davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1912-09-05
(To be continued.)
THE FIRST FAILURE

/ well remember my first attempt
to speak piece in school 1t was
bright June day. Quite few visi-
tors were present ] was dressed in
lettle yellow waist and a pair of
jean pants. The line between my
waist and pants was marked by a.
row of blue glass buttons. / was
white headed and barefooted. The
teacher called my name and announc-
ed that had defamation to speak.
i toddled forward, squared myself,
and began. At the end of the seconds
line became wildly conscious that
everybody present was looking at me.
The rest of that famous defamation
suddenly evaporated. ! stood par
alyzed by the horrible silence which
! could feel gathering about me like
the deadly arms of an Octopus. Would
not some one make little noise of
some sort? No. The responsibility
of properly breaking that awful ST.
lence was upon my little shoulders,
and it was crushing me. was fail
ing, failing, sadly failing. At last ]
raised my right foot and began to dig
at the calf of my leftleg with my big
toe. This gave me a little relief
and there stood digging, digging,
silently digging. But ! failed to dig
up any thing. Then my face began
to warp. raised my right hand and
with its first knuckle, began to bore
at my eyes. Finally my head began
slowly to droop. Evidently the end
was near. My head gave little jerk
and a great sob broke the silence.
That wrote "Finis" to my debut My
big sister came and LED me away.
Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1912-09-05

mo East Mail" Have you ever no
ticed that familiar sign at the postoficef
The Washington herald., 1912-06-23
CLAIMS
YOUNGEST MAYOR
Town of Imboden Has One Who Is 21 Years Old and
Owes Election to Pair of Goats

out posters and circulars; they made =
hOuse-tO-hOuse canvass; they worked
earnestly and hard. The result: Sullivan
was elected over both Of his opponents
by a good majority.
Council of Friends.
Sullivan was inducted into Office noA
long ago. When he took over the reins
Of Office he promised to guide the destl-
nies Of Imboden just as skiufuIly az
he had driven his team OF trained an
goras for the past five years. He began
his official duties fifteen minutes after
being sworn in He appointed his com.
m!ttees and inaugurated a cleanup cru
sade FOR the town in less than two hours
time. His council is composed entirely
OF friends. Among the first to wait upon
the new Mayor was his campaign COM
mittee OF twelve young ladies', with Miss
Lizzie Z. Wilson, aged sixteen, chief
manager. and Miss Ottie Bowers her
assistant. at their head.
Sullivan Is most ambitious. Now that
he has had a taste OF political excite
ment he expects to go a little further.
He wants to go to college After he has
taken turn or two at the game OF
politics and public life. he expects to
enter some university and complete his
course in literature
The Washington herald., 1912-06-23

starts out its contribution with the in
nocuOus looking statement that The
War Department has sent troops to the
border" continues with a few general
paragraphs about the Money Trust, a
few more about President Taft and the
high cost OF living. and then. after he
has filled a couple Of typewriter pages
with harmless chatter, very cunningly
brings his little hammer down on the
toes Of the parcel post, the cane sugar
as opposed to the beet sugar industry,
or some proposed tarlfr reduction, and
then slips in his little boost for some
chemically treated food product, perhaps
And next come the city boomers. A
well-paid tribe they are, and among the
:raftlest Of their kind. 1t is only cities"
on the retrograde that have them not
these days. Their assurance IS not to be
surpassed. Not content with having his
press matter printed, the 'publicist' Of
one of Marylands largest cities offers
his service at the very low price Of SO
a month for the daily letter, booming
his town and IS a month for the semi
weekly letter"
Even Our Lady OF the Shows" is not
above having a press agent to describe
her attractions for possible settlers and
The Washington herald., 1912-06-23
Her Grace EKectIrn.

