davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1919-08-09
Copyright by Al Jennings. 1919

paper publisher. This fellow would have
efuclfied his own mother to gain an
extra crust for himself. He a always
worfning his way into favor by snitch-
Ing on convicts For some strange rea-
son-perhaps because Of their intel
lectual equality, he and the diamond
robber became friends.
One morning the newspapers carried
blazing headlines. The stolen diamonds
had been found. The robbers secret
was out.
Suspense and a surcharged> excite
ment held the prison in a grip. We
knew the episode was not closed. We
waited.
Betrayer Attacked.
The diamond robber said nothing.
Restless curiosity sent its questions and
suggestions across the grapevine
route" from one cell block to another.
Who had told?' What would hap
fpeng''
The answer came in a sudden vicious
ness that revealed the whole betrayal
The robber sneaked one day down the
corridor. He had a bottle in his hand
He had calculated his time, He Eel
into line Just as the editor was goinl
to his cell.
There was a frenzied scream, a mo.
ment's %scuffle. a loud, prolonged, tor
mented cry. The editor lay on the cor,
Tluof llooII one eye puTueu out dit
his face puffed and flaming with tht
carbolic acid that was eating into hi
flesh. When he came out from tht
hospital he was half blinded and hi
face, such a aeamy mass of ugly scars
hell itself wouldn't own him. He haC
won the confidence Of the diamond THE
and betrayed him,
Robber Beaten to Bone.
"Seventy-five'' was the punishment
ordered for the robber for the assault
The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1919-08-09
OIL MEN e RAISE,

BAKERSFIELD, Cal, Aug. a.
Twelve thousand California oil field
workers have been granted their de-
mand for a minimum wage of IS q day
retroactive to July / with back pay OF
SO cents for each days work from Jan.
/, 1919, to July l, according to advices
who represented the California on, Gas
and Refinery Workers union at a con-
ference In Santa Barbara, Cal, with a
mediation commission appointed by
President Wilson.
The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1919-08-09
BiLBO KNOCKED DOWN BY
lRATE STATE OFFICER

JACKSON, Miss, Aug. a.-Walter
Dent. assistant encouragement OF
Mississippi, Friday knocked Gov. Theo-
dore Bilbo down In q fist fight In the
,ffice Of the secretary Of state, Joseph
Power, who, with other officers, sep
arated the men. Dent, In a formal
statement after the encounter, said he
\ resented an insult In a recent statement
| printed In the newspapers and which
was quoted AZ the governors, Gov.
| Bllbo said he was struck without warm
ing. No arrests were made.
The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1919-08-09
Enemy Applauds.


When the president came to this
passage, We are all involves In the
distressing results Of tho high cost OF
living and we must unite, not divide, TO
correct st. | noticed applause by Rep-
resentRtiVe Campbell, chairman Of the
rules committee, O Republican. who has
been most bitter in hts attacks on the
president.
what does this mean2 Simply that
congress Is alive. not asleep. In these
critical moments and that the voice
OF the country has been heard In the
legislative halls at Washington; It Is
not too much to expect an era OF nom
p~artisanship such as prevailed during
the war, when committee after commit
tee brought In unanimous reports. Per-
haps the era may be said TO have be-
gun when the senate committee on In
terstate m brought In a unani-
NOUS recommendation to the effect that
Mr.. Wilson had the power to raise the
waEsO Of railroad men.
The president did moi stop to quib-
BILE, he took this recommendation lit
eraiy and Oct to work at once TO ad-
just the railroad dispute by executive
action. But his ultimatum to the rail.
road mel that they must obey their
leaders and 80 back to cork before con-
siderPtlon could be given TO their do
mands brought instant approval
| i~lliohk iNtuN Aut fullliNls bNNn btlNIt
Mr., Wilson read his message there were
those If opposite political faiths who
remarked on Mr., Wilson's words Of
sanity Indeed II ~ said az the presi-
dent finished HE message, Senator
John sharpe Williams, Democrat, leaned
over ard, chatting with Senator Calder,
Republican, who sat In front OF him,
observed; "wel, the president may be
visionary and an ideaiist, but no comes
across with some pr@ctical sense when
It counts"
Senators and Representatives OF both
parties crowded around President Will
son as he finished speaking. Champ
Clark and Claude hitchin came forward
to congratulate him, Some said II was
Wilson'S best utteranoe since the mos
SAGE declaring war,
Whether that is so or not, II certainly
was the first time since that occasion
that one saw Republicans and Demo-
Gratis applauding ard cheering, II was
interesting to see Senator Kellogg and
and senator Lodge, too, %clapping their
hands II was interesting to watch the
mods Of approval by other leaders OF
opposite political faiths.
The truth is some OF the Republicans
WSre happily surprised, They feared
crest Of the radical wave In America
that he might suddenly stimulate the
radical movement by recommendation
OF a fundamentally radical character,
But they learned that President Wilson
had decided instead to appeal to the
sober sense Of the American people,
their sturdiness and self control, their
dispassionate cooperation and their IN
selfish patriotism, " the two big polit,
teal parties can only be compelled tc
work together by further manifestation
OF public opinion, America win gel
through her reconstruction trouble'
n world war and saved civilization from
destruction or the battlefield Of France
| Copyright. 1919, by David Lawrence,
The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1919-08-09
Revealed in New Character.

