the mission
aries have taught many OF the BaEando
to write and a demand for writing paper
has been created. The people want
they especially like our American sheet
ing. Little stores are now sprtnging mp
in the more .Aickly populated centers.
and there are a score or SO of such eetab-
lishments here and at Entebbe.
A New Civilization.
Indeed. the British are gradually making
a new nation Of the Baganda. Only q
few years ago these people were warning
with their neighbors and enslaving the
tribes about. Mutesa had a large army
and his predecessors had many wars.
Justice was then practically unknown
and human life was Of no account. The
people had no incentive to work They
lived upon the bananas which they grew
in their gardens they made their clothes
from the bark Of the fig tree and their
houses came from the cane Of the swamps
nearby.
To a large extent such conditions pre-
vail today. but the people want bigger
houses and better houses. They are be-
ginning to use kerosene, and the huts of
the chiefs are lighted by lamps. Some
now have little patches Of carpet and not
a few are buying furniture. Our shoes
and stockings are beginning to be worn,
and the desire for all foreign things Is
becoming an incentive to work. So far
this movement Is slow. and the low
wages. amounting to only or cents q
day at the best, are not very stimu,at.
ing. AS time goes on this will change
and there will some day be a good work
ing population in this rich and fertile
country.
policy TO grant but few concessions for
the exploitation Of Uganda. The lands
are held by the natives and also by the
English government. Some of the chiefs
own large tracts. The native prime min.
lister. for instance, has about 100 square
miles of land; he owns 1000 head of cat.
tie. and his income Is over 5000 a year.
Other chiefs have smaller tracts. and the
king himself has considerable property.
All forests over two miles square are
supposed to belong to the English crown.
The timber Is especially valuable and
the rubber possibilities are great At
present the British government is plant.
ing rubber trees along the principal roads.
There are such all the way from Kampala
to Entebbe, distance Of twenty-three
miles. The trees are carefully set out
and are guarded by fences of wicker or
cane. Those who work the roads cult.
vate these trees and they are now grow.
ing luxuriantly. They will probably yield
considerable revenue to the govern.
ment within a few years to come.
FRANK G. CARPENTER
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-05-09
w 1HO was 1t that spoke of senti-
ment as a mental wild flow


KAx err? I don't remember at this
w precise moment if twas a lau-
reate or an obscurist, but 1t
doesn't matter. after all. / just wanted
to call attention to the truth of the COM
parison, for sentiment blossoms upon
some harsh and craggy natures like
edelweiss upon a steep and dreary noun
tainside
Probably the most famous mountain
climber in the world. who has won the
crest Of pretty nearly every peak of
prominence, from the giants of the Him.
alayas to the Jungfrau and her sisters
and brothers Of the Alps, devotes chap
ter in one Of his books to his discovery, at
the very tip top of a previously unscaled
and outrageously difficult peak. Of sim
gle pale little blue flower. There. in the
path of gales, in the very center of an
eerial whirlpool surrounded by eternal
snow. chilled by the frosts of lower
heaven, this single flower, this little bloom.
had lived to reward the first adventurer
TO scale the peak. And to him it well re-
paid the toll and danger Of the ascent.
He forgot his tired muscles and aching
ing hands. He doesn't say, but I will
wager that he laid the soft petals to his
lips and that there was choke. not born
of fatigue, in his throat Quite all Of
which Is by way of Introduction
There Is a man in the House Of Rep
resentatives who reminds me of a noun
tain-not by any chance of the Sugar
Loaf or any other of that tribe Of wooded
hills around about here that by courtesy
We dignity with altitudinous titles. No
] mean a real mountain, a gigantic
heaven-reared pile of barren, beaten rock
a thing of crags and caverns, of precip-
itous sides and frowning mien. And he
has always appeared to me to be as diff
f1cult to scale as the most impossible
peak known to geography.
The other day I had to see this noun
tain, who is an integral part of the
power behind the throne. to ask him
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-05-09

deavor to persuade the President to try
the Watson rosy spectacle treatment.
When he emerged from the conference a
crude newspaper person galloped up and
hurled at him large round question.
James" said newspaper man, hast
been comforting with Theo' as to a get
away date?"
"Hastr replied Jim. briefly
Name it," continued aforesaid news
paper person. airily.
Labor day." replied James. biting a
cigar in half and tearing an almost near
liner kerchief to shreds
Mr.. Watson has such a violent temper
at times.
4
John Johnson. Governor Of Minnesota,
and late entry in the race for the dem
ocratic presidential nomination. had ap-
parently held back till the last minute.
just purpose, he evidently had some
deep-laid scheme concealed in his more
thar ordinarily astute noodle. And this
suggestion being made before bunch of
Indians in the democratic cloakroom, one
of Georgia's finest relieved his bosom of
this old but apropos yarn:
II tell you,'' said he, the Swedes are
great people. They think quick. but
they look far ahead. Once upon time
q Swede. whose name. peculiarly enough.
was John Johnson, was hurrying with a
friend of the same nationality to the ferry.
They were late and they did the best
they could. laden as they were with pack
ages and such. Just as they reached the
slip, with John in trance, the vessel
pulled out eight or nine feet in the stream.
The distance was slowly widening. But
John threw down his bundles, slipped
out of his coat and crouched for a spring.
I'm yo:n to yump,' he called back to
his friend. i kin max it in two yumps,
easy"
Maybe the real Johnson Yon Yonson
figures out the situation about the same
way and is thinking. way back In the
rea- of his canny head, of 1912.
Something Is surely sitting heavily on