davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
New Britain herald. [microfilm reel] (New Britain, Conn.) 1890-1976, 1921-08-06
PRINCIPALS IN COURT Staying

PRINCIPALS IN COURT Staying
Sergeant Henry D. Kellogg. reput-
ed to be the wealthiest member of
the Chicago police force. shot and
killed Attorney Lemuel O.. .Ackley
cago court room, after Kellogg had
been sentenced to Jail for contempt
of court. Ackley had represented a
client who had dfspossessed Kellogg
Of piece Of property. The jail SEN
tence was result of HIS refusing to
move. Above Is picture of Kellogg
and (below) Ackley. s,-
The New York herald., 1921-07-31
THE SUNDAY MOTORIST TELLS HIS TALE OF WOE
Depars of Beating the nx but Still Believes His Own Ability
After Day of Tribuaons in Which His Indignant Wife,
Restless Children and Scornful Garage Mechanic
Conspire With Fate Against Him

"Just a moment, Jane" said to my wife
as / alighted 81 have already located the
trouble. It's in the ignition"
/ have read in my instruction book that
to quickly locate ignition trouble il is best
to short circuit the spark plugs with
screwdrver If spark is obtained but the
car will not start the plugs themselves must
be cracked or fouled So after Jane--she
weighs 200 pounds-had climbed somewhat
laboriousy out of the car l fshed out my
screwdriver from the tool box under the
front seat and then she climbed in again
and at my direction put her foot on the
starter while I held the screwdriver in the
correct position.
I found that the current was plentiful as
far as the spark plugs. Indeed, as my
screwdriver happened to be one with metal
handle, l was the recipient of kick" that
made my arm tngle for hours 1t was evil
dent, therefore, that the trouble was in the
plugs.
I'm sorry, Jane" said as 1 sgnalled to
her to get out once more which she did with
less good grace than usual. the day being
hot and the quarters for a woman Of her
girth crowded.
But 1t was necessary, in order that I get
out from beneath the seat a spark plug
wrench. With this took out the plugs, one
by one, and, finding them to be slightly
handkerchief. there being. as usual no rags
in the car. The handkerchief thereupon be-
came sorry spectacle and, as. somewhat
thoughtiessly. wiped the perspiration from
my face, most Of the CRIME was transferred
TO my visage; but the plugs worked no better
than before. took them out q second time
and scraped at the points diligently with my
screwdriver, but without greater success.
Look in the tank" she insisted after nv
second failure to induce an explosion.
Nonsense demonstrated. Didn't I 60
to the gas station last night and have II
filled?"
mo. don't believe you did," she retorted.
After you got through fooling with that
mudguard think you went straight TO bed
In huff believe you have no gasolene."
She was right.
For once the tank contained not drop Of
propulsive fluid
"A pretty how-de- dol" she exclaimed
How are you going to get some?"
Tut, tut, my dear. some car'll be along
soon and we can get enough to reach the
nearest station" I soothed.
And presently car did approach-a big
limousine with a liveried chauffeur in
charge. He merely smiled cheerfully as 7
held up my hand for him to stop and did
not even hesitate
The next machine halted but the driver
had nothing with which to transfer fuel
from his tank to mine, and neither. 1t Is
needless to say, did I. Several other motor
lists were induced to tarry long enough for
me to ascertain that none of them was
equipped with receptacle of any sort.
And he drove heartlessly away.
There is nothing for It but to send back
to the garage we passed just before we
The New York herald., 1921-07-31
Talks of Books, His Hobby, and Recalls the
Poetic Days of His Youth

