davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-07-19

government which has the guns.
Mr.. Cert, London's hero, goes into
the street.
ut was all so unusual, and
withaI, so peaceful, that / found
myself enjoying it.
ut was not until / arrived at
the Club that afternoon that 1
began to feel the first alarm.
There were no olives for the cock
tails. :"
Here is irony worthy of Mark
Twain.
London's own attitude toward his
fictional general strike is indicated
through the character of BERTHE
MesSener in the following scene:
"At the other end of the smok-
ing room, I ran into a group of
men punched excitedly and
angriIy around BERTHE Messener.
And BERTHE was stirring them up
and prodding them in his cool,
cynical way. BERTHE didn't care
about the strike. He didn't care
much about anything. He was
blase-at least in all the clean
things of life; the nasty things
had no attraction for him. He
was worth twenty millions, all of
it in safe investments, and he had
never done a tap of productive
work in his life-inherited it all
from his father and two uncles.
And he didn't care about any
thing, had no ambitions, no pas
sious, no desire to do the very
things he did so much better than
other men.
"'ThiS is sedition!' one man in
the group was crying. Another
called 1t revolt and revolution,
and another called it anarchy.
"T can't see it, BERTHE said. I
have been out in the streets all
morning. Perfect order reigns. j
never saw a more law-abiding
popuIace. There's no use calling
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-07-19
VI
CIergymen and Teachers


AMONG the prisoners was a
n clergyman from the neighbor-
hood of Sonnenburg. This man had
an excellent reputation in the
Protestant Church and was a zeal
Gus organizer of missions in South
Africa. But he had refused to
adhere to the German Christians,
the new religious movement created
by the Nazis. The Oppositionists,
that is, the followers of this clergy
man, were greatly prosecuted dur
ing the elections. In spite of this,
they elected fourteen representa-
tives 100000 votes, while the Nazis
elected only eight. AS a direct re-
suit the clergyman was imprisoned
at Sonnenburg. The Nazis were
delighted to get their hands on
him. We'll take care of him, !"
they said. They had him carry
their night-pots to the garbage
wagons and shook with laughter
at the spectacle.
He often witnessed the tortures
of the other prisoners. On one
occasion, he said that it would be
terrible if the seeds planted by the
Nazis would blossom and arise
from the earth to punish those who
are guilty Of all these atrocities"
The Nazis considered him danger
Gus and isolated him by putting
him in another wing.
A teacher from the neighborhood
of Sonnenburg, who had no in
terest at all in politics, was also
kept in captivity for many months.
He was i'll, suffered from govt. OF
what crime was he guilty? He
wrote a letter to the local govern
ment demanding action against a
Nazi clergyman who, he charged,
had raped several young girls be-
hind the pulpit of the village
church in the municipality where
the teacher lived. He was taken
to Sonnenburg. The Nazi clergy
man, on the other hand, retained
all his honors and duties until
October and was able to prevent
the release of the teacher.
One evening, the proprietor of
the dance hall at Sonnenburg in
vited the warden and all the Nazis
of the camp to come to his estab-
lishment and drink at his expense.
He drank a little too much him
self and sitting behind the bar
calmly announced that after all,
Adolf Hitler was an idiot" He
was Immediately arrested and
taken to the concentration camp.
The same evening a waiter from
the restaurant of "Waldfrieden"
(situated near the water at Son.
nenburg), and another, a national
socialist were also arrested. The
waiter was arrested because of an
incident with some of the Nazis
who had refused to pay for their
drinks. He lost his temper and
said, I'VE ought to wipe out this
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-07-19
Escape from the Nazis!
The Sonnenburg Torture Camp

prisoners had to scrub his organs
with a soap brush until the blood
ran.
Not satisfied With this, they
dressed him III a thin shirt that
only reached to his navel. He stood
this way for three hours in the
biting cold, while the Nazis shook
with laughter. During the whole
time, groups of these barbarians
walked by to look at this frightful
spectacle, exchanging obscene
stories and pleasantries.
Even this was not enough. The
same evening several Nazis went to
his cell and performed the most I'M
speakable acts of indecency on him.
Then they beat him until he
gasped his last breath. To make
it look like a suicide, they hung
him up, and put his hand against
his organs. The next day they told
the prisoners and the other Nazis,
giggling and laughing at their
humor, that the suicide" had mas
turbated until the last moment.
Some Of the prisoners who were
carpenters, made a black coffin,
and six of them were obliged to
carry it through the village to the
cemetery in their prison uniforms.
After them, walked the warden Of
the camp dressed in an evening suit
and a top hat-a mute demonstra-
ton of the Third Reich that dis
gusted even the inhabitants of Son.
nenburg.
TO Be Continued)
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-07-19
By ARLRA MCMAHON


