davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1916-02-22
BROOKLYN CLOSES
MARRIAGE CHAPEL
Borough Hall without We'd
ding> and Red Seal Mrr-
chant Without a Job.

Weddings in Brooklyn's Borough Hall.
stopped. There has been noiI' sine"
Tuesday of last week, Aldermen who
formerly competed for the privilege %
performing the ceremonies no" shuIs
Room Ia. ;lc Chapel"
Yesterday Abrtnam O~ppenh,.neI. also
announced thai ne tvo had gone On
strike. lie IL she clerk who without Of
ficial attachment, reapcd about $1,000 "
year, according to COMMISSIONS OF .At-
counts Wallstein's report. from h.lins
out the certificates and aitiNing TO each
one OF them a rcd seal ~ lnee as =
iiapjack. which, II the bridal couples had
only 20 Il. added nothing al AL 10
the legal value of the document.
Mr.. Wallstein made public the SUM
mary OF his investigation on February
IL. Having already caused the abandon
ment of the marriage bower IN Guy Hall
and the institution OF a no fee system
in the Municipal Building, he saw no
reason why Brooklyn people ould con-
tinue to pay tribute. He therefore RECON-
mended to the sinking Fund Commits
sion either that marrying cease IN Room
10 OF rhe Borough Hall or that core
monies should be free.
The Brooklyn Aldermen. who have
never been accused OF inability TO de-
cipher handwriting Oh the wall. have not
waited for the sinking Fund Commission
to act. They have stayed away from
the chapel" and Us has been said. a
week has passed without a single mar
rage In the ancient ROOM. In their re-
luctance they nave been abatted by Mr..
Oppenheimer.
I'm through the sorrowful little
man said yesterday. II wouldn't make
out another marriage certificate and az
! range for another marriage II You paid
mo 800. stopped On TUESDAY and
when an Alderman wanted me to make
out h papers for a friend OF his ! re-
fused. When ] say "A thing l mean It.
II expect to stay around here. Why
shouldn't I? Tho Aldermen have always
been my friends. They have treated me
we'll and I'm willing to continue to serve
them although ! get NJ pay. They need
mo to answer calls and attend to their
affairs. People nave become used no see
Ing RE here and here ! shall be-"
The former c~ertitier of seven a day
sat alone In the bower before a desk
from which his gigantic seal and al
other parapliernalia except pen, ink and
paper had been removed. Now aud ther
"a young couple same tit'ering into the
room. but he waved them away with the
air of a. man who has closed the blinds
locked the door and pu, up II sign, 'I,e'
tired from business
Probably the board OF Aldermen viii
DO asked TO assign som" Of th"ir Hruok'
Ign members to perform feeiess mar
riages In Borough Hall, uut Ton the
present the clcrgymen VI Brooklyn Ar,
busier than usual.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1916-02-22
JEALOUSY BARES FIRE PLOT.
Partners Who Loved same GirI
Arrested ON Arson charge.

vindictive because Man ~Posnansky
vas the favorite sutton in tho courtshlp
Of u Brooklyn girl, Jacob Epstein told
the police that he and hts rival had ar
ranged to set fire to the hous, which
they OWL NJ 40l East Eighth street.
Both men were arrested OF a charge Of
attempted arson after Ch'cf Brophy uf
the bureau of FIR" prevention found s"y-
eral towels saturated with alcohol hang
ing over a stove in their apartment.
They were arraigned yesterday in Ia.
Essex Market polio. our and held in
SIS, 900 bail each.
Eighteen months aga P~osuausky and
Epstein came "a thi. country. They fell
in love witt the sam" girl, and when
Epstein heard that his rival had an
engagement witt, her for sunday after
noon he disclosed the plot 10 destroy the
tenement. housing twenty-five families.
Both men confessed. the police say, l.p-
stein had $500 insurance and Pusnansly
$500 insurance on the building.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1916-02-22
SAYS CAFE MAN STOLE WIFE.
william shaw Asks 100000 Of r.
r.. W'hyte Of WHITES,

Edward y. Whyte, proprietor 81
Whyte's Restaurant AT i45 Fulton street.
Manhattan, Mas sued In tho supreme
Court yesterday for 5000 damages ror
alternating the affections of Mrs. Helen
Shaw. wife of William Shaw.
shaw alleges that he and his wife lived
happily together at 4i6 Eastern Park
way. Brooklyn, until November last,
when the defendant, intending To iujurc
him, induced his wife TO leave him. Shaw
alleges that Whyte provided an apart
ment for Mrs. shaw In Manhattan and
IL now harborins her in spite uf her
husbands peaceful efforts to induce her
to return.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1916-02-22

