davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-08-23

it Mr.. Garrels will have a sail of some
9.00O miles. requiring upward of three
months. Not having contracted the thes-
plan habit of marrying early and often
being in fact, bachelor, he Will not
have to maintain very large establish
ment in this paradise of crocodleS and
pickaninnies.
Editor Goes to Mauritius.
But If this young mans post is
far cry from home. what about that of
Samuel c. Reat, editor of the Tuscola
UllD Journal. who has passed his COM
petitive examination. finished at the con-
sular school and packed his baggage for
sailing September l. Southeast of Zanzi-
bar lies the vast Island of Madagascar.
and southeast of that there dots the
Indian ocean the British islet of Mauri-
thus, known to us all as the home Of
Paul and Virginia. AT Port Louis, near
the high cliffs from which these lovers
scanned the tropic seas, this Illinois editor
will fly the Stars and Stripes above his
consulate. He has just secured his mile
age from his Illinois home to this post
and it is for IL. 175 miles-2OOO farther
will be allowed three months in which to
get there There are only two other posts
with this maximum time allowance of
ninety days. This is the most distant Of
the present assignments. and Mr. Reat
was somewhat dazed when he was told
where to hang out his consular shield.
But he is game and while l am writing
this he is back home saying good bye to
relatives and friends at Tuscola, where he
was born and bred, and where he has
served as city attorney and corporation
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-08-23

them. cause one of these newsparap
guys wot l used to know told me 10 quit
it--cut il out, you know.
Il amt been readin' them for a year
now-maybe it's two This newspaper
Teller pipes me of that IL / wants to get
into that business L has ter quit that kin
o junk. as he calls It, You can put IL
right down from mo. too. that i takes his
word and cuts il.
Sometimes reads one at night but
not around the Office. Oh, no, Muffin like
that in my familee"-
And so the tale proceeds. The Wash
ington messenger boys have quit the novel
reading game. or II they do indulge. IL
isn't during working hours. and most Of
them prefer not to acknowledge a fond
ness for such literature.
In this National capital, a city which is
noted for its hot weather and its southern
lassitude. the messenger boy has become
modern product. and Is strictly and at
all times out for the coin and on the Job
to make ii. and let's no novel interfere.
In many western cities the telegraph
companies have tried old men as mes
senger boys. and I'M some instances girls
have been employed. The old men for a
time proved successful. and still are used
to some extent. but they are much slower
than the boy, and this item of speed is an
important one i'm the messenger business
The companies pick the good boys and
weed the chaff from the grain. Out OF a
large bunch OF boys taken in for trial
however. tnere are reany but Few cases
in which the company does not ultimately
make good messenger out of the raw
material. unpromising as 1t may seem at
first. "rs
The competition for such positions Is
perhaps too keen to permit of the boys
loafing on the job. so that the sluggard
and the time server do not. as a rule. last
more than a few days, although some OF
the salaried boys are not given to moving
with the speed of a Zeppelin dirigible with
high wind behind il.
But IL you go to the manager OF mes
senger company and ask him II his boys
are spending their time at novel reading.
he will give you the laugh. either literally.
if he knows you, or figurativey df me
doesn't.
The managers of the Washington COM
panies take pride in the way their boys
perform and are able to convince any ona
who isn't prejudiced by too much comic
journal reading. that the messenger boy,
long the object for the cartoonist's mrth.
is. indeed. sort of singed cat. and Is
really not guilty of that one yellow-back
trick of which he is likely to be accused
as long as wood pulp and print paper last.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-08-23
Life Savers Reward.

