davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-10-13

we'll known battle of Crecy. The Black
Prince had placed his left flank exactly
at the end of my finger
The tender tints of a cOmic-opera land
scape melt in the blue-gray haze-lOng
rows of graceful pOplars white roads,
laughing villages. Towering hedges, an
cient church spires and lush pastures.
Behind rises the venerable pile,
preached walls. crippled towers, wounded
donjon fallen blocks of masonry broken
arches, effaced carvings, crumbling tur-
rets. And while the charmed American
dreams his interior dream, the old voice
drones sOothingly:
He believed himself in safety, when
Bayard and Dugueschlin, surging un-
eXpectedly split his rear in two unequal
halves. while cannonading his right
wing
AS the American wakes and finds him.
self alone, behind the party. the faithful
voice huns from afar, to guide his hur-
rying steps:
Victory remained with the troops OF
NapOleOn-
They are peering into black gulf in
the stone floor.
Here, the qualities! the place of the
forgotten, as the word implies, where
they threw the cOrpses, still alive, bot
tOmless pit. whose bottom was lined with
razor blades. Sliced in hundred pieces
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-10-13

Some lived rent free in habitable rooms
and sold IO-cent handbook. In clasSeu
government properties. they were saiafieu
functionaries, in uniform. In ruins owned
by wealthy families-but forbidden Legally
To alter or demolish-they had the airs
of hereditary servants. born on the place
which is more than you could say ol
their employers regularly new-rlch Anu
there is yet another class, pathetic, touch-
ing. You shall
All over France 10000 ruins, relics OF
old romance, are thus legally protected.
Some are owned by municipalities, some
by departments, some by obscure VII
lagos and some even by humble farmers
Each has its custodian to bob up serenely
for the tourist-1O,O00 jobs of dignity ana
ease-each with his dignifed rigmaroie
of delightfully."- garbled facts.
IF these messieurs and DANES Will con-
sent to do themselves the honor 10 take
the trouble 10 enter. | shall have the dls-
tingIIished consideration To give them Inc
explanation of the ruins.
On the terrace. edged by a low wall eN-
tending deep down on the outside the
custodian sweeps the wide vista with Il
gesture and points To bit of plain or
valley:
This castle. of which we are on the
terrace. is entirely of the epoch, as is
also the country environing scene OF the
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-10-13

the unhappy prisoners wore out IN nun
ger and thirst. the long days of its con-
tinuous night until rescued, which never
happened.
jon massive central tower that best re-
sists the centuries. Often, it has a great
breach halfway up, or an entlre size Is
split. Looking up. inside, we see the
stories. Usually three, the two upper
ones made the safest, if not the most
luxurious rooms of the castle.
THE donjon. From the top of this
tower. the Sire de d'Haricot awaited ms
young fiancee. the beautiful Feve de
LYON and here passed a historic honey
moon. of which numerous traces We're
reIigiously presevded until the destruc-
ton of the castle by Richelieu.
Americans never tire of ruined castles.
They make the one great European sight
that never disappoints or pals While
middle class native visitors snoop and
sneer through the halls of their heredi-
tary oppressors. Americans-by some
mystery of a young nations soul-seem
naturally to melt their dreams in the
past of knights and danes. With the
memory of sympathy, we plot out the
guards hall, the justice room, the gala
Custodans know us at a glance. More
than our big tips. our unaffected enthu-
siasm blows bright the sacred flames in
their custodian's heart-because they all
have the sacred fire; it is impossib'e 10
live long Indifferent in these old centers
charged with noble memories.
American tourists almost alone STUN
HE on obscure ruins like the Chateau de
rOurs or Revel or Beauvoir nun
dred golden afternoons | have spent IN
ruins like Gisors castle, yet always there
was q party of American tourists dream
ing on the spot ahead of me-
Doubtless we pick them out Oh guiue-
books. porting infinitely. French natives
never stop off at Gisors. fifty miles from
Paris on the Dieppe line Yet the mon n,
ster old place, built by Henry III OF
England. has most of its outer walls
and twelve round towers
In the bottom of one tower langulsneo
Wolfram, the prisoner of Glsors, uhuls-
couraged and accomplished youth, FAVOR
lite of the Emperor Macmillan, held cap
tive by unforgiving Louis XII
tower six wears ago, and We remain
friends, Joined by the sympathies of that
romantic afternoon. We fumed with IN
dignation at the trapping Of the young
German diplomat
ness, only visible through these spiayed
windows" affirmed the old custodian
they are always old. but this was a dear.
moon faced beaming dame. Nv men they
took him to the sunlight he fell on his
face. declaring himself only fit TO go
back Ever after he preferred nlght TO
. day, and would walk for hours in circle
, and that circle exactly the diameter Oh
his old dungeon walls
She meant circumference. but We I'M
derstood With an apronful or candle
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-10-13

