davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-10-05
TWENTY to Mng Years Age moonlight Schools of Kentucky
Kentucky

that he would not take $4,000 for what
he had learned. Doubtless. besides the
increased happiness and usefulness. the
knowledge which he had gained viii add
that much to his earning capacity during
the rest OF his lifetime. for he is but
twenty-five years old and belongs to
family of remarkable vigor and noted
longevity John has come 10 realize his
possibilities, and has caught. vision or
higher achievements and has enrolled as
a regular student of the day school since
the night school closed
"a
In fact more than one adult has found
in the day school a heightened oppor-
tunity, after night school sessions were
over Last year a school trustee OF linn
tied education attended the school at
night partly as an official duty and also
to accompany his wife. who was the
teacher. During the session he caught a
glimpse of possible power and service and
enrolled Immediately in the day school
and attended every day. being taught by
his wife When the day school closed
he entered a private normal school, ap-
plying himself assiduously until summer,
when he secured a certificate TO teach.
This year he Is one of the most success
full and earnest teachers I'm Rowan coun-
ty, and in both day and night school
he manifests a spirit of conservation only
possible to one who has come into the
service along a rugged path. beset by
many. difficulties. And his case Is but
typical of what is happening in many
mountain communities.
Copyright by William Atherton Du Puy. ls1sJ
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-10-05
Be Careful.

NEWPORT. as all the world knows, 10
getting more and more overrun with
the nouveaux rich. The nouveauX rich
are buying up the finest estates. and the
old and exclusive Newport families are
retiring to more isolated resorts.
Alfred G. Vanderbilt. at one OF his DIN
ners at his luxurious Newport farm, said
of a nouveaux rich who was assuming
an extraordinary disdain for all things
common and plebeian:
This chaps way of turning up his nose
reminds me of a groom of mine, who
used to say:
keen yer eye on what a man turns
up his nose at, and yen know what he's
been raised on.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-10-05

guided by some young teacher who Is
employed to work by day, but who comes
back to the schoolhouse at night in a
labor of love.
x X
These pupils of mature years are
mastering those rudiments of an edu-
cation at which they had no opportunity
in their youth. And the marvel is being
performed, for these woodsmen. men OF
mature years, descendants of the best
stock that has ever come to America.
but whose lots have been cast into con-
ditions such as their ancestors dwell.
among eight centuries ago, are learning
to read and write after half dozen
lessons. They are demonstrating a new
fact that the mature mind can master
the fundamentals of education with
wonderful facility.
So is illiteracy being banished from
Rowan county. The principle of the
moonlight school that is here being dem
onstrated has already been adopted by
dozen other counties and is spreading
throughout the mountains. 1t promises
to lift the pail of ignorance from all the
region and let in all those things that
come through knowledge of the progress
of the great outside world.
II all came about through the activf
ties Of one little woman who saw the
vision and inspired her associates to
work IL out. This woman was Mrs Cora
Wilson Stewart. superintendent of schools
for Rowan county. Placed in that sec
ton of the United States where illit-
eracy is greatest, she has found a way
out
Having studied carefully the conditions
OF the country, Mrs. Stewart decided to
open schools for adults on moonlight
nights in the public schoolhouses of the
county. She outlined her plan to the
teachers and called for volunteers. All
the teachers of the county responded. On
Labor day. September t. 1911, these teach
ers visited the homes of the people
throughout the county, explained the plan
and announced the moonlight schools
would be opened the next evening.
1t was expected that the response would
be slow, but more than 200 men and
women from eighteen to eighty-six years
old were enrolled the first evening. They
came trooping over the hills and out of
the hollows. some to add to the meager
education received in the inadequate
schools of their childhood, some to re-
ceive their first lessons in reading and
writing. Among those were not only
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-10-05

hard for a living for his family Oh
twelve. with no resources but MS corn
patch and his squirrel rifle IL is mt
ing the gloom of ignorance from the
thousands OF pure-blooded Anglo-Saxons
who have been lodged for a century in
this eddy OF the worlds civilization.
This influence is the moonlight school.
Every night that the moon shines in
Rowan county. 500 men and women.
ranging in age from the lassie of twenty
10 the venerable grandsire of eighty-siX,
fare forth on the rugged trails that lead
10 the log schoolhouses of the COM
munity There they take mp the school
books and the school tasks that their
children aud grandchildren and great
grandchildren have been struggling with
during the day Their courses are
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-10-05
A Loss.
FOB HEDGES was answ

