davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1914-07-25

manity is forever seeking anything
that seems like an adventure
People began to say:
"Just think what fun all this will be.
Think of listing your name with a Ii
brary director whom you have never
seen and having him introduce to you
a criminal whom neither you nor he
has ever seen. The possibilities are
endless!"
When DR.. Stokes got the members of
the league into this line of thought he
smiled quietly, for he knew that he had
won his hard fight
Right here it is worth while to note
one Of the facts which has prevented
the commission Of errors Of judgment
either by DR.. Stokes or the members
Of his league. 1t is impossible for any
man to write a long letter. describing
his crime and himself without. in the
course of his missive, revealing exactly
what sort of man he is. If he could
talk he might get away with bluff"
But on the cold black and white Of
paper he is shown in his proper light
The whine of . the sniveler, the lie
of the plausible green goods man"
who is seeking a pardon at the price
Of personal integrity. and the ven-
omous ring of the fellow who wants
Evening star., 1914-07-25

tons and then when himself father
had his son trained almost from the
cradle to become a tennis champion, only
to be again disappointed through an ac-
cident. and finally awaits with hope tho
development of the third generation. In
THE Back Seat Mr.. Morris draws pic
ture Of life In Washington. in which tho
wife of a Secretary of State proves the
real power in a great international crisis
HENRY OF NAVARRO, OHIO. By Hol-
worthy Hall New York: The Cen
tury Company.
The young man who signs this book
as author "Holworthy Hail. is. in fact,
Harold E. Porter. who has taken for
his nom de plume the name Of the
senior dormitory at Harvard. This is
the story Of young ohioan who goes
to college. falls in love several times
Of course. once with a young woman
considerably his senior-and finally
finds the right girl and returns to his
native town in triumph. Not much of q
story, perhaps, as far as such an out
line indicates, but in truth remarkably
Evening star., 1914-07-25
THE HATE-CREATURE,
by DR. FRANK CRANE.
Copyright, 1914, by Frank Crane.)

Ii there were some sort Of patent con-
denser by which all the inpotent hate in
the world could be got together into one
lump. what a sight it would be for men
and angels!
A Roman emperor expressed a fancy to
have all the necks in Rome In one neck,
that he might lop 1t off. and I have
heard a man in fly-time wish that all the
flies in creation were one fly. that he
might maui 1t to death: but the vision
OF the asglomeration of all the scattered
ns.e.volts seems to be most striking.
mink how many teeth are gnashed
daily. how many nails driven into clinch-
ed palms: and how many sentence is
stops short!
Poor humanity hates for any reason:
We hate because We are insulted because
we fail and he wins. because he is of a
dinerent race or set or party. because
he loves the woman We love. because
he IL cruel. unjust, or low. or because he
Is good and honest and nobler than We.
Any cause will do.
And when we take hate and turn it
over. examining it carefully. we discern
that is only the heat Of our wounded
vanity.
In the Garden of Eden was a serpent
who spoiled the lives of the first pair of
be an Eden II 1t were not for the hate
snake that ever and ever crawls among
us.
We should all work together in con-
structive joy. each would be glad upon
meeting another human being. happi-
ness would play like flame above
humanity. if there were no hate.
1t is the hate-serpent that makes wars.
1t is the hate-spirit that changes religion
from an influence that makes men love
and help to an influence that makes
them persecute and kill.
The hate-serpent divides families. parts
lovers, estranges children.
There are no crimes OF love; all crimes
are Of hate.
II a man could rid himself Of every
crumb and stain Of hate he would ascend
to q higher plane at once. and where he
could see how beautiful the world is.
how great and wonderful mankind is
Men and women Of the world, love is
your only hope. It 10 a lovers world.
Your Horsepower Is your happiness-power.
Every bit OF hate you let into your lives
ID 30 much poison to you and to the
earth.
Evening star., 1914-07-25