An English woman OF rank. a duchess.
was very apt to forget to pay her bills.
milliner, whose large bill had been
repeatedly ignored by the DUCHESS, at last
determined to send her little girl. pretty
child Of ten years. for the money which
was so much needed.
BE sure to say your grace to the
duchess" said the anxious mother: and
the child gravely promised to remember,
When, after long waiting, she was ush-
cred into the presence OF her grace. the
little girl dropped her bow OF courtesy,
end then. folding her hands and closing
her eyes, she said. softly:
For what am about to receive may
the Lord make me truly thankful"
As she opened her eyes and turned her
wtstful gaze on the duchess. that person
turned very red, and without delay,
made out a check for the amount due
her milliner.
The Washington herald., 1912-06-23

I Inevitable, therefore. that Richard p.
Bland, OF Missouri. famillarly known as
''Silver Dick Bland, because OF his ad-
vocacy OF the free-silver doctrine, would
be the Democratic nominee. For twenty
years Bland had worked for the cause Of
free silver, teaching his tenets through
out the country till he was regarded IN
| many quarters as the future political
savior OF the people. By all the laws of
logic, therefore, he should have been the
man chosen to head the party ticket.
Proposed by TIllman.
Bland had been proposed as the Dem
ocratic Presidential Pominee by Pitch
fork Ben Tillman, OF South Carolina
Tillman's nominating speech had been
Ntrohc denunciation OF the minority
OF gold Democrats, and had stirred even
the friends of free silver to such a
pitch OF Indignation that the delegates
met his words with a storm OF Kisses
and cat calls. Then came Senator Hills
shrewd dissection OF the free silver
platform. It has been said that after
Tillman had shamed the free silverites,
Hill showed them how they had shamed
themselves.
There could have been no time more
propitiOus for the speech OF a free silver
advocate OF Bryan's eloquence. Tillman's
speech had thrown the convention into
among the free silver men. while Hilrs
address had brought Joy to the gold mi
nority and had heightened the dIsaffection
in the free silver ranks. 1t was at this
moment when William Jennings Bryan,
then a young man OF thirty-six. rose to
address the delegates. He said:
Mr.. Chairman. and gentlemen OF the
convention: would be presumptuous, in
deed, to present myself against the dis
tinguished gentlemen to whom you have
listened, II this were but a measuring
OF ability, but this IS not a contest among
persons. The humblest citizens in all
the land when clad in the armor OF a
righteous cause Is stronger Of all the
whole hosts OF error that they can bring.
1 come to speak to you in defense Of a
cause as holy as the cause Of liberty
the cause OF humanity"
Bryan's speech was short. occupying
scarcely 5000 words, and during Il he
dwelt upon glittering generalitlss in his
advocacy of free silver. He closed his
masterpiece OF elOquence with these
ringing metaphors
You shall not press down upon the
brow OF labor this crown Of thorns. You
shall not cruelty mankind upon a cross
Of gold"'
With this stirring admonition ringing
in their ears, the delegates began the
ballot. There were T6S delegates voting
and, under the two-third's rule, 512
votes were necessary for a nomination.
J. T Hin, Of Georgia, the youngest dele
gate on the floor, who was only twenty
one years old, secured the services Of
Hal T. Lewis, OF Georgia, to place Mr..
Bryan in nomination and on the first
roll call Georgia was the first State TO
cast its vote for the boy orator.
When the votes on the first ballot
had been cast, It was seen that SILVER
Dick Bland, led with 235. Bryan came
next with ll9. Robert f. Pattlson, Of
The Washington herald., 1912-06-23
PrehIrtnrIc surrerr.

There is no doubt that Some rough
form Of surgery must have existed from
very ancient times, but II is strange to
find that so complex and delicate an op-
Grafton as trepanning Is one OF the Oldest.
So far as actual records go Hippocra-
ties gives US the earliest account He
wrote treatises on fractures, dislocations,
and wounds OF the head, in which he de-
scribed the method OF procedure TO be
followed in the case of a fractured skull.
His direction was to cut away a piece of
bone, so that the pressure on the brain
might be relieved.
There are also records about this time
and later OF a file being used for this
purpose, which, at a time when anesthet-
les were undreamed OF must have been,
to say the least, painful
From inspection Of certain skulls Of the
later stone age in ancient Britain DR..
Holmes has come to the conclusion that
some Of these had undergone the opera
ton, which must have been performed
with stone implement.
The Washington herald., 1912-06-23
PRESS AGENT CULT
ALWAYS AMONG US
Since Barnums Fat Woman" Who Occupied -Four
Chairs, Lost Her Diamonds the Publicity Man
Has Been an Institution

