davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-04-07

1t never budges. Composed Of the most
diverse elements. cynical. laughing. noisy,
stands awe-struck. The birdman. The
birdman! Any one can be the birdman
in that sympathetic circle. The sparrows
know 1t. They have as much confidence
in the crowd as in the birdman. Yet If
one of the crowd should begin throwing
crumbs. the sparrows would hutter away
in fright. Why? Because that is not the
game. According to the ideas Of the
sparrows, the crowd should stand motion
less and the birdman in the center should
feed them. 1t has always been SO.
Recently 1 told all this to tourist lady
who scarcely believed me. TRY it your
SELF" said The lady bought bun. We
selected an empty space, and this young
American woman. as different from the
traditional b:rdman in Paris as any one
could well be began initiating the bird
mans consecrated routine. She stood
silent, immobile. A minute passed. No
other human beings broke the charm.
The sparrows began looking at her from
the grass plots. Flutter! Half a dozen
sparrOws were among the bread crumbs.
Flutter! A hundred sparrows scrambled
around our feet! With movements few
and slow the tourist lady scattered more
crumbs. The grass plot was alive with
sparrows. What is the matter?'' she
whispered. they are not eating" 1t was
true. A thousand sparrows stood there
obviously waiting. with the food before
them. 1t dawned on sus-the sparrows
were waiting for the crowd.
The lady had chosen az isolated spot
out of the great promenade Perhaps Also
it was not the right hour, the crowd was
missing. minute passed. and then the
sparroWs seemed to come to a decision.
"Tant pis! they seemed to say, ut must
not stop our breakfast" and with that
they began first-class exhibition Of the
birdman, with the lady. They f1uttered
round her hat and shoulders. Hundreds
hoped and danced at her feet. She had
only to hold out a crumb Of bread in her
hand-and one by one the sparrows would
fly up and snatch 1t.
wasted four plates before l could
catch a sparrow in the act. The fifth was
a success. The little bird was caught
fiuttering in the air the instant before it
snatched the piece of bread from the
lady's hand. Many tourists have brought
back postcards of the birdmap. In few.
of them does the birdman- look alike.
Here is another, in which the birdman is
a lady who never tried to train birds in
her life. STERLING HELLO.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-04-07
The New Skirt.

MISS ELSIE DE WOLFE Mas talking
AyA about the draped skirts OF the new
spring fashions.
Il heard an Easter anecdote. the other
day about these new skirts" she said.
"A young wife. at Atlantic City, an
peared before her husband in a draped
suit Of cream-colored cloth. ready for
the Boardwalk's Easter parade.
How do look. Georgey she said
Fine
But tell me, George, does my skirt
hang even all rOund?'
Yes said George, after close look.
Yes, quite even.'
Oh. dear. said she. Then I'll have
to go upstairs again. These draped skirts.
You know. don't hang right II they hang
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-04-07

the national banks Of the nation to
such an extent that the reckless financing
Of the decade previous is no longer
a possibility. So is it intended that
national banks may become so.secure
that the term may actually be guar
antee of the safety Of funds that are
deposited in them. So is it intended
that the thumb-screws shall be put
upon those unreliable handlers of 9TH
er peoples money who regularly show
a tendency to financially run amuck
and despoil all about them.
When the crisis Of 1907 struck the
country and led to taking stock of
financial conditions in general 1t was
found that the banks Of the nation
were quite generally in a precarious
condition. Private and state banks
were in worse fix than were national
banks. but these latter showed a high
proportion of operations that could not
with safety be tolerated. The govern
ment awoke to the danger in the loose
financiering that was In general practice
and determined that 1t should no longer
which were accorded federal supervision.
4 =
Over in the Treasury Department
was Lawrence o. Murray, controller
Va TIC C0IICuCy udu Occu
assistant secretary of the Department
Of Commerce and Labor and had
made a reputation in the govern
ment service as man of great
efficiency. A year before the present
administration came into power he had
been transferred to the Treasury De-
partment and made controller of the
currency. The man who occupies this
position is in reality the chief of the
bank examiners Of the nation. He Is
thu man who holds the club over the
national banks scattered from Maine
TO California and from Florida to
Alaska. During the first year of his
work in the Treasury Department Mr..
Murray had fully acquainted himself
built up the most efficient force of
bank examiners that Uncle Sam has
ever boasted. He felt himself in
position to ferret out the weaknesses
Of all the national banks in the coun-
try
Discovering weaknesses or IRREGULARITIES
is but half Of the governments work in
connection with the national banks The
other half is prosecuting the cases
against the men who are guilty of the ir-
regularities. This work falls to the De-
partment of Justice. Before the time of
Attorney General Wickersham these bank
prosecutions had been carried on by first
one assistant, and then another. without
any material specialization. and there had
been no organized force in the depart
ment skilled in the work Of collating evil
dence on which to base such prosecutions.
The new Attorney General determined
that terror should be spread among vio-
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-04-07

