davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1924-03-09

will tell you. 1t shall be published
next SPRING
THE Chinese must have sweet
thoughts" 81 Aunt Arnica, ito make
such pretty figures on their gambling
dominoes. Look at No. 8! 1t resem-
BILE two black angleworms falling in
love-"
"If you do not keep your eye on
the ball." narrate Uncle Bumbly
Jones. you will look like one black
angleworm falling in debt"
At this junction everybody COM
mence cluttering dominies around till
they sound like flock OF saucers
sliding down Broadway. That noise
were so Chinese that it got me full
of japanese jalousy. / feel very Ban
zai and wish to kill somebody with a
knife & fork.
"Hara -kiri.' / snarrel horsely.
''Hushy!' sruggest Nogi under his
teeth. Now we shall get all this low
plot to kick out Pres. Coolidge and
elect DR.. Sun Vat Sen on Chinese
Republican ticket
We listen. More Chinese spoken
rapidly on all hands
Pong" say Hon. Quackmire.
'Zowie!' say Mrs Migg's husband.
Then such ratified sound of roof
tiles all over tables. Silences.
Ma Jong."' explode Mrs zeno
Grass.
"Stung.." holla all others, speak
ing together like chorus girls.
After that everybody go down into
Evening star., 1924-03-09
Observed in Capital of Bulga

bans and Macedonians wearing
trousers SO full that each leg has
enough stuff for a whole suit of
clothes. There are soldiers in brown
wooden homespun, with visorless caps
on their heads. and officers with white
caps and wide red stripes on their
trousers. The officers carry swords
and some of the soldiers have rifles.
There are long-gowned priests. with
high black caps, and peasants dressed
in all the colors Of the rainbow.
But the best place to see the peas
ants is on Friday in the Sofia market.
to which the people from the villages
for miles about come in by the thou
sands to buy and sell and get gain.
I have been in the bazaars at Delhi,
Algiers. Damascus and Cairo; have
bought wares in the market encamp-
ments of central Africa and have
shopped in Bangkok, Toxic and
Peknig, but nowhere have 1 seen a
greater gathering than that which
collects in the wide streets of Sofia
on Friday.
On that day the peasants flock in
from their villages. They come in
twos and threes and great companies.
in homemade farm wagons hauled by
black water buffaloes,, by white oxen
or little ponies. and so loaded with
vegetables, melons, poultry in cages,
fruit in baskets, that one would think
they might break down on the road.
There are other cartS hauling neop1e
and many foot passengers who tramp
in with great packs on their backs
or fastened to the two ends Of pole
which rests on the shoulders. They
come in before daybreak and dis
tribute their wares over the streets,
covering q space perhaps two miles
Evening star., 1924-03-09

in length, which is crossed here and
there by side streets.
A large part of the market is given
up to foods. There are mountains of
vegetables, including white onions
as big as your fist, great round blood
red tomatoes, green watermelons the
size and shape of your head, blue
plums, yellow apricot and peaches
Of a roseate bloom. There are beans,
green and ripe. white turnips and
yellow squashes. roasting ears just
from the stalk, green peppers which
thick, lettuce-and, in fact, every
vegetable We have in America.
Some Of the wares show the rude,
backward ways Of the farmer. There
are yokes for women to use in carry
ing pals on their shoulders. rude
plows and hardware made in the
houses, and wagonloads Of wooden
hay forks, each of which would reach
from the floor to the ceiling of the
average home. These are merely
forked sticks, which are cut in the
thickets and peeled for use in the
hay fields.
There are also wool peddlers. who
sell the dirty black or white fieeces
just as they come from the sheep.
That wool will be cleaned and spun
in the homes OF the buyers and used
to make the clothing for the family.
We have here nation of 5000, 900
people, and 1 venture 100000 of
them are wearing garments made of
cloth woven by the women of the
household.
THE market is a good place to
: study the costumes of the peas
ants. Here is one part of Europe
where the styles are the same as they
were generations ago. Every village
has its own costume, and most of
Evening star., 1924-03-09
BY FRANK G. CARPENTER.
SOFIA, Bulgaria.

