davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1918-02-24
The Case of Atie McSwmey and His Artistic Temperament

tended to by the matchmaker in the rear
of the Elite Tonsorial Parlors. Then we
escorted our champions to the field of
honor, their loins girt for the fray and
IN their nostrils the scent of battle.
1T was what might he termed nip
and tuck affair from the start. First,
Sandy would have the lead, and then
the odds would turn to our Artie But
all the while We knew that Artie was
only resting his oars, fguratively
speaking. He was the pinch lad the
boy who would do the unexpected, Sc
lecting his time carefully and playing
upon his opponents nerve We anX-
iously awaited that point, knowing that
IT was about TO appear as the game
gradually came toward the end.
And 1t did. With the score a tie, a
single ball to go and victory in the
ofiing, Artie found himself confronted
with a difficult shot, a shot which
would tax his powers as contortionist
and as champion. Right there is
where Artie allowed his artistic tenn
permanent fun play. Gracefully reach
forth a black case. This he opened, un-
der the adiniring gaze of his followers.
and took out pair of those great horn
trimmed spectacles, the like of which
had never before been seen in our land.
THEY carried beautiful brown panes of
glass, the badge of a Bohemian aris-
tocracy unknown to us, and where
Artie managed to dig them up will al
ways be mystery.
1--WE watched closely as Artie polished
the spectacles with the corner of a red
silk handkerchief and then fastened the
enormous hooks about his ears. shout
ing to the referee:
1.-The green ball in the corner
pocket"
And never was such shot made on
a pool table! The ball Travelled rap
idly twice around the table. lodging
this way and that like live thing be-
tween the other balls and finally rest
ing for the fraction of a second before
dropping easily into the pocket indi-
Gated by Artie.
But even while we held our breath
over the magnificence of the display the
referee called
"'You lose. Artie!' as Sandy O'Day
shot the winning ball into a pocket.
"Artie's artistic temperament. in this
unusual manner. resulted in his crop
per. With those internal aids to the
vision of his he couldn't tell a green
ball from a blue one. He had shot the
blue ball into the pocket-a marvellous
exhibition of daring and skill-and had
called the green one. And now he
drives an ice wagon in summer and a
coal wagon in winter. and he does not
hear the plaudits of a mighty throng."
Evening star., 1918-02-24
NNII.
THE TROCHA.

OF all the military measures employed
by the Spaniards in their wars against
Cuban independence, perhaps the most
unique was the trocha-trench or trav-
erse Martinez Campos during the ten
years war built the first trocha just
west of the Cubitas mountains. where
the waist of the island is narrowest 1t
was Carnpos' hope. by means OF this
artificial barier. TO confine the opera
tions Of the insurgents to the eastern
end of cuba. but in that he failed. as
likewise he failed in the results gain
by his efforts to concentrate the raral
population in the cities. Not until
Weyiers time were these two methods
of paciiica tion, the trocha and .he con-
centration camp. developed to their
fullest extent. Under the rale of the
butcher several trochas were con-
structed at selected points. and he car
ried 10 its logical conclusion the policy
OF concentration, with results sufii-
ciently friChtful to shock the world
and to satisfy even EVeyler's ,nonstrous
appetite for cruelty: Although his
Cuban troops and his prison camps
decimated the peaceful population of
several provinces. the Spanish cause
gained little. Both trenches and prison
camps became Spanish graveyards.
Weyier's intrenchments cost millions
and were deliberately constructed.
heited with barbed wire. bristling with
blocNhouses and forts In both the
digging and the manning. however,
they cost uncounted lives. Spanish
spades turned up fevers with the soil,
and, so long al raw Spanish troops
were compelled to toll in the steaming
morasses or to lie inactive under the
sun and the rain. those traitor gem
erals-Iune, July and August-con-
tinued to pile up the bodies in rotting
heaps and 10 timber the trenches with
their bones. So long as the cities were
overcrowded with pacificos and their
streets were putrid with disease, SO
long did the Spanish garrisons sicken
and die. as flies perish upon poisoned
carrion.
Out on the cool. clean hills and the
windy savannas, where the insurrectes
dwelt. there was health. Poorly
armed. ragged. gaunt, these insurrectos
were kept moving by hunger, always
moving like cattle a barren range.
But they were healthy, for disease.
which is soft-footed and tender bellied
could not keep up.
At the time Johnnie O'ReilIy set out
for Natarzas the war-a war without
battle. without victory. without de-
feat-had settled into grim contest of
endurance In the east, where the in
surrectos were practically supreme,
there was food of q sort. but beyond
the Jucaro-Moron trocha-the old one
Of Campos' building-the country was
sick. Immediately west of 1t, in that
district which the Cubans called Las
Villas. the land lay dying, while the
entire provinces of Matanzas. Habana
Evening star., 1918-02-24