noon hour. SHOP girls, the whole fabric
Of the Paris crowd. Respectfully they
form a ring. The real secret OF the bird
1t Is never the same, 1t is always chang
ing They used to say that over the
Point Neuf could always be found going
a soldier. priest, baker and a shop
girl. yet they were never the same. So
with the bird crowd of the Tuileries. 1t
Isl Travelled spot and all Paris has heard
of the birdman. Believing that 1t is see
ing something extraordinary. the bird
crowd Of the Tuiieries Is the real won
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-04-07

thousand little birds stood round him on
the grass and gravel The man made
movement. In a fluttering crowd the birds
would RISE evolve I'm the air and settle
round his feet again. when he would low
er his arm At times he would feed them
with bread crumbs. Little sparrows would
eat from his hand, settle on his hat brim
shoulders. arms and hands
1t was a wonderful sight. The crowd
IN Its awe and respect. stood silent with
out movement. scarcely breathing. Its
the Birdman of the Tiiileries.' the tour
est whispered--"he has some strange per-
oond influence over birdsr'. "Exery spar
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-04-07

THE Efforts of Two De-
! partments Are Being
Concentrated Upon the Prop
osition of Making the Term
National Bank" in Reality a
Guarantee of Security-The
Bank Examiners of the Treas
ury Department and the Ex-
pert Accountants and Sleuths
of the Bureau of Investigation
of the Department of Justice
Are Watching the National
Banks Like So Many Hawks,
and the Slightest Irregularity
Is the Signal for Action-The
Methods of the Looters Are
Many and Curious.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-04-07

New Orleans, nobody knew at first that
the Confederates had a water battery. /
was prOwling about one day, Spied it, and
made a sketch of it, to send it to Har-
per's Weekly, for which l was doing war
pictures.
when got back to the Hartford Far
ragut saw the sketch. Nobody had re-
ported the existence Of the fort to him,
and he was skeptical about it, so he went
close inshore himself in small boat to
investigate. No sooner. was he near
enough to the hidden battery that it
opened fire on him. That convinced
him.
1T was > o'clock in the morning when
We started to run past the forts into
New Orleans-2 O'Clock, with a cres-
cent moon shining over the sea- These
two hands. sir''-Capt. Osborn raised
them before the reporters eyes-"hoisted
the signals that sent the ships into the
fight. The Hartford was in one of the
most dangerous positions in the line
not up front. but in the second division.
Land gunners, you know, usually fire too
high at first at moving objects, so the
ships at the head Of our line had a better
chance of getting past the fort than those
farther back.
Not long after I'd hoisted the signal
the Hartford was in the thick of the bat
tle-shells screaming through the rigging
wounded and dead all around. My posi-
ton as signal officer was a fine one for
seeing what was going on. l wasn't as
signed to any one post, and could move
about the decks to wherever I could see
best.
Remembering 1 was a newspaper man,
1 took out pencil and began to make
hasty notes on my cuffs. This was for
tunate, because a shell hit the Hart
ford's log and blew it to atoms. so the
report Of the battle was partly made up
from what my cuffs told.
When We were in the midst of the
fight / saw the Confederate ironclad
Manassas pushing straight toward us a
big fire raft piled with rosin and cot
ton, saturated with oil. and with red
was no time to lose. Catching sight of
some shells heaped ready for use on the
lower deck of the Hartford l jumped
down there. fell on my knees. and started
to unscrew the cap of the first shell
could reach.
''Farragut came by and saw me.
Mr.. Osborn. this is no time for pray
err he snapped.
Prayer. 1 clustered; you'll soon see
what kind of prayer I'm going to maker
And. throwing coat over my head to
protect me from the flames, I leaned out
the nearest portfolio with q shell in my
hand.
THE fire raft was almost alongside. L
hurled the shell at 1t, and another and
another. They did the work The raft
when / got back on deck / saw our
ship. the Varuna. go to the bottom. She
fired her guns right to the waters edge
Sir. never saw such a brilliant sight in
my life.
sippis executive oficer. who. by the way.
was George Dewey-to pepper an IRON
clad that was making Tor us and that
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-04-07
The Birdman Frauds of Paris.

