davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1915-09-17

Mrs. Mary Joles and daughter Alma
will leave soon for Kansas City, Mo 1,
where they will make their permanent
home.
Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1915-09-17
Mr.. Harrison Gould is very sick at
lis home, 939 Sixteenth street.
Mrs. T. L. Griffith, who has been
seriously i'll for the past two weeks,
is slightly improving.

Mr.. Y. L. Jones left Thursday morn
ing for Chicago, where he went on q
business trip.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-01-24
lANS FEAR OF HIMSELF WHEN HE REACHES MIDDLE ACI

young wife with madness? For her the
Demon of Middle Age was a veritable
demon for life. And she, too, was but
80 when she left her children in that
summer hotel Complete indeed, must
he the madness which VIII cause a
mother to desert her young!
1t is not the case Of when We Were
Twenty -one." The peccadilloes of youth
are bad enough and often bring in their
train line of misery which may endure
TOR more than one generation; but even
these may be of minor Importance as
compared with the ruin wrought through
the Demon of Middle Age. Do you think
that this tragedy of life is confined to
the rich and cultured, to those various
strata which in America make up the
composite of what is termed Society?
Never was greater mistake. Rich and
poor, ignorant and learned, well bred
and boor, suffer alike from the madness.
The angry goddess knows no such
merely human distinction as caste.
Make a tour of the cheapest lodging
houses of the great cities; go any day
or evening in good wcathe. to Union
Square. Madison Square, to any of the
smaller parks in more CongCSted Sec
tons, and glance at the men lounging
on the benches. Some of them are
wurkingmen out for a breath of air,
sclf-respcCting. conscious of their right
to stand erect with heads up. earning
a living for their families. But these
are in the small minority.
Most of those stumbling, poorly clad
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-01-24
Many Contributing Causes Which Rem.
der Men Helpless to Resist the
Lure of the Demon

the children home to her fathers for
that summer she vowed and declared
that never would she come back to her
husband until he had apologized, until
ne had changed his attitude toward her,
until he made up his mind to love,
honor and protect her as he had prom
Used to do when they were married. And
in the excitement Of the situation, his
head bursting with dread and anger,
his heart ranking with what he deemed
the injustice Of it all, Jones let her
take their children home to her father
and himself plunged over the abyss.
A fanciful illustration, you say? Not
at all: a very common one. Moreover,
a resulc to be expected under the cir
cumstances.
OF course Jones was selfish; most
men are. OF course he should have
taken into consideration the fact that
in bearing their children his wife had
been subjected to physical and mental
strain such as no man can understand;
that in watching over them in illness
and health this strain had been eX-
tended until she was really incapable of
controlling her nerves, of maintaining
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-01-24
Danger of That Period in Early Forties
When SO Many Men Go
to Pieces

Often when sitting with his beautiful
wife on the veranda of their summer
place he would pull out case con-
tanning a clinical thermometer and try
to take his own temperature. He could
not bear noise, so his children were
virtually banished. He was afraid Of
the effect of music on his nerves, so
his wife gave up singing-the one rec
rcation left to her-and she had a
voice of gorgeous richness.
During these years the wife passed
from 23 to %. She seldom saw friends
OF her own age. Invitations were de-
clined so regularly, time after time,
that finally they ceased coming. At 2S
she was at the height of her mental and
physical development. She, as well as
her husband. had all the money they
could desire; and yet she was chained
to a rock, with the great world whirl-
ing all around her.
One day she did not come home for
dinner. a few days later the husband
received a wireless saying she was on
her way to Europe. Then came reports
that she was accompanied by man
both of them had known but a short
time, a man ten years older than her
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-01-24