! HONOR among thieves may have
II been disproved as an axiom, but
dishonor among bourgeois critics
and intellectuals is fast becoming a
blood bond! The academic Mr.. DIN
DoWnes, through his review in the
New York Times Book Review, OF
Sunday, July 8, co-operates with the
somnambulant composer Rachman-
inoff in as scurrilous an attack on
the Soviet Union as two such per-
feet little, middle class gentlemen
can be capable Of
Mr.. Downes uses the composers
biography, "Rachmaninof's Recol-
lections," as told to Oskar Won
Reisemann and published by the
Macmillan Company, as a spring.
board for airing his own anti-Soviet
views. He fondly recalls 1.-The sad
day when Rachmaninof arrived in
America for the second time in
1918, and shook his head and
growled, there is no Russia" Mr.
DoWne's far from pointing out the
error of this fallacious statement,
seems to fall a willing victim to it,
himself! It is hard to imagine, even
though favored child in the cosy
womb Of a bourgeois society, that
this eminent journalist and famous
composer is totally unaware Of the
achievements of the Soviet Union.
These well-read gentlemen don't
seem ever to have heard of Mag
nitogorsk, the White Sea Canal.
Dneiperstroy. the development of
Siberia and the other great accom-
plishments of the Russian people
since 1918. Or perhaps Mr.. Rach-
maninoff was mourning his coun-
try estate on the banks Of the Vol
chow River. In that case, even a
composer-landlord is in for a per-
manent period of mourning, for the
workers and peasants of Russia
have driven the capitalists and
landowners out forever.
Mr., Downes then continues his
review in a nostalgia vein and de-
clares This biography shows us the
Russia of the past, so beautiful to
those who knew it." The slightly
sadistic beauty Of famine, illiteracy,
pogroms and brutal suppression of
all human rights may appeal to the
exquisite Mr.. Downes, but then, he
was many miles and whole class,
removed from a cold, bare peasant
hut or a sinking Czarist prison.
Most of all the reviewer COM
ments sadly on Rachmaninoff, the
exile, the expatriated genius, who
mourns his lot in a we'll set up
summer home, La Pavilion, in
Clairefontaine, France If Rach-
maninof longs for his native land,
this sentiment has hardly shown its
head in his music Years before the
Russian Revolution, he was bitterly
opposed to the Nationalist move
ment among Russian composers and
he refused outright to assist in ar
ranging concerts to be given in
honor Of the modernist Scriabin,
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-07-19

liam Hargrave. Baritone
30-WOR-PauIine Alpert, Piano
WJz-Goldman Band Concert, New
York University Campus
WABC-Stevens Orch.
9.45-WOR-The Witchs Tale
-whiteman Orch; AL Jolson,
Comedian
WJz-Canadian Concert
-Confict-Dramatic Sketch
ACKNOWLEDGMENT Events-H. E. Read
WABC-Symphony Orch. Howard
Barlow, Conductor
l0:30-WOR-Davis Orch.
WJz-Archer Gibson, Organ
1o:45-WABC-Fats Waller, Songs
1i:o0-WEAF--Your Lover, Songs
WOR-Weather; Kahn Orch.
WJz-Davis Orch.
WABC-Vera Van, Contralto
f:i5-WBAF-Berger Orch.
WABC-Childs Orch
II 30-WEAF-Press-Ra News
WOR-Dantzig Orch.
WJZ-Press-Radio News
1:35-WEAF-Berrens Orch.
WJz-Johnson Orch.
11:45-WABC-Busse Orch
IL. 00-WEAF-Dance Music ALSO WABC.
WMCA, wO2, WEvD)
WJz-Milwaukee Philharmonic Or
chestrs, Frank Waller. Conductor
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-07-19
Chicago Council Comes to Aid of
Homeless Dogs, Files Plea of JobIess

ent ordinances on the handling Of
stray dogs by the pound.
Meantime, of course, human
strays will continue to sleep in the
parks, or will be herded into filthy
flop houses a good bit worse than
the dog pound as far as sanitation
is concerned. Unemployed are
probably expected to find some con-
ISOLATION in the fact that they don't
have to buy license for themselves
or wear a muzzle.
The Federation delegation, led by
zwolinski, candidate for Congress
in the Eighth District, and Sam
Hammersmarth, candidate for state
treasurer on the Communist ticket
pledged their organizations to re-
new the fight for the Workers Bill
(H. R. 1899, and force aldermen
to bring the question before the
council after it readjourns for the
fall sessions in September.
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-07-19
7 u n | N C. IN

