davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-05-04
Elephants and Ants
to Lay $1,000 Miles of Railroad

along. Seeing the elephants IN front
of him the driver endeavored to brighten
them off by opening all his valves, max !
ing as much noise as possible. II failed
to have the desired effect. and after
eyeing the locomotive suspiciously FOR
few minutes the bull decided To charge
it, He came at full speed down the
road. head lowered. trumpeting vicious
ly, looking the very picture OF brute
force.
The driver at once reversed speed, but
the collision came. and the shock was
such that the engine was derailed, though
not overturned. and the elephant Sc
curely pinned by one of its legs under
the weight of the engine. IL was then
quickly killed.
The white ant" Cooper added, has
been one of our greatest banes- Eliza
bethyille station mass or their
hills rising from twenty to sixty feet
In height These have been all cleared
away, and a thriving central African
town has sprung up there. As these in
sects destroy everything except iron
and steel. the crossties for the road
beds are of special pattern and made
of hard steel.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-05-04

7 was a sergeant in this same precinct.
Early one morning--it lacked just a few
minutes of being = o'clock-I was begin
ming TO think about how good a bed would
feel. l was strolling down Pennsylvania
avenue near I'D street. when "A street
car conductor came rushing up TO me all
out of breath.
Sergeant he called. when he was
still about ten feet away Come ON,
Come on quick, Burglars, You can catch
EN- i'm the act.
Naturally | began 10 take notice.
Whereabouts? l asked, and he replied
that they were in a big warehouse down
on Potomac street.
Sure about it,? ! queried.
Dead sure he responded Il heard
EN- at work. They're footing the place.
could hear em. / tell you. Come on,
My first thought was that l had bet
ter get some additional men. Then ! hap
pened to think that if | took time to DE-
that the thieves might finish their job
and make a getaway. Besides, there was
the conductor to help me. So | gave my
belt hitch. and We started for Potomac
street at "A dead run.
1T didn't take us long TO get to In.
Warehouse. There at the door we paused
and listened Certainly strange sounds
We're coming from the inside. The bur
glars seemed to be moving the whole
place out. l turned to the conductor
You can take my club. and III take
my gun / said. Come on We'll get
en-
But the conductor had another idea
IN married man with a big family.
said he. backing of. 'Ill-IIl-I'n tell
You what I'll do'-his voice grew glad and
eager. You go In. and I'll wait out here
and catch EN- IL they try TO escape
That naturally disguised me though
10 be frank. ] didn't at all like the idea
of going into that dark warehouse alone
after burglars who probably were armed
But IT was my duty TO go. so l drew my
revolver. and. holding Il in one hand and
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-05-04

is as Spry a other captains many years
his Junior. and is forever strolling about
his district seeing that all is as il should
be. This habit of strolling resulted. he
says in one of the most amusing Incl
dents having to do with arrests that
never We're made of his entire experience.
1T happened one night last summer,
said he. Il was in civilians clothes and
was walking down New Jersey avenue,
when | noticed on the other side of the
street a couple of young fellows in even
ing clothes. who seemed to have been eel
ebrating a little too much.
About half way down the block, up a
little blind alley across from me, was an
empty pushcart The young fellows no
ticed it and stopped. \ moment later
they had that pushcart out of the alley
and We're wheeling il up the street, smil-
ing happily to themselves the while. At
store. they stopped again. One of them
walked over to the store and in a min
ute came back Juggling big bread box,
The two of them piled this into the push
cart and then started on once more.
We'll. sir, they wheeled that cart all
the way to Dupont Circle. taking round
about way and picking streets on which
there were very few pedestrians. | fol-
lowed them. keeping about half block
behind, and wondering what the end
would be.
Il found out When they got to Dupont
Circle they wheeled the cart up over
the parking and right into the center of
the circle Then they showed it up as
close to the statue as they could. and
then they turned and left chuckling
hugely.
II kept right on following them. Won
dering what | should do. OF course,
could have arrested them. but l didn't
want to do that except as last resort
They were only mischievous. So
trailed them all the way down town, and
then an idea struck me.
The boys were just turning into one
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-05-04

