davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1923-09-17
PALACE-"The Eternal Struggle. ;

Some women are born that men
may fight over them. be they beau
ttful or homely, sweet tempered or
selfish; and some men are born for
women to fail in love with, be they
worthy or unworthy. The combina-
tion of a girl for whom many men
fight and a man not worth the affec-
tions of any woman Is the outstand-
gle," a Reginald Barker production
for Metro, offered this week at the
Palace.
The film story has been adapted
from THE Law Bripgers,'' a novel by
c. Is. Lancaster, dealing with law and
order as enforced by the royal north
west mounted police. Pierre Grange
keeps saloon at Grey Wolf Landing,
trading post in the Canadian north
west. Pierre's motherless daughter,
Andree. is at once the JOY of his life
and the very bane Of his existence,
She is tomboy, bubbling over with
the happiness of youth. The men in
her fathers saloon fight over her;
later two members OF the northwest
mounted fight over her; and then.
when she is a refugee from justice,
two. men in the arctic region come
to fistic encounter because of her.
Other men use fair means and foul
little bit of femininity, and all the
while her heart remains true TO
Buoky .o'Hara of the northwest
mounted. unworthy though he is.
One of the beautiful bits of the
play is the friendship of O'Hara and
Sergt. Neil Tempest, also OF the
royal mounted, and sincerely in love
-ith Andree, When he learns that
3ucky is only trif1ing with Andree
he confesses his own love and Bucky
proves his friendship by promising
TO stop his attentions to Andree. He
keeps his promise, but he has won
the heart of the little French Cana
dian girl, and when she demands an
OK In IA ri
Other complications arise also. and
a murder Is committed in such cir
cumstances as to throw suspicion
upon Andree. She fees to the arctic.
Evening star., 1923-09-17
PoLI'S-"Thumbs Down"

The outstanding achievement of
Inumbs Down." the admirably acted
sheiourama by Myron G. Pagan which
opened the season at Poli'e last even
InS' is the emotional punch that is
put into production of generally ex-
citing incidents by Sue MacNTanamy
as tIorence Sheridan, the heroine of
fhe story. The big scene is that in
which the girl is compelled to confess
that she fred shot believed to have
caused the death of her foster father,
ring.
The work of Miss MacManamy in
mat scene is notable for the revela-
ing and writhing of the hands, but
not overdrawn, OF the agony produced
by confiicting emotions as she is ques-
loned about incidents in which her
over has taken the blame and ac-
,Stpted arrest as a means OF saving
sensitive personality under such try
ing circumstances Is vivid and true to
]lte' ana the strain upon capable act
ing powers is evident. Others who
snare In the convincing representa-
Ison or the third degree are Howard
Lang. an actor Of known ability, as
James Cantweli. district attorney, the
real villain of the play, and "Jack"
Dwyer as Judge Richard Fowler. the
actual parent of the girl, although
time. Judge Fowler is also the foster
parent OF the girls lover, Larry
Fowler. played by John Marston. Mr..
pwyer's finished work is of interest
because he was formerly. a Senate
page here. was a pupil of Mansfield
and began his stage career in this
city.
Tho play has for It's background a
presentation of the activities of boot
leggers, but the interest rests upon
human inni6nntS xxri1 fx-
apart from relation to any form Of
business. 1t Is full of action, quickly
Shltting scenes and a series of sur
prtses, the biggest of which comes
Just before the final curtain. The vets
ana the drys are impartialiy raped
IN the drawing OF the characters, al
though it is to be observed that the
comic element is introduced through
ne medium of the latter. From the
Stage standpoint there is merit in the
At that all the members of the large
"Gt share in the working out of the
Vtory. The chief dramatic element is
me mystery surrounding the origin
nt the shot that killed Emmett Sheri-
dan.
Harvey Hays, as Sheridan, repre-
sents vigorous and resourceful VIII
ain. and appears frequently. His act
ing is good. but the question occa-
g&nally arises whether a man who
fof years has enjoyed great wealth
80 R1i t.Sipdtloh III Ille unoer"oriu
would not have acquired polish
rom his experiences. Another good
niece of acting is that of Edw eerd
Eannary as Officer McGraw, a type of
the shrewd, ambitious policeman.
William j. Townshend. as Billy Camp,
apparent live-wire sport. but in
rsality government spy, adds much to
the pleasurable character of the per-
formance. That's Lawton, as Virginia
Sheridan, the mother. gives reality to
her part, and J. Hammond Daley, as
samuel Hart. presents an amusing
csrlcature OF the uncompromising
censor of the morals of others.
The play will be given the re-
mainder of the week, with matinees
on Thursday and Saturday
Evening star., 1923-09-17
Street ;,