. The Pastores brought in the most dis
tinguished company of tourists that over
has been landed here from a West Indies
cruise. including Charles liegole, pr.si-
dent % the Chevrolet Motor COMPANY .
William l}ashr. president of III" Central
Railroad Of New Jersey. Elmer Hiss,
president OF III. Regal Shoc company ;
Ames Carter. president 90 the carter
Electric Company. ;eorge tonlor.
traffic manager New York. New Haven
and Hartford Railroad Er'est Eddy Of
the Fidelity Trust Company. stat. SEN
ator william Finn - p'tsburg. t;eorgc
Henderson ~ tho American Sn,i,'y ~
Mechanical Engineers. Samuel Pryor,
president of the Wiurh,st4r Fir, Arw-
Company George Rand, president Of tn"
Central National Bank and Ia. tuiunb ia
National Bank OF Bufalo, ard Irving
Smith ~ the keystou. Watch tompau!
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1916-02-22
RICH WOMAN AIDS
PRODIGAL'S REFORM
Mrs. Bishop Befriends P. +.
Grant. ships Steward. En-
Cornell Student.
WAS WHITE LIGHT VICTIM

Phfip Edgar Grant, a prodigal Of
Rochester who failed Of graduation from
Cornell University because. ~ he admit
ted himself. he became fascinated with
'chorus girls and the white lights OF
Manhattan" gave UP his 1oD as bath
room steward aboard the United Fruit
steamship Pastores after she had tied
up yesterday afternoon At her East River
pier. lie then declared he was COINS
home first to zee his folks and then
take a Job ashore In a suburb Of Cleve-
land.
The father Of tho young man is a
clergyman and he has not seen young
Grant In seven years. when ne start"a
rowing. The youth said yesterday h II
he owed his return to a better life TO
Mrs. Helen Walton Bishop, who made
the West nd,an cruls. In the Pastore5
| and learned Just after getting aboard
that young Grant was employed III IN"
ship. Mrs. Bishop, who Is young, DARK,
| animated and a divorce.. eaid she had
befriendcd Grant because OF "a promise
she gave his mother some time ago.
| She learned from him on the trip that
| he WAS tired Of %scago'ng as n steward
AIN Wtill'u W Nv r''N' 'N''
, thing worth will, to do Oh land.
Promised iIis Mother 90 Help.
Mrs. Bishop Is wealthy and has many
friends She communicated by wireless
| with the man who could get the job she
had In view for young Grant and was
told that Il would Ice reserved for him.
Mrs. Bishop said she had met Grant
mother when she. Mrs. Bishop. was az
tending hops at Cornell seven years ago
and che then old Mrs. Grant That ~
she ever came across tn. YOUNG man.
whom she also knew quite well ana who
was then beginning a career that nnaIiy
led to tho white lights, she would DO All
she could to help him
Mrs. bishop was disincl,ned 20 talk
about her philanfhropy at first She
said that with her divorce aud an auto
mobile accident she had had her rSnio
I'm the papers enough aud wanted no
more publicity. =.
Il have been mp against cv'r,thiug'
she remarked iinal,j but u hi,clI'i'
stove"
Gran. was paid off and hurried from
the ship 90 take a train for Iiorlestef'
He said he had studied ~ Cornell To
take the mechanical arts dcgrc" bu'
had failed because of tine lure of tn.
city.
Mrs. Bishop went to the Eiitmoie. Sh'
Is on the ships manifest a. a native 81
Detroit. with r.sidrnC, al "a, Blackstone
Hotel chicago. Mr.. l;s h"ps MANY
iriend~ ON n. cruise said -h, W.T. -
ceiving sioo.ooo alimuny from Mr.
Bishop
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1916-02-22

YOU n million times. my darling k1Ii
XII"
The Prince said that after this letter
nas written u Was arranged that he and
lNonne we're 10 go to Cuba and be mar
.rl BY this time his feelings toward
hcr uau changed. he said.
ND yuu -tiil love Nine. Gouraud"
81 had a ~f-iendship for her. because
a. q / va willing u a k Tvcnnc with
put dover"
Lost wife and YvOnne.
two day. later Yvonne went back TO
h,- mother and Tn. Prince lost both his
vii. and Nyonrc.
"iiou 10 you feel toward Mrs. Gou-
rtIl now
" am very sorry .o sec her here,
m,, II wa- IN" only way TO establish the
whereabouts ~ our child"
ibid YOU then want to MARI Yyorne?'
~, IS not the custom In Russia, where
| come from. to marry n woman and
thu turn around and marry her daugh-
ter"
How did You expect 10 marry hsrr
1t was not I II WAS Nine. Gouraud
rI.i Mr. Lawrence who were to ar
range it"
ON his redirect examination the Prince
>,II that AZ conferences between Mine.
Gpuraud and Mr.. Lawrence II was ar.
r..i ecd that she WAS to divorce the
i'riucc.
Did she Mime, ~C;oursud) suGgest the
ilN. rCe?'
We. she said ] couldn't r. married
- -" wouIeu at the same time"
Md she suggest that YOU and Yvonne
60 - Eigcu"re"'
Vas. Sh" SAID Now II il absolutely
uc,rssarV to e. 10 Edgemere. After
tA' divorce il granted you will marry
~NNonn.''
tn case VII 60 on t,-morroS.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-07-09
learned it as a child from hearing his

