davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-11-06

ously. II wish you fellows'd 90 sit on
tack. Can't you see I'm all right
the way am-with my clothes on, l
mean?'
They told him that nothing whatever
could be determined about the condition
Of man who had his clothes on: and
after lot of persuading and twitting the
big fellow finally stood up. glared around
in a helpless, trapped sort Of a way,
and said:
well. come on. then. you bunch o.
show-me runs. and I'll show you wheth-
er I'm there or not; and he led the
lowed him up to his handsome suite
Of rooms. Here the crowd distributed
themselved around on chairs and set
tees. while JEFF disappeared into the
end room Of the suite.
The fighter reappeared In about five
minutes. He looked decidedly self-con-
scious. not to say hangdog. as he re-
entered the room where the gang sat or
stood. He wore nothing but a pair OF
dark blue trunks. A spontaneous muir
muir of approval If not downright adj
miration broke from the bunch two
seconds after the stripped fighter made
his appearance. JEFF, who has a lum-
bering walk. from which nobody could
possibly derive the belief that he pos
sessed the extreme speed and .,ghtness
Of foot which he exhibited in his last
two or three fights. lummoxed over to
the middle Of the large room and stood
on a Persian rug. palms on Lips, and
surveying the ceiling decorations as II
he were intensely interested in them.
The big chap looked distinctly embar-
rassed He was so embarrassed that he
simply couldn't look at the gang stand
ing around examining his points" So
he looked at the ceiling.
The fighters condition. as stripped. has
been described. He looked in superb
fettle. His dark, olive skin glowed with
perfect health. He stood quite limp. not
taut. but. even so. he was a very At
las of a man. He looked bigger peeled
than with his clothes on: bigger in the
of mere bulkiness. The stodginess which
characterized his appearance before he
started for Carlsbad was gone. When
he did expand his chest, he seemed al
most slim-waisted on account of the
vastness Of his swelled torso. Then 1t
was that his pectoral muscles stood out
like cantaloupes: and the enormous mus
cles of his back played back and forth
loosely and INCREASINGLY, showing that
the fighter isn't In the slightest sense
muscle-bound. The slight roll Of fat
which was visible on his neck before
he went to Europe was entirely gone.
The bronze line (which halted at the
neck where the collar reaches gave clear
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-11-06

JEFF. turning his serious gaze upon the
man who'd made the remark. Cant
you see that I'm not panting?'
why, you're gasping like stranded
at the others so obviously that Jeffries
caught him at it and looked disguised.
Il
Pretty bum comedy. 1 call It," he
commented in a rumbling tone.
I'll tell you what you ought to do
pal" cut IN one OF the crowd when the
seance was nearly over. You ought to
have that extra chin of yours massaged
away. You don't look so bad, and all
that stun, but you're there with the jowls
and the extra chin thing all right, and
you can have that lard eased or OF you
by massage at one OF these beauty par
lors, savvy?"
Jeffries, whose face looks as hard as
vuIcanite and who hasn't even a symp-
tom of a double chin. took this harpoon
seriously, too. He felt of his cheeks and
chin with both hands and looked so mys-
titled and worried that the gang broke
into a laugh. Then Jeffiries grinned
sheepishly-the man is perfectly good ma
tured in spite of his usual serious ex-
preston of countenance-and he beat 1t
in a sort OF long-striding gallop to the
room in which he had stripped.
When JEFF returned with his street
clothes on one Of the gang said to him:
well, JEFF, reckon If you trained
hard and faithfully for four or five
months. maybe you'd be able to fight
Peter Maher to a draw, chr
jeff snorted. He was through being
strung for that day
CLARENCE L. CULLEN.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-11-06
A Whistler Story.