TOB HEDGES was answering an oppo-
nent OF scientific management.
MY dear SIR ne said, do you know
whom you remind me Of? Well, you re-
mind me of the elder Dumas - Dumas
pere.
Dumas pere wasn't in the habit OF
counting his money. One day, however
in leaving his money on the mantel. he
counted it-nine louisiana went into the
bathroom to shave. On his return,
quarter of an hour later, his servant was
busting the furniture. and OF the little
pile Of gold on the mantel only seven
louis remained.
"a loss of two louis. sighed Dumas
pere. I never counted my money before
and I'll never do it again. 1t doesn't
pay"
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-10-05

bench on the boulevard. where Red Don
key was ordered TO bring our drinks and
playing cards.
"The art student i'm those days was the
real anarchist. There were no laws for
him. Many of the students lived in the
Latin Quarter. / have seen them take
the old horse bus that piled between the
Odeon and Montmartre, climb on top and
when en- route command the driver 10
halt, a command that was always obey
ed. A united shout would bring a garcon
from a neighboring cafe and drinks would
be brought us. Not until after our re-
freshment would our bus proceed on Its
course. The passengers accepted the de-
lay in tolerant. friendly good humor
Our paradise was without its Eve. No
woman had the temerity to enter the
Chat Noir In the first place, ii was too
nous skirts versus boxlike comp2ctness.
for those were the days of the starched
crfnoine. This fact in itself makes the
old Chat Noir unique
I'm three years time Sails had tucked
away q neat little sum, profits of his
cabaret and paper combined. He yearned
for other opportunities and finally he
took them. Thus 1885 ended the life Of
the little cabaret OF the first period.
Sails installed himself in more preten-
tious quarters. the Chat Noir of today,
which is in the busy section of the Rue
Victor-Masse. This is the Chat Noir of
the second period
1.-THE cabaret of Boulevard Rouchouart
was student life: the second and last
phase is that of the academician and the
theater. where / am not. l coded my
fauteuil fright to preside) to Maurice
DOnnay, the playwright"
Willette declared that although the
students in the old days were partici-
pants in many wild festivities. yet
proof that work was not neglected is the
fact that practically all of that little
band OF students have since made names
for themselves.
Willette has a striking personality
thick gray hair worn very much like
Henry Ward Beecher's, brown eyes that
have never aged. a smile that indicates
the good fellow and boon companion.
His home and adjoining studio are flied
with reproductions of his past work
that has brought him fame. A large
panel in oil hangs in his library, a paint
ing which he calls ''The Goddess of Abb
sinthe.''
This I rescued from the old Chat Noir
when it was being dismantled,' he said,
pointing 1t out to the writer. 81 had
painted 1t for the glorification Of our
meeting place"
1.-The Goddess Of Absinthe'' is a life
sized figure Of young girl in a dark
rich robe. A halo Of bright yellow SUR
rounds her head, bringing into pron.f-
hence a large black cat perched there.
Photographs Of Willette are everywhere
about the studio. All show him In mas
querade. All his life this has been one
of his fads. and 1t did not require the
occasion OF q costume ball to bring Ii
out He has q passion for caricaturing
himself in the flesh. He has been alter
nately the Emperor Louis Napoleon"
an apache. . grandee Of Spain or a wom-
an In skirts.
rs he took on he shelf Of his bookcase
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-10-05

