davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Jeffersonian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1907-1917, 1909-08-19
NO. S454-A PRACTICAL OUTFIT
FOR THE BUSY WOMAN.

The busy housekeeper will not fail
to find in the accompanying illustration
a most attractive and practical outfit,
consisting of apron cap and sleeves. 1t
will afford protection to the daintiest
gown, and will leave the hair neat and
tidy even after busy mornings work.
The front is cut in Princess style and
fits close to the figure. A prettily
shaped bib extends out over the Shout
ders in manner very becoming. Cling
ham was used for the making, but per-
Gale linen and Holland are suggested
Medium size requires 4 20 yards of So
inch material for the apron, and 1 Is
yards extra for the cap and sleeves
Sizes: small, medium, large.
pattern of this illustration mailed
to any address on receipt of 10 cents in
stamps or silver
The Jeffersonian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1907-1917, 1909-08-19
THE AUGUST CAT.

ON, listen to my plaintive plea;
And may your hearts be touched
thereat!
am, as all the world can see,
A harmless, necessary cat.
The luggage now is in the hall,
Portmanteaus lie upon the mat;
Awaiting for the van to call
And no ones thinking of the cat
They're off, as off last year they went
tbs still within my memory pat,
How on their pleasures plan intent
They overlooked their friend, the
cat.
Till then, supplied with daily milk,
Well fed, we'll liking, sleek and
fat,
My tabby coat, as smooth as silk,
I lived a glad, contented cat.
But on my own resources cast
My 1000 as best l could, l gat,
And till the holidays were past
I prowled, a stray and starveling
cat
They left me plump, they found me
thin,
Yea, wasted to shadow fat
A bag of bones incased in skin
The ghostly semblance of a cat.
No single cup of milk to drink
For thirty days! Just think of
that!
And pray your readers, all to think
Of what awaits the August cat.
Our Dumb Animals
The Jeffersonian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1907-1917, 1909-08-19
Conducted by Grace Kirkland

we'll as shirts and shirt-waists that
are hard to do up. And why, in the
name of common sense, should tow
els, wash-cloths, dish-rags and ordi-
nary knitted underwear be ironed at
all? Fold and put away fresh from
the sun and air.
If women themselves would only
wake up to a profitable interest in
such things as freless cookers, pa
tent dishwashers, washers, ETC.,
weeks of time and inca1culable
strength could be saved to the house
mothers of this country, for inven-
tors would turn their attention to
such devices, make new ones, and
perfect the ones we now have
To "teach women housekeeping"
is almost absurd in the face of the
present chaotic conditions. The girl
who is taught to keep house" and
never does anything else, very fire.
quietly proves to be, in after years,
the weary woman who "putters
about" suspicious of innovation,
stubbornly unprogressive, doing doz-
ems of things after wrong, 1abori-
Gus methods, wasting her time and
strength to no purpose unless it be
the vague one of martyrdom to "the
way I've always done"
Those who quickest learn to order
a home, to take up the best meth
DDS available, are oftenest those who,
having been trained in some other
business, learn the value of time, the
need of concentration, and the econO-
my of machinery. They learn to
scorn the course dinner that is no
more palatable than a simple, dainty
supper, and which causes tired serv-
ants to work during the hours in
which rest should rightfully be
theirs, and to hate in general the
lack of consideration for others which
is the basis of the servant problem,
and to be amused at the penny wise,
pound foolish" ways of the woman
whose time has never been paid for,
The Jeffersonian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1907-1917, 1909-08-19