ing. proving and all that sort of thing
THE man shows the determination OF
a bulldog" said the expert accountant
after he had wrestled with his pupil
for while through the medium of the
United States malls. Il have never
known a man who has progressed
faster than he has"
And No. 4759-or whatever his num-
Der may be-is living from day to day
in his little cell. dreaming hopefully
when his unseen friend in the far
distant state will enable him to wipe
out the stigma OF crime and imprison-
ment-
In this manner DR.. Stokes is awaken
ing among people who never before
took the slightest interest in prison
matters a lively sense Of the reforms
time. One woman said to him:
This is the first time that I have
ever had the chance to look at the
world through the eyes of other people.
! have seen people in my own stand
ing: ! have nay met the people of my own
the ideas. and the philosophy. of the
man who was suffering society's PEN
atty for q crime which he might have
committed. 1t is an entirely new
sAAON9HS " Ai0. <AAu 1 pe1leN6 IldI
am doing greater work in aiding the
man who hopes to reform than I could
oy aiding q thousand young geniuses
who are confronted with nothing more
than their own limitations"
This from a woman who aids two
men whom the law has pronounced
felons, She is using her social infiu-
ence as others are using their political
influence to accomplish the ideal of
prison reform-to give the prisoner his
chance after he has left Jail
Aside from the beneft done men in
prison 1t 10 obvious that this com
munfcatfon with the outside world is
OF inestimable value when the long
convict has a friend in a far-off spot.
No one else knows he is convict.
His friend has trained him and will
help him to establish himself The
turned to a world of promise.
One Of the most remarkable members
OF Mr.. Stokes league is Louis v. Eytinge
who Is serving life term in Oklahoma
Though he has no hope Of pardon
Eytinge has started to make career
for himself as an advertising expert. A
book was written on advertising by him
not long ago. OF it DR.. stokes says:
4 have learned that it was selected
by the library committee Of the Asso-
the fifteen best books to go on a busi-
ness mans shelf. Eytinge is now pre-
pairing 3oO-page book on the same sub
ject. and is. in addition. writing letters
OF advice to business men all over the
country"
DR.. Stokes is anxious that a law shall
be passed by Congress providing that in
all federal penitentiaries the length of
time between letters shall be shortened.
Convicts are now allowed to write one
or two letters q month.
On the wall of the big reception room
downstairs In DR.. Stokes library at 1907
Q street northwest is a large cardboard
advising the visitor to read a work en-
titled 1.-The Faith Of Ancient Egypt" and
beneath the placard is this phrase:
Egypt though dead, yet speaAeth. ~
Somehow those words seem to suggest
the men who are dead but who. at the
sound Of a voice a thousand miles away,
are brought back to life again.
Evening star., 1914-07-25
crime and intrigue are factors in this
tale. which is absorbing from first to last.

crime and intrigue are factors in this
tale. which is absorbing from first to last.
THE INCANDEsCENT LILY, And
Other Stories. By Gouverneur Morris,
author of The Penalty" etc. New
York: Charles Scribners Sons.
Washington: Woodward & Lothrop.
These ten stories include some Of Mr.
Norris best work. THE Incandescent
Lily" the title story and the longest. re-
lates the experiences of a young Amer
lean who. firing Of his idle and profitless
existence. undertakes botanical research
in China and comes upon a veritably
enchanted garden where there is prin-
cess of great celestial beauty with
tremendous capacity for affection. who
wants him to stay. But finally for the
sake of the girl back home she sends
him away with a great treasure, the bulb
of the incandescent lily. marvel of the
plant world. Tennis players will be great
ly delighted with The Championship"
which deals with the successive disap-
pointments Of a man who as lad almost
reached the highest point of his ambi-
Evening star., 1914-07-25
Avalanches to Order.
From the Electrical World.