Once upon a time when the world was
younger and Barnum had his museum
where the St. Paul building now stands
the fat woman who sat on four chairs
lost" her diamonds And from such
humble beginnings the cult Of press
agentry. OF free publicity began, says
the New York Sun. Since that time, by
actual count, no less than III leading
ladies' have followed in the footsteps OF
Barnum's fat woman, and in the most
lncomprehensible fashion nave aIso
lost their diamonds" At the present
moment no mere reporter can lay claim
tc being a good press agent until he has
put over the lost-diamOnd story, and a
box Of Jewels is constantly kept ready
for instant use among the props Of
every well-organIzed theatrical troupe.
The theatrical press agents. however,
are not alone in their campaign to keep
the public nav filled with their gratul-
sous and ''disinteTested" imitation news;
n new tribe of advertising agents has
sprung from the loins Of the parent pub
licity seekers, and now no corporation
Of interest is without its high salaried
advertising expert"
Railroads and steamship companies,
automobile manufacturers, politicians,
municipalities, hotels, churches, and ev-
cry conceivable organization from stump
dvnamiters to "phOssy-jaw' calamity
hOwlers are flooding the newspapers of
the country with their ''free-Of-charge"
contributions in an effort to reach the
public The fact that none of these free
publicity seekers wishes to pay for the
space occupied by their contributions
only lends to the ingenuity with which
they cook up" their imitation news
Items to look like the genuine article.
Comforts Evidence.
Not to discriminate against any one of
these seekers after free publicity take
look at the swat fly campaign now
icing waged against the Musca domes-
t!ca. Would you think It possible that
by any contortiOn Of the evidence an au-
tomobile truck manufacturer could twist
the anti-fiy crusade into an argument
for the use of his motor trucks? Well
the willy press agent for a motor truck
company has found a way. Last week
there was in circulation a column of
matter gravely informing the newspa-
pers that inasmuch as motor trucks
could not be fed upon or bitten by flies
therefore the horse should be retired and
their UnbitabIe motor trucks be given
chance.
The swat-ny campaigners are rank
amateurs, however, when 1t comes to
measuring lance lengths with the Presi-
Dental press agents. The amount Of
matter which former newspaper men are
now pounding out on their typewriters
at the campaign headquarters of the va
rious Presidential candidates should
force the theatrical press agent and his
brothers In crime into an expression of
their hopeless inferiority.
A single day brings to the average
newspaper city room twenty to thirty !
bulletins, Statements % |
speeches, ultimatums, declarations OF in
tention, defiance, hopes and shouts Of
victory from these Presidential press
agents. One long typewritten statement |
contains, for instance, the announcement
The Washington herald., 1912-06-23
FAMOUS DEMOCRATIC Battles OF OLD ARE RECALLED
DARK HORSE" VICTORIOUS
IN 1884 AND 1896 RALLIES
Convention Which Opens Baltimore This Week Many Respects
@ Days of Polk and Van Buren-Byan's Eloquence
Won Nomination for Him.