G0HEN the humane officer in
NAIL Winsted, Connecticut, went
lVE to investigate a case of al
&@ legged cruelty, which con-
sisted of young girl being apparent
ly compelled to break rocks, he was
confronted with the astounding state
ment of the happy miss (wearing
overalls) that she simply preferred
breaking rock to housekeeping. The
officer withdrew, doubtless bordering
the thing deeply in his heart.
Given health and strength, free
dom of motion through comfortable
wearing apparel, and there is small
doubt but that many a woman would
prefer breaking rocks upon the high
way to doing the tedious and not
less exhausting toll that comes to
her lot at home. The inability to
"settle down" to any one thing is
subversive of good results. There
is no man on earth who could make
a success of a business which de-
handed that his mind be almost
every other moment turned in some
new direction, or that his attention
be upon one thing while he tried to
do another. Men are successfully in
charge of many a diversified bust
ness, but they manage it by letting
subordinates look after the different
details.
When the very wise, deep people
who solve problems all in a breath
portentiously declare that "girls
should be taught housekeeping, they
think they have let fall a great
thought. But, in point of fact, there
is not a ray of science in the whole
thing, or any very early show OF
The Jeffersonian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1907-1917, 1909-08-19

sciences, together with so much
downright manual labor that after
all these ages there is yet no real
standard of housekeeping, and no
two women who keep house just
alike. Learning to Fcook," that, &C
cording to mankind, acme of a wo-
mans accomplishments, stops with
preparation of food for consumption
and doesn't imply, by any means,
that the housekeeping will be any
better, or the meals themselves any
simpler or more scientific.
There would be no possible ex-
cuse for home with it's manifold
drudgery and disadvantages were it
not that within the home only do we
have our individual tastes consulted
as to what we shall eat, how we shall
dress and deport ourselves, and so
forth. For the privilege of doing
measurably as we please within our
own dOmicile, the race sacrifices the
easier mode of living that would
come under the cooperative schemes
There doesn't seem to me to be
anything SO oppressively dreary, so
utterly Objectionable, as existence
savoring of communism I would
rather have shack in the middle of
desert, where I could keep my own
hours, have my own way, eat any
sort of indigestibles I fancied, than
to live under the most wholesome
clock-work of another's devising, in
obedience to rules and regulations
that had been framed only for "the
general good
There being no hope in comm I'M
ism, housekeeping must remain to
the enc OF the chapter, unspecialized.
Therefore, hard. It behooves So
ciety, however, in the face of the
growing unwillingness on the part of
women to face it, to consider ways
and means to make it no more ar
duous than the majority of other oc-
equations.
In the first place, the servant
problem would probably vanish by
desiring more of service and less of
servility. That is to say, let domes-
tics be trained in different specialties
and employ a class of helpers who
would not have to be treated as the
servants now are. White help? Of
course; the negro servant is simply
the poor excuse that must be put up
with, along with the rest of our bur-
dens.
Many housekeepers would throw
up their hands at this but these
have never experienced the reliable,
efficient sort of white domestic help
in other sections. They are thinking
of the white slattern, in contrast to
which an ordinarily neat and indus
trious negro girl is the lesser evil.
The individual home should be
simplified in every respect. This is
slowly, but surely, being done. Wo-
men are no longer wearing out their
energies sweeping tawdry carpets,
busting cheap bric-a-brac, polishing
pots and pans that were meant for
service, not ornament, or wasting so
The Jeffersonian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1907-1917, 1909-08-19

Read Watson's Bethany" a novel
of the Old South.
The Jeffersonian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1907-1917, 1909-08-19

G7HEN the humane officer in
IHkE Winsted, Connecticut, went
lNE to investigate a case of al
- legged cruelty, which con-
The San Francisco call., 1909-07-04

could have written so powerful a book
If the book is unusual It's author is not
less so. Miss Chamberlain, in con-
junction with her sister, has written
all sorts OF things-plays, poems, short
stOries-ever since she was a child
not, as she says, from any overwhelm-
ing desire to write, but rather for the
sake of the diversion. When Esther
Chamberlain was 6, and her sister
Lucia 4, they used to give plays
for the benefit OF convulsed family
audieAce. One occasion is recalled
when a long poem had been conned
ands committed to memory and the
parents, cousins, aunts and uncles in
vited to attend its recitation 'T can
see my uncle shaking now" declares
Lucia Chamberlain; 'and my aunts
shoulders heaving with stif1ed mirth.
Looking back on 1t can, OF course,
see how excruciatingly funny 1t must
have been, but then We were broken
hearted. However, my uncle received
such a reprimand from his wife that
he never dared even to smile again
at any of our ventures"
THE Coast OF Chance" is the second
novel that has come from the pen of
these writer's With no intention of
ever publishing anything they might
write in collaboration. they were In
duced to do SO! by Bliss Carman, who.
perceiving the pure merit of the work
which happened to come under his eye.
The San Francisco call., 1909-07-04
-N7SS JUezA @NAN7EBzAzW /.