'I was born on my fathers farm near
Freeport, l.. l. Part of the ancestral acres
now form the golf links there. My ances-
tors came there in 1888 and during the
Revolution they were royalists- s-what his
tory calls Tories. In religion they were
Quakers.
81 was brought as a boy to Brooklyn
and placed in the school of Prof. Joshua
Healey. From there / went to the Hemp
stead Institute from which / was graduated
in my nineteenth year. Our farm, In the
meantime, was sold to the Freeport cor
poration.
"I began the study of law with Brook
lyn law firm, but soon went to Kings Col
lege, now Columbia University, where was
graduated from the law school. began to
practise in Brooklyn in 1S4S."
The old man opened a drawer of a hand
some modern walnut desk and drew out one
or two old books, the pages of which he
fluttered, pensively my heart was never
In my profession" said he II used to read
books OF literature, poetry and travel while
supposed to be reading Coke or Lttleton.
You must not forget that while was hav-
ing my dreams of becoming an author Edgar
A. Poe was still alive and so was Washing
ton Irving Yes; can at least pride myself
that I was a contemporary of these great
writer's Their works fed my ambition.
''Inat is why 4 can tel you very llttie
about Napoleon the First, about the Mexi-
can war; about the great panic of 1887;
they did not interest me; books did: lived
in books. This makes me a disappointing
raconteur TO persons who hope not unrea-
sonably to live over the past through my
eyes. In the meantime l married and had
several children. My three sons all promised
we-one as a doctor. which was the profess
sion most favored in our family; one poll
t.cian. another lawyer They lived to come
TO frution, and the politician made a name
for himself which is still remembered. but
they soon followed their mother I'm death.
Only my daughter remains to me.
Ambitions like mine have to he satisfied
for happiness. and soon published my first
book. Can you think what it was?'
"Yes," said his auditor, ''it was book of
poems"
You should have heard the old man laugh.
He leaned back in his office chair and muir
INJURED between his chuckles:
"Of course II was poetry. and II was pue-
rile futile. mush. / expected the book to
have good sale I went to the publisher
TO ask about IT. he had sold six copies. That
opened my eyes and I managed to get pos
session of the remainder as thought, and
destroyed them. The other day picked ur
one Of the volumes on a second hand shelf
I destroyed that too.
"My next appearance as author was with
the book or monograph "On the Printing OF
illustrated Books 1t was followed by a
Life 9f Apollonius Of Tyana," a sort Of his
The New York herald., 1921-07-31

thing to. hold them, and that If you apply
the emergency brake you can't turn your
back wheel around when you replace the
tire. You also know, If you are observant,
that the Greensboro Bridge Is as bare of
anything with which to block your wheels
as William Anderson's home Is of Bronx
cocktails. So there we were. 1t was the
right hand back wheel, of course, so 1
couldn't rest it against the curb of the
roadway to hold the car. Wilson finally vol
unteered to put his shoulder against the
back Of the car and prevent 1t from moving
If he could, but he wasn't equal to the task.
The drafted thing insisted upon sliding
backward off the jack in spite of his best
efforts. Finally passing chauffeur solved
my problem, although he did it in a manner
that could not consider kindly at the time.
Put your clutch in reverse and It'll hold
her, you poor fish!" he yelled, he drove
past, sensing the difficulty.
He had taught me one more lesson. His
plan worked perfectly. always have
trouble changing tires, and this occasion
proved no exception. A rear wheel always
find particularly difficult So it was two
hours later when having dropped the Will
sons we finally reached home. 1 told my
wife / wanted no supper. / washed my
hands and face and went straight to bed.
1t was while lay there too weary to sleep,
that 1 gave serious thought to selling the
car in the morning
Can you blame me?
The New York herald., 1921-07-31
Attributes Longevity to
Moderation, Common Sense and Gameness

begin to talk about myself 1 would talk Won
deaf and blind. There's no stopping the gar
rulity of an old person. I'm alive to my own
defects and yet am reasonable enough on.
considerate enough not to wish to bore you;
therefore, hadn't you better call the inter-
view Off"
Not at all. after 1t had been so auspicious-
ly begun, Mr.. Tredwell was assured. He was
assured also that the great public was tre-
mendously interested in a man who had
Ived so long as he. and the readers Of THE
NEW YORK HERALD would be very much
Obliged IL he would let them into the secret.
Tut, tut" said the old man, there is no
secret. Any man under average conditions
can live as long as have and longer. More.
he can live and enjoy life, read and take all
other natural pleasures, including those of
the table. / am impatient of those who die
too young, as IL they quickly tired Of all the
interesting and delightful things life. prop
erly lived, holds out with open hands
Il nave no panacea and have used none
only In my own case have exercised what
seemed to me common sense Fifty wears
ago had an Illness; Il was not SO serious
but II started me to thinking I wondered
what'ft was, exclusive of accidents that
made men die. OF course. studied my
own case, trying to find out by observa-
ton when an organ showed signs of decay
fects and build II up again. Exercise has
had very little to do with my long life
which has been In truth a sedentary one.
But IL you insist, / will give few de-
tails. Take the matter OF eating Literally
L eat everything that normal mortals do
L nave always. IL Is true that | eat n
small quantity of meat, but / was never
very carnivorous. OF cereals / am extremely
fond, but in hot weather do not eat or
eat very sparingly of them. II have a
rule II Is this: At each of my regular three
meals day | take just one half of what
l would really like to eat. That may be my
secret; II II is one the readers of THE NEW
YORK HERALD have my full permission to
adopt 1t. IL suits me and l studied II out
only with reference to myself
"As to drinks politically / have always
been n Prohbtionist and yet / myself
haven't been n teetotaler Now and then
| took a drink. And as look back on my
life / remember many things 1 did as
boy and young man which ought not to
have done, as is probably to be said of all
mon. and yet II had my life TO live over
l would probably make the same or equally
bad mistakes
"On my ninety-hfth birthday the guests
had n good deal of fun with me over
the drink question. The occasion was cele-
brated at my birthtown, Freeport, l.. L., but
the dinner served at the Elks. Through
out the guests had good deal OF fun try
ing to persuade the walters to bring them
The New York herald., 1921-07-31

