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HE house of the late Horace Vernon was a modern villa of prosperous appearance; but, on this sunny September morning, a palpable atmosphere of gloom seemed to overlie it. This made itself perceptible even to the toughened and unimpressionable nerves of Inspector Dunbar. As he mounted the five steps leading up to the door, glancing meanwhile at the lowered blinds at the windows, he wondered if, failing these evidences and his own private knowledge of the facts, he should have recognized that the hand of tragedy had placed its mark upon this house. But when the door was opened by a white-faced servant, he told himself that he should, for a veritable miasma of death seemed to come out to meet him, to envelop him.

Within, proceeded a subdued activity: somber figures moved upon the staircase; and Inspector Dunbar, having presented his card, presently found himself in a well-appointed library.

At the table, whereon were spread a number of documents, sat a lean, clean-shaven, sallow-faced man, wearing gold-rimmed pince-nez; a man whose demeanor of business-like gloom was most admirably adapted to that place and occasion. This was

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 Mr. Debnam, the solicitor. He gravely waved the detective to an armchair, adjusted his pince-nez, and coughed, introductorily.

“Your communication, Inspector,” he began (he had the kind of voice which seems to be buried in sawdust packing), “was brought to me this morning, and has disturbed me immeasurably, unspeakably.”

“You have been to view the body, sir?”

“One of my clerks, who knew Mrs. Vernon, has just returned to this house to report that he has identified her.”

“I should have preferred you to have gone yourself, sir,” began Dunbar, taking out his notebook.

“My state of health, Inspector,” said the solicitor, “renders it undesirable that I should submit myself to an ordeal so unnecessary—so wholly unnecessary.”

“Very good!” muttered Dunbar, making an entry in his book; “your clerk, then, whom I can see in a moment, identifies the murdered woman as Mrs. Vernon. What was her Christian name?”

“Iris—Iris Mary Vernon.”

Inspector Dunbar made a note of the fact.

“And now,” he said, “you will have read the copy of that portion of my report which I submitted to you this morning—acting upon information supplied by Miss Helen Cumberly?”

“Yes, yes, Inspector, I have read it—but, by the way, I do not know Miss Cumberly.”

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

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 “Miss Cumberly,” explained the detective, “is the daughter of Dr. Cumberly, the Harley Street physician. She lives with her father in the flat above that of Mr. Leroux. She saw the body by accident—and recognized it as that of a lady who had been named to her at the last Arts Ball.”

“Ah!” said Debnam, “yes—I see—at the Arts Ball, Inspector. This is a mysterious and a very ghastly case.”

“It is indeed, sir,” agreed Dunbar. “Can you throw any light upon the presence of Mrs. Vernon at Mr. Leroux’s flat on the very night of her husband’s death?”

“I can—and I cannot,” answered the solicitor, leaning back in the chair and again adjusting his pince-nez, in the manner of a man having important matters—and gloomy, very gloomy, matters—to communicate.

“Good!” said the inspector, and prepared to listen.

“You see,” continued Debnam, “the late Mrs. Vernon was not actually residing with her husband at the date of his death.”

“Indeed!”

“Ostensibly”—the solicitor shook a lean forefinger at his vis-a-vis—“ostensibly, Inspector, she was visiting her sister in Scotland.”

Inspector Dunbar sat up very straight, his brows drawn down over the tawny eyes.

“These visits were of frequent occurrence, and

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 usually of about a week’s duration. Mr. Vernon, my late client, a man—I’ll not deny it—of inconstant affections (you understand me, Inspector?), did not greatly concern himself with his wife’s movements. She belonged to a smart Bohemian set, and—to use a popular figure of speech—burnt the candle at both ends; late dances, night clubs, bridge parties, and other feverish pursuits, possibly taken up as a result of the—shall I say cooling?—of her husband’s affections”…

“There was another woman in the case?”

“I fear so, Inspector; in fact, I am sure of it: but to return to Mrs. Vernon. My client provided her with ample funds; and I, myself, have expressed to him astonishment respecting her expenditures in Scotland. I understand that her sister was in comparatively poor circumstances, and I went so far as to point out to Mr. Vernon that one hundred pounds was—shall I say an excessive?—outlay upon a week’s sojourn in Auchterander, Perth.”

“A hundred pounds!”

“One hundred pounds!”

“Was it queried by Mr. Vernon?”

“Not at all.”

“Was Mr. Vernon personally acquainted with this sister in Perth?”

“He was not, Inspector. Mrs. Vernon, at the time of her marriage, did not enjoy that social status to which my late client elevated her. For many years she held no open communication with

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 any member of her family, but latterly, as I have explained, she acquired the habit of recuperating—recuperating from the effects of her febrile pleasures—at this obscure place in Scotland. And Mr. Vernon, his interest in her movements having considerably—shall I say abated?—offered no objection: even suffered it gladly, counting the cost but little against”…

“Freedom?” suggested Dunbar, scribbling in his notebook.

“Rather crudely expressed, perhaps,” said the solicitor, peering over the top of his glasses, “but you have the idea. I come now to my client’s awakening. Four days ago, he learned the truth; he learned that he was being deceived!”

“Deceived!”

“Mrs. Vernon, thoroughly exhausted with irregular living, announced that she was about to resort once more to the healing breezes of the heather-land”—Mr. Debnam was thoroughly warming to his discourse and thoroughly enjoying his own dusty phrases.

“Interrupting you for a moment,” said the inspector, “at what intervals did these visits take place?”

“At remarkably regular intervals, Inspector: something like six times a year.”

“For how long had Mrs. Vernon made a custom of these visits?”

“Roughly, for two years.”

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 “Thank you. Will you go on, sir?”

“She requested Mr. Vernon, then, on the last occasion to give her a check for eighty pounds; and this he did, unquestioningly. On Thursday, the second of September, she left for Scotland”…

“Did she take her maid?”

“Her maid always received a holiday on these occasions; Mrs. Vernon wired her respecting the date of her return.”

“Did any one actually see her off?”

“No, not that I am aware of, Inspector.”

“To put the whole thing quite bluntly, Mr. Debnam,” said Dunbar, fixing his tawny eyes upon the solicitor, “Mr. Vernon was thoroughly glad to get rid of her for a week?”

Mr. Debnam shifted uneasily in his chair; the truculent directness of the detective was unpleasing to his tortuous mind. However:—

“I fear you have hit upon the truth,” he confessed, “and I must admit that we have no legal evidence of her leaving for Scotland on this, or on any other occasion. Letters were received from Perth, and letters sent to Auchterander from London were answered. But the truth, the painful truth came to light, unexpectedly, dramatically, on Monday last”…

“Four days ago?”

“Exactly; three days before the death of my client.” Mr. Debnam wagged his finger at the inspector again. “I maintain,” he said, “that this

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 painful discovery, which I am about to mention, precipitated my client’s end; although it is a fact that there was—hereditary heart trouble. But I admit that his neglect of his wife (to give it no harsher name) contributed to the catastrophe.”

He paused to give dramatic point to the revelation.

“Walking homeward at a late hour on Monday evening from a flat in Victoria Street—the flat of—shall I employ the term a particular friend?—Mr. Vernon was horrified—horrified beyond measure, to perceive, in a large and well-appointed car—a limousine—his wife!”…

“The inside lights of the car were on, then?”

“No; but the light from a street lamp shone directly into the car. A temporary block in the traffic compelled the driver of the car, whom my client described to me as an Asiatic—to pull up for a moment. There, within a few yards of her husband, Mrs. Vernon reclined in the car—or rather in the arms of a male companion!”

“What!”

