davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
New-York tribune., 1920-11-21
samuel Made Good

~ tae ar'aistice va eirrcd Mr..
S'szs s7's.a deoided that j. would be
l''ae '.oo sefese b9s'ne2s in Poland
''@'a Fo< ~ enough FIR II Il be
r'Ffa 7,.ie r. reopen MS place in
.@fz. T. tae wcaa me. there was
SaMa.e '1e BOY wonder. Why not
az n'h nm. Mr. Rzezewsai,
vi 's ne I'D sammie, toured
~2'rpet ozalhlNrQ ssmnie a. a
.esss fos mp.oN hod me child made
s,N- T,ay ment n Vienna, Berlin,
H9a'ar nople, Bel2ar.a and Rv
3sa.a al finally n Paris. eammie
~ 1atea'ca and roceived rine med
- s9t t,e bDancss vas not much
,-''@ ''sn pay.rg c1penses Europe
u 'tters ted IN otoer thirga more
~ caese. J. 1as ut he before
'ae NJ
ofs r sammles ynclea, oa his
..@'aes .cc. 1ar r o4slccse r. Ne~
i9f<. C>rre>rondcrce Ind Informed
- .'@ = s.s rnarveloD- ncpheu ard he
sszze1td |has tsc Rzezcmg1i family
SAs n America, unere conditions
'ss 1ore suitable 10 the apprecsa-
New-York tribune., 1920-11-21
u lls Hoe Potatoes

Then. are tic feeble-minded Ma "a
chlse-ts chess player and the aged
checker sharps Of the country dis
tricts prodigies. phenonerons Or
marvels f the checker charrions
are prodi-les. why did they hoe no-
.atoez tar seventy wears before
showing -heir abilities9 If the Mas
saehuse.ts chess champion * prod
!gy. Nha- = he doing in an institu-
.ion for ne feeble minded
Betore We take up the history Of
Samm-e IN search If the answer 10
cur question hera is an idea to null
over: These phenomenons are al
ways under Twelve, or over seventy.
'r feeble minded. and thoy are never
A~yers ~ engineers or statesmen
or an.--h.ng complicated.
Sanmia Rzezawsssi was born At
ozorao'v rear Lodz, Poland. Nav
? l9l7 He Is lew. and his
ts-ler vas ilNen merchant in LODI
Tho Va accounted wealthy. At the
tine Of 5anlnlie's birth his father
vas 1et0sea forty and for five
Faars cd and his mother vas few
years roanger. There we're two
o.her children. ! Roy Of eleven Years
sr1 = -.,~l = e.. ---
New-York tribune., 1920-11-21
Doesn't STUDY Chess

Professor Shaw'S statement about
the Yisualizing type of memory
makes Of especial interest three facts
about Sammie's chess playing. First
he does not study chess problems
very day. Ga the contrary. he is
quite likely not to touch che
3pard from one match to the nnxt.
Second, he watched his father play
ipg chess for AN indefinite period
Netofe he himself began to play. his
faihe' being better than average
r'a5er, though not champion. and
IN the four years Sammie has been
Nsying or watching chess he has
seen or met all kinds of players and
varieties Of combinations on the
ches~board The third fact deals
with the way samme plays a match
against numerous opponents.
He is on the inside Of rcctanple
OF semiclrcle, with all of his oppo-
nei'tS facing him. At West Point he
Wa oil the INSIDE of !, rectanyle. 1t
took llm about tell minute, to move.
around the rectanglc, stopping long
enough at each board to naAe a
move. !he ru.cs Require each oppu-
ncft To make a n4o>c u soon as sam
me stops IN trout of ni, board. II
Ia" opponent does not move. ii is
sQriyalent to acknowledging defeat
and withdrawing from The game.
>amnue'S opponents At Vest Point
tiiuS had each al average Of ten r,in-
u1es To study The board between
moves NamnIle. On the other hand.
made ms moves IA an average .inlc
OF between two and three seconds
after ms opponents fingers had
been removed from the piece. The
longest time he ,oDl for any play
was ten seconds. And ne was carry
my on twenty games at once.
New-York tribune., 1920-11-21
Chances Against Him