ZOO P. M.-WEAF-Baseball Resume
WOR-Sports Resume-Ford Prick
WJZ-Martin Orch.
WABC-Belasco Orch.
7:15-WEAF-Gene and Glenn-Sketch
WOR-Comedy; Music
WABC-House Beside the Road
Sketch
7:30-WEAF-Shirley Howard, Songs; Trio
WOR-Talk-Harry Hershfield
WJz-Ed Lowry, Comedian
wABC-Grofe Orch.
7:45-WEAF-Sisters of the Skillet
wOR-The O'Neills-Sketch
WJz-Frank Bucks Adventures
wABC-Boake Carter, Commentator
s:o0-wEAF-vallee Orch; Soloists
WOR-Little Symphony Orch.
Philip James, Conductor; Elizabeth
Sheridan, Contralto
WJz-Grits and Gravy-Sketch
WABC-Kate Smith. Songs
s:l5-WABC-Current Topics-Dr. Walter
B. Pitkn. Author
:3o-wJz-Dorothy Page and John Fo-
garty, Songs
WABC-Philadelphia Orch. Concret
jose Iturbi, Conductor, Robin Hood
Dell, Paramount Park
O-WEAF-Captain Henrv's Show Boat
wOR-Rod and Gun Club
WJz-Death Valley Days-Sketch
a;l5-WOR-Della Baker, Soprano; Will
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-07-19

it names. It's not any of these
things. It's just what it claims
to be, a general strike, and it's
your turn to play, gentlemen
And wen play alright cried
Garfield, one of the traction mil
liOnaircs. Well show this dirt
where its place is-the beastsl
Wait till the government takes
hand
But where is the govern
ment?' BERTHE interposed. 1T might
as well be at the bottom of the
sea so far as you're concerned.
You don't know what's happen
ing at Washington. You don't
know whether you've got a gov
eminent or not
Don't you worry about that
Garfield blurted out.
II assure you Pm not worry
ing BERTHE smiled Ianguidly.
But it seems to me it's what you
fellows are doing. Look in the
glass, Garfield
Garfield did not look, for had
he looked, he would have seen a
very excited gentleman with
rumpled, iron-gray hair, flushed
face, mouth sulIen and vindictive,
and eyes wildly cleaning.
It's not right, / tell you,' little
Hanover said; and from his tone
was sure that he had already
said it number of times.
Now, that's going too far,
Hanover BERTHE replied. You fell
lows make me tired. You're all
Open-shop men. You've eroded
my ear-drums with your endless
gable for the open-shop and the
right of a man to work. You've
harangued along those lines for
years. Labor is doing nothing
wrong in going out on this gem
eraI strike. 1t is violating no law
of God nor man. Don't you talk,
Hanover. You've been ringing the
changes too long on the God
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-07-19
By PHILIP STERLING

JUST as the San Francisco gen.
y eral strike has quickened the
pulses of all those who realized the
measureless, all-embracing power of
a working class organized for ac-
ton, so Jack London must have
been moved when he wrote the
Dream of DebS" some 20 years ago.
The bourgeois press, marshalling
all its forces against the West Coast
strike, has already seized upon
quotations from London's pioneer
ing piece of proletarian fiction to
add color to the threats of famine
and violence" with which they are
preparing the ground for an armed
assault against the strike.
But read London's story today,
to the accompaniment of newsboys
crying, General strike, general
strike" and read it armed with an
understanding Of the author and
his times - and you know that he
has remained true to his working
class origins.
Jack London came from the pro-
letariat and he never ceased to feel
the power Of the working class pulls
ing through his own massive frame,
no matter how thoroughly magazine
publishers may have succeeded in
beguiling him with money, f1attery,
and literary honors.
To Jack London as to many
others of his day, Socialism was
not incompatible with petit-bour-
geois notions Of humanitarianism
and individualism. London, con-
fused by his contradictory beliefs,
sometimes expressed regret for the
"cruelties Of the class struggle" He
was abnormally influenced by
Nietsche's psuedo- biological APP
proach to social questions.
The result, in most of his writings
is an theological confusion, which
somehow, never married the pris-
tine purity Of his feeling of unity
with the working class.
In the light of such understand
ing it is possible to find in 1.-THE
Dream of Debs" an inspiring tribute
from lion-hearted man to the
vast power of the class from whose
loins he came.
UT AWOKE full an hour before my
customary time +. The hum
of the great live city was strangely
silent" Thus London's hero begins
his narrative. Reading the last
newspaper, he is to see for some
time, he discovers that a general
strike has been called all over the
United States.
But 1 laugh, as I read, at the
journals gloomy outlook. I know
better. ! had seen organized labor
worsted in too many conflicts. 1t
would be only a matter of days
when the thing would be settled.
This was national strike and
the government wouldn't take
long to break it."
Here we have hint of London's
method in the story. 1t is not Jack
London laughing at the general
strike. 1t is his hero, the rich,
SNUG clubman who has been born
to the blind belief that the work
ing class can never shake him off
its back as long as he controls the
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-07-19
"Times" Music Critic
And RGchm1aninOf Join
In attack on u. S. S. r.

