davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1914-11-28
THE TRAGEDY OF NOTHING TO
DO.

Not long ago a rich woman was ar
rested In Chicago for stealing, and
this was her excuse THE most
Wretched, the most absolutely to.be.
pltied human being on earth ia the
with nothing to do. believe
Id steal and burgle and set fire TO tbe
police station, or do anything else I'M.
DER the shining sun to keep myself
from being bored to death.
I'D rather scrub floors for a living
and go home at night so tired | could
hardly climb the steps to my attic
with my little dollar and a half nj
honest money jingling in my good red
hand than to sit all day long with
the gnawing devil of idleness eating
my heart out and driving me to mad.
ness"
Steal? | should think she would
steal or commit arson, or get I'm ex.
petitions to the North pole or 20 down
In diving bells or up in balloons, or do
anything on earth to get something 70
TO think of besides her own little siIIv
uninteresting, useless self, shouldn't
you?
Isn't 1t pitiable to see so many peo-
pie in the most glorious country in
the world, where 10000 opportunities
and unlimited are awaiting
honest e%ndeavor, resorting to all sorts
OF devices for diversion, just to drive
away ennui, just to keep themselves
from going mad.
Think of the rich people giving
monkey dinners and squanderine
money like water on all sorts of fool
lsh things, resorting to all sorts of
d~emoralizing practices. dissipating,
and wasting time, life's most precious
capital Just because they have moth.
ing to do-just because they do not
The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1914-11-28
psrnstual Rechrlstenlna.

Petrograd will have to change its
name several more times to equal the
record of Constantinople. The Otto
man capital was known as Lygos I'M
til B. C. 65s, when It blossomed forth
into Byzantium and bore that name
for close on eight hundred years. BY
zantium, like Rome, was built on
seven hills, and this resemblance led
Septimus Severus to rechristen 1t
Nova Roma. On making the city the
capital of the Roman empire Constan-
tine the Great bestowed his own name
upon It, and ever since 1t has been
known as Constantinople in the west
ern world. This name, however, Is
ignored by orientals, who have called
1t Istambul and Stambul since its cap
ture by the Turks in 1853.
The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1914-11-28
GET RID OF PLAGUE SPOTS
Poorly Ventilated, Dirty and Crowded
Habitations Are a Disgrace to
the City They Disfieure.

Houses were first designed as a
place to seek cover and protection dur
Ing sickness, storms and Indictment
weather, says a bulletin issued by the
Chicago health department. At other
times, when the hardy people did not
need this protection, they used houses
~infrequently. From the ancient, rude
houses have developed the modern
homes. where summer weather may
be had in deepest winter. The ten
dency is for greater comfort and con-
venience and the open-air propagan-
dist Is more and more meeting popular
acclaim. Sun porches, sleeping rooms
widely accessible both to air and sun
rays, are deemed necessary to the best
homes.
But homes of this kind are fewer
by far than the residences of the
humber classes and there are many
homes filled to overcrowding that en-
Joy only primitive means for ventila-
ton. Such houses are simply general
Ing beds for the bad-air diseases. In
many cases tenants may know of their
dangers. but the, family purse deters
movement to more healthful surround
ings.
1t should be brought home to the
owners of unsafe, dirty and neglected
houses that these should be made de-
cent. A good modern house may al
ways be rented in any city. Profits do
not depend on poor houses, and the
tenant of an old, poorly ventilated,
dangerous firetrap, never painted nor
repaired, does not get his moneys
worth. In short, as a rule, he pays
the highest price for the poorest &C.
commodations.
The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1914-11-28
Value of the HOld Man.

How about the "old man" and the
apprentice? l have always felt and
contended in my work that the "old
man." as he is slightingly referred to,
has a place in industry. His expert
ence is valuable. He can be used as
trainer and coach. He may not be
fast, but he is sure. He may, on the
other hand, prove to be both skillful
and rapid on certain work. At any
rate, for the sake of his past services
don't turn him adrift. If he Is too old
and cannot work pension him. If he
can work find out what is best for
him to do and give him a schedule
with a sufficient allowance added
thereto to justify him in continuing
to do his best. 1t won't cost much, II
anything. The apprentice should also
have an allowance added to his sched-
ule that will warrant him in exerting
himself. The apprentice, the average
mechanic and the "old man" will have
different wage rates, so there is little
likelihood of a clash on account OF
bonus earnings.-Engineering Maya
zine.
The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1914-11-28

