davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
New-York tribune., 1920-11-07
Desert Romance
Love Idyll on the Banks
of the Nile

THE heroine Of Arthur Wcigalps
n Madeline of the Desert (Dodd
Mead) is a girl who turns to
sanity WAYS after youth of rather
gay living. Falling IN love with a
young Englshman. She goes to live
with him in the Egyptian desert, where
they spend period Of idyllic happi-
ness When they return to England,
however, clouds appear on the horizon
OF their domestic life. Madeline be-
gins to worl. for The cause OF labor.
Her activities seem harmless enough,
- She merely advises the workers to
avoid violence and Dut the spirit of
Christianity into daily practice. How
ever. her conservative husband is some
what shocked and a quarrel breaks out
after the death OF their baby
The climax of the story is reached
when Madeline throws herself between
the troops and Z mob Of strikers and
turns them all 10 sweet reasonableness
at the risk of her own life She is
reconciled with her husband and they
go back to Egypt, where, presumably,
they live happily ever afterwards
A hirtatious widow and grotesque
individual who seems affected by some
form Of psychic dement1a add piQuant
touch to this pleasing, but somewhat
inconseuuential novel ~
New-York tribune., 1920-11-07
Hypnotic Crime
Detective Story Flavored
With Psychoanalysis
~ HERE is most uncanny atmos

. HERE is a most uncanny atmos-
phere in Eric Levison's novel
Hidden Eyes (Bobbs- MerrilN.
The inevitable mystery of the detec-
tive story is deepened and complicated
by the injection Of a large dose of oc-
cult science. Hypnotism is the instru
mentality through which a number of
amazingly audacious bank robberies
are carried through And it IS hypno-
tism that finally brings the hidden
criminal 10 the bar of justice.
Unlike some authors of detective fc-
tion, Mr.. Levson is able TO write A
very good story. His characters are
natural and we'll drawn; and the in
cidents OF the plot are cleverly ar
ranged There is gradual intensif-
cation Of interest as one burg lar
proof vault is entered and rifed, K
the utter dismay of the conventionaliy )
stupid chief of police of fiction And
there is genuine fascination in the
prodigious effort OF scientific imagina-
tion which enables DR.. Lester 10 dis
cover the mysterious plotter and 10 res
cue an innocent man who mas been ar
rested upon apparently unimpeachahle
evidence
New-York tribune., 1920-11-07
F or Better, For Worse
w. B. Maxwell Ends His Story in the Presence
of the Judge

Fate the Intervention OF new motif at
exactly the happy hour Basil and
Claire meet il hospital, where ne is re-
covering from the effects Of German gas.
They discovs- that they are lovers.
So far there has been nothing ex-
travagant in this novel Maxwell has
been reaching for his whip. and now he
cracks it. Roddy, supposedly bought off
with Claire's money, returns from Amer
ica to beg for more. Claire again gilds
his purse, but the brute, knowing that
he is to end in the mire. fights her
divorce case with a counter suit that
lifts the story right ont Of the path of
ordinary. everyday fiction and gives
the reader a perfect whirl2'ind of a
close.
If we tell more we say 100 much
New-York tribune., 1920-11-07

3 Lee Masters was still unhedged
"a as q writer, a Chicago lawyer
practicing in partnership with
Clarence Darrow, he would go to st.
Louis for an orgy Of talk with William
Marion Reedy, and the staple Of their
talk was the vivid instances Of the
unplaned side of existence each had
known.
Masters in particular had a remark
ably strategic post for viewing the
human drama. The lawyers office was
confessor's boX-when men fell afoul
OF the law their pretenscs often
dropped from them, and raw, untamed
human nature showed itself His prac-
tice brought him amazing incidents OF
the unpredcabe quality Of life. Yet
when he came TO write it was the usual
pallid, derived fustian, and Reedy re-
jectcd it, advising him to write the
things he knew.
This was the beginning of the Spoon
River Anthology-a poignant and
powerful attempt at mllennial truth
dUOul Il SlOup VI iluliidH DcIuSS, Il IcC-
ord OF a communitys repressed vitality
finding its level in devious individual
ways, an astonishing sublimation Of a
towns gossip.
Undoubtedly the great power Of these
epitaphs lay in their succinctncss, in
the economy which forced into few
lines a lfctine's indirection and waver
ing These biographies are gaunt and
bare as gravestones es-with the sitting
down OF a mans body to a little hand
full Of dust the experiences of his life
can also be sifted down to little hand
full Of truths. Everything in these
sketches is dissolved but the final in
dissoluble residue.
In The Domesday Book (Macmillan
Company Edgar Lee Masters has re
turned to The employment of his great
talent, his ability to draw sharp sub
versivc portrait-but on far larger,
more pretentious scale. Whether en-
larging the scale enlarges the vision
is another matter. Here, however, are
people speaking their biographies not
from their epitaphs but from the Aft
davits of lawyer. Elenor Murray has
been found dead by the riverside, and
the coroner, searching for the causes
that might lead to an explanation OF
her death. draws in many people, those
New-York tribune., 1920-11-07
Kentucky Superstitiions
Thousands Of Quaint Beliefs Found Among Ne
groes and White Folk of the State

