davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Washington herald., 1911-01-01

Claus-and find their faith justified on
Christmas morning in stuffed stockings
and laden trees. And mingled in with
that he hears the contented sighs of the
mothers and fathers who have made sac
rifices themselves in order that their
babies might be happy. And when my
husband hears that worldwide chorus OF
joy ringing straight up to heaven he
leans back and smiles and shakes glee-
fully in that part of his person which
rhymes to jelly. and says to me that.
taking everything into consideration, he
wouldn't swap places with j. Pierpont.
in addition to what he already has, had
a Rockefeller Foundation, and a Sage
dressing"
well. anyhow" I said, "your own
share of the hard work will soon be over.
won't it?''
NO" she said; 'just starting. Why.
I'll have to spend the next two weeks at
the shops trying to trade of the things
that my husband will give me for the
things l really want
From which remark / know that Mrs.
Claus was like every other woman In the
world in still another respect.
IRWIN 8. COBB.
The Washington herald., 1911-01-01

Of river just where the grade from the
hills broke. Perhaps that was the rea-
son it yielded better returns than other
ers: perhaps it was because they had diff
ferent machinery,
Would they test the claim in other
places? Certainly. Come back in an
hour, when the chain would be fixed, and
they would test anywhere. Impressed by
their direct, business-like manner. the
purchaser was on hand to the minute.
At different points he designated they
dropped the suction, gave the engine a
few revolutions, and always brought up
gold-bearing silt.
1t consumed the rest Of the day to get
the dredge back to place. SO the pur-
chaser deferred operations with the
dredge till the next morning. Under full
speed of the engine. the discharge pipe
threw golden shower ten minutes
on the dredge. The proprietor looked
blankly from one part Of the machinery
to another, while the two negro helpers
hustled about the deck, doing the right
thing the wrong way and the wrong
thing the right way. The discharge pipe
passed between two upright timbers. 10
by 10 inches. one foot apart, and the space
had been boarded up about four feet
above the pipe.
Unable to locate the trouble anywhere
else. the boss ordered one Of the negroes
to knock of the boards and examine that
Fart Of the pipe. But two Of the boards
had been removed. when the negro said:
Here is the gold mine, boss, an hits
empty"
Nicely rigged in the cavity was long,
round tin box. with funnel-shaped bot
tom connected with the discharge pipe
and operated by valve. When under
The Washington herald., 1911-01-01

Detachments of men work day and
night to remove every speck of dirt from
the streets. Not only do they sweep the
streets with scrupulous care, but actually
scrub every square inch once a day!
Wherefore Berlin-whose streets were
formerly dumping-ground for sewage
has recently acquired the reputation of
being the cleanest city in the world. The
streets are divided into squares. each IN
charge Of one man. After cleaning the
street early in the morning. he wheels out
q barrow loaded with very fine, sharp
sand and scatters it lightly over the
streets to prevent slipping. On rainy days
the process is repeated several times.
First comes the sprinkling cart, followed
by ample roller brushes which sweep the
water and slime into the gutter. whence it
Is carried away. After this the man in
charge of the street comes along with his
wheelbarrow and sand sprinkler.
The man in charge of the asphalt pave
ment is paid cents an hour. Nobody lit
tiers up the street or puts sweepings on
the sidewalk. There is a box kept for
The Washington herald., 1911-01-01

ished little wretches in the sweatshops
of the city: undersized. stunted, child
nurses of the tenements: sickly drudges
of the Western farms-and he realizes
his helplessness to do anything for them.
He feels very deeply on the subject.
think. l have heard him say that the
chicken feeds its own young to maturity.
and all the lower beasts, from the walrus
to the polecat, protect their offspring:
but man, the highest in the scale. is the
one creature. except the microbe, that
expects its babies to jump in immediate
IL after birth and begin earning a living
for the parents"
''Then your husband. I take it, is apt
to be completely disappointed with his
annual trip?" 1 said. II wonder that he
doesn't abandon the work altogether"
'.Oh. he isn't entirely disappointed"
Mrs. Claus FASTENED to say. He only
feels a trifie downhearted when he first
gets home. After he has rested up a bit
he puts his ear to the keyhole Of the
world and listens. And from millions of
homes, the homes of the poor and OF the
well-to-do, and even from some of the
homes of the rich, he hears the laughter
of all the children who believe in Santa
The Washington herald., 1911-01-01
1RS SANTA CLAUS SOME OF SPOSES EXPERIENCE