vention. and In order to secure the nomi-
nation Van Buren needed us votes On
the first ballot he secured 146 votes to
I2O for all the others. On the second
ballot Van Buren secured 1T votes; Cass,
IS; johnson, "A; Buchanan, 4: woodbury.,
2; Stewart, 1; Calhoun, 6.
On the third ballot Van Buren's votes
slumped to 121; on the fourth he regis
tered Ill; on the fifth lO3; and on the
sixth 10l votes.
Cass Took a Lead.
On the seventh ballot Gen. Cass, OF
Michigan, took the lead with 10 votes,
with Van Buren next with ninety-nine,
and Buchanan and johnson bringing up
the rear with twenty-five and twenty-one
votes, respectively.
before the national body and Cass' cor
responding gains seemed to indicate that
the latter would be the Democratic Pres
idential nominee. On the eighth vote,
however, James K. Polk, OF Tennessee,
the dark horse" made his entry in the
race by receiving forty-four votes. The
score now stood. Van Buren. fO4: Cass,
IA: Buchanan, two; Calhoun, two, and
Polk, forty-four.
Polk had not been even talked for the
Presidency until after the opening OF the
convention, but a few Of his friends had
previously urged his nomination as a can
didats for the Vice Presidency. The ap-
pearancs Of his name on the right ballot
was there for a considerable surprise
both to the delegates and to the party
leaders. It seemed, however, as though
he was almost universally recognized as
the only man to pacify the warning fac
tions and lead the Democrats to success,
for on the ninth ballot there was a STAN
pede in his favor. The vote on this bal
lot Stood Polk, 2S3; Cass, %, and Van
Buren, two.
Believed 1t n Fake.
So sudden was the change that the
Democratic leaders In Washington, who
received the news by telegraph over the
first commercial wire between Washing
ton and Baltimore, refused to believe
he had been nominated. The wires be-
tween Baltimore and Washington had
only been completed a day before the
convention opened, and the Democratic
leaders took the ground that the click
ing instruments were a fake.
The news, however. was later confirmed
by mail, and in the election following
Polk swept his party to victory.
Another historic case Of dark horse"
winning the Democratic nomination oc-
CURED in 1896. when William Jennings
Bryan, The boy orator Of the Platte"
made his famous crown OF thorns and
cross Of Gold'' speech, sweeping the con-
vention of its feet by his eloquencs and
winning the nomination hands down on
the fifth ballot This was probably the
most dramatic example OF convention
stampeding in the history OF either
party.
When the Democratic national conven-
tion met in Chicago on July Z, 1896 for
the purpose Of nominating candidate
for President Of the United States the
delegates were Overwhelmingly pledged
to the cause OF free silver. It seemed
The Washington herald., 1912-06-23
By SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT. .

By SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.
Baltimore, June 2.-Famous old Demo
cratic Presidential nomination battles are
recalled by the lineup Of candidates
whose supporters will meet in Baltimore
on Tuesday to fight for their nomination
TO the Presidency on the Democratic tick
ct. Notable among these past battles of
the Democracy are the Democratic con-
ventions Of 1884 and 1886. Each OF these
was held under conditions similar In many
respects to those which will enshroud the
coming convention, and in each of them
a dark horse" carried on the prize.
The National Convention Of 1874 per-
haps most resembles the coming Demo-
cratic meeting. Then, as now, the candi-
dates for the Presidency went to Balti-
more without sufficient delegates irrevo-
cably pledged TO them to make their noml-
nation certain; yet, then as now, one
candidate was the favorite in the pre-
nomination forecasts. The strong Demo-
cratic candidate for the nomination at
that time was Martin Van Buren, up for
the nomination to the Presidency for q
second term Van Buren was defeated
by James K. Polk, the first black horse"
to carry on national honors in either
party.
Van Buren's name came before the Ma
tional Democratic convention at Balti-
Of strength as will the name Of Champ
Clark in the coming fight. He was re
garded as the strong man" OF the party,
and ever since his defeat for reelection
TO the Presidency in 1S4O his friends had
been quietly working for his nomination
through party newspapers and mass
meetings. Consequently, when the con-
vention met many OF the delegates had
either been instructed for him or were
elected as his friends. Van BUren's most
dangerous rival was Gen. Cass, Of Michi-
gan, who held about the same relative
position with regard to pledged delegates
as does Gov. Woodrow Wilson, of New
Jersey to-day.
Had Small Following.
The other possible Democratic nomi-
nees were John c. Calhoun and ex-Vice
President johnson. Each Of these, how
ever had only a small following.
When the convention convened the
democrats faced much the same problem
as they will on Tuesday. This problem
was the selection Of a man TO wage a
successful fight against the nominee ot
the opposing party, who at that time
was Henry Clay, leader OF the Wings
There were many, however, who believed
Van Buren would be unable TO win
against Clay.
This sentiment grew and was fostered
by the cohorts Of Andrew Jackson, who
had become estranged from Van Buren
on account Of his agreement with Clay
TO eliminate the Texas annexation ques-
ton from the campaign. These men set
about securing Van Buren's defeat by
forcing a motion through the convention
10 observe the two-thirds rule which had
been adopted by the Democratic ma
dOnal body in 1852 and 1895. The motion
was carried and the balloting began.
There were 267 delegates to the con- |
The Washington herald., 1912-06-23

