davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-05-07
The Mystery of Quicksand.

MANY tnauirers. hearing or reading
SV1 of the dangerous and mysterious
qualities Of auicksands. have sought
in vain to find the difference between
these and ordinary eXpanses of sand.
Why do they ingulf the unwary? An
answer To this question is difficult to
obtain and is generally unsatisfactory
when found.
1t is thought by some that the diff
ference between quicksand and other
sand is accidental rather than funda-
mental. y certain amount of unneces
sary mystery seems to surround this
matter The grains of quick sa nds APP
pear to be in no way extraordinary.
Nevertheless. the fact remains that
sand in certain localities upon coasts
readily gives way under load. In
stances are recorded where a cart driv.
en- over a wet shore has rapidly dis.
appeared below the surface. The gen.
eral opinion seems to be that this is
due to soft underlying layer of clay
or mud. which no doubt in some in
stances is the true explanation. One
authority. however. points out that an
other factor may be the imprisoning
of gas between the grains. due to de.
composition of organic matter.
1t must also he borne in mind that
any surface in so good a contact with
wet sand that the air is excluded viii.
be held fast by atmospheric pressure,
and, further. that an object situated
and tilted this way and that will rap.
idly become imbedded and swallowed
up. II is by this simple process that
the Goodwin sands have claimed so
many victims. 4 large percentage of
the vessels stranded upon them, how
ever. float safely off on the rising tide.
but now and then one is caught and
doomed. In the past they have been
responsible for many a shipping traz-
edy, and there is a pathetic interest
attaching to the fact that ribs. and
~ chi
forgotten sometimes reappear for a
time above the surface. Since the ad-
vent of steam il is happily a rare &C.
currence for a vessel to be lost upon
IA ha
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-05-07

stroyed. section of Alpine Chasseurs
occupied the cemetery, in the outskirts
The cannon Numbered A German shell
blew up the slab of burial vault, while
all around rained splinters of the 'mar-
mites" 1t was an unhoped-for shelter.
A lieutenant and twelve men took refuge
in it. They made the vault a kind Of
trench. strongly fortified. The next morn
ing a soldier announced: MY lieutenant,
a civilian, sent by the commandant."
1t was an old peasant in his Sunday
suit. black broadcloth. stained with
earth. Mechanically he let drop the
handles of wheelbarrow that he had
been pushing wheelbarrow loaded with
a potato bag half full of something. The
old peasant showed his permit and muir
INJURED: 81 have come to bury my fam
lily, the Marescot family - am the
father"
The lieutenant remembered. The in
habitants had refused to quit the viii
1age. living in their cellars. So, in the
bombardment a mother and two
daughters had been buried and burned
The lieutenant was about to welcome
the poor man, when a squall of German
shells fell. Everybody in the holes"
he cried. and dragged the old peasant
into the fortified burial vault along
with the others. There he squatted in
corner, resigned, silent. worthy.
Courage, NJ. Marescot." said the lieu
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-05-07

shell while transporting wounded, IN full
security of a highroad of the rear. Hall
was Dartmouth man. from Ann Arbor.
Mich. Close by. Luke Doyle. Yale man
of Boston. was grievously wounded while
driving an ambulance. thanks to the
same mania for long range revenge.
Also the St. Johns BRITISH ambulances
go and come through st, Die daily.
One hears the cannonade continually.
At night the eastern sky flashes with
hight fusees. The peasants whisper of
great German transports. but the trench
boys call it the merry go-round,' peri
odical circular touring of masses of Ger
man infantry, to give the illusion of
pounds the German trenches. Night il
luminations. patrols and forays alarm the
Germans to their second line. Ambu-
lance chauffeurs and wounded predict the
grand offensive of the allies.
One hears terrific tales of Smelling.
In the devastated district of ST. Die
there is q family with two pretty
girls of fifteen and seventeen who
their house used to be- hunting
among the debris. Neighbors say that
they are hunting the family hoard
of gold. which had been hidden in a wall.
Wall. hearth, everything is a mass of
ruin. tons deep-the adjoining houses
mixed and spread with their house. More
likely the girls are watching that nobody
else nndS the gold.
Well. each time that new German shells
fall, do You think that the girls run?
Not much-unless it be TO run toward the
explosion, in case that their twelve-year-
old brother has been temporarily relaying
them. They hope that new shells will
clear the ground" says contractors
man. who is junk-wrecking next door.
They hide behind their ruins and grub
in the new craters as soon as they're
made"
And it is nothing.
Peasants tenacity in sticking to their
ruins is astonishing. Close to the front,
where certain village is all but de-
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-05-07
Baptismal Font Is B0mbar1ed by Germans