paused. Out of the voids to their right
came a faint murmur of voices. AS
carefully as might be the four men
ascended the slope. crossed the rails
and descended into the ditch on the
other side Another moment and they
encountered taut strand of barbed
wire. The metallic snip of Hilario's
shears sounded like pistol shot to
OReilly. Into the maze of strands
they penetrated, yard by yard, clipping
and carefully laying back the wire as
they went. Progress was slow; they
had to feel their way; the sharp barbs
brought blood and muttered profanity
at every step.
None OF the four ever knew what gave
the alarm. Their first intination of dis
covery came with 4 startling "Quien
viye?' hurled at them from somewhere
at their backs.
An instant and the challenge was
followed by a Mauser shot. Other re-
ports rang out as the sentry emptied
his rife in their direction.
so. They are shooting bats" Hi
lario grunted.
Antonio swung about and cooked his
Remington, but the other spoke sharp
ly. Fool. If you shoot they will see
the fire and riddle US A curse on the
spider that spun this web"
1t was a test of courage to crouch
among the charred stumps, enmesh ed
in that cruel tangle of wire while the
night was stabbed by daggers of fire
and while the trocha awoile to the
wild alarm. From somewhere in the
distance came a shouted command and
the sound of running feet. suddenly
putting an end to further inaction. An
tonic began to hack viciously with his
machete, in an effort to aid Hilario's
labors. The sound of his sturdy blows
betrayed the partys whereabout so
clearly that finally the older man could
restrain himself no longer.
Give il TO them. compadreS; it is a
game that can play'
o'Reilly had been gripping his rifle
tenseiy. his heart in his throat. his
pulses pounding. As near a panic as
he had ever been, he found oddly
enough, that the mere act of throwing
his weapon to his shoulder and firing it
Gained him. The kick of the gun sub
dued his excitement and cleared his
brain. He surprised himself by di-
recting Jacket in a cool, authoritative
voice. to shoot low. When he had
emptied the magazine he led two of the
Evening star., 1918-02-24

fact tkat he was without an equal in
shooting little, vari-colored balls into
leather pockets of green table. And
Artie had reached the height of his
ambition-almost.
This artistic temperament of Artie in
clined itself toward physical adorn-
ment. There was nothing too gaudy or
unusual in the line of clothes to at
tract his attention. He wore a bright,
flowing tie. great bone buttons lent a
festal air to the pockets and sleeves
of his coat and his hats were usually
fuzzy and of a shade known as cerise.
To catalogue him sartorially would be
an imposibility. for he had no rivals
in his day in our town.
Built like circus contortionist,
Artie gained great deal of his skill
through his ability to tie himself into
bowknots and execute marvellous and
difficult pokes with a cue. 1t was said
that he had spent the greater part Of
his early childhood with pool table
for cradle. and there We're those who
would vouch that his first teeth were
cut upon an ivory ball But the fact
that he was able to lean over one end
of a pool table. with both feet on the
floor. and pick ball frem 3 pocket
Evening star., 1918-02-24

in the other end of the table makes his
ability unique in my mind
We'll, Artie became our pool cham
pion and the idol of our people, but he
was not satisfied. Probably it was his
artistic temperament, working along a
new line, which caused him to seek
other fields to conquer. He felt that he
was the towns Napoleon, and he could
not see his Waterloo. Anyhow. he was
matched with Sandy ODay. the cham
pion of Blackford county, and Artie
carried, together with our enthusia sm.
all the spare money in our town. Many
home savings bank was rent asunder
by rude hands and rified of it's contents
to satisfy our sporting blood-a sport
ing blood which would not be denied
chance to back sure thing, for we
knew the ability of Artie.
Upon US came the day of the great
event. We admirers and financial back
ers of Artie packed our idol, arrayed
like the well known rainbow, into the
smoker of the c. b. & c. local and
climbed in after him, en- route to Cobbs
Corners. There, we found 'Sandy's' fol-
lowers no less enthusiastic than those
of Artie. The making of wagers was a
mere matter Of formality. quickly at
Evening star., 1918-02-24
BY THE INSOMNIA.