that Woodrow Wilson has just been pho
tographed by a moving picture concern
and will talk throughout the country at
hundred different places at the same
time through the medium of the phono-
graph. Next there comes a thick book
OF multigraph copy from Roosevelt
headquarters. The tissues are marked
Immediate release special" and send
to your composing room at once"
At the UnIversIty.
More insidious customers are the uni
versity press agents. Even the conserv-
ative Eastern institutions have fallen in
line with the correspondence schools and
now send out bulletins giving informs-
ton in regard to college doings, total en-
rollment, contemplated additions to the
curriculum and stan of instructors. And
most of these are very welcome. There
| is a Middle Western university not far
from Lake Michigan, however, which
really has the art of advertising itself
perfected into something like a system.
Every once in a while the reader picks
up his daily of a morning and sees
news item dated Pewaukee, Wis, which
makes the startling announcement that
seventy-four and eight-tenths of the total
number OF girls enrolled in the agricul-
tural department Of the university have
slab feet or that DR.. Buggins has sue
ceeded in creating artificial life and is
now at work injecting a solution Of hy-
drochloric acid and hypophosphate OF
mercury into the corpse of q deceased
guinea pig. The item usually goes on
to say either that the young women
with the slab feet contracted the heredi-
tary faint from their grandmothers, who
did not believe in a university educa-
ton for women. or that DR.. Buggins has
now taken a selected class OF his bright
est young biologists and with their aid
hopes to Darwinize the resuscitated
guinea pig into something resembling a
human being after several aeons have
passed.
Information Accepted.
The average reader accepts the infor-
nation as a matter Of course, and after
few remarks about the wonderful
strides Of science in the last few years
turns over to the sporting page. In one
month there came from a college in a
small Wisconsin town typewriter items
on the following subjects in which the
university was alleged to be interested:
Goats, fish, asylums. Fairgrounds, barley
contests, timber seeds, strawberries,
sugar beets, cows, and Hollanders.
There IS this to say for the university
type Of press agent. Whereas his wild
eyed brethren Of the theater attain their
apotheosls when they put across" a
story OF some one-legged giant and wild
man found raving IN a Texas cave, the
university publicity agent, on the other
hand, sends out his matter with a true |
academic odor scenting its pages. He
cultivates the grand manner and flowers
his work with classical and mythology |
cal quotations; he believes that the more |
scientific and technical terms he can
crowd into his fantasies the better and |
more convincing his story becomes. But
It must be conceded that the university /
press agent is harmless as compared
with that type Of publicity seeker which
The Washington herald., 1912-06-23

cation solidly for Bryan. and Gov. Stone.
the champion Of Bland, strobe to the
platform and withdrew his candidates 5
name. casting the "a votes OF Missouri
for the Nebraskan.
Iowa discarded Boies for Bryan,
Arkansas followed suit, Montana shifted
The Washington herald., 1912-06-23

to the winner, and then Senator Turpie.
OF Indiana, arose and proposed that the
nomination of Bryan be made unanI-
nous. Bryal's cross Of gold'' speech
had captured the convention.
He was beaten at the polls by NIcKin-
ley by S2O,O52 votes.
The Washington herald., 1912-06-23

Pennsylvania, was third, with s5, and
Horace Boies, OF Iowa, was fourth, with
So Joe Blackburn, OF Kentucky. got So,
and the wealthy John r. Mclean, OF
Ohio. 81.
On the second ballot Bland got 2S3,
and Bryan $50. On the third ballot Bland
The Washington herald., 1912-06-23

received 81 and Bryan 2Is
On the fourth ballot Bland at last fell
behind. He got 2n votes, while Bryan
drew 30. On the NTH ballot the land
slide began.
John r. Mclean withdrew his name
and cast the 46 votes Of the Ohio dele