who died IN 1917. his WORK ~
never been of the flesh and blood Of
the Russian people. How could Il
be? Rachmaninof the landowner,
who retired to Dresden to bring
forth the defeatist, still born Isle
Of the Dead" so beloved Of Car
negie Hall box-holders. Mr.. Downes.
bourgeois critic and radio commen-
tator, pictures Mr.. Rachmaninoff
reading with incurable melancholy
Soviet critics estimation Of his
work the author of works
which in their emotional and mem
tai effects are bourgeois through
and through the manufacturer
Of fox-trots Rachmaninof was
and is the servant and tool Of the
worst enemies Of the proletariat,
the world bourgeoisie and world
capitalism"
WHAT the Russian press has seen
" fit to say regarding Rach-
maninof is more than borne out by
this petty, carping, personalized at
tack on the Workers FatherIand in
his recollections.
Mr.. Downes is guilty in his Jealous
hatred of the Soviet Union of a
pair Of extremely odd statements.
He says, His own peasants, whom
he often had directed or even
worked with in the fields of his es-
tate, had turned against him, or at
least became discourteous and I'M
friendly, following the Lenin revo-
luton, after which, his property
confiscated, he was permitted, as an
artist the people had loved. to leave
the country. He escaped into Scan
dinavia and prepared for an
American tour" These two SEN
fences, in the first of which. Rach-
maninof is permitted" to leave
the country and in the second Of
which "he escapes" are a bit startl-
ing to those who have always inn
agined Mr.. Downes a master of cau-
tious writing. The self-contradic-
tons in these two sentences have
that same slight Whit of asofetida
that is shared by that other collec-
ton Of White Guardist misinforma-
ton known as Escape from the So
VETS" and sponsored by the Book
of-the-M Month Club.
The discourtesy of Mr.. Rachman-
inoff's peasants is brought by Mr..
Downes, perhaps, as a timely warn
ing to other landowners in other
countries. It may be that he is
warning Mr. Morgan, Mr.. Rookie
Teller, ct al, of how the working
class will react to their present
masters here in America. If so, his
Jealous, almost wifely, considera-
ton for the sensibilities of the capi-
talist class had better be rewarded
now. 1t won't be later.
To paraphrase an American ac-
tress who is better known for her
bizarre behavior than her talents
TITS just too, too tragic about Mr..
and his discourteous
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-07-19
Stage and Screen
San Francisco Strike Pictures
NoU Shouting at Acme

Uncensored pictures of the strike
situation in San Francisco are now
being shown at the Acme Theatre.
These pictures were taken by spe-
cial Acme representative on the
coast. New pictures of the strike
situation will be added daily as soon
as they reach New York from the
coast.
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-07-19
" H A T. S o N
Thursday