lacking. cressy takes Flora TO the
Chinese quarter one afternoon and buys
her a magnificent sapphire at a little
goldsmith's shop, and afterward she
finds 1t to be part OF the Crew Idol.
Her terror and efforts to retain 1t in
her possession, SO that neither Harry
nor Kerr. to whom she Is strongly at
tracted, though uncertain how to re-
gard him, can be suspected, and the
complications which follow to the final
clearing up of the plot are uniquely
sketched, while originality and fresh
resource fill the pages, which increase
in interest with every line. The con-
hicting struggles in the minds of the
different persons involved are so
cleverly and ingeniously worked out,
the finale so satisfactorily unraveled
and the dialogue so subtle and rich in
discernment as to evoke the warmest
admiration. The denouement is en-
tirely unsupported, and the handling
of the dissimilar characters reveals
some OF the cleverest and keenest work
that has appeared.
AS regards the style of the writers,
comparison with Henry James is in
evitabie. The same subtle analysis of
characters, the same probing of pos
sible motives. the same dissection of
action, gesture, speech, is noted; but
all this is carried out IN q way that
brings keen satisfaction. An entire
absence of triteness or of stereotyped
The San Francisco call., 1909-07-04
HER PZAI.ROVREo

phrases is noticeable In the book; the
mind takes in the. felicity OF the
phraseology with q sense of delight; It
is a familiar plot In q new setting;
with fresh light cast upon It, and a
new maze of conjecture in which to
lose ones self A review of the novel
from the Sydney Bulletin shows how
the book was received in Australia:
I'm The Coast of Chance by Esther
and Lucia Chamberlain, we come to the
end of the quest for the real American
novel This is delicate, subtle thing,
a strange gem exquisitely wrought,
the paradox of a detective story con-
cerned rather with character analysis
than with incident. Yet 1t is supreme
ly exciting. But in the method of the
story there Is real cleverness, and in
the character studies we meet real
people subtly and intimately drawn.
The style is lucid and exact, the man
ner delicately Influenced by the liter
ary craft of the inevitable Henry
James. The book rs so admirably
written, without an ounce of padding,
the characters are so alive and real.
hinted at with apt phrase rather than
described, that the finding of this femi-
nine, subtle thing is san unexpected
discovery among the raucous horde of
the best sellers"
An interview granted by Miss Cham
berlain to the writer lessened the Diff
ficulty OF perceiving how a young girl
The San Francisco call., 1909-07-04

advised them strongly to place their
first ventures. The Century and Scrib-
ner's took them willingly. These were
followed by a number Of short stories,
all OF which found ready market
with Ainslee's, The COSMOPOLITAN.
Everybody's. Scribner's and the Cen
tury, and then came the first book,
Mrs. Essington," which was remark
ably well received. It's success was
marked all through the southern and
eastern states, though, strangely
enough, there was but little demand
for 1t in California The reception OF
Mrs. Essington" caused the production
of ''The Coast of Chance" considered
by many readers the best Of the three
books thus far issued. The death Of
Esther Chamberlain occurred last year
Miss Lucia Chamberlain has since pro-
duced a book entitled The Other Side
of the Door"
Miss Chamberlain's description of
the manner OF collaboration Is in
teresting. My sister would assume
one character" she says, and 1 an
other. Whichever conceived a good
character was given the right to act
his part; though occasionally sugges-
tions would come from the other side.
In this way we kept the persons In
the book well apart, and the danger
of monotony, nearly always present
in one brain. was averted."
Miss Chamberlains home is one Of
the prettiest spots in San Francisco, on
the very crest of Russian hill, over
looking the bay. Just below the house
the cliff drops sharply away, leaving
an unobStructed view OF the islanded
waters sweeping out toward the. ocean.
All San Franciscans know this glor-
ious prospect and love it. But 1t is not
in the house. however suited to her
work, that Miss Chamberlain spends
her writing hours. A little farther
down the path appears a tangle of ivy
running riot over walls and slopfng
roof; and peering over low half door
one discovers the writer's retreat 1t
is a large square room, looking upon
the same splendid vista, and il is known
to Miss Chamberlain's friends as the
playhouse" for it was her playhouse
as a child, and now that she has grown
up, evidences of it's former use are
still visible. Around the board walls
is a frieze Of bright colored paper pic
lures depicting the adventures OF the
queen in the garden, Little Jack Horner
and others of the fairy book land. On
The San Francisco call., 1909-07-04
.oM@g EsENaS G1ANREezA1T