“Positively!” Mr. Debnam was sedately enjoying himself. “Positively, my dear Inspector, in the arms of a man of extremely dark complexion. Mr. Vernon was unable to perceive more than this, for the man had his back toward him. But the light shone fully upon the face of Mrs. Vernon, who appeared pale and exhausted. She wore a conspicuous motor-coat of civet fur, and it was this which first

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 attracted Mr. Vernon’s attention. The blow was a very severe one to a man in my client’s state of health; and although I cannot claim that his own conscience was clear, this open violation of the marriage vows outraged the husband—outraged him. In fact he was so perturbed, that he stood there shaking, quivering, unable to speak or act, and the car drove away before he had recovered sufficient presence of mind to note the number.”

“In which direction did the car proceed?”

“Toward Victoria Station.”

“Any other particulars?”

“Not regarding the car, its driver, or its occupants; but early on the following morning, Mr. Vernon, very much shaken, called upon me and instructed me to despatch an agent to Perth immediately. My agent’s report reached me at practically the same time as the news of my client’s death”…

“And his report was?”…

“His report, Inspector, telegraphic, of course, was this: that no sister of Mrs. Vernon resided at the address; that the place was a cottage occupied by a certain Mrs. Fry and her husband; that the husband was of no occupation, and had no visible means of support”—he ticked off the points on the long forefinger—“that the Frys lived better than any of their neighbors; and—most important of all—that Mrs. Fry’s maiden name, which my agent discovered by recourse to the parish register of marriages—was Ann Fairchild.”

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 “What of that?”

“Ann Fairchild was a former maid of Mrs. Vernon!”

“In short, it amounts to this, then: Mrs. Vernon, during these various absences, never went to Scotland at all? It was a conspiracy?”

“Exactly—exactly, Inspector! I wired instructing my agent to extort from the woman, Fry, the address to which she forwarded letters received by her for Mrs. Vernon. The lady’s death, news of which will now have reached him, will no doubt be a lever, enabling my representative to obtain the desired information.”

“When do you expect to hear from him?”

“At any moment. Failing a full confession by the Frys, you will of course know how to act, Inspector?”

“Damme!” cried Dunbar, “can your man be relied upon to watch them? They mustn’t slip away! Shall I instruct Perth to arrest the couple?”

“I wired my agent this morning, Inspector, to communicate with the local police respecting the Frys.”

Inspector Dunbar tapped his small, widely-separated teeth with the end of his fountain-pen.

“I have had one priceless witness slip through my fingers,” he muttered. “I’ll hand in my resignation if the Frys go!”

“To whom do you refer?”

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 Inspector Dunbar rose.

“It is a point with which I need not trouble you, sir,” he said. “It was not included in the extract of report sent to you. This is going to be the biggest case of my professional career, or my name is not Robert Dunbar!”

Closing his notebook, he thrust it into his pocket, and replaced his fountain-pen in the little leather wallet.

“Of course,” said the solicitor, rising in turn, and adjusting the troublesome pince-nez, “there was some intrigue with Leroux? So much is evident.”

“You will be thinking that, eh?”

“My dear Inspector”—Mr. Debnam, the wily, was seeking information—“my dear Inspector, Leroux’s own wife was absent in Paris—quite a safe distance; and Mrs. Vernon (now proven to be a woman conducting a love intrigue) is found dead under most compromising circumstances—most compromising circumstances—in his flat! His servants, even, are got safely out of the way for the evening”…

“Quite so,” said Dunbar, shortly, “quite so, Mr. Debnam.” He opened the door. “Might I see the late Mrs. Vernon’s maid?”

“She is at her home. As I told you, Mrs. Vernon habitually released her for the period of these absences.”

The notebook reappeared.

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 “The young woman’s address?”

“You can get it from the housekeeper. Is there anything else you wish to know?”

“Nothing beyond that, thank you.”

Three minutes later, Inspector Dunbar had written in his book:— Clarice Goodstone, c/o Mrs. Herne, 134a Robert Street, Hampstead Road, N. W.

He departed from the house whereat Death the Gleaner had twice knocked with his Scythe.

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ETURNING to Scotland Yard, Inspector Dunbar walked straight up to his own room. There he found Sowerby, very red faced and humid, and a taximan who sat stolidly surveying the Embankment from the window.

“Hullo!” cried Dunbar; “he’s turned up, then?”

“No, he hasn’t,” replied Sowerby with a mild irritation. “But we know where to find him, and he ought to lose his license.”

The taximan turned hurriedly. He wore a muffler so tightly packed between his neck and the collar of his uniform jacket, that it appeared materially to impair his respiration. His face possessed a bluish tinge, suggestive of asphyxia, and his watery eyes protruded remarkably; his breathing was noisily audible.

“No, chuck it, mister!” he exclaimed. “I’m only tellin’ you ’cause it ain’t my line to play tricks on the police. You’ll find my name in the books downstairs more’n any other driver in London! I reckon I’ve brought enough umbrellas, cameras, walkin’ sticks, hopera cloaks, watches and sicklike in ’ere, to set up a blarsted pawnbroker’s!”

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 “That’s all right, my lad!” said Dunbar, holding up his hand to silence the voluble speaker. “There’s going to be no license-losing. You did not hear that you were wanted before?”

The watery eyes of the cabman protruded painfully; he respired like a horse.

“Me, guv’nor!” he exclaimed. “Gor’blimë! I ain’t the bloke! I was drivin’ back from takin’ the Honorable ’Erbert ’Arding ’ome—same as I does almost every night, when the ’ouse is a-sittin’—when I see old Tom Brian drawin’ away from the door o’ Palace Man—”

Again Dunbar held up his hand.

“No doubt you mean well,” he said; “but damme! begin at the beginning! Who are you, and what have you come to tell us?”

“’Oo are I?—’Ere’s ’oo I ham!” wheezed the cabman, proffering a greasy license. “Richard ’Amper, number 3 Breams Mews, Dulwich Village”…

“That’s all right,” said Dunbar, thrusting back the proffered document; “and last night you had taken Mr. Harding the member of Parliament, to his residence in?”—

“In Peers’ Chambers, Westminister—that’s it, guv’nor! Comin’ back, I ’ave to pass along the north side o’ the Square, an’ just a’ead o’ me, I see old Tom Brian a-pullin’ round the Johnny ’Orner,—’im comin’ from Palace Mansions.”

“Mr. Exel only mentioned seeing one cab,”

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 Dunbar, glancing keenly aside at Sowerby.

“Wotcher say, guv’nor?” asked the cabman.

“I say—did you see a gentleman approaching from the corner?” asked Dunbar.

“Yus,” declared the man; “I see ’im, but ’e ’adn’t got as far as the Johnny ’Orner. As I passed outside old Tom Brian, wot’s changin’ ’is gear, I see a bloke blowin’ along on the pavement—a bloke in a high ’at, an’ wearin’ a heye-glass.”

“At this time, then,” pursued Dunbar, “you had actually passed the other cab, and the gentleman on the pavement had not come up with it?”

“’E couldn’t see it, guv’nor! I’m tellin’ you ’e ’adn’t got to the Johnny ’Orner!”

“I see,” muttered Sowerby. “It’s possible that Mr. Exel took no notice of the first cab—especially as it did not come out of the Square.”

“Wotcher say, guv’nor?” queried the cabman again, turning his bleared eyes upon Sergeant Sowerby.

“He said,” interrupted Dunbar, “was Brian’s cab empty?”

“’Course it was,” rapped Mr. Hamper, “’e ’d just dropped ’is fare at Palace Mansions.”…

“How do you know?” snapped Dunbar, suddenly, fixing his fierce eyes upon the face of the speaker.

The cabman glared in beery truculence.

“I got me blarsted senses, ain’t I?” he inquired. “There’s only two lots o’ flats on that side o’ the

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 Square—Palace Mansions, an’ St. Andrew’s Mansions.”