GARDEN PARTY, given by Stuyvessnt
Br. American League Against War and
Fascism, Childrens Center, 81 E. 18th ST..
$50 pm, Pilot. piano; Kozekevitch. songs;
Prof" Machey doing his stuff. Dancing,
iced refreshments. Subscription zoe. I'm
case of rain party will be held indoorsl
Y. C. L. SECTION 2, Open Membership
Meeting, 7:30 pm, Spartacus Club, 1859 W.
25th St. Report by Gil Green, National
Secretary YCL., on 7th National Con-
vention and tasks Of the Young Commu-
mist League. Everybody invited. Adm. free.
NEGRO SLAVERY IN AMERICA, lecture
by Otto Hall at Harlem Workers School,
200 W. 135th st., Room 214-A, 7:3o pm.
Adm Csc
OAKLEY JOHNSON speaks on What's
Happening in ItaIy?" United Front Sup
porters, II W. 18th St., $3.50 pm. Adm.
15c.
OPEN MEMBERSHIP and Mass Meeting
Of the Coney Island and West End Sec
ton of the LID, at 5000 Coney Island
Ave, $50 pm. Workers and mpathizers
are welcome. r. B. Moore will speak on
"The Glass Struggle"
GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING.
Film g. Photo League, u E. 18th St,
3 pm.
EMERY JOHNSON speaks on 'N.R.A.
and the Worker" at the Ernst Thaelmann
Br 585 TWO, 2345 Coney Island Ave,
between AYES. T & U, $50 pm.
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-07-19
Friday

MIDSUMMER GARDEN PARTY by
Provisional Committee of the Ny. County
Unemployment Council, at Childrens Gen.
ter, 81 E. 18th st. Entertainment by
National Negro Theatre, Mara Tartar.
and others. In case Of rain party will
be held indoors.
OPEN AIR MOVIES - THE Patriots"
and Eskimo Boy" at White Plains
Theatre, 217i White Plains Ave near
Pelham Parkway $50 pm Auspices:
Pelham Parkway Workers Club. Adm. 15c
MOVIE AND DANCE at Pierre Degeyter
Club, E. 18th St, $3.50 pm Important
film showing Bloody Memorial Day in
Los Angeles Refreshments. Adm. Csc
STUDIO PARTY and Concert given by
New Duncan Dance Group. 1903 W. 14th
St. Rose Feldman. willy Daxeil musical
saw player, refreshments, dancing. Cool
of on the roof. Subscription Csc.
OPEN AIR CONCERT and Bro Bidian
Celebration at Frimkin's Villa 4724 Beach
47th St, Sea Gate. on Saturday, July 21st
at $50 pm. Celebrated artists will par
ticipate. Subscription 35c. Auspices: Icor
Of Brighton and Coney Island and F.S.U
OF Sea Gate. In case of rain the follow
ing evening.
EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY The Work
ers Book Shop, so E. 18th St.. N.Y.C.
viii close daily at 8 pm. and Saturday
at pm. till Labor Day Shop early for
the many special now available
MOONLIGHT SAIL and Dance sponsored
by the New Masses and Friends Of the
Soviet Union. Saturday night, July 81 on
SIS. Ambassador. leaving from Pier i
South Ferry, at 7:30 pm. Tickets 75c in
advance, 81 at the Piei
The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-07-19
Jack LOndOn's "The Dream of Debs"
Is Tribute to Power of General Strike

given right to work .. or not to
work; you can't escape the cOrol-
larry. &C.. You've got labor down and
gouged it, and now labOr's got
you down and is gOuging you,
that's all, and you're squealing.
How many strikes have you
won by starving labor into sub
mission? Well, labor's worked
out a scheme whereby to starve
YOU into submission. 1t wants the
closed shop, and if it can get it
by starving you, starve you sail
THROUGHOUT his narrative,
l London refers repeatedly to the
orderliness of the strikers and the
iron proletarian discipline they
maintain and the fact that the
violence comes from the panicky
ruling class.
Though he pictures in his story
scenes of disorder attendant on any
class conflict of major proportions,
he does so not to indict organized
proletarian action, but the better
to portray the indomitable courage
of the workers in the face of dan
gerous obstacles.
Near collapse from hunger, Cert
finds his way into the home of a
strikers family where he is re-
vived by food and kind treatment.
While he is fed, he is informed
that all the strikers demands have
been granted and that normal
course Of life is being restored.
g. Everywhere the employers
association had given in Har-
rison is still my chauffeur. It was
part of the conditions of the I. L.
w. that all Of its members should
be reinstated on their old positions
f.. the rest of my servants are
with me they we're pretty hard
pressed when they deserted me
with the food and silver. And now
I can't discharge them. They have
all been organized"
London concludes the story with
MIR. Cerf's observation that:
"The tyranny Of organized labor
is getting beyond human endur-
ance. Something must be done"
But let no careless reader
imagine that London ever shared
this sentiment with his hero. 1t is
the only ending such narrative
could have at the hands of pro-
letarian author who was fond of
Olympian laughter.