"As to whether Sammie can do
anything except play chess, that can
only he learned by experiment. By
training him to spend his life ss
chess champion. a wise and benef-
cent statesman may be lost to the
world. But by giving him the nor
nal boys education. with the oppor-
tunlty to choose his own path in life,
ihe chances are that chess cham
plon viii be lost through the COM
phcatlon of mental activities. He
might always be better than aver
age player. though not champion.
tut the chances are all against his
remaining champion # the activi-
ties Of his mind are multiplied.
There have been Instances of
chess champions becoming insane.
but it does not follow that this par
t'cuiar ability postulstes tendency
to insanity further than that there is
streak of insanity in all genius.
Nor does the concentration tend es-
Pecially to produce insanity. Even
greater concentration is required Of
many executives. while Bismarck
and Gladstone are examples Of
statesmen who lived to 4 fine old age
IN full mental vigor, though thev
worked harder and longer hours.
with more intense concentration.
than any chess champion ever
known. Chess championship is evi-
Gcnce, 30 far as we know. ONLY Of
mind that works within narrow Inn
its and with the attention undia-
tractcd.
Whether We are all in our in
fancy potential choss prodigies or
potential prodigies Of some other
kind, IN which only 4 narrow range
of mental activity is required, our
knowledge is not sufficiently ad-
Vanced to say. It may he thai we
are all infant prodigies. if only our
attention happens to he attracted
and our interest aroused by the par
tlcular thing that would show our
ability. Jonathan Edwards argued
Theological questions at eight years.
My little boy friend was a mathe-
matical prodigy at four Ssmmie
Kzczewsll played chess at five and
* prodigy at eight.
New-York tribune., 1920-11-21

"Tou are satisfied, are you" On q
second affirmative reply he will
shrug his shoulders with the remark,
Il am sorry for you" and go on to
victory. At the end Of the game he
knocks over the men with sweep
Of his hand. That is his only evidence
of t,i,,pnh
New-York tribune., 1920-11-21
i Fond of Exercise

TIE amusomcnts ho likes best arc
losing and bicycle riding. He is
crazy 70 seo the six-day bicycle races
in Madison Square Garden next
month, and his present ambition is
70 be champion bicycle rider. He
puts on the gloves with Samuel
Kramer, the hoy rioinist. Sammie
Kramer Is seven and half years old
AID weighs ninety seven pounds
fortg-two pounds more than Sammie
Rzezewsk. out Sammie Rzezowskl
invariably beat Sammie Kramer.
They put on the elovos in tho he'd
room, and li.rle Sammie mancuvers
his opponent until his back is to the
bed. Then Sammle dlvcs head first
into Kramer, knocks him over onto
the bed. Jumps on top Of him ard
beats hir up.
Although he boxes under London
prize ring rules, he rlays chess ac-
cordin2 to the Marquis of Queens
berry He ie good sport AT chess
ard neither bites and gouecs nor
crows over loser Mostly. he whis-
Ties very aoftly while playing chess,
barely audible sibilation. II hs
opponent nakcs a bad move he il
lloly 20 ask. "Do you want to make
that nnove7' And Il the answer is
Yes sammie probably Will 9ive
New-York tribune., 1920-11-21
close Attention Needed

Ia All the cases We know Of ex-
animation shows that the child's at
tention has been attracted and
his interest held by the particular
thing he DOES SO well. Many times
child does some one thing remark
ably we'll. Sut loses mis- facility whel
has interest vans.
"On The other hand. some persons
are born with ltte green spot or
brown spot in the center of the
pupil ol the eye. infants are horn
with six toes. There are many Pc
culiarit,es that mark children ut
birts Why may they not ne born
with particular talent to mark
them out from other children. the
ability to play chess. for example,
With Samuel Rzezewski? We don't
know. We know that some children
are born defective. bat we don't
know whether some are born with
Distinguishing talents
New-York tribune., 1920-11-21
SAMUEL RZE/ENNhY rs
- he lonSed from the Oiyn-
pic

low that all Of US are really chess
marVels. but We have too much else
to think about. Whether that is
really 50 cannot he proved. but it
should not he doubted that chess and
checker marvels are cases of simple
minds, or simpliied minds. doing
what Is most obvious in the light Of
the rudimentary forms of mental
itv."
New-York tribune., 1920-11-21
The Ou~stion Of Poets