~ Americas leading collector OF Whis-
tier paintings. among Mr.. Freer's treas
ures being the famous Peacock room
decorations from the dining room Of the
Leyland house in London.
Mr. Freer is also q collector Of Whis-
tier anecdotes. one Of which he told me
at a recent dinner.
whistler" he said, "once undertook to
get a fellow painters work into the au-
tumn Salon He succeeded and the pic
ture was hung.
But the painter, going to see his mas
terpiece with Whistler on vanishing day.
uttered a terrible oath when he beheld 1t.
GOOD gracious ne groaned, you re
exhibiting my picture upside down!
tee refused IL the other way"
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-11-06

themselves IL he was still there as
everybody who had seen him under in
spection on the first day OF his arrival
said that he was.
well, you've got your rooms to your
self now, Jeff-we saw the wife starting
out" said one of the crowd to JEFF, who
was sprawled out comfortably on big
leather settee. Come on up and slide
out of your swaddlngs and let's see how
you stack up. eh?"
"Lemme lone" grunted JEFF.
Let you alone nothing" stuck in one
Of the others of the bunch. doing his part
in accordance with the gangs frame,up
dropped around to have a peek. Jim. This
is just the time for 1t. You've got the
suite to yourself for the afternoon.
haven't you? Well then"
ing gum.
Hes afraid to show the paunch. that's
what ails him." put in one OF the others.
addressing the crowd I'm general with an
air of great earnestness.
JeN turned his head sharply and glared
at this speaker. Maybe 1t was a good
thing for the speaker that he was such
an old matey Of the fighters:
Cit out with that paunch stun" growl-
ed JEFF. impaling the mentioner Of the
paunch with his clear and steady. II
slightly bovine brown eyes. Il haven't
got any paunch. Look a-here," and the
tighter grabbed the front slack OF his
weslit-a garment that had been made
for him before he ever thought Of getting
back to the limelight-and gathered a
yard or so of 1t up in his huge right paw.
law. anybody can do that with a vest"
observed one Of the gang. who had been
keeping still until then. "An you've got
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-11-06

SpectacleS took IL all IN WIN mouth
agape. He sat in his corner and twiddled
his nervous hands in his shabby sack
coat pocket and waited for his assign
ment His turn came when all of the
other men had been provided with stunts
Then the city editor looked up with his
customary glare from his horribly heaped-
up desk and glanced over at the new
man.
'Kippering -er- Kappering-Kipsing-
oh, yes. Kipling-Kiplings right, isn't
it.? the city editor growled at the new
man.
"'Yes, Kipling's right said the new
man, getting to his feet and walking
over to the city editors desk.
know anything about crooked flnan-
cial stuff? the city editor asked the new
man.
IA Bit briefly replied the new man.
But maybe don't know much about the
American kind
"'Well. you can pick it up. can't your
demanded the city editor. aggressiveiy.
This is America, you know. us not-er
Australia, or Samoa, or-where Is II
they tell me you've been working on the
papers?
TN India replied the runty man. who
didn't seem to have much OF gift FOR
CAB. But he smiled rather an engaging
smile over the almost comic crustiness OF
editor. India. Huh What kind Of
newspapers have they got in India?
Pretty rotten. 1 supposer
"'Oh, they're not so bad replied the
new man. Different from the news
papers here. Of course. But not % rotten
bad, really
".Huhr commented the city editor.
Well. see here. Kippering-I mean Kip
ling-how the deuce did you get name
like that?-makes me think Of herring.
you know. and the city editor grinned
sardonically at his witticism. or near
witticism! see here, Kipling. there's a
fake mining concern doing business
selling punk mining stock. that ts-down
at this address,. and he handed the
scrubbed address to the new man. Trot
down there and have a talk with the
manager Of the fake concern. Feel him
out. See what he has to say. We're
going to uncover HAM. Not yet. maybe.
but when we've got him cinched. Size
him up. Get his idea. Look him over.
Then report back to me-
THE new man nodded.
'Er-what's your full manner inquired
the city editor, producing the little book
in which he inscribed the names of the
always coming and going reporters.
'Rudyard Kipling,' said the new man.
'Rud-Rud-what? asked the city edi-
tor.
'Rudyard; R-u-d-y-a-r-d. Rudyard.'
said the new man, spelling 1t and smiling
his decidedly winning smile.
"Gosh, that's the peculiarest little
name. so to speak. that 1 ever did stack
up against" mumbled the city editor as
he wrote II down in his little book. How
can anybody be expected to remember a
name like that?'
Joke, wasn't It? Because. you know
there are such a lot Of folks who do
know and remember that name, Ell?
WELL that was Kipling's first assign
ment on the Chronicle. He covered 1t
fairly well, considering how dead new that
sort of stuff was to him. If he'd covered
the fake mining stock story with a cracker
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-11-06

