davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-11-17

many years ago or many blocks
from here-an evening others in
this room remember-which might
tell us. It was his 80th birthday.
Frost had been in New York
where every possible honor, in
Guiding some not possible, had
been paid him, and, returning
here to Amherst and his friends,
he fell to talking of what honor
really was, or would be: To leave
behind him, as he put it, "a few
poems it would be hard to get
rid Of"
It sounds like modest wish
but Frost knew, as his friends
knew, that it wasn't. Poems are
not monumentS-ShapeS Of stone
to stand and stand. Poems are
speaking voices. And poem that
is hard to get rid of is a voice
that is hard to get rid Of. And
a voice that is hard to get rid
of is a man. What Frost wanted
for himself in the midst Of all
that praise was what Keats had
wanted for himself in the midst
of no praise at all, to be among
the English poets at his death
the poets of the English tongue.
Which means something very
different from being talked about
or passed from mouth to mouth
by reputation. Reputation-above
all literary reputation-is a poor
thing. It rises and falls. Con-
Sideration leads to reconsidera-
ton, fashions change and no one
yet has heard the verdict Of pos
terity because posterity has never
come. Frost will be praised and
then neglected and then praised
again like all the others. 1t wasn't
reputation he was thinking of
that wintry evening; it was some
thing else To be among the Eng
lSh poets is to be-to go on being.
Frost wanted to go on being. And
he has.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-11-17

An unusual appreciation Of
one Of Americas finest writer's
by another one Of our finest
writers was heard recently at
the dedication Of the Robert
Frost Library at Amherst Col
lege. It came In q speech made
there by Archibald MacLeish
and It was introduced into the
Congressional Record on Octo-
Der 20 by Representative COnte
Of Massachusetts,. This Is the
text Except for . few intro
duct0ry paragraphs):
There is an old Gaelic tale Of
the West Highlands called 1.-THE
Brown Bear Of the Green Glen"
which has a whisky bottle in it
so definitely full that not q drop
can be added, and so fabulously
copious that nothing Is lost, no
matter how you drink it. FroSt's
fame is like that bottle; it can't
be added to, because it is full
already, and it won't draw down
however it is drunk. We may
name a library for him. We may
60 further than that; we may
give his name to the first general
library ever to be called for a
poet in America, which is what
this library will be. We may pass
even that superlative Of honor;
we may designate as his the first
general library but one in the
entire world to bear poets name
the one being the A. s. Pushkin
State Public Library in fartheSt
Kazakstan in the USSR. We
may do what we please. Nothing
whatever will have happened to
the bottle; it will merely con-
tinue to be full. a
This, I suggest. Is a phenome-
non, which might well concern
us on this particular occasion
the secret OF that bottle. Is it the
mere bulk and body Of the fame
which keeps it so miraculously
trimming? The fact that no poet
in English, with the single excep-
ton Of Yeats himself, had as
much fame in his lifetime as
Frost had at the end of his? Is
it the quantity Of the reputation,
the number Of people who knew
Frost's name or recognized him
on the streets or crowded into
those wonderful talkings which
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-11-17

tracks Of the North Central Rail-
road and a baggage car fitted out
as q diner was added. There was
another switch over at Hanover
Junction to the tracks of the Get
tysburg & Hanover Railroad, and
Lincoln was called to the rear
platform to greet a small crowd
gathered at the station. WELL" he
smiled, you have seen me, and
according to the general expert
ence you have seen less than you
expected to see." The crowd
cheered.
The rain had stopped by the
time the train pulled into the
little brick station at Gettysburg
shortly before 6. and a big har-
vest moon was climbing into the
frosty Pennsylvania night. A
large enthusiastic crowd accom-
panied the President as he walked
two blocks up the hill to the
house Of Attorney David Wills,
chairman Of the cemetery board
Of commissioners. The Wills
house, a sturdy yellow brick af-
fair, still stands overlooking the
public square. 1t and the little
railroad station are Gettysburg's
main surviving reminders of the
Lincoln visit.
After dining with Everett, Gov.
Andrew Curtin Of Pennsylvania
and other dignitaries In the Wills
home, the President was sere-
naded by the fifth New York
artillery band, but he declined
to address the crowd in the square.
I'm my position" he begged
off, ut Is somewhat important
that I should not say foolish
things"
mot If you can help it." cried
an impairment voice.
To which Lincoln good natured-
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-11-17
Our Greatest Speech Is 100 Years Old This Week

