davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-02-06

writing. 1t is easier to put down
words with a typewriter"
Rebecca West finds a hotel room
in New York an ideal place to write.
Il have never before been secure
from Interruptions. she said. Here
one can manage not to see any one
or receive telephone calls until the
days work is done / never have
been able to choose ideal working con-
ditions. One works and forgets about
the disturbances.
Just now / am having my first ex-
perience hearing drills attacking steel
while men are doing something to a
new subway. 1t reminds one uncom-
fortably of the dentist
That other authors are able to
rattle out original stuff on a type
writer is a mystery to Miss West.
II think with my hand as much as
with my BRAIN she said, land so I
write with pen"
JANE GREY. who admits having
spent $4,000 gathering material
for one novel, is probably fiction's
most extravagant prospector for
iUNdl COlOI. LII the uSAL SGHIenC0 the
interviewer is informed that the
author has received 100000 for
motion picture rights. He finds ma
terial on round-the-world excursions
or sword fishing trips. He has little
use for cities.
New York is a place from which
trains leave. for the West after
business has been transacted and
friends have been seem" he says.
When the time for writing comes
Mr.. Grey demands absolute quiet, and
he finds it in little cottage on the
grounds of his home at Alledena,
Calf
Rex Beach has little use for moods.
People could write hanging by
their ears is his answer to the prob.
lem of ideal conditions for creative
work.
Pussy moods are bunk" to Mr.
Beach.
"I think the liver has a lot to do
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-02-06

Then, when we are out at sea, I'll
come up from below in my uniform
and We'll take the mastery of the
ship. Real good pirate stuff But
now, get into your civilian clothes.
Every scrap of uniform out of the
way
He began to signal with rags and
smoke to the Amra:
I'VE are castaways," he wigwagged.
Help
Quick" he continued, roaring at
his men. Here come the lifeboatsi
Hide that machine guni revolvers in
the pockets, Ho! Well give them
a time, when we have the CHANGER
He stuffed his own pockets with
grenades, examined his men for tell
tale brass buttons of pieces of uni
form, and stood waiting.
1t was to be one of the great ad-
ventures of his life.
What followed is best told in Count
Luckner's own words:
Those boats came for us, and sud-,
denly-ah!-I saw they were British
island police. They were not armed;
they had only bayonets at their belts.
OH | said, what shall / do, fight? And
then ] called. Quick. my uniform
But my naval clothes were strapped
in duffle- bag. / had no chance to
get at it,
Boys | said, we will kill no one:
by our trickery.'
And when the police landed, / went
up to them. Look / said. Gentle
men. we are no towards. We have O.
machine gun here, and-see--my
pockets are full of grenades. We
could defend ourselves. But / could
not get at my uniform. j would not
lead you here to pick up castaways
and then fire upon you.
81 surrender
With his seven compatriots. Luck
ner climbed into one of the small boats
and was rowed out i'm triumph to the
British captain of the Arma.
1t seemed, as he climbed the sides
of that steamer, that he was leaving
his adventurous career, swinging into
his own prison. which might-had his
plans gone right-have been his pirate
ship.
But Luckner is Luckner. even in
such difficulties. His honor had in
volved him; perhaps his ingenuity
could get him out. He had great
hopes, as the Amra steamed with its
captives into Suva Bay.
But even he could not know what
were in store Tor him. -
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-02-06

