davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1927-12-16

Order Those Christmas cards today
a. Bishops Print Shop-Adv. l6-
Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1927-12-16

Why pay RentY Finance . home
Of your own. your very own. Easy
payment plan. We also loan on bus
mess and farm property. Insurance
Of all kinds. Todd & Understood
State National Bank B~uii5irK. Phene
lS2.-Adv. II.
Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1927-12-16

For Better Sig~~ call at Pena's
Sign shop opposite Court House on
Monroe Etreet--l-10.
Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1927-12-16

Christmas Sale of hand work also
Mexican lunch will be served Satur-
between 9th and 10th streets on
Elizabeth, BY the women Of the wom-
en- Of the Sacred Heart Church.
Adv. is.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-01-30

United States Under Jefferson" and
persuaded him to discuss the paper.
Mr.. Bancroft had presided with
vigor and promptitude, beginning the
sessions on the minute, for, said he,
II am a minuteman.'' At the end
of the last session the scholarly Sen
ator George +. Hoar, seconding a
motion made by another resident of
Washington, expressive of gratifica-
ton that the association had held its
meeting here, added with the old-time
eloquence of which he was such
master, Especially noteworthy and
memorable is the opportunity which
this meeting has given of seeing you.
Mr.. President, and meeting you here
surrounded by, and presiding over,
this body of students of history.
know of no scholar living, and of none
dead, unless it may be GibbOn, other
than yourself, to whom it has been
given to undertake In his youth the
history of a great empire, and after
so years to see that undertaking COM
pleted and become a classic.
"Gibbon wrote of the loss of liberty,
the decadence and fall of a nation;
you wrote of the establishment of lib
erty on a virgin soil, of the founding
and growth and vigorous life of prom
Use, which you leave at the end of its
first century, full of promise of con-
tinued and yet grander existence.
And l repeat, sir, we shall never for
get that we have had the honor and
pleasure to meet you and see you
here
A still greater historical yeter-
an passed across the stage, in a
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-01-30

dents of Washington will still remem-
Der that when the secretary of the
society came to see him about under
taking the burden of presiding at the
sessions the old historian took boy
ish satisfaction in showing him how
he could go upstairs two at a time. lie
lived to be 90 and as for mental
vigor he had but lately finished, at the
age of 80, his History of the Forma-
ton and Adoption of the Constitu-
ton" and the writer remembers Mr..
Henry Adams saying in those days
that when he wished to learn any
given fact in American history he had
only to drop u card to his neighbor,
Mr.. Bancroft.
The sessions of that meeting of
1886 We're held in the halls Of the Co
lumbia University in their building
on the southeast corner Of Fifteenth
and II streets, wheer now stands the
Woodward Building. Among the
papers read was one by Maj. Gen.
George w. Cullum, T.. s. A, on The
Attack on Washington City I'm 1914,
and Prof, Moses Colt Tyler read an
interesting paper on a theme on
still be expended, THE Neglect and
Destruction Of Historical Materials in
This Country"
One of the best effects of such a
society, the bringing together of his
torical students of the North and
South (indeed Of all sections of the
country was exemplified by a valu-
able paper on Confederate and Fed
eral Strategy in the Pope Campaign
Before Washington in 1862" by Col.
William Allen. one of the finest
spirits of the Civil War time, who had
been chief of ordnance to StoneWall
jackson, and this was followed by a
very interesting lecture on The
Value of Typographical knowledge in
Battles and Campaigns " by Maj Jed
H0tchkiss of stanton, who had been
Typographical engineer on the stats of
Gems Robert f. Lee, T. j. Jackson,
r. S. Ewell and j. A. Early. The lec-
turer sketched rapidly, with colored
crayonS, upon a large blackboard the
physical conformation of the Valley
of Virginia, and described most
graphically Jackson's valley campaign
and the ways in which intimate local
knowledge of the topography had
helped the Confederates.
1t is remembered with what en-
thusiasm Mr. Bancroft grasped hands
with the Confederate officer and con
grateulated him upon his effective
talk; also how, when young Harvard
man had read a paper on Jefferson S
Use of the Executive Patronage" the
presiding officer called to the plat
form Mr. Henry Adams, who had then
just begun, to live in the beautiful
house ON Lafayette Square now being
so sadly demolished, and was at work
upon his classical History of the
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-01-30