Not until late hour did I succeed in
finding Mrs. S. Claus, wife of the affable
saint of that name. i finally located her
at the Claus residence, corner Of Peary
street and Cook place extended in the
old Fourth ward of the north pole AL
though Christmas Eve had almost passed,
the good lady, with an intense nervous
energy, was still tying up sundry small
packages in tissue paper with cherry red
baby ribbon and small sprigs of holly
tucked under the bowknots She ex-
planned to me that it always happened at
the very last minute number of casual
acquaintances had to be remembered be-
cause they were people who had sent
something last year or the year before
that. from which | gathered that Mrs
Claus was good deal like the rest of
her sisterhood all over the world
And. of course" she went on, Il want
to have everything cleared up and out of
the way before pa gets back with the
reindeers in the morning.
, when do you expect him." I asked.
oh. he'll come tottering in about Q
O'Clock" she said, "and he'll be all tired
The Washington herald., 1911-01-01

Schleisische Thor and the Nollendoff
platz. or a bridge like the Oberbanm-
brucke. on which this new line crosses
the Spree?
Underneath each station there Is an
arcade. which Is rented and has been
transformed in every instance into res
taurant. beer garden, or store. 1t Is de-
liciously cool and shady under these ar
cades, even on the hottest days. The
minimum fare on any electric street rail-
way in Berlin Is 10 pfennigs (233 cents)
for part or all of the distance covered by
the particular line.
There are no Berlin "cries-" News
papers are sold almost in silence by
spectacled men. who look like professors.
Handbills-most of them invitations to
cafes of the cheaper kind-are offered at
street corners by old gentlemen who might
easily pass for deacons Of the church.
No piano-organs play in the central
streets, no hucksters bawl their wares.
The only sound in the city Is the clatter
Of the horses hoofs on the clean asphalt,
and, of course, the grind Of electric
tramcars on their journey around the
city.
The Washington herald., 1911-01-01

full nervous strain on him. having to de-
liver so many presents to people who
don't want them. This year alone he has
no less than 10000 pairs of gift suspend
ers to scatter over this country. At other
seasons. so he tells me, every right
minded man is satisfied to keep UP ap-
pearances with the aid of a pair Of plain,
unostentatious. 50-cent galluses. In fact
anything in the nature of braces that
will permit him to cough in company
without feeling uneasy does very we'll. A
suspender, so pa says, is like an ANAL
gam filling in a back tooth-meant for
use, rather than show. But along about
December Is it would seem that nearly
every other young woman in the land is
suddenly seized with an unplainable de-
sire to give her young gentleman friend
fancy box ornamented with an appro-
pirate sentiment and containing a pair
or what my husband calls Young Prince
Charming suspenders. which are fright
full monstrosities, made out of pink satin.
with moss roses and trailing arbutuses.
embroidered on, and sometimes, in ex-
treme cases, monograms on the buckles.
And he tells me that somehow none of
the holidays, not even Christmas. is a
The Washington herald., 1911-01-01

these. Wire baskets are fastened on
lamp posts. against houses. fences. OF
trees, in which the public may throw
waste paper while walking along. The
citizens are very proud of their clean and
sweet-smelling streets. and the house
holders have to sweep to the center Of the
street in front Of their sidewalks every
morning before 6 o'clock. The litter is
piled up, and soon the city. teams cart II
away.
Cabmen share in the general cleanli-
ness. Their little broughams and vic
torias are not so neat as our hansoms.
but they themselves make q Drawer show
than our drivers. Those Of them with
taxicabs wear shiney white hats. with
black brim. black band. and brass cock
ade, and over their shoulders Is a dark
blue cloak, thrown back to show the
lighter blue of the lining. Omnibus men
and tramcar men turn out with equal
smartness, their faces shaven and clean,
their uniforms brushed and frightened.
The policemen, in squat black helmets.
with silver spikes, and with the tail Of
d sword poking out the bottom of their
dark blue ulsters, are clean and smart.
The Washington herald., 1911-01-01