Raider was the most beloved MAJ In
the pen. lie had been the terror Of
the Indian Territory in his outlaw days.
voiced as a girl. He had an impish wit
and the most obligtpg nature of any
man | ever met, In his last fight with
the marshals he had lost three fingers
of his right hand. Two bullets ca, gDt
him In the neck, knocking his spine
askew. He walked as though he had
locomotor ataXia.
Bill Porter was Just as much the re.
elnse in prison as he had been In Hon
duras and Mexico. Ne did not make
friends readily. Between him and the
The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1919-08-09
A KILLS IT.

MEXICO CITY, Aug. e~.--Seventeen
deaths were caused by q dynamite ex-
plosion Thursday In the Rosario mine.
Pachuca, according TO latest reports.
Two trains. one carrying 5000 pounds
Of explosives. crashed near the main
feared that more than n thousand min
ers were entofnbed,
The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1919-08-09
SAILS FROM FRANCE.

DYERSBURG. Tenn, Aug, o, tspll-
Mr.. and Mrs. John Sinclair. this city,
ale In receipt OF a telegram from their
N. Henry Lloyd, who hps been w
France In the postal service, announc-
ing the fact that he had sailed for the
states and would soon be home aga'n.
His friends here will gladly welcome his
return.
The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1919-08-09
FIRST BALE RECEIVED.

MONTGOMERY, Ala, Aug. a-The
first bale Of the 1919 cotton crop was
received by a local cotton factor Fri
day afternoon. having been shipped by
express from Graceville, Ala, by A. II,
Tindall & Son.
The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1919-08-09
BIG STRIKE FAILS.

BERNIE, Aug, 9,-The general strike
at Basic ended yesterday In a complete
failure like that at Zurich, The com
munlst party ana the extremist labor
leaders who hoped to spread the strike
over all the country, even prophesying
the establishment Of IA Swiss soviet,
have been entirely defeated.
The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1919-08-09
POLICE BATTLE WITH
ASSAlLANTS 0VER HOUR

DUBLIN, AUG, .. (By the Associated
Press) "A party OF more than 90 men
attacked a police hut at Moinoe. East
Glare, with rifle and revolver fire yes
terdav, The police replied vigorously,
The fight lasting more than an hour.
lieved two of the attackers were
wounded,
The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1919-08-09
P~ARTISANSHIP is
ELIMINATED WHEN
PRESIDENT SPEAKS
\ BY DAVID LAWRENCE,
Especial CORRESPONDENT of The News SCimitar.l

WASHINGTON, Aug. 9-NObody who heard President Wilson deliver
his memorable address to congress on the high lost Of living could fail
70 observe that for the moment, at least, the personnel OF the Legislative
and executive branches Of the government seemed 20 be lifted out Of the
depths OF cancerous partisansldp and brought back to the plane OF un-
selfish patriotism which won the war and which must now help keep
the peace.
IL was an Impressive sight-RNpubIcans applauding the doctrines of
law and order DnOunced with a 9 libcrateneSs and fnaltty intended to
give tonic to a paRicky and disturbed state Of mnd-fOr the national
capital has been torn between a nationwide demand for lower T4ces and
subsistence by railroad leaders that they be permitted TO introduce the
soviet system in the management Of the facilities Of the country.
The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1919-08-09
ZEPPELIN N U R

BERLIN, Aug, .. (By the Associated
Press).-Zeppeiin airship service he
tween Berlin and Munich will be In
auguratad In the near future, says the
Voesische Zettung. II is expected the
tourney will be covered in seven hours.
The fare win be 800 marks.
The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1919-08-09
EXCEssEs DENIED.