rain, and had the surprise OF my life
when 1t was accepted"
Faith Baldwin of Brooklyn. whose
new novel, Three Women" has been
praised by critics, has a house, two
small children, two servants and a
husband who comes home to lunch.
The more have to do the more
l get accomplished" said Miss Bald
win.
II have so many Interruptions I am
sure ] should he lonely without them"
The daughter of Brooklyn lawyer,
Miss Baldwin was supposed to become
a society girl. But she finds writing
more fun.
Ann Parrish, author of "A Peren-
Mar Bachelor" had her typewriter in
stalled in a bare room above the ga.
rage when she found that the chintz
and other distractions in her Park
avenue home would disturb the flow
of ideas
Her first novel had been accepted
by the publishers before Miss Parrish
let her husband know that she had
become a writing woman.
She is the wife of Charles A. Cor.
liss, and a cousin of Mayfield Parrish.
the painter.
John Erskine, irreverent satirist of
ancient celebrities. author of Gala
had" and 1.-The Private Life OF Helen
of Troy explained that he is not yet
in a position to become fussy over the
correct conditions for inspirational in
tiuence. His job is being a professor
at Columbia University.
81 might have preferences If were
free to choose" he admitted. But
work whenever l can and wherever ]
can, preferably on a typewriter"
TypewTiters are taboo in the work f.
rooms of many authors who grow w
as contemporaries of the machines.
When Eugene O'Neill locks himself
in his upstairs porch room, facing
the sea on Cape Cod. no sound of
clicking keys interferes with the
rhythm of the waves against the fish
ing boats and the beach. Not even
spiral of cigarette smoke uncurls in
the still air. Mr.. O'Neill writes with
a pen in a fine copybook script and
hands the stuff over TO young mar.
who goes to another house to type
the manuscript.
Lord Dunsany's plays have been
written with quill pens. In Ireland h
shoots geese for recreation. He take
the quilts to London, and on his desk
in his home in Cadogan Square
dozen quilts are crowded in jar.
Harry Kemp, Greenwich Villago
poet, is the only writer who remarked
about the dearth of a certain old-fash
Toned source of atmosphere and In
spiratiOn. Speaking of his new bool
of poems, 1.-The Sea and the Dunes,
he complained:
Prohibition is not so good for me
In that 1 am different from other
writing men of my age. They tell me
that drink scatters their ideas. Will
me it is different. That something il
me that tells me not to write coul
be frightened away with a glass %
two of red wine. Sometimes coffc
will do it,"
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-02-06

coast Mr.. Harrington works IN com
plete seclusion in second floor bal
cony room overlooking the sea.
Sinclair Lewis works at all hours
wherever he happens to be-on
steamship, on a train, in country
cottage in England, chateau at
Fontainebleau, consuming quantities
if cigarettes and coffee, sleeping and
eating when the mood seizes him.
He wrote his first novel on com
muting trips on a train between his
home on Lond Island and New York,
where he had a job that kept him
busy all day. That Commute trip
that was boredom to his neighbors was
an opportunity to the man who was
to become the author of Main
Street." "Babbitt" and Arrowhead"
Homer Croy. author of "West of
the Water Tower and "They Had to
See Paris" is the man who takes off
his shoes when he begins to work. he
explains it this way:
II can't go out again until put my
shoes on. That is SO much trouble, l
stay there and work. | have to do 1t
that way. For if for any reason / get
my shoes on and get out of the room
l never get back that day. Always
there is some one to see, something
to do. somewhere to go, and work is
put off until tomorrow"
There is a little house in a garden
in Surrey, England, where Mr.. Croy
likes to sit and write about the folks
back home.
Lulu Volmer, author of Sun Up"
and 1.-The Shame Woman" does all
her writing on ain ironing board
which fits across the arms of wing
chair in her studio home. Her first
play was written on it at night after
she returned from work uptown.
The success of Sun Up" especially
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-02-06

chase which completely mystified the
newly made captives.
Their ship was put under full steam
and headed across the Pacific. Behind
her the Sea Eagle came sailing. All
one night, the Horngardt, with Ger
man crew, made time over the black
waters with the raider close in her
wake. The Horngardt's crew, aboard
the Sea Eagle, thought this Pirate
Luckner had gone out of his head.
But the Horngardt's radio was buzz
ing constantly: IS. o. S.-chased by
submarine! S. o. S.--chased by. sub
mariner
In the morning they sank the Brit
ish steamer and headed the Sea Eagle
west.
That will fix those cruisers"
laughed the count. "A submarine
would have to stay near the coast.
We shall be free now in midocean.
They'll be combing Peru for the U
boat that sent the Horngardt to her
DOOM
TRAVELLING on in these strange
waters, reminiscent to the count
of his earliest youth, the Sea Eagle be-
gan to collect new cargo of passen-
gers. and to make a new record at
sinking ships without any loss of life.
In turn the count received the sur
render of the American packets the
A. b. Johnson, II. G. Slade and Manila
for the United States had now en-
tered the war. Then, whether for fear
of the Pacific Submarine" or because
of the dearth of materials to trans
port, allied cargo carriers became
scarce on the sea.
For three weeks the raider scadded
up and down from Japan to the Philip
pines, finding no potential victims,
running only more and more unprofit-
able risk of being caught.
The count was bored.
1--WE need a rest, anyway" he said.
Let's pick out nice South Sea har-
Dor and go in for repairs
Late in July he pulled up the Sea
Eagle off the little island of Mopelia.
far south and off the track of trade,
1t is circular reef of coral, half its
permeter beneath the water, half
above it. One opening in the circle
provides an outlet for the waves which
continually pour in from the surround
ing ocean, and there, in the outflowing
stream, the count dropped anchor.
thinking himself safe from either man
or nature.
Mopelia seemed paradise to the
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-02-06

