davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The San Francisco call., 1908-10-17
AWARDED A WATCH
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AN INDIAN FUNERAL
MARIE CINQ-MARs
2I2 Emerson Street, PaIO Alto.
rs Years

Some time ago went with my father
to the Mojave. Indian reservation in
Mojave county, Ariz.. about is miles
up the Colorado river from the South
ern Pacific railroad.
Five o'clock in the morning we
reached a little station called West
while we spied the glimmer of a camp
fire in the river bottom. We walked
over to the camp and found our team
ster had come down the day before
with four mules and an army ambu-
lance to take US to the post He was
After he had fed the mules and
hitched up we started through a sandy
trail on the river bottom for Fort
Mojave. 1t was a long, hot ride, with
nothing to see but sand, mesquit
bushes and some Indian shacks.
Reaching Mojave, they told us we
were in great luck, as one of the sub
chiefs had died the day before and they
We're going to hold his funeral.
I was all excitement till night came.
We all went down to the Indian camp
in the river bottom. When we reached
there il was dark and the glimmer of
the lights through the brush, the shad-
Indians rather frightened me- We
went to the tent where the dead Indian
lay, and sitting around the body were
many Indians, all painted in streaks
of black. white yellow and vermilion,
with feathers in their hair and bear
claws around their necks. They were
singing, crying, beating and shaking
tins filled with stones, making an awful
noise, which was to scare the bad spir-
its away They then piled a stack of
wood six feet high, brought the body
out, placed it on the wood and set fire
to.it. While it was burning they danced
around, shouted yelled. sang, cried and
threw the blankets. clothes. saddle, tent
and all he owned on the fire. After it
had burned to ashes they gave wild
whoop, and, grabbing their axes, they
rushed over to the bushes. where two
ponies were tied cut them up to eat
and held pow WOW.
They were so excited we started back
for the post and in the distance we
could hear them shouting and singing.
till at last we could only see the glim-
mer of their fires, and. tell you, / was
glad to get back to the post
The San Francisco call., 1908-10-17
A FISHING TRIP
ROY MCKENZIE,
Table Rock Postoffice. seveath Grade.
Age 13 Years

This summer during my vacation my
Uncle Will and ] spent q few days fish
ing In Canyon creek about five miles
from our home.
We prepared for the trip one Satur-
day morning and then left for our camp
at o'clock. When we arrived at the
old cabin where we were going to
camp it was 1880 o'clock
After eating our supper we thought
1t time to get place to sleep. The
woodshed ofIered the best accommoda-
tion, so made my bed while uucle
was getting ready for our trip down
the creek on the morrow. l placed
some cedar boughs in one corner and
then rolled up my coat for pillow.
some sport with the fly and line be-
fore night came on.
We went to bed at II o'clock, but
being used to my soft bed at home
could not get to sleep for long time.
At last | fell into a troubled sleep
from which l was awakened BIZ a slight
noise.
sat up and reached for my rife
but all being still | lay down again.
solved to find the cause of the noise
that awakened me.
So got up. lit small piece of candle
and explored the shed. but found moth
ing. Just as l got back to my bed
again heard the noise right near me-
Lifting zip my coat | saw a large rattle
snake under it. Grabbing my rifle Just
as it turned to go shot ii in the head
1t had eight rattles and button.
morning, and went out and sat by
the fire until Uncle Will got UP. We
fished all that day and returned home
that evening with SIS fish.
The San Francisco call., 1908-10-17
ON TAMALEs BAY
JESSIE CROUCH.
Cnlisfesa. CaIistoEn Grammar School.
Age 10 Ycnye