fred the cannon on human creatures.
Who would have thought that l. with
my spectacles. would become the mas
ter gunner? For all this. can defend
myself at the feet of the Lord. But
now ! am going TO commit an abomin-
able action. and, what fills my heart
with dread. commit IL sGuarely.
Judge my despair. We have before
us about five miles distant. little VII
lase with a little church that has be-
come like a friend for me. My eyes re-
pose on it, afar off. The little house
Of prayer has a poor little tower. whose
old bell sends us, faint and sweet the
double angelus, signal by which l
kneel. morning and evening. Now. alas.
battalion has just occupied the church.
So. the church. in which is the Presence
of God. must be laid low, destroyed. by
met is I who must ruin il,
CHere a page torn outD
Mother. you know how good our
captain is After giving me the ter
rihle order - which, 7 must admit. is.
militarily, his duty-the captain spared
I accept to throw the act upon another?
l am the master gunner,
The Germans let the angelus still
ring The battalion is Bavarian and
many of them may he praying. have
arranged with my substitute. | shall
aim the cannon-he will fire it. We
shall await the evening angelus, After
the first shot | shall kneel.
In this great disorder OF my soul.
sustain me. mamma. My good COM
rades of the battery have wives and
children | have only you: SO, in my
great distress ! call to-mamma, am
at your knees. mamma. As when ! was
little, lay your hands upon, the fore
head of your boy All. not the boy of
other days, but only of today SOL
der"
END of the extracts. The remainder
Of the notebook is torn and soiled with
mud and bloodD
The old captain sighed
Il must send il to his mother. he
said. He aimed the piece with his own
hands-despite my orders. which you
all heard-and Al twilight twenty shells
were fired. My master gunner was
kneeling in prayer. He remained there
until daybreak. We saw him. We said
to ourselves: If the morning angelus
rings. il will mean that the church
still stands and we have missed an en-
tire battalion of the enemy We looked
at our watches. My lieutenant whisper
ed: The hour is past, Just then the
master gunner staggered to his cave
room
1T a month ago" concluded the
old captain. Last Thursday he WAS
killed by lone 210 shell. What could
the Germans have been firing att"
1t is terrible, all terrible, yes.
But how different from ST. Die
The bomba rdment of Barkirch had q
military object. STERLING HELLO.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-05-07

and devotion to duty. Witness that
English general in the Artois who
secured the country round to purchase
the Aubigny woods from it's owners,
because he was obliged to lombard it,
TT Worries me to destroy the property
of innocent third parties said the
general.
Witness the French artillery officer
who offered to lombard his own cha
teau beyond Rheims because it was oc-
cupied by the staff of a German di
vision. and because. as he argued. he
knew the topography of the place bet
ter than anybody else. In that chateau
were all his family treasures, all his
dear membranes, the riches of his
heart With his own hands. shell by
shell, he shattered them. He was a
hero, because he offered to his country
not only his life. but his sentiments. his
ideal-an ideal being, often, dearer
than life itself.
Here-close to the firing line of Lor-
raine-one hears much of the excruci-
ating case of conscience of French Of
f1cers with respect to bombarding
towns. as they advance. in German
held Lorraine.
Here. now. is an ideal deep rooted in
French hearts. and they are torn be-
tween it and another-that of service
to the patrie. Merely to do damage
does not tempt them-they could bonn
bard Metz ruinously. any day: and yet
they don't do it. They are twenty-three
miles from Metz. with German armies
and trenches in between. They cannot
hope to take Metz by bonn bardment-
yet; and, so. they don't destroy its
dwellings and churches at long range.
They would never have bombarded st.
Die. But what about real military OBJ
jects? What about advancing? What
about the towns of German held Lor-
raine in full front of the firing line?
Lorraine is French to all French
hearts. The old Lorraine families
have been waiting forty years for the
French to come and lberate them. How
blow up their towns? They can't bring
their hearts to do it. Listen. They
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-05-07
Burning Gas Through Ice.