BERNIE. Aug. 9-An official Rmna-
nisn statement declares reports Of eX-
eesses by Rumanian troops IN Hungary
are false, according to a dispatch from
Bucharest.
The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1919-08-09

world was an impossible barrier, Ma
man was privileged to break down that
wall which hid his hopes, his thoughts,
his troubles, And so he liked the out
law prisoners better than other men.
They had learned the fine art OF indif-
IN the posthffiee. Billy Raider, Portsr
ana | passed MANY a happy hour. |
came to see q new Porter, who after
ward developed into o. Henry. the smile
maker.
The discovery came about in a pc
The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1919-08-09
Writing of Bandit Exploits.

| I had started to write the memoirs eF
my bandit days, Every ma In prison
ls writing a story, Each man considers
his life a ~tragedy--an adventure Of the
most absorbing interest. | had given
my book a fine eitle, Raider was en-
thusiastie about 4, He g'orted in my
flow of la~nguaae."
1.-THE Long Riders was gai'opine
ahead at a furious stride. There were
chapters In IL with 10000 words and
not one climax. There we're other chan.
ters with but seven sentences ana as
many killings as there we're words.
Raider insisted that a man be shot
In every paragraph, II would make the
book go" he said. Finally | came to
a halt,
II have any more men killed" !
said, therein be nobody left on earth.
"Tll tell YOU what YOU do" sFaidlrr
Te's wr'.ing Y story, TOO"
Just Practicing," Says Bill.
At that moment felt myself far
the greater writer Of the two. | had
"ot even known that Porter hoped e.
write. He dropped in to sec us III
he afternoon.
"Blu tells me you're writing a story"
: said Porter looked at me quickly, q
ark flush staining his cheek.
No, Tn not writing, I'm Just prac-
'OR, Is that all2" I felt really sorry
or tho man. who was destined to write
he finest stories America ever read,
"Well, I'm writing one. In fact, It's
Utmost finished, Como In and III road
Porter left the room quickly, ! never
saw him for two weeks.
The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1919-08-09
N Re Continued

Have you noticed MthR long delayed
street repairs being made over town.
They are costing money, Are your taxes
paidf adV'
The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1919-08-09
NEGRO IS HANGED.

HOUMA, Ia, Aug. 9.-Lucius Brown.
negro, was hanged In the county jail
here yesterday, He was convicted Of
an attack upon a white girl.
The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1919-08-09
BAR SUGAR EXPORTS.

BUENOS AIRES, Aug, "a decree
prohibiting the expectation Of sugar has
hecn promulgated by the Argentine gov
eminent.
The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1919-08-09
Clash With Chaplain,

We're going in TO pray" the chap
lain informed me.
That's all right with me- ] an
lswered.
He scowled at me, his face white with
irritation, his puny voice shrilling out
Aren't you going sin to pray"
mo. Not with that crowd"
The niger horsethlef, the cutthroat
and the minister went into the study
and the chaplain stood while the con-
victs threw themselves on their knees
and began mumbling and moaning TO
the Creator. VT
An hour later | was sent to- the dep.
uty warden for iAsolence and ~insubordi-
nation He dismissed the charge,
you don't have to pray if YOU don't
want to, That amt what you're sent
to the pen for"
I was given a job in the postoffice
Billy Raider, another train robber, was
chief postoffiee clerk. In this new posi-
ton l had considerable liberty. ] was
near to the hospital. Bill Porter. Raid
Ter and | cemeted a friendship that
lasted until the death, first of Porter,
Their of Raider.
The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1919-08-09
Expresses Prison Loathing,
Dumb With Aching Despair.

Comparatively easy as a place in
me hospital was, no toll could have
Gorroded into the heart of a man OF
Porter's temperament as did this I'M
abatine contact with misery.
he used to come into the poStoffice
when finally transferred and sit for
hours, dumb with a bleak, aching de-
SPAR. In the blithese moments Of his
success in New York. Porter could
never shake himself free from the CLAW
ing shadow of the prison walls,
Porter got me into the chaplain's
office, but 7 didn't make good. /
couldn't see my way clear to Join the
sunday school. The chaplain took q
violent grudge against me the day AFT.
er my arrival. 1t was noon on a Wed
nesday when the minister and two con.
victs passed through the outer office
into the ehaplaln's private study. One
OF the convicts was a regular spit.
toon bully, in for horse stealing; the
other was q cheap vaudeville actor
He had cut his wife's throat. They
were not In INV ola &c -
The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1919-08-09

