davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1909-05-22
MY DAY OF BAD LUCK
ETHYL O'REILLY.
1921 First Avenue, Sunset. San Fran
cisco. A Eighth Grade, Cr0cker
Grammar school Age Is Years

One morning [ awoke feeling very
tired, much more SO than usual, and my
mother called me to get up at half
past o'clock. / felt very angry.
When / was going down to break
fast, feeling very cross. I stumbled
and fell over our dog, and this made
me feel worse.
/ had put on a clean dress that
morning. and when drinking my coffee
1 spilled it all over my dress. I had
to go upstairs and change it.
I left the house and had to run all
the way to school. for fear of being
late. l just got there in time. and
when I got in the room we started the
day by an examination in history,
which 1 did not know a thing about,
and of course got very low per cent.
After recess the teacher told me to
fill a vase with water. and just as /
got to her desk with it ] tripped and
spilled it, some going on her desk and
some on the floor. This made her very
cross and she scolded me for quite q
while. On my way home from school
I was crossing the street and boy
on a bicycle bumped into me and hurt
my leg.
On arriving home I was so tired
from my days experiences that | went
to bed without any dinner
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1909-05-22
MY EXCITING EXPERIENCE
STELLA LA BERGE.
81 Cock Street, San Francisco.
Seventh Grade, Richmond Gram
mnr School. Age IA Years

One bright and sunny morning,
while the dew still lay on the grass
and flowers, my brother. cousin and
started for school, two and half miles
from the ranch.
AS we turned a curve we came face
TO face with mad steers from the
slaughter house. We made wild
break and ran for the wire bridge that
swings across the river. We were held
20 minutes before help came. We
made our way to school. but were late.
After school we started hOmeward,
gay as ever, until we came to bridge
Is. We saw no trains approaching.
so we started to cross. No sooner had
we started than We heard the train.
As we ran I fell between the planks
and hung about 25 feet from the rocky
river bed below. / was rescued.
Crossing bridge IL M hat fell in
the water. A farmland from a nearby
farnf fetched 1t. We then proceeded.
walking the rails. peacefully. Turning
a curve we faced a locomotive. We
were scared breathless- Somehow we
got out of the way without accident.
This was the day everything went
wrong.
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1909-05-22
THE RESULT OF SLEEPING
TOO LATE
MARION r. ARCHER.
30Ja Merritt Street. San Francisco.
Everett Grammar school. B sixth
Grade. Age IL Years

Tie day when everything went
wrong was one day last year. 1t is
day I'll not forget for a good while
This is how il happened / was out
with some friends the night before
and got up later than usual l was in
such a hurry I half brushed my hair.
left one shoe unlaced and left half my
breakfast
In fixing my lunch>I forget to fasten
the bottom of my lunch box. When
] started to school ] ran two or three
blocks and two sandwiches had fallen
out OF my lunch box. / had a few min
utes left so ] laced my shoe and just
as ] finished ] met a girl who told me
10 hurry or l would be late. So /
started to run.
! had not ran more than a block
when I met another girl acquaintance.
who said: Marion. look at your dress
look, You're losing your luncht"
looked at my dress and ii was all
smeared with jam, molasses, cake. etc.
] looked behind and saw my lunch
lying in the street.
] went without my lunch that day
and when l got home-I guess you
know the rest
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1909-05-22

a lady" Just the story acted
In number work, how they do love
to play conductor. collect fares from
two people. then two more and then
three more. That makes seven fares
altogether.
Ring your bell, conductor. two pas
sengers want to get off, Now there
are only five passengers left, and so on
In spelling there are so many words
sounded but not spelled alike. A very
amusing. and to the layman perhaps
1udicrous. picture is presented when
little Mary, whose face has been made
pale with white creAai. comes into
the room carrying a pail of water
The children will not soon forget the
correct placing of these two words
after having seen them acted"
And. lastly, we have the acting or
motion song and the little poem with
gesture No first or second grade child
should be deprived of the privilege of
acting the beautiful little songs which
are given TO him, or the dainty poems
with which most first and second grade
teachers are supplied. The clumsiest
tot will dance, awkward1y at first. no
doubt, to the catchy tune of one of
these attractive songs
And when we come to think about
the subject our whole life is lust one
continual succession of plays. Little
or big, great or small. rich or poor.
they will act the parts assigned to
them. some indifferently others with
intense interest Why not, then. allow
the children to give visible expression
to their Joys and sorrows. their sums
and their stories?
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1909-05-22
AWARDED A WATCH
THE COUNTY FAIR
LOUISE TIsSsIN
Is North Main street. Napa. Central
school, Low Eighth- Age II ears