dark line of illiteracy and get into the
class of literates. Several succeeded in
securing a Bible, which had been offered
as prize by the superintendent to those
who would learn to read and write a
letter during the first two Weeks OF the
moonlight school term.
In some of the districts the enrolment
of adults exceeded the enrolment OF
children. In two districts the enrolment
ran as high as seventy, and in several as
high as sixty-five.
One teacher, eighteen years old. had
four adult pupils in her class. but one
of these was a preacher who learned to
read his Bible and newspaper after
few weeks earnest study. After tour
lessons he signed his name to paper
for the first time: and after seven les
SONS, to quote the words of the country
SUPERINTENDENT, he wrote an enthusiastic
letter. with a period at the end of each
sentence as large as birds eye.
In another school, of sixty-five en-
rolled, twenty-three were illiterates, and
there were three preachers In the class
Several octogenarians were enrolled in
these schools, one woman, eighty-fv
another, a man of eighty-seven. Some
of the men and women entered the
schoolroom for the first time in their
lives when enrolled as night pupils
One of the significant facts brought
out in this experiment is that adults of
limited education have taken advantage
of the opportunity to return to school
and increase their knowledge. OF the
LOGO adult pupils attending night school
during the second term, 300 were unable
to read and write at all. 300 were from
those who had learned in September. 1911.
and 1000 were men and women of meager
education.
In number of instances adults from
the night schools have enrolled as pupils
in the day schools. and the superin-
tendent states that the presence of a
determined man or woman in the school
has proved an inspiration to pupils and
teacher.
The change In the attitude Of the COM
munity toward the school, where the
night school had been undertaken, is in
itself significant. school trustee thus
describes the change in his community:
II have lived in this district for fifty
five years and 1 never saw any such in
terest as we have here now. The school
used to drag along, and nobody seemed
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-10-05

artist. so after some years of study he
realized that although his appreciation
of art was unlimited, he lacked the re-
quirements needed TO become a good
artist. After calm summing UP of
obvious deficiencies he decided to open
a cabaret on the outskirts of the city
Montmartre was then a suburb-a place
where his fellow-students could con-
gregate, have their drinks and simple
meal IL wanted. A brilliant idea, said
his chums, and Sails was encouraged
to get the place.
Always with the practical in view,
Sails chose Montmartre. There were two
reasons for this selection; first, rents
were nominal. and. secondly, the fellows
could have there the privacy found in
their ateliers. The prying tourist would
never discover 1t.
"A tiny place was bargained for and
secured on the Boulevard Roucheuart,
and Sails entered upon his new duties Of
proprietor. 1t had the primitive aspect
Of cave, and was not much larger, but,
according to custom, it had to have the
dignity of a name.
Sails was an apostle of Edgar Allan
Poe. The black cat in one of Poe's weird
tales suggested itself as a name and the
proposition was put before the students.
The decision, however. was not reached
until that night. Sails, on one of his
evening strolls, saw a beautiful black cat
in the garden of a fine house. With not
even twinge of conscience he stole into
the garden, captured the animal and soon
had it a prisoner in his cabaret. This
cat was to be the mascot and clinched the
name, he said. We all agreed. In a few
days modest sign reading LIE Chat
Noir' was hoisted over the door OF en-
trance.
sails had bought few rough tables
and kitchen chairs for our comfort Such
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-10-05