nearby resorts in summer, wonderful
shops to visit, pageants To see, free lee
lures and concerts. libraries and muse
ums. And then, perhaps, child is born,
a year or so later another one. Mrs.
Jones cannot think of having her babies
spend swelterng summer weather in
the great crowded city, so she goes
away for a month or six weeks; If she
goes to her fathers home in the coun-
try she stays there two months, or even
three.
And Jones, who has been coming home
after a hard days work to a small
apartment pervaded by the noise and
confusion nseparable from young
children, sees them go with not little
relief. 1t will do them all good to get
away from town, he reflects, and now
for the first time in a year or more-he
can live in peace and quiet; he can re-
lax the nervous tension he has been
under. Also he can figure in quiet upon
the change in scale of living which he
plainly sees is imperative; for Jones
has not been able to save anything for
a long time and expenses are mounting
higher and higher. That is one of the
principal reasons why he is irritable;
why his face has grown thin, his eyes
anxious.
Jones has n good time that summer:
there is little question as to that. He
knows other men whose families are
away, still others who invite him to
run out to their homes in the suburbs
or at nearby coast resorts to dine and
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-01-24

self. full of life and fun. who sang and
danced and played tennis, who was a
yachtsman, who had carried on many a
filtration with girls here and elsewhere,
but who had never married.
They had met accidentally. He knew
something of her position, of her hus-
bands unconscious cruelty. He was
fascinated by her beauty and grace and
charm. And she, on the other hand.
was intoxicated by this new acquaint-
ance. Each of them some "angry god
dess smote with madness" They eloped;
few months afterward the deserted
and hypochondrlacal husband committed
suicide. To-day the little children are
living with grandparents, wondering
sometimes where their beautiful mother
is, and when she is coming back to
them.
Who is there bold enough to lay the
blame for this case of ruin wrought by
the Demon of Middle Age? 1t is easy
to say that the husband, with his
imaginary ailments, was responsible;
and in a way he was, Of course. Yet,
even II his ailments were imaginary in
| the eyes of others, to him they were
very real. Every effort short of actual
! carrying MIN OH INTO the WOODS WAS
made to give him healthful occupation
of mind and body-the one thing need
full for recovery of his mental and
physical poise. The main difficulty, II
would seem, is that he had too much
| money.
II he had had to work for his daily
bread there would have been no time
| for him to worry about himself, to con-
slider this symptom and that, to fancy
that all sorts of disabilities were grow
ing upon him. AS for his wife, con-
slant association for years with such a
man might be expected to drive her
nearly distracted 1t is easy to see why
she fell a victim to the Demon, even al
the cost of deserving her children.
Take the case of still another younl
woman, the only daughter Of a family
occupying position of prominence ant
corresponding influence in a large citS
up the State. She too was a girl o.
unusual beauty and wit. She too mar
rled early; but she married man wht
had to work for their support. II
fact he was so engrossed in his business
that he seldom saw his young wife afte
the first year or two.
He would leave home soon afte
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-01-24

breakfast and toll at his office until
long after his clerks had gone home.
Then, when completely tagged out, he
would reluctantly start homcward him
self. After silent dinner, eaten as a
matter of duty. he would bury him
self in an easy chair for an hour. smok-
ing a cigar and reading a newspaper.
BY . o'clock he retired, from sheer ex-
hauston.
Sometimes his young wife went out
to n dance or game of cards, or to
the theatre with friends who under
stood her situation and pitied her.
Oftener by far she stayed at home,
trying to pass the time by reading a
novel or by sewing-for the children
were abed and the evenings were long
and lonely. At first she used to try
to engage her husband in ordinary con-
his evening paper; hut soon gave it
up, because his replies were so short.
This man had in mind just one thing
to make n fortune by the time ne was
IS and to sacrifice everything else to
this end.
In such effort the thlrties slipped
away, and that next summer his old
est child, boy, suffered an Illness and
the doctor advised that he be taken
to the scashore to recuperate.
with more than IA little relief the
father saw his family go away. They
were to stay down on the New Jersey
coast for the entire summer. Now he
could close the house and take a room
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-01-24