FrAAAR.fA1
when I lived on . farm IN the noun
tains my uncle, Mr. short. his son sam
and concluded to visit the county fair.
Of which rye had so FAR only heard peO-
PIE talk.
TO the nearest village we took the
stage. which was already occupied by
band Of musicians
The coach was crowded. and when
l8r short who weighed 200 pounds,
tried to stand up be stumbled back
ward into the big bass drum lying on
what a time they did have getting
At the village a friend took US to
fhe train. None Of Us had ever ridden
in one before.
At the first station Sam got out To
take a close look At the engine and
of ii went without him.
At the next station 1 wanted TO see
IL he had hitched on behind and was
also left.
third station
All had sense enough TO walk back
IN the track to the village
We met at our friends house. took
the stage home and had had enough OF
lie fair. although we had seen nothing
Of Il.
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1909-05-22
AWARDED A WATCH
BLUE MONDAY
RosE McGLYNN.

hO@E -tcoA 49,
re steiner street. Lincoln Evening
school. seventh Grade. Ie Years
II was Monday. The day after I re-
turned from my vacation. ! intended
10 come home Saturday TO get ready
Tor Monday but my friends induced me
10 stay until the last possible train
sunday
was due at the office at $50 o'clock.
Mother called me At 7.3o. was so
sleepy. / thought ] would turn over
for another minute.
When called again it was $ o'clock.
Maybe j didn't jump into my clothes,
but during the night, they had con-
snired against me. Turned and twisted
wrong side out or wrong side before.
AIy eolla1 wouldn't button. and three
buttons rolled away. Finally ] had
fastened ii witt a pin which stuck
into my neck all day
TIE coffee seal3ed my throat and in
sn evil moment ] tried 10 cut soft
boiled etFe.
rushed out, grabbing my lunch.
fell down. missed my car.
Vixen I opened my lunch j found
that I had grabbed a box of soap in
xread. ! Hcnt TO a candy store for
lunch. when ] paid my check l could
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1909-05-22

as it was late. Mamma says that
every morning, so / stretched. turned
over. but finally got up and looked at
the clock. Goodness, sos,
When I started to dress 1 could not
find my buttonhook. so had to find a
hairpin; it just seemed as though l
could not get my shoes buttoned.
When | started to dress the button
came off my dress. AS mamma will not
let me go to school untidy. of course |
had to sit down and sew the button
on. The needle instead of going
through the button stuck my fingers.
Finally was dressed and ready to eat,
but when drinking my coffee, oh, what
funny taste. ] had used salt instead of
sugar to sweeten my coffee. | had not
time to get more coffee, so made rush
for school. Mamma called me back
and said, ..Girlie, rest a little; you have
plenty of time. l set the, clock half
an hour fast to see if my girl would
not hurry for school
Just think of all the trouble I had
because the clock was too fast, Aft
err this l viii get up early and things
will not go wrong
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1909-05-22
AWARDED A WATCH
WHEN DOROTHY DEFIED
SUPERSTITION
HAZEL DOWNING
san Mateo. Age I3 Years


san Mateo. Age I3 Years
Il don't believe this is unlucky, said
Dorothy as she hoped out OF the
,,-rong side of her bed and hurried 10
1ress herself Mary. the servant en-
tered the room and said, hurry up,
Dorothy. your mother is III. SO VIII
comb your hair.
Dorothg's curls seemed unus ally
.anglv and Mary very cross. Soo1 me
little girl was ready for school 4 hef
hair tied with a new ribbon. anoS she
wore new pinafore-
Dorothy WAS a great distance stoin
ae school when she heard the ftion
'hcn ring In order to get 10 staool
quickly she ran through the w1oas
5ut lost her ribbon and tore her fina
Fore. She reached the school iateS ana
was sent h. write her name unqe the
isf of -lates" on the disgrace hefrd-
Tn arithmetic she didn' heaf this eN-
ample and so was marked zero ! she
alissed in spelling and found h.fselt
nearer the foot than ever beforet Az
loontfme she discovered that shea had
eft nor lunch at home In reading she
was SO nervous that she was to-si 10
'sif down.
Dorothy was ia tears as she gath
Erred up her books and ried org her
sin bonnet Good night. Dorc&hy,
III Miss Brown. i believe Yot5 got
1iit on tho wrong side of the bed anc
Dorothy answered. Yes.
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1909-05-22
WHAT THE FOG HAD TO Do
WITH 1T
CHARLOTTE CHAMBERLIN,
Petaiuma, r. +. ID. No. 3. Payran
school, Eighth Grade. Age Ia