until about > o'clock in the morning |
found myself a the mouth of an alley
opening on u street between 9th and 18th.
You've heard about the seventh sense?
Well, my seventh sense told me to walk
through that alley. There was no reason
on earth. seemingly. why | should. APP
parently everything was calm and peace
full But something just told ME TO walk
up that alley. and l did.
About halfway up. the alley i m
speaking of makes a turn and runs along
the back yards of houses fronting on +
street. | followed the turn. and / hadn I
gone more than ten feet before | heard
a sound that made me jump. Ever hear
a burglar tapping a window pane to
break it? Well, that > what l heard. To
make sure. | located the yard and put
noise distinctly There would be a tap
every few seconds. Evidently my man
was working steadily and easily.
Well. 1 tiptoed back down the alley
10 ID street and there, in front of a gro
Gerry store. l found a bread box. 1t was
exactly what | wanted. / picked il up.
tiptoed back 20 the yard and put il up
against the fence. Then l listened again
My burglar was still working.
Il climbed up on the box. Then | drew
my gun, and put the other hand ons top
of the fence was considerably OF an
athlete in those days-gave yell and
Vaulted over into the yard
1t was a good. long leap. There was
only trouble with ii. | landed right
smack in d great bis pail of garbage
That made me forget all about the bur
giar for quite a while-and then ! noticed
that although | yelled. and although my
leap couldn't very we'll have escaped at
tention, | didn't hear ans body trying 10
get away.
Nevertheless. l got my gun up TO a
ready position Whoever YOU are | or
dered, throw up your hands and come on
out, or Ill Shoot
There was no answer. Instead. tore
was dead silence for a second, and
then once more | heard the furtive tap
tap that had brought me over the fence.
and the noise was only about two feet
distant
That settled it. / reached in my poe 4
ct, found match. struck ii, and began
to look around. / found my burglar al
right. 1t had rained early in the even
ing. and water was still trickling down the
drain pipe and falling, one drop at time,
or a big piece of glass that lay on the
ground directly in its course. Every he
a drop hit the glass there was a tap, and
that was the answer. No. there were no
arrests that night
II had a burglar experience myself,
where l expected to get hero medal
and my pictures in all the papers. and
didn't get anything but big laugh"
said Capt Henry Schneider, who rules
precinct No. = I'm my case. though. |
had a real person to deal with, a person
who but I'd better tell il all from the
beginning.
1T happened several years ago. when
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-05-04

a week later l was walking down 9Th
street when Harry came up 10 me.
Mistah Williams said he. Use a sin
full niggah. an | is scared
How's that | asked.
Well said he. its dis-a-way. You
see. Mistah Tom. NAH boss. he done
bought a luvly Bible Nah heart got
sinful. an ! coveted dat book. ar so
up an stole ii. But Mistah Williams
femme tell YOU. Las night | got de
book out to read il. an | opened it
an Mistah Williams. dat book Is JUS
chuck full o money. | wanted de book.
but don want all dat money. Man.
dey,d Sit me and send me 10 Jail fob life.
So asks YOU. Mistah Williams. please to
take de book an de money back to ma h
boss an tell him Sc sorry. You kin tell
him, too Mistah Williams. dat | Amt
a-comin' to work in de morning. Use
a-leavin dis town tonight.
And in View of the fact that he re
turned every dollar Of the money. also
the Bible. and was just about deeply
repentant as any man I ever saw in my
life, concluded the jail didn't need him.
and let him go
Although Capt. Michael Byrnes of pre-
cinct No. Is has served forty-two years
as a member Of the police department. he
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-05-04

all jumped in, and l told the driver to
let the car out to the limit
We got to the house in about two
minutes. and there. sure enough. on the
third floor. was a dim light Imme-
diately. l had the house surrounded. /
put three men in an alley at the back
and three more in front Then, with two
men | walked up to the front door 1t
was locked, so we smashed window.
crawled into the parlor. drew our guns,
and made our way to the stairs
I'VE passed the second floor and were
on our way to the third when a dim
figure appeared al the head of the
stairway.
"'You dirty crooks says this figure.
throw up your hands. or I'll fill you
all full of lead""
a little old said /. Then l turned
to my men. Come on / said Well
have to charge him and take a chance.
And we started up three steps at a
time. The man didn't shoot. and we
were Just on the point of grabbing
him when he called out again. Cool
gracious he said. is that you Capt
PeckT
Then ] woke up. and a minute later
instead of clapping steel bracelets on
the burglar l had him by the hand and
was telling him ] was glad to see him
You see, he happened to be the
owner of the house. He had merely
run back to town for the night unex-
know"
Capt John c. Daley. who runs things
over in precinct No Q. was smoking a
short-stemmed corn-cob pipe when The
Star man approached. For the love
Of Mike" he exclaimed when the re-
porter had explained his mission. "if
all the people who have been turned
loose had been locked up the city gov
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-05-04
A Pretty Compliment.

