davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1910-08-28

Perhaps one-sided platonic friend
ship is back Of more bachelor and
spinsterhoods than any one dares dream
Of.
The trouble lies, 1 think. in the fact
that women have not yet reached the
point where they know. instead OF
merely saying, that they are human
beings before they are women: and
that men themselves will not realize
or recognize il. The proof of this Is
that so many real friendships between
men and women break UP when one
or the other marries. Always there
is one OF the triangle. who reads into
its form that which is not there.
And another rock of disaster is the
gossiping of acquaintances. John
and Mary have gone together so long,
! wonder why they're not engaged?'
And the iFsidious poison is poured
into the porches OF Johns and Mary's
ears. As a natural result. either they
oreak away In disgust, or in one or
both-toO often in only One-thOughtg
that had not before entered begin to
creep
The greatest tragedy of all is when
what one knows to be -platonic
friendship, the other-usualfy the
woman-fondly believes TO be love
and eourtship; I am not speaking OF
the vulgar keeping company prac-
ticed by the uninitiated. where man
takes up all girls time without Civ
ing any recompenSe or meaning tof
mistaken plumbers. that end at last IN
woman's heart-brea&ing humilia-
ton and a mans shamed bewilder-
ment That is perhaps the greatest
danger of platonic friendship
But whether il really can exist for
very long is a question answered IN
many ways There are couples TO ten
you smilingly that certainly II CAM
and there are hundreds of lonely men
and women TO tell you that certainly
IL cannot
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1910-08-28
Triumph of Middle Age

Styles are made now for the woman IN
her prime. and both sides " 40 arc
sunny. The modern woman is the real
Peter Pan: she never grows up. she
wears the same cOlors at 80 as at Is,
and there is no one 10 say that she
SHAH not. The other day 7 was watch
Ing TWO ladies in a restaurant. both
about % or 80, with lovely white hair.
The first was one of the few surviv-
ing relics OF the almost extinct middle
aged woman. Her dress was black,
loose and rather shapeless Its only
trimming was a yoke OF Jet beads. Her
black toQue might we'll have been
a bonnet. by its shape. and a lavender
bow was apologeticalIy tucked away In
one corner of it. Her shoes were OF
the hideouS yariety-tipless and with
negligible heels.
The other woman had learned the
lesson Of prOgresSiveneSs She was
In spiek-and-span white linen-a tailor
made linen suit and a white shirtwaise
which showed only the tucked 1abOe
and the broad gold pin. Her hat. in
colored straw, with velvet foliage and
q bow In back of black velvet Over
II she wore an automobile veil of old
rose, WHICH sOftened her complexion
into delicate lines and tiats. Shoes.
gloves, bag. all were trig and neat,
and her face showed massage and her
nails manicuring. One might almost
have taken the two for mother and
1t is not necessary as this shows.
that the woman OF so or so should dress
ike a green young girl 1t is fool
fSh to rouge the soft pellOr Of the
elderly woman, TO smooth away too
anxiously the wrinkles Of life and
gayety- But neither is il necessary to
play the eat-grandmother or TO think
that the maturity o. ones children
condemns one to shabby monOtOny and
dowdy stiffness There is a charm
Ing betwixt and between, when life 10
at its best and the woman most at
tractlve, and this long and blessed
period is the years between 80 and go.
1t Is the fault OF overwork, or lack
or care, or an aciduloUs disposition,
II woman at 40 has lost her health
and her beauty She should just BE-
beginning TO find them then, IN the
gracious charm OF maturity.
And so, down with the middle-aged
woman. and all hail her successor,
the woman OF mellow fulhllment,
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1910-08-28

WorIo, ana mas sneaked under an ex-
cuse, TO show TO what extent a button
Is not button. My, but there are some
foolish women on this planet. You
certainly cannot deny that for the out
ward show and trappings the eternal
feminine has surpassed man. can you?'
Her eyes widened until the Iris gave
him a glimpse of how much gray one
little almond-shaped space can COM
pass Tell me-" she said. what you
read into or out of this little jeweled
disk"
First, insincerity. Those rhinestones
are fakes. pure and simple
But you are not supposed to be mis-
led. They are meant to be rhinestones
pure and simple. You might just as
ca silly call them imitation dewdrops as
diamonds. Well, what else?"
''Extravagance. That is sheer waste
of money. That has cost it's owner, or
its loser. dollar, suppose. when two
cents would answer the purpose
HIN, Do you happen to know It's
purpose? I have an idea that" Just
then he stopped and brought up from
the turf another button. II was a good,
common-sensible button of pearl The
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1910-08-28
What Would You Do?
~ WEN a certain situation calling
II for quick thought and action,
" what would you do?