learned it as a child from hearing his
mother sing it.
The next appeal was to Mr.. Fitch;
but he, meanwhile. had been taken III
and gone to Switzerland to recover his
health hope which proved vain. A
courteous replysto the letter which /
had addressed to him came from his
mother, who sent it from London She
wrote that she had learned the song
when a child from her mother in her
childhood home at Hagerstown. Md.
She had herself been curious about the
history of the song. and once had lnstl-
tuted inquiries about it in Boston, but
without profitable results. She found
only one person outside Of her family
who could recall having heard the song,
and that person was friend who came
from the neighboring city of Reading,
Pa. About the song itself and her
sons acquaintance with It Mrs. Fitch
wrote: I'VE were taught 20 say Out
into the Jews garden; but having
lovely neighbors in those days who
were Jews, and for fear of wounding
their feelings, Clyde, little fellow,
changed it into kings garden and
made several other little changes. as
even in those youthful days he had his
own ideas
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-07-09

Quite the most remarkable and ro-
mantle experience that | ever had IN
the pursuit of ballad attaches to
version of "Sir Hugh of Lincoln. or
The Jews Daughter" which ] added TO
nv collection about fifteen years ago.
| told the story in The Tribune at the
time. but in view OF the present un-
usual interest in the subject IT VIII
bear retelling. In the winter OF 1901
1902 play by the late Clyde FItch
entitled THE Girl and the Judge was
brought out at the Lyceum Theatre IN
New York. In the course of this play
Miss Annie Russell sang verse or
two of song beginning at rained
mist. it rained a mist, It ralned all
over the town" 1t seemed childish
little ditty without significance or
value beyond that which came to 1t as
an episode which added to the gentle
ness and naturalness Of the scene IN
which it occurred but when it was de-
scribed to me | scented ballad, and
the singular manner IN which 1t was
used pioued my curiosity. Ny dramatic
colleague on The Tribune, Mr.. William
II Frost. asked Miss Russell about it,
and she replied that not she. but Mr..
Fitch had introduced the song into the
play and had told her that he had
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-07-09

Professor Reed Smith reported yei'
sions of The Jews Daughter from
Kentucky and Virginia down to the
end of the year 1914, and Mr.. l..
Alphonso Smith prints two melodies
without the words in the Musical
Quarterly" Of last January. There are
many more versions besides that
which | recovered from Pennsylvania
through the agency of Miss Scoield.
SO far as | have seen them, all stop
with the dying boys request to be
I laid out with Bible and prayer-book
and that inquirers be told that he was
either asleep or dead. 1t is singular
to say the least, that the most com
plete version, though it stops short OF
the completion of the story, was one
which, strangely corrupted, Mr.. Will
lam Wells Newell, for many years
secretary of the American FOLKLORE
Society, heard group Of colored
children singing in New York near the
upper end of Central Park. Through
a little girl who recited the poem for
his notation he traced it 10 an irish
family the mother of which, born IN
New York. had learned it from her
mother, who had brought the knowl-
edge Of il with her from Ireland. inc
corruptions of the original text are in.
teresting and amusing. Hugh OF
Lincoln is become Little Harry
Hughes; the Jews daughter has
been transmogrifed into The young
est Dukes daughter In version
set forth by Jameson there is de-
scription of the bleeding wound
/ And first came out the thick. thick blood.
And syne came out the thin:
And syne came out the bonny heart blOod
There was nae mar within.
This was more than the transmit
tiers could manage in poetical form;
but the picture of the flowing blood
was too grewsomely beautiful to be
lost. wherefore it found expression
/ thus:
I Little Harry hughes hah 10 pray loi Hi'
soul.
+ For his days were at an end
She stuck her penknife IN little Harry
heart
And first the blood came very thick, and
then came very thin.
The desire for Christian burial re-
mains an element, though the preju-
dice against the Jews has disappeared
to be replaced, possibly in Ireland,
with hatred of nobility. What is
most picturesque and dramatically de-
scriptive in the poem has been pre-
served such as the green dress OF the
murderess, her golden chair, the rain
which is utterly inconsequential IN
the oldest version. but somehow never
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-07-09