row in the gardens knows him. mo one
but he can tame them"
The guides, taking their parties in and
out the Louvre Museum, throw the Bird
man in as an easy wonder. They en-
large on his magnetism. his strange in
f1uence over little birds. They tell his
history-a misanthrope. deceived in his
dearest affections. eschewing all human
society. broken-hearted recluse who one
summer day sat weeping on bench of
the Tuileries Gardens-and the little birds
fiuttered up to his knees to console him.
1t is a great story and beautiful sight.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-04-07

crumbs in your hand. You do not turn
round. You face always one direction.
Your moments must be few and slow.
Scatter a few crumbs. F1utter! F1utter!
If you are alone, the sparrows are all
round you on the gravel Initiate the
birdman's tactics. A little tact in throw
ing the crumbs excites the emulation of
the sparrows. An errand boy with par
cells stops respectfully. Beside him stands
nursemaid and her charge. One by one,
collect servant maids out on errands
passing lawyers. students going back to
the Latin quarter, tourists. clerks in their
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-04-07
Special Correspondence of The Star.

Special correspondence OF The Star.
PARIS, March p, 1912.
NNE of the most popular tourist
stories is that of the Paris Bird
man. Your cousin who came back
from the gay capital remembers passing
through the Tuileries Gardens There,
surrounded by silent crowd, he saw a
strange sight. No one in the crowd
budged. Alone in the central space. an
elderly man lifted his hand. A little bird
new from the grass and sat upon it, A
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-04-07

Specfal Correspondence Of The Star.
NEW YORK, April 5. 1912.
TN the dead of an April night fifty years
ago the watchers on board a cluster
- of United States war vessels saw Tor
a moment two tiny red lights twinkfing
against the darkness. At once came
whispered orders, obeyed without a
sound, and the squadron crept forward,
bent on the accomplishment Of one Of the
most gallant exploits in all naval history.
1t was Farragut's squadron. In front,
crouched somewhere in the blackness,
were Confederate gunboats and ironclads.
fire RATS, piled high with death-bearing
freight, forts trimmed with wicked can
non.
April "a, 1S62-half a century ago with
in a few days. In single file F,arragut's
seventeen vessels stole onward, straight
toward the huge chains which the Con-
federates had strung across the Missis-
sippi's mouth, straight into waters soon
to be Redeemed by cleaning fire and run
ming blood, straight for New Orleans, to
cut the Confederacy in two by wrenching
the city from the grasp Of its southern
commanders.
Silent, on the silent ships. Farragut and
well what was before them-had they not
seen the tiny lights that had twinkled
for moment and then vanished into the
night land, knowing. they waited grim
ly, steeling themselves to the work that
is for brave men alone.
y
The man who hoisted those two red
lights to the masthead Of the Hartford,
Farragut's flagship, is still living in New
York.
He is. eighty five years old now. He is
we'll nigh bedridden: the frame which was
once the frame Of sturdy sailor is bent; :
the cheek tanned by MYSTERIOUS sea
breezes is sunken and creased.
But time has struck in vain at the old
in is that day Of fifty years ago, as ter
rfble and glorious as ever-as vivid to the
octogenarian OF today as to the young
man who sent Farragut's flotilla into the
hell that was ranged before New Orleans
to meet It.
Bradley 8. osborn-capt Bradley s.
Osborn-that is the name of the broken
veteran Of today who was signal ofieer
on that April night of 1852. He lies on
couch most Of the time, waiting for the
signal that Is bound to be run up some
day for all Of US. but he waits without
Capt. Osborn Is not fighting man, who
is?-he who has seen murder glintfng
from the cutlasses OF Chinese pirates,
and heard the dying gasp of gdhboats
sunk in bloody little South American -af-
trays, and, better than all the rest, has
side of the most gallant of American
sea fighters. So
He told it all over agaip one day lsst
week. DFQpoed up on hia couch. ana -
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-04-07