shorthand. Alexander Gardner.
Mathew Brady's man on the
scene, crouched beneath the black
cloth of his camera waiting for
an emotional gesture that never
came. In four minutes, the speech
was over and Gardner had missed
his shot Gilbert borrowed the
Presidents manuscript to fill out
his notes and telegraphed the
complete text to his Philadelphia
office. From thence, it was sped
to newspapers across the country.
Pleased the Crowd
According to Gilbert's account.
the crowd applauded at least five
times during the speech and there
was sustained applause at the
end, but Lincoln was plainly dis
satisfied with his performance.
'Lamon, that speech won't
scour," he said to Ward Lamon.
1T is a flat failure and the
people are disappointed" Scour
was an old farm expression used
to describe wet soil falling freely
from the mold board Of a pillow.
The ceremonies concluded with
the singing Of another dirge by
a quartet, a benediction by Rev.
H. L. Baugher, president Of Get
tysburg College, and an artillery
gun salute. Back at the Wills
house for lunch and a hand shak-
ing reception line, the President
again expressed his diSsatisfac-
ton to Lamon: II tell you,
Lamon, that speech fell on the
audience like a wet blanket. I
am distressed about 1t. I ought
to have prepared it more"
On the train back to Wash
ington that night the President
suddenly fell Ill with what his
doctor later diagnosed as varia-
loid, mild form Of small pox.
Feverish and exhausted, he
stretched out on a side seat Of
the drawing room car with a cold
towel over his head.
Little did he realize, as the
train rumbled through the dark
Pennsylvania night and across
the rolling Maryland countryside,
that he had delivered one Of the
masterpieces of American litera-
ture, that in 270 simple words he
had summed UP the national pur-
pose for all times, that school chill
dren for generations to come would
memorize those immortal words.
that they would be beaten in
bronze and craven in granite,
that people all over the world
would find renewed courage and
inspiration in them, and that
history would prove him wrong.
The world did note and long
remember what he said at Get
tysburg on that fine fall day.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-11-17

receive the honor we now pay
him and to relinquiSh a great
name he does not own, having
bequeathed it to the future-three
syllables to be carved above
doorway Frost and stone to
age together. In fact, however,
if one includes among his facts
the fact I speak Of, these roles
are quite reversed: Like the citi-
zenS of Colonus at the death of
Oedipus in Sophocoles' great play
the passive part is ours. He gives:
We take.
Not that Frost was Oedipus
precisely-except, perhaps, in his
constant readiness to talk back to
SphinxeS. But there is something
in the ending of that myth that
gives this myth of ours its mean
ing. You remember how it goes
the wretched, unhappy, humbled,
hurt old king. badgered and abused
by fate, gulled by every trick the
gods can play him, tangled in pat
ricide and incest and in every
guilt, snarled in a web of faithful
falsehoods and affectionate de-
ceptions and kind lies, exiled by
his own prescription, blinded by
his own hands, who, dying, has so
great a gift to give that Thebes
and Athens quarrel over which
shall have him. You remember
what the gift is. too. 81 am here"
says Oedipus to Theseus, King of
Athens, Ito give you something,
my own beaten self, no feast for
the eyes" And why Is such a gift
worth having? Because Oedipus
is about to die. But why should
death give value to a gift like that?
Because of the place where death
will meet him:
II shall disclose to you, o son of
AegeuS,
What is appointed for your city
and for you
Something that time will never
wear away.
Presently now without a hand to
guide me
shall lead you to the place where
must die"
And what is that place? The
Furies' wood which no man dares
to enter: The frightening grove
sacred to those implacable pur-
suers, ministers Of guilt, who have
bounded him across the world.
These things are mysteries, not
to be explained
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-11-17


Press reaction to Lincoln's
Gettysburg Address was mixed
For the most part, anti-admin-
iStration papers attacked the
speech and administration papers
praised 1t.
Here is a sampling:
1.-THE cheek Of every American
must tingle with shame as he
reads the silly, flat and dish
watery utterances Of the man
who has to be pointed out to
intelligent foreigners as the
President Of the United States"
The Chicago Times.
"a perfect gem. Deep in feel
ing, compact in thought and
expression" - The Springfield
Mass Republican.
I'VE pass over the silly re-
marks Of the President. For
the credit of the Nation we are
willing that the veil Of oblivion
shall be dropped over him and
they shall no more be repeated
or thought of."-The Harris
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-11-17
He Gives, We Take .