When Ostend is in its normal summer
and autumn condition the Kursaal is
the seat of all its gayety. Here are q
gorgeous assembly room of huge size,
a theater with large seating capacity,
private dining rooms, private play
rooms, broad awninged piazzas for
dining with the sea beneath ones
eyes, all the solid and liquid luxuries
that folk with money to spend enjoy,
Besleged Many Times.
Ostend has stood many a siege, the
most notable that OF a little more
than three centuries ago, when the
place yielded to the Spaniards after a
resistance Of three years. The city
has a fine harbor with several basins
and a narrow entrance artificially
created. Its normal traffic with Lon
don is immense, but for the time be,
ing the intimate relations of the two
cities are suspended, doubtless to the
relief Of the great seaport.
Nearly two centuries ago the Ostend
East India company was organized by
the Emperor Charles VI, of Germany,
who as ruler of Austria also ruled the
Spanish Netherlands. This company
was intended to secure for Ostend a
share in the East Indian trade, and to
make the city a great commercial
port. England and Holland, however,
jealous of their oriental trade, made
protest, and in 1871 the emperor, after
having suspended the operations OF his
company for sever years, definitely
abandoned his scheme. Since that
time ostend has been mostly one Of
Europe's play places.
The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1914-11-28

Of well-to-do Flemings set amid a riot
Of bloom and amply shaded with
trees and shrubbery. Backward the
eye takes in the stately towers and
spires of antique Bruges silhouetted in
soft, air-drawn lines against the tender
sky Of Flanders.
Old and New ostend.
There is old Ostend and new, the
old with beautiful churches, quaint
winding streets, surviving bits as pic
turesque as parts of Bruges itself. An
ample railway station, and many wide
and comparatively new streets give
even the older part of Ostend a mod
ern touch, and the shore seems wholly
modern. Glittering new villas, big and
little, salute the eye before one reaches
the Ostend of the Londoner's delight,
of the cosmopolitan throng, Of gay
ETY., naughtiness and wild extrava-
gance. Take some great American sea-
side resort, transform its huge wooden
hotels into sturdy permanent struc-
lures of brick and stone, its board
walk into asphalted ways buttressed
with a granite sea wall, clear it of
merry-go-rounds and every like catch
penny device of the garish and noisy
kind, and you have Ostend of the sea-
front.
An ample foreshore lined with those
ridiculous bathing machines hat Eu-
rope cannot outgrow is spread III be-
fore the eyes of the lounger on the
granite-buttressed bluffs above. Thou
sands walk or sit IN the upper level
to watch the sea and the bathers. You
pay a penny for a chair, whence the
The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1914-11-28
Mister and Mlssls.

The demand OF the bennington rail.
waymen that they shall be addressed
as mister" reminds one of the re-
markable artihciality of this word.
Master" was the original English
form of respectful address, repre-
senting the Latin "magister." But
somehow or other master" has
slipped down TO be a title for boys,
while man must receive the corrupted
pronunciation, Of which our language
Is still SO ashamed that mister" looks
h~opelessly vulgar when written out.
The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1914-11-28

North sea glooms beneath our eyes
toward England.
On the Bathing Beach.
Ostend has a summer repute for
gayety, and daring display at the bath
ing beach. As a matter of fact, the
costumes would hardly shock one
hardened to the things that a COM
PLEASANT police tolerate at a hundred
American seaside resorts. The squeam-
ish dress with care in the odd little
houses on wheels with gay curtains
jealousy drawn as the lady fully clad
steps in. After sufficient time for
change of costume has been allowed,
the fat Flemish horse, under the guild
ance of a fat Flemish female compan-
ion of the bath, draws the bathing
machine into the water, and in due
season the fair bather steps into the
embrace of the North sea without
scandal. When her bath is finished
the hut on wheels again receives her,
the fat horse ~laboriously draws her
up to the dry sands, the lady dresses
at leisure and energies in street CO.'S
tune. Nothing could be more seemly,
modest or droll. Elsewhere along the
beach one catches sight of sirens in
scant, cl~ose-clinging, gaudy costumes
that reveal every line of the figure
as they disport themselves along with
their male escorts, but even for these
freer ladies the discreet bathing ma
chine awaits. and the curious pry in
vain at it's uncommunicative wooden
sides.
Huge and luxurious hotels, rich
wine cellars and a truly magnificent
gambling house, the Kursaal, are at
the service Of the invading Germans.
The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1914-11-28

