davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
New-York tribune., 1919-06-22

Gus waste even though one has been
accustomed to associating with peopIe
f who form their OPINIONS as 10 an in
div'dual's respectability on the basis
OF the display which he can make of his
wealth, OF the lavishness with which he
can advertise his solvency, one could
not properly claim that either necessity
or decency required him to spend so
much or to consume so many things.
For every woman who is physically
and mentally sound, even one servant
is luxury, unless she is actually en-
gagged in other productive work which
would prevent her from doing her own
housework. Membership in rny kind
OF club is a luxury to a man, even
though all his particular friends and
associates belong to it, But the ordi-
nary conventional clothing and furni-
ture of the ordinary household is a
decenoy, even though in cases Of dire
necessity they might be dispensed with.
only fraction of the human race. i. e..
the Christian nations, ever use chairs.
for example. They could, therefore.
scarcely be called necessaries.v
New-York tribune., 1919-06-22
1t Depends

I Still Dresser wanted to know if there
we're not times when money was handy.
Yes, when you give it with your own
hand and heart-in no other way. 1t
comes to nothing just contributed to
some thing. All! the tangles men can
get themselves into, the snarls, the
wretchedness! Troubles with women.
with mep whom they owe, with evil
things they say and think, until they
can't walk down thes street any more
without peeping about to see if they
are followed. They can't look you in
the face; can't walk straight course,
but have got to sneak around corners.
Poor, miserable, unhappy - they're
worrying and crying and lodging one
another!"
There was the time when this doer of
personal service served the poor of
New London during cold winter with
meals that cost a cent and half
These were fish dinners and Potter
both caught the fish and cooked them
and the poor we're warm and fed. Old
clothing, too, he distributed and wore
it himself among those who seemed
a little ashamed.
Finally:
you've got to change man and
bring him out of his self seeking if you
really want to make him good. Most
men are so tangled up in their own
| errors and bad ways, and so worried
over their seekings, that unless you
can set them to giving it's no use
They're always seeking and they don't
know what they want half the time.
Money isn't the thing. Why, half of
them wouldn't understand how to use it
if they had it. Their minds are not
bright enough. Their perceptions are
not clear enough. All you can do is to
make them content with them selves.
And that, giving to others will do.
never saw the man or the woman yet
who couldn't be happy if you could
make them feel the need of living for
others, of doing something for some
New-York tribune., 1919-06-22

augury from what they had seen.
Nevertheless each man retained
his own impression"
The nurse profted by a new
pause which the dying man was
forced to make to ask him:
"And you attribute the resistance
OF our soldiers to the occult in
fiuence of that apparition?"
Yes, mademoiselle. Without
daring to avow it, we were all con-
vlnced of that fact. However, the
Crown Prince wouldn't let 90,
Wishing to take the city at any
price, he sent division after division
against it. Fresh troops came to fill
the gaps in our ranks. We arrived
in sight of Fort de >Douaumont.
"As We moved to the assault and
mounted the slopes, the French
searchlights illumined the sky.
Suddenly their rays revealed to US
against the darkness the same white
woman, more luminous than ever.
extending her arms, like wings. as
if to take the ancient fortress un-
der her protection. Soon after
ward a salvo from the French bat
terles swept away three-quarters Q,
my men. 1t was then that | fell. b.
THAT is what I wanted to tell
you, lnademoiselle, before I died. 1t
was the triple appearance of the wo-
man in white above Verdun which
made us lose confidence. That is
why every German soldier repeats
secretly (if he spoke it aloud he
would be court-martialled), We
shall never take the city,"
| He was at the end of his strength.
A last CLEAN of vitality sl,one in
his eyes. Then be dropped off into
slumber, never to wake again.
New-York tribune., 1919-06-22