board. If he was to carry out his mis-
sion as a raider, his attack must be
psychological rather than physical. He
must scare his enemies into surrender.
For. this purpose he constructed out
of kerosene cans two huge dummies
of 16-inch guns. On the sailors caps
and other paraphernalia which might
fall overheard and be found he had
inscribed Torpedo Boat" and d num-
Der.
Near the Azores the Sea Eagle
picked up the British sailing vessel
Gladys Royle 1t was the counts first
experience as a privateer.
Running abreast of the English ship.
he asked for. chronological time. The
prey, suspicious, gave no answer.
Then, with machine he carried
with him for the purpose, the peace
full looking count set UP a smoke
screen along his own decks. He gave
no SOS signal. Hes did not ask for
help. But the Gladys Royle concluded
he was a Norwegian on fire. She
hove to and waited.
Suddenly. the count. from his
bridge, grinned broadly behind his
pipe.
'.All right, boysr' he called.
over the side of the Sea Eagle came
the two dummy guns. AT the mast
head a white flag ffuttered showing
the double eagle of Prussia.
I'VE surrender" signaled the
Gladys Royle.
Luckner had taken his first prize.
He stood at the top of the gang
plank, grinning like a kid waiting for
a birthday present, while his small
boats went over and took off the
Gladys Royle's whole crew. AS the
fsrl, Ere icla n
black side of the Sea Eagle he roared
them welcome in their language:
"Goot day. How doc you doc? You
are my guests, gentlemen. We are
glad to hat you, und your supplies
But as his own ship turned away
and the fuses smoked along the decks
of the disappearing Gladys Royle, the
the count stood alone on his bridge,
waiting the explosion with serious
eyes. On the doomed vessel there was
cracking at the mastpits, the spars
fell and the flames caught at either
cad Soon, burning from end to end,
the Gladys Royle turned over on her
side and nosed into the water. Her
stern went high in the air, there We're
detonations. fash Of white spray,
and where she had been was nothing
but heaving sea.
Up and down. along the Equator. the
| Sea Eagle piled her destructive course.
/ Steamers and sailing ships, French
| and English. fell prey to her deceptive
| dummy guns, and TO the various other
harmless terrors the inventive count
put before them. He found it effective
eventually to have a man with a
megaphone at each mast head. crying
stand by, torpedoes" as the Sea
Eagle bore in upon her victim That
frightened them! They would sur
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-01-30

fingers. AS / threw off my friends
long Chinese coat, / was thinking how
my trusty trousers must look as
altar decorations, and was even re-
GREETING that | had taken the gal
luses off them, when my attention
was diverted from humorous thoughts
by the look of suspicion which came
over the priests sharp face.
What kind of garments are these!
he beloved. shaking the trousers agi-
tatedly.
All eyes at once looked up, resting
surprisedly, first on the buckSklnS,
and then on me. My host rose
hurriedly.
Your holiness" he assured, they
are not of the unclean. They are OF
the skin of the deer, an animal that
cleaves the hoof and cheWs the cud.
The humble worshipper is stranger,
the guest of my house, who had no
time to prepare more hitting gar
ments, but l have taken care that
all is proper
The Ahoong grunted and after
rubbing and smelling the skin,
seemed fairly satisfied. He was about
to hand the garment down to me,
who was standing there none too
much at ease in my underwear, when
he suddenly caught sight of some
thing protruding from hip pocket.
1t was a lock of particularly fine pig
bristles that / had run across in
Shensi and long ago forgotten!
1.-The unclean-the unclean!" he
shouted in frenzy. drawing out the
long, black bristles and waving
them menacingly. This son of the
infideI has polluted the holy sanctu-
airy with the unclean. Here is the
hair of the unclean animal-the gar
ments must be of it's filthy skin! >
He dropped them and spat.
The men of the audience jumped
to their feet and began jabbering
wildly. The first thing could think
of as preparation for eventuaiities
was to seize the offending trousers
and Jump into them.
"By the Beard of the Prophet,
silence!" demanded the voice Of my
host above the clamor Il shah ex-
plain this apparent infamy!"
All ayes turned 10 him. | coz
trived 10 pull my coat from betwedal
the feft Of tho frozen Ahoong am
get it7oH.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-01-30