1t was a very foggy morning in No
MEMBER, when 1 awoke feeling very
cross. / went out in the Kitchen,
where my mother was cooking break
fast. She gave me large platter Of
ham and eggs and told me to set them
on the table I started off, but did not
reach the table, for my foot slipped
and I fell. breaking the platter and
splitting the ham and eggs all over
the floor. I was picked up and given
good shaking.
About 8 80 ] started for school. When
half way there the wind began TO blow
violently and large drops OF ram We're
falling. l raised my umbrella, put
alas. a gust of wind blew it inside
out. I reached school that morning
covered with mud and dripping wet.
In school I wrote note 10 my
chum, but just as / was sending IL
across the aisle the teacher saw me
and l was kept an hour after schooI:
This ended my day of troubles, TOT
everything went along smoothly after
that.
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1909-05-22
TRIALS AND TROUBLES OF
A PHOTOGRAPHERS
HAROLD LOBREE.
1859 Ellis street. San FrsnciseO. II
Years Old


First, nothing would do but that |
should have a camera and outfit L
lived in great expectation while saw
ing up for 1T. saw myself taking vaca-
up, woke to the fact that 1 would
first have TO learn how to take time
exposures. How 1 followed every d.
rection, First on one film took MOTH
ing but time pictures, on anotnsr
all were snap shots"
After taking the pictures danced
jig and turned somerSauIt at the
thought of developing the mega
tives,' as I was proud to call them I
that book
room" developer. fixing bath. and then.
everything being ready-ah, now l
hoped for Just one picture to show my
friendsl Bit by bit / unrolled the MIN
and passed it through the developer
After a while ii began to darken In
places, but as yet I could see no imags.
I left it in longer and. while felt sure
that il was fully developed, could
appointed I was, Next I digested the
directions again and discovered-tnaI
had failed to open the time eaten
Upon being DEVELOPED the oenS nra nasl.
liking i hung 1t cut to dry on tne
clothesline. When I returned ros al, ~;
I discovered that four of the INNS m
were badly scratched. owing TO tne
wind having blown them violently
around, thereby causing the films 20
stick. Well. I would have 20 Wy
again l purchased another aim. de-
veloped. fixed and dried il, preparatory
to trying hand at printing NJ,
That evening tried printing ~
paper was not placed sensitive .i sIas
out in the printing frame, exposures
were judged incorrectly and prints
were stained | had finished a real
triumph when it accidentally fell into
the developer and turned as black as
a hat My how disappointed waS-
had a number of good prints, at least.
and these 1 placed face down on =
piece OF glass, which i put on the
railing in the sun. The wind blew the
glass of and it fell two stories below.
breaking into small pieces The prints
were destroyed. and was so angry
that / vowed that / would never bother
with photography again
The next sunday found an ne develop develop
ing and printing again. itn p9uenes
mastered the art, and snoW i have
purchased a larger and smuch better
camera and am prepareds 70 90 some
a Sacramento.
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1909-05-22

up bright and early the morning of the
picnic. When the time came to go we
were all very happy.
We got on the car and began TO talk
and laugh and have a good time. We
and when we got off the car we forgot
TO take our lunch with u.s. We did not
discover this until some time after.
We were all very sad TO think we We're
hind us.
We walked through the park until
we came to a hill and we rolled down
this hin for quite a while. We were
ready to go home and the girl who had
our car fare discovered that she had
lost it. We looked all around, but
met some friends, who gave us sufi
cient money to take US home We
thanked them very much and came
home very d0wnhearted after an un-
lucky day.
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1909-05-22
AWARDED A WATCH
A DAY OF DISASTER
CHESTER PULLAN.
Belmont. Fourth Grade. IL Years