A y interesting scene was witnessed
~ on a skating lake near western
city. White spots resembling air bub-
bles were noticed in the ice, and one
of the skaters bored a hole into such a
bubble and applied a match to it. where
upon a flame burst out at the surface.
Further experiments showed that
when q small hole was bored down to
the bubble a long. thin jet of flame
could be obtained which would last for
a considerable time. The bubbles were
due to accommodations of marsh gas
formed by the decomposition of vege-
table matter at the bottom of the lake
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-05-07
BoMBARDMENT OF ST DE-


tenant. the Smelling will not last long
and then the burial can take place in
peace. 1 will send men for the bodies.
Where are they"
The old peasant looked up. sad-eyed.
They are here" he said, simply.
Here? Where? How" They are in
the bag he answered. 1T is all of
them that was left" And the lieuten
ant perceived. with shocked admiration.
that Father Marescot had not let go
the bag. but brought it with him. To
cut short the painful situation. he said:
IAN right. l will have them buried"
The old peasant looked at him strange
ly. You can trust me-" repeated the
officer. MY chasseurs will dig grave.
You may have confidence"
But" murmured the other, Il possess
a family vault"
"Ah. good. All right. Where is IT."
1T IS
Indicate it. Tell u.s.
at is-that is to say
Where? Come, come
MY lieutenant" blurted out poor
Father Marescot, sublime, but humble
hero, my lieutenant. we are in it,.
What is the morality of lombard
ment?
One hears strange stories of conscience
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-05-07

don't do it. But it makes the French
advance much slower.
most touching I have heard concerns
a humble little church in a Lorraine
valley. The Germans are there. with
the French on two sides. 1t is the
Barkirch is just over the mountains
from st. Die.
In a certain spot, then. hidden among
branches. were three batteries of French
ago the man who saw the first part of
the adventure was sitting with the
captain when the latter called out:
Send me the master gunner of the Sd
Battery
The master gunner was a young fell
low under thirty. with blinking eyes
behind far..sighted spectacles- He
looked worried. My friend said the
fire. this evening. on the Church of
Barkirch. over there. My calculations
are ready. Here are the elements of the
aim. But" he hesitated." l have re-
fiected."
MY captain" murmured the young
master gunner. growing pale. "a
church? The church of Barkirch?"
Yes church. But l have reflected.
l exempt you. Another will fire and
y
No discussion. You are sick. Go to bed
and drink tea. Enough. No more. You
are sick till further orders"
The young master gunner walked off.
without a word, head bent. like man
condemned to death. And the old cap
tain whispered to the others: Il have
stopped a drama. l may tell you some
day
4 month passed.
Yesterday the captain told il.
"Do you remember the artillery boy
with spectacles whom ! Informed that
he was sick" he said to Georges Es-
parbes curator of Fontainebleau, who
made the extracts. He has just been
killed. Now, read this thanding a
pocket notebook. / must send it to
his mother with his medals and cita-
ton.
Extracts from the notebook of Mas
ter Gunner N, campaign of Lor-
raine, 1850
Mother. ! am on the edge Of a preci-
pice. God pity me. Mother. weep for
me- All that you taught me, when
was little, of kindness and pardon to-
ward our fellow men. | have consented
to unlearn. in this war. holding ready
some day. later. to convince your wis
dom of the impossibility in which
found myself to have pity for the in
vaders
Mother. for thirteen months l have
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-05-07

