davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-05-03

tations tend 10 more north and south
travel.
Many Of the currents have their own
distinctive tempors. Each current has
an average feeling. The currents
streaming toward work will let
drunken street corner orator severely
alone. Work is uppermost in most
minds and little street distractions do
not matter. The luncheon time cur
rents have more leisure. Relaxation
aids digestion. and it is instinctively
sought. The orator gets a hearing. He
is also certain of attention when the
currents reverse themselves and are
homeward bound. Any little incident
of the streets will be allowed TO play
its entertaining part in the evenings,
too.
The temper. or average feeling, OF
baseball current IS not unlike that Of
the streams OF workers With the fans
baseball is a serious business. There
is comparatively little humor in a
crowd on its way 10 a game. much on
the return-if the home team has won.
But the saddest temper and the
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-05-03

! lieve Davis was the mans rish' "'"'''
ard that il may go down in history as
the common name for him and all state
oxecutioners who come after him. just
az LACK Ketch" was given to genera
lions of EngIand's haEgmen.
Would it be possible to get pic'-
ure of Davis2" the official was asked
II don't believe a picture OF nm was
ever published he replied. Ihere
have been drawings made OF him. put
none has been authentic. He said re-
centlv he had never had his photograph
taken since he became electrocutioner-
IN keen his identity as unfamiliar as
nossible lest some crank attempt 10
wreak vengeance for some relative or
friend on him
When John r. Riley, state Superin-
tendent OF Prisons, was asked ABOUT
Davis. he said:
IT know very little about MIN In
foct 7 never saw him. think he liVes
somewhere around Elmira. The nego-
tiations with him are carried on en-
tIrely through the prison wardens.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-05-03
Continued from first page.

noon this continues. Then for the rest
of daylight the town is deader than q
village fifteen miles from the railroad
with a population of two women who
won't speak to one another
Night brings a reversal of the cur
rents.
4 sort Of barometer Of population
current is furnished by the public golf
courses in Van Cortlandt and Pelham
Bay parks. on a Sunday afternoon in
summer IT is entirely possible tn have
a round Of golf on one of these courses
without much waiting But let fall APP
rear. with cold water at the beaches,
and several hundreds are waiting 10
toe up" at mdafternoon. The oondi-
tons Of holiday travel during cold
weather have returned.
Another seasonal change is that as
sociated with the days before Christ
mas. Then the general preparation for
the season increases the currents
toward the shops Christmas consul
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-05-03
TWO WEE STONE COTTAGES IN
CORNWALL.

I'VE took two wee stone cottages
there. because we could not find one
that was big enough for us to be per-
fectly comfortable in. MIR. Ellis
rooms and the kitchen were in one cot
tage: my rooms and the dining room
were in the other Some Of the good,
narrow minded Cornish folk were
sadly shocked. and thought We couldn't
love each other any more. Her live III
one house and him in the next house,
they gOssiped, and every night the SER
want maid do lock the door on he and
give the key 10 She.
MY PLAYS" echoed Mrs. Ellis, VINO
much prefers talking about 'Havelock
and his achievements to discussing her
own. "Oh, yes, | have produced sew
eraI. The Subsection of kczia ran fol
six months in the best London the
aires; then a stock company played II
for a year. Kits Woman published
in America as 'Steve's WomanD was
produced by the Play Actors. Next
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-05-03