r :':. = ; q: : :: ::::: f.:
wiz II t1an1aA. Of Tho n1ai nt hol;o
New-York tribune., 1920-11-07

about six by four inches in size, CON
tanning a pinch of salt, pod Of red
pepper. rabbits foot, chicken spur
and some ashes. 1t must be made in
dead O. night, widout a spec O. light
'To do harm to a person, take a lock
Of his hair, burn part, throw a part
to the wind, and bury part.
"To keep person from hoodooing
you, wear red pepper in the heel of
your shoe.
of you wear silver dime in your
shoe, you cannot be hoodooed,'
These Kentucky supersttions are
characterized by unlimited variety.
Every natural disturbance, every ac-
cident, every deviation from the ordi-
nary course Of affairs, is interpreted as
an omen, prophetic of good or evil.
1t brings good luck TO rub coal oil on
your neck, to bury pencil, to meet
a gypsy fortune-teller. to open the
Bible at the words "Verily, vcrily.' to
smoke cigarette with a gold band on
it. to pick up gravel under the right
foot and sleep on ii to mention only
a few among hundreds of favorable
omens. 1t is 4 SIGN of bad luck to
stub your toe, to step first on the left
foot in the morning, TO dream of mules
or negroes, to step on cats tail, to
count hundred stars.
Baseball Omens
Many superstitons arc connected
with baseball The following may be
commended to the attention of "Babe'
Ruth and Ty Cobb
In laying baseball bats down, do
not cross them.
"lf you break your bat you may ex-
rcct batting slump.
"To change bats after the second
strike is unwise.
1T causes bad luck for q baseball
player to stand on the plate with the
large end of the bat down.
Belief in charms and omens IS di-
minishing in Kentucky with The set
Ting of the wilder and more inacces-
sibc regions of the states. Witches
and railroads, haunted houses and
telegraph lines, seldom flourish to-
gether. In view of this fact the au-
thors have made d particularly valu-
able contribution to American folklore
in preserving and collecting this mass
of popular superstitions before they
disappear under the skeptical scrutiny
Of less credulous and less magma
tive generation.
New-York tribune., 1920-11-07
A Genial Scot
The Bonnie Lassle Also
Plays a Part

IF BY any chance there somes into
your hands a book called Guid
Auld Jock, written by A. 6. Mac
kinnon and published by the house Of
Stokes, read, we pray you, the first
story, Jocks Necbors.' which you Will
find divertng little thing.
The author may be one of the most
industrious souls that labors on this
planet, but his stories Indicate that he
is lazy when plots are to be evolved.
Almost all of the sixteen tales are
manufactured somewhat on this order:
Chapter l: A wounded Scot comes
TO the hospital where Jock. the light of
the wards. is recuperating. The new
patient suffers from mental stress.
Jock elicits his narrative of woe.
Chapter ?: Jock materializes the
missing rival, brother, Will, girl who
has a disconcerting way OF bobbing up
as pretty nurse) OF explanation OF
the affair that troubles the newcomer.
Jock is pleasing laddie, but the
author fails to develop him. Jock is
always mendlng matters for some fell
low inmate; we should like to know
what Jock would do If he were the sol
der IN Il quandary. If Jock were COM
PEELED to exercise the keen intelll gence
and native wit which. we understand
from the author, IS his in the pursuit
Of a bonnie lassie-eh, mon, there
might weel eneuch be a story
New-York tribune., 1920-11-07