They got the big fellow to do a shadow
boxing stunt for them. He dashed out
right and left with his mighty arms
startling all hands with his almost feline
quickness. He kept 1t up for five min
utes, yet not a drop Of sweat believed
any part Of his massive frame after the
heavy exertion. Shadow boxing is con-
sidered by some fighters more exacting
than the real kind Of boxing. Yet JEFF
fries wasn't breathing hard enough to
snuff out a birthday cake candle had 1t
been held an inch from his nostrils. The
exhibition clearly proved that his wind
was in tip-top condition.
Gee, listen to the big lumberjack
pant" observed one OF the bunch to the
others.
Jaw. can that stun. will you!" growled
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-11-06

ticed, sitting over In corner with his
hands thrust a bit gloomily into the
pockets Of his somewhat shabby sack
coat little. runty. bristly haired man.
with a pair of large but weak-looking
eyes masked by the lenses Of an enormous
pair Of spectacles." said newspaper
man. now employed In Washington, who
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-11-06

You know about that flying wedge that
the walters put through on messy ones at
a 9th avenue restaurant that figured quite
q lot -in~the-slast-se campaign. of course?
Wei. know how 1t feels to get the thrust
at the business end of that flying wedge.
all right. I had it worked on me at that
restaurant one night. I had to serve q
summons on an actress who dined there
every night-well, I supposed she called
it dining-at two hours after midnight. /
couldn't get her address. although l did a
lot of digging for 1t. and 80. finding out
that she was at that restaurant for sew
eral hours every night, or morning, rather.
I had to serve her there.
1T was one Of those nice large parties
at her table-four young fellows who
looked as II they were footballers and
four women with large hats and shrill
laughs including the actress 1 had to
serve. / walked right over to her and
placed the summons on the table in front
of her.
she knew what 1t was at Just one
glance. Then she shot up from her chair
as II. she had been on springs. reached out
Just as ! was about e turn am, and . slays si
side Of my face with her fngernaais. That.
OF course. was thu riot signa1. The@f four
big young cubs at the tablerdoped n out,
Of course, that I'd done something in
and they made a simultaneous grab for
me. But outsiders have got to be pretty
quick on the grab at that place to beat
the walters to 1t.
'"rhe walters Of the flying wedge squad
seemed to come right through the floor.
and they had me clutched before the
young fellows at the table knew what
was coming of: I'm glad 1t happened
that way. The fellows at the table might
have marked me up and the women might
have helped. so that I'd probably have
lost a good deal more of my cuticle than
p did. But the walters didn't hurt me at
al. Their main hold was speed and pro-
polling power. They had me down the
long aisle to the 9th avenue main door in
what figured to be about one and one
eighth seconds. Talk about your awaiting!
And I went out OF the door as II out Of a
gun. But I'd served the summons and
the three strips Of pelt that the actress
one hundred bones I sued her for a thou
sand. and she was glad to compromise at
a hundred"
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-11-06

ECENTLY I came
upon an unusual
type. He was a
philosophical serv-
err Of legal papers.
Sure, certainly.
I've been pasted
heaps Of times by
fellows that I've
served papers on.
and scratched, too,
by women who
seemed to hold me
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-11-06

HOSE persons who
by n a I re a n d
training are enti-
tied to active men,
bership In the Sol
emn-as-Death Club.
t h at distinguished
world wide organ
ization so closely
allied to the An
cient and Honor
able 8 Gle ty of
stone Heads and
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-11-06

n e d. y, b a c K
yonder in the dis
card of years - 1t
was less than twen-
ty years ago. II
you're asking for
exactness when /
got down to the
city room of the
Chronicle Office In
8 a n Francisco Il
was a reporter on
the paper-I no.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-11-06
I'M

IN JE F r r I z s
comes. pretty near
being as bashful as
a seminary girl. A
group of his friends
and acquaintances
had a C n a n c e to
prove this a couple
of days after the
fighter got back
from Europe. They
hectored Jeffries
into shocking his
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-11-06

to do to make that front slack Is to haul
your wen In. like you're doing now.
You've pulled that tumor OF yours way
up into your chest SOS you can hardly
breathe right now.
II have notr' sputtered JEFF, growing
red. He took the kidding quite seri-
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-11-06