gesture Kindly follow. the grass is
slippery whore the steps have crumbled.
Up a roofiess stairway, two walls gone,
past a battlemented platform under
broken arches, We reached the one great
piece remaining. the round donjon tower.
They burst in here the fifth day. Mad
anne. They hung Azor from the
square tower OF Montlucon. and his ban
dts from trees Observe the secret door
formerly hidden by panels. BY it the
Bear escaped through a subterranean
passage. They burned the chateau
Nothing has happened here since
But. pardon. asked the American
brother, what happened to Fair Agnes?
The patriotic French farmer hesitated.
Some say she persisted from privation
and fright. and died in Raouls arms.
They found her in a casemated room oe-
meath our feet
But my guidebook says
Yes | know-that she fled TO America
with the Englishman: but that is a canard
made TO humiliate the French nation.
Monsieur is American? Speak To me OF
Lafayette-he went twice 10 America
from this Auvergne land.
have met a hundred custodians OF
national historic monuments, and all were
delightful
Some were nearby peasants, picking up
crumbs of tips; few visited their ruins.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-10-13
IL Was Not All Play Washington School Fairgrounds This Year


how when the Brussels and wilton ones
became the rage the art passed INTO 90
livion. until today there are Few grown
women who, to save their lives. could pro-
duce as much as a single yard of evenly
woven rag carpet. But such weavers are
to be found among the young girls In the
grammar schools of this city, and the
work they produce is handsome enough
to please even the ultra critical or
course. no carpets are woven or size
TO cover a room floor but widths or the
old standard rag carpet patterns. or the
more intricate modern developments OF
those patterns. are woven and finished
into rugs of a beauty and solid appear
ance that are delight to the eye-things
of beauty that are. truly. JOY forever,
because. after all. there is nothing in
the carpet line that is quite so satisfying
as real. old-fashioned tastefully color
ed. we'll woven strip Of rag carpet.
woven on a hand loom by a weaver whose
heart is in the work
Indeed. the variety of articles made by
these children of the school Fairgrounds
is so great as to be almost bewildering.
when one takes into consideration the
limited time. money and facilities involv-
ed in their manufacture. AS a usual thing
the children devote but short time-a
few hours. at the most-daily to the in
dustrial work. but they come back. day
after day, and take up the work where il
was left the preceding day, until in a
comparatively short time the bit of
craftsmanship is turned out. finished
product. In most cases the cost of ma
terial is only a few cents: but the finished
article often reaches a value to be meas
ured in dollars, and not few dollars. at
that.
Baskets especially, that cost for ma
terial perhaps 80 cents have been sold
by their makers for as much as SlJ
when finished, and other articles have
been sold at prices almost as high as
that. To show the amount and the
varied character of the work that is
done by these juvenile workers on the
school Fairgrounds of the city a report
from one of the Fairgrounds is given
here. The report comes from a play
ground where the average daily attend
ance is about go: it shows the follow
ing list of completed articles, all design
ed and finished by the children. super
vised only by the young woman il
charge of the Playground:
Raffia baskets. 30; reed baskets, 10
crocheted bags. cord, =; crocheted bags
luster. ,: crocheted worsted sacks,
crocheted worsted bootees, pairs: EN-
broidered collars. 3; embroidered belts, j
embroidered aprons, >; embroidered bags
=: embroidered towel, l; stenciled cur
tains, ): stenciled covering. j; stencile6
bags, .: stencil boards cut. 4: hammocks
3; crocheted dOilieS 4; crocheted lace.
yards. Work made on grounds with ma
terial furnished by children: Stencllet
piano cover, ]; embroidered collar
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-10-13