fall Edith Craig, Ellen Terrys daugh-
ter, is to produce my new one-act play
The Pixie. at the Pioneer Players. l
have another new play with me- a one
act melodrama, The Laughter Of the
Gods. which | hope to place here IN
America.
Il shall have to tell YOU how ! wrote
The Subsection of Kezia, for the story
is really quite amusing. 1t is a dram
atization from My Cornish Neigh
bors. | was very i'll with bronchitis;
i'm fact. 1 was supposed TO be nearly
DYING. All of sudden felt the IN
spiration to write that play. so ! said
10 my husband. 'Havelock, prop me ~
in bed: I'm going to write play
Nonsense" said he, you aren't
able. Don't be foolish
Il insisted. so he propped me up and
| wrote that play in two mornings
sent it off to the publisher and 1t was
accepted by return mail. Now, when
ever I'm i'll, which isn't often, fortu-
nately. | expect TO write play, but, or
course. don't wait for such time!
Yes. | write stories and novels, too,
and I've lectured off and on for twenty
eight years.
II have a new book over here with
me that / want TO have published IN
America. No, | think / won't tell the
title yet not until l have arranged for
publication"
It is rather too early for the regula-
ton demand for impressions OF New
York. but Mrs. Ellis assures her callers
that she is having a delightful time,
enjoying everything and everybody.
DO you know" she exclaimed, Il
lust adore animals, so you can imagine
nv delight at finding dear little
kitten asleep on my bed when | ar
rived. I have some beautiful cats at
Rose Cottage in. Cornwall. Look, I've
brought their pictures with me. Aren't
they dears?
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-05-03
SEA OF THOUSAND CURRENTS

saddest set Of currents in all New York
belong to the outcasts, the tramps,
the buns" the park "benchers.' While
their orbits often seem individual. they
have much in common. In summer one
end is park bench i'm winter A
lodging house-if fortune is kind. The
river may be the end Of many orbits.
From five 70 a dozen bodies of unknown
dead have been taken weekly in sum-
mer from a point near the head OF
Manhattan where the waters OF the
East and the Harlem rivers join. Boat
men there say that these bodies come
from both lower and upper Manhattan
They are caught and washed back and
forth at a neutral point between the
two rivers. And they equal but a
small part OF the number never re-
covered.
This side Of the spectacle OF the cur
rents Of New York makes the philoso-
rher OF the streets reflective.
For there's only two weeks pay and
six weeks bluffing between many of
US and the men in the river. he says.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-05-03

nave been economically independent, as
| believe it is the only way for women
10 live the larger life. When We mar
ried we vowed A solemn vow that we
would not see so much Of one another
that we would get to the point of say
ing My dear in a mean, SIMPLY, I'M
caressing way TO each other We
meant to keep the beauty of our love
always, to remain sweethearts forever
and so we have lived and labored side
by side. each Of us with our own sep
arate workshops.
For twelve years We lived in Corn
wall, where I was a practical farmer,
and got my copy of the life and ways
Of Cornish folk first hand. ! used that
copy in this book" and Mrs. Ellis held
up an attractive. green-bound volume,
the title Of which read My Cornish
NeighbOrs'
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-05-03

The vote is imperative, because il Is
one point in a circle of justice. II is
not and can not he the circle itself.
II is one of the means whereby woman
can at last realize herself as an entity
and not an appendage. Woman Is
awake. and her demands will be met
i'm spite of man and in spite Of herself.
Man is as absurd a slave TO super
stition on the woman question as
woman is on the man question or the
labor question The 10 Dor question and
the woman question are twins. The
iaborer is awake. the woman is awake.
and the problems Of both are in many
ways alike. Freedom must he gained
for both, likewise equality of oppor-
tunity.
Some twenty-five years ago Ramsey
Macdonald, our labor leader, and I
founded a fellowship house for the
members Of the Fellowship Of the New
Life, an organization in which one of
your Americans, Perceval Chubb, was
Goethe's teaching and live the whole,
the good and the beautiful ] was
twenty-five then" laughed Mrs. Ellis.
"Of course. that sort of thing is all
right and quite feasible when one is
Twenty-Five, The result was, however,
that we all got married. and found the
whole, the good and the beautiful in
that way, My book Attainment
deals with that experiment.
personally, I'm quite we'll pleased
with the outcome. Ny husband and /
have been married for twenty-three
years we are very happy and of the
greatest oneness In all essential things.
one reason why / feel sure | shall love
America is because it is in America, as
in Germany, that my husbands work
is most understood.
DO | believe that women should he
economically independent" Most as
suredly. Throughout my married life !
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-05-03
By GURDEN EDWARDS.