supervises a huge work of translation
and distribution.
During the present war il might be
thought that the work of the society,
at least as far as European distribu-
ton is concerned. would be much cur
tailed. On the contrary. the war seems
70 have stimulated distribution. Dur
ing the year 1915 400, 900 Bibles were
sent to soldiers in Europe. In many
ways. the foreign reports say. the war
has caused an increased circulation of
the Bible. In England, a New Tesla
ment is part OF the kit of every soldier
who goes to the front In Russia. the
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-05-07

tered the art of studying a mar. with
out appearing to do so. 1t is highly
probable that the city father will make
some interesting remark about the bat
tie of Verdun or the high cost of living
in Virginia.
OF course he is curious. In fact, he is
very curious. but politely curious-curi
Gus with the best intent. He can keep a
secret. and the men coming before him in
the course of morning session of the
Police Court realize this fact. Heaney
has sense Of humor, kept under
wraps, of course. The pentent in the
chair straightens with a sigh of relief
and confesses that the atmosphere of
studio life is preferable to that of a
court of law. He may even be so bold
as to express the hope that Walter
johnson will pitch that day.
Then they get together There Is
some kink in the life of the man that
must be Strengthened out. Heaney
usually works on this hypothesis. He
is there to put his finger on this kink
and try to see the trouble is eradi-
Gated. AS kink-curer Probation Off,
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-05-07

papers, the only literature these tribes
have in their own language is the Bible
and hymn book.
Besides FIVE agencies in Latin Amer
lea. the society has seven permanent
agencies in Asia and the great island
kingdom of Japan and the Philippines.
One agency has charge of the society s
printing operations and Bible distribu-
ton in the vast expanse. of China. An
important principle respecting Bible
distribution in foreign lands was fixed
by a vote to supply Scriptures to all
American missions which ask the aid
BY grants of money for printing and
distributing versions of Scriptures. the
society led in the early equipment OF
some Of the most important American
missions in the levant.
From an unostentatious beginning,
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-05-07
;p.c,., Correspondence of The Star.

Special Correspondence of The Star.
SAFE DISTANCE FROM ST. DIE
France. April %. 1916.
owILL tell you of our visit to st. Die
We are not there now.
ST. Die is being wantonly and
q uselessly bombarded by long range
cannon. which shoot twenty miles over
the Lorraine mountains, held entirely
by the French.
Civilian visitors are safer just behind
the trenches than at st. Die, although
the trench boys look on it as a town
Of the rear" where there are shops,
restaurants and beds to sleep in.
Regularly. in war. you lombard a
town to take 1T. otherwise you don't
lombard IL. merely to kill civilians.
Well, the Germans could not take st.
Die if they should lombard it for a
year There are twenty miles of pine
forest mountains in between, with the
forcements, served by railroads and au-
tomobile caravans galore.
Yet the Germans are bomba riding st.
he. the baptismal font of America.
This name was given to the town in
1891 by Frank Mason. afterward United
States consul general to Paris, in a
monograph which enjoyed celebrity.
come, see what they are doing to our
bsptismal font,
Sunday afternoon. just s the chill
dren were returning from vespers. six
great shells fell on the town and
smashed two houses. Monday morning
fifteen shells fell. of which three dam
aged the cathedral Tuesday. between
NO am. and noon. forty-eight shells
fell. six crashing into the cathedral or
it's cloisters Again. at pm. five more
shells fell. well aimed by German
mathematics. The cathedral cloister of
81. Die bids fair to be a complete
wreck
without cause. without hope to win
an inch of ground, they are destroying
the most venerable spot in France for
Americans.
II is worse than Rheims. Ypres. Arras
or the cathedral of Laon. ST. Die lies
in a valley. twenty miles in the in
terror, unima ginable as a point for OBJ
servation of anything. Yet here, at
Germans are blowing up the majestic
cathedral cloiSterS where America
was first pronounced and printed.
Come, look, Here is the spot where.
June 4. 1911, in presence of the Ameri-
can ambassador and a crowd of promi-
nent Americans in their touring cars,
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-05-07