One morning 1 got up cross, broke
my shoe lace, wasn't hungry
Mother said: Chester get Jim out of
the pasture and we Will go for drive.
caught jim; had to bring HIM
across the street saw baby lark and
stopped TO watch it. Jim ran away, of
course.
Then ! had TO tell mother and she
came TO lrelp me catch him. that took
US TWO hours. When I've got home the
FIRE was ont, the cake mother left in
the oven all spoiled Our COW found
forgot 10 lock the barn and she had
been busy. Mother said: Never mind,
fix up the barn and clean the horse
trough.
caught my goldfish. put them in a
bucket. got the trough ready 10 fill.
started the water and there. the cat
had one Of my fish. l grabbed a rock
and let fly at her and bit our best roos-
ter: forgot about the water but the
meter didn't forget. Then | went TO
play catch and the dog took my ball
and chewed il up.
Mother said Come feed the turkeys
some curds" / went and fed all the
curds 10 the chickens. That was enough
fer mother: she wears slippers and
YOU can guess what happened to me
next
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1909-05-22
ILL LUCK FROM DAYLIGHT
TO DARK
DOROTHEA LANGGUTH, !.
3O4 Second Avenue, San Francisco,
Richmond School. Ii Seventh
Grade. II Years Old

Talk about days when everything
goes wrong; Just the other day | woke
up TO find it half past o'clock, when
thought 1t still quite early. OF course
hurry and get up was the first sound
l heard, and as | was hurrying l got
my stockings on on the wrong side.
Nevertheless, 1 buttoned my shoe and
at about half past 8 o'clock my mother
discovered the stocking. Well, changed
1t had to be and so | was late to school.
am always poor in arithmetic, but
that morning I didn't get one example
correct On the way home from school,
| dragged my bag of books after me,
and when l picked it up found it all
torn. Instead of playing that after
noon, l had to make another bag and
what time l had with it. After sup
fshed washing them when in drying
them dropped two plates. AS / tried
to stop them from breaking l dropped
A knife and cut my finger. AS soon as
I finished l hurried to bed to end my
unlucky day
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1909-05-22
A CHAPTER OF ACCIDENTS
EDITH A. DE BRETT&VALLE
1741 Walnut Street Berkeley. Frankhn

A few weeks ago 1 wept on WISH
TO my cousins in San Fran Isco- IN the
morning we had lots of fur. We acted
on the acting bar Mamma. was AFRAID
we would fall and wante's 10 stop Us:
Nv auntie would not let *r- she sald
that mamma played like tl4at when she
was a little girl
Pretty soon everything went Wrons
While sliding down the hF1 on steo
i tore a hole in my besr stockings
i thought mamma would sold. but she
didn't Then my little th9ee year old
cousin while running down the Mil
with us. bruised two of her fingers
Mamma washed them. put some salve
on them and made them feel better 1
lost one of my jacks in 3 deep we'll
ON nv way going home 1 suddenly
missed one % my best handkerchiefs.
which / must have lost GOing of the
streetcar Soon we were home, and
although everything went wrong that
day 1 enjoyed myself very much.
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1909-05-22
ADVENTURES OF BILL AND
JINkS
RAY HINES.
II. r. ID. No. / Box $50. FruitxaIc. w.
p. Prick school, Fifth Grade


MitchelFs canyon is between Mount
Diablo and few small hills. and many
people go there camping each year. 1t
is very pretty spot but many people
do not go there the second time, be-
cause OF the poison oak, which grows
very thick, and if one is not poison
oak proof it is very uncomfortable to
have it growing in ones tent door,
almost.
Last year we went there and it was
then l had my unlucky day. We We're
out shooting with my % rife and a
blue jay screamed out right in front
of me in a tree. In my haste to get
good shot at him | slipped on a wet
stone in the stream and as I fell my
rifle hit rock and bent the front sight.
Then going back to camp l had hole
in my pocket and lost about 80 car
tridges. When ] got in camp Bill and
links fell into the creek and I had to
wipe them off. In my haste to do it,
/ took my only clean shirt and got it
all dirty. Bill and Jinks were two kit
tens of Molly, our cat, and she took
them in a rabbit hole, but too many
admirers annoyed her. so she took them
in some poison oak where we could not
get them.
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1909-05-22