rpAT Sing Sing during the days
Immediately preceding 'he
- death of the four gunner there
aitted sinister figure whose work.
mora than any other phase OF the
whole grew some affair, emphasized the
harharism Of capital punishment as
nractised in New York. TINS was INC
agure Of the state Electrician. who'
cloaked in secrecy, has been killing TEL
low human beings for the state for
tventy-four hours-1S3 Of them IN all
to date-at $3.50 apiece, earning to'ai
Of S45,75O I'm these fees.
The premise that capital punishment
as IL is carried out in this state is par
barous cannot depend for proof on
considerations OF sympathy. or eVen
common humanity, for the four victims
Of April 1S. The facts are too wen
known 10 place reliance in that direc-
tion The men were little deserving OF
pjtv. they were heartless murderers'
their lives were not only worthless TO
society hut were a menace TO II. 1t Is
recorded in affidavits that they COM
pittsd many murders besides that of
Rosenthal. for which they died ana
that they always held themselves
ready TO commit more for a price.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-05-03
STATE ELECTRICIAN DAVIS IN
DEATH CHAMBER.

In the death chamber the State Elec-
trician stood waiting for him. ana
then watched his keepers strap nm
into The death machine he had per-
fected from the original designs OF
other men. Then ne stepped to the
switchboard and, like motorman at
his controller. began manipulating Il
lever sending from 500 TO 200 volts
~ electricity raging through the body
of the victim. The voltage was deter
mined by his expert judgment OF the
amount required TO bring quick death
based on the constitution of the man
in the chair: and then the first shock
was followed by many more expert
MANIFESTATIONS of the lever as the exc
cutioner stood there calmly watching
his victim die The first high pressure
was maintained for from five to seven
seconds. then reduced To 200 volts
until half minute elapsed, again
raised. again lowered. and hnaily
raised once more TO high voltage for
a few seconds. when the contact was
finally broken. His hand has become
So EXPERT al il that he could take MS
o,,es off his work to squint around the
end Of the partition hiding the SWITCH
board To observe the effect OF the cur
rent on the dying man.
After that came the doctors with
their examination. But the spectacle
Was not yet finished. The doctors
stepped back and once more the state
electrician's practised hand moved
back and forth at the lever repeating
the application OF electricity Wheh
finally the current was smut OH assam
the doctors made their examination,
and ,hsn turned 20 the witnesses ana
said. Il pronounce this man dead ana
Mr.. Davis had earned his first S-oo'
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-05-03

He Has Offciated as Executions
1873 Times in the Last Twenty.
four Years and Has Earned
a Total of $45,75O.

said. Davis sat for a lar, =.
wrapped in deep meditation Tn.
noticeable thing about him WAS
Of fixed smile, due 10 his pro,ru1-
teeth. Suddenly he became rsu,.'
cent and began 10 talk OF Al. y,
work. He seemed TO feel sincerely -.
his work is one Of humanity. NJ.
his quiet. gentlemanly demeanor =.
would never pick him out for N. ~.
devoid Of all human sympathy ~,
one would expect public executes.
to be. He proved to he q most ina.
esting conversationllist when \. o..
started
~ feel that in putting men to dan
i'm the electric chair. he SAID :.
humane act is being performed Ts,-
have got to die, and somebody r.r
pull the switch that turns on Ia, %,
trio current. The courts that q,
fenced them sealed their DOOM 70,
And the electric chair is certainly nj
Improvement over the crude. bung.,
method Of hanging. Some men u.
have witnessed electrocut.om Ia,
found things about them tina, we're q,
slightly.
persons put 10 death in the .s
trio chair die painlessly and Instant
Death is accomplished in not mn
than one-siYteenth Of second Corr
less minute hemorrhages take place \
the brain and the lungs instantly II
lapse.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-05-03
THREE sxEcUTIoNERs BUT ONLY
ONE KILLS.