render without murmur when they
heard that cry of "Torpedoes!"
x X K
ON January %, 1917, the Germans
took the ship Perez and found
when the crew came aboard the Sea
Eagle that the captain, Carl j. Koh-
Ter, was on his honeymoon with his
bride. Hrs. Kohler was given an of
ficer's cabin on the raider and made
pei fectiy at home.
The group of prisoners was growing
and the count encouraged them to
take their captivity as part of game.
THE more prizes ! get now" he
told them, ..'the sooner you will be
able to go home. | want to fill up
my ship first
So the Sea Eagles crew tell how
the one lady and the many men kept
a keen eye on the equatorial horizon.
Often, they say, it was the counts
allied guests who first sighted an APP
reaching ship and notified their
captors. Then the guests would be
ushered below, the decks cleared as
|, for action and the big tin guns would
come up again over the rail
And soon the company of the Sea
Eagle would be increased by a few
score more people and the German
sailors would come back from the
doomed victim with its supplies and
some knicknack as wedding pres
ent" for Mrs Kehler
The raiding cruise became more and
more like a pleasure yachting trip.
The violent, genial count, looking his
best in his officers uniform, would
circulate among the enemy crews as
I l. 10 tdlr 1a,r4
ting on entertainments in the evening,
having the time of his life.
WAR is war; he was fond of bel
lowing at his passengers, "but men are
men, and we are all brothers here on
the sea"
They began to tease him. They were
all SO ashamed to have been taken by
a ship which was practically unarmed
that they could not forget the Sea
Eagles weakness. The count would
grin approximately as his captors dis
cussed the utter futility of the little
f! 15-centimeter cannon and the joke of
| the two tin pieces of artillery.
THE next ship we take he told
them, II shall use all our military
/ force upon it,
60 one of the captured steamers was
selected, its crew and animals re-
moved it's decks stripped and then the
| count ordered his men into action.
He was staging a sham battle for
! the amusement of his enemy guests.
The 15-centimeter cannon was
| brought out. 1t was loaded from the
muZzle with powder and percussion
cap. 1t shot Il round ball But the
count went about attacking the
steamer as if he had real 16-inch guns,
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-01-30

~ happened in Rafan, an oasis IN
me Great Sandy some camel-staGes
Gas, of Ganjo. at the festival OF
the Change OF Clothing Ine
Rafanites, who live in little world
,,,,1nded for several hundred mics III
Very direction by the pecuhafiE
oIden coIored drifts of this portion
~ the Cobb are Moslems.
rhey hold their heads high above
.ha{r fellow relgionists 10 the south
~ china. claiming direct descent from
ne Arab warriors who We're bought
S,-o,o a Persian Shah "a Chinese
,+rincess being the price, by a rang
tsy1neror in the seventh century.
Vet their faith OF the Prophet mas
becane strangely mixed with Chinese
custom-the inevitable influence on
anvthing which comes in contact WIN
this age-intrenched and hunan-Weak-
ress.allowing culture.
In China, for several miliennlums,
.be harvest festival, fifteenth Of the
oi1hth moon dedicated to the Rabbit
81 of the fields, has been known
80 as the date of the change 10 Fal
infhine Under the empire, the
ssather mother" magistrates of the
counties posted proclanatIons stamp
I'd with the huge official pig S-blooc
ms. ordering the obedlent poDuiace
- 1nGlE ifffIlkCA SUMMER S-fit tifNAAt
80 nothbaIls and get their lined ones
ONT Of the pawnshops for this event
THE custom is still followed IN the
,,,ore conservative regions Of China.
,rhaYa one may see gentlemen and
1a5ies ,1arading IN newly ironed Winter
garments on the Midautumn holiday
md Derspiring freely and apparently
nannily If the thermometer happens
70 fail in proper Observance of the
season by a timely fall,
In Rafan the mosque has made this
Ss,sf1cee custom one Of its most i'm
1ortant religious ceremonies, and OF
3he fifteenth of the eighth moon al
true male believers (Which include:
she entire male population presen
themselves before the Ahoong, o.
TuIlah. with freshly washed and re
nadded Winter clothing, which re
elves the divine blessing and is the1
and there put on for the season.
No Rafanite would think of takint
off the garments thus donned in Tho
.acred precincts until the sudden heal
Of desert Summer flor there IS reaiE
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-01-30