From the Electrical World.
BY means Of electric mines placed deep
In the CONCEALED neves mantling the
crests OF the Swiss Alps. avalanches are
being manufactured to order for the bene-
1T Of moving picture photographers and
others who find the sport attractive
enough to pay the prices charged. The
mines G.e connected by cable with q
magnetic in the valley. and when all IL
ready a push OF the control lever fulmi-
mates a large quantity of gunpowder up
on the side of the mountain and down
comes the artificial avalanche with all
the terrifying rush and roar OF q natural
landslide
Evening star., 1914-07-25

had been sentenced to sixty-fve years
for murder. a particularly brutal mur-
der at that. There did. not seem to be
| much hope for him. There never Is for
a man who commits a deliberate mur-
der in Texas.
But in the gloomy confines Of his cell
an Idea occurred to the convict. He
would study law not with the hope of
accomplishing anything in the outside
| world. but merely that he might have
| something to occupy his mind during the
| long gray days which intervened between
life and death.
Way OF in South Dakota, quite a dis
| tance from the place where the Texas
man was serving his sixty-five years.
| was a lawyer with big heart. He was
q states attorney. a man whose nominal
function was to prosecute and convict
the unornamental letter Of the Texas
murderer and asked him whether he
would care to act as the Instructor to
| this remarkable pupil. Immediately the
| take this task to himself DR.. Stokes
furnished the books.
| At first the attorney was skeptical To
him this was q mild experiment in So
| Of the criminal genus. But, neverthe-
| less. skeptical though he was. the lawyer
| sent q series of letters to the convict,
and the convict. eagerly anxious that he
| might talk to some one, replied with all
the earnestness of a man who has done
| wrong, but who hopes to do better.
The result? One must always ask for
results. No movement, however good.
will be approved by humanity until it
has shown results. That seems to be
human nature since the time when Ro-
man emperors pointed their thumbs
downward while the unsuccessful gladi-
ator. breathlessly awaiting the death
stroke, lay beneath the foot Of his op-
ponent.
! The result? Simply this. The South
Dakota lawyer has become 80 interested
in the case that he has made personal
appeal for the pardon of the man and
tion of fighting for the mans freedom.
'If he can learn law like this" the
attorney from South Dakota has said OF
the prisoner from Texas, then he has
What he needs is a fresh start"
! Two years from now there will be
found In the state Of Utah a man who
is an expert accountant. He will be a
mild-mannered. quiet citizen. interested
in the rights Of the community and un-
desirous of breaking the law. At the
present time he is finishing out his
term for counterfeiting. He wrote to
Dr.. Stokes a plain, straightforward let
ter.
'I don't think I am any better than
the average man." he said, "and don't
believe that 1 am much worse than
most Of them. I have hope in you"
That was enough for the big-hearted
doctor. The prisoner was serving MS
time in the Eastern State penitentiary
Of Pennsylvania. which Is located at
Philadelphia After long search over
his books DR.. Stokes discovered that
| the expert accountant whom he was
seeking lived in a small Utah town.
| He wrote to this man. who gladly be-
gan the difficult task of instructing a
man who knew little about it in the
mysteries of double-entry bookkeep-
Evening star., 1914-07-25
Treasure House." etc With portrait
and illustrations. New York: Harper
& Bros.

The Casa Napoleon was a little
Franco-spanish hotel and restaurant in
downtown New York. more Franco than
Spanish. in truth. for 1t was Madame
who was French. and she was actually
the institution, though Senor. her hus-
band. who supplied the Spanish part of
the combination. was in evidence. and
performed certain social functions
upon the establishment. In the pinches
it was always Madame who proved to.
be the god In the machine. Here many
interesting things happened. and the
transient and permanent guests of the
Casa Napoleon became involved in va
rious affairs which Mr.. Janvier describ-
es with his most delicate appreciation
of shades and subtleties. This is vir-
tually a farewell volume. Mr.. Janvier
died little more than a year ago. and
a brief predatory note. sketchily bio
graphical. by Ripley Hitchcock. appears
as an introduction.
Evening star., 1914-07-25