John Keats never did anything
great except to write poetry. But
that does not prove poets arc horn
and not made. His sense of rhvthm
and rhyme may Only have heen *
quisiteiy developed because his ir-
terest Was aroused N them ny chance
al an early age and his attention
Was never strongly attracted to any
thing else
50 the answer TO tho question. -
Samuel Kzezewski. the eight-and-
one-half-year-old chess champion a
prodigy? seems to be. " don know.
We can tell defective, but we can't
tell a ptodigy. or If there is such a
thing. Some day we may learn 10
dcN eiop All The latent possibilities Of
the normal man. and then, surely.
there viii be no such thing as prod
igy. Or some of us may ne horn
with a chess spot in the brain. Ike
green spot in the eye. And, in tnst
case, -thersl are prodlgieA
New-York tribune., 1920-11-21
- lhe Very 1oung and Very Old Often Chess Experts
Science Offers an Exclamation for Child Chamnif
player, but he is no longer a cham

payer, out ne IS no longer CHAM
pion.
"A chess champion 5<only a chess
player. nothing else. He is not an.
executive or statesman. On the
other hand. exceptionally good busi-
ness executives are often exceptions
ally good chess players. though not
champions. The ability TO play
championship chess requires only a
harrow plane of the minds activi-
ties. Il does not demand a wide
range Of mental development. The
TWO functions II demands are mem-
ory and attention. with the further
requirement that the attention shall
not be distracted by other mental ac-
tivities. That is why feeble minded
persons can play chess - because
their minds cannot indulge in other
activities to the exclusion of chess.
which Is SO largely a function of
memory and not Of reasoning power.
1t is also why good executives are
often good chess players. because
they have cultivated their memories.
and especially because they have cuI-
tlvated the quality Of attention.
New-York tribune., 1920-11-21
V ar Passed Them Rv

Naar -te var came Sa,1ln.;e' :
father business became anan,:c
Ind soor d.ed from hamilton. He
ios. : good aesi .ot money. but by
10 meas became poor. Nhile no
ioager wsal- l-hz. ne i still comfort
a'if ve'l oF. The var did not touch
'ae.r pa af Poland very heavily
afe ne Rzezes4skis experienced no
Tery terrible hardships. Sammie mas
10 particularly unpleasant recollec-
uons q '-a var.
Ar. Rz-ze1ski found his relaxa-
ton II c0ess ard was above the av-
s'age a player. When his busi-
less IN Lodz came to an end he
PASSED 'arae part of his time play
ag enes= vl.n his cronies in Lcdz
sAa pzoreoFe Sannie and MS father
were pa- and samnie otter
Tatraed his fs-rer 7laving cness. In
.as samne~ e 1917. when ne was
I've years I'D. he va more than usu-
s..f ass'c-opz hosida me sboard.
~ a7tad - questions. aS Ear as
rs 'a'ner focaiis, ard no expiana-
.oas of tsf game were given to him.
V'e aay re- assed % oe allowed to
pa gane and within week was
so's y - his fataer. six months
.e'sf' 'e<ore he was SIX years Old,
sam ri challenged and bea on
- cAano ~ chess player of Pola I'D.
New-York tribune., 1920-11-21
\ Matter of Inhibitions

Still another psychological con-
dition may operate in the special
case before us. It may be stated
oponIy by noting ma detectives are
often marvels at lightning calcula-
ton, piano playing. chess and check
ers. Psychology would seek an ex-
pianation of these phenomena by
citing the general case Of inhibitions.
as they are called This amounts to
saying that The average person. as
the business man, the professional
man. has many Of these exhibitions
that is. ideas, problems, cares and
the like which step in and tend to
New-York tribune., 1920-11-21
Never Been TO School