THE American custom OF giving ban
quets for men only, and then allow
ing the banQueters wives. hungry and
thirsty, to look down on the feast from
a balcony-this custom may not be very
gallant. bur it afforded Lord Morley, on
his recent visit to New York. an oppor-
tunity for q pretty compliment.
Lord Morley. at one of these banquets.
looked up at the balcony glittering with
lovely ladies and exclaimed
"Ah, now / understand the meaning of
the biblical phrase: Thou madest man
a little lower than the angels"
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-05-04

nv club in the other, / had the conduc-
tor open the door-it was unlocked-and
bounded inside. Then / stopped mo-
ment held my breath and listened
Il could hear the sounds far more
plainly now, but they didn't sound like
burglars at all. In fact they sounded 50
little like them that | boldly struck a
match and looked.
And there. lying curled up on the floor,
was about the tiniest darky | ever saw in
my life. sound asleep, and snoring to
beat the cars. He had been out late, was
afraid 10 go home and so crawled into
the warehouse and made his bed on the
floor.
"Of course. technically he was tres
passing But did | arrest him? | most
certainly did not. | didn't even wake him
up. | Just tiptoed out and let him sleep
on. But came mighty near TO arresting
that conductor just on general princi-
Pies
Capt Robert f. Doyle-,'Uncle Bob as
he is affectionately known to the folks in
precinct No. s. where ne holds forth and
sees TO it that everybody behaves at the
ball park-grnned reminscentiy when
asked to tell of some notable arrest he
did not make.
Tell about lust oneo' said he. Il could
tell YOU about enough to ill up whole
book. Seriously, about half the time il
best To let the man go. That way you
make him a good citizen. The other way
YOU run fine chance OF making him a
crook. for the arrest hurts his reputa
.5on and he IS liable to drift into the
con t-give-a hang class
But | guess the incident that impress
d me most didn't concern a man at all,
Xcept indirectly. 1t concerned a young
eter a little ten-y ear-oId lad, freckle-
faced and sassy as they make en-. Well
call him George.
George had been playfully amusing
himself by throwing stones and oyster
shells at passing street cars He did It
for several days. and finally, one after
noon. he took careful aim and succeeded
in breaking a window. Then one of my
men nabbed him. after a long chase.
We'll sir. he was the worst scared lad
You ever saw in YOUR life. As soon as he
got in the station he began to blubber.
and in about ten seconds he was wailing
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-05-04
party armed with rifles arrived on tn
scene and shot both lions.