cocktails and wines, which, of course, they
couldn't do. Then when l started down
stairs missed my footing and fell. / wasn't
badly hurt, but the doctor who was called
in (Dr. Carman. you've read of him2) pre-
scribed little whiskey for me. A shout
went up that Uncle Dan wanted his drink
so badly that he had fallen down stairs for
It, a good joke on me, wasn't IL?
1.-TWO months ago | had fall: was
going home. and as the houses i'm the block
where live look many of them, much
alike / tried to open somebody's front door
with my latch key. While fumbng | could
see strange. woman coming through the
hall to open the door. In my nervousness
tripped and fell down to the first landing,
and then as II not content bounded down
the rest of the fall TO the sidewalk / felt
myself all over, and not finding any bones
broken i refused doctor but had to lie
up In bed three or four days nursing my
bruises. live with my daughter, who is
a widow--she's 65-and OF course, all those
Of my family who are left came to inquire
One of these callers. grandniece whom
they'd call nm aid maid perhaps, voter
and proud to be one, looked at me and
said:
Uncle Dan, you're camel
And that's 1t, that's the secret; 1 am
game. hear. l see-for / never wore
glasses except in my young days to correct
near-sight; I eat nourishingly and agree
ably, love books. people, al rational amuse-
ments and I'm game to keep on living so
long as can do these things
The New York herald., 1921-07-31

turned into this road" observed my wife.
Very WELL" replied, "let Willie run back
and have them send out a car with can
of gas"
We'll I guess not Let that child walk
two miles in this heat because Of your
neglect-never in this world!"
So / walked back myself. Traffic was all
headed the other way. One car passed me,
bound in the right direction, but at my
frantic signal the driver merely waved and
went on, apparently thinking 1 was greet
ing him. the fool
In due time we were Off again with five
gallons Of gasolene in the tank. Besides the
price of the stuff there was a charge of So
for transporting It to my stalled automobile,
but there was nothing for me to do but pay
with smile.
Aside from the fact that the three children
crowded into the rear seat with Mr. and Mrs
Wilson grew cramped and restless and
finally INDUCED In a ''roughhouse" that
drove me almost to distraction and ended
only when had to stop for the Wilson girls
hat, which my Willie had thrown into the
street. the next hour passed pleasantly
Then without warning the motor suddenly
died. l had just enough momentum and
presence Of mind to steer to the side of the
road before we stopped.
Complacent Garage Mechanic
Looks on With Cynical Smile
THANK goodness. we are in front of a.
garage" remarked my wife.
Sure enough. we were. Before 1t, with his
chair tilted back against the wall. was a
complacent youth in flannel shirt and brown
overalls who regarded me with a cynical
smile as alighted and raised the hood. His
grin and desire to redeem myself for the
episode of the empty gasolene tank steeled
my resolve to make that drafted car run or
die In the attempt. would never call upon
that patronizingly amused mechanic!
It's the ignition this time without a
doubt" announced, after shorting spark
plug again, not with the treacherous screw
driver this time, but with the terminal wire
itself.
I glanced hastily at such wires as were
visible All were unquestionably in place
What the deuce was to do now? Hereto
fore there had always been some visible
easily discovered reason for a sudden unin-
territorial halt. This time there was none
All my mechanical knowledge had been ac-
quired by experience. but here 1 had no
precedent to guide me- My faithful in
struction book had warned that distributor
points frequently needed cleaning 1 opened
the distributor. Thank goodness, / knew
where 1t was! I took out of 1t several little
thingumaJgs and polished them thoroughly.
l put them back. The car wouldn't start
The garage mechanic was silently but highly
amused. hoped he might laugh himself to
death,
After half an hour OF this nv wife could
stand II no longer
come here and make this thing CO." she
called to the languid mechanic
he lelsurely uncoiled his legs from those
OF MS chair and sauntered toward us.
The New York herald., 1921-07-31
Tells His Real Great Secret,
Which Is, II Have Kept Busy