Never Been TO School
AT eight and one half wears Sam.
ME weighs ffty-fve pounds. and 10
one Ct lis he would appear under
sized, but those who know the rsce
say he Is not roticeably small for
Polish Jew child of his age. His
head IS fat on top and wide above
the ears. while his chin is small and
pointed. His eyes are small. BRIGHT
and shrewd, his features are small
and hls expression is in some wavs
older than his fathers. who is stout.
bearded and jovial. But we are all
familiar with the prematurely So
Observation-Disclosures on the East Side
and that seems to be the type of the
Rzezewski family. Sammie's car
rage suggests that he has a slight
double curvature Of the spine.
The boy has never been to school.
Nevertheless. Sammie speaks Yid-
dish and German. has word or two
# French ard is beginning to learn
English He understands En~ljsh
better than he soeaAs it. H read.
liddish fuenrlv and German without
4 great deal of difficulty Every dav
Re reads 2 chapter in the Taln,ud.
but such parts Of the Talnud as re-
ter to tho ~ex relations he IS not al
loVed to read He can write his
name IN Yiddish SCRIPT.
He knows the relative positions If
such countries and cites a. he has
visited. but he knows nothing Of
geography a. children earn it from
books in school He car tell time.
Ten days ago he knew the hours and
half hours, and on November II sur
pr'sed MS family by knowing the
quarter hours. He knows nothing Of
mathematics. but knows we'll how to
drive, a bargain, appreciates money
values and understands thoroughly
the difference between s. and $40.
He x an excellent iudge of time and
distance. as he shows IN boxing. and
has an unusually Good musical sense.
He likes grand opera and SYM
ph0nies. but has no Use for iazz. He
sings airs from seversl operas in
rleasant childish voice. but cannot
read music and mas no Acquaintance
with any musical instrument. When.
with the I'D of two -unlng forks. the
reason for the difference in pitch of
the two notes was explained 10 him
ne understood readily.
There doesn't seem to be ANYTHING
abnormal about Samme, unless his
ability to play chess is abnormal,
and that IS what we are trying to
find out. He likes to alay better
than to study, but he can be per
suaded to study; generally it is
question Of reward. But there is
nothing unusual about that. His
parents humor him about study and
play. They try to give him his edu-
cation sugar coated, and f he doesn't
want TO take it it is not forced on
rim. Nevertheless, he is not back
ward. If he is defective he has
not given any signs Of it, He is
quick enough to learn when ne does
give himself to it. He Just seems
tne normal boy Of his years whosa
parents are situated a little better
than the average.
New-York tribune., 1920-11-21

child who is able to size up the to-
tAlity Of complicated situation. as
this is experienced in chess Such
vital form Of attention must be pos
'essed 0y this youth who is perform
ing marVelS Of mentality along she
simple lines Of vision and attention.
New-York tribune., 1920-11-21
v hat Of the Future!

All Of winch is conclusive in favor
Of Professor Sh4w's >sualizing type
Of memory and highly developed
function Of attention.
Come the questions -of whether
Sammie VIII remain chess cham
ION, whether he VIII ever be able
to do anything else with speci2l ef
hciency and whether he can com
bine chess championship with some
thing else
Professor Thorndike, Of Columbia
University, recalls boy Of four
Years who was mathematical
prodigy, but by the time the boy was
ten years old other things had taken
his interest and he had ceased to be
much more than ordinarily efficient
at mathematics He says If another
boy:
AT thirteen he Was chess prod
lgY, and by tne Time he Was seven
teen he played Il much better game
and was champion Of Boston. But
that was twenty years ago. Since
then the complicated affairs Of life
have demanded his attention. He is
It'll ~aa@sxeeptienaly good chess
New-York tribune., 1920-11-21