“Well?”

“St. Andrew’s Mansions,” continued Hamper, “is all away!”

“All away?”

“All away! I know, ’cause I used to have a reg’lar fare there. ’E’s in Egyp’; flat shut up. Top floor’s to let. Bottom floor’s two old unmarried maiden ladies what always travels by ’bus. So does all their blarsted friends an’ relations. Where can old Tom Brian ’ave been comin’ from, if it wasn’t Palace Mansions?”

“H’m!” said Dunbar, “you are a loss to the detective service, my lad! And how do you account for the fact that Brian has not got to hear of the inquiry?”

Hamper bent to Dunbar and whispered, beerily, in his ear: “P’r’aps ’e don’t want to ’ear, guv’nor!”

“Oh! Why not?”

“Well, ’e knows there’s something up there!”

“Therefore it’s his plain duty to assist the police.”

“Same as what I does?” cried Hamper, raising his eyebrows. “Course it is! but ’ow d’you know ’e ain’t been got at?”

“Our friend, here, evidently has one up against Mr. Tom Brian!” muttered Dunbar aside to Sowerby.

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 “Wotcher say, guv’nor?” inquired the cabman, looking from one to the other.

“I say, no doubt you can save us the trouble of looking out Brian’s license, and give us his private address?” replied Dunbar.

“Course I can. ’E lives hat num’er 36 Forth Street, Brixton, and ’e’s out o’ the big Brixton depot.”

“Oh!” said Dunbar, dryly. “Does he owe you anything?”

“Wotcher say, guv’nor?”

“I say, it’s very good of you to take all this trouble and whatever it has cost you in time, we shall be pleased to put right.”

Mr. Hamper spat in his right palm, and rubbed his hands together, appreciatively.

“Make it five bob!” he said.

“Wait downstairs,” directed Dunbar, pressing a bell-push beside the door. “I’ll get it put through for you.”

“Right ’o!” rumbled the cabman, and went lurching from the room as a constable in uniform appeared at the door. “Good mornin’, guv’nor. Good mornin’!”

The cabman having departed, leaving in his wake a fragrant odor of fourpenny ale:—

“Here you are, Sowerby!” cried Dunbar. “We are moving at last! This is the address of the late Mrs. Vernon’s maid. See her; feel your ground, carefully, of course; get to know what

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text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Gwilt, Joseph


text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Gwilt, George (1775-1856)


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 clothes Mrs. Vernon took with her on her periodical visits to Scotland.”

“What clothes?”

“That’s the idea; it is important. I don’t think the girl was in her mistress’s confidence, but I leave it to you to find out. If circumstances point to my surmise being inaccurate—you know how to act.”

“Just let me glance over your notes, bearing on the matter,” said Sowerby, “and I’ll be off.”

Dunbar handed him the bulging notebook, and Sergeant Sowerby lowered his inadequate eyebrows, thoughtfully, whilst he scanned the evidence of Mr. Debnam. Then, returning the book to his superior, and adjusting the peculiar bowler firmly upon his head, he set out.

Dunbar glanced through some papers—apparently reports—which lay upon the table, penciled comments upon two of them, and then, consulting his notebook once more in order to refresh his memory, started off for Forth Street, Brixton.

Forth Street, Brixton, is a depressing thoroughfare. It contains small, cheap flats, and a number of frowsy looking houses which give one the impression of having run to seed. A hostelry of sad aspect occupies a commanding position midway along the street, but inspires the traveler not with cheer, but with lugubrious reflections upon the horrors of inebriety. The odors, unpleasantly mingled, of fried bacon and paraffin oil, are wafted to the wayfarer from the porches of these family residences.

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 Number 36 proved to be such a villa, and Inspector Dunbar contemplated it from a distance, thoughtfully. As he stood by the door of the public house, gazing across the street, a tired looking woman, lean and anxious-eyed, a poor, dried up bean-pod of a woman, appeared from the door of number 36, carrying a basket. She walked along in the direction of the neighboring highroad, and Dunbar casually followed her.

For some ten minutes he studied her activities, noting that she went from shop to shop until her basket was laden with provisions of all sorts. When she entered a wine-and-spirit merchant’s, the detective entered close behind her, for the place was also a post-office. Whilst he purchased a penny stamp and fumbled in his pocket for an imaginary letter, he observed, with interest, that the woman had purchased, and was loading into the hospitable basket, a bottle of whisky, a bottle of rum, and a bottle of gin.

He left the shop ahead of her, sure, now, of his ground, always provided that the woman proved to be Mrs. Brian. Dunbar walked along Forth Street slowly enough to enable the woman to overtake him. At the door of number 36, he glanced up at the number, questioningly, and turned in the gate as she was about to enter.

He raised his hat.

“Have I the pleasure of addressing Mrs. Brian?”

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 Momentarily, a hard look came into the tired eyes, but Dunbar’s gentleness of manner and voice, together with the kindly expression upon his face, turned the scales favorably.

“I am Mrs. Brian,” she said; “yes. Did you want to see me?”

“On a matter of some importance. May I come in?”

She nodded and led the way into the house; the door was not closed.

In a living-room whereon was written a pathetic history—a history of decline from easy circumstance and respectability to poverty and utter disregard of appearances—she confronted him, setting down her basket on a table from which the remains of a fish breakfast were not yet removed.

“Is your husband in?” inquired Dunbar with a subtle change of manner.

“He’s lying down.”

The hard look was creeping again into the woman’s eyes.

“Will you please awake him, and tell him that I have called in regard to his license?”

He thrust a card into her hand:—

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text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Gwilt, George (1746-1807)


text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Gwenwynwyn


text: Folk-Lore/Volume 32

title: Folk-Lore/Volume 32


text: Folk-Lore/Volume 33

title: Folk-Lore/Volume 33


text:
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text:
Introducing a Resolution Expressing the Sense of the House of Representatives that "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Be Repealed in 2010

Introducing a Resolution Expressing the Sense of the House of Representatives that "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Be Repealed in 2010

HON. ALCEE L. HASTINGS

OF FLORIDA IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Monday, February 22, 2010 Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Madam Speaker, I rise today to introduce a resolution that recognizes the Senate Armed Services Committee's hearing on Don't Ask, Don't Tell, and the testimony of Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Admiral Michael G. Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, at the hearing, as an important first step towards equality in the Armed Forces. Furthermore, my resolution expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that this discriminatory law should be repealed in 2010. There are an estimated 66,000 gay and lesbian service members currently on active-duty, serving in all capacities around the world to protect our nation and advance our interests. The misguided policy known as Don't Ask, Don't Tell is yet another enemy to fight at a time when we are strained in two wars. In 2009 alone, we lost 428 service members to Don't Ask, Don't Tell at the estimated cost of over $12 million. We cannot allow the strength and unity of our military to suffer from a destructive force within. Don't Ask, Don't Tell is irreconcilable with the values that our great nation was built on and the values that our Armed Forces embody. The Senate Armed Services Committee's recent hearing on Don't Ask, Don't Tell was indeed historic, being the first Senate hearing on the issue in 17 years. My resolution recognizes the great significance of Defense Secretary Gates and Admiral Mullen's testimonies, which sent a clear signal across the nation and through the military ranks that discrimination is not a value of our Armed Forces. Furthermore, it urges the Pentagon working group to deliver an implementation plan to Congress as soon as possible while ensuring that the needs and concerns of all service members are taken into consideration, and strongly recommends that the Senate Armed Services Committee and House Armed Services Committee's Subcommittee on Military Personnel include active- duty service members in their upcoming hearings regarding Don't Ask, Don't Tell. While a majority of the American people support open service by gay and lesbian members of the Armed Forces, there are those who would like to see the policy kept in place. Don't Ask, Don't Tell should be repealed swiftly and replaced with a policy of non-discrimination and inclusion once and for all. Madam Speaker, the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell is long overdue. It is my sincere hope that President Obama, the Department of Defense, the U.S. military, and Congress will do everything in their power to allow gay and lesbian Americans to serve openly as soon as possible. I urge my colleagues to support this important resolution and to join me in working to bring about the full and final repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell this year.