snow huts that he built, and living off
the proceeds Of his rifle. with what
food he could obtain from the isolated
police posts. By the end of the month
he was in a desolate stretch OF coun-
try, remote from any h~abitation. And
then occurred the worst blizzard of
that year.
They say an April blizzard is apt to
be a bad one, but this was one Of the
worst ever known in that region.
Within five minutes of its start Shan
o had lost all sense of direction, the
pony refusing to face the wind and
standing with lowered head. There
and make a snow hut.
Some such shelter Shannon made,
and, coiled up in his blanket, he ehiv-
cred himself to sleep. He awoke numb,
and found the blizzard raging with
worse ferocity.
Twelve hours later, having eaten all
his provisions, and being unable to
light a fire, he resigned himself to
death. His legs were numb to the
knees; his pony had fallen in the snow
and was sitter than stone.
Shannon knew what the result would
be. He prepared to face death
bravely. He sat. huddled in his blan-
ket, thinking only of Laughing Cloud
and his unfLlilled mission.
He must have dozed, for he awak-
ened suddenly to see an Indian at his
side. The man threw back his blan-
ket and revealed the features of
Laughing Cloud. %Shannon's heart
leaped to think that the Indian had
been true to his trust.
Without a word the Indian stepped
out into the snow, m%otioning to Shan
non to accompany him. Shannon's
legs had been numb, but he felt a
tingle Of blood in them now, and he
was able to limp haltingly after
Laughing Cloud. AS they advanced.
too, the ~herceness of the storm seemed
to decrease, and Shannon said after
ward that he hardly felt the sting of
the snow In his face.
They must have proceeded about a
hlAlG NhlOubh NhO pNOlh huGu IleH
suddenly came upon an old ice house.
1t had evidently been constructed dur.
ing the early months of the winter.
The March thaws had reduced 1t to
solid ice, now coated thickly with he
falling snow. Inside it was warm and
comfortable.
More than that, inside was charred
wood, suitable for rekindling, with a
little tea and some frozen caribou
meat.
In a few moments Shannon had kin.
died a fire and was brewing a hot
draft in the tin can which he had
taken automatically from the saddle
of his dead horse. He offered Laugh
ing Cloud some. and also some of the
meat, but Laughing Cloud only shook
his head quietly and watched Shannon
eating.
After he had eaten and drunk Shan
non managed to restore the circula.
ton In his legs with snow. He had
no doubt o that the Indian had
come to surrender himself, and 1t did
not occur to him to have any fear. He
turned over in his blanket and went
to sleep beside the fire, while Laugh.
ing Cloud stood In the doorway, watch
ing him with a quiet smile.
Shannon knew that the Indian had
The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1914-11-28
orluln of a Mark rwaln storv.

OF all the witty things said or writ.
ten by Mark Twain no phrase has
been quoted oftener than his reply to
an alarmist report, "Rumor of my
death greatly exaggerated" The his.
tory of this now celebrated bon mot
will doubtless be of interest. Mark
Twain vas on a visit to London some
years ago, and had been secured as
the chief guest at a dinner to be
given by a literary club. On the
morning Of the day when the dinner
was to take place the secretary was
shocked to hear a rumor that Mark
Twain had died suddenly. At his
wits end, he sought to verify it by a
diplomatic note to Mrs. Clemens, in
which he mentioned the rumor.
Mark Twain got hold of the note and
telegraphed the now famous reply.
"Rumor of my death greatly exag-
gerated." From after Dinner
Stories" by N. c. Fowler, Jr.
The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1914-11-28
What Makes a Girl ponular.

Every girl has the perfectly natural
desire to be popular with the other
sex, and every girl is interested in
knowing the secret of such popularity.
Some girls have the idea that the way
to have a good time is to break away
from the recognized rules Of social
life. The free-and-easy, reckless type
of girl may receive a good deal of
attention of a certain kind, but 1t is
safe to say that men do not really
care for such a girl. Certainly they
do not have any respect for her. They
may enjoy a summer Irritation with
her, but such a girl never enters seri-
ously into their thoughts. The girl
who is kind and thoughtful to her par
ents is the girl whom they admire.
The girl who is d%isrespectful to her
parents will not long retain the re-
spect of others. Men know very well
that a girl who deceives her mother
cannot be trusted. A good daughter
has in her the making of a good wife,
and a man remembers this when he
begins to think seriously Of matri.
mony.-Leslie's.
The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1914-11-28
The Unanimous View.