iiliterate farmers and their illiterate
wives, sons and daughters, but also IL
literate storekeepers, illiterate ministers
and illiterate lumbermen Mothers bent
with age came that they might learn to
read letters from absent sons and daugh-
tiers, and that they might learn for the
first time to write them.
They had all the excuses and all the
barriers which any people might offer
high hills, bridgeless streams, rugged
roads WEAKNESS from the days hard toll,
the shame OF beginning study late In life
But they were not seeking excuses: they
were sincerely and earnestly seeking
knowledge Their interest. their zeal and
their enthusiasm were wonderful to wit
ness. 1t was truly inspiring sight to
see these aged pupils bending over their
desks which their children ano grand
children had occupied during the DAY.
In some instances. where shyness pre-
vented adults from attending at frst.
lessons were given in their MONIES uhtii
they could read and write little. They
were then eager and willing to enroll In
the night schools.
In September 1912 a moonlight school
teachers institute was held at Morehead,
Ky and the Superintendent and teachers
who had conducted the first moonlight
schools instructed others who wished TO
do work of this kind in Rowan and ad-
Joining counties and in the fall Of 1912
the movement spread to eight or ten other
counties while the enrolment of adults
in Rowan county reached nearly l,6oo.
The success of these men and women,
say the national school authorities, proves
that it is not difficult for illiterate grown
ups to learn to read and write, as Is
generally supposed They learn in
very short time, If given the opportunity.
Reading, writing and arithmetic are
simple subjects when mature minds are
concentrated upon them. A child Of or
binary mind can be taught to read and
write In three or four weeks; and the
adult can do at least as well. One man.
aged thirty. after four lessons in the
evening school, wrote the county super
intendent legible letter. Another man,
man. aged fifty, wrote legible letter
after seven nights attendance. wom-
an. aged seventy. wrote legible letter
after eight nights study. These cases
are. of course, exceptional, but experience
has shown that few weeks attendance
at night schools has been sufficient to
enable the adult pupils to pass over the
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-10-05

he
a band of French

tumble tight. unshackled by formulated
rules or omnipoteut referees. was the
court of justice that settled for the
time being the subject of dispute.
So little is known about the original
Chat Noir that Willette was asked to
give its history for the purpose of get
ting the right perspective and correct
vision Of the strange little cabaret that
was the real Bohemia of student life.
The Chat Noir of the first period OF the
Chat Noir of the second period?'' he
asked. In this way he distinguished the
old Chat Noir. "Oh, the Chat NOR of
the frat period the writer FASTENED to
say.
II am glad you ask me about the old
Chat Noir. In the swift flight OF time
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-10-05
Gle CHAT NOIR,r


names as Caran d'Ache, II. Soinm, Ed
mund Deschaumes. the editor: de la Can
dara, the portrait painter; Edmund lie Pei
letter, the present proprietor OF a Faris
journal: Steinlen, the artist. and Delarue
were the nightly patrons of the place.
1.-The heretofore incipient cunning IN
Sails nature began to unfold. AS he daily
watched us draw, write or compose, with
seldom a field for our, output, for we were
then unknown. he conceived plan to- fur
ther fatten his pocketbook. He would
start an illustrated paper and our draw
ings and writings were to be the fuel to
feed it. This he did.
ION the first page in big headlines was
printed journal du Chat Noir.' and at the
bottom in equally large letters was the
name 'Rodolphe Sails. owner once In
great while we were paid by him, but very
seldom. I remember he paid me - Tor
the black and white sketch. The Little
Birds which afterward brought $3.50.
''Salis was the true vulture. No matter
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-10-05

how down we were on our luck. we were
never given a discount on a meal, and the
drinks that were served us were never
given us as treat: no. not even after
he had just walked off with our stuff to
make up the sheets Of his paper. How
ever, we were supremacy happy in our
material poverty and rich hopes and a
minor injustice of this kind had little eff
feet
We worked and sang and drank and
recited and disputed" Willette paused
for few minutes and seemed lost In
past memories. Quickly arousing himself,
he went on.
Yes. certainly had my fists doubled
many a time. One tragedy was the re-
suit OF these arguments of strength. Sails
got into fight one night with a student
and the poor student was killed. The
blood stain was indelibly marked on the
door sill as long as the cabaret stood.
The garcon of the cabaret, I remem-
Der, We called Red Donkey When the
cabaret got too full We went out to the
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-10-05