"You see, IL work appeared before me I
couldn't help but do It, and that is another
inkling into my so-called secret of longevity
I've kept busy"
Unnecessarily Mr.. Tredwell began again
to apologize because he talked so much
about himself. In, long life like his he
said he ought to have collected a myriad
of anecdotes about famous people long
since passed away. Said he: Either L
did not do il or l have forgotten these
Incidents | vaguely remember having met
Walt Whitman. but there are many living
In Brooklyn and around Babylon, where he
taught school, whose recollections of the
poet are more vivid than mine.
"a hundred years do not seem long to me
in literature in history they are buta day,
and this may account for my fai1dre to
recognize at their literary value my great
contemporaries. Did you ever read how
George Meredith. a youth just returned
from his schooling in Germany and already,
the author of novel, met in a London
drawing room an DID, old lady? She was
the protegee of DR.. Samuel Johnson, Nine.
d'Arblay, or, as she is better remembered,
Fanny Burney. author of 'Evalna. In the
handshake of that pair modern, then the
most modern. Of authors and a genuine an
tiquitv touched. The touch thrilled Mere
dith, but later in life IL might not for he
too would then be old enough to realise
as do. that 100 years is nothing"
The New York herald., 1921-07-31

"Yes, see what it is," I adjured. 81
know there is something radically wrong"
The mechanic reached under my DASH
board and felt about with one hand Then
he poked the other under holding a pair of
small pliers from one of his pockets. At the
end of just two minutes he Strengthened up.
She'll run now; one of your wires was
disconnected from the switch" he said
''Ha, hal" chortled, trying to laugh it off.
Funny thing didn't discover it."
What" l continued in the same spirit
Of levity, "do 1 owe your"
/ said 1t in tone that implied, I hoped,
that was a good sport. willing to pay any
fair price for being helped out but not sup
posing that two minutes work would cost
anything.
All hint Of amusement was gone from the
mechanics face as he looked at me sternly
and replied:
Five dollars" he said curtly.
l thought, Of course, he was joking, and
] was quite willing to reply in kind.
"Ha! ha! ha! Charge it up to me-"
laughed, and climbed back to my seat.
Say, where do you get that charge it.
stuff?" he demanded. "I said five dollars
and l mean five dollars"
What" exclaimed. do you intend to
convey the impression that you want five
dollars for doing two minutes work?"
"Oh, no. net for doing the work." he said.
For knowing how"
gurgled incoherently.
The New York herald., 1921-07-31
BY WILLIS STEEL.

sIT WILL keep an appointment with you
four years from now. / will come
to IiIlv 2R 1Q2h
The New York herald., 1921-07-31

80 WILL keep an appointment with you
four years from now. l will come
to see you on July 26, 1925. your
birthday, IL we are both here"
81 will be here" said the other with en-
phasis and giving his hand on the promise.
This dialogue would not be worth printing
except for the fact that the last speaker,
Daniel NJ. Tredwell. celebrated his ninety
sixth birthday last Tuesday. On the day
set for the next interview he will be an
even 100.
What does this ancient man look like,
how does he talk and what are his memories
and his vision?
one might, IL one were inclined to go the
limit of guessing, figure out that Mr.. Tired
well was twenty years younger than he is;
he looks to be about rs. He Is tall and
rather slight in build: his face is long and
narrow. with marked features, especially his
nose and his bright blue eyes. He has plenty
of hair-white, to be sure-on his head and
a luxuriant white mustache. His teeth are
sound, and only two of them show a CLINT
of gold as evidence of the dentists work.
His hands are long. with delicate, taperng
fingers and well kept. even manicured nails.
Indeed. in his person this ancient gentleman,
who was 10 years old when Queen Victoria
began her reign, is the perfection of neat
ness.
The New York herald., 1921-07-31
An Up to Date Business Man,
And He Is Modest About 1t