the spirits of his men. But his own
spirits were beginning to weaken.
AS time went by, and the wireless
brought in daily news of the progress
of events. the old restlessness which
had sent him wandering into so many
adventures came again over the pow
erful Felix.
There is he repeated To his Of
fiCers, "a war. After all, we should
be doing something for the father
land, not living here like lotus eaters. "
On August % he rugged up one of
the Sea Eagles small boats with a
great sail, asked for volunteers, and,
with seven of them. departed into the
wastes of the Pacific.
X x X X
IN the little lifeboat. with scarcely
any provisions and a modicum of
water, the eight daring ones headed
for the Fiji Islands. 1t was a distance
of 1900 miles, according to the count,
and the journey took them 4S days.
Broad lips parched. face burned al
most stiff, limbs aching from the ineI-
tia, still the indomitable Luckner was
having a good time. He would sit
huddled against the tiller, or stand,
with that shoulder SLOUGH peculiar to
cowboys and sailors, or others who
live in constant undulation, on the
prov, his magma ton more than ever
pleased with his pirate role.
British and German alike, he
knew. thought him lost at sea. His
deceits had taken care of that. Now.
if only he could reach civilization, he
would show them that he was still
very much in eXistance.
He looked down at the packages
lying beside the provisions in the little
boat A machine gun. a parcel of hand
grenades and rifles and revolVers for
all.
IF we can find a good English
ship he said to Herr Killing, maybe
we'll have some fun. Ho! Pirates.
This is the real thing, I am as ex-
cited now as when | was a boy and
stole boat from Vancouver"
Their cheeks were browner and
thinner, their months were dry, when,
through burning heat and raging
suuall, they came at last within sight
of the Fijis. What relief it was to
see q low shore before them, sur
mounted by it's parasols of palm trees
under which played the white shell
tered breakers of the sea! Their charts
told them this was the land they
sought. They shook hands solemnly.
They had arrived.
They beached their craft and made
a camp, a ragged-looking crew of
eight Their first day was spent in
resting, stretching their cramped
limbs and picking up food supplies.
Then they began to lay their plans.
TRUE to their expectation, not
= many hours elapsed before an Eng
lish steamer, by chance the Amra,
came past their little lagoon. She
lay out there between the blue water
and the glamourous blue sky like the
naturalization of a dream. Under
the plans on shore, pacing the coral
reefs, the count made preparations.
"We'll be taken aboard as ship
wrecked Mariners bp told his crew
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-02-06
Carving the Canyon.

THE popular idea that earthquakes
and volcanic explosions played q
part in forming the Grand Canyon of
the Colorado River is thought by the
best authorities to be without founda:
ton. -. ..f-
We are now told that the canyon,
was cut out entirely by the water Of,
the river and that the most effective
tool employed was the quartz sand
brought down from the sources of the
river in the mountains. This sand Ii
harder than any of the constituents
OF the rock strata in which the canyon
has been carved.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-02-06
Lucners Sea Devil Meets Disaster Carrying War Into Pacific