It is this fact-this actual and
not at all imaginary or pretended
fact-I wish to speak of for a
moment: The persistence of this
man. 1t has a certain relevance
to what we do here. On the sur
face Of these proceedings FroSt's
part In them Is purely passive:
Nothing Is asked Of him but to
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-11-17
The Triumphant Self

dI I1lC CllO.
The Triumphant Self
Frost, I said, was not Oedipus,
and so he wasn't. But he, too, has
that gift to give. And can imag-
inc some late student reading his
poems in the library that bears his
name and feeling, like TheSeus,
that the beaten and triumphant
self has somehow, and mysteri-
ouSly, been given him-a self not
unlike the old Theban kings.
QuarrelSome? Certainly Il and
not with men alone but gods.
Tangled in misery? More than
most men. But despairing? No.
Defeated by the certainty of
death? Never defeated. Fright
ened of the dreadful wood? Not
frightened either. A rebellious,
brave, magnificent, far-wandertng,
unbowed old man who made his
finest music out of manhood and
met the Furies on their own dark
ground.
We do not live, I know, in Ath-
ems. We live now in an insignifi-
cant, remote, small suburb of the
universe. Reality, if one can speak
still of reality, is out beyond us in
the hght-years somewhere or far
Their inward than our eyes can see
in the always redivisible diviSibiIi-
ties of matter that is only matter
to eyes as dim and dull as ours.
Homer'S heroic world where men
could face their deStinieS and die
becomes to us, with our more COM
prehenSive information, the alb
surd world Of Sartre where men
can only die. And yet, though all
our facts are changed, nothing
has been changed in fact; we still
live lives And lives still lead to
death. And those who live a life
that leads to death still need the
gift that OedipuS gave Athens, the
gift of self. of beaten self, of wan
dering. defeated, exiled self that
can survive, endure, turn upon
the dark purSuers, face its unin-
telligible destiny with blinded
eyes and make a meaning Of it
self, above all else, without self.
pity.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-11-17

established. dedicated to nothing
but the manufacture, in larger
and larger quantities and in
shorter periods of time, of crude,
bulk reputation: we have seen its
fruits. Cry not to see themO If
great actresses are in short sup
ply as they invariably are, two
or three to q century being about
all the natural processes can pro-
duee, the industry will assemble
you q dozen assorted greatest
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-11-17

ports your sons health Is a great
deal better and he will be out
today"
The ceremonies finally got IN
derway at high noon with the
Birgfield Band Of Philadelphia
playing a dirge and the Rev.
Thomas Stockton, chaplain Of the
House Of Representatives, inton-
ing the opening prayer. As the
Marine Band struck up "Old Hun
bred" the President settled back
in q battered settee on the plat
form, thanked by Seward on his
left and Everett on his right. The
wooden platform, erected where
the soldiers national monument
now stands. faced northwest
across the site Of the first days
battle and afforded a splendid
view Of Oak Ridge, the tower of
the old dorm at Gettysburg COL
lege and, shimmering in the dis
tant haze, the South Mountain
range.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-11-17
Everett's Long Speech