text:
Celebrating LGBT Pride Month

Celebrating LGBT Pride Month

HON. ALCEE L. HASTINGS

OF FLORIDA IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Tuesday, June 15, 2010 Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Madam Speaker, just over 40 years ago, a police raid on a gay bar in Greenwich Village made history. The so-called Stonewall riots, during which members of the gay community openly challenged institutionalized homophobia, marked the beginning of the modern Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender, LGBT, rights movement and led to the formation of gay rights organizations across the United States and around the world. Each June, we commemorate this ongoing struggle for equality by celebrating LGBT Pride Month. It is indeed a historic time for our nation and the American people. What should have happened 17 years ago is now closer to being a reality than ever before. By passing the Murphy Amendment along with the Defense Authorization bill, the House of Representatives has pledged to fulfill its promise of upholding the values for which the United States stands by allowing gay and lesbian Americans to serve openly in the military. As I have said time and again, the discriminatory law known as "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" should be repealed once and for all. It threatens our national security and costs us millions of dollars each year to kick out dedicated and highly-skilled service members and to retrain new ones. As we celebrate this victory, we are reminded of the long battle that has brought us to this point. I would be terribly remiss if I did not acknowledge the hard work and sacrifices of the countless service members and veterans, many of whose lives have been negatively impacted by this bigoted policy, as well as those military and policy leaders, advocacy organizations, and everyday Americans who have taken a stand against discrimination. I am also pleased that President Obama and his administration have taken meaningful steps toward achieving LGBT equality. Most recently, President Obama extended a wider range of benefits to the same-sex partners of federal employees, including key protections such as long-term care insurance, health insurance reimbursements, business travel accident insurance, and tax reimbursements for homeowner's insurance. In April, President Obama also mandated that all hospitals extend visitation rights to the partners of gay men and lesbians and that they respect patients' choices about who may make critical health care decisions for them. More than ever before, the fight for LGBT equality is full of hope and promise. But, our work is far from over. The sad reality is that gay and lesbian Americans are still essentially second-class citizens, with different rights depending on where they work and the state in which they live. This nation can only truly prosper when all of its citizens are guaranteed equal protection under the law. Laws that deprive LGBT Americans of these rights are unconstitutional, discriminatory, and unconscionable. It is my sincere hope that Congress and our nation as a whole will work together to pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, ENDA, repeal the Defense of Marriage Act, DOMA, and lift the ban on men who have sex with men, MSM, donating blood. Madam Speaker, the LGBT community is part of our American family. They are our friends and neighbors and all contribute to this great nation. We must ensure that the pages of history only continue to turn forward on equality for all Americans, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression. This LGBT Pride Month, I reaffirm my resolve to achieve equal rights for LGBT Americans and nothing less. It is the right thing to do.

title: Celebrating LGBT Pride Month


text:
Introducing the Honest and Open Testimony Act

Introducing the Honest and Open Testimony Act

HON. ALCEE L. HASTINGS

OF FLORIDA IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Madam Speaker, I rise today to introduce the Honest and Open Testimony Act, a bill that helps provide for an honest and open discussion regarding Don't Ask, Don't Tell by allowing active- duty members of the Armed Forces, including gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) members, to openly testify in Congressional hearings without fear of retribution. The Honest and Open Testimony Act expands existing whistleblower protections between members of the Armed Forces and Members of Congress to include communications from active-duty service members who testify concerning Don't Ask, Don't Tell in a Congressional hearing, as well as those who do so and disclose their sexual orientation. The United States of America prides itself on having the finest military in the world because of the hard work, dedication, and sacrifices of its brave men and women in uniform. And yet, under the discriminatory law known as Don't Ask, Don't Tell, the talents and contributions of our GLBT service members continue to be ignored simply because of who they are. As you know, Don't Ask, Don't Tell was signed into law in 1993 by former President Bill Clinton as a compromise to allow gay and lesbian service members to serve in the military. To the contrary, Don't Ask, Don't Tell compromises the integrity of our troops and kicks them out to boot. For more than fifteen years, Don't Ask, Don't Tell has negatively impacted the lives and livelihoods of these military professionals and deprived our Armed Forces of their honorable service. This is not only a disservice to them, but to our country as a whole. Don't Ask, Don't Tell hurts our troops, runs counter to the values of our Armed Forces, and threatens our national security. Since the law was implemented in 1994, over 13,500 qualified service members have been lost to Don't Ask, Don't Tell, and counting. With each passing day, we lose approximately two service members to this misguided, unjust, and debilitating policy. Furthermore, Don't Ask, Don't Tell continues to undermine and demoralize the more than 65,000 GLBT Americans currently serving on active duty. Keeping good troops is good policy, and our GLBT troops are among our most talented and dedicated. As the United States continues to work toward responsibly ending the war in Iraq and reengages the threat from al Qaeda in Afghanistan, our GLBT service members offer invaluable skills that enhance our military's potency and readiness. They are linguists, aviators, medics, and highly trained soldiers who are involved in valuable operations that have nothing to do with their sexual orientation and everything to do with protecting our freedom and advancing our national security interests. Above all, however, they offer their lives to serve their country. I am extremely proud of the men and women who serve in our Armed Forces and truly appreciate the countless sacrifices they continue to make every single day to protect this nation and the American people. They deserve better than Don't Ask, Don't Tell. In order for Congress to have an honest and open discussion about the relevance of the current law, as well as on how to best implement its repeal, its members must hear from those about whom Don't Ask, Don't Tell was written--active-duty GLBT troops. Now is the time to take action. Madam Speaker, I realize that this issue is considered controversial, but it should not be. As Congress prepares to debate the future of Don't Ask, Don't Tell with hearings in the Senate and in the House of Representatives, we must ensure that we hear all sides of the issue and especially from active-duty GLBT service members. The Honest and Open Testimony Act helps achieve this by addressing a major barrier to an inclusive, transparent, and complete hearing process--fear of retribution for testifying honestly and openly about the consequences of Don't Ask, Don't Tell in the Armed Forces. I urge my colleagues to support this important bill, which would bring us one step closer to repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell once and for all and replacing it with a policy of inclusion and non-discrimination.


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A Strong Voice Against Discrimination of All Sorts

A Strong Voice Against Discrimination of All Sorts

HON. BARNEY FRANK

OF MASSACHUSETTS IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Tuesday, June 29, 2010 Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Madam Speaker, I was very proud in the 70's to show my support for appropriate bipartisanship by supporting and working closely with Senator Ed Brooke, who was twice elected to the Senate as a Republican and was a staunch fighter against discrimination, for strong support for rental housing for low-income people, and in general for fiscal responsibility within the context of social concerns. I was therefore very pleased, but not at all surprised, to read in the Boston Globe on June 22, 2010 a strong expression of support for repeal of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy, which has discriminated against so many patriotic Americans seeking to serve their country. Senator Brooke notes that he himself was the victim of discriminatory policies when he served in a segregated U.S. Army in World War II, and as an African American, was treated unfairly. He does affirm that there are differences in the effect of the policies and the impact they have between racial segregation and "don't ask, don't tell," but as he says after discussing the experience of racial segregation, "The point is that the ban (on gay and lesbian members in the military) is a weapon and expression of prejudice--no more excusable than any other discriminatory law." Consistent with his lifelong record of fighting for fairness in America, Senator Brooke closes the article by saying, "If I was still in the Senate, I would vote to show my respect for the sacrifices of all soldiers--gay and straight. Congress should repeal this legislation and score another victory of progress over prejudice." Madam Speaker, I was proud to stand with Ed Brooke in the 70's and I am very proud that he is standing with those of us who are fighting for fairness today.