Harold Bell Wright, the popular
novelist, was talking in Chicago about
genius.
There are a hundred different opin-
ions as to what q genius is" said Mr..
Wright, "but all authorities are agreed
that it's absolutely unsafe to lend him
money"
The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1914-11-28
Special constables in London

The commissioner of police for the
city of London has asked large busi-
ness firms to enroll members of their
STATS as special constables, says a
London Weekly. Such constables are
intended primarily for the defense
OF the buildings in which they are en-
The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1914-11-28
0STlSl ENf0I|S
RIEa!NGPDACE

- STEND, as a place for temper.
airy occupancy, is the best
place the Germans have cap
W tured, writes e. N. Vallandig-
ham in the Philadelphia Rec
ord, for it's accommodations for tran
sients are, or were, out of all proper
ton to its size and normal population.
If there is ever a time when Ostend
has no visitors its population then
numbers something under $4,000. Dur
ing the long season of its summer and
autumn vogue, which extends from
the first Of June nearly to the end of
october, there are far more transiS4t
than permanent inhabitants. 1t is a
favorlte place for Londoners on vaca-
ton, but Ostend also shelters CONT
nentals of all ranks.
The place is by no means what the
awed admirer of his betters calls lex
elusive" yet it is utterly unlike any
American watering place, popular or
otherwise, and it is in acute contrast
with that marvellous resort of the
Dutch S~cheveningen, where the ser
ried thousands of hooded wicker
beach chairs make the foreshore like
a vast apiary.
Ostend lies in West Flanders, IA
miles from that medieval sleeping
beauty, Bruges, the most remarkable
survival of older western Europe. A
steam railway, a trolley line and a
canal connect Bruges with Ostend. To
go by canal in one of those slow little
power-driven craft that traverse the
Belgian interior waterways is to enjoy
a charming experience, for the land is
rich in varied interest, now occupied
by market gardens, now by the villas
The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1914-11-28
sunken Garden In old aasene,

BY Transforming the basement of a
burned hotel into a sunken garden the
people of Wiscasset, Me-, got rid of an
unsightly rubbish-hlled excavation and
replaced it with what has proved to be
one of the most attractive features Of
the towp-Popular Mechanics.
The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1914-11-28

How is the view from your su.
burban homer"
1T makes me thirsty"
"Eh?"
The most conspicuous feature of
the landscape is a beer sign"
The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1914-11-28
The Faithful Follower.

THAT dog is absolutely deyo.@d to
me- said Colonel Bottletop. follows
me wherever | go!"
Touching devotionl" replied the
exacting acquaintance. But exceed
ingIy poor tastel"
The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1914-11-28
In Bulk.

She-"I will admit that a
seldom weighs her words.
She-Nonsenser Women don't use
big words.
He-True. but they would have to
be weighed in such large quantities.
The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1914-11-28
No Time to Lose.

Author-Don't you think I'd better
wait until the wal is over before I get
out this book about it?
Publisher-Wait! l should say not.
Why, if we wait until then all the ON
cial facts may be known.-Life.
The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1914-11-28

The case is outdone only by Mrs"
No woman would like to be called
Mistress -" nowadays, but to ad-
dress an envelope to her as "Missis
-" would be even worse.-London
Chronicle.
The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1914-11-28
Suitable Treatment.

Those kids of yours are difficult
propositions to manage, aren't they?"
Yes; they have to be handled with
gloves"
The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1914-11-28
Consolation.

"They a new bread is to be on
the rise"
IT'S got to be where they use good
yeast"
Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1914-06-30
COURTESY
1t is a Cheap Commodity and Yet :
Valuable Asset.