Dillon beach is a camping place at
the mouth of Tamales bay. Last sum
mer when we were there we wanted
to go fishing on the bay. so we hired
boat. When we got down to the boat
we found that there was only one oar.
IT was such a flle day that we decided
TO go anyway. There was land breeze
when we started There were -four Of
us, Billy Sfemsen. commonly called
Brother Bill, Carl Meyer, boy
from san Rafael. papa and L. We went
out little way and dropped anchor.
We got so Interested in the fishing
we did not notice that sea breeze
had come up. After while papa no
ticed that the wind had blown us quite
a ways out into the bay. We took up
the anchor and tried to row to shore
sible. Then we decided to blow across
the bay 1t took us nearly an hour. We
blew over near an Indian graveyard
When We got to land Billy was so
glad he could hardly wait for shallow
water, but jumped out and towed us
ashore. Then we tied the anchor rope
to the rowlocks and Billy and Carl
to the landing and papa steered it with
the oar.
tell you we We're pretty glad to
get back to the landing place Then
we got our fish and went to camp.
We We're pretty tired when we got
there. Billy said he was never going
out in a boat again with only one
oar. but two or three days later you
could have seen the same old crowd
bay trying to catch the same old
fish, but If you had looked closely
you would have seen two oars instead
of one.
The San Francisco call., 1908-10-17
AT HOME ON THE RANCH
RoSAMoND LAMB
Cranmore, Cal. Salem District School.
Seventh Grade. Age IL Years

Most Of us think we can enjoy our
vacation better if it is spent away
from home. | could not go away, so /
had to make my own good time.
The first of July a friend from Sacra-
mento came to visit me. / decided to
give her as good a time as could
Every day there is some work that
mamma requires me to do. and until
that is done / can not play My friend
helped me, and we were soon through:
then we were ready TO take Il horse
back ride.
Ny brother would bride his pony.
Dude; then we both would get on him.
Dude will go anywhere on the ranch.
but when we took him on the road
there was one direction that he would
not go. We thought we would make
him go. Erma pulled him and | pushed.
but he would not bulge, and coaxing
had no effect on him, so we returned
homo.
During the middle of the day il was
very warm. so we lay in hammock
under some orange trees and read
My home is on the Sacramento river
and near the house is sandbar, where
the water is only about five feet Deep
and is shaded by the trees on the bank
In the afternoon we would don our
bathing suits and have the jolliest time
of the day. Sometimes a boat would
pass. then we would have to cling to
our ropes, for the waves caused by the
boats wheel would dash over us, and
we would say that they were the break
ers.
In the evening my brother would
take us for a ride in the surrey. or for
a row on the river. or we would remain
If it was too warm to be comfortable
indoors. we would sit on the lawn and
tell stories.
We would go to see the men haul
The San Francisco call., 1908-10-17

4 n submitting stories IN the history
contest juniors are requested to con-
form strictly to requirements in re-
gard 70 form, eto Write about any
incident In United States history that
you choose. but IT must be in your own
language and must contain not more
than 500 words nor less than zoo, and
must be written on one side OF the
paper only with ink or soft black
pencil
On the first line write your subject:
on the second line, beginning an inch
from the left hand margin. your name.
age and address, and If you are IN
school your school and grade. Write
the number Of words contained in the
story in the upper left hand corner of
the first page. A great many con-
trtbutors In the vacation contest have
neglected this last requirement, and
the editor has not the time to count
the words sn such stories.
II IS understood that IN awarding
prizes neatness, spelling. punctuation
and grammar are all taken into con-
sideration.
This contest is open to San Fran
cisco and California Juniors between
the ages OF 10 and 1e years, and for
the six best stories published each
week The Junior Call awards as prizes
six handsome school watches.
For the younger juniors, under 10
years OF age, another contest is open,
particulars of which are given on the
fourth page today.
The watches awarded in this week S
contest viii be mailed in a few days.
II you are winner and have not re-
ceived yours by next Saturday, let The
Junior Cali know at once.
The San Francisco call., 1908-10-17
LARGEST FISH / CAUGHT
FLORENCE WiNTON
1922 Harmon Street, south Berkeley
LINCOLN school, Eighth Grade.
Age Is Years