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Repeal the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Policy

Repeal the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Policy

HON. SHELLEY BERKLEY

OF NEVADA IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Tuesday, September 29, 2009 Ms. BERKLEY. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank Congressman Murphy for providing me with the opportunity to speak on this important issue. As a cosponsor of the Military Readiness Enhancement Act, I fully support the repeal of the unjust, unnecessary, and unsound "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. I believe we must reject current practices that have institutionalized discrimination against many valuable members of our armed services for too long. Instead, we must establish a new policy of nondiscrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" is simply unjust. It flies in the face of the fundamental American value of equality for all. No individual, including those in our armed forces, should be discriminated against based on his or her sexual orientation. Members of our armed services have fought honorably to protect our safety and freedom, so the least we can do in return is to fight to protect their freedom and equality as well. My hometown of Las Vegas includes Nellis Air Force Base, one of the premier Air Force facilities in the U.S., and I believe the courageous men and women who serve there deserve to be treated with equality and respect, regardless of their sexual orientation. The "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy is also completely unnecessary. The vast majority of Americans believe our troops deserve the opportunity to serve with honesty and honor. And most importantly, a majority of servicemembers have said they would have no reservations about serving alongside gay and lesbian troops, proving the problems this policy supposedly prevents are not, in fact, problems at all. Not only is this practice unjust and unnecessary, it is also unsound. Our military should not fire valuable servicemembers simply for being gay, particularly during a time of war when we need every American who is willing and able to serve. Furthermore, repealing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" would increase, not undercut, unit cohesion by fostering openness and trust among troops. Ultimately, "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" does nothing to contribute to our national security. In reality, it only undermines the strength and integrity of our military system. I believe this practice should be repealed immediately, not only for the benefit of our armed forces, but for the safety of Nevada and our Nation as a whole.

title: Repeal the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Policy


text:
Author:Rochelle Levine Berkley

Works

 * Repeal the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Policy (2009)

title: Author:Rochelle Levine Berkley


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Honoring the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN)

Honoring the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN)

HON. MARTIN T. MEEHAN

OF MASSACHUSETTS IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Thursday, May 5, 2005 Mr. MEEHAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the hard work and dedication of Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN), a national non-profit organization dedicated to ending the military's failed "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. SLDN was co-founded by Dixon Osburn and Michelle Beneke in 1994 as a legal service agency with the mission of providing counsel to service members discharged under "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." Since that time, SLDN has assisted more than 6,500 gay and lesbian troops and obtained thirty-five improvements to military regulations related to the policy. Today, SLDN is the Nation's leading advocacy organization dedicated to repealing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and ensuring open service in our armed forces. Through tenacity and strong leadership, the organization has made significant steps forward in breaking down the barrier that bans gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military. The gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community looks to SLDN as a model for accomplishing policy change. 2004 was a groundbreaking year for the organization. SLDN filed a monumental lawsuit on behalf of twelve veterans of the War on Terror, challenging the constitutionality of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" in federal court. SLDN's legal expertise also paved the way for two victorious cases before the Army Court of Criminal Appeals, overturning military sodomy convictions. And the staff mobilized veterans and supporters from twenty-two states to meet with 90 Congressional offices on their annual "Lobby Day." I have had the pleasure of working with SLDN since my freshman term in Congress. Most recently, we came together to draft the Military Readiness Enhancement Act, historic legislation to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and replace it with a nondiscrimination policy. Because of SLDN's staunch efforts to win support in Congress, I introduced the bill with more than fifty cosponsors on March 2, 2005. We now have more than eighty cosponsors of this bipartisan bill today. As SLDN celebrates its national dinner on May 7th, I commend the staff, board, and supporters for their commitment and perseverance. Just as the advocacy of civil rights groups paved the way for desegregation in the military, I am confident that SLDN's hard work will soon lead to the demise of the discriminatory and counterproductive "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy.


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A Tribute to Dixon Osburn (Baldwin 2007)

A Tribute to Dixon Osburn

HON. TAMMY BALDWIN

OF WISCONSIN IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Wednesday, May 16, 2007 Ms. BALDWIN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to C. Dixon Osburn, who, as co-founder and Executive Director of Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN), led the national movement to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" for the past fourteen years. Under his leadership, SLDN has moved our nation many miles closer to its goal of freedom to serve in our Nation's Armed Forces without regard to sexual orientation. It has been my honor to work with Dixon for many years to improve the lives of lesbian, gay and bisexual service members. Our work is not done, but one day "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" will take its place among the relics of history and be replaced by a fairer, better policy that truly honors the patriotism of all Americans. And we will remember Dixon and the foundation he built with Servicemembers Legal Defense Network. I wish Dixon all the best in his future endeavors, and I thank him for his significant contribution to improving our Nation's Armed Forces.


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Author:Tammy Suzanne Green Baldwin

Works

 * A Tribute to Dixon Osburn (2007)

title: Author:Tammy Suzanne Green Baldwin


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Tribute to C. Dixon Osburn

Tribute to C. Dixon Osburn

HON. MARTIN T. MEEHAN

OF MASSACHUSETTS IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Tuesday, May 15, 2007 Mr. MEEHAN. Madam Speaker, today I pay tribute to C. Dixon Osburn, co-founder and executive director of Servicemembers Legal Defense Network for 13 years. Dixon recently left the helm of Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, and today I recognize and commend him for the contributions he has made to our nation's Armed Forces and to our nation's enduring goal of freedom and equality under the law for all Americans. Servicemembers Legal Defense Network is a non-profit legal aid and advocacy organization founded in 1993 to assist service members living under the discriminatory "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" statute that became the law in my first months of serving in the United States Congress. Under Dixon's leadership, the organization has responded to more than 8,000 requests for assistance, and continues today to be a leader of the national movement to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." I am proud to have worked with Dixon Osburn toward the goal of repealing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." This law has resulted in the discharge of more than 11,000 service members from our Armed Forces, at a cost of hundreds of millions of dollars. It is an affront to the patriotism and talent of the over one million lesbian, gay and bisexual Americans estimated to have served in our nation's Armed Forces to date. I am proud to serve as the sponsor of legislation to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," and I commend Dixon Osburn for all he has done to help lay the ground work for the passage of this important legislation.

title: Tribute to C. Dixon Osburn


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Tribute to C. Dixon Osburn, Executive Director of SLDN