The picturization of Main Street.
Sinclair Lewis famous book. which
was shown for the first time locally
at the Metropolitan yesterday. NAV
pc disappointing to those who ex-
pected a literal portrayal of the
chronicled events. And vet there Is
subtle humor in this siiver-shest
version that was lacking in the writ
. ten. page, and the audience sees a hit
e run poked siyly at Carol Kennlcott
tne ldeallStic heroine, as well as AT
the. typical, narrow Main streeters
Inc opening. scene, instead of in
tTouuclng Carol as the librarian. tired
or her work after three years oS ~
presents ner as an established artist
WI wien ner beautiful studio peopled by
me me cultured and artistic of the city.
Ihat was her dream In the story. hit
lhe quick action of the film realizes
her ambitions at the outset. The
Snock upon her arrival at Gopher
bar Si,ae Is consequently greater, and
arated from that of the inha abitants
aer plans Of uplift are more daring.
tor Whlle she thinks and plans in
Inc pook, She acts In the film, and
oeLore she has been many days in the
rev town displays her artistic plan
! !oT a new main street to the gathered
eeLllasers. Her ardor damped in this
iirst enort, she tries again. seeI,inp
10 uplift the people by a reading from
SHlitsse poem. Again meeting fail
ure' she turns her efforts to the stag
ing or q novel winter carnival, but
disaster once more follows in the
wake of her plans.
Sne tells her husband, the town
occtor. that she wants to give him
broader outlook upon life. to teach
nlm the value of self sacrifice, And
az the moment she says this the phone
tinkleS and he is called to an Isolated
far1n, with all the fury of a Mime
sofa blizzard to traverse. Carol. act
ing on Whim, goes with him, and
realizes for the first time how much
her husband could teach her of self
sacrifice.
In the end she admits herself beaten
IN her efforts to uplift the town, but
decides that she can find happiness
with her husband in spite of uricon-
genial surroundings.
Florence Vidor gives such a sym
palmetto Interpretation of the role of
carol that the audience overfooks her
frailty. She Is vitality human, and her
struggle against the bigoted ideas of
the town is strangely appealing, even
in its hopelessness
Monte Blue gives an equally effec-
tive portrayal Of Will Kennicott. but
the majority OF the supporting char
acters are caricatured,' and look as
If they had been borrowed from q
cuStard-pie comedy.
High Life" Mermaid production:
a Pathe news film and a concert over
ture from "Sari" complete the pro-
gram,
Evening star., 1923-09-17

and this ahist in The location oEars
opportunity for showing some OF the
beautiful scenery of the great novth-
west of the American hemisphere.
The trailing OF Andree by tho fa-
nous mounted police and the long
journey back to the trading post with
the prisoner make a thrilling and tiD-
teresting story, developing new
angles in the character of O'Hara and
Tempest. as they are put TO tests
almost beyond endurance.
The cast includes Earle. Williams
as Sergt Neil Tempest, Pat O'Afalley
as Bucky oHara, Rene Adorec', as
Andree, and Josef Swickard as. her
father. George Kuwa is -good as
Wo Ling. and Wallace Beery is the
usual villain in the role of Baroda
Ducane. Barbara LAMAR is cast IN
the minor role of Camille Lenoir.
A Fox educational film picturizing
the gold fish industry is extremely
entertaining, and the comedy offer.
ing is one OF those delightful animal
and fowl features in which no human
appears. Topics Of the day and the
Pathe News complete the program.
Evening star., 1923-09-17
RIALT0-"Drifting" and "Back
Stage"