out and a bit red and watery around the
| eyes and his knees will be skinned from
sliding down m-fitting chimneys, and
he'll be all over SCOT and ashes. He'll
drink up all the ice water in the house
and then go to bed, suffering from a
headache and the hiccoughs-he Just
can't seem to pass the eggnog that he
finds at so many places-and it'll take
two or three days of codding and pet
ting on my part to get him back into
anything like a normal condition again.
And l know, too, that he'll be feeling
dreadfully put out and upset with the
general results of his years work: he al
ways does. Primarily, you know. he
started out to make children happy. and
at first it wasn't very hard to make them
happy. He tells me that he never mind
ed filling children's stockings in the days
when one stocking would hold enough to
satisfy one child. And that much will
still satisfy some of them, but not many
not very many
Now. it seems, the principal object of
Christmas appears to be making grown
people actually unhappy for a month be-
fore the day, and for at least a week aft
erward. My husband says it is a fright
The Washington herald., 1911-01-01

with the same military neatness. The
postman. driving his litght-yellow mail
cart. wearing q shiny gold-braided billy
cock with tiny tarbrush stuck rakishly
on one side, is as proud Of his appear
ance as the soldiers swagging on the
footpaths.
That the postal service Of Berlin has
long been the model for the rest of Eu-
rope is well known. writes Daniel Shoo-
smith, in the Progress Magazine. The
letter boxes in the principal thorough
fares are cleared every fifteen minutes
during the day.
The most remarkable undertaking of
Berlin. however. is its method Of sewage
disposal. which conduces greatly to the
public health. From the different parts
of the city the water from the closets,
baths. and kitchens, as well as the sur
face water Of the streets, is conducted
through a system of sewers to central
stations along the Spree, situated at the
lowest elevation OF the city. Here the
sewage is collected in large central res
ervoirs. From these reservoirs 1t is
forced by means Of large pumps through
great iron tubes into the country. 1t
The Washington herald., 1911-01-01

The man was simply vet and weary
He was Of middle size. had short brown
beard. and might have been thirty -flve.
and wore shirt and trousers.
How long have you been In the va.
teri? said the surgeon.
: Nearly three days, sir.''
How long since you've had any foodr'
Just three days ago tonight. SIR"
How long since you've had any wster?''
Same time. SIR
The stranger was George Olsen, nrst
mate of the schooner Twilight, thrown
on her beam ends In cyclone ofI
Charleston. Olsen had been swept over
board. the only survivor. ne believed, a
the Twilight turned bottom up. He had
managed to lash togethee two boards
from fhe wreckage with strips torn from
his oilslin coat while, trsading ,wakr.
Another board he had used - : paA-
dla He had seen the smoke of eov-
esal sesameFs aeAhing more. When Cape.
J1Gko vl1lfoa ~;
The Washington herald., 1911-01-01

know that no stocking will hold what the
lady wants, although pair Of socks
would.
He finds it hard to bring the children
Of the rich anything proper. because they
already have everything, whether it's
proper or not II he brings them electric
runabouts, they are unhappy that it
wasn't touring cars. and IL they ha re set
their innocent young fancies on blue fox.
the common ermine fails to satisfy. He
says when he is confronted by child OF
very rich parents he is often nonplussed
because it's generally child who has
everything already except manners, and
he feels abashed at the prospect of Offer
ing toy train to budding juvenile who
owns a private car.
Likewise. there are So many children
in North America to whom he would like
to bring a rest and a little fresh air and
an hour of play, but. of course. that
wouldn't be possible without coming into
conflict with the child labor laws of the
various States. He finds these children
nearly everywhere. he says-peaked little
white ghosts with tow hair and chalky
skins in the cotton mills of Georgia and
Alabama; wfzened. underfed. ilIy-nour-
The Washington herald., 1911-01-01

then passes into central stand towers
and is thence distributed. through q sys-
tenn Of irrigation pipes and bitches. upon
the land. Thus the sewage Of the city
becomes the fertilizer Of the land, which
produces fruits and vegetables for city
consumption.
The area of the fields irrigated is more
than 10000 acres. The total cost Of the
drainage system was $4,000 900, yet OWNS
to the enormous yield Of the irrigated
land IT has been an exceedingly profitable
investment. As many as five crops Of hay
are cut in a single year. and several crops
Of vegetables are obtained each season.
Perhaps the most striking feature OF
Berlin is its system of street communica-
tion and network Of electric tramways,
which whisk yod dDthrough the streets-not
in single cars. but in trains. Without los
ing its character as "City of Intelli-
gence," which 1t has always boasted itself
to be, with its numerous universities and
schools, 1t is now a city Of ceaseless traf-
fic. making you fancy you must be in
New York.
Probably nowhere in the world is there
such a magnificent promenade as the
The Washington herald., 1911-01-01