Benjamin French, officer in
charge Of public buildings in
Washington, introduced Everett.
For the next hour and so minutes,
in deep organ-like tones, the 10
year-old spellbinder reviewed
funeral customs in ancient
Athens, described the three-day
battle at Gettysburg in detail,
paid tribute to those who died
there and vigorously assailed the
States Rights position. Once when
he mistakenly said Lee for Meade,
Lincoln corrected him audibly. At
the conclusion Of his address,
Everett was wrapped in a
blanket, Lincoln and Seward came
forward to pump his hand and
the crowd applauded enthusiastic
cally.
Next, the Baltimore Glee Club
sang an ode written for the oc-
caSion by French. During their
rendition, Lincoln extracted a
pair Of steel bowed spectacles
from a metallic case, produced
his manuscript from an inside
pocket and proceeded to study
it. The crowd fell silent and
ceased It's stirring as Ward H.
Lamon, marshal Of the District
Of Columbia. introduced the Pres
ident. Some had been on their
feet for more than four hours.
-Four score and seven years
ago." Lincoln began in a squeaky,
slightly falsetto voice that never
theless carried we'll in the clear
autumn air to the back Of the
crowd.
Directly in front Of him, As
ISOLATED Press Reporter Joseph L.
Gilbert scribbled furiously in
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-11-17
Finishes the Speech

At Q O'Clock, Lincoln received a
telegram from Secretary Of War
Edwin Stanton reporting that his
son had improved slightly. With
his Negro servant William John
ston he retired to his bedroom
on the second floor to finish the
first draft Of his speech on a
piece Of foolscap borrowed from
Wills. An hour later. he gathered
his papers together and went next
door to show the speech to
Seward, who was staying at the
home Of Robert Harper, editor
Of the local paper.
After breakfast next morning,
Lincoln rewrote the speech again
while waiting for the procession
to start toward the battlefield.
Gettysburg, a town Of 2,100, had
swelled to more than $4,000, with
more visitors arriving hourly by
foot and carriage and by special
trains from Washington, Balti-
more and Philadelphia. Souvenir
hunters roamed over Little Round
Top and CUPS Hill, the Devils
Den and Cemetery Ridge. hunt
ing for bullets, buttons, shell
fragments, canteens, muddy KNAPP
sacks and other mementos Of the
bloody battle of four months ago.
Only lib Of the more than
5000 Union dead had been re-
buried beneath the low wooden
crosses in the new cemetery. and
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-11-17

it would be seven years before
the Confederate dead were re-
moved to cemeteries in Rich
mond, Charleston and Savannah.
Amid the skeletons of horses and
the scattered equipment, collins
protruded here and there where
the rain had washed away the
thin cover of earth hastily tossed
on the graves by surviving COM
rades. People in Gettysburg
blamed the high incidence of sick
ness that fall on the condition
Of the battlefield.
March TO Cemetery
More than an hour late in
getting started, the procession
finally moved up Baltimore street
under q cloudless sky in perfect
SO degree Indian summer weather.
Lincoln, in q Prince Albert coat,
white gauntlets and q tall stove
pipe hat that still bore a black
crepe for Willie's death. sat
astride a beautiful chestnut horse,
"the largest in the Cumberland
Valley" Even so. he seemed to
dwarf the animal. with his long
legs almost touching the ground.
The march to the cemetery took
only Is minutes, but there was
another hour-long delay because
Everett was off touring the battle
field with Prof. Michael Jacobs
of Gettysburg College.
During the long wait, Lincoln
was handed up another telegram
from Stanton containing some
good news. Burnside was safe
though still threatened at Knox
vile, Grant had started a big
battle at Chattanooga and, best
news of all, Mrs. Lincoln re-
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-11-17