The reference to Reading brought
singular coincidence to my MIND III
NV notebook there was version oil 'he
ballad words and music, which had
received in January, 1897, from Miss
Mary B. Scofeld, of Poughkeepsie' "
Y. In a lecture before the Vassar IN
stitute in the month preceding hSd
used THE Jews Daughter and some
variants collected in the United States
to illustrate the transmigratlon OF pal
lads. Strangely enough, Miss Scoheld'
who was in the audience, had for some
weeks or months previously been en-
Gagged in an effort to recall version OF
the ballad which she had sung as child.
Stimulated by the references IN the
lecture she went 10 work again, and
acting on the belief that she must have
learned II from her nurse. she wrote TO
that obliging person and was at once
rewarded and delighted by RECEIVING
written copy of the song IN full.
The introduction Of the nurse into
the history of the version made fur
Their inquiry into its genesis necessary:
Where did Miss Scoield come from and
where the nurse? The answers threw
little light on the subject then, but be
came curiously interesting after the IN
formation contributed by Mrs. Fitch.
Miss Scofeld was born and reared IN
Reading. Penn, and her nurse was a
PENNSYLVANIA German girl, who came
from a farm hard by the city, and had
never been outside of Berks County.
In melody. and so far as | could learn
in words. the versions OF Mr.. Fitch and
Miss Scofeld were practically Identical.
Here are the words;
+, rained mist. IT rained mist.
I, rained all over the town.
And All the boys IN our town
Won't out 10 toss their balls.
A, 6rst they tossed their balls too high
And then again too low.
.,d then into the garden
Where no one had dare TO 60.
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-07-09
HOW 4 CLEW WAS FOUND IN ONE
OF CLYDE FITCHS PLAYS

the religious type, have been lost for
ever because the black people who had
lived in slavery were shamed into ST.
lence by the younger generation who
had never lived in the land OF Egypt
and thought Of it only with humilia-
ton. To the good, sound sense and
keen appreciation of an old black
nanny who had been a slave in Boone
Conntv. XIV. owe some of the finest
snecimens in my collection. She not
only loved to sing the old songs but
che knew their worth, il not from an
ortist;c at least from religious point
~ view She had been domestic IN
the family of Miss Mildred ). HILL
whose recent death many music lovers
and others in Louisville are deplorlng'
ord II was 10 her that Miss hlll went
wears ago in the furtherance OF my
work Did the pious old soul whose
heart was as full of song as II was o'
religion. say that her "splrituaIS were
not worth preserving, and refer MISS
Hill 10 the printed "ballets' IN the
news of the colored peoples churches
Not at all. She took her to her bosom
metaphorically as she had frequently
done in very truth as child and sara
she was glad to sing the songs TOT 'ne
Gentleman in New York who wanted 20
print them. ,
"Youse doin' the Lawd's wuk' honey
she remarked TO Miss Ill., en-
couragingly. "Youse dom the Lawd 5
wuk. and youse maxim your crown
suah! Songs as has sent SO many
nieeshs TO heben as desc we're ought
10 be saved" And so | came into pos
session of such a jewcl as weeping
Mary
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-07-09
The Dulcimore-A Correc-
ton.

An apology Is due from me to MISS
McGill. and II Is offered here win
contrite heart and an humble spirit
When she wrote that one string o. the
indigenous Kentucky dulclmore was
fretted she knew what she was AK
ing about; when +, misied by photo
graph. presumptuously volunteered q
correction OF her statement, didnI
I know better now, tor | have du''
gilmore. The three strings are OF meta
and the first, which 10 tuned IN unisor
with the second, lies over a series o.
brass frets set into the hngerboard. us
office is plainly like that OF the ehsun-
ter of the Highland bagpipe, while the
third. tuned to the NTH Of the scale
together with the open second string
proyides a drone accompaniment. "hen
the three strings are strummed Win
out stopping 70 an unvarying rhythm
the effect IS not unlike Rattan Deyis
,amboura. The fretted fngerbosrd al
lows the production OF two octayes and
a fourth OF distonic tones, with the
seventh OF the scale Astted
Colonel ". J. Hampton - hen.
tuckian and a poet and therefore smis-
bic. know hat he will not take Of
fence II print part Of letter jls'
received from him snent The Trlbune's
ballad articles: While ! do not know
Miss NcGul. do know another folk
song expert down there. josiah H..
Combs. OF Hindman. Knox County. and
have heard him play the dulcimors.
II YOU have never heard that lnstru'
men, may say that II sounds good
deal Ike the rhyme ana rhythm Of
some Of the verses which you quote in
YOUR song-taik. n sou are not already
IN touch with Combs ! would suggest
that YOU get HIM on your string a.
valuable material for reference. He rs
n Young lecturer. a born mounta neer
and about as non-typical IN tone and
appearance as could be imagined. He
travels about 10 little, ard am trying
TO induce him 10 prepare an lllus,rat-
cd lecture on his native heath. He has
state anthology 20 his credit. All
That's Kentucky being a collection OF
most OF the brickba,s and bouquets
thrown At the state In prose and rhyme
Good stuff D. is. and no other state
has anything like IT,"
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-07-09