~ oFFEE jim. who. like the good
fl brew masters of old, takes great
N pride in his product, the quality
of his coffee, is also a born story
teller. He first saw the dawn in that
section OF the country, the middle of near
west, where granpap or 'manl-snok-
ing clay pipes stuffed with a variety of
weed that would have turned French
man green with envy-dandled the young
sters upon their knees and told them
strange tales of the red man and his
ways.
1t is a fact that these tales grew more
fanciful and weird as they were told and
retold, but they nevertheless held their
charm, and it is probable that the ears of
the tiny listeners were attuned to the art
of story telling. that in the small brains
were woven the invisible threads of ro-
nance and love for the unusual. which.
in fact. is the only rearing that natural
born story teller requires
Be that as II may, Coffee Jim, at odd
hours in the night, when trade is SOW
home in his place, often tells US. in that
slow, easy drawl of his. stories Of the
land from which he came; and it was he
who related the incident Of Artie Nc
Wells county.
While We have no use for the word
high brow" and scorn such terms as
intellectual" we sometimes delve into
subjects that are rather abstEuse. On this
night we were discussing the artistic tenn
perament-what it is. where il comes
from, its use and abuse.
You. in all probability. never heard
of Artie NcSwinney, the pool champion
of Wells county, said Coffey Jim las
regards the artistic temperament, Artie
was the greatest little example of his
day and age. He artistic tempera-
ment personifed, de luxe edition,
slorified symbol of the stage man
may reach when public attention is
focused in his direction. Artie became
the king of the ivories, the knight of
the cue. in our locality, and his DOWN
fall came only through his exaggerated
artistic temperament Upon his brow
had been perched the wreath of victory
and upon his breast had been pinned
the badge Of the conqueror; there was
not a flicker in his spotlight until"
We'll, anyhow, Artie no doubt proved
hiss superiority over the crack pool
asers Of Wells county. His match
VITA Dutch Fenworst brought out the
Evening star., 1918-02-24
CONTINUED FROM LAST SUNDAY

Esteban drew O'Reilly's tense form
down ard embraced his friend. after the
fashion of his people. she has been
waiting. too" he said, huskHy. we
Varonas are good walters. O'Reilly.
Rosa will never cease waiting until you
come. Tell her for me-
Norine withdrew softly out of ear
shot. There was lump in her throat
and a pailgin her breast She had ac-
quired peculiar q nd affectionate inter-
est in this unhappy girl whom she had
never seen. and she had learned TO re
spect O'Reilly's love. The yearnIng that
had pulsed in his voice a moment be-
fore had stirred her deeply: il awoke a
throb in her own bosom, for o'Reiliy
was dear to her. She wanted him to go.
vet she knew the hazards that lay in
his way. If. indeed. the girl were in
Matanzas how, Norine asked herself.
was it possible for him TO reach her?
That O'Reiily had Sope mad design was
evident: that he would utterly disregard
his own safety she felt sure. But that
he would meet with failure. perhaps
worse. seemed equally certain. Matanzas
was IA beleagured city. and strangers
could not enter or leave il at will. II
Rosa had not put herself behind prison
~ alls if she were still in hiding some
where on the island, il would he a SIM
pie matter to seek her out. But Ma
tapzas. of all piaces'
Then. too. tho pacificos. according to
all reports. were dying like flies in the
prison cavnps. Norine wondered if there
might not he terrible heartache at the
end of oReilly's qucst2 Her face was
grave and worried when. hearing him
speak to her. she turned to take his
on: u:StFFtched hand.
You win be careful, won't your' she
implored. And you'll be stout of heart,
no matter what occurs
He nodded. It's a long way back
here. TO Cubitss. You may not see or
hear from me again.
Il understand" She choked miser
ably. You mean you may not come
back. Oh. .1ohnnie,"
Tut. tut! We O'Reillys have more
lives than a litter of cats. l mean L
may moi see you until the war is over
and we meet in New York, Well. we've
been good pals, anG-l',n glad you came
TO Cuba" His grasp upon her two
hands was painful.
You must go, I know. and I wouldn't
try to keep you, but" Norine falter-
ed. then impulsiyely she drew him
down ami kissed him full upon the lips.
For Rosa she whispered. Her eyes
were shining as she watched him pass
swiftly out of sight,
Evening star., 1918-02-24
@ Of % @