the small table in the midst OF papers.
ink and scribbled sheets OF manuscript.
sit, stand or recline few toys favored
by children and grOwnups alike.
There Is Marcelline, the clown. who
stands upright on his white ladder
without the aid OF sustaining hand, IL
you can get him adjusted TO a nicety
OF balance that makes you shudder to
think Of; Frederic Of the red mill climbs
gayly UP his red tower IL you place the
proper weight on his budding aspira-
ttons in the shape OF a tin bell helmet
shaped. which fits his tin head exactly;
Romeo. the flannel elephant. stands
with all four feet hunched together on
the top of a small and very uncertain
barrel. and Joey can make a bow un-
rfvaled for grace and ease IL you work
with him long and patiently enough.
All these were presented to the writer
by Miss Chamberlain. and appreciated
to the full. In one OF the pictures
Miss Chamberlain is seen coaxinx the
wooden images like refractory children
to do their best.
The habit which the Chamberlain
sisters formed in childhood OF collab-
oration in their work made itself felt
IN later years IN an unconscious growth
into each others ways. Collaboration,
1t Is well Known. Is extremely dificult
as rule, because OF the inability OF
one to conform to the others point OF
view; but these two seem to have ac-
complished this to a surprisingly har-
monious extent. For instance. in The
Coast OF Chance" one sentence might
have been written by one sister. a
second by the other; there are instances
where Miss Chamberlain declares she
can tell half q sentence was hers
though the other half was finished by
her sister Every word IN the book
can be placed by Miss Chamberlain.
who declares that IL would be hard to
believe that such combination work
could be done without obvious signs
Of cleavage.
But this is just what has been done.
There are no perceptibIe changes OF
style or breaks IN the continuity OF
thought Had the book been the work
OF single hand instead Of two. the
story could hardly have flowed more
smoothly. The book has been dram
atized and will be produced in WASH
ington on October 16 OF this year.
Miss Chamberlain has made trips to
the east. returning each time with a
definite feeling that mere lies the ma
teria1 she can use. The Coast OF
Chanee" Is the first novel attempting
to picture San Francisco society life
as It seems TO her. should her next
work deal with the same subject. one
can but hope that all the 1ne and vfrile
qualities displayed in The Coast ~
Chance" may be reproduced in a work
which shall probe even deeper into the
social depths to place before the world
a novel OF San Francisco life which
shall picture the city in an i'm vttaI
aspects Henry James could have iona
it. 1t is not impossible that Miss Cham
beriain can.
The San Francisco call., 1909-07-04