Rut Only one Of those cords actually
springs the trap beneath the victim
and plunges him through to death
Two of the cords have no effect ana
none of those three men knows winch
was the effective cord, and no one be-
.ides themselves knows which cord
each cut. They are assigned to do TINS
work as a part Of their routine prison
duties. without extra pay, and they
may decline to act if they want TO-
Put il is not so with executions in the
state Of New York. The eXecutoner
here is called by the more euphonious
title Of state Electrician. But there
the euphony stops. Since 1890, when
the first electrocution took place in the
death Of William Kemmler. 81 Erie
County. this one man has put scores OF
his, fellow human beings 10 death IN
The name Of the law.
On April Is "Dago Frank eshen ana
shrinking, stumbling and babbling his
pravers in the dreary monotone Of al
most unconscious fear, was led into
The death chamber at Sing Sing, after
being penncd up many weeks in eel!
i'm the next room, contemplating the
relentless approach of his doom.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-05-03
THE STIR CREATED BY ?
ELEcTROCUTloN.

That first electrocution arouss'
terest all over the world. No Oh =,
allowed To witness II except prlso
6cials but. to describe the surroa.
scenes in the words Of one OF III
est prison department employees %
parermen were there in legion I"
pying every point Of vantage r0a
tops of telegraph poles TO the
steps Of tho prison.
OF the 1S3 persons who have ds'
der Davis's hand, 100 were kihsa
Sing Sing. IS at Auburn ana =
Clinton. one Of the few times @
April l3 that four men were e'''
cuted at one time was July . l"L
that case each OF the four men
committed a separate murder
were James J. Slocum1 II. A. sm'N
japanese named SchihiokJusio 81
negro known as Joseph.
The early executions we're NOV
ways successful from the yie"poA
humanity. Il being necessary 10
iect some Of the victims 10 se'efa
and nerve racking currents oeio'
doctors declared them dead. But ri
officials say that Davis always
ON with cynical smile when ms
Tors say a man is not dead si'e'
first shock. They say he always
that death is inevitable within
sixteenth ~ d. second from the D's'
plication Of the current; but 10 I"
The physicians he always Turns
second application. even miro
the case Of Lefty Louie the :"
the four gunner 10 die April i0'
They say. 100. that he takes
deal Of satisfaction In the faet '"'
person he has put 10 teath mas
been found afterward 90 be ihH'
His task is sometimes made hsn's
considers. by the confessions 'nN
often come from condemned men
ing the last minutes.
Before the first human being ="
.fcially killed with electricity hO"
experiments were conducted on
mails Il was found that 500 vols
kill a I.2O0-pound bull instan'S,
the anomalous fact WAS e'~ ,
that IL takes from 1.Soo 10 -"
TO bring death 10 a human oens
/ the same painless dispatch "
why persons requiring more 'nsr
ones. The shock releases : 10 ~
power Of energy in their bodies
experienced eye has learned
Of the necessary amount As "
are strapped into the chair II
There are now IN the death no =,
Sing Sing twelve murderers
electrocution ana four az Aa0u,s
Of the latter being a woman
Of them are saved by appeal
capitsl punishment is not aooll'as
fore their time comes. Davis VIZ
/ 5000 more snuffing out theiF w
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-05-03
a STATESMAN FROM PENNSYl
vANIA-WHO is HEP

zone Of YOUR nice American men,
statesman from Pennsylvania-rm not
quite sure what his title was-askel
mo one afternoon If J had one Of my
lecture frocks in my cabin with me- l
told him that had. whereupon he re-
ouested me to put it on that night and
come down to dinner at $50 O'Clock.
II was not until that hour that found
that he was giving dinner party for
me with twenty guests. Such a jolly
time that was,
yes indeed. am a suffraSist. We
been one yer since | was eighteen ana
now I'm ffty-three," was Mrs. Eliiss
prompt answer to regulation question
No |.
NO. I'm not going to talk about sur
frage over here. | shall talk about the
larger life which we shall live after
women gain possession of their birth
right of equal opportunity with men TO
serve the public good in the same way
that man thinks he is serving the com
monwealth-by voting for what he con-
siders right as against what he consid-
ers wrong.
Mrs. Ellis is not militant suffra-
gette. however: not a bit of II.
Militant methods, like all war. be-
long 10 the savage. not TO the civil
lied" she asserts 1t is not playing
fair TO break the laws of country. or
to rob peaceful citizens by destroying
their property and then protest at not
being allowed To starve to death. or to
revolt violently at life being saved oy
tho -.pfy means available.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-05-03
TAE BRUTALiZiNG EFFECT OF
ELECTROCUTlONS.