John X. LLOYD. the noted life-saver OF
J Long Branch. related some of his life
saving experiences at a complimentary
dinner
II have had dealings with very generous
men, said the veteran hero. land | have
had dealings with very mean men.
Once, on January day i'm Phiiadel-
phia, man who was recovering from
debauch fell from one of the Delaware
piers into the cold, Wet river.
Slipping off my overcoat, | plunged I'm
after him. | fiSlled him up from the bot
tom. He was unconscious. but / man
aged to get him to big, cold cake or
ice. and on this cake of ice / supported
the pair of us till help arrived.
We'll. l had saved the mans life. and
he said he grateful.
Here. young fellow said he. here's
a half-dollar. You saved my life and you
must be chilled through. Go and get
yourself pint of whisky
But | handed him quarter back.
No, no. I said, a half pint's your
price. You've overvalued yourself.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-08-23
Broken Legs and Flowers.

ga T a dinner in Philadelphia" said a
clergyman. Il once heard the la
mented Bishop Potter talk i'm a most
amusing manner about the artistic tenn
permanent.
First he described the contradictions
i'm the characters of Whistler. Poe, Haw-
thorne and other great Americans. Then
he turned to Lander. the great English
man.
'Landor.' he said. was at the same
time the most violent and brutal and most
delicate and sensitive of men. He adored
flowers. The gardens of his beautiful
villa in Florence were full of flowers. and
the poet walked among them daily, never
plucking them only bending over them
reverently TO admire their loneliness and
their perfume.
'Landors cook one day served him a
wretched dinner. and in his rage the poet
threw the man out of the window into
bed of splendid roses.
LAS the cook writhed with broken leg
below Lander from his window exclaimed
In a horror stricken voice:
Good gracious, forgot the roses"
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-08-23

further south than any other town i'm the
world. There he will find a strange ag-
gregation of Adventures representing
about every race of mankind 1t is the
center of the wool export business de-
pending upon the great sheep ranches
which are now crowding out the wild Fue-
cams and Patagonians of the district
above Cape Horn.
In the general reshuffiing which he Is
giving the consular service, in his effort
to put in on business basis. as well as
to take il entirely out OF politics and make
it permanent. like the army and navy,
Secretary Root is closing twenty-eight of
the old posts and establishing in their
stead seventeen of these new ones, six of
which, will be opened in Asia. two i'm AZ
RIGA, two in Europe. six in Latin-America
and one in British Columbia.
Things are certainly different from what
they used TO be in this business of dealing
out consular plums. The powers that be
used to ask the boys where they wanted
to go and IL il could be arranged they
went or stayed at home. Now IL Is a civil
service examination which gives all ma
tive-born citizens an equal chance to get
their names upon the eligible register and
into the. consular school. And they 60
where they are sent. or resign
JOHN ELFRETH WATKINS.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-08-23
Painter and Millionaire.

D A b. WIDENER Of Philadelphia.
. capitalist. in whose gallery examples
Of the Painter Sargent's best work are
to be found. told at a dinner in Devon
Sargent story.
"A millionaire of coarse extraction went
to Mr. Sargent's studio" he said, land
had his portrait done
when the portrait was finished the
millionaire looked at II closely. and then
said with a frown:
mot bad. Mr.. Sargent: not at all
bad; but you've left out one most essen
tial feature.
Mr.. Sargent bit his lip to hide
smile.
Excuse me, SIR he said. but I
thought you wouldn't care to have the
er-er-warts reproduced
THE millionaire. purple with rage.
shouted:
"'Confound II. sir. I'm talking about the
diamond rings and pin-not the warts"
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-08-23

examiner His knowledge of law. as we'll
as the fact that he is a linguist. fit him
we'll for our foreign service. as does the
further fact that he is a university man.
Like Mr. Garrels. he is a bachelor. so he
goes to the land of Paul and Virginia with
heart whole and fancy free.
Another Editor for South Africa.
Another editor just departing on long
mission is Edwin n. Gunsaulus of Canter
bury, Ohio, who ran a weekly paper in
that city before entering the service.
since when he has served as consul to
Pernambuco, Brazil: Toronto. Cork and
Rimouski Quebec. He is now off for Jo-
in the Transvaal. where the
State Department WILL for the first time.
open a consulate this fall. or what to Mr..
Gunsaulus will be another this spring."
for down there on the lower point OF
Africa the seasons are reversed. and
while this Yankee consul will not see any
autumn this year-not until next March,
he will be compensated by two spring
seasons within the twelvemonth. johann
nesburg land of Beers lies just south OF
Pretoria the capital of the Transvaal.
where Dom Paul Kruger ruled before the
Boer war. and just north of the Orange
Free State frontier. 1t is i'm the heart OF
the country so vividly pictured to us all
by that masterpiece of modern fiction
the "Story of an African Farm"
Goes Down on the Congo.
And down where the Congo rolls to the
sea goes. to much wilder country. an
other Yankee consul, w. w. Handley,
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-08-23

