davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
New-York tribune., 1921-02-20
Me How Can Get My Daughter In the Movies?"

but I'm Mrs. Claude Cumberland
Cautious. ! met you at a luncheon
at Delmonico's last year, and want
to ask your advice about something.
Of course, know you know all about
this and can tell me just how to go
about 1t, l have friend. She ia
not real young; at least, | mean she
is over thirty, but she is perfectly
stunning. Her husband left her with
only $1,000 year, and, of course,
she can't live on that, so it really
isn't of any use to her, is it? She's
an awfully sweet woman. but she's
never been strong since Ella came.
You know, Ella is her little daughter.
and / think she might get in, too,
later. You know, my friend isn't
fitted to do anything, SO she thought
she would just go in the movies.
told her to write scenarios, and that
would be easier, but she prefers to
act, because she said she was better
at that than at writing. When I told
her / knew you we decided that the
best way would be for you to give
her letters of introduction to Mr..
Griffith and Mr.. Lasky and few of
the best people.
New-York tribune., 1921-02-20
@YOU kmow, my friend
Il isn't fitted to do any,
thing, so she thought she
a0ouJd Just 90 into the
monies"

nate and prevents him from receiv-
ing all the letters Of introduction
which are penned to him.
We used to think that the reason
we never refused was because we
had a kindly nature and wished to
spread a little sunshine and all that
sort of thing. But we suddenly
realized that the real reason was
because We were fattered to think
we had been asked to help. It made
US feel important to have other peo-
pie think we were important. Be-
cause they believed that we had in
New-York tribune., 1921-02-20
The Voice Of the Old Town

and you're going to marry me,
aren't you?"
Bill kissed her again before she
could answer.
"Aren't you?" he cried.
EYES," said Glare, her voice
nuff1ed against his shoulder. Eyes,
I suppose I am"
Right away?"
"Y-yes
He kissed her again.
"B- -Billw
"Yes, sweetheart"
"Let me get my breath. / want
to ask you something
Bill held her off at arms length.
"Ask away"
what happened to you out
West?"
"What makes you think anything
happened?"
You're so different"
Bill shook his head slowly.
"You knew I loved you-all the
time"
eyes" said Clare, "of course ]
did. But I didn't think you'd ever
tell me so.'
"You know" said Bill honestly,
there was a time when / didn't,
either"
what did it7"
Glare" he said, 'I've been back
to my old home town"
He kissed her again and straight.
ened himself proudly.
''Do you know, Glare, I started
out in life as common criminal.
Yep. In my old home town
was a burglar"
New-York tribune., 1921-02-20
when quantities Of solid matter a
found lodged in the stomach"
Swallowed Real Swords


One noted sword swallower men
toned in the book was the Chevalier
Ciquot. His title may have been a
deception, but much of his perform
ance was not. In one of his acts
he swallowed a real bayonet sword.
weighted with a cross-tar and two
eighteen-pound dumbbells. AS a
thrilling feature Of his performance
Cliquot allowed only a part of the
weapon to pass into his body, .he
remainder being "kicked' down by
the recoil of the rifle when fred.
Cliquot also swallowed a gold watch.
which he afterward replevined by
means of a slender chain attached
to it.
Among other sword swallowers
whom Houdini sees no reason for
exposing was the late Delno Fritz,
who, he says, was an excellent per-
former; Deodata, who settled down
in New York as dealer in jewelry
Mile. Clifford, who did remarkably
we'll for a woman and travelled for
many years with Barnum & Bailey;
Victorina and others.
Sometimes terrible accidents hap
pen, as many examples cited by
Houdini show, but as to the general
practice of sword swallowing and
the possibility of legitimately prac-
ticing it he has this to say;
ITO accomplish the sword swallow
ing feat it is only necessary to over
come the nausea that results from
the metal touching the mucous mem
brane of the pharynx, for there is
an unobstructed passage, large
enough to accommodate several OF
the thin blades used, from the mouth
to the bottom of the stomach.
"This passage is not straight, but
the passing of the sword straight.
ems it.
"Some throats are more seusitiv.
than others, but practice will soor
sccustom any throat to the passage
Of the blade"
New-York tribune., 1921-02-20
Tip TO the Doctors