the poise and charm Jones found so de-
lightful in another woman when he Wis
tied a friend over night who had a
home near the great city. Nor was
Jones altogether to blame.
In this particular instance the blame
should largely rest upon the artificial
conditions of life under which he ex-
listed, as thousands upon thousands of
other men exist in the great cities of
America. Had he been content TO have
a modest cottage in the country, TO
undergo the discomfort of committing
daily to business, of leading a rational
life, he and Mabel might have escaped
the Demon-might have escaped, bear
in mind; for this Demon is not absent
from towns and villages of COM
muters-nor by any means.
At the other extreme of society one
may find instances without number.
Take a certain fashionable summer re-
sort at a particular crossing of two i'm
portant avenues where four great estat rs
happen to converge. \ few years ago
the four wives and the four husbands
living on the estates We're each having a
second-in some cases a thlrd--cNperl-
ence of married life. Each of the four
men, each of the four women, had been
married before, On two of the estates
lived couples who had merely snapped
husbands and wives by means Of the
divorce court. And in every one Of these
eight instances the man or the woman
had led blameless life, so far as is
known, until seized by that Demon OF
Middle Age.
In pursuing this subject the inquirer
VIII find now and then a man, but more
often a woman, who by temperamental
condition, frequently neurotic from
childhood is almost inevitably smitten
with the madness. The original cause
may lie far back, possibly a tendency
inherited through one or more genera
| tions which finally produces girl
sparkling with wit, clever as can be
fascinating in every imaginable way
yet unstable at the foundation.
Many man, steady in business ant
society, has married such younj
woman, only to suffer a sudden awaken
ing when it is too late. 1t is by M
means seldom that one son or on,
daughter out of large family MAJ
shoot on at tangent in middle life
while all the rest remain in position o
high respectab!!ity. Such a one con
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-01-24

in "A hotel within five minutes walk Of
his office. He could give himself up,
wholly and completely, to business for
nearly three months!
The little family went away-the
mother. still young and full of life,
three children and a nursemaid. For
several weeks letters came TO the father
telling of fun and frolic there by the
sea, of tennis and dances, of new ac-
quaintances; and urgent requests came
that he join them even II only for the
week end, now and then. But he
smiled, and sent back word that such
a thing could not be thought of; he
had so much business he could not at
tend to it. He must make hay while
the sun shone. Brief letters, they
were, which he sent back TO the wife
who begged him to come down there
to the seashore-just a few lines
hastily written.
Then one week toward the end of the
season he failed to receive letter from
her. He waited a few days and fearing
that the boy was i'll again sent a tele-
gram. In response came to him from
the nursemaid a message saying hei
mistress had left the hotel five days
previously and had not come back.
The next train that started towart
New York from that upstate city car
ried the busy business man as one Of
its passengers. He whirled through
New York as fast as wheels could carry
him, rushed down to the summer re
sort and found that in addition to hi
wife another guest at the hotel where
she was staying had disappeared thu
day she Vanlshed-a bachelor of 43 from
the middle West, with whom she hat
often gone in bathing, with whom sh'
had walked on the sands, with whom
she had taken moonlight drives ant
with whom she had danced at the casino
so often as to cause comment. The!
went, as did the other clipping couple, t
Europe. They have not been heard o
in years.
The husband has a divorce, but he ha
not acquired n fortune. The blow wa
so sudden and so terrific that it took tn
fighting spirit out of him. Bold plan
for charging his business were aban
doned and gradually the business passe
into the hands of others.
Was this mans ambition TO max
money. at the cost OF everything else
the angry goddess" who smote hi
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-01-24