ricane. The count, muffiing himself
in a greatcoat, paced the deck and
turned his vessel directly into the
Antarctic ice.
Il have been afraid" he said later.
THAT night l WAS afraid. The black
sky over you, the deep waters be-
meath you, ice mountains looming
suddenly all about you, and the wiad
howling And where are you to go.
If you miss the ice mountains you
must fight and that against great
odds. Oh, yes, ] have been afraid"
= x x
TENSE, clustering, always alert,
the daring Luckner guided his
little ship through all those dangers.
Finally. the cay Game when the
buffeted Sea Eagle rested in the calm
er waters of the Pacific, and the raid
ers knew by wireless that their enc
mics were behind them. There had
been six allied cruisers stationed at
the Horn, they found. and the Sea
Eagle had come safely through the lot.
Then the count was all smiles.
"Ho, boys" he cried down from
the bridge. I'VE are real pirates
now We have done it. Good boyst
But he nosed the Sea Eagle into a
favorable wind and rushed madly up
the Peruvian shore. He knew that
those cruisers would not be long in
picking up his trail.
That was why Luckner played
those now famous prankS which led
the allies to think him drowned and
to suspect the presence of a German
submarine, in the Pacific.
AS the black. trim hull of the raider
spumed northward. the May sunshine
cleaning on her decks, the blocks and
winches purring happily under the
burden of a favorable breeze all
seemed safe.
But part of the crew were busy
with paint and brush. relabeling the
lfeboats and lifebelts the Sea Eagle
had taken from her Atlantic victims.
These had been preserved, while the
many prisoners were aboard, so that
captiVes as well as captors might be
rescued if the raider met mishap. AT
this time. however, the boats clut-
tered the decks uselessly, and there
was a better purpose for them, devised
by the inventive mind of the count.
One night, during a squall, he
dropped them overheard, together
with q sailors cap or two. Every
thing bore the name ''Seeadler" (Sea
Eagle)
A few days later, his radio picked
up an allied dispatch:
"Seeadler gone down off Peru with
flying colors.'
."Ho, ho' beloved the count. THAT
is what / want That's the stuff. Now
for some, more pirating!"
His radio had already discovered the
presence of the steamer Horngardt,
British, and he decided to add her to
his victims
AS usual without firing any more
than his oldfashioned cannon, whose
balls could do nothing but scare peo-
pie and splash water. Luckner took
this steamer. brought her crew aboard
as his guests" and prepared to dvna.
mite the unfortunate hull.
But another piece of amusing trick
cry occurred to him. He put on
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-02-06

sailors and captives, who had been on
the sea so long. There was tropical
fruit, fresh water and everything nee
essary for a camp.
The count was delighted. He set
shifts of men repairing the Sea Eagle.
while the rest of the crew picnicked
on the semi-circular island.
But while good portion of the sail
ors were thus on shore, a great dis
aster happened.
The Sea Eagle, which had wealth
cred 50 many storms and passed un-
scathed through two vigilant block
AIDES, was caught by a sudden tidal
wave and wrecked on the coral shore.
Her rudder was broken, the propeller
of her auxiliary engines twisted, her
side stove in.
1t was the end of her pirate cruise.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-02-06

town in Richmond, Va. No visitors
and no telephone calls penetrate the
quiet of her second floor work room
while she is writing. After a book
or a short story is finished she takes
an interval for "a grand time" before
the next is begun.
Whatever authors may say" said
IneZ Haynes Irwin, they all hate to
work. But an author soon finds, and
this / think is true of all creative
intelligences. that he is so much
more unhappy when he does not
work! SO he prefers to go to work
The working habit will win in the
conflict of two. miseries.
II work in the morning. / have
a secretary and dictate all my first
drafts, working out of my idea on
paper. Then | dictate a second draft.
| go over this, making so many
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-02-06

But it was not the end of the ire.
pressible Count Luckner He has yet
to be downed by any misfortune. He
is more likely to. turn adversely into
success.
Soon he was in charge Of Il salvage
scene, his big smile quirxing behind
that lighted black pipe:
'Ho, boys!" he Numbered. This is
terrible. No longer can we sail the
seas and live on bad grub and suffer
from storms and cold Now we have
to settle down on this little paradise
of an island, and live like kings. It's
a shame! Ho! lisa catastrophe"
And he set them to building a per
manent camp. For tents, he used he
great sails of the Sea Eagle. He dis
mantled the galley and set up a kitch-
en- on shore. That proving too hot,
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-02-06
Temperament in Authors Results in Some Striking
ny SARAH MACDOUGALL,