Tribute to C. Dixon Osburn, Executive Director of SLDN

HON. MARTIN T. MEEHAN

OF MASSACHUSETTS IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Monday, September 29, 2003 Mr. MEEHAN. Mr. Speaker, this November marks 10 years since our Nation imposed the discriminatory law known as "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" on the lesbian, gay and bisexual patriots of our Nation. During the past decade, almost 10,000 men and women have been fired from our armed forces simply because of their sexual orientation. Many of those men and women have sought the assistance and advocacy of Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN), the Nation's only legal aid and advocacy organization for those harmed by the military's gay ban. In August, SLDN's Executive Director, C. Dixon Osburn, commemorated 10 years of service to the organization he founded and the brave Americans it serves. Mr. Osburn co-founded the organization in 1993 with former Army Captain Michelle Benecke. Under Mr. Osburn's leadership, SLDN has provided legal services to 5,000 service members and obtained 35 changes in military policy and practice related to "Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Don't Pursue, Don't Harass." Also under his leadership, SLDN's policy efforts have included obtaining new Pentagon and Service policies on anti-gay harassment, an Executive Order on hate crimes in the military and an Executive Order providing, for the first time, a limited psychotherapist privilege in the armed forces. Due in large part to Mr. Osburn's work, The Boston Globe has said "[SLDN] knows far more than the Pentagon about what reality is like in the military and helps individuals caught in the mess." Deb Price of The Detroit News also commended their work, noting that: "SLDN has repeatedly forced the Pentagon not just to take notice, but to change." And The Nation reports, "It's amazing how much this small legal-aid group has accomplished already." Mr. Osburn received the 1994 GAYLAW Distinguished National Service Award, and the 1998 Kevin Larkin Award for Public Service from the Massachusetts Lesbian and Gay Bar Association. In 1998, Mr. Osburn was named by The Advocate magazine as one of the Top 10 National Gay Leaders. In 2000, under Mr. Osburn's leadership, SLDN received "Organization of the Year" awards from both the District of Columbia Bar Association Young Lawyers Division and the International Lesbian & Gay Museum of History. I am honored today to recognize his decade of leadership at the helm of SLDN and his unparalleled advocacy for our men and women in uniform.


text: Category:Servicemembers Legal Defense Network


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A Tribute to Dixon Osburn

 * Baldwin, Tammy Suzanne Green (2007), A Tribute to Dixon Osburn.
 * Frank, Barney (2007), A Tribute to Dixon Osburn.

title: A Tribute to Dixon Osburn


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A Tribute to Dixon Osburn (Frank 2007)

A Tribute to Dixon Osburn

HON. BARNEY FRANK

OF MASSACHUSETTS IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Wednesday, May 10, 2007 Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Madam Speaker, for 14 years, Dixon Osburn has been the Executive Director of the Service Members Legal Defense Network, an extremely effective and principled organization that has fought against the unfair discrimination against gay, lesbian and bisexual people in the U.S. armed services. It is hard to combine passion and common sense in a political cause--people who feel strongly often have an understandable difficulty in controlling their strong feelings to the point where they can follow the most rational strategies, and serving as the head of an organization exacerbates this, since the head of such a group is required to preach thoughtfulness to people who are--often justifiably--far too angry to want to think about things. Dixon Osburn as Executive Director of SLDN performed this extremely difficult task very, very well. No one ever doubted the depth of his commitment to the cause of fairness for LGBT service members, and no one could fault the analytical discipline he brought to the job. I believe that we will some day in the near future abolish this unfair "don't ask, don't tell" policy, which discriminates against individuals and deprives our military of personnel who would perform useful services at a time when we need that. When we do reach that goal, the important work that Dixon Osburn has done over these past 14 years will deserve a great deal of the credit.

title: A Tribute to Dixon Osburn (Frank 2007)


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The Folk-Lore Journal 1883–1889.

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Folk-Lore; a Quarterly Review 1890–

Index: Vol 1 (1890) • Vol 2 (1891) • Vol 3 (1892) • Vol 4 (1893) • Vol 5 (1894) • Vol 6 (1895) • Vol 7 (1896) • Vol 8 (1897) • Vol 9 (1898) • Vol 10 (1899) • Vol 11 (1900) ... Vol 13 (1902) • Vol 14 (1903) • Vol 15 (1904) • Vol 16 (1905) • Vol 17 (1906) • Vol 18 (1907) ... Vol 20 (1909) • Vol 21 (1910) • Vol 22 (1911) • Vol 23 (1912) • Vol 24 (1913) • Vol 25 (1914) • Vol 26 (1915) • Vol 27 (1916) • Vol 28 (1917) • Vol 29 (1918) • Vols 30 & 31 (1919 & 1920) • Vols 32 & 33 (1921 & 1922)

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 A QUARTERLY REVIEW

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 viii breaking a nuptial taboo—for example, in Cupid and Psyche. In that class of tales they may be forgiven; or we may have the "Villain Nemesis"; that is, they may be punished. Again, another popular incident may be introduced, a bird may reveal the secret. But this, too, is not peculiar to Cinderella; it occurs in all sorts of plots: the revealing animals are wood-worms in a märchen which survives in a scholion to the Iliad. Once more, the shoe need not bring about the recognition: that may be done by a ring, or a lock of hair, or otherwise. As far as I can see, the number of possible combinations resulting in a story recognisably similar to Cinderella are infinite. Now, I would only regard such stories as necessarily borrowed, or transmitted, when the chain and sequence of incidents keeps close to a given type; we may choose Perrault's as the type, merely by way of illustration. Given a widower, his daughter, his second wife, her daughters, ill-treatment of his daughter, her supernatural aid to social successes, her disappearance, and recognition by lock of hair, ring, or shoe—given all these, in their sequence, and we have borrowing or transmission of a tale, as far as we can reason on chances of possible coincidence. Make the giver of supernatural aid a beast, bequeathed by a dead mother, or that dead mother in a new animal form, and we have a more archaic shape, but still the same tale, the same plot, probably the same original narrative. Dead mother as beast seems most archaic, see the last variant (p. 534); then beast bequeathed by dead mother; then fairy godmother.

While this plot and sequence is adhered to, we seem to see one original combination in different guises. Granting this much, if we want to go further, and look for the cradle of the story, whence it was originally diffused, we take up Miss Cox's book. Let us adopt the hypothesis, to please M. Cosquin, that India is the fountain of these narratives. We look up India on p. xxxi, and find that the tale occurs in Bombay, Madras, and Salsette. In the first and last the tale is in form A. "ill-treated heroine; recognition by means of shoe." In the case of Bombay, as far as the summary shows (p. n), it is very normal. The heroine is aided by a cow: a cock is the bird-witness: a shoe

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 Rh helps the recognition: the foes are punished. Which of the ideas is peculiarly Indian?

Then (p. 91) we have the "indeterminate" form of Madras. It begins with a girl whose lips drop gems (Les Fées in Perrault). Her life is in a necklace. (Separable Life: familiar everywhere, as in ancient Egypt, Maspero, Contes Egyptiens.) Lost shoe, as in Rhodopis, in Herodotus. Owner found, then jealousy of prince's first wife, and no more of Cinderella here, but plenty of other popular incidents. The third case is not more valuable for our purpose.

If India preserves no more than this, why are we to look for the origin of the story in India? The shoe occurs in Annam (p. 28) absolutely involved in a mass of other données, some familiar in Cupid and Psyche, some in all tales of Grateful Beasts; the Revenge is that of Thyestes, and of Gudrun on Atli. Armenia (p. 4) mixes up "Little Brother and Little Sister" (Grimm) with a mass of casual incidents, as of heroine inside fish; the story is a hotch-potch of story formulæ. The other Asiatic versions are of the Peau d'Âne variety. If India be the centre, why have we so few Indian examples; why, in lands relatively near India, is the tale so corrupted from the type which we have chosen; how do we know that the tale was not carried into India?

If we look at Europe, there is always the chance that a book so popular as Perrault's suggested the form which the tale has taken. Our only standard, as far as I can see, is archaism, the presence of elements more barbaric than Perrault offers. Such elements are unlikely to have been added to Perrault; more probably he, or earlier French taste, discarded them. In 3 (p. 2), from the Riviera, we see Perrault's Fairy Godmother mixed up with a more archaic form in a foolish way: perhaps there is here an infusion from the literary version.

One method we might use, we might examine the tale in the form which it assumes among the most primitive peoples. From America Miss Cox only cites examples of Brazil, Chili, and the West Indies: in all of which European importation is probable or certain.