forgive them at the same time" DRESSER
had said once to Burr .dge, mskinr a
Biblical argument vei led premise for
discussion of this strange mans
standing in his own Community.
81 don't refuse to forgive them" Re
repeated. "If John there" indicating
an old man in ST in-tanned coat who
happened to be n assing through the
store at the time should do me a
wrong-I don't ca re what it was. how
great or how vile if he should come Ia
me and say, -Br fridge, I'm sorry'--he
executed a flashing oratoricaI move in
emphasis. and throwing back his head
exclaimed: ITS gonel It's gone.
There amt am more of it, All gone.'"
Dresser add S:
II stood there dumfounded by his
virility, as the air vibrated with his
force and feeling. So manifestly was
his reading of the Bible colored by the
grief OF his own heart that it was al
most painful to tangle him with it.
Goodness and mercy colored all his
ideas, exc ept in relation to his one-time
followers, those who had formerly been
his frie,lds and now left him to him.
self"
New-York tribune., 1919-06-22

body besides themselves. It's a fact,
Selfish people are never happy"
And Dresser at parting adds:
HE hung by his fence, looking down
upon the city. AS l turned the next
corner / saw him awakening from his
reflection and waddling stolidly back
into the house."
On Going Sour
In ''The Village Fesdists"-another
sketch in twelve Men"-Dreiser finds
an old, rather fanatical, religionist who
goes "sour" on his home town.
The feud had left Elihu Burridge
high and dry upon a social reef. He
couldn't rule; he wouldn't be ruled.
The shipbuilder had become a bigger
man in his community than he-and
Burridge was man who hid broken
heart beneath grim exterior.
Dresser wanted to know about him,
too.
"All sensitiveness," sail-maker told
him. "There amt anything the matter
with Elihu except that he's piqued and
grieved. He wanted to be the big man,
and he wasn't"
But his heart was broken notwith-
standing.
"You surely can't love and refuse to
New-York tribune., 1919-06-22
A Western Fable

{ sN THE eastern slope of the Man
zano Mountains IN New Mexico.
says "The Savannah News" stand
the ruins Of an old mission church.
and few scattered walls and fouh-
dations, which bear the impressive
name Of Grand Quivira, and which
are monuments to one of the great
est and most enduring lies ever told
by the tongue of man, writes Niksah.
tine lie was started BIZ certain
Indian back in the sixteenth century.
He was found living among the Pueblo
Indians of New Mexico b. the great
Spanish explorer, Coronado. Because
ne was a queer, dark-looking fellow.
the Spaniards called him The Turk. but
IN reality he was member of another
tribe OF Indians, living far to the east.
The Turk was anxious to return to
his own people, SO he told the Span
lards that to the east was q great land,
the nome Of people called the Quiviras,
where was much gold and great houses.
taking The Turk as a guide, and found
that the Quiviras were a~savare tribe
OF wandering Indians who had no
wealth whatever. He killed The Turk
for having told such monstrous lie.
But the lie strangely Persisted. in
spite of all, Coronado wrote and said
about the true state of Quivira, and
for long time men continued to search
for Quivira, with its gold and great
houses. Later, these ruins in the Man.
zano country were supposed to be the
remains of the mythical city, and treas
ure seekers dug all about them in the
hope Of finding buried gold.
Finally, Bandelier. an astute roy-
ernment ethnologist. made a study Of
the matter, proved that the Quiviras
had never been anything but a poor
nomad tribe. and that the ruins were
those of mission built by the Snaa-
iards for the purpose Of civili-iny tho
Indians"
New-York tribune., 1919-06-22

an instructive start Of protest. In
the few days since she had been
caring for this young officer she had
noticed the smile with which he
responded to each of her kindly
attentions. Sometimes he had
looked at her with an insistence
which made her lower her eyes
And the idea that this German, be-
fore he died, was going to offer he1
the supreme evidence Of his attach.
ment drove the color from = her
cheeks.
"What is it," she asked,
The officer, making a great effort
to control himself, replied:
"What have TO tell you no
Frenchman knows. It is a secret
jcalously guarded by the German
army. II my chiefs knew that l had
told it to you they would punish
me severely"
"Then why do you tell me?"
Painting for breath, he answered
ITO show my gratitude, made
moiselle, for your care"
AS she looked at him in a sort
OF stupor he gathered strength and
continued:
"The Germans could never have
taken Verdun."
But" the nurse broke in, with =
burst Of patriotic pride, I'VE. too.
in France have never doubted that.
Our soldiers were brave enough and
New-York tribune., 1919-06-22