men, slouching in the wooden benches,
frowsy, unwashed, show by rheir anx-
ious expression, or even more plainly
by their stold attitude, who and what
they are. Day after day they hang
around public square or cheap lodging
house, until compelled to move on.
And almost all Of them are men in the
forties.
Go to the Charities Department here
or elsewhere in the country, and ask
the average age of the men being
cared for as public charges; ask the
wardens of jails and prisons the aver
age age of Convicts when they first are
placed in confinement Remember the
recent statement in THE SUNDAY Sun
of Everlt Macy, who is making an
exhaustive study of the causes of pow
erty Itself, up in Westchester county,
and you will learn that the typical
applicant for relief is ian alcoholic Of
40" But Mr.. Macy carefully refrains
from saying whether alcoholism causes
the human VII ok of alcoholism it
self is caused by poverty, misery de-
spair, that drive the man so far down
toward degradation that he seeks OBJ
livion in alcohol, The one outstanding
fact seems to be that the man who
is seized with this madness becomes
its victim at the age of 40 or there
about-be he rich or poor, educated or
unlettered.
Aside from the cause which physiol-
ogists assign as the one most important
there can be no question that there are
many contributing causes of human
wreck at middle age. What Is 1t which
leads man to place himself in the path
of temptation? Let us take two or three
definite cases, as concrete examples, and
see If we may reason therefrom.
Take the case of Jones, born and
brought up in small Connecticut town,
who comes to New York, obtains en-
ployment, works ike a mailer for a few
years, and finally earns a salary which
he thinks is sufficient for the support
of wife. He marries, very likely q
girl from his native place or from
some small town in New Jersey or else.
where, who has been brought up in hei
fathers home and who looks forward
to light housekeeping in a tiny apart,
ment as she would look forward to ar
extended picnic.
For n while everything goes smoothly
and happily; there are excursions t
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-01-24

spend the night. 1t is not necessary
for Jones to make fool of himself
with any of the thousands of attractive
young women whom he might easily
meet but the sisters and cousins of
his unmarried frie nds, the wives of
his married friends in New Jersey or
Long Island are so daintily dressed, so
bright and cheerful so full of fun and
jollity, that he cannot help comparing
them with his own Mabel, who is spend
ing the summer with their children up
there in Connecticut; and Jones has to
confess to himself that Mabel long ago
gave up trying to make herself agree
able and entertaining to him.
OF course he knows that she has
been under a great strain since the
children came. She has watched over
them and stayed up nights when they
were i'll. But just the same, she might
have tried to dress becomingly, to be
interested in the things he was inter-
ested in.
When Mabel came back from her
fathers home in September the apart
ment seemed smaller than ever, more
cluttered up with the childrens things
than before, more untidy, and cramped,
and impossible. Even when they moved
into larger apartment, further up
town, that October Mabel seemed to
have less and less thought for him.
Expenses were mounting, too. Often
when she had gone to bed early, all
tired out, Jones would sit with a pad of
paper on his knee, trying to calculate
what was to be the end of it all. And
then, with a groan, he would so to bed
himself and try to sleep. The angry
goddess had commenced her part.
She continued 1t that year, and the
next, while irrltability grew into bicker-
ing, downright quarrellnE, harsh
words, Jones went out alone in the
evenings more than ever now, although
Mabel sometimes went with him. He
was working as few men worked in his
own particular place of employment, and
his salary had been increased several
times Then, suddenly, both he and
Mabel We're smitten with madness.
Words of recrimination passed be-
tween them which could never be re-
called. The situation grew more tense
as hot weather approached with its de
| biltating effect, it's heavier weight OF
jangling nerves, and when Mabel took
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-01-24

Tot the hot fires Of youth nor the
~ smouldering embers of advanced
age occasionally bursting into
Hanna but that sudden insane.
The Bemidji daily pioneer. [volume] (Bemidji, Minn.) 1904-1971, 1915-05-27
DEMAND FOR COTTAGES
Wa-Ville Structures Being Rushed
and Active Summer is Made Ger
tain-Working on Hotel.
BUY BY MONTHLY PAYMENTS

Summer cottages at Wa-Ville are
being completed as quickly as pos
sible and work on the construction
of the hotel is we'll under way. Con-
tractors are instructed to push all
work with the greatest possible
speed as inquiries are coming in from
renters and owners every day.
Indications are that a dozen or
more cottages will be completed with
in the next six weeks and many of
those who own lots at the popular
resort and who intended to hold
them for speculation purposes, are
planning to build cottages. The de-
mand for cottages is continually on
the increase and such owners have
concluded that the revenue from cot
tage rentals will make it paying
investment to build.
J. J. .Opsahl has made cottage
building in Wa-Ville a simple matter
as he will erect any size or style cot
tage desired on the easy monthly pay
ment plan. T. J. Upper, special
gent, reports that the entire lake
shore in this section will be dotted
with cozy cottages during the present
summer months as we'll as a lively
patronage at the dining hall. -
The Bemidji daily pioneer. [volume] (Bemidji, Minn.) 1904-1971, 1915-05-27
WAIT FOR LAND OPENING.
Line Forming Before U. s. Land
Office at Cass Lake.