ing outside of the companies offices. es-
pecially at night when business is slack.
and ask him why he has fOrsaken the
ancient gods of the service. and he will
not be able to tell you that he ever heard
of those gods.
We'll. Red. what's Podunk Tarrywell
doing this week."
The boy addressed. who leaned INDECENT
1y against the bicycle rack in front or
his office. might have been called Tom or
Jack or anything. but Red seemed to fit
best. If the hall marks of laZiness are
to be seen and not experienced, Red was
the boy for the money.
But listen: "Ah. watcher think I am.
Amt muffin dom in that game for muh.
I quit readn' them things when I
wasn't SO high and Red indicated by a
gesture of supreme contempt distance
from the pavement of some two and one
But the Detective Prince?" continued
the interrogation, bound to delve into Red s
mind.
Say. put brake on that talk. mister.
I amt wastin' me time on dem guys no
more. L works by the message. and I
amt gonna lose minutes foolin with
a guy wot amt real. Me for the thayater.
where you can a real detective in a
But. Red" again interposed the seeker
for truth. you surely haven't given up
Dandy Dick. have you?"
"Lookahere, mister. you just shove down
into the avenOO and ask some or dem KIDS
down there about that kinda dope. I quit
'em; quit 'em ALL
Prefers the "Thayater."
Now, Red wasn't philosopher to any
marked degree, but he had been driven to
the pitch of making as much as other
hoys older and stronger than he, and he
had quit the novel to make more money.
Make more so that he might be able to
attend the 'thayater.' where he saw real
heroes and villains - at least he thought
so.
But the attitude of Red was not the at
titude of all. The next boy accosted on
this errand proved not to be Of that class
Of slang users which voices its true senti-
ments best in the language of the streets.
This boy was older. was wiser than
Red was just a little sadder. but had
reached the same conclusion by a differ
ent route He came strolling into a news
paper Office cap down over his eyes. with
face not too we'll washed but still show
ing some marks of proximity to water in
the near past.
Reading any Dandy Dick?' " inquired
the reporter.
mo SIR" was the laconic answer, the
telegram was extended to the proper
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-08-23

party. the eyes of. the messenger never
leaving the floor before him. but his lips
moving as he uttered the words:
"Old Hoss?'
mo. SIR
Not reading any yellow-backs at ALP"
Il quit that long ago Have to work
too hard: haven't got no time"-for the
moment he forgot the grammar he had
evidently learned with some pains ana
not without advantage.
And SO. he said. he had found that ne
couldn't read the yellow-backs- and make
the money he could when he had his mind
free. Something or other. the incentive
many an American boy gets from no one
knows where, unless it be in the'very air.
had made him use what time he had In
studying books of different kind. The
result was plain.
But the next boy quit for other reasons.
He was not DESTROYS OF spending his
money at the "thayater." nor swas he
eager to use his spare hours In brushing
up in grammar or those other edges OF the
skirts of learning about which school had
taught him but a very little.
A Little Surly, But Then
The same old query put to him met with
the same answer, couched i'm different lam
guage.
"Noneoyour business the first reply
seemed to be. This time the question
wasn't put in an Office, but on the street.
consequently he wasn't oppressed by any
fear of being reported for insolence.
"Wot you want know fer?" he con-
tinued. as the questioner persevered.
When informed that the cause of the
messenger boy was involved. his hard lit
tie face-not bad, but merely. rather
sulen-softened bit and a real boyish
look came into the eyes.
Il guess yer all right, mister. l amt
here to give you no soft-soap story, but L
tells 1t to yer straight. l amt got no
father and I'm working this game the
way I'm doin' cause l hav ter.
II got a mother. I'm helpin her, and a
little brother wots goin' to school. and
amt goin' to start out up against ii like
1 had ter. not II can help it. You bet 1
amt readin' any of them novels now 1
ulster wen I had the money. You gets
used to dom without them. though.
reads the newspapers. and them's just
about as good some days"
Now, in addition to loyalty like this,
there is still another reason for the fall
ing Off In yeHow-back consumption, al
though it's ambition, too, but not the am
bition for money.
NO. l hain't reading any novels; not
now" said the next youngster calmly, as
he folded up a newspaper and glanced dis
approvngly at the inquirer. Il don't read
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-08-23
If II Were.
]. TRAVIS, Collin