Fosses Wood in order to reconsti-
tute the division. The order to
move again arrived that evening.
1t directed US to go to reinforce, in
the direction of Ornes, the contin-
gents which were advancing toward
Fort de Douaumont.
In the interval the weather had
changed. The sky, at first clear, be-
came overcast. Big clouds scudded
over our heads. AS we took I'D our
march in the silence of the night
a comrade suddenly said to me,
pointing to the horizon:
Look there!'
Il raised my eyes and saw the
image once more. The woman in
white had appeared again in the
heavens. With her outstretched
arms she seemed to close the route
to Verdun;s saying to US:
"'You shall not pass.'
"Our troops could fight with fury
and exhaust themselves in superhu-
man efforts. But they understood
that they could never win vic
tory over that mysterious power.
ITO overcome the effect produced
by the apparition the intervention
OF the superior officers was re-
quired. These ran along the lines,
revolver in hand, threatening to
shoot down like dogs the supersti-
tious who pretended to draw an
New-York tribune., 1919-06-22

arms outspread and head erect, like
a statue, seemed to bar the road
to Verdun.
"We believed at first that it was
a simple atmospheric phenomenon.
1t might be, we thought, an optical
illusion, or an effect produced by
the refraction of the rays of light
from the snow Perhaps it was an
accidental combination Of vapors
arising from the valley which
created this semblance of human
form. Moreover, the image disap-
peared quickly with the rising Of
the sun.
"But if you know the tendency
of my compatriots toward super
stitions, you will understand the
profound impression which this ap-
partition left on our minds. Our
soldiers saw in it a horoscope un-
favorable to the attack-the pre-
sage of check. We were obliged,
however, to conceal our feelings.
The staff of the Crown Prince was
bent on taking the city. We had
to march on. So we marched on.
And we realized certain advance.
But presently a French counter
attack robbed US of all the ground
we had gained-and gained at such
a cost"
The lieutenant made a short
pause. Then he resumed:
"Next day we had to retire to
New-York tribune., 1919-06-22

strong enough to defend the ancient
citadelw
"Doubtless," said the officer.
"But there was something else"
Then, seeking again to master
himself, he confded to her:
"A mysterious woman protects
Verdun."
"A woman?"
eyes. Please sit down. There
close by me. can't talk very loud
The nurse seated herself at his
pillow. He went on:
''It was in the last days of
February that the Crown Prince
decided to launch his offensive
against Verdun. My infantry divi-
sion was designated to take part in
the attack. On Sunday, February
20, it set out from Brabant-sur-
Meuse. We were to work around
that position to the east and to
traverse Haumont Wood, with the
village of Beaumont as our first
objective.
'1t was almost day. The fields
were covered with snow. We fol-
lowed the itinerary indicated. We
were about to debouch from the
woods when we perceived in the
sky, in the direction Of our object
I've, a glare which little by little
defined itself, took a human form,
and finally. far in the distance, as
sumed the somewhat vague outlines
Of q woman's body, which, with
New-York tribune., 1919-06-22

"a cot in the hospital, the lieu
~ tenant kept his eyes glued on
the door.
He knew that he was doomed.
Complications had followed an
operation necessitated by the con-
dition of his wound. In spite of all
precautions the Infection mounted.
He realized that when it reached his
heart all would be over
He had been picked up within the
French lines on the Douaumont
Plateau---in the mass of human
wreckage left there by the final
assault. Our stretcher bearers
make no distinctions in their bloody
gleanings. For them there are only
bodies which suffer under the uni
forms of the wounded, whatever
those uniforms may be. So this
German officer was transported to
the first aid station. Then he was
removed to hospital in the rear,
where, fRm the point t|of view Of
the tender and sympathetic nurses,
he became only one more patient
on an ever-lengthening list.
Finally the door opened. A nurse
appeared. It was the one whom he
had been looking for.
An she advanced toward him the
eyes Of the sufferer became more
importunate. When sh0reached his
cot he said to her, in very pure
French:
Il was waiting impatiently for
you"
Thinking that he was in pain, she
sought TO qpiet him by asking:
"Shall give you another injec-
tion?"
1T isn't that, mademoiselle.
After a moments hesitation, he
continued:
. II want to tell you q secret"
The nurse faised her head with
New-York tribune., 1919-06-22