1t is difficult to get up much en-
thusiasm about the double bill omered
at the Rialto this week. Back
Stage" one of the. Hal Roach come
dies with a gang of unusually
clever children Is good but not
strikingiy go. "Farina," the little
colored girl of the gang. is featured
and does her part very well. but the
entire picture is too long-draWn.out
to have the snap and interest tnat
these comedies usually possess MI.
Roach conceived an exceedingly fun
ny idea when he originated the gang
and pictured them in many or the
ludicrous doings natural to child
hood, and some of their previous Of
ferings have been so funny that the
entire audience has Shrieked with
laughter. Back Stage" is not of
this caliber.
The other feature of the bill is a
much -scenariorized version OF Drift
ing" The play as first produced on
the speaking stage with Alice Brady
was an interesting and well written
piece Of work. The action was logi~
cal, the dramatic moments vivid and
the Chinese proverbs which furnished
many of the witty lines were as
clever as the lines of O. George Arliss
play.
AS a motion picture, Drifting is
something entirely different. Where
Miss Brady made Cassie Cook an i'm
pulSlVe, warm -nearLeu RuI IN d
hardened shell OF sophisticatlon, Pris-
ella Dean makes Cassie a calculat-
ing, mature woman of the world.
Charles Richman made Capt. Jarvis
a great man pulled down TO the
depths by insidious opium, who forces
his way back through his patriotism.
Matt More is simply the usual motion
picture mining engineer In in1mac-
ulate polo clothes, while he saunters
around n mine in a wild part of
China. Wallace Berry and Anna May
Wong give fine characterizations that
stand out vividly in the picture:
The photography of Drifting" is ex-
cellent. The pictures of the streets
of Shanghai and the little village in
q distant part of China show careful
thought for detail and atmosphere.
The night scenes when the village is
burnt are very we'll done,
The news reel and an orchestral
program of two numbers from Deli
bes ballet ''Coppella" complete the bill.
hill
Evening star., 1923-09-17
CENTRAL-"Modern Marriage" "

The famous team of Francis X.
Bushman and Beverly Bayne returned
to washington pictures yesterday at
the Central for the first three days of
this week in highly emotional and
romantic melodrama, such as these
portray.
The story, Modern Marriage" re-
wolves around a young married couple
and the wifes Irritation, which in
wolves her continually more deeply
She resolves to leave. In an effort
TO retract her foolish letters she
Evening star., 1923-09-17
COLUMBIA-"Bluebeard's Eighth
Wife"

When Ina Claire brought "Blue-
boards Sth Wife" TO Washington, the
play was trying out for a metro
poiitan run, and necessity for re-
hearsal deprived the public of full
week of this delightful farce by
Savior, which ceased to serve as a
starring vehicle for Miss Claire, be-
fore it could return. The Columbia
is more generous. and in running the
film q second week is affording the
admirers of Gloria Swanson an oppor-
tunity to admire the gorgeous gowns
and elaborate sets which have been
provided to fill in the outline of the
story which NJ. Savoir might have
dffficulty in recognizing in its new
and wonderful guise.
1t is useless, however to discuss the
relative merits of plays and their
Evening star., 1923-09-17
STRAND-Leona La Mar.

Leona La Mar. "The Girl With a
Thousand Eyes" who has been fea-
fore IN this city. tops an entertaining
vaudeville program at the Strand this
week, and proves as mystifying as
ever. Miss La Mar appears blindfold-
cd, and quickly and accurately an
bS the audience.
The bill also includes Bob Fisher
and Sam Sheppard. in 1.-THE Road of
laughs" vehicle well suited TO its
name; q revue of song and dance fea-
turing Evelyn Phillips and company:
a musical skit, "Concordia," by Nick
and Gladys Ferga, and a Juggling act
by Selma BraatZ and compahy.
The Shrek of Araby," a farcif,I
motion picture, in which Ben T'urpin
Tiays the leading roles, provides a
pleasing half houraof fun.
Evening star., 1923-09-17

customs ard characteristics OF the
old days in the west. The hero final
ly wins the love of the beautiful
daughter Of the former owner of the
paper. The role of heroine is taken
by Edith johnson. Plenty Of excite
ment abounds in the picture, and
tense moments help to make the show
an entertaining one.
A Stan Laurel comedy, "The Pest"
which is very laughable, and pipe
organ selections help to complete a
pleasing bill.
Evening star., 1923-09-17
Photoplays.
The Ambassador.

To insure the completeness in every
detail of CrandalfS new Ambassador
Theater at 18th street and Columbia
ROAD upon Thursday night Of this
week. when the beautiful addition IN
the Capitals list of amusement places
IS scheduled to open, Thomas w
Lamb, one of the foremost theater
architects and engineers in. the
Cnited states, under whose super
vision the Ambassador has .bean d.
signed and constructed, has arrived
Evening star., 1923-09-17
CRANDALL'S-"Playing It
Wild"
Wild

playing It Wild" at Crandairs this
week, brings back the cowboy here
of the screen that was familiar when
the motion-picture industry was in
its infancy. The story concerns the
adventure and romance of young
cowpuncher who, contrary to the
usual practice, brings law and order
into n small western town. The hero
wins the village newspaper in a card
game and uses It as his chief weapon
ments in town.
The play gives in splendid detail the
Evening star., 1923-09-17

becomes entangaed in mysterious
murder, From this point the plot
works up to a strange and unexpect-
ed climax OF power and surprises.
of a series of dramas, Fighting
Blood" from short stories by H c.
Wftwer, with George O'Hara IN the
leading part OF Six-Second Smith, the
pugilist. Kinograms and a delight
ful musical accompaniment by w. E.
Thompson round out a good program.
Evening star., 1923-09-17
sWErrsH nRTHs pEcLINE.