His dress Is that of an up to date business
man. which he is, for he occupies a desk
of honor in the Home Title Insurance Com
pany of Brooklyn. touch or two only
dates him back to an earlier generation his
immaculate white vest, contrasting with a
neat sack coat of black serge, and a loose
collar rather resembling stock around
which is worn In voldminous folds white
silk scarf fastened with n ruby pin.
II am really only an imitation business
man." said the near centenarian laughing.
"It's almost a joke that they take me seri-
ously here. but here l am to be found every
business day. / have a few clients bankers
and financers and such like, who come In
here and talk securities and mortgages over
with me. They treat me-the company
refer to-as II I were spoiled child, but
then. n good many OF us here are not pre-
cisely young when the question is Of years
Alexander Calder, our vice-president Is so.
In business acumen | can stand no compari-
son with the father of our Senator Calder
but in health and endurance can give him
cards and spades. let him make the trump
and then beat him.
Now. you can see by this beginning that
you don't want to listen TO me. Why, my
boy, I'm in my second childhood. and II I
The New York herald., 1921-07-31
Denting of His Mudguards
Fails to Make Him Nervous

Sundays start was no more noteworthy
than usual After Wilie--he is eight-had
been soundly spanked by his mother because
he wanted to go and play ball with Johnny
Peters next door, and announced at the top
of his lungs that he wouldn't go in the
darned old car"-his vocabulary frequently
amazes me-we picked up the wilson's and
set forth, with no particular destination in
view-just for ride.
We crawled along Queens Boulevard and
Hillside avenue in the accustomed Sunday
jam, were shouted at by the usual number
OF traffic policemen, and had our mudguards.
both front and rear. dented quite as often
as ever by other cars. have been told by
some Sunday drivers that this sort of thing
makes them extremely nervous, but am too
thoroughly in command of myself and my
car TO be annoyed. I will acknowledge being
somewhat put out when, just as a traffic
officer was vigorously motioning for me to
proceed and not hold up the line stretching
5Dr miles behind me. little Margaret Wilson
act up a shrill scream because Brother
Freddie had pulled her hair. AS a result
stepped upon the brake instead OF the ac-
celerator stalling my engine. But even that
slight mishap was cause for the with
ering look my wife turned upon me- OF the
Come on. you boob or I'll hand We a
ticket" of the empurpled traffic regulator
A few miles beyond Jamaica / turned out
of the heavy traffic upon pleasant road
through the farming district of Creedmoor,
which had once discovered, quite by acci-
dent. There is FIVE mile stretch of this
road without garage upon Il, so IL was
Just here that our car elected to stop, after
n few preliminary missing of explosions
The missing was, Of course, a clue to the
trouble.
The New York herald., 1921-07-31
By ARTHUR H. LABAREE.

q PEAKING of Sunday motoring. as who
is not these pleasant week ends, l
am constrained to insist that the Sun
day motorist is a much maligned individual.
He is scorned by garage mechanics. cursed
by traffic officers and fined by Justices, and
yet he is the chief support OF them all, to
say nothing of the automobile industry as
a whole Were it not for the man who takes
the family out for ride, or a short tour. on
one or more days of the week end there
would be fewer blacksmiths growing wealthy
as motor car experts" traffic officers would
be restricted to the metropolitan districts
and more than half the revenue of our minor
courts would vanish.
The acknowledgment is compelled that
many motorists might know considerably
more about driving than they do, and might
even have. to their own advantage. greater
knowledge of the mechanism of their cars,
but we must not all be condemned because
OF the ignorance of the few. Take myself,
for example / am one of the average type
of Sunday motorists. too busy, or too weary,
TO drive during the week, except for spin
in the evening. perhaps. While my occupa-
ton is sedcntary, and must confess to no
great fondness for mussing about in grease
up to my elbows, / can do so II / have to,
and / presume l know as much about my
cars internal organs as do most men who
can afford medium priced machine but
not chauffeur At any rate. all my friends
tell me l am a good driver, and while I
have noticed disincination on the part
of some Of them to go out with me second
time. 1 cannot acknowledge that this is
through any fault of mine.
And yet, despite my conceded ability to
guide my car Alright and keep it upon the
straight and narrow-sometimes mighty mar
row-path, and my knowledge, acquired
through an experience of several years. to
cope with most mechanical emergencies that
confront me on the road, seem ever fated
to have the most unpleasant not to say
ridiculous, experiences during my Sunday
motor trips.