and you can even go down into the vast
underground vault. from the center or
whose arch still hangs the wooden cage
i'm which he kept Cardinal Ballue eleven
years swinging like a captive canary.
-
Or the ruins of Chinon Castle, scene OF
a Joan of Arc detail that Shakespeare
did not know Every tourist is shown
what looks like diagonally slanting
elevator shaft leading up from little
door on the river high up through the
center of the castle masonry to the floor
of a smaller room beside the thrd-f1oor
banquet hall. 1t was covered with a trap
in the floor. like the trick of the bear.
And when Joan had her first interview
with the king she stood on that trap
with a table between them. the KING
ready to touch a spring and let her drop
at the first sign of treachery. But Joan
did not know IL either.
And Coucy just outside Paris. and the
whole citadel of Carcassonne! They are
SO beautifully restored that moving PIC
lures, posed in them. with costumes OF the
period give the perfect illusion OF a time
machine taking one back back to the
brave old days OF oppression, treachery
and slaughter.
Rut here and there brooding over OBJ
scurer ruins. are custodians OF another
type They are self-appointed. volunteers.
and dearest of all to the sentimental tour
list.
Some arc humble workers. rooted in
the soil and imagining themselves to de-
scend from the ancient lordly stoch'
Such is the one-tims iourneyman glove
maker of Grenoble. Bayard by name.
The true Chateau Bayard is just OUTSIDE
the city. partly restored and inhabited
during July and August by its present
owners-family of a retired Paris specu-
lator. Well. this glove artisan is so con-
WINGED that he descends from the the-
Waller Fearless and Without Reproach
that he dropped his trade and took the
lob Of janitor-custodian of the ramshac-
kle pile-ten months of the year alone on
the desolate slope-for the sentimental
satisfaction of living in the cradle OF
his race.
Living beside ruined Beauvoir. broodine
over its stones with devotion. Jean Della
tour has more OF the sentiment Of race
than many a titled sprig I'm Paris seeking
to marry an American heiress.
Beauvoir has been a ruin since 1919.
The last Of the real dauphins carried his
secret to the grave-he diea in monastic
orders No other family can claim the
ruins Jean Delatour claims them.
But If you go to Beauvoir-hard trip
over bad roads-you will just see labo-
rious old farmer unhitching his ox-team.
He has spied you coming. from afar.
He approaches with an air OF worthy
courtesy. almost severity: and then-peas-
ant servility having tempered the naughty
confidence OF the La Tours these CIV
wears past-he finds. suddenly. the glib
noliteness of the typical custodian. say
ing:
sent to do themselves the honor to take
the trouble to enter. l shall have the dis
tinguished consideration to give them the
sAp'" STERLING HELLO.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-10-13

ends she leads you down winding stars,
placing the little lights at intervals TO
reach the accursed stairway YOU must
mount up by another; then. in a large
room with a fireplace, YOU see the little
doorway to these dungeon steps.
Wolfram's portrait hangs among the
historical personages at Versailles, ana
here the walls of his dungeon are full OF
his personality. The room is twenty PAGES
in diameter, lighted only by splayed loop
holes. which. with the turning Of the
sun, throw strips of light on the wall d.
rectly opposite them.
He had a knife or dagger. He had cut
foothOles in the soft stone to climb twelve
feet to each window-slit to take air. Out
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-10-13

appeals, Lord Jesus. have mercy in or
namental Gothic script.
This boy lived and carved shortly be
fore the discovery of America. Vet each
picture is as clear today as if he had
Just interrupted his work for lunch.
There are also marks of desperate efforts
to cut open the deep stone bolt holes. but
these were never finished. He perceived
their folly. ,
There are ten books about him: all
false." said Mime. Custodian, but L nave
never come on more than mere notices.
Wolfram's fame is due entirely to the
filing Up of the dungeon, for some I'M
known reason before his pictures had a
chance to get damaged. For centuries
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-10-13