party armed with rifles arrived on the
scene and shot both lions.
AT another time a construction tram
was putting along with a heavy load OF
material near Gwelo, when full-growr
lion was sighted, stretched right across
the line, and basking peacefully in the
sun. In reply to the whistle of the engine
the brute looked up lazily. but did not at
tempt to move. The efforts of the driver
and stoker to drive him off the line BY
pelting him with billets of wood We're no
better rewarded.
THE train was on the point Of coming
to a standstill when the lion lost his
temper He took a sudden spring at the
engine. seeking in vain for something on
its smooth surface into which he could
drive his claws, and thus secure a foot
hold. Again and again the beast sprang.
falling clear of the engine every time
The driver then realized that the best
thing to do was to go full steam ahead
and trust to the weight of the trucks be-
hind to keep the train on Its line ana
clear the lion from its path.
This was done, with the result that the
Jion-a magnificent specimen-was cut
to pieces by the engine wheels.
Quite a number of natives. according TO
Cooper, have lost their lives by being
camps, and for this reason strong pail
sades are built around them, and cattle
kept in specially constructed corrals-
"A Scotchman working on the line"
continued the engineer. was surprised
one day to receive a letter from his wife
In Scotland saying she had made UP her
mind to come out and join him. he
must be very lonely living among the
blacks. and having no one to cook for
him. In due course she arrived.
unfortunately, the house which the
engineer had instructed TO be built was
incomplete when the good lady came.
Blankets were accordingly placed over
the doorless entrance and over the win
dow opening and the engineer and his
wife retired to rest. In the dead of
night they were awakened by the growls
of lions, and IL was clear that the brutes
were prowling round the house IN search
of prev The two sat up in bed by the
light of candle. the man hoioing ms
loaded rife ready. and the woman Sob
hing with fear. The man would have
gone out and driven the beasts OF. but
he had only two bullets left, and had
perforce to remain inactive.
But il was too much Tor the good
Iady,s nerves and next morning she took
train down the line to Bulawayo. and
sought a cottage with strong doors and
windows"
What about elephants? the inter
viewer asked
.They have given US a lot of trouble,
replied Cooper, by tearing up the
roadbed. pulling down the telegraph
wires and upsetting the posts some
little distance north of the Victoria Falls
a herd of elephants regularly crossed the
railway. night and morning. 10 and from
their watering grounds
!
This went on for months until one
day the herd were in the act Of making
the passage when an express train came
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-05-04

eminent would have gone broke feed
ing its prisoners,
I've had a lot of funny experiences
along that line. I guess the funniest
of them all though was back in the
DAYS when I was hoofing it as a high
private in No. >. Sergt. McTaggart-
he wasn't a sergeant then-and |
were partners when it happened.
There had been a lot of housebreaking
Cning on and while we hadn't caught the
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-05-04

captains who. from as many preclle' >,
direct the dcstinies Of our oniclal
guardians of the peace.
"Of course We make pinch when
ever it's absolutely necessary. sara
Capt sullivan, who controls the destl-
MES OF precinct No 8. but just the
same. there are a whole lot of arrests
that might he. but aren't We let EN-
90 right along Why. when | was
pounding the pavement 7 guess | let
pretty nearly as many go as | took in
And I'm glad Of il,
Usually we let EN- so because we
mink We can fix things up better that
Nav-save the man money and dis
er4ct-give him Il good plain talking
10. instead of fine. OF course. We have
70 use our judgment as TO when that's
the best way To proceed Sometimes
however. We fail to make arrests for
an altogether different reason. Some
times We get it put over on us good
aud plenty 4 got mine as the saying
goes. - good many times, and there =
one ease in particular that sticks out
in my memory like sore thumb.
1T happened good many years ago.
vhe; l Was buck private down az old
Number g. one night or rather one
morning about : o'clock. | was hoofng
Il slowly ilp PENNSYLVANIA avenue. swing
fu- my club ANA thinking about nothing
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-05-04

solid gold hero medal / didn't get said
capt. Elliott of No. 10. and it happen
ed just a couple of weeks after the
stunt Sullivan mentioned
Il was in the same precinct with Sully,
old No. .. At the particular time I'm
speaking of ] was on night duty. and
things We're as dead as a side street in
the suburbs on Sunday. There weren't
even any pedes TRANS worth speaking of,
and so / hroNSed around ON the beat
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-05-04
Fighting Lions,
Jurisprudence of The Star.