The writer and handcuff king adds
that it is said that the medical fra
ternity first learned of the posi-
bility Of overcoming the sensitive
ness Of the pharynx by investigating
the methods Of the sword swallowers.
He concludes this chapter of his
book by paying a special tribute TO
Victorina, who was a native of Ber-
lin. Victorina, it seems, had a throat
so tough she could bend sword
after she had swallowed it. Once a
blade snapped in two, but she man
aged to reach the lower end with her
fingers and withdraw it.
Stone eating, the book makes it
New-York tribune., 1921-02-20
Universal Egotisnl

The funny part Of it is that most
people take it for granted that the
reason they are not stars is only
because they never tried to be. 1t
is, of course, a thing that any one
can do.
Not long ago a newspaper man,
who is large and ungainly and who
has such big, fiat feet that it is the
first thing you notice about him (oh,
no, this man is not on The Tribune.
All of our reporters are young and
handsomel, said to us:
"You know, / think I'll take "a
fling in the movies. I wouldn't care
New-York tribune., 1921-02-20
The Universal Ambii-
tion Affects the
| Nursery
Bv Eiarriette UJnderhill

a 4 LEAST half of all the
y people We know are in the
movies in one capacity or an
oher. one-haB of this other half
ro,,ld Ike to be or would like some
ana or more Of their friends to be.
These are the people who appeal to
Us;
"Can you get my little daughter
in the movies?"
OF course, many Of the people
vhom we know right well, as they
ssv in Virginia, never have said nor
thought of saying such a thing.
These are the people who have no
little daughters of their own. What
they say is:
"Can you get my friends little
daughter in the movies?"
The Qualifications
Then follows list of her quail
sestiona. ''You should see the
child; she really is q remarkable
kddie!"
Nov, any child who allows her
ssli to be referred to as a kiddie,
however innocent she may be in the
matter, has earned our undying ami
mostly. She hasn't chance in the
world to have us use our far-famed
influence, which, by the way, we do
not possess. Because you may not
believe this we intend to prove it.
But more of this later.
Just now we must go on with
friends little daughters qualihca-
tons.
"She really is a remarkable kid
die, only six years old, and she goes
out and plays three holes Of golf
with her father before breakfast and
she knitted twelve pairs of socks
for the soldiers and she can play
;~-&S, T'L;-+aac%L pbo0aoSxy ar5 che
recites Annie and Willie's Prayer
and lots of other clever things. She
isn't pretty child, but she's better
than that, if you know what l mean
She is so Intelligent"
Between six and sixteen this is
the description. After sixteen it
usually sounds like this:
She ought to be in the movies.
New-York tribune., 1921-02-20

form ball the size of a walnut.
Set it on fire, let it burn until it is
nearly consumed, then roll some
more flax around it, so as to leave
the inner part still burning. Slip
this into the mouth unperceived and
then, by exhaling your breath vigor-
ously, you will give the appearance
Of breathing out flames.
But it will be just as we'll not to
inhale, as to inhale fire is certain
death.
Red hot iron can be licked if the
tongue is first properly coated with
liquid storax, but Houdini adds as a
word Of warning that "no performer
should attempt to bite off red hot
iron unless he has a good set of
teeth"
For the biting trick a piece of hoop
iron may be prepared by bending
back and forth at point about an
inch from the end until the fragment
is nearly broken off.
AS for the oven trick performed
by Chabert, this is the way to dupli-
cate it:
New-York tribune., 1921-02-20
The Disiliusionment

Time was when we. too, believed
that we had. We found that we
hadn't. This is how it happened:
A young actress whom we know
came to New York. She was clever,
beautiful and well dressed. She had
education, birth and breeding. She
wanted to get in the movies, and wa
wanted her TO, first, because we
thought she would be q success and
then, later, because we had volun-
teered to ''help her out" until she
got started, and our money was all
gone. We began to want it even
more than she did, and we wrote
letters to every manager and di-
rector and star we ever knew. All
received her graciously.
Splendid" they would say.
"You are fine type. I'll send you
to my casting director"
And that was the end Of it. She
never got in the movies.
So in all humility we say it:
eve can't get your little daugh-
ter in the movies. We can't get
your friends little daughter in the
movies. We couldn't get our own
little daughter in the movies, if We
had one"
Why? Well, we don't know;
only it is so. Either the casting di-
rector had so many similar young
ladies who were just as beautiful
on his list that he never got around
to ours, or else, perhaps, movie
, actresses are made in heaven.
New-York tribune., 1921-02-20