which he accepted the envelope placed
in his hand.
THE envelope was unsealed. and he
yanked the summons out OF IL. I Just
had time. as / made for the door, to see
the expression Of acute establishment on
his face; then, you may better believe, I
beat It down the hall, and l didn't wait
for the elevator, either. although ii was
stairs as fast as could make 1t, and my
dope was right. too. for when I got down
to the fifth floor l heard some roaring
coming from up there in the sixth-floor
liberated tooth. except that it was In
the voice Of the man I'd served the
papers on.
What In the dickens did you mean
by letting that fellow in herer I heard
the roarer say while I was still going.
and then heard his wife piping that
she'd thought. of course, that was from
Mr.. Blank; and 1 heard echoes OF the
mans bawling till I got almost to the
ground moor. If 1 hadn't made the best
Of time in getting away from there after
depositing the summons in that mans
hand he'd just about have made q lunch
of me, for he was a huge chap Of ath-
letic build.
well, after all that work and chance
taking. didn't that fellow beat US? That's
what he did. There had been a mistake
made in the dating of the summons 1
served on him. 1t didn't correspond with
the date Of the summons on file at the
municipal court by two days. That let
the man out The suit was dismissed by
the Judge on the ground that the man
had been served with a misdated sum-
mons. and that's all there was to 1t. I've
got another properly dated summons for
him In my pocket right now, but it'll be
dog's-eared before 1 ever get chance to
not particularly keen to serve 1t on him.
1 don't like the set of that mans Shout
ders.
Il served a summons on John L. once.
1t was when Sullivan was running his
saloon on 42d street. man who had
managed John L. for a short time was
suing the old man for few hundreds
that he claimed was coming to him.
When tho head man of my law firm
put that summons in my hand he was
Well. 50 long. SAM ha said. to. me.
You belong to one of these burial asso-
Citations. don't you? Well, We'll see that
you're put into the ground decently.
We're sorry to lose you and all that.
but" and he grinned some more and
shrugged his shoulders.
1T didn't know what he was driving at
till I opened up the folded summons and
saw that John l.. was the man 1 was to
serve ii on. My boss was studying me to
see how I was going to take 1t.
"'Oh, well, they all look alike to me,
1 said, stufing the summons into my
pocket -,----s
"'Gee, you're gamer than I'd be in the
circumstances, I'll tell you that, he said
to me, and then he added that there'd be
ten bucks extra in IL for me for doing
that hazardous piece of work.
MY GOODNESS in front Of the boss was
Just bravado. I felt my knees shaking as
soon as l saw John LIS name on the
summons. But 1 had to go through with
II, of course. I called my wife up on the
phone. bade her as kidding a goodbye as
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-11-06
RUDYARD KIPLING AS A REPORTER

Jacks ability, Of course I mean the abfl-
ity OF q crackerJack, news-nosey reporter
1T would have been all the same to that
city editor; he'd have growled any way.
He did growl over the way kipling COW
cred his first story: he growled over the
way everybody covered stories. Kipling
took the growing in good part. like the
rest OF us. 1t was a part OF the game
and Kipling always did know how TO
play the game. you've got to hand that
to him. .---
''Kipling was on the Chronicle for
about five weeks. He did a little OF all
kinds OF reporting during his stay there.
He had his whack at the city hall. day
police, night police, the hotels. ships news.
the whole thing.
His work as a reporter wasn't bad.
but II was far from being first rate. He
wasn't keen for that kind of work. In
fact. he hated IL. I came to know him
pretty well-as well as anybody comes to
know a man so habitually reticent and
shy-and he more than intimated to me
that he disliked the work.
long as he could stomach IL. His assign
ment to cover ship news on the day OF
Of the regular ship news man gave him
an idea, which he hesitatingly propounded
to the city editor.
1.-The idea was this: Kipling had dis
covered that the water front OF San Fran
cisco was the most picturesque water
front on earth In the variety OF types it
offered; for Robert Louis Stevenson had
the water front of San Francisco in mind
when he called San Francisco the melting
pot Of nations The color, the atmos-
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-11-06