tact, the very breath of the hidden
god. But the god is soon thrilling into
lHe, taking shape and countenance
giving a whispered hint of his inten-
tlons, speaking words of approval or
condemnation; and the tragic struggle
begins between the player, so infinitely
small, and Chance, so enormous and
omnipotent.
"Now that the battle is Joined, now
that the player has done what he could
to summon and welcome luck, there is
nothing left for him to do but wait;
for luck, when all is said, n,ill remain
the supreme power that pronounces the
final verdict, the formidable and in
evitable unknown factor in every COM
bination."
It would be extremely surprising
Maeterlinck admits, if this 'sinde-
fatigable and exhaustive inquiry
into Chance, pursued for over fifty
years, had failed to yield some sort
Of result" And we read further.
II am wondering, at the end of this
investigation. what that result is. At
the cost of an insane waste of money,
time, physical, nervous and moral en-
ergy and spiritual forces, perhaps more
precious still, it has taught us that
Chance is, in short, Chance; that is to
say, an aggregate of effects whereof
we do. not know the causes. But we
knew as much rs this before; and our
new discovery is a little ludicrous.
eve have seen the shadowy appear
ance of certain laws or habits from
which few players appear to derive
advantage, though this advantage is
always precarious. But these appar-
ent laws, which tend obscurely and
uncertainty to instill little order into
Chance, are, like Chance itself, but in
consistent and ephemeral summaries
of results from unknown causes. Upon
the whole we have learned nothing. un-
less perhaps it be that we were wrong
to attach greater Importance to those
manifestations of destiny than they
possess. If we look at them more
closely we find that there is nothing
more behind all these catastrophes
and all these mysteries of luck than
the catastrophes and the mysteries
which we put there.
"We link our fate to the fate of
little ball which is not responsible for
it; and, because we intrust it for a
moment with our fortune, our good
luck or our bad, we fondly imagine
that mysterious moral powers are bent
on directing and ending it's course at
the right or wrong moment. 1t knows
nothing of all this; and, though the
lives of thousands of men depended
on its fall to the right or the left of
the point at which it stops, it would
not care. 1t has laws of it's own
which it must obey and which are so
complex that we do not even try to
systematic them.
at is just little ball, honestly
seeking the little red or black hole
in which to go to sleep, and having
nothing very much to tell US of a
secret luck or destiny which exists only
within ourselves"
New-York tribune., 1919-06-22
Back to Essentials
W. HAT place has luxury in ma

W. HAT place has luxury in ma
w tional economy? This is a rel
evant topic since the instituting of a
luxury tax by the government The
following excerpt from the publica-
ton issued by the Carnegie Endow-
ment for International Peace defines
the point at which necessities stop
and luxuries begin:
"Luxuries should include everything
not required for health, strength and
efficiency Of the people and not de-
manded as decencies by the general
consensus of opinion of the whole ma
ton. Even though ones own social set
may live on certain scale of 'conspicu
New-York tribune., 1919-06-22
Maeterlimck Writes a Remark
able Essay on Gambling
III Is Just Little Ball. Honestly Seeking the Little
Which to Go to Sleep and Having Nothing Secret
Luck OF Destiny Which Exists Only