hand into a kettle of boiling
oil offers virtually no attraction.
They would as little think Of bit
ing off the end of bar of red hot
iron; and as for chewing molten
metal or consuming flaming gas,
these are relaxations they manage
to forego entirely.
But once there lived a brave folk
who made their living by perform
ing, or seeming to perform, these
miracles. They moved on what was
known as the "curio circuit" and we
came in contact with them just after
the calliope had led the procession
down Main Street, or the Town
Fathers, with appropriate exercises,
had opened the county fair. If we
lived in the Big City we satiated our
shuddering curiosity by going into
the tent at Coney next to that IN
which Whoohoo "ate 'em alive" or,
If we happened to be uptown, at the
Eden Musee, where the prices were
trife higher but the sights appro-
priately more horrifying.
A Book of Revelations
Houdini, the ''handcuff king" and
safebreaker mot to be confused with
those being pursued by the repre-
sentatives Of Mr.. Enright), has made
collection of these engaging per
sonalities and put them in a book
entitled Miracle Mongers and Their
Methods, recently published by +.
+. Dutton 6 Co. In his long career
as one who extricates himself from
shackles high in the air or in the
river with seemingly equal facility,
doudini met some of these dime mu-
scum and circus wonders personally,
and others he learned about by
studying for his own profession.
With what may strike some as
shameless cruelty, he exposes the
works and methods of some of the
most celebrated fire eaters, heat re-
sasters, poison consumers, venomous
reptile defiers, sword swallowers,
human ostriches and razor and uIn-
oreila gulpers; but includes two sug-
sestions which may be helpful to be-
glnners seeking to emulate these
tests. Paraphrased, they may be put
like this:
When iadling out molten metal
Tor purposes Of swallowing, it is
wise to have on hand q blanket suf-
ficiently heavy to smother the sparks
mat may happen to catch in the
clothing.
Being in touch with a good physi.
elan is n wise precaution, or, better
stu, 1t might be just as well to have
aim on hand all the time.
One of the most famous charastsrl
New-York tribune., 1921-02-20
Then There Is the Ma
ture Lady With
Pickford Curls

to stay in them, for / am q born
journalist, but I'd just like TO go in
for the satisfaction of showing folks.
Doug Fairbanks was in college with
me, and he couldn't row or swim,
or dance the way I could. I think
III just dive in and make a couple
of pictures for fun"
Yes, he did. This person whom
We have described actually said this
to us. The only part of it which
appealed to Us was the fact that he
didn't ask US to dash off a couple of
letters of introduction. He felt that
he didn't need any introduction. He
could do without our influence. So
we didn't have to tell him that we
had none.
New-York tribune., 1921-02-20

had been exposed without in the
least impairing public interest in
such exhibitions.
1t seems to be the same in nocro-
nancy as in certain forms Of
finance. Who does not remember
$50 per cent Miller? And yet after
him came Ponzi. Each generation
has it's Get Rich Quick Wallingford.
There is no greater fallacy than
that Truth is the passion of man
kind, and behind countless barn
doors in this broad land of ours
may daily be seen innumerable
Penrods staging thrillers which all
the youthful spectators know to be
receptions, but to witness which
they most eagerly contribute their
pennies OR their pins, as the busi-
ness sagacity of the promoters may
happen to dictate.
Exhibited Before Royalty
Before Chabert came Richardson
and Powell and Dufour and Senor
Lionetto and a long list of others
who specialized as heat defiers.
Some even exhibited before royalty,
bewildering all by their smiling
readiness to walk unshod in blazing
charcoal or over glowing stones.
Each delighted in such delicacies as
crushed match heads mixed with
boiling resin, pitch, bee's-waX, alum,
lead, prussic acid and other poisons,
and each went his way after being
shown to be d fraud.
But, although the day Of the fire
eater and fire resister is for the
moment on the decline, Houdini
thinks sufficient popular interest re-
mains to describe their works, and
for the benefit of those who would
like to know how to duplicate their
feats he gives a few Of the heat
defying recipes employed by the
most celebrated performers.
"The yellow thread OF exposure
seems to be inextricably woven into
all fabrics whose strength is Sc
crecy," writes Houdini to justify
the publication of these professional
secrets, land experience proves that
/ it is much easier to become fire
proof than TO become exposure
proof.
I'm Spite of Exposure
''It is still an open question, how
ever, as to what extent exposure
really Injuries q performer. Expos
ure of the secrets of the fire eaters
for instance, dates back almost tt
the beginning of the art itself, bu'
the business continued to prosper.
Having said which, Houdini goes
on to give several formulas, TIL,
chief consideration, of course, is t,
make the skin of the mouth imper
vious to the action of heat, and In,
recipe for simple feats set down b,
New-York tribune., 1921-02-20