Illustrative in this connection. The insur-
ance agent had long had an account with
the bank. The officials of that institution
were personally friendly toward him and
had discounted his note for years. Many
of these notes were based upon insur-
ance policies which he had written. De-
spite the fact that the capital stock OF
the bank was but $4,000 the time came
in getting notes discounted to the amount
of $4,000. Then it was that the directors
of the bank held a meeting at which the
fact that the depositor's account was
largely overdrawn was developed and the
cashier was instructed not to permit him
to overdfaw 1t any further. Despite this
the depositor induced the cashier to give
him the money checks subsequently
submitted and to hold those checks in
the cash. 1t was later developed that
many of these checks were upon insti-
tutions in which he had no funds and
many of them were returned. His dis
counted notes proved worthless and he
was unable to make good on his over
drafts. In the end the fact was ascer-
tanned that this one deposition. through
his apparently hypnotic influence over
the cashier. and his friendship with the
directors, had succeeded in defrauding
this small bank of no less than $12oCO
The cashier was arrested for misapplica-
ton of funds and the depositor was
prosecuted under the national banking
law as an alder and abettor to the crime.
The insurance agent was convicted ana Is
now serving his term of five years. while
the cashier has not yet come to trial.
The bank was driven to the wall be-
cause of the credit unduly extended to
this one depositor.
BY far the greater per cent Of national
banks that come to grief from the inside
are those small banks in cities Of less
than $4,000 people. In larger financial
centers the manner in which the bank is
operated in itself provides many checks
and balances against the possibility of a
single officer unlawfully getting posses
sion of the banks funds to any great ex-
tent. In the smaller bank. however. the
operations are much simplified. and all
those that actually control the funds may
be in the hands of a single individual.
In such bank there is no one to restrain
the indiscretions or bad judgment Of this
individual officer.
There is the tragic case in a western
town where such a bank was entirely
dominated by a huge and masterful Nor
wegian, who had become its president.
Now, the Norwegians as a class are very
honest. but here was an exception to
the rule. This man was a power in his
community and had gained sufficient dis
tinction to warrant the naming of a large
town for him. He was engaged in large
land operations. and insisted on loaning
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-04-07
Fifieth Anniversary of Farragut's Battle.

he spoke, all the commonplace of city
life that surrounded him were forgotten
the little room, with it's desk and piles
of old paper and war prints, the buzz OF
trolley cars and automobiles. the cries
Of newsboys-forgOtten, to give place to
smoke and. fire, ships-of-the-line plunging
ahead under full sail, brave hearts beat
ing high, and the roar of guns and the
scream of shells and all the smell and
thrill of battle.
He told the yarn from the beginning
how it was that he happened to ship with
Farragut-how he came to be the man
who hoisted the fateful signal.
when the attack on New Orleans was
first thought off, he said. David P. Por-
ter was named to head 1t. At that time
was a war correspondent and artist, but
1 had also seen plenty Of naval service
in China, the Argentine and this country
itself, and besides l knew Porter, so
asked to be taken along.
but he said, Osborn. this kettle of
fish is all upset-Im not to command the
expedition and he told me to run up to
philadelphia and see man whose name
1 hadn't heard till then-Farragut.
II found Farragut at the Continental
Hotel in Philadelphia.
can only take you along as a
clerk, he said. TN go as a clerk, said
1 promptly. got my dunnage together
and reported on board the flagship Hart
ford. =
1.-The officers and crew looked upon me
as nuisance. They had no particular
use for correspondents or clerks. 1 didn't
say anything. But one day 1 saw fell
low on the deck making an awful mess
of fixing up sail.
For Gods sake, let me try!' 1 said,
out Of patience. and did the job as I
had learned to do 1t in my experience as
a sailor. One of the officers noticed it,
passed: That reporter is a navy man.
after we had put to sea and were
headed for New Orleans Farragut sent
for me. told me that his signal officer
could be used to better advantage in
some other capacity, and gave me the Job.
That evening Executive Officer Thomas
invited me to the wardroom dinner. 1
wasn't nuisance any more.
~
'sOf course we had to wait before maxi
ing that dash into New Orleans and do a
lot Of accommodating, and after awhile
some of the men got restless and nervous.
was sent over one day to- one of our
gunboats. where Farragut said he had
heard the men were as blue as indigo
. How do you think you're going to
fight II you're blue like this?' said to
them. You think it looks. had in there
went on. pointing toward where the
Confederate forts were: well. cheer up.
l. was never so sure OF anything in my
life as am that we're going to take
and put up one Of the best fights in the
whole squadron when We went past the
forts.
when swes wers -reconnsitsrinx hslsw
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-04-07