Y
- for quick thought and action,
~ what would you do?
This was the question I put to FIVE
women yesterday, members of a club
which was lunching together in coy
little tearoom.
IF you looked up and saw flames
coming from the window of an unoccu-
pied room of that Office building oppo-
site and knew that you yourself and all
the people around you were in the great
est danger. what would you do?"
II should excuse myself quietly and
phone to the fire department" answered
the first.
II shouldn't do that" said the Sec
ond. at might cause panic when the
people in the Office building saw the en-
gines. 1 should phone instead to the
superintendent of the building and have
him get the tenants out quickly"
I'm afraid 1 shouldn't be SO cool as
all that" exclaimed the third. "I should
just jump and scream 'Firel'"
Well" remarked the fourth, "I know
I'd simply faint with fright on the spot"
And t. said the fifth, should tell
you all quietly about it and ask you
what to do"
I wonder. I know what / should do
myself. l should sit there without wor-
rying and wait for the firemen to get
both me and the people opposite
know that buildings of that sort now
adays are always 1reproof.
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1910-08-28
The Storing Mania

TTYHY, oh, why will women keep
Nv for years impossible things,
Wv that no one will ever want and
that do nothing but accumulate dust and
microbes, for the sheer JOY of keeping
them?
Old magazines and newspapers, brio
a-brac. deservedly obsolete "orna-
ments." clothes and parts Of clothes
they all lie together in some obscure
storeroom or closet or box, with no pur-
pose in life except TO make still heavier
the twice-yearly housekeeping.
One wonders sometimes if the owners
are simply too stingy to give away the
givable things and throw the rest into
the dust heap. But no: they are only
the victims of that procrastination that
cannot bear to do the most necessary
thing now and let's matters slide for
years and years instead.
Storerooms were made to store pos
sessions for a season; closets to hold
clothing: boxes to contain the tempo
rary and the useful. BY all means, II
YOU are one of these unfortunate slaves
to the keeping" habit, get rid of tho
trash you have been saving and start
life again with a clean record and
lightened heart.
For you will find that your relief and
freedom from care will mean really that
TO you.
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1910-08-28
PLATONIC FRIENDSHIP

CT DON'T think it's possible; but
believe in it," saiG girl re-
L Gently.
nutshell. We none of us, deep down
In our hearts. think that it is pos
sible. but we go on blindly believing
in 1t and practicing it.
Real platonic friendship. as Plato
taught it, is a thing very different
from what we understand by the term
today 1t is so different, so dependent
on the Greek point of view and the
platonic philosophy that it, is not ex-
plainable or understandable TO the
modern world.
What we have come to call platonic
friendship is the relation between
man and a woman, neither of whom
cares for the other, except as a deep
and intimate friend.
And 1t has. been tried. OH so many
times. Nearly always 1t comes to
disaster on one side or another. Either
one of the two falls in love, or for
some reason actual hatred and lOath-
ing take the place of the once sincere
Sometimes the friendship degener-
ates-or evolves-fnto a love affair
pure and simple. Tom and started
by. agreeing to be platonic friends.
awhile we found we were neither
friends nor platonic.''
The tragedy OF the thing is when
either the man or the woman loves with
out return Many and many a man has
gone through life fatuously believing
himself to be only the good chum of a
woman who was silently eating her
heart out for him in the old-fash
Toned Garden of Eden way. And
many an Amelia has thought her
Major Dobbin to be merely friend
and protector, while he was faithfully
and hopelessly awaiting the real
Major Dobbin's happy ending.
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1910-08-28