He knew it wasn't the name Of the
editor in his day. But it was worth
trying. He stepped into the tele-
phone booth and called the editorial
Office.
.sTT's rather an odd request" he
temporized.
"Can't be any odder than some
we've had" said the voice,
well" said Bill, II used to live
in Sloan years ago, and / knew
a girl named Mary Parker. I've
always wanted to know what be-
came Of her"
"Why, she married Harris, the
banker"
Butch Harris?" said Bill invol.
unfairly.
"Sure-Butch Harris. What othe,
Harris is there?"
Thank you," said Bill family
and hung up the receiver.
Bill arrived in Park Avenue three
days later. He had strange new
ieeling of elation.
"Why, Bill" Glare said, "you
look happyw
II am happy. When are you go
ing to marry met"
Clare took one look at him anc
began to walk backward
Il didn't know you wanted ms
to marry you"
"Oh, yes, you did," cried the new
Bill. He caught her in his arm,
and held her close and kissed her
II love you," he cried. II love you
New-York tribune., 1921-02-20
The Oven Trick

First cover the face and hands
with one of the heat defying prepa-
rations already explained. Then
cover the rest of the body with an
asbestos suit which has been tested
sufficiently to prove it to be ignition
proof.
Enter the oven, hang the steak
you have brought with you on hook
and then flop quickly down on the
floor of the oven, where you can
place your mouth over one Of the air
holes which have secretly been cut
in the metal. This will enable you to
breathe in comfort until the steak
is done, although it will probably
take a great deal of additional prac-
tice before you are able to sing 'La
Valiant Troubador" while the meat
is being cooked.
From the subject Of heat defers,
which takes up more than half the
book, Houdini passes on to a consid-
Grafton of sword swallowers, stone
eaters, dehers of reptiles and trick
Samsons, like the woman known as
the Georgia Magnet.
Apparently among these there is
not SO much undiluted deception as
among the others, and Houdini
frankly admits that some Of the acts
he has seen are genuine.
Eaters of glass, tacks ant
pebbles and like objects actually
swallow these seemingly impossible
things and disgorge them after tht
performance is over says Houdini
That the disgorging is not always
successful is evidenced by the hos
pital records of many surgical oper
ations on performers of this class
New-York tribune., 1921-02-20
Reform Wave Is On

Cant you say no?" we said, quot
ing Carlton Childs, the smart lawyer,
as he berated Richard Clark for be-
ing a soft-hearted fool lawyer.
well, I don't believe you can. Spell
it, then. That's right, MOI Now,
say it all the time till you get used
to it. No, no! no!l"
We tried it, and it isn't as difficult
as it sounds. We don't even have to
invent anything. We just repeat,
"But we really haven't any inf7u-
ence. It's a mistake"
It's wonderful how simple it seems
after you start in, and we have felt
so free Of late. No more teas with
strange women who haven't been
strong for years, but who want to
be screen actresses because people
earn so much money that way, you
know. No more having to listen to
enraptured eulogies Of little Gladys,
New-York tribune., 1921-02-20
A Drink of Poison

M. Chabert freely drank the po-
ton provided by Smith, first
causing him solemnly to swear in
the presence of the assembled null
titude that it really was poison.
Then, prompted perhaps by exuber-
ance over his easy victory, he
rubbed q red hot shovel over his
face, tongue and hair.
Next he carried two big steaks
into the oven he took with him on
his trips, and remained there be-
hind closed doors until the steaks
were we'll done. Meanwhile he gay
ly sang ''Le Valiant Troubador
and shouted humorous remarks TO
show that he was entirely con1forta-
BILE in his blistering surroundings.
1t is only making a short cut to
the conclusions reached in Houdini's
book to say that the performance
was a trick and that before his
death he was largely discredited,
but it sa-~ also be fair to add that
many similar prodigies before him
New-York tribune., 1921-02-20
Finds Some Genuine