STOCKHOLM, September 1.-THE
first decline ever noted In Sweden's
birth rate occurred during the last
decade In 1913 the rate was 24.e5
per thousand, but this dropped to
1857 in 1920; 21.3S in 1921, and 1856
in 1922.
The marriaaa ratio rose, however,
from $50 per thousand in 1914 to
7.29 in 1922
Evening star., 1923-09-17
' ADJUSTMENTS

in Washington to take,-. personal
charge of the. final rounding up Of
the work which has been in progress
for many months.
Evening star., 1923-05-06

speed fell just below the twenty
miles per hour mark. The average for
Grin Equipped cars was twenty-five
miles per hour. and-on certain
streets--frequently higher.
"The purpose in equippinC car
with chains is that by so doing the
man who Is driving at eighteen miles
per hour in rain or snow can do SO
without the danger of skidding or
failure to get traction when he is
obliged to stop suddenly Thus the
moment a driver equips his car with
such a safety device and exceeds this
speed he introduces a new element
of danger, he outdrives the safety
limits of the protective device
"The toughest experiment will show
driver that in driving thirty miles
per hour, chain-equipped, he cannot
stop any quicker than when driving
eighteen miles an hour, with bare
tires. 1t should be evidence enough
that the purpose of chains is to make
safe driving safer, rather than to
make reckless driving a little less
reckless"
Evening star., 1923-05-06
STANDARDS BUREAU EXPLAINS
HOW TO TEST CAR HEADLIGHTS
Means of Scattering Light So 1t Will lllu-
inmate Road But Not Throw Glare Is
Principle of Adjusting AutoLenses.

| necessary as a result of their having
been bent in an accident Such ad-
JuStments must generally be made by
main strength and awkwardness.
The lights should be focused. This
is done in the more modern types by
means of screw atthe back of the
light. which moves the lamp in or
out until the correct position is at
tanned
This position is specified with the
instructions for the lens. For most
lenses the bulb should be at the prin-
cipal focus. In this case the beam
from the bare reflector is parallel and
of the smallest possible diameter.
Other types require what is known
| as rear focus. In this case the beam
dlvergcs as much as possible without
having dark center. Still others re-
quire front focus, in which the beam
converges TO point and crosses near
the lamp. then spreads out as much
| as is possible without having dark
center.
Whatever may be the required po-
sition. move the lamp back and forth
| by means of the focusing device until
| this position is attained
| Some headlights are so constructed
that when the lens and rim are put
in place the reflector is pushed baclA
| In such. cases the bulb should be put
little back from correct focus
should He Straight.
Probably the commonest defect in
! automobile headlights is that the
/ lens is not correctly put in. All tile
! best types have a definite vertical axis.
! which is usually indicated by marking
top" on one end of it. This top should
| be exactly up. Many good lenses are
| giving poor service because this is not
| done.
The effect of such maladjustment is
obvious. The lens Is designed to spread
| the light out into beam that is wide
! horizontally, and low vertically. If
| the axis of the lens is not vertical the
! beam may spread upward at an angle
| on one side, and will thus put pow
erful glaring light in the eyes of any
one facing the car on that side.
! 1t is also important to have both
lens and reflector clean.
| A free demonstration of testing
| methods is being given at the bureau
| OF standards. Connecticut avenue and
| Van Ness street, Washington, from
| May l to May {. the demonstration
| lasting from to 10 pm. each day.
| AT this demonstration any one who
| desires may have his headlights tested
| Minor adjustments easily made will be
! made by the teStor. If adjustments are
required which are more difficult To
make the driver will be given a card
| telling him what is wrong with his
! lights. and this will enable him to fix
! them himself or to have his garage
! man fix them.
! The bureau of standards has been
Evening star., 1923-05-06
Did You Know