DOEsN'T everybody have q father7
one would thing not. by the ex-
IL elusive attention that is given to
mother
NIother-dear mother! who begrudges
her anything that is given her-praise.
service. tenderness2 Surely she has de-
served It all But something's stop for
minute and consider the humble but
necessary father.
A girl who IS unhappy IN marriage
goes back 10 her mother''-unless she
gees 10 the divorce courts. But why
doesn't anybody say she is going home
10 father-especially when. seven chances
out OF ten, she is going to be supported
by that useful being? Moreover sacri-
lege as Il may sound. q fathers tender
ness ana consideration are more to be
counted on in such a crisis than
mothers.
For often IL is the father who IS
nearest 20 the girls. the mother to tho
boys. Mother would work her fingers
of for all the children alike. but It is
when Tom wins the prize that she is
happiest; father would rather sell him
self than see one OF the children 90, but
Il IS Harriet whose sorrows he feels
most keenly.
Many and many z girl has found In
her father not only her best friend, but
her most affectionate, her most under
standing and her most sympathetic COM
panion. It is the law Of alienation, for
she again will be fondest OF her boys
and her brother OF his girls.
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1910-08-28

ing with her large roll of daintily
written manuscript Then she would re-
gale me with tales Of lovelorn lasses
and deceiying ladies till 1 wondered If
her tongue would never tire At the
finale she invariably borrowed all my
stamps and newspaper wrappers and
sent the manuscripts rolled to the dee
lighted editors She smilingly confided
to me that 1 was of great benefit to her
In her literary labors. my taste was so
excellent. my judgment so unbiased and
clear, my perception so keen and deli
cate. I did feel like a sort of Maecenas,
for my stampbox was daily ravaged.
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1910-08-28

everywhere welcome: that the old world
would be a very lonesome place without
her-quite a bleak. snowbound Alaska
without the sunshine of her smile.
She makes you feel that she is con-
ferring a great favor on you by borrow
ing. She says sweetly:
Really, you are the only lady In this
neighborhood from whom would ask
loan. 1 wouldn't dream of borrowing
from Mrs. Leahy"
And Mrs. Borrow is Just departed. has
scarcely shaken off the dust of her heels
upon your spotless kitchen. when Mrs.
Leahy drops in and remarks:
Has Mrs. Borrow got the lend Of
your nutcrackers? Well. 1 hope you
will live to see their return, and you'll
beat Methuselah. She's had my scissors
for an age, and evidently she used the
shears on her memory, and cut ii off
shamefully short, for she has my nut
meg crater also and that is on the list
of forgotten things.
Miss Debuttin lived near me, and she
came to my house and lovingly invited
me to her birthday party. I accepted
with alacrity. Then she borrowed from
me eggs, butter, sugar. vanilla. -four,
etc. and all my pie and cake pans, and
asked me If couldn't kill few of my
chickens for her.
Miss Visitant ran into my humble par
Tor, much fiurried and slightly dishev-
eled. She had been invited to take
tallyho ride into the country, and the
horrid mice had got at her hat and
opened all the rosebuds. She didn't
like to go out showing the stuff whereof
flowers are made, so wouldn't l lend
her my millinery just for that day? No
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1910-08-28

do at Harriet's wedding. And it is
father. gray-haired now, who carries
around the first grandbaby's photograph,
who buys impossible toys and talks
fatuous nonsense 10 the men at the Of
fee about these wonderful children of
his little boy and girl.
For why Is II always going home to
grandma's"2 Grandpa is likely 10 be at
the gate fully as soon and to greet the
children quite as enthusiastically. Be
sides, he has spent the morning killing
the fatted calf-or chicken-and Smelling
peas for dinner with quite as keen an
acipations as grandma herself has ex-
per1enced.
Men may pretend TO be cynical ano
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1910-08-28
Our Prescription

YOUR mind dl experiencing difficulty settling down
to lines of work that be done spite OF the summer non
spirit Well, let prescribe rlio1
take good chair To this add the entire before
linen
The warranted 10 cure anu
Is beneficial to those who need relief mental exercise
profitable collection before The mddeged
along her siver and there's tor athe eS
heart Then friendships hearing,
lg from of Paris hat is held IN its unaracVe
little
causes SMILE while Barbara Lee speaks of the great DIVIDE between
modesty lack of she calls it by another
We successful don't Think VI
do
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1910-08-28

one OF any account. no one who knew
me. would see her in the country, and
I would have my hat promptly on her
return A week later, looking from my
window, saw Miss Visitant going
down our towns main street in the
drizzling rain with my hat riding her
pomp and puffs
Miss Penster roomed next me at our
hotel. and she was delightfully."- chatty
and confidential. She had real literary
talent, SO different editors had said.
whose names / could never learn. One
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1910-08-28