| spent my vacation visiting in the
east. OF course. our journey would not
be complete If we did not stop to visit
grandma, who lived with uncle and aunt
on a large farm in Iowa.
We arrived there one bright morning
In July Brother and / had great fun
exploring the hooks and corners which
were new to us since we were there
last. We were surprised to see twice as
many cattle and numerous fowls of diff
feTent kinds. The harvest was ripe
with golden grain. and the fruit and
berries were so tempting to look at
that we had to go somewhere else to
Keep from eating too much of it.
At last we were called to dinner. And
such delicious dinner it was. 1t
seemed that no one but grandma could
cook food so pleasing to our appetites.
The fried chicken, strawberry ShOrtcake
and ice cream were delicious. The pies
and other dainties were so numerous
that we were doubtful if we would be
able to taste them ALL But We managed
to do so.
After dinner Aunt Mary planned a
fishing trip. and we were told we could
go it we were very good You may be
sure we lost no time in helping with
Early the next morning we took our
lunch and fishing poles and started out
for the Boone river. | tried many kinds
of bait and failed to catch any fish. At
last ! thought j would try a piece of
meat In a few moments / felt a nibbIe
on the string and jerked the line up.
me f1ne went Ddck OF me anu feIl on
the ground. And then / felt the pole
almost jerk away from me, and | looked
around. and there was great big
brown and white dog trying to get the
meat off the string and had got the fish
hook fastened in his jaw His master,
who was along with him but was ahead
of him, had to come back and take it
out.
Although we had such a pleasant va
cation we were glad to return home to
our dear teachers and school books once
more.
The San Francisco call., 1908-10-17
! AWARDED A WATCH
CATALINA
ROY BRoWN
Avalon. Santa Catalina Island. Avalon
school, Sixth Grade. Age
IL Years

was very glad when school was
over this year for / was going TO Cat
alma for the holidays. / think it is the
very best place to spend them. There
are 50 many things TO see and so much
10 do.
Coming across from San Pedro to
Avalon we saw a number OF flying hsh.
We got here about noon and L started
out TO fish as soon as we got settled
and had lunch. I did not catch much
the first day, but the next day l caught
some fine rock bass.
1 think the trip in the glass bottom
boat TO Moonstone beach was the best
Of all. 1t took an hour each way. You
can look down through the clear water,
anywhere from 20 to 120 feet, and see
the golden perch, blue perch, rock bass,
the shellhsh, the sea urchin and here
and there large yellow tail, and lying
fat on the sand and rocks on the bot
tom Of the ocean are the sea cucumber.
They are said to be the lowest form of
animal life in the ocean. They take
their food by absorption. We glide over
forests of kelp, from which iodide is
made. and the low growing sea heather,
with is purple blossoms, which is
really not a flower at all. but phos-
phorescent substance, which gathers
here and there on the plant The
scenery all along the way was beauti-
ful. We picked up some moonstones
and had them polished.
There are a great number of seals
around Catalina There is one large
fellow in particular called big Ben
he is quite a zet; he is nine feet long
and has only ts1e eye, the other a man
knocked out sDme years ago because
he was stealing his fish. No one seems
to know how old he is. There is one
man on the island who has fed him oc-
casionally for 20 years. He comes into
the harbor every night; one night last
winter he came in quite late, and, as
there was no one there to feed him, he
barked till one OF the fishermen got
up and fed him.
When 1 first came to the island /
could not swim at all, but the water
is so smooth and there are no breakers
that II is easy to learn; now I can swim
and dive and row as well as any one.
We are going to stay here all winter.
The San Francisco call., 1908-10-17
AT SANTA CRUZ
PAUL ALLEN DINUBA
SuItana, Sultana school, sevent
Grade. Age 13 Years


On Tuesday. August 4, 1908.
mother and I started for Santa CRUZ
and arrived there August 5. My cousin
and a friend from Sultana met US at
the train.
The next day we found a room in
Spruce street not very far from the
beach. where I went most every day
in the week and always on Sunday.
They told me that / must not go in
swimming for a week / thought that
it would be pleasant swimming in the
warm water. but I found the water
like ice.
After 1 had been in the surf a few
times I enjoyed it. but I got ducked
/ often went swimming In the plunge.
where the water was warm
There are two slides in the plunge
which enjoyed sliding down. one slide
is short and the other is long. sloDing
from the top of the building. with
raise in the middle. At first I was
afraid to go down thes big one. but at
last / got enough courage TO go down.
The first time I went down I held to
the sides. but when I got to the middle
1t was so steep that 1 had to turn
loose.
Every afternoon that I was not in
swimming I spent my time at the
Casino. riding the scenic railway or on
of fun riding the scenic railway; il
goes up and down at a rapid pace.
My cousin and got acquainted with
a man who owned an auto and one
day he took us to the big trees. which
we enjoyed very much. There are
some very large trees there, and one fs
over 1000 years old.
The San Francisco call., 1908-10-17