tnat getaway tnlng ana IL mas saved me
many a clip on the jaw.
y
1.-The man I speak OF was being sued
by a doctor, and the law firm 1 work for
had the case. The man. I understand.
claimed that the doctors bill was unjust
or exorbitant or something, but they all
have their excuses. Anyhow, he was a
scientific dodger.
The doctors collector had been trying
to get to him for a year and had never
made It. Then the doctor entered suit.
1t wasn't known exactly what the de-
PENDANT In this suit did for a living. /
had to do some sure-enough detective
work to find out. You see, the man had
changed his address so often that 1t
wasn't known where he lived. discover
ed that he was engaged In collecting
some statistics for a publishing firm. He
did the work where he lived. / tried to
get the people at the publishing house
TO give me his address, but they wouldn't
do it, Employers are pretty cagey about
giving their employees addresses now
adays. i stuck around. though. and
finally, after about month, went into
the publishing ONCE one day after I'd
seen all OF the main people Of the estab-
lishment come out for their lunch. There
was young woman stenographer left in
charge, and I soft-soaped her a little bit,
telling her that the man whose address 1
wanted was an old school buddy OF mine
and that / was just in from Helena,
Mont. and was trying to look him up TO
give him a good time, and she looked into
the address book and gave me my MANS
address.
THE address was a good hotel on upper
Broadway. j chased up there and was
promptly famed by the clerk behind the
hotel desk. The clerk was wise to things.
q rad nd % m
my man. A server OF legal papers learns
TO know these things by instinct. or what
Is called bunch.
But i said to the hotel clerk, this
is important. / am from Mr.. Blank. his
employer naming the head of the pub
fishing firm for which my man worked.
"Just as I said that good-looking
woman came In and walked UP to the
name Of the head OF the firm for which
her husband worked.
"'Oh. you are looking for my husband
and are from Mr. Blank?' she said to me.
We'll. I am his wife. Come up with me.
He is upstairs. know. for I phoned to
him from downtown only a few minutes
ago
1.-THE hotel clerk who was on to me. 1
am pretty sure, tried to catch her eye,
but he couldn't make II, and 90 / stepped
into the elevator with her. There was
time when ia have felt pretty mean do
ing thing like that. but I've been in this
business for ten years. you know.
''She led me right smack to handsome
suite of rooms. opened the door. and there
was my man sitting at a desk in q loung-
ing robe.
"This gentleman said his wife TO him
cheerily, is from Mr.. Blank
"'Oh, Is that so?' said my man, rising
from his desk.
Yes SIR said i, and I walked over
to him and placed the summons In his
outstretched hand. ! guess a check or
something was due from his employer,
and he was expecting IL. That's the way
IL looked to me from the eagerness with
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-11-06

buds at his hotel, so that they could see
for themselves just how he sized up in
a peeled condition. Jeffries acted as shy,
without any clothes on excepting pair
Of trunks. as a little boy posing for Cupid
In q painters studio.
1t was the second time the boilermaker
had stripped for inspection since his re-
turn from abroad. He peeled for the gang
OF sporting writer's and snapshotters on
the day that he got in. and he looked
distinctly embarrassed on that occasion,
too; embarrassed and bored to extinction
besides.
On the afternoon OF the second day af-
ter his arrival JEFF was lounging around
the lobby of his Broadway hotel, tagging
punches Of friends and acquaintance who
tried with more or less adroitness to pick
talk out of him. JEFF is one Of those
monosyllabic takers. Very often he mere
ly grunts a reply. He is suspicious OF
folks who try to pin him with direct ques-
lions and curls up nightly under that
kind Of prodding. no matter how cleverly
the prodding may be done,
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-11-06

NEW YORK. November 5. 1909
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-11-06

Then I mooched over to the table
where John l. was sitting with his
bunch. I had the summons in my hand.
'M-m-mister S-s-s-sullivan,' I began,
I've got here
The big chap looked up at me from
under his bushy brows.
Spit 1t, spit it, young Teller he rum
bled-really rumbled. you know. % that
the floor seemed to vibrate sufficiently
to tickle the bottoms Of my feet through
my shoes. 'Whatcha got there?'
II didn't have another word left. After
that rumbling that he made I couldn't
have tossed another word II my life had
depended upon 1t. So I just placed the
summons in the hand that he held out
I couldn't help but notice the size Of the
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-11-06

~ Soft-Soaped Her for Awhale.H
better natured Ehen he was hitting the
other Stuff. .
II nudged up to the bar and took a
drink as II THAI wos my only business
there m~nUt a drinking man. but
took a stiff one that time. I figured that
I'd need 1t to oil my nerve along a little
Bit