chapter near the close Of his
For Better. for Worse Dodd
Mead & Coz W. B. Maxwell
speaks of "a Destiny in whose
sight things are neither great nor
small, because all things are indifer-
ent.' This definitely material view Of
life controls the plot of this novel as
1t influenced the theme Of The Devils
Garden
Given certain Maxwell men and wom
en- endowed with unalterable qualities
and delivered over to certain ines
capable. formative conditions. one
must inevitably come to results as
sure as the solution Of quadratic
equation. This authors strength lies
IN his obedience to the requirements
of type
In the opening pages of For Better,
Pr Worse we are given view of an
Wngish middle-class home stepped in
an atmosphere of feminine contrari-
ties ard ambitions. Cards are on
table, and the girl, Claire Gilmour, is
brought into focus through telling
of ner fortune. king Of hearts.
You're the queen and sister Emily
laughs; for Claire is. in a way, the
ugly duckling of the family, who. it
has been suggested. might be handed
over in marriage to a scnle chap with
much gold. In fact, pressure is
10 10; ~
dreaming of life to come more in
harmony with the visions of one of
Ter age. suddenly runs off with q
chancely met Roddy Vaughn. Horror
glooms the Gilmour family, bu. a we'd
ding is hastily arranged, and the two
are dismissed with pseudo we'll wishes
Roddy proves to be bounder, a cheap
aspirant for recognitions not in any
way his due. Claire, with the mind Of
an artist, revolts inwardly against his
vulgar materialism displayed in ornate
home furnishings, and shivers at his
boorishness. But something elemental
ruled out thought; good or bad, he was
her man. Her task in life was Roddy -
Claire in the spidcrweb Of her husbands s
cruel lust for money and animal crav-
ing for adventures with woIhen in the
rain corraled from the edges of the
gutter. 1t is the vcritable Maxwell
obedience to the iron grip and unwa-
Verng Whim Of Destiny that is revealed
IN full light and deep shadow in this
story of Claire's struggle to hold. and,
if possible, save this man who is rapidly
sinking to the level of the camaraderie
of Bill Skies
Swiftly For Better, for Worse de-
velops the problem of divorce Roddy
has mulcted Claire of the greater part
of her little fortune Their only child.
a girl, is dead. Into Claire's life steps
Basil Everett, who was at her wedding,
although she has forgotten that he was
present. Maxwell here recognizes the
touch of something little more rnelodi-
GUS than the clank of the CHAINS Of
New-York tribune., 1920-11-07
Divorce Becomes the Theme of Two Recent Er
More Of Galsworthy " Favorites
In Chancery Continues the Adventures of Well
Known Family

-OHN GALSWORTHY continues his
adventures Of the famous Forsytc
family in his latest novel, In
Chancery tScribner's), 1t is the
same robust, long-living line that fig
nred in The Man of Property. with the
confused web Of cousins, sisters and
aunts more perplexing than ever.
No one will deny it is great family,
uell worth preserving even if it takes
several volumes; but how in the world
Calsworthy can keep them all straight
IS mystery beyond conception. Now
that he has permitted cousins to inter
marry. making double cousins and
double in-laws, he will need a chart on
tho wall of his study, with pins and
little flags.
His Own Brood
But he seems to enjoy that sort of
painstaking work. We can imagine
Galsworthy never quite so content rs
when he is dealing with Forsyte. They
are all of his creation, his own brood
which he guards as jealously and hap
ply as any mothering hen. They re-
spond readily to his cluck-cluck when
he wishes to parade them before the
reader.
Perhaps he is too enthusiastic about
he Forsytes to have them appear in
story Of action. The recital of their
occentrcities frequently clogs up the
wires when really important messages
are waiting TO be filed. He continually
strives to make the reader know his
New-York tribune., 1920-11-07