Cass Lake residents are wondering
what is to become of the line of land
seekers which has formed in front
of the United States land office there
during the past few days. There
are now rs men in line and they
keep their places by sleeping in
chairs and tents nearby The first
to take positions were Fran Suitor
and Bernie Rafferty,. They display
ed numbers on caps-Rafferty No.
1, Sutton No. 2. Within half an
hour the news spread; before two
hours 20 were in line. Some months
ago the opening of several thousand
acres of valuable land in Cass Lake
and Duluth land office districts was
announced, the opening to take place
in May, but thus far nothing more
has been heard. The date has not
been announced and the Cass Lake
land officials are ignorant of any
thing pertaining to the opening. The
lands to be opened are scattered
mostly in Cass Lake district and
comprise some of the most valuable
sites remaining for homesteads. It
is expected that within a day or two
there will be several hundred in line.
The Bemidji daily pioneer. [volume] (Bemidji, Minn.) 1904-1971, 1915-05-27
NoWARN !. j! "
OF STEAMER NEBRASKAN
(unitad PraaRl


Washington, May. 27.-State de-
partment officials have. received a re-
port from Captain Green, of the
American steamer Nebraskan, which
was torpedoed off the Irish coast yes
terday in which he says that it was
slightly dusk when attacked and the
flag had been hauled down only five
minutes before. The steamers name
was painted on both sides in letters
six feet high. The captain : added
that no warning was given and moth
ing was seen of the attacking subma-
rine. The crew got into boats and
returned to the vessel an hour later.
A naval attache of the London en-
bassy has been sent to Liverpool to
examine the Nebraskan when she ar
rives in port. 49,:
Administration officials believe
that the most significant sentence is
that the vessel had no warning and
saw nothing. This disclOses an un-
certainty which will probably make
the mystery unsolvable. If the
Nebraskan was struck by snbma-
rine it is admittedly an act of war.
The officials stated that if the vessel
was struck by, a torpedo, following
the recent note of President Wilson
against submarine warfare the act is
one of belligerency and is a direct
assault to the honor of the United
States -.
The Bemidji daily pioneer. [volume] (Bemidji, Minn.) 1904-1971, 1915-05-27
.BIpLANE FOR COUNTY FAIR
Charles Schroeder, Agricultural As
ISOLATION Secretary, Completes Con-
tracts for Feature Attractions.
SEVERAL FLIGHTS EACH DAY

Thrills are in store for those who
attend the annual fair of the Bel
trami County Agricultural associa-
tion next fall, for Charles Schroeder,
secretary, has signed a contract with
the Young Aeroplane company Of
Kansas City whereby a biplane with
an expert and daring operator will
be sent here for three of the four
days of the exhibition.
There are to be at least two
flights each day. The Kansas City
company assures that one of its best
and most famous airmen will have
charge of the biplane during it's Be-
midi flights and guarantees that the
exhibition will be successful.
But the biplane is not the only
feature attraction of the 1915 fair
for the management has completed
arrangements for the appearance. of
the Nelson Comeques, a company of
four clever entertainers. They have
two distinct and clever acts. This
troupe is billed through the Robin
son Amusement association of Chi
cagO.
Then there will be Huddleston's
trained animals, one of the best at
fractions of its kind appearing be-
fore the American people at the pres
ent time
Secretary Schroeder gives assur-
ance that there will be many other
splendid amusements and says that
every effort will be extended to make
this portion of the fair successful.
The first day Of the fair, Septem-
Der Is, will be entry day and the
program will be so arranged that
there will not be dull moment dur
ing the entire four days.
Farmers appear to be taking more
interest than ever before in the fair
and the exhibits will be larger and
better than ever, tending to place
Beltrami among the leaders, as
has been the case for several years,
in the matter of county fairs.