primary work, especially in the
first and second grades, are en-
ploying a child's time profitably
during the. busy work period and
arousing his interest to such an extent
that he will talk spontaneously; that
he will give you his ideas voluntarily,
and not simply answer with one word,
or by a gesture, questions put by the
teacher. In most cases there is a nat
ural reticence on the part of children
to express themselves freely, and any
device which will correct this is a
great factor in improving the very bad
forms of speech common in great
city.
Now. regarding the busy work prob
lem, much has been said; but where
a teacher has a large class of first
grade pupils she has one, two, and in
most cases three, four and five divi-
sions in her class to work with 1t is
very evident that much time during
which the pupils are working alone
must be employed by the use of word
cards, rata. board drawing, ETC.,
which are all excellent, instructive and
useful methods of diversion for the
little people; but there is yet another
young mind but is of inestimable
value. and that is the employment Of
the student teacher In every class
there is always one child who, al
though perhaps not advanced in all
studies, will be particularly efficient
and beyond the section in arithmetic
or in reading. That child, after being
examined by the teacher, is given a
small section of the class, something
in this fashion: Lester, you know your
numbers so well that you may be
teacher Take Maria, Theresa, Harold.
etc, into the lunchroom and teach
them the numbers lf they fail in one
have them say it 20 times. James. you
may go with Lester and while he is
pointing you watch the boys and girls
and see il they are making any mis-
takes Lester and James will do their
work faithfully; in fact. with much
more vim than the overworked teacher
could possibly give, because the
honor of being teacher and the de-
sire to please sharpen their little
ears. so that not a single oversight is
permitted.
The following is very common oc-
currence in the work. Lester will
come to the teacher and say, Miss
-, please may I keep Harold in at
recess He doesn't know anything If
you let me take him alone Ill see that
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1909-05-22

toast and I burned it. After the toast
was done we sat down to breakfast
When / opened my eggs some little
chicks jumped out on the table. When
breakfast was over / played aWnlle.
Looking at the clock saw il was $50.
so | played a while longer before go
ing to school When I reached the
schoOlhouse the children were coming
home to lunch. so / guess our clock
had stopped
My aunt promised to take me to the
nfckelodeon. SO when We got there
found ii had been burned down IN the
morning
Just before bedtime I got stomach
ache. My father went for the Hniment
but as it was dark he got hold OF the
mucilage instead and / was an awful
sight, and felt so sticky that l forgot
all about my pain
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1909-05-22
A RUDE WAVE AND AN UN-
RULY MILK CAN
GERTRUDE KENNEDY.
416 Duncan Street. San Francisco. L:
Years Old

Talk about everything going wrong,
we'll. this subject just comes in handy
for me at this particular time to write
about
One day about a month ago 1 was
invited to- go to the beach with some
friends of mine. We started about
o'clock so as to have a long day of it.
When we were on our way there on
the car. / had the can of milk. To
my great surprise, it was upside down,
with the milk streaming down my skirt
You bet I had trouble then to wipe 1t
off so the others would not know OF IT.
Luckily, / was sitting on the dummy
with one of the girls, who kept it 10
herself. They had no milk that day
AS was walking along the beach a
big wave came along and knocked me
down, wetting all my clothes, so 1T
was necessary for me to gather my be-
1ongings and go up to Sutro's and get
them dried and then go home That $
trouble for you.
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1909-05-22
DEFEAT
BESSIE BRYANT.
BESSIE BRYANT.
1902 High Street. FrvsftvaTe school
FruitvaIe No. g. Grade Seventh n

AOV< High street. Fruttvafe. school
Fruityale No. 3. Grade Seventh b
The last baseball game of the season
was to be played on the ed Just
think. three whole days to wait The
Glenwoods must win this game or they
would lose the big cup.
At last the morning of the eventfuI
day arrived and Mabel thought that ?
O'Clock never would come 1t was so
long 90 wait that she decided to walk
over to ST. Johns, a suburb OF Glen
wood. and see IL Ethel was going.
Mabel hurried and soon reached the
house. but Ethel had gone and it was
nearly o'clock She hurried back and
just missed the boat across the river
She was nearly frantic, as she would
be late to the game
About 10 minutes later an old man
came by in boat and took her in
everything was going well. when thew
ran into rock Mabel fell into the
water, but swan to the rock and an
other boat came along and took her
game.
When Ethel came over that evening,
she told Mabel that one OF the Glen
wood boys had been badly hurt and
one OF the teachers had been hit with
defeated.
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1909-05-22

to the chicken coop and found my pet
chicken dead; then I found that my
dog had a sticker in his eye, and nad
a hard time getting it out: then when
we were playing skinny" the stick
slipped and hit me on the knee ana
that broke up the game.
Nv mother sent me on an errand
to the grocery store and the money she
gave me slipped out of my hand and
fell down crack in the board side
walk and | could not find it.
l was making doll dress. and had
lust finished q pretty one, but l found
that it did not fit my doll So this is
the day that everything seems 70 go
wrong with me. / hope my bad luck
over