Every time the president hit at impll-
cations OF Bolshevlsm he literally
brought down the house. Republicans
and Democrats Joined In a spontaneous
eEAbute whose meaning was unmistak-
NC.
There must be no threat said Mr..
Wilson, and both the senate and house
didn't Wat for him to finish the though,
the world had just destroyed the ar.
kltrary force Of a military junta, iAwill
allow no other" Again cheers echoed
through legislative chamber. But the
climax came when the president added;
Everyone who is IN real touch with
the silent masses Of u great peoples
knows that the old strong fiber and
steady s~Alf-eontrol arc still there, firpl
against violence or any distempered Ae-
ton that would throw their affairs tnte
confusion, The worst thing, the most
fatal thing that can be done o ID
TO stop or interrupt production or Ia
interfere with the distribution OF goods
by the railways and the shipping 81
the country"
The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1919-08-09
Politics Played.

IL must not be foreolten that, whether
the country Aas realized the situation
here or not, the truth is congress being
Republican and the administration
DemocrSti@, a game or party politics
has been played ever sInce the elkc-
tons last fall, 1t has projected ttsalf
even, into the controversy over the
peace treaty and league of nations, The
encouraging thing about the reception
by congress OF Mr., Wilson's address
was the tendency 10 lay aside political
considerations again and tackle a new
problem Of the moment on which party
platforms have never rurctiored be-
cause they could not foresee the eco
nomic disturbances,
The scene vas all the more remark
able because 10 began as usual with
a partisan display. Only the Demo
Gratis clapped hands as Mr., Wilson en-
tered. Senator Reed, OF Missouri, Dem.
ocrat, GAs a conspicuous exception with
his hands locked behind him. Az this
president slowly revealed how closely
interviewer the peace treaty and the
economic situation seemed TO him to
be, again the Republicans smiled syn
ically of what some OF them evidently
regarded as a typical bit of WilsonlRn
Senator FAN. Republican, who said
congress can declare Il state Of peace
without ratification OF tho treaty, didn't
seem impressed, But the Democrats
and few Republicans wondered II pos.
sibly Europe'a distresSful condition
hadn't affected America somewhat, o.
pecislly in the reflection Of economic
unrest and credit uncertainties.
So II wa when the president turned
from what might be considered his Pc
subject, the league OF nations end In.
ternational cooperation as he aban.
doned his mild rebuke ut a tagging sen
ate and took up the domestic problem,
so we'll understood by the average votel
and so Well accentuated In the event,
Of last week both parties listened Will
interest,
Threats and undue insistence upol
the interest of sin~le class make set.
tlement impossible was approved b,
all because Mr.. Wilson struck a not,
for the common interest and beeaus,
he seemed to be serving notice on tn,
railroad shopmen that they were no
the only class suffering aud that rattle
than increase wages unduly in thei
Iehalf relief must be found In measure
The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1919-08-09

on a fellow prisoner. He was a tau.
slender fellow, graceful and muscular
made like a white marble statue,
Prison Is not the place for dark deal
ings, Every convict knew in less than
an hour that the hobber was 10 get
his / walked out from the traneter
office and looked down the stairs into
the basement. The TObber, strapped
across the trough, hts ankles drawn
under 1t, his arms across the top, was
already a mass Of blood.
He uttered not the slightest moan.
none but a he'll Homeland that's what
a guard becomes when he has done a
thing like this a khndred ttmes-could
have laid those he paddles, with their
/ edges sharp as rabSF blades, across that
raw and Jagged flesh. The robber was
actually beaten to the bone, Long art
er he was unconscious, the meTciless
flaying went on.
The guards stopped, Half an hour
passed. The robber came TO. The
guards propped him up, The deputy
warden glowered over him.
Now say that you are sorry. say
that you'n obey the rules, he thun'
The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1919-08-09
Continued From Previous issue,

SAlAI EA -ilNE
The deputy reared from me as his
lace ashen with rage. Like a tor
tured maniac, ! sprang at him. The
GUARDS rushed forward, made a leap at
me, stopped abruptly. iivid and SHIPPER
ing, as though suddenly stricken. II
any one Of them had touched me /
Q have torn him TO pieces.
! was ready to be killed outright
sooner than submit to the horrors of
that PUNISHMENT cell.'N / had seen
TOO much OF 1.-THE prison demon
dragged out Of solitary and whipped
into bleeding insensibility a couple OF
times q week|6ther prisoners given the
water" until their faces were one red.
gushing stream and the anguished
screams filled the air.
The basement where these things
were done was directly under the hos
pital. ! passed above it and / could
look down on the way to the transfer
ofhce; Three weeks before a man had
e beaten to death over that trough,
The avn debauchery Of that murder
had scared into my mind
The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1919-08-09
Dead Man Held Secret.