(Contlnped from preceding page)
felt that ill;s would have heen suf-
fcient had the cases been reversed.
in answer to question IS 20
whether he considered it fair 70
place the burden of safety on TIE
,thcr man, ne replied
"Among motorists it is customary
to exchange the cou,tesies Of the
road-and sometimes the discourte-
sics," he added, with faint scorn.
New-York tribune., 1920-11-21

TIME earthquake and FIRE ~
1905 caught him in town
During three days and nights
he ran his car for tho benefit of tho
sufferers, going practically without
food or sleep, exercising the utmost
audacity and ingenuity in getting
supplies, running fearlessly many
dangers.
For the rest he played polo well,
shot excellcrtlv at the traps, was
good sttspais 9ot aiad-tx Nat at,
New-York tribune., 1920-11-21
GA " ME- RZEZEWSKI.
- 81 S1a-ycar-old chess chom-
p}ON

ton Of infant prodigies, and tour
would bring fortune as we'll as fame.
Sammie and his parents landed in
New York shortly after the receipt
Of the letter.
Evening star., 1920-02-21
BILL PROVIDES GREATER
MILK SALE SAFEGUARDS
Representative Moore Proposes
Legislation to Cover
By-Products.

Additional safeguards to protect
Washington consumers from insani-
tary milk and mix products are pro-
vided in bill introduced in the
House yesterday by Representative
r. Walton Moore of Virginia. The
new bill would repeal all existing
laws governing the sale of milk in
sible for the health department to
| correct a number of evils which now
exist in the production and market
ing of milk and other dairy products
here.
The new bill is a result of several
months of study by DR.. Harvey w.
Wiley. the pure food expert: ID. A.
Slaughter, president of the Maryland
and Virginia Milk Producers Associa-
ton: Mr.. Moore and others.
Discussing the bill, DR.. Wiley says:
I'm addition to milk and cream, the
proposed law brings under the super
vision of the health officer evaporated
and condensed milk. milk powder,
fce cream. butter and cheese
1t cannot be denied that infected
milk and cream are just as dangerous
to health when made into ice cream
as if they were consumed in their
original form. 1t cannot be denied
that evaporated milk, condensed milk
and dried milk. in the form of milk
powder, should be subject to the same
rlSlu inspection as TO origin ana cnar-
acter as if they were made near the
city of Washington.
THE act, however, recognizes the
physical inability of the inspectors Of
the health office to inspect all sources
from which these products are de-
rived. 1t empowers the health
officer. nevertheless, to prevent the
importation of these products if found
to be infected and to require the
manufacturers thereof to properly
pastuerize or sterilize the milk and
cream used in the manufacture of
butter and cheese before these prod
ucts are sent into the District"
Evening star., 1920-02-21
HONOR TO THE MEMORY
OF HEROIC AMERICANS
Legion Tomorrow Will Present
Frances Tribute to Relatives
of World War Dead.

INDIANAPOLIS. Ind. February 81.
A total of 11S,409 French ce11i:i-
Gates will be bestowed tomorrow upon
the next of kin of the Americans who
died in the world war. it was an
nounced today at the national head =
quarters of the American Legion,
which will have supervision of the
ceremonies to be held in all parts "a
the country. The nations honor roFt
is comprised of 107.032 soldiers. $500
sailors and 1867 marines.
France Pays Homage.
In the bestowal of these French
memorial certificates of honor and
esteem France pays homage to Amer
ica's dead in the late war on the
birthday of George Washington
which also will be observed in many
churches of the country as "Ameri-
can Legion Sunday" when the work
of the American Legion will be ex-
planned from the pulpits.
The certificates contain a baautiful-
~ engraved group figure placed On a
cenotaph. on which is the signature
of Raymond 'Poincare. as President
of France. and ITO the memory of
of the United States of America.
who died for liberty during the great
war. the homage of France" Above the
group figure is quotation from Vic
tor Hugo. THE people should come
to pray at the graves of those who
died for their country
Steps Taken to Cover Omissions.
To cover any possible omissions.
national headquarters of the Amer :
can Legion here has been auth O"iZnd
TO issue additional certificates on the
instructions of any of its local posts.
The Marine Corps received its al
lotment of testimonials at too late .
date to address and send to the lo@al
posts of the American Legion for
presentation tomorrow and these viii
be ma lied direct to the next OF KIN
Evening star., 1920-02-21