recorded in Kentucky Superstitions
princeton University Press by Daniel
L. Thomas and Lucy B. Thomas. Toms
method of hunting for lost marbles is
described in the injunction:
Find a marble or other lost article
by throwing another one and watching
where it goes.
And favortc pastime of Tom and
Huck and their playmates is indicated
in this bit of natural history:
"If you speak the following couplet
TO grasshopper he will obey you
"'Spit tobacco juice
And III turn you loose"
The authors have discovered almost
four thusand more or less popular su-
persttions as a result of their pains
taking researches among Kentuckians Of
various classes. Some Of the most weird
and awesomc beliefs arc held by the
mountaineers and the negroes. 1t i.
among the mountaineers that the au-
thors discovered the following recipes
for witchcraft:
How to Become Witch
TO become witch, go to mountain
top a dawn, shoot through a handkcr-
chief at the rising sun, curse jehovah
three times, and own the Devil as mas
ter. When you shoot through the hand
kerchef blood win fall from it.
ITO become a witch, the candidate
goes with the Devil to the top of the
highest hill at sunrise nine successive
days and curses God; the Devil then
places one hand on the candidates. head
and one on his feet, and receives the
promise that all between his hands shall
be devoted to his service
ITO become q witch, you shoot at the
moon nine times with silver bullet,
cursing God each time.
"You can become IA witch by taking
q spinning wheel TO the top Of a hin
giving yourself up to the Devil, and
waiting until the wheel begins to turn.
The witches will then come to instruct
you"
The Kentucky negroes have combined
the superstitions of the white folk
among whom they live with relics of
the mysterious voodooism practiced in
the jun0les Of Africa Here are few
typical beliefs about hoodoos and the
best means Of warding them off:
"A hoodoo bag is red flannel bag
New-York tribune., 1920-11-07
From Epitaphs to Affiidavits
In The Domesday Book Edgar Lee Masters
Enlarges His Anthology

n y HE story runs that when Edga
u Lee Masters was still unhedget
"a as writer, Chicago lawye
New-York tribune., 1920-11-07
Chose an Heir

Soames showed himself true Forsyte
by looking at the situation from all
angles and deciding on the son and
heir. He must have some one TO whom
he could safely leave his property. The
son was born-a daughter-but the
mother fortunately survived.
Possibly we have suggested the series
of dramatic clmaxes which Galsworthy
weaves into his story Granting all of
Galsworthy's artistry and skill, if We
had to estimate the book we should call
it poor thing we'll done.
New-York tribune., 1920-11-07

chapter near the close Of his
For Better. for Worse (Dodd
Mead & Coz W. B. Maxwell
Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-04-01

aid in this country has restrained her
from pursuing her own diplomatic aims
III Europe. SO long as there was n pos
sibihty that money would come from
America. or territorial guarantees aud
the alliance, Frances hands were tied.
She had to consider American opinion
and especially Mr.. Wilson's opinion.
SO France and England have declared
their independence. Mr.. Lloyd George
might have said what he did about
America 5 mcddling in the Irish ques-
tion twice in the past, when the Senate
earlier voiced its opinion on Irish free.
dom, and again when Colonel House, for
political purposes. mcddled at Paris and
tried to get De Valera received there as
the representative of d subject people
and did succeed in opening Ireland to
Walsh and the other Irish Americans
who visited Ireland
But IL was only when a breach with
Mr.. Wilson on the Adriatic. on Turkey.
perhaps on Russia aud on the Rhine
occupation, when. in other words, the
United States position in world affairs
was reduced to that of meddler who
would assume no obligations. that the
prime minister felt free to speak out.
Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-04-01
Europe Declares
Its independence"
Continued from Page One

Continued from Page One
willingness to assume some responsi.
bility for keeping order in the Orient.
During the Paris conference the Al.
lies virtually said to the United States I:
You can have the sultan where you
want IL you will only take charge OF
him. of the Turks and the Armenians.
In the end we have virtually. though
not formally, refused to do so. The
allied position is ''if you are not going
TO help us, then we must dispose OF
the Turkish question in the way that
will make us the least trouble.
sharp Issue with France
A much sharper issue is apparently
developing with France. The President
evidently forcsaw il when he wrote his
letter to Mr.. Hitchcock aud declared
that military ambitions ruled France.
So far as the eastern boundary of France
Is concerned, our position 10 European
eyes is similar to our position with re-
gard to Turkey. except that in this case
we did meddlc successfully and now de
clipc TO assume the responsibility which
we promised to assume in considcra-
tion of having our way on the Rhine.
France wanted to occupy the Rhine
permanently for purposes of home de-
fense. She was advised by Foch that
this was necessary. For her abandon. {.
ing her position Mr.. Wilson promised
her the aid of the United States in de-
Tending France against aggression. both
through the territorial guarantees of the
League Of Nations covenant and through
the Franco American alliance.
As X Stauds France has not the line
OF defense which hcr soldiers advised
her TO demand nor the territorial guar
8ntecs the alliance promised. Mr.. Will
son in the French eyes meddled and then
failed TO keen his promises.
The present French attitude toward
Germany eau only be explained on the
theory that France is establishing n
case for the permanent occupation of
tho west bank of the Rhine on the
ground of Germany's breach Of the
treaty. She declines TO sanction move
by the Ebert troops against the Reds
in the Ruhr valley which. under the
treaty. German forces may not enter,
merely because she means that Germany
shall violate the treaty if she wishes to
modify ts terms. When the time comes
France means to have her legal grounds
for continuing TO occupy the Rhine.
French Break Away from America
II is because France means to bc as
free as possible of any obligation TO
America that the French press unaui-
mously applauds the finance ministers 5
announcement that France shall no
longer look to America for financial aid.
The hope that she might obtain financial
Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-04-01
Cop. PEACE PLOW
HAS WIDE SCOPE
House Resolution to Be Brought
Up Monday Ends Presidents
War Powers "'a..
REPEALS SPECIAL ACTS
BY the Associated Press