The Junior Call wants the best
story you can write from United
States history in your own lam
guage. The story must be plainly
written on one side of the paper
Onlv. and must contain not more
than 500 words nor less than 200.
Only one story is desired from
each contributor in this contest,
but II is desired that each story
shall be carefully written, and
especial attention given to neat
ness, penmaRship, punctuation
and grammar.
Choose your own subject, pro-
vided il is true incident of
United States history; for in-
stance, tell the story of Washing
tens winter at Valley Forge, or OF
Ar1Old'S treason, or amy other
story that you prefer. These two
are cited merely as illustrations.
There is not the slightest neces-
sity for haste in the history con-
test. because many vacation
stories now on hand will be pub
lished before publication of the
history stories begins; therefore,
take plenty of time and write a
good story, addressing it TO The
Junior Call, Call building, San
Francisco.
On the first line write your SUBJ
iect; on the next line, beginning
an inch from the left hand mar
gin, your name, age and address,
and, If you are in school, your
school and grade. Another very
important point Is that each story
must be marked with the number
of words which ii contains; write
this number i'm the upper left
hand corner of the first page.
As in the vacation contest, six
watches win be awarded each
week for the six best stories pub
lished.
Do not send in any more Vaca-
fiOn letters. Send in your history
story whenever you have It com.
pleted TO the best Of your ability.
The San Francisco call., 1908-10-17
VISITING
ALBERT FLAHERTY,
ulema. Garcia. District School, Sixth
Grade. Age IL Years

When school closed one of my friends
zane 60 spend part of his vacation with
me. his mother came with him. He
SSIIayed at my place for three weeks.
" did not have much fun at my house
When he was going home my mother
let me go with him.
When | was at Sausalito | had fine
fun. We played hide and seek, bat
the wicket and ball
one day we went fishing out at the
Terry. There were lots of fish and we
home and had them for dinner next day.
we went fishing a good many times.
once a man gave us two big crabs to
take home. We took them home and
cooked them and put them in the cellar
because she did not want them to spoil.
NEXT morning she heard noise in the
cellar. She got dressed and went to see
what was wrong. She saw two boys
standing in a field right by.
She, went Into the cellar and saw the
crabs We're gone. She asked the boys
where their father was. The boys knew
the crabs, so they said she could not
see him. She went into the barn and
found their father milking. Your boys
stole my crabs" she said. The man was
astonished and said, My boys haven t
got up out of bed YET isThey're out in
the field and have the crabs under their
arms
The man went out and saw the boys
In the field. He told them to raise their
arms. A crab dropped from under each
boys arm. The boys did not steal any
more.
The next day / went to the city to
get suit. Then we went to the park.
At the park We rode on the Shetland
ponies. Then we went to the Chutes.
When we got there we saw alligators,
snakes, bears, coons. foxes. camels,
monkeys, seal and an elephant. When
l first went into the building ! became
frightened. ] thought the animals would
get loose. The monkeys are very cum
ming. | saw one putting & baby monkey
to sleep. We went to shoot the ehutes
once and then came home.
The San Francisco call., 1908-10-17

San Gregorio. Here we ate our lunch, but
soon We're on our way for Pescadero
hot walk we reached Pescadero at
nightfall BY good luck we found q
favorable camping ground on bank OF
a creek. We ate dry supper, for L,
for one, was very tired. Next morn
ing / found, to my dismay. that my
brothers face was so swollen from
poison oak that he was blind. SO | led
him to the doctor, who asked us how
he got it, but we didn't know, but he
must have slept In 1t, for it was all
over his body He gave us prescription
that he said would cure him by that
night. But by night he was as bad as
ever, so | packed up and we went TO
the hotel. where we got room Next
morning we took the stage to Redwood
City, where we took. the train. TO San
Francisco. So ends the eventful tale of
the hike to Santa Cruz.
The San Francisco call., 1908-10-17
VACATION IN MOUNTAINS
VERA CRAWFORD.
SuIfana. TuIare County. SuIfana GRAM
mar school. sixth Grade.
Age IA Years