real holiday to everybody. The shopgirls
and the express hands hate Christmas: {:
the postman gets his on New Years and
ST. Valentines Day. the cook has no rea-
son to love Thanksgiving. the fireman
and the doctor work overtime on the
Fourth of July, and the laboring man
marches nine miles under n hot sun on
Labor Day. My husband says IL he had
his way he would bring every girl who
works in a store a pair Of brand-new
feet and a fresh set of nerves for her
Christmas present. When he peeps into
a shopgirl's little hall bedroom late to-
night and sees her sleeping the sleep Of
sheer exhaustion, after. a months battle
with a frenzied multitude that was buy
ing things that weren't suitable for peo-
pie they didn't like, he feels his inability
to really offer her anything for Christ
mas that could possible repay her for
what she has suffered in his name, and
often he just tiptoes quietly by and
doesn't leave her anything at all. He
says there's only one thing that makes
him feel more helpless and useless. anu
that is to find a lean, black Isle thread
with a neat darn in the toe
hanging at an old maids fireplace and
The Washington herald., 1911-01-01

bound for the steel mills. and by the
time they have attained the harbor Of
quiet o. the side street they've forgotten
all about business cares. feel fine and fl,
and have thought out scheme to meet
their overdue paper
Mais cherchez la femme, There she is,
sixteen to sixty Of her, garlanded about
the policeman's neck. letting out feeble
yelps Of terror. while he tries to wrench
OF the head Of the horses Of the "ginny''
who tried to steal over the side lines be-
fore the whistle. Another forty or fifty
Of her. debutantes to grandmothers, are
scattered here and there in the street.
anywhere but on the other side, shiver-
ing and shuddering between cars going
in opposite directions. or receiving on
their bewildered heads the walls Of
wrath OF truckmen and chauneurs. who
dislike to sully their freshly cleaned
wheels with her gore
It's a wise woman who knows enough
to choose the middle Of the block as a
peaceful place to cross. Truckmen. mo-
tormen, and chauffeurs there reveal an
The Washington herald., 1911-01-01

almost human intelligence. They do not
put 1t up to the policeman whether they
shall run down a woman every second
or thereabouts.
Like the man who never worries about
trouble, because, he said, trouble never
worried him. the woman in the case feels
that the last thing she needs to worry
about is the traffic. It's big and burly
and quite capable of looking out after
ITSELF
They put as kind-hearted a policeman
at each crossing as may be, and If he
escape the malignity Of the cars that
whirl around the corner. trying with
scythe-like sweep Of rear platform to cut
chunk out Of him and some others of
the massed humanity he holds back with
one hand while stemming the downward
sweep Of an automobile with the other
and tongue-lashing the. driver that won't
wait until the signal is given before
starting across, he is more than disposed
to save all ladies who rush into the mid
die of the vortex, throw up their hands,
and sink with a bubbling cry.
The Washington herald., 1911-01-01

and family. has her hair dressed,
her face massaged, takes a look at the
daily papers. reads the opening chapters
OF the latest novel, joins a neighbor in
the tearoom in a 4 O'Clock orange Pekoe
and buttered toast, collects her children,
takes the car at the corner, and goes
home. Not once has she crossed the
street. She has not even left the store
Sometimes. however. desperation in the
shape of an unbought Christmas present
for hubby shears her Of her natural
woman's fear Of scenes Of war and strife
Il may be power outside herself moved
her. such as an advertisement OF Accent
silk muff1ers selling at the remarkable
price of 3S1s cents at the Bumpkin store,
or box Of cigars and cut-glass and sill
yer humidor to be given away with every
dollars purchase at the Is and 25 cent
store. She decides to cross the street
Tilting insecurely at the crossing, try
ing to maintain a footing while being
knocked about like billiard ball, she
tries to remember what was the simple
The Washington herald., 1911-01-01