Houdini's determination to make
one gigantic exposure of all the dina
museum and circus performers seems
to weaken as he progresses, for not
only does he find snake chalmers 70
be all that they claim, but he grows
positively enthusiastic over a vsorn-
an named Thardo, who was at Kohl
& Middleton's in Chicago about
twenty years ago. Her specially
was permitting herself to be bitten
by rattlesnakes.
II watched her act with deep in-
terest for a number Of weeks"
writes Houdini, never missing &
performance. For the simple reason
that / worked within twelve feet Of
her, my statement that there was
absolutely no fake attached to her
startling performance can be taken
in all seriousness"
Thardo would permit herself to be
bitten repeatedly and Houdini con-
vinced himself that her immunity
from death resulted from the fact
that she did her act on an absolutely
empty stomach, and that she drank
huge draughts of milk as quickly as
possible after being bitten. The milk
acted as an antidote to the poison
Scores of other feats are taken uy,
some real and others fake, but the
anxious reader who takes up the
book with the saddened conviction
that nothing real is left in the world
is consoled before the end of the last
chapter by discovering that several
of his favorites, over whom he
thrilled as youth at the circus OIL
the side show. are what they pre-.
tended to be after all, and that all i,
not false that glitters, whether it b.
: in spangles or tights.
New-York tribune., 1921-02-20

appear, is one of the most ancient
feats of performers, and, like sword
swallowing, often bona fide.
"a number of years ago." writes
Houdini, "in London I watched sew
eraI performances of one of these
stone eaters who swallowed half a
hatful of stones nearly the size of a
hens egg, and then jumped up and
down to make them rattle in his
stomach"
Houdini says he could find no fake
in the performance, and he convinced
himself further by talking to the
man that his exhibition was all that
it was intended to be. He also saw
a frog swallower whose act proved
to be genuine.
Years afterward Houdini saw a
negro poison eater at Worth's Mu-
scum in New York, who told him
that he escaped the noxious effects Of
the drugs by eating oatmeal mush.
New-York tribune., 1921-02-20

allied this, but Immediately we re-
solved to reform. We had just seen
"The Meanest Man in the World"
and we used some Of the dialogue to
convince ourself that we were
wrong.
New-York tribune., 1921-02-20

exposed by Houdini is the late Nj.
Chabert This Only Really Incom-
bustible Phenomenon was for years
the sensation in Europe. Afterward
he came to New York City, enjoyed
a wide vogue for time, and then
went into eclipse. He died in OBJ
scurity and is buried in this city.
Chabert, from all accounts, thought
even less of quaffing a foaming
beaker Of boiling oil than might
seasoned graduate of the pre-Vol-
stead days of consuming one Of the
near beer beverages selling for the
equivalent of a weeks room rent in
the old days. First he would make
a hearty meal Of phosphorus,
washed down with large helpings of
arsenic and oxalic acid, after which
he would take some molten metal as
dessert.
But his really big achievement was
his oven feat. He would enter this
oven when it was hot enough to roast
steak, and remain there long
enough to convince even the most
skeptical that this meant nothing in
his young life, after which he would
emerge, showing scarcely & trace of
perspiration as indicating that he
had felt any inconvenience at all
while undergoing the experiment.
Once q certain hardy spectator,
J. Smith by name, sought to chal-
lenge the marwel's prowess by bet
ting $3.50 that he would nor drink
poison provided by Smitas but the
great cheerfulness with which the
challenger admitted himself mis-
taken, and paid over the $3.50, gave
rise to the suspicion that the en-
tire transaction was press agent
stunt.
New-York tribune., 1921-02-20

THERE are persons to whom
the opportunity of sticking
hand into a kettle of boiling
Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1921-09-07
The Opening of a Lily.

The comparatively rare instances
in which the motions of plants, such
as the opening of buds into blossoms,
occur during a single brief period of
watching, always give much pleasure
to the OnlOOker.
An English botanist, who has spent
much time in India, tells of a species
Of lily, Crinum augustum, which in an
Indian garden opens with uncommon
swiftness. Just after a shower Of rain
in the evening he saw the pink
striped buds of one of these lilies, each
about four inches long, on the point
Of opening. Passing the plant shortly
afterward, he was surprised TO find
the blossoms wide open, and In ~
minutes more the petals had curved
themselves backward like rams horns.
In an hour the points of the petals
had swept over an arc of at least eight
or nine inches.