Washington, April THE Repubh.
can effort to terminate the state Of war
with Germany. formally launched in the
House yesterday with the introduction
Of Joint resolution. to that effect, oc
cupied the attention of the foreign af-
FAIRS committee today although by
agreement with Democratic leaders, it
will not be brought up IN the House
until next Monday.
Chairman Porter, of the committee to
which the resolution was referred after
he had thrown IL into the House hop
per, planned to hold brief hearings be-
Tore reporting Ii back. with the way
paved for rushing II through the House
under a special rule.
z Introduction of the resolution. which
was drawn after conference Of Repub.
lican leaders. was followed by decision
TO force. It through Friday with four
hours debate, but Democratic lenders
requested and obtained delay until
Monday in order to permit careful
study OF the proposal which provides
also for resembling the war power of
the President.
Republican leaders said the more i'm.
portant wartime acts and powers which
would be repealed automatically with
passage Of the resolution included:
Wartime prohibition Lever food and
fuel control law with provisions against
profiteering, espionage act, selcctive
service law, authorize tiop for loans of
$40 900 900, 900 to allies. complete con
troll over all shipping. authorization for
President to use armed forces 10 prevent
Interference with interstate or foreign
commerce. licensing the use of eX-
plosives, authorization of n system of
priority shipments, authorization of an
employment service iu Labor Depart
ment. control over patents, war housing
act, moratorium protecting civil rights
of men while in the service and authori-
nation of en- embargo on imports in the
discretion of the President.
The trading with the enemy act would
be continued until Germany agrees to
provisions of the resolution. The cmer-
sency shipping act, the Ovcrmau oct
giving the President the power to dis.
tribute executive powers as he desires
and the act creating the war finance
corporation and the capital issues CON-
naittee expire six months after dcclura-
ton of peace
Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-04-01
NAVY Indifference.
SCORED BY FULLAM.
Fleet Was Fatally Short OF
Men," Admiral Tells .a
Senators O., =
BALDWIN SPEAKS FOR SIMS

Washington. April because Of
the Navy Department policy Of i'm
difference, no effort was made to bring
tho navy to state Of preparedness be-
fore the war, Rear Admiral Fullam,
former commander of the Pacific reserve
fleet. declared today before the Senate
naval investigating committee.
The admiral said that in 1915. wnen
he went TO the Pacific coast to take com.
mand of the reserve feet, the ships had
such small compliments that they could
not be moved from the dock, The navy
was fatally short of men, he added,
but the department failed to advocate
sufficient personnel increases and was
Totally indifferent to the possibility Of
q state Of war being forced upon II.
The only persons in the Navy De-
partment who would listen to his pleas
ior more men and material preparedness
were the assistant secretary and mem
bers of the general board. the officer de-
clsred.
Commander T. d. Baldwin. witness
for Admiral Sims. continued his testi-
Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-04-01
No Authority Without Obligation

Mr.. Wilson conccives of himself as
one having authority in international
affairs. Europe couccives that there is
no authority without obligations. The
two positions are impossible to recon.
cie.
Europe now has no contact with Mr..
Wilson. There are formal relations with
what remains Of the State Department,
but formal relations with the State De-
partment are upimportaDt and perhaps
misleading as seeming to have more
significance than they really have.
The world must deal with Mr.. Wilson
and there is now no Colonel House. The
prophet has gone up into the mountain
from which at appropriate moments he
denouuces sin. Europe is tired of his
dcnunciations.
1t is not II pleasant situation among
late allies who were agreed to lead man.
kind back to the Garden of Eden. 1t
ism dangerous one
Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-04-01

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