SOtlA, Bulgaria.
A RE you tired? Are you dirty?
~ Is your soul down in the
~ dumps? If SO, put on the
Fortunatus cap Of imagina-
tion and fly across the Atlantic for a
plunge into the great municipal min
eral bath Of Sofia. That will take the
tired feeling out of your bones, will
cleanse every one OF the millions of
pores of your body and make your
soul sing like the turtle in Solomon's
song.
parent emerald green, and it feels like
velvet as it flows over your skin.
The main pool is as big as city lot,
and you can swim back and forth at
your will. / know OF no city on
earth that has bath like it. The
building covers Ave Or six acres, and
looks like a palace.
Rising out Of the center Of this
capital of Bulgaria. across a beauti-
full park from the Mohammedan
mosque, 1t is one Of the striking fea-
lures Of this very strange city. 4
great square structure, perhaps fifty
feet high, it has walls of white,
striped with inlaid red brick and
gorgeous frieze of porcelain blocks
under it's roof of red tiles. It is
reached by stately entrance, and the
interior is so ornate that it would
not have been out Of place in the
days when Rome and Pompeii were
at the height OF their luxury.
The swimming pool is walled with
tiles, and from the mosaic walk
about it rises a dado oe green por-
celain as high as your head. Around
the basin are many cells where one
can lie down on a slab and have a
masseur work on him at will. There
are showers and hundreds Of first
and second class rooms where one
Evening star., 1924-03-09

tions. There is chapel after chapel
shut off by a lacework Of marble
that reminds me Of that in the Tai
Mahal at Agra, and walls inlaid with
semi-precious stones that recall the
palaces of Delhi. There are columns
that look like malachite and others
coed ceilings, and the whole is d
jewel of gigantic size and wonderful
beauty.
The pulpit, for instance, is of ala
baster, with an alabas.er eagle. on
whose back is a gold rest for the
Bible. and there are sheets of alabas-
ter lacework under the altar. The
entrance to the throne OF the arch
bishop has steps of onyx and q
carved canopy CT the whitest Of mar
BILE upheld by pillars Of dark gray
shining stone with capitals decorated
in gold. The pillars in front rest on
the backs Of life size lions OF pure
alabaster, which shine like the finest
Of polished ivory. and the lacework
Of stone behind is of exquisite beauty.
The frescoes of the church must
cover An acre or more. All the saints
Of the orthodox Catholic religion
seem to be represented, and the
scenes were painted by the most dis
tinguished artists of Russia. There
IS a wealth of mosaic, some of which
reminds one of st. Marks at Venice,
and on the whole such a mass of
artistic decoration that it makes me
think of the remark made about the
great temples of 1ndia-that their
builders wrought like Titans and fin.
ished like jewellers.
This huge building has cost more
than $5,000,ooO, or within $1,000, 900
of the cost of our great National Lii
brary at Washington. 1t has been
built by a nation Of peasants, whose
average holding of land is less than
twenty acres per family, and who
labor for less than 81 q day. 1t is
Evening star., 1924-03-09
Finds No Manners i'm Nah Jong


tn o tho editor: Long yrs. ago
EnElishmens used to get
we Americans sore by saying
that our national pastime Of
baseball wasn't nothing more or less
than glorified FOUNDERS. FOUNDERS
being a ball game which originated
In Great Britain.
Now days you can get pretty near
anybody sore by saying that nah
3ongg amt nothing more or less than
glorified rummy and about the only
difference Is that you can-get a COM
plete rummy outnt namely 81 cards
for $.25 whereas q nah jongg set
amt hardly legal unless they soke
you at lease $500 dollars for same.
Personlly I don't know IL rummy
comes 1st. or vice versa but 1t Is a
cinch that the 2 games is relations
to each other even IL ono Of them
is played with cards and the other
with tiles. The idear in both is to
fill up your hand with sets OF or
or runs Of and etc. and at the same
time discard so as to not do nobody
else no good.
Nah jongg experts Of course will
claim that the Chinese pastime is a
whole lot more complicated and that
you can't be a good NAH jongg player
unless you are practally reeking with
brains but It seems to me like a
person that has got anything TO do
with a game that spells jong with
9 gs can't be better than u witted at
the outside.
But nah jongg amt a game that
can be set to 1 side with q jest and
in fact 1t is getting SO far from q
Jest that 1t is becoming the basis
Of fueds and family quarrels and I
will be surprised IL the near future
don't see divorces granted on the
grounds that one party or the other
insists on playing with a short wall.
have either witnessed or took part
in about 50 games OF nah jongg to
date and amt never seen 2 people
yet that played the Same rules or one
person that was willing to sacrifice
themselt and play the other persons
way without a squawk.
Just how serious the whole propo-
sition il can be gathered from one
Of the rules as printed namely "the
dice should always be thrown against
the opposite wall to prevent cheat
Evening star., 1924-03-09