WALTER ]. TRAVIS, golfing at Rye,
w sympathized with a friends story
Of a drunken caddy.
1T is amazing" said Mr.. Travis, "how
people with serious responsibility on
their houlders-butlers, engineers. cad
dies and So on-will get drunk.
He smiled.
"a lady l KNOW" he went on, came
down stairs to see to the flowers on the
eve of a large dinner. and found her but
Ter staggering about the dining room with
red eyes and disordered hair.
1.-The man dropped a cut-glass bowl and
laughed. and his mistress cried indig
nantly:
Good gracious. Parker. you're drunk"
THE butler, with a silly smile said.
soothingly:
Don't be alarmed, ma'am. 1t amt
ketchin'.'"
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-08-23

who are to be found in charge of mes
senger companies as well as at the head
of other commercial institutions. overtops
all the rest. which might be advanced to
explain this change in the attitude or the
boys.
4 large proportion of the carriers OF
good news and Ill work now upon
percent age basis-the more messages de-
hvered the more pay the boy receives AT
the end of the week. Still another In
centite to hard work and something
which detracts fom the sgforles OF the
pursuit Of misinformation in yellow backs
is the system devised by other. pnllo-
sophical managers who allow boy VINO
has a good clean record for two weeks
running an. additional amount for eacn
dav of that period.
In Washington there are about $50 mes
senger boys employed during the summer
months when Congress is not in action
and the army of newspaper correspond
entS always prolific with copy. IS In
other fields. In winter and spring this
small detachment is increased until there
are close to 900 boys and. youths scurry-
ing about in the Capital city. bent on
delivering and receiving kilograms from
or for all parts Of the world.
Handle $500 kilograms.
While most of the business. at least
since the strike Of the telegraphers winch
ended so suddenly, last summer, is now
ompanies. there are yet to be found in
Washington more than a score Of branch
Offices where kilograms are received and
from which they are sent out
One company alone has nineteen
branches in this city, but does most Of its
business downtown. having found that
it is really quicker to have a boy deliver
a message from there than to relay that
message to branch nearer its ultimate
goal and then have 1t delivered by car
rier. a..
In one day Westinghouse receive and
send about $500 kilograms or other epis-
Ties. which do not go through the post
Office. but are sent by messenger. so that
it will easily be seen that the little blue
bicycles Or afoot do not have much time
to waste.
OF course many of these messages are
not delivered, or If coming into the Of
fees of thec telegraph companies are
sent in over the telephone. which elmi-.
mates a portion of the grand total, SO that
each boy. granting that each took an,
equal proportion of messages, would bring
in or take out in 'one day an average of
between fifteen and twenty messages.
This proportion, however, does not hold
good. some messengers being paid by the
number handled and some of them max
while others who are not paid on this
basis. but. receive daily stipend. do not
deliver nearly so many as their brethren
who work by the piece"
Since the child labor law went into eff
feet in the District of Columbia the COM
panies employing messengers have been
compelled to hire older boys and have, In
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-08-23