Nv We know how glad we are.
n when days work is done,
NN to get away from actuali
ties and lose ourselves in
book or play that trans
ports us to some make-believe world
of romance or adventure. But the
authors who supply these vicarious
Fomances and adventures-when and
how do they work? Can they be clas-
sified as strange and ,capricious peo-
pie who go in for extravagant expert
ences. like the English novelist who
recently engaged private airplane in
which to soar aloft for inspiration?
Brief and hurried interviews OBJ
tanned from a few representative au-
thors or their publishers indicate that
these writer's are no more alike than
their readers. Some have queer whims
and can afford TO indulge them. Some
work long hours at which any labor
union would rebel Some toll in bath
robes, some i'm their best clothes.
Some require quiet. some like noise.
Some prefer the country, some the
city Many begin work early in the
morning. Others are never at their
desks before midnight. Some have no
desks. A play that set critics and
queens sobbing in London and other
Europeans centers was written on an
ironing board in an Eighth street stu
sio in New York. A novel that depicts
American smalltown life in the West
was written in an English garden in
Surrey by man who takes off his
shoes before he begins work.
irwin S. Cobb was the first to be in
terviewed. because his day starts at
IN the morning and because the only
time To ask questions is before hp
leaves his Park avenue home.
Il don't like to work at all. said Mr.
Cobb. I'D never work if didn't have
to. When | do work, which is every
day, ] sit wherever there is place TO
sit. take pen. pencil or typewriter
in the city. in the country. on
train, on a ship, and l work. l have
no moods. / don't need to have the
light over my left shoulder. The only
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-02-06

his ingenuity devised what he called
"our own little Venice" a kitchen on
stills over the water of the Mopelian
lagoon
When everything was finished, he
held dedicatory ceremony, declared
Seeadler Village to be a German col
ony and appointed himself colonial
governor.
Gradually the colony took on an
established air. The ships radio, a
powerful one, was rugged between two
tall CCConut trees. Chimneys were
erected. For whole month the ship
wrecked prisoners and crew lived in
the luxury of the South Sea novels.
Always Count Luckner was slCuch-
ing through the camp, making sug-
gestions, cracking jokes, keeping up
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-02-06
Booth Lord Dr oNn
Ail-BnA for TngOu YdA"

Rupert Hughes works at night un.
til . in the morning, sometimes all
night.
"The biggest fun in life is starting
a new piece" he said. II like to fol
low new trails. | can work on one
thing for weeks at a fast pace. don't
do much work in the morning or after
noon. read, dwell over the plot, get
acquainted with the characters.
get started writing after supper and
write until | get drowsy or until the
pen falls out of my hand. Then
drag myself off to bed. When / am
working hard 1 find it difficult to be
polite to people"
FOR information on Booth Tarking-
toms method one is referred, to a
letter on that subject written by Mr..
Harrington during the "Penrod" pc
Rod. and which Julian Street put into
his introduction to Tarkington's book,
1.-THE Magnificent Ambersons."
81 wonder" he wrote, IF you are
bothered by any physical detail? L be-
lieve, though, you go bang to the type.
Writer-a mystery to me. I've worked
out a sort of system. / live in bath
robes. Nothing of anything from out
side gets DX u my WI htOOiA'
the first requisite. About , o'clock
they bring me beef tea and cotfee.
/ get into some clothes at 6. don't eat
heavily and am back at Z. Bath
robe again. / have a pencil machine
and sharpen about three dozen every
night; write on draftsman's drawing
board. tilted, card table at my elbow.
Nobody ever talks audibly i'll my part
of the house. I've grown completely
detached. There's nobody | have to
see about anything.
1.-The day after finishing a story
go out walking or motoring; then /
come back and stay in here, in this
room-till the next is done. Today
you're receiving this letter on ac-
count of it, I'm just sticking here,
knowing l can't get anything of the
next yarn to take shape today. But
I will tomorrow, because I'm Keep
ing externals out. These things are
devilish important. You must furnish
Yourself with the overalls and the
right shaped trowel handle"
At his Summer home on the Maine