them are so gorgeous that one can
not see their like anywhere else eN-
cept on the stage. Here come half
dozen girls from one village. They
have yellow silk 'kerchiefs wrapped
around their heads, and their Ions
braids of black hair hang down their
backs. Each has necklace OF gold
or silver coins, representing hef
dowry, and a gown and vest embroid-
cred with gold braid so thickly that
the cloth cannot be seen. The gown
falls almost to the feet. 1t is dark
colored. but there is band of golG
embroidery twice as wide as your
palm hemming the bottom. Under
this band is fringe of white lace.
The sleeves are embroidered with rec
and blue silk in quaint patterns, ard
the gold shines under the sun.
Behind this party come other girls
who have embroidered packets edged
with lace at the wrist. They have
long yellow aprons. and their gowns
are gorgeous with gold.
The other villages have costumes
equally picturesque, and one can tell
from where every woman comes by
her dress.
The peasant men are almost equally
interesting. Some have high black
caps Of lambskin with the wool out
side. and their clothes are of a but
ternut brown, often gayly embroid
cred. Their vests, belts and trousers
are all of homespun. The trousers,
are wraDped tight arolnd the ankle
the soft leather sandals that form
their footgear being tied there with
straps that run around the leg half
way up the calf. Others of the peas
ants have heavy boots which reach
almost to their knees.
Carpenters World Travels. Capyrisa;, 1924
Evening star., 1924-03-09
"WOMEN THAT WENT AROUND
WITH SPOTLESS REPUTATION
IS NOW PANNED BY THEIR
FORMER FRIENDS

sons would tee UP their ball on 4
AYERS that the flowers and season.
is the pretties Of all tiles and peopic
that objects to them would ("
through Switzerland blind-folded.
Prof. Lizzie who had a Office UP
stairs over a Chinese laundry To-
thirty yrs. says that four of a kin"
on the table is a hoi kong and scorr
as four but only counts as three
Prof. E. NJ Goofer who once stoc'
for a Y hr. on the corner of 42pt
st. and Seventh avenue wonderin..
whether to take the sight seeing bu
to Chinatown claims that the abov
hand amt nothing but chow mel
and counts S.45 on the check.
Prof. Boobo who read Limehous
Nights in the original manuscril
says that three of kind in the han
is a gan and counts twice as niue
as three of a kind on the table. Pro:
Gizzard claims that a ma cheuck i.
eggs fo yung without rice.
So 1t goes all through the differeE'
books and they all got their OWL
opinion and personly it would no
seem like 1t was anything to get =.
excited over if it wasn't for the hare
feelings and tension which is rouseG
by same and not only that but womeL
is the prettiest of all tiles and peopl'
that always went around with a
spotless reputation is now being
whispered about behind their back
and panned by their former friends
like just the other night they wa,
a lady come to our house and sh'
says my dear have you heard the gos
sip about Mrs. Quincy and we say
no what is the gossip about Mr.
Quincy and the lady says they al.
telling it all around that she dog
her hand without a. double.
1921
Evening star., 1924-03-09