bOyhOOd instead OF speeding on
their way to deliver their yellowclad
slips of grief and joy?
II isn't possible that any one who has
read the funny journals of the country
for many years or who has delved into
the comic supplements of later days can
forget the stereotyped picture of the mes
senger boy. Clad in Uniform always
dence Of the worlds progress decorated
a lamp post. cigarette dangling from
one corner Of his mouth, while his eyes
devoured the page OF some thrilling blood
and-thunder novel held within three
inches of his face.
A. times the hero of these caricatures
would be reading from his favorite author
passages which made his hair stand. on,
in the act OF delivering the message
which has usually been shown by the
artist either protruding from a side pocket
or lying unheeded upon the cold. cold
ground nearby.
And so the poor messenger boy has be-
come a sort OF pariah, at least one. Of
those stock figures upon whom the artist
lacking new subject can with but little
effort rely for a drawing which will catch.
the popular eye-catch that eye because
the orb has grown used to seeing the mes
senger carcatured
But of all the small army OF Washing
ton messengers, ranging in age from close
to what the law now requires to fellows
who are not boys but young men, it is
doubtful IL more than a dozen could be
found who make novel reading, instead
of delivering messages, their occupation.
Perhaps one reason, in the minds of
those philosophers of modern business
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-08-23
SENT TO THE FOUR CORNERS OF THE EARTH

Greenville S. c.. News, who will shortly
become consul at ST. Pierre Island. off
the southernmost tip of Newfoundland.
This will be quite a change of climate
for a southerner Mr.. Jenkins. who is
only twenty-eight. worked in a law Office
as typewriter and clerk until admitted
to the bar But he had practiced but
short time when he got printers ink upon
his fingers and has been unable to get
rid of it until entering the consular
school. He left the law to become a re-
porter on his paper, and in a few years
worked up to the managing editorship.
He will take a wife and baby with him
to ST. Pierre Island.
Preacher for Straits of Magellan.
Punta Arenas. bottommost town of
earth. is now. for the first time. to have
an American consulate, which will be the
most isolated post in the service. The
occupant will be John F.. Rowan of
Thompsonville, Conn. who has had quite
a varied career, first minister of the
gospel. then as newspaper man and later
as politician-state senator I'm Iowa for
four years. When President Mckinley
came in he appointed him consul to Port
Stanley, Falkland Island. His new post on
the Straits of Magellan is. as intimated,
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-08-23
WS;SENGER.

compliance with the terms of that law.
cut the hours of the carriers down to
about ten out of the twenty-four.
Even at this the boy who works hard
and is employed on the piece system is
so tired at night that he isn't willing to
read novels to pass away the evening or
the morning. as the case may be.
There is another reason for the lamen
table failure Of the cartoon showing the
messenger boy consuming the pages OF
the five-cent thriller
IN Washington. a city OF few grades
with asphalt streets and but little cOnges-
ton, the messenger boy prefers to ride a
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-08-23
Bicycle Boy Makes More.

bicycle to the moro ancient but slower
method Of walking.
Bicycle Boy Makes More.
The bicycle boy. if he is working by the
piece" of course. makes more money
than his rival on foot. SO that the spirit
of emulation drives many messengers to
save enough money to purchase wheels.
consequently they have no money to spend
on novels.
But possibly the real reason is beyond
all these. Go up to almost any one of the
boys who are at times to be found loaf
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-08-23
.NE Reason for the Fall


nNE Reason for the Fall
~ ing Away of the Desire
for Novels Is That the Boys
Are Mostly Paid by the
Amount of Work They Do
Some of the Other Reasons
the Boys Give for Their
Change of Heart-Red Pre-
fers the "Thayatar" An
other Supports Mother and
Little Brother-Still Another
Is Educating Himself Dur
ing His Spare Time, But It's
"NiS for de Yellow-back"
Witt. All of Them.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-08-23
IT AVE No Choice as to

II AVE No Choice as to
IL Where They Go
Different From Former
Times-An Actor Just Sent
to Zanzibar-An Editor
Departing on 11,ooo-mile
Journey to Mauritius-An-
other Editor to South
Africa-Washington Man
Gets Lonely Berth Down
on the Kongo-Other
Isolated African Posts Be-.
ing Filled-Large Contin-
gent of Newspaper Men
Man of Varied Career Sent
to Bottommost Town of
.Earth-Has Been Preacher,
Journalist and Politician
Seventeen New Consulates
Being Established.