MY friend cleared his sthroat and
A'A bowed three times to the ground
toward the priest.
my guest" he began impressiveiy.
has no connection with the unclean.
He eats with Ma the Great Man, the
Holy Man. How can he then have
anything to do with the orgies of
pollution?
These garments, which are most
fitting for a traveller through the
sands. are of the skin of the deer,
clean animal. / will offer you a
proof. The hide of the unclean beast.
when wet. becomes stiff. How many
times must not the coat of my guest
have been wet with the dews of the
desert? Feel of it's it hard ?"
He stepped forward and pulled the
coat off me. Feel of it, believers
and brothers."
1t went back through the cOngre-
cation. Many examined it with a
curiosity, | felt sure, not limited to
the question OF its ritual purity.
General grunts of satisfaction. how
sion of my nerves.
but the hairs of the unclean?"
demanded the old priest. nose in the
air, moving only his chin.
"Ah," responded my host OILY, Il
can explain that. My guest is the
friend of the Holy Ma, and there
fore the special object of the enmity
of Shatan, the Evil One. Therefore
the Evil One plucked these hairs
from his own beard and placed them
in the garment of my guest last
night to destroy him. For / myself
examined the garments after he
slept and all was proper.
Now since the Evil One has taken
advantage OF my unsuspecting guest
to polIute this sactuary. my guest con-
tritely asks to be allowed 10 pay for
special ceremony of cleansing. But
he himself Is without fault.
May the children of the faithful be
seated, and the holy scholar proceed
with the ceremony
AS he sat down / saw two fingers
extended from his padded sleeve. He
was letting me in for $40. But prob
ably it was either that or get torn
TO pieces in the mosque.
THE brother is right pronounced
the Ahoong unctuously. after cong
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-01-30
Battle of Wits Is Fought During Service in Chinese Mosqr

, moment of suspense. ''Shatan, the
Evil One, has been tripped up this
day. The ceremony will proceed, and
will be Immediately followed by the
ritual of publication of the sanctuary,
which shall be extended. through AL
labs mercy, to include the person OF
the son of the stranger, our guest"
1t was nearly noon when my host
and made our way back to his farm
stead. He wore q sanity composure,
and /, fear, look of gloom. Once
in my room, thanked him cere-
moniously.
1T is nothing" he replied. "You
see l am kai-toong. 1 have to ap-
plaud your unsupported and unneces-
sary generosity"
What generosity is that?' / asked
suspiciously.
You increased the portion Of thu
Ahoong 81. OF course. you meant thu
same proportion of increase to me?i
"Oh. of course. And the furthei
matter?"
Nothing. Only you must pay the
priest through me-
He left, and in a few minutes re-
turned with a gorgeous meal.
That. knew. would cost me moth
ing. For to the Moslem business Is
business. but hospitality is hospitality.
tCopyright. 1877
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-01-30

festival ceremony had taken place, for
| had lost track of the days in the
desert.
NO" answered my host, with wide
eyes lit is tomorrow at dawn. But
only the faithful attend. Did you
think to be present."
II came for no other reason" / as
sured him. II have often attended
the holy services in Kansu, and, in
one of the faithful themselves"
My host shook his head. Il am
kaitoong," he repeated, "but I'm
afraid the Ahoong would be greatly
opposed. It might be very unpleas-
ant for you"
But / have attended the most
sacred of your services" l insisted.
Il went with your Caliph Ma in
Ninghsia on the prophets birth
He jumped up. do you know
Great Man Map"
He is a personal friend. / have
eaten with him many times"
IF your highness will wait ] will
go TO the Ahoong," responded my
| friend. Perhaps he viii permit.
But / think very, very difficult"
Listen l stopped him. 1T will
| me to see that ceremony"
! He bowed and went out.
About shutdown he returned. Just
! as he entered my door the prayer call
! resounded from the mosque. He
! turned and made a genufleXion toward
/ Mecca, and then greeted me.
After you have said your prayers, -
| / deferred, although l was burning to
| hear the reply.
! Courtesy: / said them all this morn
| ing. We say them at one time for all
| day here. Saves much bother. The
! Ahoong is not very willing, but says
you may attend if you will fulfill
every rite. just as the congregation.
| When the offering of first fruits is re.
ceived, since you have none to give,
you may take up three dollars. l have
fsaved you the seven"
| Would you graciously accept them
as a souvenir
He bowed.
But how must I prepare for the
| rites?' / asked.
The principal thing is to have with
you your Winter garments to be
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-01-30