the high air except this motor heat
and vanished canvas.
The crew is crowded. The Zeppelin
carried six machine guns. six giant
motors and $4,000 pounds of explosives
Even the central gallery. running the
entire length of the balloon cylinder
tto which the cars hang like little bar
nacles). is crowded with spare parts.
oxygen tanks for the breathing Of the
crew in high attitudes, life buoys In
case of a wreck at sea, hand grena6ss.
parachutes food supplies. etc, and an
enormous weight and clutter of petrol
cans, which are thrown out to tighten
ship as emptied. There is even . wire-
less telegraph room.
But, bah. the cold is intense in an
aeroplane at 1000 yards altitude, and
its framework is equally fiimsy. As for
the difficulty of training a French
American crew. do not their boys and
ours. ignorant of mechanics and the
air learn to fly and fight alone, each.
in few months, by the thousands?
So the crowds in France stand round
the Zeppelin cars on exhibition.
They murmur of the mystery Of the
Zeppelins.
In a Zeppelin raid on France one of
the crews might suddenly appear to
go collectively crazy and blow q sister
of the squadron to srhithereens behind
cloud.
Or. or-the possible combinations are
fascinating.
A Zeppelin manned by a FrencA-
American crew might scatter proclamA-
tions over all Germany and Austria
Hungary. The population would revere
them as coming from the all highest
and the unsuspecting police and nnilf>
tary would not interfere with their
collection and perusal. Or
blow up the Kiel canal! Or keep 81
phantom Zeppelin, to explore. ungzo>
pected, the German rear. day by day! j
Is it? Will it? Can itr
STERLING HELLO.
Evening star., 1918-02-24
90 RAINBOW'S END

horses forward. Then, grasping his
own machete, he joined in clearing a
pathway.
1t seemed an interminable time ere
they extricated themselves from the
trap. but finally they succeeded and
e.ti,sed the welcome shelter of the woods.
pausing inside it's shelter to cut the
mufiles from their horses feet. By this
time the defenders of the trocha were
pouring volley after volley at random
into the night
Hilario sucked the cuts in his horny
palms and spat forth the blood.
IF Gomez had the ammunition these
fools are wasting he would free Cuba
in no time
Now that the skirmish was over,
Jacket began to boast of his part in it,
"Ha! Perhaps they'll know better than
to show themselves the next time I come
this way" said he. You saw me. didn't
you? Well. I made few Spanish wild
ows tonight"
Evening star., 1918-02-24

heard voices there. and came back.
We will have to cut our way forward
after we cross the track. Now then,
foi'ow me wtthcut Il sound"
Leading his horse by the bit ring.
Hilario moved out into the clearing,
followed once more by his three COM
panions. Concealment was out of the
question now, for their only covering
was the darkness. OReilly had the
uncomfortable feeling that the caval-
cadc huiNed monstrous big and must
be visible at a great distance; he eX-
perienced much the sensations of a
man crossing a sheet of thin ice with
nerves painfully strained, awaiting the
first menacing crack. In spite of all
precautions the animals made tre-
mendous racket. or so it seemed, and,
despite Hilario's twistings and turn
ings, it was impossible to avoid an
occasional loop of barhed wire. there
fore flesh and clothing suffered griev-
ously. But at length the party brought
up under the railroad embankment and
Evening star., 1918-02-24


PARIS, February IA.
UMERoUS Zeppelins have been
tMti brought down in France. II
II NJ you have kept tab, you know
= " almost as much about them as
do the Germans, because while they
know with painful exactness how
many of their air giants never came
back, they have not much more tnfor-
nation than you or 1 concerning even
the number of those fallen on French
soil-and, particularly. the condition in
which they landed.
The French exhibit plenty Of Zeppe-
lin cars.
At first glance one might pity French
military engineers for scrapping per-
fectly good Zeppelins-for their ina
bility to utilize them when brought
down intact, according to common
knowledge, like that of Bourbonne-les-
Bains, or according to German doubts,
like that between Sisteron and Gap, or
according to general belief, like the
Zeppelin lost in the Mediterranean" on
October 20, 1917. When last seen by
civilians, it was navigating very low, in
distress, over an uninhabited region of
south France, surrounded by French
aeroplanes.
French engineers put coquetry to
advertise Gtheir incapacity. Nothing in
the hands, nothing in the pockets, no
false bottom to the box! To prove their
inability to utilize good Zeppelins fall
ing into their hands, they go to great
pains to exhibit number of quite un-
injured ears or gondolas The courtyard
of the Invalides, at Paris, is cluttered
up with cars of the "L 49," which was
visited and photographed, complete and
undamaged. ready to navigate the air
again with new petrol supply. by so
many people that it has simply got to
be accounted for.
Well, here it is, all scrapped, for
Paris public and American soldiers to
look at gratis There is so much of it,
IN such various condition Of repair. that
the judicious are reminded of jig-saw
puzzle with some pieces that got
mixed?
Did the best French engineers break
up complete Zeppelin to make this
mess? An American aviation lieuten-
ant looks at me and winks. Ten min
utes before it landed it had been nayi-
eating the air. and If the crew of
Lib" could have procured the Pc
troleum essence which it lacked, they
would have been off in the air again,
like the Zeppelin which landed at Dam
martin, put off nine men to tighten it
and got away.
You will remember that in the case
of Lag a French peasant of Bour-
bonne-les-B -Bains, out hunting rabbits,
drew a bead on the German crew as
they alighted one by one, and prevent
ed them from burning it with incendi-
ary bullets. as is reported of that other
German crew whose Zeppelin landed.
equally intact. on desolate table,
land beyond the French village of La
ragne. What about the Zeppelin of
Laragne? murmurs the American lieu
tenant In Switzerland they say that
the Germans are worrying whether the
crew had. in fact, a chance to fire 1t,
as the French aeroplanists (who were
travelling and landed beside them. with
Evening star., 1918-02-24