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 x I confess that I see little hope of light from savage lands, unless we can find a race so remote and untouched by Europe that it can hardly have borrowed, or unless we discover märchen recorded by old travellers and missionaries. I have cited a few in various works on the topic. The Zulus can scarcely have imported their large store of märchen recently, but these may have filtered south from old Egypt, or through the Arabs or other builders of the cities in Mashonaland. The cases of Samoa and the Huarochiris seem the most singular; the märchen have long been part of the national divine and heroic myths. Among forms from remote peoples, Miss Cox only gives the Kaffir "Wonderful Horns". Here, with a boy for hero, we have elements of "The Black Bull of Norroway": the Cinderella feature is the winning of a marriage by help of a costly mantle and ornaments magically provided. I do not believe this tale to be of recent importation.

One thing is plain, a naked and shoeless race could not have invented Cinderella. Beyond this I cannot go. As far as the evidence proves, any incident or incidents of the common store may be interwoven in any sequence. But certain sequences have been the fittest, and have therefore survived. The sequence in Perrault has been among the fittest, and I can believe that this particular arrangement was invented once for all. But all the elements appear in other combinations. Jealous stepmother and sisters; magical aid by a beast; a marriage won by gifts magically provided; a bird revealing a secret; a recognition by aid of a ring, or shoe, or what not; a dénouement of punishment; a happy marriage all those things, which, in this sequence, make up Cinderella, may and do occur in an incalculable number of other combinations.

The märchen is a kaleidoscope: the incidents are the bits of coloured glass. Shaken, they fall into a variety of attractive forms; some forms are fitter than others, survive more powerfully, and are more widely spread. This is the limit of my theorising on the affirmative side. On the negative, I see no reason for expecting to find any centre of origin, and no evidence for India as that centre. On the anthropological side, I think that we find

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The Black Bull of Norroway

 * Lang, Andrew (1889), "The Black Bull of Norroway" in The Blue Fairy Book.
 * Jacobs, Joseph (1894), "The Black Bull of Norroway" in More English Fairy Tales.

title: The Black Bull of Norroway


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Wikisource talk:WikiProject Catholic Encyclopedia Upgrade

CE matching tool
There is now a Magnus Manske tool for finding WP matches for the articles: see http://toolserver.org/~magnus/dnb/map2wp.php?letter=Heinrich&set=ce13 for a sample run. Charles Matthews (talk) 08:09, 29 October 2010 (UTC)

Signature and Contributors
Hi. To cope with the following: 1. missing contributors, 2. mispelled signature, I was thinking to scan pages for possible signatures and associate contributors, to obtain a reference list (where to fix also fix possible spellling mistakes). With it, check articles with a bot and:
 * 1) if no contributor exists -> add contributor based on detected signature and, if mispelled, fix it.
 * 2) if contributor exists -> check if signature belongs to the list of correct signatures and, if not, fix it.

Not all cases will be addressed as it is not straightforward to detect signatures unless they are at end of page (one improvement could be to search also those in the list).

An example of reference list:

Can this be of interest?--Mpaa (talk) 22:01, 22 April 2013 (UTC)

 * Bearing down on Category:CE no contributor can certainly be of interest: over 3000 to do. There are some clearcut cases, where the contributor sig is "Paul Maria Baumgarten" or "Patrick Boyle".

 * I imagine it would take multiple bot runs. There isn't yet a full contributor list: I have something in my userspace but it is selective. Also the handbook seems not quite to be a full listing of contributors.

 * Currently "no contributor recorded" in the field doesn't prevent the article being in that category. That is a template tweak, and I think the DNB basic header template has the analogous thing.
 * As a work-around, I used "contributor = no contributor recorded | override_author = no contributor recorded". So it does not show-up in the Category.--Mpaa (talk) 20:32, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

 * So, yes, of interest but looks like the issue would need to be salami-sliced. Charles Matthews (talk) 10:05, 24 April 2013 (UTC)

 * I am matching your list of authors with existing signatures in articles. Then I'll run a small trial and post updates here (it will take a while).--Mpaa (talk) 13:15, 24 April 2013 (UTC)

 * Thanks. Charles Matthews (talk) 18:39, 24 April 2013 (UTC)
 * Few samples. Obviously the key is the contributor list:
 * Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/Hermann of Fritzlar
 * Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/John de Lugo
 * Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/Monk of Heilsbronn
 * Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/Peter Cantor

I posted a first list here. Could you give a look and see if this is good enough to start? Feel free to strike out/remove what you do not feel appropriate.--Mpaa (talk) 21:25, 24 April 2013 (UTC)

Status?
I am a newbie and would like to help a little, but it's unclear from the Project page what has been done and what needs to be done. Is there any simple proofreading needed? Laura1822 (talk) 01:28, 31 August 2014 (UTC)

 * Yes, the project page has been neglected.

 * There is much that needs to be done on the actual text. Efforts have been made towards getting the articles in the correct encyclopedic order, firstly. And at titles that make up a rational system.

 * Very little has so far been done in putting the text into the Page: namespace, and checking it against the scans there. It is known that the text as originally uploaded is quite deficient in some ways: the initial sentences are incomplete, the endnotes are quite often omitted (as they are commonly with most other postings online), and the Greek and Hebrew text needs to be sorted out. Charles Matthews (talk) 06:18, 31 August 2014 (UTC)

 * Thanks! I had trouble finding the Index pages, but I finally got there.  I will try to do some proofreading.  Laura1822 (talk) 22:09, 3 September 2014 (UTC)
 * An important issue IMO is to decide a convention for section headings in Page: ns. This makes it easier to automate work with bots if needed. It should be something not related to current article titles, as it might be needed to rename articles in the future. Keep in mind that titles have been reversed. E.g. "Byron, George" in the text has become "George Byron" as title (I am not sure his is a real case ...).--Mpaa (talk) 23:09, 3 September 2014 (UTC)

Request for explanations
I have just proofread, from the original OCR'd text here (not copying/pasting from another source) Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 1.djvu/33. I initially came here to post a request for someone to check my work for formatting, since I am a newbie to this project (and to WS in general). Specifically, I would like to know if we are keeping inline citations or if I am supposed to mark them with ref tags, and more generally if I had formatted the text properly. Also, I wanted to know if there is a master list of contributors I can refer to with their Author namespace names so I won't have to search for each one. I found a list of them in the volume itself, which has been partially proofread with appropriate Author links. However, (1) it was missing one of the authors on the page I proofread, and (2) this list hasn't yet been fully proofread, so If there's not another master list somewhere to use, I would like to request that someone with some familiarity with the list of contributors make it a priority to work on proofreading those pages, so that I an other proofreaders can refer to it while proofreading.

Meanwhile, I searched for my missing contributor, E. A. Pace, through the regular search engine. He turned out to be Author:Edward Aloysius Pace. I discovered when I visited his Author page that the very articles I had just proofread are already present on WS (though their authors weren't linked).

So now my question is: Am I just duplicating someone else's efforts? Why were the articles already there, if they don't transclude the pages I am proofreading (which I created from scratch)?
 * Authors already created are listed here Category:CE contributors or here Category:CE contributors complete but someone is still missing.
 * (All, or most) articles are already there as they were imported automatically from an external site. You can see the TOC of the different volumes. But they are not guaranteed to be proofread or might be missing parts.--Mpaa (talk) 22:55, 14 September 2014 (UTC)
 * One more thing. In order to transclude them, you need to mark a section begin/end. As I pointed above, how you choose to mark it is important in case we need to have automated tools to run on those pages (e.g. to recreate TOCs, or automating transcluding, etc.).--Mpaa (talk) 22:59, 14 September 2014 (UTC)
 * Can you please explain to me how you want me to do this, or point me to some instructions or guidelines? Or show me by correcting the page I proofread?   I have never done it before.  Thanks for the link to the contributors, but why are there two separate categories?  Laura1822 (talk) 18:24, 18 September 2014 (UTC)

 * In terms of historical explanation: the CE articles were posted by a bot in 2007, which was before the Page: namespace and ProofReadPage were in operation. They mirrored text already available elsewhere on the Web. There were all sorts of problems with this initial posting, including a large gap under letter E; but it could be said to have covered "most of" the CE text. (I was using the text on enWP in 2008). That is why "upgrade" seemed appropriate. While I was working on the DNB project, I asked for scans of the CE to be uploaded here, so the work of transferring the text to the transclusion method, and correcting it, can now go on.