on some question of law. writes to the
lawyer. The lawyer. desirous of some in
formal medical advice, writes to the
physician. No fees are charged.
So the league. created several years
ago, has hourished like the green bay
tree. And then. at the beginning Of the
present year. one of the league members
who had interested himself in variety of
matters, wrote to DR.. Stokes of the
prevalent interest in prison reform. and
| inclosed a number of prison newspapers
which he had accumulated. DR.. Stokes
read the papers with deep interest. They
were carefully prepared. and in the arti-
cles were flashes Of SATIRE touches of
sentiment and sound moral argument
| which pleased him.
same encoura cement outside of a prison
that they get inside" he said to himself
eff they did not feel that every mans
| hand was turned against them the mo-
much of the work of regeneration would
prove more successful than it has in the
past
Accordingly, he took up the idea with
members Of his league. He wrote to
them, asking If they would not aid in a
general, non-political movement FOR
prison reform, not in the matter of Civ
ing prisoners better food and more exer-
else. but by giving them something TO
think of while they were in Jail and
hope of the future when their terms
expired.
At first the league members revolted.
Why they wanted to know. should they
self respecting people-be compelled to
suffer the contamination Of an individual
who had signed somebody else's name to
a check. or. even worse. who had beaten
fellow citizen so effectually that he
had been sentenced for five years for as
sault with intent to kill?
DR.. Stokes was patient. Any man who
has studied chemistry knows perfectly
well that no one makes a reputation In
research unless he is able to give Job
running start of 100 yards and beat him
at the half-mile mark. Patience and
perseverance were as much parts Of DR..
Stokes as his arms and legs. So he kept
on in his fight for the cooperative aid
Of convicts.
In his little paper, the Critic. he kept
pounding at the league members. He
argued that a convict was the victim
of circumstances. of idleness. Of dis
sipation-of the many other evils from
which society. in the aggregate. was
protected He said that there were
many living dead men. men who ear
nestly wanted to do right. but who. un-
less helped, would be crushed by So
ciety back into the black morass from
which they were trying to escape. He
also pointed out that in spite of pre-
vailing prejudice against it the ancient
doctrine of the Nazarene, Help one
another was still accepted by many
Christians as an active bit of philoso-
ply. Thus by gentle irony one moment
and strong argument the next he
They commenced to say:
well, this will be a lot Of fun, any
how"
And that was Just what DR.. Stokes
knew they would say in the end HUI
Evening star., 1914-07-25
Fumes From Strawberr;e
rom the London Chronicle.

1t comes rather as a shock to learn
that Strawberries. now coming plenti-
fully to our markets. are classed among
dangerous cargoes. The vessels convey
Ing the berries from Brittany to Ply
mouth refuse to carry PASSENGERS, and
orders are issued to the crews to keep
as much as possible on deck. Tho rea-
son is that fumes from the straw
berries cause dizziness and q kind Of
intoxication; AS the berries. even tons
theory has IT that the Intoxicating ef-
fects Of a cargo Of them are due to the
fermentation Of the sugar in the ber-
ries.
Evening star., 1914-07-25

we'll told. packed full Of vivid human
nature and bubbling with humor. A
realistic view Of university life Is at
forded in these pages.
THE RETURN OF THE PRODIGAL.
By May Sinclair. author Of THE
Divine Fire." etc. New York: The
Macmillan Company.
In these eight stories Miss Sinclair
reveals the same exquisite literary
touch that was instantly recognized
upon the appearance of her Divine
Fire. several years ago. There 10 q
wide range Of subject hero, but in all
tho stories a note Of sadness Is evident
Few OF them lend happily" though
Miss Sinclair tells her tales as life IT.
self appears and develops. Some are
mere sketches. as Appearances"
Others are little less than novelettes,
as The Cosmopolitan" All are in
tensely Interesting.
AT THE CASA NAPOLEON. BY Thomas
A. Janvier, author Of "The Aztec
Evening star., 1914-07-25
A SLENDER. VERY YOUNG GIRL.

suddenly She was fifty-1ve: her own
had been no older when she
died. She could. of course, leave
written request that the dover chest
be burned unopened. But requests of
the dead are SO often looked upon as
mere vagaries Of the spirit hesitating
to depart. There was one way in which
she could rest assured of their safety
She could burn them herself
What better time to dispose Of them
than this morning of all mornings?
She could make a little fire in the back
yard and carry them out and burn
them till the last shred was ash. Heart
breaking business this. but not nearly
so heartbreaking as to picture them
grown to dissolution on Ellen Nc
Curdy's washboard.
Nancy was quickly resolved. She got
some papers and kindling and matches
and went out and made her fire, Sure
Evening star., 1914-07-25
THE EVENING STORY.
The Dover Chest.
\ AN the leopard change his spots?
Can the thief. the counterfeiter.
the safe blower and the mur-
cppyrisht, 1914, by W. werner)