She wrapped him in napkin,
And pinned il with pin.
And called out for the carving knife
To stab his little heart in.
"Oh. save me- Oh. save me-
The little boy did cry
III ever / live 10 be man
Ny treasure shall all be thine.
Pray lay the Bible at my head.
The prayer book at my feet.
And if my parents ask for me
Pray tell them that I'm asleep.
Pray lay the Bible at my feet.
The prayer book at my head.
And If my playmates ask for me
Pray tell them that I'm dead
To scientific folklorists there is in
this ballad an echo that has been re
verberating in the chambers OF the
human mind for centuries and wick
ed and unspeaksbly cruel superstition
that has endured at least 1000 years.
A superstition, moreover, that seems
10 be ineradicsble 1t is indeed prob
able that not a generation has passed
during the last thousand years IN
which in one form or another II mas
not entered into the criminal annals OF
peoples who boast Of being leaders IN
civilization. In scientific phrase it is
called ritual murder, or the blood &C
cusation. Bishop Percy, who recorded
one Of the first English or Scottish
ballads in which it is proclaimed, de-
scribed il as "the supposed practice OF
the Jews in crucifying or otherwise
numbering Christian children out of
hatred to the religion of their parents
a practice which hath always been
alleged in excuse for the cruelties ex-
ercised upon that wretched people. but
which probably never happened in a
single instance. For if we consider, on
the one hand, the ignorance and SUI
perstition Of the times when such
stories took their rise, the virulent
nreiudices Of the monks who record
them and the eagerness with which
they would be catched up by the bar
barous populace a. pretence for plum
der; on the other hand, the great dam
New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-07-09

ger incurred by the perpetrators, and
the inadequate motives they could
have to excite them to n crime OF so
much horror, we may reasonably con-
clude the whole charge to be ground
less and malicious"
This suficed the right reverend and
admirable editor of the "RelIqucs Of
Ancient English Poetry" for an ex-
planstiop OF one of the most singular
and incxplicable phenomena in reli-
gious history and was faithful knowl-
edge of the subject held by liberal
minds a century and half ago. Mod
ern research and modern experience,
however, have demonstrated that the
whole case is not summed up in Bishop
Percy's words. Is there, indeed, any
where in the world another song like
this another song which preserves
such a story OF malicious superstition,
OF such infamous hatred of sect against
sect. race against race Is there an
other song which, despite its account
Of uncomfortable horror and atrocity,
has been handed down from generation
to generation, sung and listened to
with such careless indifference for all
it's weird fascination that children
have heard it at their mothers knees
and nurses have with il wooed sleep 10
the eyes of their little charges? lmagi-
nation staggers at the tale, yet history
insists on dealing with il az one Of the
verities Of life. Before the Christian
era communities slandered each other
with accusations of murder for the
purposes OF religious ritual, and in the
days of the primitive church Christian
sect brought the charge against Chris
tian sect.
As ballad material the story seems 10
be English; but before it entered
English literature it was current in the
East The earliest ballad form in
which it appears is that called "Sir
Hugh of Lincoln" to which no date can
be attached except that OF its first
publications; but it has been traced in
pseudo history or legend to the
Chronicles of st. Thomas OF Mon
mouth, where it figures in an account
Of the martyrdom Of Sir William Of
Norwich in l142. To this fact my atten-
ton was called in The Tribune OF
August II, 1902, by the Rev. DR.. Max j.
Kohler in a communication called out
by my recital of the Fitch story These
chronicles antedate by nearly century
the better known stories of the murder
Of Christian children by Jews in de-
spite Of Christ. The story of the cruel
fxion of Sir Hugh of Lincoln is said
in the Annals of Waverly to have oc-
Cured in the time Of Henry ILL.,;