far absolutely no clew to the thief
The second chapter introduces the
most interesting and sharply drawn
character in the book-Kerr, an Eng.
Ishman whom Flora meets at an exhi-
bition of pictures given at the Bo-
hemian club. This Is the description
Of the extraordinary Englishman:
1T gave her a start. that toss of
black hair; that long. irregular, pale
face whose scintillant, sardonic smile
was mercilessly upon the poor, made
quate picture face confronting him.
His stoop above the rail was so abrupt
that his long, lean back was almost
horizontal; yet, even thus, there was
something elegant in the swing of him
in the careless twist of his head
around to speak to the woman behind
him. The light above struck blind
on the glass in one eye, but the other
danced with a genial, mad scintilla-
ton The light Of 1t caught like con-
tagion and touched the merest glancer
at him with the spark of its warm,
ironic mirth."
Another passage shows the vivid fan
tasy of the authors imagination:
yet all the way down the great
white stair, the corridors Of time
where the white owl glared his wisdom
on the passings and counter passings,
she was haunted with the thought that
Harry ndQ seen the EXTRAORDINARY Kerr
before; not shaken hands with him,
perhaps-perhaps not even heard his
name; but somewhere, across some dis
tance. had once glimpsed him and had
never quite shaken the memory from
his mind. For there was something
marked, notable. unforgetable in that
lean distinctiveness. Against the sleek
form of the men they met and shook
hands with, he flashed out-seemed in
contrast fairly electric. She saw him
just ahead of her where the crowd
was thickening in the door of the sup
per room. making way for Clara
through the press with that exasperat-
ing solicitude of his that was half
ironic. And the large broadside offered
by her elegant Harry, matter Of factly
towing Ella by the elbow. herself con-
scious of a curl or two awry. and
Judge Butler tramping heavily at her
side, all took on to her the aspect of
a well chosen peep show with the sa-
tanic Kerr oficiating as Snowman
Even the smooth and pallid Clara, who
usually coerced by sheer correctness,
failed TO dominate this fantastic image;
rather she took on, as she was handed
into the supper room, the aspect of his
chief exhibit"
The ring has been shipped from Eng
land with the belongings of the Ameri-
can girl by mistake. and the wires are
kept hot about 1t, until its mysterious
disappearance is made known Talk in
San Francisco concerning the theft
turns on the conceded fact that it must
have been a professional thief to have
made of with the ring so cIeverly, but
as none but those who were well known
socially had been admitted to the pri-
vate view, subject for accusation is
The San Francisco call., 1909-07-04
BY Lucy Baker Jerome

THE COAST OF CHANCE" q
novel OF San Francisco life
by two San Francisco girls
Esther and Lucia Chamber
lain. whose serial publication begins in
The Sunday Call, is an unusual book.
This is true not alone for being one
OF the rare novels which deal with
the social life Of the free city OF the
west, or for its delicate faying Of the
foibles Of the social nature, or for its
delightful charm and felicity OF ex-
preston. but for the fact that the au-
thors have chosen TO depict a phase
OF san Francisco life seldom recog-
nized. This phase is the ease with
which the casual visitor TO our shores
IS enabled, often without credentials
or other passports than that which he
may present in the form OF a pleasing
personality. or the possession Of sur
face good breeding. to enter the inner
most circles Of san Francisco society
and maintain his footing there with
out fear OF a too close inquiry into
his previous record
The Coast Of Chance" deals with
the entrance Of just such character
into san Francisco society circles. and
at the time the story opens this char
acter, Harry Cressy, has been made
welcome at the homes OF the city's
maids and matrons. and has become
engaged 10 a charming young society
girl, Flora Gilsey, herself so new TO
the life OF San Francisco that when
she meets Cressy she regards him as
practically an old resident, while
knowing no more OF his previous life
than the few items which he chooses
20 tell her.
The plot Of the book turns upon
the theft OF a famous jewel, known
as the Crew Idol. the possession OF
the elder brother Of an Englishman
who had married a pretty American
girl belonging to these same San
Francisco circles. and taken her
abroad. where she had died. Her per-
sonal belongings are returned to San
Francisco and placed under the ham,
mer at an auction sale. The day be-
fore the sale takes place private
view Is heS in the maple room OF the
old Palaer hotel. '@hen, TO the surprise
and hor,Se Of every one present. the
famous chatworth ring disappears
from under the very eyes Of the be-
holders. who are almost ready to
swear that they saw It in its case not
FIVE minutes before its disappearance
was noted. Detectives are called and
intense excitement ensues. The visit
OTIS. all of them well known to each
other, are carefully searched. but not
a trace OF the ring is found. Cressy
Is the center Of the hubbub, his clean,
vigorous personality and his keen
brain making him an effectual and
valuable aid. but after discussing the
mystery at the club he hurries to his
fancee's home, where he is to dine.
He finds Flora and her chaperon,
Clara Britton. fun OF curiosity and
wonder at the news which they have
heard, and he tells them all he knows.
ending with the fact that there is so