Copyright. 1914. by W. wernes)
She had been putting 1t of for days,
but this morning. as she looked out of
the window and saw the sunshine and
smelled the freshness Of the breeze
she knew that the time had come
when she must put it off no longer
Never was such a morning for airing
garments of any kind. especially those
that had been confined for whole
year in the darkness Of a thick cedar
chest.
The thought of what she must go
through between morning and night
was a sad one to Nancy Ware. After
she had choked down a mouthful of
breakfast and washed her dishes and
made things tidy in the kitchen she
went into the front room. where she
sometimes sewed. Her old sewing
machine stood between the two win
Evening star., 1914-07-25

dows. with her folding sewing table.
a couple Of chairs. q fat. shiny stove.
an old couch and in one corner a kind
of high, broad settee covered by an
old blue and white yarn spread
thing of the same air with which one
might remove the sod over a cherished
grave. And. indeed. the battered old
cedar chest which 1t had concealed was
q grave to Nancy-the grave OF
Evening star., 1914-07-25
Why He Was Working.
From Tit-Bits

From T1t-Bits-
Had q puncture. my friendT' asked
tie passerby, with an air OF interest.
ahe chauffeur looked up. and swallowed
his feelings with a huge guip.
mo, SIR" he replied. I'm just chang
Ing the air in the tires. The other lots
worn out, you knowf'
Evening star., 1914-07-25

- AN the leopard change his spots?
Can the thief. the counterfeiter.
the safe blower and the mur-
~ derer be awakened to a new con-
sciousness and restored to law
abiding society by persons whom they
have never seen? Is the criminal in prison
radically different from his brother who
Is outside?
There are men and women in Wash
ington who have never seen a prisoner
and whose notions Of a penitentiary are
confined to the vague supposition that it
resembles a cattle pen, who will unhesi-
tatingly answer the above question in
the negative. But there are others-a
multitude of others-whose answer is Diff
ferent- They are the men and women
who believe that all men are men and
all women are women; and who know
that environment and the "slings and ar
rows of outrageous fortune" play a
larger part In the evil of the world than
the Inherent wickedness of men. And
these persons will unhesitatingly answer
in the affirmative.
DR.. Henry N. Stokes, formerly wide
ly known chemist and now director of a
library league. is seeking to interest the
public In his plan for the reform of con-
victs-a plan go unique in its inception
that many have become interested at
first on the same principle that church
goers are always interested in a slum-
ming trip.
There were others; men and women who
dreamed Of the future Of the nation
There were men and women who knew
that Japan. by a reform in her prison
system. had reduced the number of con-
f1rmed convfcts to per cent, while the
United States, enforcing her system, had
40 per cent returned prisoners in her
penitentiaries-men who had been beaten
and abused in every conceivable way,
and who were bitter. unrelentins enc
mics of society.
Disseminating knowledge" Is the way
DR.. Stokes charactedzes his plan. That
is the prosaic side The other. the ro-
mantle side. would furnish a master Of
through several incarnations. Dr.. Stokes
deals entirely with chance. He does not
know his convict. He does not know the
league member. Destiny Is the means by
which the convict is saved. The skeptical
may call 1t chance. DR.. Stokes calls 1t
destiny.
DR.. Stokes was born Of Quaker lineage
in 1859 in the state of New jersey. He
graduated from a college in Philadelphia,
went to Johns Hopkins for his degree as
doctor of chemistry. and afterward
studied in Germany. He was in the geo.
logical survey and later in the bureau OF
standards before his interest in his
library league led to his resignation
from government service.
The library league was simply plan
by which people in different parts Of the
country can get together They all
become members. resident In Arizona, and
Iftah. and MARYLAND, and North Dakota.
and they come into touch with each other.
One is a writing man. Another is a ply
sician and another a lawyer. POSSIBLY:
The physician. wanting to be enlightened