\ ovel Educational
Experiment Bein g
Tried in the Noun
tains of Kentucky
Grown Folk Are Asked
TO Attend School on
Nights When the Moon
Shines They Learn
to Read In a Week
Schools Planned by a
Woman.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-10-05

were proudly prepared and dispatched to
children and grandchildren who moved
beyond visiting distance
What has been accomplished in Rowan
as a county system has been accomplish
ed In districts here and there in other
sections In Sandy valley hundreds have
enrolled, 100 In Lawrence county alone.
In one district In Boyd county the people
responded to the number OF sixty. In
Madison q school was conducted among
the tenant class and was thronged with
eager students. At the close of a two
week session all these tenants could read
and write; one Of them was 20 elated
with his requirements that he wrote to
his landlord, . state ofncial, and inform
ed him that he no longer had an ignorant
tenant.
In Garrard county, at Buena Vista, a
teacher opened the school for night SEES
sions. and found an anxious crowd OF
adults to greet her each evening. stu
dents Who pleaded for a heightened term
One middle.aged man was so fascinated
by the ability to write his name that
he wrote II over and over again fol-
two whole days. and was more elated al
every stroke.
One father and mother came to schoo
one night with six grown sons three OF
whom were, married. all voters. Within
two nights both parents and sons could
write their names and within two week.
they could all write respectable letters.
John Dehart declares in his first letter
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-10-05

interested. We never had a gathering
at the school, and no one thought of
visiting it. We had had night school
only three weeks until we began improve
ments. We papered the house, put in
new windows, purchased new stovepipe,
made new steps, contributed money and
bought winters fuel.
Now we have a live Sunday school, a
singing school, prayer meeting once a
week and preaching twice a month. Peo-
pie of all denominations in the district
meet and worship together in perfect
unity and harmony. aged people come
regularly and even people from the adj
joining county are beginning to come over
to our little schoolhouse."
The remark Of one woman of seventy
probably voices the feelings and senti-
ments of all the adults who have learned
to read and write in these night schools.
When asked what benefit the moonlight
school had been to her che said: "Oh, to
be able to read my Bible and to write to
my children and grandchildren--I would
not take anything for that privilege"
The studies pursued in these moonlight
schools are reading, writing, arithmetic
essential facts of language, history, geog-
raphy, civics, sanitation, agriculture and
horticulture. The reading text is the
Rowan County School Messenger edited
by the county superintendent. published
weekly for the special benefit of the adult
students, and furnished free of charge.
The paper deals largely with school and
county affairs, and the news is made up
of short sentences designed to help the
pupils in their efforts to read
tv, ntv w
1t Is held. shows that it is possible to
bring help to illiterate men and women
even under the most difficult and adverse
circumstances.
The, teachers gladly gave volunteer
service and received no compensation
whatever. A few prizes were offered to
stimulate teachers and trustees. and were
to be awarded on the highest enrolment.
the largest attendance and the number
Of illiterates taught, but teachers and
trustees announced that any prizes won
by them would be donated to the district
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-10-05

ERE is a new IN
fuence s G e { h n &
through the Cum
berland mountains.
1t is gripping the
aged feudist who
has been wont to
lie in wait for the
enemy of his clan
and pick him off.
1t is awakening
the hillside farmer
who has wreStled
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-10-05

a large book. one of series OF siE. IL
these six books are the clippings and
extracts from newspapers and magash'ts
that covered the whole of his artistic
career.
copyright, 1913. by Curtis Brown,
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-10-05

the days of this old Bohemia have been
smothered in forgetfulness. The tourist
of the new century knows Montmatre
only AS a pleasure ground. with its all
night restaurants singed with all that Is
bizarre and fantastic, where art only
thrives in the copious makeup Of the
little Minis who frisk about and prance
around to the delight of the unsophisti-
Gated seeker after Paris sights.
x x
The Chat Noir," continued Willette,
first took form in the mind of an art
student at the Beaux Arts named Rodol-
phe Sails. Sails WAS not the type of a
dreamer, Q trait dominating the usual
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-10-05

~ oAiiSO hAi0 oLAy
days Of the old
cabaret lie Chat
Noir." In Mont
martre has there
been q true b.
hernia In Paris.
Several cabarets,
which came into
being In Mont
martre after the
disappearance of
the Chat Noir are