blessed. You will have TO put them on
and wear them the remainder of the
time while you are here"
'Well, | can send up this old suit,
indicating the coat and Knockers of
deerskin which / was wearing. But
I'm afraid it does not pass the regu-
lation for purity"
Never mind" said my kai-toong
friend. They are Very unusual. They
will pass"
But what will wear to the
mosque?"
II will lend you a suit of Chinese
clothes"
* - y x
THE next morning, long before
dawn. my host ratified my door,
and came in with a candle in one
hand and Chinese garments in the
other.
Now fold up your buckskins," he
said, land | will bring you a sacred
cloth to wrap them in. Then We'll
drink little date juice and go" He
came with q wrapping cloth of some
native linen. AS the stars began to
| fade out, we set off.
AS we passed homestead after home
stead, men and boys joined us, each
for the salaam mo word was spoken)
carrying similar ghostly bundles.
Thick mist, freezing cold, hung
| over the network OF small canals
which leads the life-giving water over
the fields. I imagined that many a
believer would have liked to open his
| bundle and avail himself of it's warmth
right there, but that, of course, was a
sacrilege beyond consideration.
| Pink dawn was in the sky when we
entered the sacred Enclosure. 1t was
parked out in beautiful designs. The
most striking thing was huge cres'
| cent of glorious red cockscomb flow
! ers, with a fountain for it's accom-.
| panying star Although the Moslem
| faith here kantedates the Ottoman
| power, and looks to Arabia rather
| than Turkey for it's inspiration and
| teachers, some mullah had brought
the Turkish symbol to this isolated
community.
We kicked off our shoes on the
stone portico of the mosque, and,
carefully adjusting our turbans. en-.
tered and sqYatted in long rows on
the heavy rugs before the Scripture
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-01-30

reading platform. which ran across
the end of the auditorium.
Presently the Ahoong stepped out.
He was gowned in a flowing white
robe, and three long boards hung from
his face, one from each cheek and one
from the chin AT his first call every
head touched the floor, and this aero
batic exercise was INDUCED in at fire.
quent intervals throughout the serv-
ice. He unrolled a scroll of the Koran
and read in badly-corrupted Arabic,
then repeated the conventional pray
err the congregation of male voices
joining at intervals In an impressive
chant
First fruits of the harvest were then
carried forward, blessed, and laid
down on the platform until 1t was dec
Grated like a county fair with millet,
wheat, barley, red rice, melons and
cheese.
When it came my turn, ] held out
my Chinese silver dollars. | had decid-
ed to be extra generous, and the
Ahoong, who was watching me fur
lively, almost stumbled in his litany
when he saw there were four instead
of three. He promptly put them, not
on the platform, but in his belt, and,
of course, no eyes peeped from under
the bowed heads except those of my
watcl1ful host.
x 4 X x
THIS concluded, the Ahoog took up
= the main ceremony of the morning
Beginning at the extreme left of the
front row, he summoned the worship
ers, one by one, to bring up their
bundles. Pronouncing brief blessing
over each one, he tore it open and
handed down first the trousers and
then the jacket, which the recipient,
muttering some litany. drew on before
the congregation.
The priest then knotted the tie.
strings of the jacket nearest the neck.
and left the worshiper to gather up
his cast-off clothing and finish but
toning up as he made his way back
to his seat. The Ahoong, noticed,
kept the wrapping cloths, folding
them roughly in heap at his feet.
He sold them back to his flock before
the next ceremony, / was later told.
My host was before me in line.
Coming back from the altar, he urged
me forward quickly. The Ahoons
jerked open my bundle and danglcd
the wrinkled huckskins between two