the barber. his razor. the dust, the
sprinkler and the dullness of evenings
away from Paris.
Had / not met them. later. six miles
outside the town. they had seemed UNI
happy tourists; but at the ruined Chateau
de rOurs the American family had be-
come romantic dreamers. gay explorers.
delighting in the custodan's crooked tale
and tipping him TO hunt souvenirs of fair
Agnes.
The Ours. or Bear was a bad English
the land round \. ID. 1869. and loved
Agnes. daughter of the noble Sire de
ChateIard.
His wickedness cried to- heaven af-
frned the whiie-mustached old guide
We found him in his cottage. distilling
strictly famiy-use runc-jaCk. but in coat
and cap he became the government func-
Iionary. THE SALES basSeS. the low halls.
Here. with the lost Sire de Paraguay and
other low company. he enjoyed shameful
deba uches. of which no vestice remains.''
The American made him open little
Tickety oak door-pdt up to prevent tou-
rists breaking their necks. Silt and rains
of .s>o years had raised the ground level
half up To the barrel arch. STOPPING they
stumbled over fallen masonry dreamed
before a crumbling monumental fireplace
and beautiful little Romanesque doorway
But the white-mustached one grabbed the
oubliettes, fear the oubliettes. There's no
flooring in there. only the precipice !;
but once there a floor and the Bear
had a trapdoor i'm il. exactly here. When
the doomed guest passed TO the smoking
room. he pulled a hidden rope. and, crack,
down he went,
In 1859 fair Agnes was engaged to
Raoul de Lagarde. noblest youth around
Montlucon. Retucpins from raid Raoul
learned that the Bear had traitorously
asked hospitality at Chatelard, gagged the
sire and abducted Agnes
His doomed soul. Azor. captain of his
troop. disguised a servant, drugged
the sentinels and creased the drawbridge
with bacon. They brought Agnes here.
tying leather socks with the shoes re-
versed to their horses feet. To appear GO
ing instead of coming. does mademoiseIle
perceive the wicked devce?'
With posse from his suzerain, Raoul
laid siege.
Nothing has happened here since,
concluded the custodian. with q sweeping
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-10-13
92V(Q

change was made few years ago. The
chairman of the board OF educations
Fairgrounds committee Is Ernest III.
Daniel while DR. Rebecca Stoneroad is
the actual head of the school play
grounds. The industrial work at the
Fairgrounds for white children last sum-
mer was I'm charge of Miss Sarah Itch
ner, one OF the seventh grade teachers.
and II. w. Murch, while the work at the
Fairgrounds of the colored schools was
in charge OF Miss A. j. Turney, assistant
director of physical training In the color
ed schools of the city.
Last summers attendance record was
captured by Jefferson School, which had
a daily average attendance Of 40S. Henry
School stood second in point OF daily at
tendance with an average of 36S. and
Ketcham School, with 800 as its daily
average. stood third.
Nothing has been said in this article OF
the school gardens, planted and tended by
grammar school children of the city.
Visitors to the grounds of the United
States Department of Agriculture may
see. any day in the summer. boys and
girls at work in the gardens located i'm
the grounds. while other gardens are to
be found any summer near the play
grounds OF the various schools. The
amount of produce. the fine vegetables
and beautiful flowers. grown by these
youngsters on the little plots assigned to
them for cultivation speak for themselves.
and tell Of many a fine dinner produced
by the work of boy and girl pupils in the
city's grammar schools.
So that it will be seen that there is far
more to the modern school playground
than mere play. The Fairgrounds have
become places where the growing boys
and girls learn things that will be use
full to them as they grow older. AS they
play. they learn to be good, useful ciu-
Zens; they are learning to work on the
school Fairgrounds.
1T would be most serious error IN
playground management were the indus
trial training features not accorded the
fullest support" said DIR. William Mehard
Davidson, superintendent OF public schools.
II regard the industrial work carried
on in connection with the school play
grounds as one of the most important or
all the playground activities.
1.-The work accomplished along this line
during the past summer. as well as in
previous playground seasons. in connec-
school Fairgrounds. has been such as TO
commend itself to all the school author
fties on the basis of its all-around excel
lence. The development Of the Industrial
training feature Of the school Fairgrounds.
with its possibilities for tremendous good
in the practical education of the children
Of Washington. is limited only by the sup
port that may be given the work.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-10-13