That. alcohol Is sometimes substi.
tuted for kerosene in removing tht
daily deposits of carbon? Some me.
chanics prefer alcohol because IL IL
an aid to starting and does not leak
past the piston rings as rapidly al
Kerosene when standing over night IL
the cylinders. On the other hand, iY
The case of an L-head motor, kero.
sene Is an advantage in that itr
property of working it's way into
every nook and corner serves to leac
1t to the valve stems, where it is OF
value in overcoming sticking valves
Putting a very little alcohol or kero.
sene, using them alternately. into the
cylinders through the pet cocks
every few nights when the engine Is
hot is often found to be a very eff
fective way to minimize carbon, en-
joying the advantages of both alco.
hol and kerosene, and miniumizina,
their disadvantages.
Evening star., 1923-05-06
Test Your Spark.

Sometimes the spark adjustment is
little off and the driver does not
know 1t. He may be blaming some
other units of the car for what Is
happening. A brief. but effective, test
of the spark is then advisable.
To. do this disconnect the high-ten-
sion cable from the coil. Then with
a screwdriver touch the nearest metal
part and hold it so that the upper
metal part of the screwdriver is about
one-eighth inch from the high-ten-
sion terminal of the coil. Turn on
the ignition switch and fully advance
the spark control lever on the steer
ing post. When the petcocks are
opened Ito relieve compensatory and
the engine cranked over by hand
slowly a spark will jump from the
coil handle to the screwdriver. At the
moment of the spark the f1ywheel
should be in a position for advanced
spark. This is usually marked on the
fywheel. and will be seen just pre-
ceding the marks for upper dead CEN
ter. If the arrival of the spark does
not match with the mark on the fly
wheel the spark is either too late or
too early, as the case may be.
Evening star., 1923-05-06
MISUSE Of SAFETY
DEVICES CHARGED
Drivers Rely Too Much Upon
Such Aids to Escape Ac-
cidents, Says Galley.

Meeting the general public demand
for safer automobiling is foolishly
considered by altogether too many
motorists to be merely a matter of
equipping their cars with the various
good protective devices which the
market offers. and-letting 1t go at
that, according to Fred H. Galley, vet
eran motorist and executive secretary
Of the National Motorists Association.
"They fail to appreciate the fact"
says Galley, that with the increasing
complexity of traffic these devices
serve to offset only the increase in
Evening star., 1923-05-06

accidents. and that II conditions are
to be improved drivers must recog-
nize the personal element as still be-
ing of the utmost Importance. Fail
Ing to grasp the Significance of the
situation the average driver falls into
the habit Of expecting too much from
the protective equipment on his car.
The use Of bumpers on cars. for
instance. is evidence Of trend to-
ward safer and less troublesome
motoring, but the growing tendency
on the part of drivers Of bumper
equipped cars to take risks which
they would not take were the cars
unprotected reveals a serious mis-
conception Of the purposes of safety
devices"
Speed With Chains.
During the past winter. investiga-
tors OF the National Motorists Asso-
citation were amazed at the high
speeds which drivers averaged when
their machines were chain equipped.
Where motorists were 80 improvident
as to drive without chains. over wet
and slippery streets. the average
Evening star., 1923-05-06

should also be provided. being placed
| at the police station, to which dis
puted cases could be referred for a
more exact test. The bureau can fur
nish information about the construc-
| tion and use of such q screen.
Evening star., 1923-05-06

making many tests on headlights re-
Gently with view to obtaining infor-
nation to serve as a guide in improv-
ing headl1ghtinc conditions. 1t is now
possible to specify the distribution of
nSht that should be given, and to tell
by simple methods whether a given de-
vice conforms to the requirements.
1T is recommended that the state Of
iiclals III charge of motor traffic regu-
iations prepare lists of approved de-
vices which meet the requirements,
ana that these devices be permitted
within the limits of the states. Such
lists should be uniform throughout
the country, in order that n man may
not have to change his lights in going
from one state to another.
On account Of the liability of get
ting out of adjustment, frequent tests
should also be made. 1t is very easy
TO do this. and garages should add
testing screens to their equipment.
The police should also be equipped
with testing screens with which lights
! beng not in accordance with the reg
ulationS.
How to Make Screens.
The testing screen used at the bu-
reau of standards is a plain piece Of
canvas on which the necessary lines
are painted. Any other white cloth
, VIII do just as well. The screen may
be fastened to a wire fence, the wall
of building or light portable frame
| specially made for that purpose.
1t is desirable that reference screens