One Of the cheapest commodities we
deal with in business life is courtesy.
We, none of us, can Overvalue it's re-
suits in our daily business dealing; we
can make no other investment which
costs us so little and brings such large
returns in dividends Of satisfaction and
good will. We are, all Of us, very much
alike in our human qualities and ap-
preciate courtesy and kindness and
resent discourtesy and unfriendlness.
We believe it is a mistaken idea upon
the part Of any business man to think
that he must surround himself in his
business with an atmosphere which
should only exist in throne room or
emanate from a refrigerating plant.
We always feel sorry for a man of
this type. 1t is evident to any one of
business experience that he is either an
incorrigible crouch, or through this un-
pleasant bluff and rough exterior is
trying to cover up a real weakness and
lack Of ability to Squarely meet the
kindly smile and courteous manner;
the man with red blood in his veins,
and the milk Of human kindness in
his heart. This type Of man is one
upon whom we instinctively bestow
our favors-for whom to do as he wills
becomes our pleasure. The most Of
us engaged in business life have
enough Of real troubles and cares
without creating imaginary ones--
John E. Linehan.
Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1914-06-30


Three days later he was dead.
"One of our number was cleaning
out our prison-roOm when he broke a
corner of the frame containing the
prison regulations. He Immediately
called a guard and reported himself
for committing the 'misdemeanor' but
that did not prevent the whole COM
pany from being condemned to the
cells for seven days on bread and wa
ter. The political prisoners were al
ways herded with common-law crimi-
nails, but the latter were the favored
ones, being far more frequently par
doned and enjoying little favors with
held from the politicalS. When l was
sent to Siberia found that one had to
choose between dying of hunger or
escaping The latter means three or
four years of hard labor if one is
caught, but it also means that one be-
comes a common criminal, and, as
SUCH enjoys certain privileges denied
to political prisoners. The common
criminal receives passport and has
the right of residing where he likes
within his district. Also he is free to
work and earn his livelihood undisturb
ed, while the political eXiles remain
pariahs and outcasts to the end
United Press Dispatch.
Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1914-06-30
RUSSIAN PRISONS
Exile Tells Of Horrible Treatment OF
Unfortunate Inmates.

Among the terrible human docu-
ments offered in evidence before the
imperial commission now Investigate
ing the prison system of Russia is a
personal letter from a political exile
named Jadoff, who recently escaped
from Siberia and who, before being
sent there was confined in the Boutyr-
ski prison at Moscow for several
years.
Il quickly learned the truth of the
words spoken by NJ. Scheglovitoff
minister of justice, We punish. but
we do not correct" writes the exile
ITO cause it's 100000 prisoners a max
imum of suffering, is the one aim OF
Russia's prison system, and the Jail
ers are willing instruments Of ven
geance They addressed us invariab-
ly with some epithct as dog or car
rion We were forbidden to move
about in our room owing to the noise
our irons made Our daily promenade
in the prison yard lasted ten minutes
and we had to march two by two, in
strictest silence, with our arms held
in vertical position. and looking
neither to the right nor to the left
This was all the exercise we had in "a
hours.
Protests of any kind were useless
the only result being a tlogging, OF
confinement in dark underground cells
or dungeons. on a diet of bread and
water, and all my comrades who were
daring enough To complain of the i'll
treatment meted out to us now lie in
the Moscow cemetery. The cells were
always full, for we were sent there on
the slightest preteXt. FlogginSS were
of daily ocurrance and we were fog
ged singly, in couples or in patches
on one occasion all the occupants OF
our cell, then numbering twenty-four
were ilOggcd in the course of single
day. The assistant governor of the
punishment, urge the eXecutioner to
lay on unmercifully-and afterwards
compel the victims to thank him.
Sometimes the poor sufferer, daZed
by the agony he had undergone, would
not understand the command say
thank you. son of a dog and so re-
mained silent. Then, curSing violent
ly the assistant governor would order
the torn and bleeding body to be flung
back upon the punishment bench and
logged afresh After that the culprit
was clasped in Il cold. damp cell To re-
cover as best he might.
There was & prisoner named Water
lOos who declined to give the custom
airy Salutation to our Ov"rScerS For
two years he spent half the time In an
underground cell. and the other half
In the hospital, and finally he died of
consumption. Then there was George
MachViladZe. the Socialist leader In
the depths of winter he and | spent
three weeks together in Il dark cell.
obliged to sleep on the stone floor.
one day he was being conducted to
the prison office, and in the courtyard
unexpectedly met his wife who was
undergoing Il term of hard labor. He
saluted her. and for that offense he
was sent to the punishment cell.