did; The crew is interned and cannot
testify.
In word, it is the mystery of the
Zeppelins.
The horns of dilemma:
(a) Certain American airmen and
engineers would be awfully glad tal-
though, of course, they know moth
ing) if the French should be in secret
good giant airships of the Germans.
which they are learning to pilot over
uninha bited tablelands of south-cen-
trail France. where nobody can see
them-or tell about it, if they do. Our
Americans might get chance to join
the crew.
(b) Or did consummate French en-
gineers. with full knowledge of their
value, deliberately scrap each Zeppelin
landing in their hands intact, without
the excuse of the child that wanted to
see the sawdust inside of it's doll?
No need to break the doll.
Its inside works are visible. Here, in
the courtyard of the Invalides, each car
of "L-49" is visited, examined and
quite understood by American and
French engineers. Two are in a fair
shape with the machinery rusted and
bits lacking. One other is astonishing
ly intact. its motor shining and creased.
but detenorating in the air. The fourth
car is a mass 'of scrap. One could hard
ly think they come from the same Yep
pelin were it not for the fact that each
car bears its ticket-"F'orward Car, Yep
pelin L-49"; Lateral Car. Zeppelin Lag"
Rear Car, Zeppelin L-49,' etc.
The disreputable look of the cars at
first glance is due to their astonishing
lightness. Their flimsy metal Frame
work is bent in many places. Almost
q touch would bend it. The covering
Of vanished canvas has been much
torn, doubtless in railroad transit of
the cars Each carries q 25Q-horse,
Evening star., 1918-02-24

Not many, I'm afraid" OReilly
laughed.
'Oh. believe me, I'm an old hand at this
sort of thing. / shoot just as well at
night as do in the daytime" This was
literally true, and when no one disputed
his assertion Jacket proceeded further
in praise Of himself, only to break of
with a wordless cry Of dismay
What's the matter" Johnnie inquired.
Look! Behold me- walled the hero
Il have left the half of my beautiful
trousers on that barbed wire!"
Antonio swung leg over his saddle,
saying: Come along. amigos; we have
fifty leagues ahead of US. The war will
be over while We stand here gossiping."
Evening star., 1918-02-24

power motor And in general the con-
trast between the beautiful machinery
strikes the least observant visitor. So
himsy is the framework that bad boy
of ten years could make a brand-new
Zeppelin car look a wreck, almost with
his bare hands, yet its interior achin-
cry would remain undamaged-
All is clear and understand ndable.
The French, You know, have airships
of their own. Though no comparison
for size. only semi-rigid and with moth
ing like the speed, armaments, weight
carrying capacity and altitude range
of the giant Zeppelins they navigate
on the same principles in the hands of
French experts. and there is little doubt
that these latter could have learned 10
run the "L-49.'
You saw photographs of ii as it land
ed, perfect, at Bourbonne The vast
rigid. cylindrical balloon has disappear
ed. 1t carried these four cars, two of
which, each containing one 250-horse-
power motor, were absolutely intact,
hanging high in the air, while another
with two motors of the same force and
two sets of steering gear landed in the
creek and were simply wetted. Also,
the forward car, with single motor,
did not touch earth and was quite un-
injured.
Here, in the courtyard of the In
valides, it is the first remark of all
that it requires nerve to rise and navi-
gate three miles and a half (6.0O0
yards) above the earth in such a f1imsy
framework. A crew of nineteen, in
cluding three officers, was crowded
into the four cars, amid motors whose
hot gas exhaust was carried outside
by queer-looking chimney pots stick
ing at various angles. There is no
protection against the intense cold OF