that no one really had intended
for him to speak.
The orator Of the day, as every
schoolboy knows, was Edward
Everett, former Secretary Of State,
United States Senator, Governor
Of Massachusetts, and president
Of Harvard, whose Nationwide
lecture tour had helped save
Mount Vernon as a national
shrine. Such was Everett's fame
as an orator that the dedication
date Of the little 17-acre military
cemetery at Gettysburg had been
changed from October % to No
vember 10 to accommodate his
schedule.
Lincoln got into the act by
accepting the same printed in
yitation that had been mailed
TO hundreds Of others. Frankly
surprised and o trifle embar-
raised at his acceptance, the
board Of commissioners repre-
senting the II Union States which
had joined to purchase the GEM
etery land quickly followed up
with Q more personal invitation
IN which they called on the Pres
ident to make "a few appropriate
remarks" after the Everett speech.
Lincoln on AfterthOught
Clark e. Carr Of Galesburg,
the Illinois member Of the board,
recalled later the decision to ask
the President to say q few words
came definitely "as an after
thought"
Contrary to persistent legend,
most historians doubt that Lin
coin jotted his speech down on
the back Of an envelope aboard
the train to Gettysburg. He
probably began work on It at
the White House on Tuesday
morning. November II, two days
before 1t was to be delivered.
writing at least the first page
OF 1t on Executive Mansion
stationery. Concentration must
have been difficult, for the Pres
ident had Q great deal on his
mind. The war In the West was
going badly. A budget message
was impending before Congress.
and he had put 1t aside to sort
out his Gettysburg thoughts. His
political fortunes were then at
such Q low ebb that one Of his
own cabinet members, Secretary
Of the Treasury Salmon Chase,
was making noises like o presi-
Dental candidate.
Thaddeus Stevens, for one, re-
garded the President as q dead
card" In the political deck. Upon
hearing that Secretary Of State
William Seward would accompany
Lincoln to Gettysburg, he sneered,
The dead going to eulogize the
dead"
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-11-17
Son III

On top Of all that, his best pal
In the world, 10-year-old Tad
Lincoln, lay sick Of the fever In an
upstairs bedroom. Mrs. Lincoln
was beside herself with worry.
Less than two years earlier, little
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-11-17

But you will understand when
you have come there"
The gift that Oedipus has to
give is a great gift because that
beaten suffering self, no feast for
the eyes, faces the dark pursuers
at the end.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-11-17
By HUGH A. MULLIGAN
$1,000 Pres STAFF Writer

GETTYSBURG-One hundred
years ago this week. with vultures
wheeling overhead and the skel-
etons Of horses still scattered
about the landscape, Abraham
Lincoln mounted q wooden plat
form on the battlefield at
Gettysburg to deliver the most
famous address In American
history.
The odd part about 1t was
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-11-17

An account Of the Gettysburg
address as reported In The Star
in 1853 is in tOday's issue of
Sunday, The Stars magazine
section.
Evening star., 1963-03-22
Doors Are Reversed
In New Prison

CLEARWATER. Fla. (AP)-
Someone put the jail cell doors
inside out.
Sheriff Don Genung said an
inspection Of the new IS mil
lion jail courthouse revealed
workmen had hung 10 per cent
Of the steel cell doors so they
opened In instead OF out. "Very
inconvenient." he said.
Evening star., 1963-03-22

Honest ouollty and Dependable
Service hove mode US one OF
the largest OR conditioning
contractors In the D. C., Nd.
and Vo. oreo.
Evening star., 1963-03-22

housing chute bag oetUoy this otoeh
eliminate the need rake this This Toro will vocUUm
lawn of papers, small tgs gross evenly ceon
See odoy at t1echineerl
Evening star., 1963-03-22
INsTALLEp TO YOUR
THIS I GUARANTEES

BY Walt Kelly

In An condlilonlnu yovs homs We will
vss top qvoiliY osods a moieFlols ex.
slvsiVely, with iklllsd labof ond me
nosi-vp-io-dois designs. Our work Il Of
such exceptional qVollty fhoi ! will give
you on vneondiilonol written gvoroniss
on oil woFhmunshlp ond moierlol. Az
work Will Be done BY our own employ.
sest men with monY Yeers og sspeflsnes.
end must meet your SATISFACTION be.
fore The lob u completed. honestly be.
llsve ihai this u tho most ovisiondlae
hone OH conditioning offer ony ploes IN
ihs United sioiss iodoy.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-08-11
Howard Alumni
To Hold Reunion

About one hundred former
students of Howard Universe
tvs World War II Amy spe-
cial engineering training pro-
gram will stage a three-day re-
union at the university begin
ming Thursday. The returning
alumni are among about 800
who attended the courses from
June 1913 to March 1914.
Among the former students
who will attend the reunion
are Luke c. Moore, U. s. Mar
shall for the District; James L.
Watson, a New York State
Senator; former Judge John
r. Hargrove Of Baltimore and
Edward Sylvester, assistant to
the Assistant Secretary of La
Dor for International Affairs,
Other members Of the class
have become engineers, doc
tors, lawyers, teachers and
dentists. -Four chose Amy ca
reerS.