The man was a friend OF mine and
one Of the most intelligent convicts In
the prison. He was a diamond robber
the cleverest crook in the pen, a man
OF neat speech and cultured manner
He had stolen some of the most price,
less gems in the state. All the detec-
tives in the country had not been AHA
to locate the jewels. The jewelers. Of
fred thousands in a reward for the re-
covery of the diamonds. No third de-
gree. no punishment could force from
the man the location of his treasure,
In the prison was an editor, sem
fenced for the murder OF a rival ews
The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1919-08-09
Saves When Hope Leaves.

A hose with a nozzle, one-quarter Of
an inch in diameter, 60 pounds pressure
behind II, sends a stream of terrific
force at the prisoner. His head Is held
strapped, the stream that is hard as
steel is turned full in the mans face,
his eyes, mis- nostrlls. The pressure
compels him to open his mouth. The
swift, battering deluge tears down his
throat and rips his stomach in two, No
man car stand the water twice and
live.
Little Jim passed my bench one
morning.
Mr.. Al. they done give Lii Jim the
] water agin," he whispered, walked a
step, Topped to the ground, q red gey-
| ser spouting from his mouth. Before
Little Jim reached the hospital he was
! dead. Dead because he didn't turn out
enough boldts TO please the big bust
ness men on the outside.
After that morning I was about fin
ished. | lost all hope, all ambition. Bill
Porter saved me.
Across the grapevine route he sent
his messages From one convict to an
other the word went until it was
| stealthily whispered IN my ear
Don't lose heart. I'm working
There's a new main finger
CHAPTER 30.
The new main finger" meant a new
! warden n an entire change OF ad-
The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1919-08-09

ministration. A shift like this sent
the prison into a feverish. suppressed,
all but uncomfortable excitement
I was working at the bolt contract
a patrol guard Ehded to nay bench IN
the shop and silently beCk0ned to me.
There is something mischievOusly sinis-
ter in the hushed voices aud the Noise
less tread OF men in prison. without
word, without even knowing where
| was going, | followed.
was taken out OF the fourth grade
"nsn l arrived at the state shop,
fhlnk, you could play a tuba solo
sunday the guard asked. You're
SONG back TO your place in the hand
musicians are scarce enough in
prison | had been one OF the DON'T
tisl. notes IN the band before / was
thrown INTO solitary.
sunday the new warden was TO pub
ilcy q office, Several hundred visit
TORS would be present. The warden
would make his speech to the i,70O
n3hslees, me prison band would furA
As passed through the chaplaiu's
oIIice INTO the library. where the band
met before going to the rnstrnm RIIl
Porter stood at the door. Quite digni-
Iled as always. but his face set, al
most respondent, Porter greeted me.
Porter Expresses Thanks.
Colonel. you are looking bet,er
~ ahA God J needed the tuba solo p
~ lowered The tone that was alvays
nesltant and whispering. i think
RSfoner, you are in a religious fervnr
mere i q vacancy i'm the chaplain's
VtTes Io you think you could pray?"
! Sonl know whether | was happier
az the prospect Of leaving the bolt sbon
or IN the assurance that Porter bs6
won me back my place in the hand
Sho WAS as loyal 10 me as | would have
been to him. M
Pray Hell yes, Bin. Sure I can
pray q It viii get me off the con-
How many prayers We offered just to
get Us off the contract" Porter
Never think that I forget Won.
voloheI. Believe me, that my thoughts
ragged devil sent his screams IN from
that basement" 1854
! looked at Porter, surprised at the
tense emotion In his voice. His lips
quLSersd n a sort of gray light
seeASeu spreading his face.
Expresses Prison Loathing.
7 can't drag out much longer, ;. h,
II was one Of the few times that
F9rter ever voiced his loathing OF tht
plson system OF p~unishments, and vel
ne knew perhaps more of its ghastiN
outrages than any other convict,
Porter had already been night clerl
az the hospital for a year and a half
He saw the broken bodies brought VI
IRON n basement when men were M
put done to death in vicious ~floPgings
IN the water and in the hangings. II,
I saw the doctors work over these tor.
tured wrecks, and heal them lust sC
! that they could be furth2s torinented
ana when some bitter wretch. driver
desperate and insane, would attamn
suicide in his cell, Porter was AWAY
forced to accompany the prison doctoI
and aid him TO revive the convict
These attempted suicides we're a night
" occurrence. Usually they succeAdAd