All Of these things can he said in de-
fence of capital punishment in thelr
cases and many others: yet there is one
phase of il that even such a view does
not Justify. and that is the brutaiizlns
effect Of the whole affair, not only on
the society in whose name the death
sentence is carried out, but more espe-
ciallv on the individual who does the
actual work of putting men 10 dealh'
There was not even the pretence OF
indirection about it, 1t was the prac-
tised hand Of State Electrician Edwin
F Davis that killed directly the four
men. while his expert eye watched
their bodies stiffen and relax. stihen
and relax. watching. with coldly pro-
fessional scrutiny. the process OF de-
stroying their vital functions with the
nitiless electric death machine of his
own perfecting.
That was the sheer barbarity OF It,
in sharp contrast 10 the effort to mlu-
gate personal responsibility for killing
that is made in some states, where
hanging is still practised, but the actu-
al executioner is never known. even to
himself In those states three prison
guards are assigned to the work. They
are in a box, where they cannot see
the condemned man as he stands on
the trap. Before each of them there is
a taut cord running across a block ana
each holds a sharp knife against the
cord in front of him. AT signal from
the hangman they each simultaneously
cut one cord.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-05-03
WHAT MEN SAY OF THIS UN
KNOWN PARSONAGE.

a clerk who has been with the de-
partment many years said the eXecu-
tioner came to the Offices very seldom,
the last time being about year ago.
He always seemed to have pecul-
lar smile on his face he said. He
is a man Of about sixty years Of age,
five feet seven inches tall slender and
somewhat spry in his actions, and he
has sharp features and a dark COM
plexion."
To those who have met Davis and
talked with him. there was something
uncanny about him. for his grewsome
profession seemed to have become a
part of his personality. a former
warden Of Sing Sing once said:
81 could hardly bear to eat with him
when he used to come TO the prison
for executions. Sometimes at meals
he would talk about his work-how
hard one man had taken his death'
how easily another had succumbed to
the shock. 1t made me so sick some
times | had to leave the table
An official connected with the Al
bany County Sheriff's office, and who
had attended several electrocutions at
Dannemora. told how he had found
Davis an unusually tacturn man until
one day they were returning together
from the prison on the train after an
execution.
AS the train rushed along, he
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-05-03

HE English woman who Nis''s
these United states Of ours to-
l. day. whether she is well known
or not. is quite certain to be asked one
particular question almost before tne
custom house officer gets chance 10
put his.
Are YOU A suffragist?" is that hrst
demand. The second, particularly II
the newcomer has any fame as a iect-
urer, is:
Are you going to talk about it
here
There is newly arrived upon our
shores bright faced, alert, enthusiast
tic little Englishwoman with snort
curly gray hair. rosy cheeks ana the
sort Of dark blue eyes that always
soc ones inner thoughts rather IMAM
ones clothes-that is Mrs. HaVelocN
Ellis, novelist, playwright and ph'loso-
pher.
u feel as though | had come to 4
beautiful cradle" she announced aiteV
the seance with the customs people,
who proved to be not nearly such ogres
as they are pictured. She was cora
fortably settled in the StuyVesant PARK
apartment. where she is TO be guest
while in New York.
I'm certain that l shall love Amer
lea" Mrs. Ellis continued. for all the
Americans / have met have been such
delightful people. and those on the
steamer were so kind to me. Do YOU
know" she confided, 81 felt all the way
across like a child going to Christi