How much longer will this ora
trio keep up?" pronounce Hon. Quack-
mire. "If you are finished we wish to
shuttle the tiles and lose some more
money"
'If you will listen five t5) min
utes." I devour, II shall tell you Of
Japanese game which can be learned
easily in 20 yrs. 1t are much better
than foolish Ma Jong because nobody
ever understand it. howeverly much
they play"
go to Hal and practice it, nego-
tiate Hon. Quackmire. picking up
Eogi & hitting ME with him.
When nextly found I were laying
under a stationery wash tub, feeling
quite Debated.
Hoping you are the same
Yours truly
HASHIMURA TOGO.
Copyright, 1e24.)
Evening star., 1924-03-09

with my expensive interior decora-
tions?" require Mrs c. W. Quackmire.
II tell you this. roomful Of people"
1 snagger, making my chest like
Bluejean V. Debs. II have watched. ]
have seen. Have not things arrived
to a pretty passage when Americans
set in parlors, adulterating them
selves with Chinese words & swear
words?"
1--WE was merely playing game"
snuggest Mrs.
"Ah yes" I jounce bravely. and
that game are filled with Hong Kong
Poppa Gander. l know those Poppa
Gander games. Observe how slyly
Germany teach America how play
peaknuckle before that bad Kaiser
started for Paris and didn't get there.
And what will happen to America II
she set all evening talking like a
laundry"
Evening star., 1924-03-09

can have this same mineral water de
luxe in a tub to himself.
The plunge costs about Is cents.
and the baths are so popular that
the huge building is filled from s
o'clock in the morning until far into
the night. l am told that 10000 peo-
pie bathe here every day, and am
warned that I had best send mes
to make an appointment for me. The
morning is better than evening" for
many people take their baths after
their work is over. and there is a
long waiting list up to midnight.
Bulgaria is a land of hot mineral
springs. I recently motored out to
Banke, bathing resort. whose
springs have the same properties as
those at Carlsbad. Here I found an
other beautifully equipped white por-
celain tile establishment with large
swimming pool and with many pri-
vate baths sunk into the floor.
So much for cleansing your body.
If you want bath for your soul.
this town of Sofa has an establish
ment even more grand. ! refer to
the mighty Alexander Nevsky Cathe.
dral, which was dedicated not long
ago. Imagine church bigger than
any we have in America, covering as
much ground as q great government
department, built of white stone in
Byzantine and Russian architecture,
with a dome as big as a circus tent
plated with gold. and you have a faint
outline Of the picture. You must add
smaller gold domes over four or five
cupolas and put great caps OF gold
over the entrances and let the whole
blaze under the sun of these semi
tropics, and you have some of the
details which All out the picture.
!. !; x *
THE interior is even more grand.
1t is great blaze Of carving,
frescoes, paintings and gold decora
Evening star., 1924-03-09
New Yellow Peril on Horizon
Wallace Irwin S Letters of Japanese Schoolboy
TO Editor The Star, who should start
a Movement to make Taxicabs more
homelike.

homelike.
EAREST SIR: While America
are seeking for another Yellow
Peril to kick out, what you
- think? She are looking in
the wrong direction! Everybody say
that Japanese are differing into this
Kingdom like mikerobes through a
hair net. How bosh! Let me tell you
something worse and more sneekre-
tive, going on right under your nos
trils. entering your homes with Its
coarse language. biting the very hearts
OF your children. while you are away
gambling in some other house.
The Chinese Peril are here. l say
so because I do not like the Chinese,
who are always snatching greedy at
their real estate when Japan comes
along.
tell you this, Mr.. Editor, because
I wish you to know how thick this
in your amidst.
Last evening p. m. HE & Nogi was
setting in my Thinking Studio where
we have decided to be spies after
dishwash are over.
Togo" says Nogi. why should
you reside N this Christian home
without knowing all it's silty Sc
crets?"
There are no reasons, if any,"
belate,
Dark things may be going on un-
der this roof he endeavor, while
you are dreaming in idolness."
While thusly talking, what you
think we heard coming from front
parlor of that house"
Noises.
Slight jibbering in some curio
heather languidge.
Tick-tick sound resembling gentle
man with celluloid cuffs writing Yid-
dish on a portable typewriter.
What I tell your snarled Nogi
"Dirty work are afoot & ahorseback
in this home tonight. Folla me.
Walk quietly like a caterpiller going
g over baked apples and l will show
You something that will make your
hair swirl
Therefore we both get down on
our wrists 6 elbows and croll along
hallway til we find a good place to
hide from. Behind two (2l enlarged
plush curtains we coddle softly and
commenced to look into Drawing
Room.
:: < :: =
n SHOCKS. There at two sinful
looking green-haired tables set
Mr. C Mrs Quackmire, Aunt Arnica
Jones, Mrs Abraham Migg, Mrs Zeno
Grass and quite chorus Of hus Stands
smoking depraved cigars behind lit
tie blacR fences which look kind of
Shanghai to me. Accasionally they
would fetch out square portions of
ivory all covered with joss-house
caracatureS.
What YOU think of that" snarrel
Eogi in my left eye.
DO you think they are studying
how to smoke opium?" I ask without
breath.
Evening star., 1924-03-09