CTERNG HELLO, The Sunday Stars Correspondent France Writes Shells Fall
- Where the Word America Was First
About the Middle Of April Their Shells Being Fired Twenty
Shell F-S Die Historic
fol- Amnc
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-05-07

81 81 is studio is in a small room across
lTl the dark wooden corridor di
rectly back of the big, high,
main reception room of the Police
Court on the third floor of the Police
Court building. at the corner of D and
9Th streets. George A. Heaney is an
artist He draws men. He draws men
away from the viciousness of vice, from
the dangers and pitfalls mankind is
heir to through fondness for strong
drink. He draws men from the byways
of bal habit back TO the broad high
way of clean living. He often works
in his little studio after the afternoon
light is poor and artists in other fields
Of endeavor have called il a day
Since beginning his probation work
in Police Court the middle of Novem
Der Mr.. Heaney has had ample time to
become acquainted with most Of the
bad boys of the District of Columbia
and vicinity. who have impressed the
judges of the court with the serious
ness of their intentions to never get in
trouble again. over four hundred in
dividuals with bonvivant tendencies or
possessing too nimble fingers report to
the Office of Probation Officer Heaney
once week. The officials calling list
reads like a potpourri of an interna-
a Washington directory.
These callers all members of
Heaneys little family. He stands in
loco PARENTS TO more erring sons than
any other worried father in the Dis
trict. He is a cheerful city official de-
spite his great family trouble. He adj
mits, with a smile, that some of his
prodigal sons believe in the continual
performance system. but he is opti-
mistic about them all. When they fall
from grace he sets to work with his
studio tools-sympathy, understanding,
experience, common sense-and again
the big bad boys leave the District
building with their weekly allowance
Of hope and determination. They VIII
not again break the principles of honor
in vogue in the little studio fifteen feet
from the judges own chair in the big
courtroom.
starts shortly after Police Court opens.
Persons in the hands of the law who
have impressed the judge with story
of human frailty and an earnest desire
to again seek the peace and quiet of
the straight and narrow path find an
attendant in uniform leading from the
sordid atmosphere of the courtroom
through door to the left of the
raised platform, where the dignitary
of the proceedings rules with an iron
hand.
In moment the penitent is in the
studio. He is the model before the art
list. The chances are that the artist
will be successful. Artist Heaney
seems to be endowed with the strange
knack of recovering human drift be-
fore the rushing torrent Of degradation
has engulfed unfortunates.
The room is dark and bare Three
chairs stand along one wall as though
daring any one to try to be comfort
able. 1t seems as though the sunlight
outside is making a fruitless, half
hearted effort to flood the studio with
light. Men usually see a light of an
other sort before they leave the build
ing.
A little man with big ideas, wearing
a gray beard like the regulation Ken
lucky colonel, is writing industriously
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-05-07

paid for a single book was the $4,000
given in New York for the original
Gutenberg Bible.
sum of $4,000 year is set aside
by the Bible Society for it's great work
of revision and translation. New trans
lations are being made all the time. for
despite the great circulation already ac-
complshed. more than SOC. 000. 900 people
in the world have not been provided with
any portion of the Scriptures. This en-
tails the verification of hundreds of
references and a study of great respon-
ibility of different languages. The
society is responsible for giving the
Bible to the American Indians in five
of their languages and TO the Philippine
Islanders in eight languages. Such work
as this is indispensable to missionaries
in foreign lands. who follow up their
preaching and evanselistic campo gins
with a distribution of Bibles to their
converts.
An important part of this work OF
translation is the provision of Bibles
for the blind. The society issues many
Bibles in raised type. not only in Eng
lish, but also in Spanish. Armenian,
Japanese. Korean, Sianese and Armeno-
Turkish.
To enumerate the many fields of oper-
alton of the Bible Society would be to
give an intermina BILE list of places on
the globe. Its work is carried on in
five continents and upon the islands of
the seas by at least 1000 workers. The
miner. the lumberjack. sailors. soldiers.
seamen. cowboys and mountaineers are
some of the types in this country for
whom special work is done.