ment Of Range Finders and ''The Sta
bility OF Smokeless Powder"
On the night OF September %. 1906, the
time being II O'Clock. the U. s. s. Min
neapolis was steaming under forced
draft OF Hatteras. with two battalions
of marines on board for police duty in
Havana. President Palma being then
menaced by Gen. "Pino" Guerra In full
war paint. when there was q stentorian
cry Of Man overheard" Capt. Fiske.
who had turned in. ran on deck in pa
jamas and q gold braided cap. To him
Lieut. Commander Stanworth explained:
''Sir. We do not yet know exactly what
has happened. don't think any man has
fallen overheard from the ship: but the
sergeant OF the guard says he heard =
man calling for help from the water. ~
The oflcer Of the deck hsd already put
his helm hard a-port and headed bAck.
Il sounded aRe story - teli, ~: the
marines. but the sesgeant vas - very
reliable man. Tho deek 'sWa1 fun o(
peegee talking n snh1uoe teoeo;" neveEs
The Washington herald., 1911-01-01

sordid things bearing upon the question
is the fact that no man, even as a bache-
lor. can ever decide for himself what II
was. When the questioner has his fami-
ly and his own and their entangling So
cial alliances there Is no answer.
It's such fool question when you
think of it.
You have a friend who has worked
in the same place with you for ten years.
You are about the same age. Sou have
continued at the same salaries, were
married about the same time, and have
the same number of children. More than
this, your friend and his family live just
across the hall from you in the same
fiat building where rents are identical.
The two of you have talked the living
wages to death. time and again. Both
of you have been living to talk it all
over all these years.
The Washington herald., 1911-01-01

transfers. and takes car that lands her
at the corner and the store.
Preferably she chooses a block that
contains one big store and several small
ones In which case she shops in and
around. and up and down the block, d.
agonally through it, straight across and
tl:en back again by curlycues. Or she
picks out the biggest store in town.
where excessive prices upstairs are
atoned for by cheap stuff. good enough
for any relative. in the bargain base
ment! First. she gives the children a
tour of the toy department., then stacks
them away in the playroom. to be left
until called for. After that she shops
busily for three hours, returns to the
playroom. picks up the children, gives
them and herself a good dinner in the
restaurant, puts them to bed in the rest
room, steals forty winks herself, again
sequesters the kiddies in the playroom,
resumes shopping, writes letters, sends
kilograms, buys the railroad tickets for
a trip home to mother for herself
The Washington herald., 1911-01-01

Siegesalle. or Victory avenue, in the
Thiergarten, lined with the marble statues
Of thirty-two Of the emperor's ancestors,
rulers Of Brandenburg and Prussia, from
Albrecht the Bear to Kaiser Wilhelm L.
And what a superb avenue Of approach is
thus formed to the Konigsplatz. with fits
gilded victory column IN the center. which
has now been adorne( by the imperial
parliament house. or reiShstagsgebaude-a
building worthy Of a greA people. and the
visible sign and symbol Of their political
unity.
Those familiar with the Berlin of to-day
know that 1t possesses besides a compre-
hensive and excellent system Of electrical
surface cars, an elevated steam railway
in two loops which traverse the city in the
form Of an elongated figure 8. and a belt
line of electric surface roads. In 1882 it
became apparent that all these were In
adequate to handle the steadily growing
traffic. and franchise was granted for
the construction Of an electric railroad
which should be subterranean in the
densely populated portions of the city and
elevated in the southern and western pre-
cincts. where space and other conditions
The Washington herald., 1911-01-01

favored such construction. Tho one re-
spect in which tho German constructors
leave their American colleagues far be-
hind and offer an object lesson which we
cannot study too soon or too thoroughly
Is In the artistic beauty, the architectural
charm and sense of fitness which they
have impaired to the stations. bridges.
and even the ordinary viaduct section Of
the new road.
Elevated railroad stations in America,
even in central and populous precincts,
are often miserable sheds which are eye
sores to the neighborhood. In Germany.
on the contrary. the requirements of pub
lie taste are never permitted to be neg
lected or forgotten. Where the new Ber-
lin line passes through a public square
1t is on solid and artistically designed
masonry. The above-ground stations are
Of stone, steel, and glass. no two alike,
but each specially designed to At not only
the requirements Of trafiic at that point
but the adjacent buildings as welHthe
architectural framework in which II Is
SET Where, for instance, shall we look
outside Of continental Europe for inter-
urban railroad stations like those at