ing" Everybody knows that the
cards is cut in bridge or poker for
the same reason but bridge and poker
players is too polite to say so. They
amt no manners mixed up with a
game of nah jongg.
What no doubt causes the most Of
the trouble is the fact that they's a
even 40 different books on nah jongg
wrote by 40 different experts and the
Evening star., 1924-03-09

striking evidence of the strength that
still exists in this orthodox Catholic
Church, which is followed By about
| one-twelfth OF mankind and has its
stronghold here in the Balkans, in
Russia and along the eastern shores
of the Mediterranean sea.
But perhaps you care more for
your mind than for your body or soul.
| In that case, you had best have a
look at the intellectual parts OF this
capital Of the Bulgars, visiting its
| universities, with their 5000 students,
its high schools and technical insti-
tutes, its American Y. NJ. c. A. trade
| school, 90 per cent OF whose students
have jobs as electricians, surveyors
| and engineers before they are gradu-
ated. You might go into the two
museums, where YOU can study the
past and the present.
Right across the square. paved with
vitrified brick, in which the cathedral
stands. past the great bronze statue
Of Alexander Of Russia, the liberator,
| is the National Costumes Museum.
This Is an industrial show, depicting
| the peasantry Of all parts Of the
| country as they are clad in their
! homes and the many different kinds
+ of work that make them practically
independent Of the factories and
| mines of the rest Of the world.
Here in a large three-story building
are shown the hand looms, on which
are made the gorgeous gold braid,
cloths, embroideries and oriental car
pets known the world over.
Bulgaria is a land OF house indus
tries. The farmer takes the wool
and weares it into clothes for the
! family. He makes his own hardware
and much OF the pottery, dishes and
other utensils. You see here exam
pies of the rude inventions for churn-
ing butter. grinding wheat and max
, ing bread which have been in use
for ages, and, in fact, have a picture
of the home life and work OF the
kingdom packed, as it were, in a
nutshell.
n * !: X
A MOTHER most interesting mu-
scum is just across the way from
my hotel. 1t is in an old Turkish
mosque, which has eight low domes
as q part Of its roof, each dome as
big as a haystack. This building is
full of archaeological treasures and
relics, mosaics, frescoes and paint
ings, representing the times Of 1000
or more years ago, when Christianity
was in the making. There are no
statues relating to the church, for,
according to the orthodox or Greek
Catholic religion, no statues in relief
are permitted. All Of the art must be
dead fiat.
The statues here are those OF the
Romans. They date back to about 100
A. D.-to the days Of the Emperor
Trajan and to times still more re-
mote. They are broken and battered,
but one can see the art Of those
classic times at every step. There
] are columns from the ancient tenn.
pies, great marbles from fountains
and huge sarchophagi which over
flow the building and fill great part
Of the yard.
And now take look at the setting
Of which these things are part.
Lying here as she does in q plain
surrounded by mountains, Sofia has
spread herself over large area,
forming a mixture of the rich and
the poor, the grand and the shabby,
the sublime and the ridiculous. Each
| travels on the heels Of the other, and
It 10 hard to tell where one ends and
the other begins.