Mr.. Keanewitt was
especially delighted
with h er essays
and short stories.
1 had a suspicion
then, which Is a
confirmed b e IL e I
now. t h a { Mr..
Keanewitt was a
child of Miss Pen
ster's vivid mag
ination, a brother
of Sairey Camps
Mrs. Harris"
Miss Penster had
the charming habit
OF running In to
see me when / was
my busiest, carry
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1910-08-28

Father may not
be an ornamental
object; but II was
he who walked the
floor " h e n baby
was sick, who pa
tien thy played
hobby-horse 70 =
hours " b e n Tom
and Harriet were
older. who signed
reports and inter
viewed teachers a
few years later,
who N ade the
chicken speech at
Toms N a jority
dinner, and an
sWered a husky Il
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1910-08-28

the road, as her
heel ground upon a
button, glistening
beneath I h e thin
layer OF dirt. She
stopped; he looked,
and picked 1t up,
silently passing it
over TO her.
That is some
thing for which 1
feel disgust" he
said. Look at it!
A tawdry, glisten-
ing disk that has
forgotten entirely
its mission in this
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1910-08-28

- - -
XII under one arm.
II g r W ak W as
strong and 1.-THE,
y e T 5 h o uld erS
broad. her shoes
big and sensible.
Moreover, she was
pretty in an at
tractive. clean and
wholesome W a y.
But there was an
hiatus IN the row
OF pearl buttons on
the front OF her
linen shirtwaist.
They looked and
smiled.
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1910-08-28

Fly years ago a
woman was a
mother at 20. a
grandmother a I
40. At 50 or 80 she
retired 10 the
chimney corner.
donned a lace cap
over her still I'M
grayed hair, and
spent the rest or
her vacant life In
darning stockings
and knitting bed
room socks
Now she is just
beginning TO live
at 80; frequently
s he h a s n o {
thought seriously
OF marriage until
then-and she alb
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1910-08-28
BUTTONS By THE WAY

"HEf were walking In the sweet
compa nionship of years and years
OF sympathy and congenial!ty He
ana she were such great friends that
ana silence, you will remember, is the
great test of friendship
Whatever she was thinking is not our
concern The thread of her thoughts
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1910-08-28

EVE all met the
woman who Dor
rows. She is ever
with US. She i'm
AGNES t h a t she
is alw a y S and
The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1910-08-28

Fooled" he laughed, and beat his
brow in mock despair.
Not any more than usual" she re-
piled
Bluefield evening leader. [volume] (Bluefield, W. Va.) 1906-1911, 1910-07-30
Unconscious fiumor.

Mark Twain. as an example of un.
conscious humor. used to quote a Hart
ford woman who said one day In the
late spring:
MY husband is the dearest fellow.
Jim / said to him this morning,
are you very hard up just now?'
Il certainly am hard up. he replied
soberly. This high cost OF living is
terrible. ] don't know what I'm going
to do
"Then, JIM said /, I'll give UP all
thought OF going TO the country for
July and August this year
But the dear fellows face changed
and he said
Indeed, then. you won't. darling
| thought you wanted TO buy hat
with an aigret or some such foolish
ness. No. no, my darling, Jim car
always find the money to let his deal
little wife go TO the country Wash
lngton Star.
Bluefield evening leader. [volume] (Bluefield, W. Va.) 1906-1911, 1910-07-30
| Other Editors
An Endless Chain.

1t renamed for the Iowa legisla
ture at its last session to reduce the
recall theory to its extreme absurdity
in practice. A bill introduced by Sena.
tor Cosson, now assistant to the At.
torney General and Republican nomi-
nee for his chiefs successor, provides
that upon complaint OF five citizens Il
shall be the duty of the States at
torney general to place any mayor or
county official on trial for removal.
This extraordinary example of the re-
call made easy has already been in
voked against the mayors of Ottum.
wa and Kellogg, one being accused
of failure to enforce vigorously the
temperance laws and the other of hav-
ing celebrated the Fourth with enthu-
siasm. The other 500 mayors OF the
State are awaiting the inevitable since
they realize that it is only a question
OF time until they displease five citi.
zens on something, and charges will
follow promptly.
still more curious possibility is
suggested by the prediction that if the
mayor of Ottumwa would be removed
there is every indication that he would
be reelected by an even larger ma
jority After which presumably the
five DIRECTORS would hasten to file new
charges an danother recall would be
In order. Aside from this possibility
of an endless chain of election, trial
recall and reelection the disturbing
power thus placed in the hands of an
infinitesimal fraction of the voters is
so likely to be used for personal or
political purposes as to constitute. a
very grave danger.-Pittsbur Dis
patch.
Bluefield evening leader. [volume] (Bluefield, W. Va.) 1906-1911, 1910-07-30
Looking For "the Crazy Ones. "