I spent my vacation in the Sierra
Nevada mountains. We were cafnped IN
the heart of a great pine forest belong
ing to the government
Our camp was situated on hillside
overlooking a sawmfl1 1t was inter-
esting to watch the great saws make
the pine trees into lumber. The trees
after being cut down and sawed up into
the lengths they want by men in the
woods are hauled in by oxen and horses
/ went UP in the woods and watched
the oxen work The oxen get the logs
out Of the woods into the "chutes," and
the horses take them on into the MILL
There were 10 oxen hitched together.
They are harnessed only by yokes
around their necks. the chains being
fastened TO those, then fastened on the
logs.
mountains looking for pine nuts and
mountain gum. also for wild gooseber-
ries. I went fishing for Bountain trout.
We took our lunch along with us and
at noon we ate under pine tree near
a spring
We were only four miles from the
General Grant national park. 1t Is a
wonderful sight for any one to see those
great giant trees
/ took my kodak along and got some
fine views.
But | had to bring my pleasant vaca-
tiOn to close and return to school and
study.
The San Francisco call., 1908-10-17
VACATION AT SEATTLE
PAUL SCHMOOK.
Fruftvaie. Dewey school. Fourth Grade
Age 10 Years

The night Of the 1st of July mother.
sister Annie and l left the Oakland
mole for Seattle. Father, who is a
railroad man, got us a round trip pass
that was good for three months.
1t was very hot that night going
through the Sacramento valley. The
next afternoon we saw Mount Shasta.
When We came TO Shasta Springs the
train stopped for 10 minutes and
mother got us some Shasta water
1t didn't taste so good as the soda
water you get in bottles.
1t took long time to climb the
mountains and l was glad to get to
Portland.
We arrived at Seattle on the night
of the Sd. where we met my aunt, and
went TO her home near Lake Washing
ton.
A good nights sleep put me in fine
shape to enjoy the Fourth.
l had a dandy time that day shoot
ing firecrackers, but the best thing l
saw was the fireworks that night at
one of the parks
/ saw the eruption of Mount Vesu-
vius and it was grand. l wished that
all my school friends could have seen
it. My unclesis a real estate man, and
/ stayed at his office some. days He
showed me how to- print real estate
signs. He gave me nickel for print
ing five signs.
1 thought that was pretty cheap. but
he said. A real estate man is always
The San Francisco call., 1908-10-17
EXPERIMENTS IN SEF-G0VERNf1ENT IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS
BY Cecil W. Marks, Principal Crocker
Grammar School

N late years so much has been writ
ten by people who think they
know something about children
and their ability to, govern them
selves that l thought it would be well
to write a few words for The Junior
Call on this subject.
Ins my opinion no school, however
small or large, can run itself, for in
the nature of things children can not
Judge of the seriousness of offenses or
the manner and method of punishment.
1t sounds well to hear a principal
boast that his school runs itself, and
that the discipline is no trouble to him
would convince you that his statement
is correct, for the school shows that
both order and instruction are far be-
low the average of what they should be.
Children soon find out the lax and
Indifferent teacher, and they do not,
their immature life valuable time is
wasted; and in after years they look
back with feeling Of disgust and
even Ill will toward such teacher.
Pupils like order and discipline and
under proper guidance a form of self
government may be worked out with
great success. due entirely to the per-
sonality of the teachers. Too much
can not be said or too much stress can
not be laid upon the personal side. of
a good faithful teacher. Say what you
will, all order and self government
which are lasting must be developed
and perfected by the patient and faith
full work of the teacher.
Some time ago in Alameda an elaBo-
rate plan was formulated by an en-
thusiastic principal who thought he
had found correct scheme for the
self government of his school. OF
course, it is needless to say that the
plan did not work, and as far as
The San Francisco call., 1908-10-17

Flat. distance of mile and half.
Inquisitive cows sometimes chased us,
but we always managed to get out of
the way before they did us any
harm.
One morning when my sister got up
to make the biscuits she found frog
merrily swimming around in the milk.
Another time, when mamma was max
ing the bed, there was black spider
comfortably curled up in the bed. fast
asleep. Once, when the people right
next to us opened their potato sack,
10. and behold. there was a big rattle
snake inside the bag After~much con-
fusion the thing was killed. 1t had
done no harm, but everybody mag
ined they had been bitten if they dis
covered "a scratch on themselves a
month afterward
Every night we had big bonfires and
told many stories.
After a few more adventures with
frogs, spiders and tarantulas we all
decided to go home, and you may be
assured we were all glad to get home
safe and sound.