WHERE the Children
w Are Taught to Use
Their Hands and Minds in
Useful Work-Plenty of
Games and Amusement De-
vices, but There Is Also a
Time for Work-Children
Enjoy Making of Baskets,
Hammocks, Embroidery, etc.
What Has Been Done at
the School Fairgrounds in
Washington During the Past
Summer-Industrial Work
Has Been Completed for the
Season Appropriation by
Congress Inadequate-How
Funds Are Raised to Garry
on the Work.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-10-13
IA Hd r n

out OF school, may foHlp ana iui SMUT
and enjoy themselves. play at all sorts
of games and generally cut up as all
youngsters worthy of the name do. to
the benefit of muscles. lungs and minds.
and the detriment of clothes. Not so
many years ago this idea would have
been the correct one: the Fairgrounds
surrounding the schools were primarily
for the use of children-places where
they might gather and enjoy themselves
in Out-of-door sports and the Wholesome
companionship of the open air
But all is not play at the Washington
school Fairgrounds. There are. TO be
sure, plenty of games to be enjoyed
there: the young Americans find merry
go-rounds swings. slides. tennis courts.
tefher ball. basket ball, rings and a
score of other devices from which grow
ing boys and girls may gain pleasure,
amusement and actual benefit.
The youngsters of the capital are
taught to work as we'll as to play.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-10-13

side it was the ground level: probably he
could see grass growing and insects NOV
ing in it. He could estimate the hour by
the patch of light that moved around ms
little world. And these light-patches ne
carved laboriOusiy until he mad "ho'e
art gallery of his own. .
The history of the world in Genesis
wagged the good dame wisely: the pas
sion of our Lord, the acts OF the apos-
ties, the lives OF SIS. Francis OF safes
and Vincent de Paul.
Especial archaeology is part of the Gus
todians charm.)
There are scenes of court balls, Jousts
and battles, interSperSed with piaintiVe
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-10-13

could not teach the youngsters how to
make them. They must be able TO show
little Mary just how certain stitch
used i'm the dolly she is working on should
Johnny in the proper manner of knottins
the cords I'm the hammock he is weaving.
How do they manage to learn all these
multifariOuS details?
They must be educated i'm the industrial
feature of their work, as well as i'm the
educational: phase of teaching Every
spring. before the weather has become
warm enough to make the minds OF the
children under their care turn to the open
air and the Fairgrounds. the teaching
corps gathers under the instruction OF
DR. Rebecca Stoneroad, head OF the de-
partment of physical culture of the Wash
ington schools and receives instructions
ad libitum The things taught include all
manner of industrial work, every game
ever devised for the amusement Of blase
iuyenility, folk dances. songs and the
like. Then. when little Mary brings her
dolly to teacher for instruction, teacher
is a BILE to impart the required knoWieuse'
and when John Henry wants TO know JUST
how to go about making a copy OF
Pueblo basket he has seen in the mu-
seum. teacher can tell him and show him
how to do the work.
Congress appropriates money WIFI
which to conduct the Fairgrounds Inc
appropriations are usually Inadequate
however. the nations lawmakers belieV-
ing that something like $50 to be DIVIDED
up between six school Fairgrounds Is
ample Now. $40 may seem to Con-
s.ressman a lot of money to put into a
playground" but when that $50 is di-
yided between six school Fairgrounds II
dwindIes amazingly. Therefore. 1t is al
WAYS necessary for the schools to exc out
the meager appropriations by giving en-
tertainments, the proceeds of which go to
swell the fund.
Usually these entertainments net some
thing like $4,000 each year, and with this
amount. added to what Congress pro-
yides. the work is carried on and de-
veloped from year to year. Absolutely
rigid accounts are kept of all expendi-
lures for materials. repairs and other
work incidental to maintaining the play
grounds. and never a penny of the money
available is wasted. That the work is
needed and that it might be attended
with far better results even than are
obtained at present if more money were
available are self-evident facts.
The school Fairgrounds were originally
under the control of the municlpal om-
Gals. The board of educat ion, however,
desired that the Fairgrounds should be
placed directly in its charge, and this
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-10-13

NE naturally asso-
ciateS the word
playground with
play - the sort of
frolic. whoop and
hurrah that seems
to be a necessary
part of childish
paStime. \ school
playground, to the
minds of most per-
sons. is a place
where the children.