A woman got Off a Darby car at
Thirty-fourth street and Woodland
avenue the other day. entered the uni
versity campus and started toward
College hail. walking with brisk deter
mination, yet looking wonderlngly
about her the while.
In front Of the library a university
youth met her. and she accosted him
quickly.
Young man." she SAID. "wilI you
please tell me where they keep the
crazy ouesT
"Wh-whatT' stommcrcd the college
man.
She repeated her question in some
what different form.
II want The insane department." She
said II have a friend who is q nurs,
there. ] thought I'd make her "a Itro
visit Isn't this the Philadelphia hos
pitol"-Philadelphia Times.
Bluefield evening leader. [volume] (Bluefield, W. Va.) 1906-1911, 1910-07-30

return to that policy could be had
and the first Congress under the new
apportionment be composed of 200
men instead of 400, the country would
be advantaged.
In the first place, there will be an
immediate direct saving of not less
than S2,0O0.0O0 year in the salaries
and other financial appurtenances OF
congressman, an amount almost dou.
bic the sum now being spent annually
by the people in nearly dozen eff
forts to discover why hundreds OF mil
lions of dollars are annually wasted
by Congress.
In the second place, with Congress
reduced to 200 members, there would
be just half as much time wasted as at
present i'm the consideration ofJ1innec-
essary legislation and in speech-mak-
ing having absolutely nc bearing up
ON questions before Congress, but i'm
tended solely for consumption in the
districts OF respective Congressman.
and twice as much time would be had
for the proper consideration on the
floor of Congress and before the whole
country of vital questions now hurried
through under committee rule and cost
ing the country millions and millions
of dollars annual loss.
With a reduction in the quantity of
Congressman the quality of Congress.
men would probably be EXCHANGED, to
the benefit of everybody concerned.
Bluefield evening leader. [volume] (Bluefield, W. Va.) 1906-1911, 1910-07-30
A FOOL OR AN IDIOT.

We have modified our opinion of the
big Stone Gap episode and are now
disposed TO consider the matter i'm q
somewhat different light Never in ON,
military experience can il be charged
that we have pulverized fool OF
1attened out an idiot, and the man
who took his pen in hand at Big Stone
Gap to say in the Telegraph that be.
cause the district committee of the
Ninth Virginia district is sending out
circular letters asking that the voters
he listed and correctly marked. the
transaction is questionable and infer.
ring THAT the doubtful voters are TO
be acquired by Mr.. Stuart for cash
consideration, easily drops into one
or the other of these categories. The
Roanoke Times yesterday was dispos-
ed to regard the accusation as an in
suit to the Sood people of the con.
gressional district, and il went on TO
say in somewhat extended editorial
mat minister OF the gospel fighting
In the cause of prohibition, would. if
be were up to snuff, list his voters in
order to size up the situation. We
at first entertained similar concIu.
SONS and intimated as much. but now
we are inclined to mantle the matter
with charity-if this doesn't fractur,
your imagination-and say that the
man who wrote the story is either .
fool or an idiot. operating without the
knowledge or consent of Mr.. Slemp.
We believe Mr.. Slemp is too good
politician to come out openly and
condemn thing which he unquestion-
ably is doing himself His precinct
"orkers are undoubtedly at this very
time making lists of voters and mark
ing them UP as Democrats, Republi.
cans or doubtfuls. He knows that this
is practice of long standing among
all political parties, and he certainly
would not allow mouthpiece to sound
false alarm as the man of Big
Stone Cap haa done. 1t goes to show.
however, that he has soz.e mentally de
linquent creatures inhabiting his bed.
We are disposed also TO deal leni-
emily with the Telegraph. The dope
came in labeled from Mr. Slemp's home
port, and the Telegraph let the date
line get the better of its judgment.