Special Correspondence of The Star.
LONDON, April 81. 1913.
yV7ORLD-WIDE interest in the ap-
w preaching completion of the Pan
anna canal has served to divert at
tention almost completely from another
mighty project = namely, the Cape-to
Cairo railway-to build which, over ter
ritory entirely British, was one of the
dearest dreams Of that great empire
builder, Cecil Rhodes.
When the Germans annexed the
whole of the east bank of Lake Tan
ganyika and declined to cede a mile OF
it to Britain it looked as if Rhodes VI
sion of an ALFRED route through the
Dark Continent never would be realized,
but the Belgians, evidently wide awake
to the value of the railway. have agreed
officially to transfer a strip of the Kongo
to the British flag, so the Cape-to-Cairo
line will be "All Red after all Mean
while. vast strides have been made with
the work, and through trains from the
Nile to the cape, 5000 miles away, will
from now.
According to Percy V. Cooper, one of
the constructing engineers, who is now
in England. and who received the writer
Yesterday, the line northward had crossed
into the Kongo from northwest Rhodesia
to a place called Elizabethville. which
formerly consisted of collection of ant
hills. 1920 miles from Cape Town. to
which point trains are now running reg
ularlv. From Cairo the rails have been
f1r dfCfa nf /
miles south of Khartum. or right into
the heart of the Sudan. Accordingly
If ADVANTAGE is taken OF the upper
reaches of the Nile and the great Afri-
can lakes, the Albert Nyanza and the
Victoria Nyanza, by placing steamers
upon them and running these in connec-
ton with the railway, less than SOO miles
will need to be laid.
1T has been a stupendouS work, SAID
Cooper, land the difficulties have been
immense though they may seem small In
comparison with those which your men
have overcome in Panama There has
been the hostile attitude of the natives to
contend with and overcome, encounters
with elephants lions and other wild
beasts in northwestern Rhodesia, and
then is the kongo was approached. the
rayages Of the white ant and other ter
mites had to be reckoned with. 1t was
here, also. that the line entered the area
where sleeping sickness was rampant.
TT was in May. 1903. that the railway
passed the Victoria Falls and plunged
northward to Broken Hill. district rich
i'm all kinds OF minerals. and along this
section of the route natives turned out
in thousands to gaze on this wonderful
animal belonging to the white man that
ran on rails and fed on fire and took
medicine-that is. oil-to keep away the
fever Lions and other beasts gave US
a lot of trouble there. too. There was a
stand I'M fight once between lion and
lioness and four native workmen armed
with croWbars and pickaxes. Though all
of them were badly mauled, they man
aged to keep the brutes at bay until
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-05-04

Halt and hands up. l ordered, but
there was no response and the noise con-
tinued. Just then the mistress Of the
house turned on the light in the kitchen.
with the result that the entire porch was
lighted up.
Il took a look, an. there was my bur
glar 1t was a stray chicken that had
climbed TO the porch to steal food from
the garbage can.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-05-04

on. its easy enough to make records
FOR locking men in the caboosei
Rut the copper who'll rise
Is the copper who's wis"
A. ia inst when tn turn his man loosc
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-05-04

HUS sang the
wandering MIN
strel of the police
department, anu
he based his lay
on the actual eN-
periences under
cone by the
eIeye titular
heads OF the
Washin gton blue
coats in other
words. the eleven
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-05-04

he had any idea who had robbed him. and
mentioned Harry, but he shook his head.
Nav, suh,' said he sadly, Harry
wouldn't do it. Harrys a good boy
blongs to NAH church, an been workin'
fob me foh five yeahs. Dat boy wouldn' t
steal nuthin'. Tain him
I'VE had an investigation. but We
couldn't do anything. We didn't have
anything to work on. One evening about
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-05-04

The most famous arrest that l
didn't make goes right along with the
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-05-04

This went on for months until one
day the herd were in the act of making
the passage when an express train came
The Cairo bulletin., 1913-02-09
SAYS DARR(lW
FIXED BRIBF
( s5l 4#as4 me @M# HI m III *
I So
Lockwood, venireman, Gives Version
Of Alleged Attempt to
Bride Him.

Los Angeles, Cal. Feb 8.--George
NJ Lockwood, venireman In the Nc
Namara trial, testifying In the Oar
row case today, gave new version
of the alleged attempt to bride him
lockwood said:
After had consulted with Dis
trict Attorney Fredricks / saw
Franklin again and said to him: T
am TO get $500 down and $3.6o0
after the case is over. Now want
to be sure OF getting my money
Franklin said: I will see OAR
row and see what arrangements can
be made about the payment Of tho
balance 80 that you will be abso-
lutely certain
In the first trial of barrow the
state alleged Lockwood was ap.
preached by Bert H. Franklin, de-
teetive employed by the Mcnamara
defense and offered $4,000 II he
were accepted asa Juror and would
hold out for the acquittal OF James
B. Mcnamara. i
Sickness is expected to force Earl
Rogers Ito withdraw from the case
as Darrow's counsel.