| spins of the ball, the difference be
tween the black and the red very sci
dom exceeds twenty or thirty; and thi,
difference is even smaller In the tota
for tho wsek-that Is to say, in tota
OF nearly five thousand spins-when j
Is usually reduced to a few units.
"The monster has other strange hab
its. We see, for instance, that it i,
not uncommon for q number to come
up twice in succession; and it is IN
deniable that in each days play two o.
three numbers are obviously favored
SO that We may hurl our challenge t<
logic and declare that the more fre
quently q number occurs the more
chances it has of reappearing This
seems to conflict with the law of equi
librium which we have remarked; but II
must be observed that this equilibrium
will be recovered later, that by ths
end Of the week the differences viii
no longer be very great and that they
win almost disappear when the month
is over. The equilibrium is more slow.
ly restored because we mast multiply
the number Of series by eighteen and
half to reach the proportions of the
even changes.
players note yet another law which
for that matter, is but q coro1lary od
the former habit, but which has some
thing curiously human about it; the
chances which lag behind show q great
er eagerness to regain their lost
ground at the moment that follows
more or less closely upon a halt, as
though they had recovered their
breath after a brief rest on the landing
Of y staircase.
"Let US add at once that it is wise
to distrust these fuctuating habits and
these groupings after laws. For in
stance, red has been known to beat
black by 70 per cent in the course of
days play. Black, on the other hand
as people still remember at Monte Car
10, one day came up twentynine times
in succession and the second dozen
twenty-eight times without break.
Chance has not our impatient nerves; it
is not, like US, in a hurry to make
good it's losses or to carry off it's
gains. It takes it's time, awaits lbs
hour, and does not trouble to keep
step with our ways Of life"
III
THE gambler, Maeterlinck reminds
US, whatever system he adopt
is always tossing against the bank. y
He has a chance, and so has the
bank. Yet zero gives the bank odds
against the gambler. Odds which,
though apparently, zero is "a very
mild tax" giving the bank, in thirty
six chances, only half chance more
than the player, are bound to prove
ruinous in the end. We read:
"To escape the abruptness Of de-
cision which, if he placed all that he
possessed on the red or the black.
would end the game at single streke,
the player divides his stake, so as to
be able to defy a large number Of
chances, hoping that, thanks to skill
fully graduated progression, he vial
end by lighting on favorable series
in which the gains will exceed the
New-York tribune., 1919-06-22

Sin undued lower nature fault impulse or force
OF mgh nature winch has been distorted by lower Vanity
wholly
that redeem it. 1t killed ont Pride
can De purified for based fact vanity based
deluson.
New-York tribune., 1919-06-22
Translated by William L. Mcpherson
Copyright, 1919, by Neav York Tribune Inc

Copyright " New York Tribune
alMsta aFrnchfd
auenu dyW
lf}ya huauyo
New-York tribune., 1919-06-22

Losses. This is the underlying prin-
ciple OF all the systems, which are
never anything but more OK less in
genious, prudent and complicated mar
tingales. There are not, there never
will be, any others, in the absence of
miracle which has not yet occurred,
of an intuition which foresees what the
ball will decide, or of an unknown force
which will oblige it to act as a player
Wishes"
Players, tile writer declares, heart
en- themselves
"by maintaining that they have an in
contestable advantage over the bank.
They begin to play, they attack when
they Ike and as they like and they
Withdraw when they please, whereas
the hank is compelled to play without
stopping. to accept every stake and to
meet every coup up to the Limit of
the maximum, which, as we know, is
six Thousand francs on the even
chances. This advantage is a real one if
the player. after winning a big sum,
goes away ana" does not come back
again. But the lucky gambler, even
more infallibly than the one who has
no luck, will return to the enchanted
table and in SO doing lose the only
effective weapon that he had against
his enemy.
ITO choose your time for at
tack is but an illusory privilege, be-
cause everything, at any moment, is
equally independent of past and future,
equally uncertain; and you never know
beforehand when the precarious and
untrnstworthy, law Of equilibrium will
assert itself. After long sequence of
blacks you wager on a fine series of
reds, certain run, you would say;
but no sooner have you staked your
money than the series gives up the
ghost and remorseless black resumes
its devastating course; or else you do
the opposite: you bet on black and
1T is red that settles down for a run.
"At whatever momeno you start play
ing you are always fighting red against
black, that is to say, one to one. Once
more, the only real advantage Is that
you can go away when you like; but
where is the gambler, whether losing
or winning, who is able to get awav
and not return
~
VET it seems as with other sys-
TENS a certain science, a GER
tain experience, a certain deftness
is indispensable. Beyond all else,
we are told, the prudent player
studies she character and temper of
the table at which he takes his seat.
for each table has its psychology, it's
habits, its history, which vary from
day to day, and yet by the end of the
year form a homogeneous whole where
IN aid temporary errors, all anomalies
and injustices are compensated The
question is to know on what page of
this history he should prepare to play
his part. He will not learn this at
once. 1t is Of little use for him to
peep at the notes and permanences of
the players who have come before him.
What he wants is the immediate con-