States, to France. to Poland to pay
all the costs, particularly in advance
of any clear-cut guarantee.of support
oy new German menace. more Sc
rious because of these concessions.
1t may be that wise policy COM
mands remodelng of the peace of
Versailles. a modification of the terms
affecting Germany but the first rea-
Sonable step in this direction must be
the satisfactory guarantee to France
of security against Germany. guaran-
tee which would be absolute if Brit
ain and the United States both ac-
cepted the special treaty signed by
representatives of the three coun-
tries in Paris. and would be adequate
if Britain accepted the obligation for
herself. !
AS it is British policy, Lloyd
lGeorge's policy is placing upon France
the whole burden of expense of a new
arrangement and the expense in
wolves not merely sacrifice of imme
diate payments in coal and money,
but not imDossibly of future safety
Such proposals will naturally be re-
jected by the French and such re-
lection may lead to the collapse of
the present Anglo-French association
and the restoration of complete Euro
pean anarchy.
Copyright, 1920. Mcclure Newspaper Sy ndicate.) }
Evening star., 1920-02-21
INFLUENZA SURVEY BEGUN.
Public Health Service to Get Sta
tistics From Five States,

A survey of communities of five
states has been launched by the
United States public health service,
with the object of determining the
proportion of individuals attacked by
influenza a second or third time in
order to list the proportionate recur-
renee of the disease.
Frederick, Md. has been selected
as one of these observation centers.
A corps of investigators has been
sent out to each state. In Wisconsin.
Indiana, Massachusetts. Georgia. and
Maryland the facts regarding recur-
renee of disease in individual in
stances will be listed.
The survey is under the general
supervision of men specializing in in
fiuenza State and local health boards
are aiding in the work. 1t was stated
at the public health service that of
ficers will endeavor to secure infor-
nation which will enable them to
prevent recurrence of the epidemic
of 1918.
In Frederick. Nd, a survey of one
hundred families is being made.
Evening star., 1920-02-21
|BANEz ARRIVES HERE
FOR c. W. U: EXERCISES
Noted Spanish Novelist Will Speak
at Convocation Monday
Afternoon.
Afternoon.

Senor Don Vicente BlaSco lbanez.
noted Spanish novelist and author of
THE Four Horsemen OF the Apoca :
| lypse." arrived in Washington this
morning to attend the midwinter
| ington University. He came to the
capital from California. where he has
been lecturing.
! will leave next month for Mexico.
| where he will spend several months in
| search of material for novel on that
! country.
The novelist's only speeches in
Washington will be at George Wash
ingtoh University. exercises. The
honorary degree Of doctor of letters
will be conferred upon him at the
university's midwinter convocation.
to be held at o'clock Monday after
noon in the new Central High School.
| 18th and Clifton streets northwest. He
will then deliver an address in the
nature of doctors discourse, his
subject being The Best Novel That
| Was Ever Written
! The calling upon the recipient of an
| honorary degree for an address is a
marked depa rture from the usual Gus
tom at the university and is one of
the most signal honors that could be
/ conferred upon the author.
! Senator William NJ. Calder. the con-
vocation orator. who will receive the
honorary degree of doctor of laws
together with Herbert c. Hoover
| former food administrator, and Frank
| lin MacVeagh. former Secretary of the
Treasury. will deliver an address on
| 1.-THE Duties and the Opportunities OF
| the Hour
| Many distinguished guests will at
tend the convocation. including the
entire diplomatic corps of Spanish
speaking countries.
| The midyear baccalaureate sermon
! will be preached tomorrow morning
lat IL o'clock in Calvary Baptist
Church, Sth and H streets northwest
by the Rev. Samuel II. Greene. pastor
of the church. The public has been
| invited
! The annual dinner of the alumni
! association will be held Monday night
! at 7:30 O'Clock at Rauscher's.