NEW era has
dawned for all
those banks in
the United States
which Uncle Sam
takes under his
wing and allows
to use the deSig-
nation National"
For three years
past the federal
government has
been Overhauling
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-04-07
ONE OF THE .BIRD MEN" AT WORK.

Only. there Is not a word of truth in it,
There is no Birdman. There are a
dozen birdmen. The birdman that your
cousin saw is not the one that you saw.
Half a dozen kindly old fellows. little
renters as they cali retired shopkeepers
sun themselves in the Tuileries Gardens
and have fun with the birds-and the
crowds. As these men live in the neigh
borhood they are oftenest on the spot
but any person of tranquil presence and
slow. deliberate movement can do the
birdman's act. 1t Is only necessary to
choose deserted gravel walk in the sun
light You stand alone. with your bread
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-04-07

kept me busy for a bit. The Mississippi
got the signal all right, and Knocked the
ironclad to pieces.
I'VE were, from start to finish. some
thing like three hours passing those forts
and getting up to New Orleans, but IL
seemed a whole To- Longer. Farragut was
all over the ship while the firing was on.
Once / saw him way up the port mizzen
rigging with my glasses. trying to make
out the shore. Shells were bursting all
aroundmit was no place for MIN; yelled
to him from below. He paid no atten-
ton. 1 yelled again.
What do you want? he asked.
my glasses I'm afraid you'll drop
themr / bawled Perfectly seriously he
reached the glasses toward me. L per-
suaded him at last to come down.
A few minutes later shell cut the
rigging to pieces.
Then he went up the starboard miz-
zen rigging. and again I yelled to him:
Come down! You know I'm good
prophet, | said The decks good
enough. And down he came.
"Once. during the hottest part of the
fight, we were aground and on fire in
four places at the same time. That mo-
ment showed what kind of stun Ameri-
can men and boys are made of. We had
three or four hundred of them on board
the Hartford, and of the whole number
scarcely more than fifty or sixty had
been to sea before. yet there was not a
finch-every one was as straight backed
a man as / ever saw.
when We were past the forts and the
way to New Orleans lay open Farragut
ordered me to signal the ships and find
out how many killed and wounded they
had. AS each signaled back, reporting a
number of casualties surprisingly small.
considering the hot fire of the Confeder-
ates. Farragut kept saying Thank God!
Thank God" over and over again.
X x
'Farragut? What was Farragut like7
He was a little bit OF man. of few
words. Of keen perception. quick as
flash in his Thoughts man with a head
on him that was simply wonderful. Why,
that plan of his to pass the Confederate
forts below New Orleans was marvellous
absolutely unheard-of for audacity. And
IL ever there was a Drawer bunch than
those men on the Hartford / can't imag-
inc them. / know what I'm talking about.
AS signal officer. I could move around.
and had fine opportunity to study per-
sonalities.
Speaking of Farragut. by the way I'll
tell you something he said to me once.
YOU know the famous picture of him
dashed to the rigging during the Mobile
fight-that was after New Orleans. Well,
and asked him about II.
" 1T isn't true, he said, poets and art
lists got hold OF the yarn and that's how
people knew of 1t. What really happened
was this: was leaning out from the rig
ging, and one OF my officers had rope
tied loosely in front OF me- so 1 might
lean against it and be more comfortable.
That's ALL
And it was That's anr' with Capt os-
born. too for the excitement Of living
Orleans had fatigued the old man; and
the reporter thought II wise to leave him
alone with his memories OF those scenes
~ SD go --i---------,---l--.>.----S