 * I worked out a method of doing that which is time-efficient while working on the DNB. I can explain in detail, but it basically involves creating a long strip of text that is already marked up for transclusion, and then pasting it in page by page.

 * The tables of contents of each volume is available as a link through the index pages, so you can find all the text that way. There are still some serious problems, I believe. Charles Matthews (talk) 05:14, 15 September 2014 (UTC)
 * Thanks for the explanation. So what do you want me to do in terms of proofreading?  Just proofread and leave the transclusion work to you or someone else to do in a large operation later?  Or do you want it done article by article or page by page?
 * What I still don't understand is whether this upgrade is a re-do from the page up, as it were, so that what you need from me as a proofreader is to just proofread pages as I would on any other work on WS, or if there is some sort of unique method that you expect ordinary editors to learn and do. Is the project not really ready yet for basic proofreading?
 * I would also appreciate answers to the questions I posted above about formatting.
 * Would you rather I work on the "E" volume than the "A" volume? Thanks for all your hard work and help.  Laura1822 (talk) 18:24, 18 September 2014 (UTC)

 * The standard method of work here as of 2014, say for a work divided into articles, is to proofread the text in the Page: namespace, and then add the transclusion markup. Then create the article in the main namespace that pulls in the transcluded proofread text.

 * The modifications in this case would be (i) you don't have to proofread from scratch: you can use the existing text here of an article to start from, and (ii) you don't need to create the article from scratch, but can replace the header plus text that there is already, by the same header plus transclusion code. So if you are basically checking and tweaking the existing text, you are copying it from the article, into the Page: namespace opposite the scan. The advantage being that anyone can later verify a particular word or date if there seems to be an issue.

 * Anyone can start in on any part of a big work such as the CE wherever they wish. And they can use any pre-digitised text there is.

 * On the point about inline citations, we leave them in the text.

 * Some links:

 * Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/Aaron shows the basic method for transclusion. You can tell it is transcluded by the little numbers in the left margin that link into the Page: namespace where the text actually is. In the edit view of the Aaron article you can see the transclusion code in an example where the article runs over several pages. The transclusion markup needs to be on the first page and last page. You put in section begin and section end tags with name; and when they match on a page the software makes them into one heading between ## and ## at the top. See Help:Transclusion.

 * Then there is this index footer:

 * Proofreading help navbox

 * Please do ask about any further details. No one finds it that easy to get started here: I certainly didn't.

 * Charles Matthews (talk) 06:47, 19 September 2014 (UTC)


text:
Page:Cinderella, Roalfe Cox.djvu/15

 Rh the origin of many incidents in the early mental habits of mankind, and of a few in early custom.

Being unable to throw any more light on Cinderella, I may take advantage of the opportunity to show what I think about Popular Tales, their origin and diffusion, as, from certain criticisms, my position seems not to be understood. This may be chiefly my fault, partly that of other antiquaries, who, I think, incline to credit me with notions which I do not entertain. These criticisms were expressed at the Folk-lore Congress of 1891, in papers which I was not fortunate enough to hear, and I have only now read them in the records of the Congress. The results at which I arrived, provisionally as it were, have been a good deal criticised, as by Mr. Jacobs and M. Cosquin, the author of the learned and valuable Contes de Lorraine. Perhaps I may now offer a few remarks on their criticisms. It is hardly worth while to answer a suggestion that I am indifferent to the literary merit of the tales, or ignorant of the constructive art which is sometimes, by no means always, displayed in the composition of Cinderella, for example. Ever since I could read, and long before I ever dreamed that fairy-tales might be a matter of curious discussion, those tales have been my delight. I heard them told by other children as a child, I even rescued one or two versions which seem to have died out of oral tradition in Lowland Scots; I confess that I still have a child-like love of a fairy-story for its own sake; and I have done my best to circulate Fairy Books among children. Coming from childhood into the light of common day, I found certain theories of popular tales chiefly current. They were regarded as the detritus of Myths, the last echo of stories of Gods and Heroes, surviving among the people. These myths, again, were explained, by the schools of Schwartz, Kuhn, Max Müller, as myths either of storm, thunder, and lightning, or of the Sun and Dawn. Further, the myths, and also the tales, were believed to be essentially and exclusively Aryan, parts of the common Aryan heritage, brought from the cradle of the Aryan race. The solar

title: Page:Cinderella, Roalfe Cox.djvu/15


text: Author:Franz Felix Adalbert Kuhn

title: Author:Franz Felix Adalbert Kuhn


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Page:Cinderella, Roalfe Cox.djvu/16

 xii and the elemental theories of the origin of myths, and of their detritus, popular tales, did not convince me. The linguistic processes by which words and phrases of forgotten meaning developed into the myths, did not seem to me to be satisfactory solutions. I observed that tales similar to the Aryan in incident and plot existed in non-Aryan countries—Africa, Samoa, New Guinea, North and Central America, Finland, among the Samoyeds, and so forth. As it was then denied that tales were lent and borrowed, from people to people, I looked for an explanation of the similarities. The same stories were not likely to be evolved among peoples who did, and peoples who did not, speak an Aryan language, if language misunderstood was the source of tales. I also reached the conclusion that, when similar incidents and plot occurred in a Greek heroic myth (say the Argonautic Legend or the Odyssey) and in popular tales current in Finland, Samoa, Zululand, the tales are not the detritus of the heroic myth, but the epic legend, as of Jason or Odysseus, is an artistic and literary modification of the more ancient tale. The characters of the tale are usually anonymous, and the places are vague and nameless. The characters of the epic are named, they are national heroes; the events are localised; they occur in Greece, Colchis, and so forth. So I concluded that the donnée was ancient and popular, the epic was comparatively recent and artistic. Next I observed that the tales generally contained, while the epics usually discarded, many barbaric incidents, such as cannibalism, magic, talking, animals. Further, I perceived that the tales varied in "culture" with the civilisation of the people who told them. Among savages, say Bushmen, or in a higher grade Zulus, the characters were far more frequently animals than in European märchen. The Bushman girl who answers to Medea is not the daughter of a wizard king, but the wife of an elephant. The same peculiarity marks savage religious myths. The gods are beasts or birds. These facts led me to suppose that the tales were very ancient, and had been handed down, with a gradual refining, from ages of savagery to ages of civilisation. But the peasant class which retains the tales has been so conservative

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 Rh and unaltered, that many of the wilder features of the original tale (discarded in early artistic and national epic) linger on in märchen. Thus, in most peasant versions of the Cinderella theme, the wonder-working character is a beast, a sheep in Scotland; sometimes that beast has been the heroine's mother. In our usual Cinderella, derived from Perrault's version (1697), the wonder-working character is a fairy godmother. Thus I seemed to detect a process of genealogy like this:

Discovering an apparent process of refinement and elaboration, and behind that ideas very barbaric, I examined the more peculiar incidents of popular tales. Talking beasts are common, beasts acting as men are common: no less common, among savages, is the frame of mind in which practically no distinction is taken between gods, beasts, and men. The more barbaric the people, the more this lack of distinction marks their usages, ritual, myth, and tales. Of magic and cannibalism it is needless to speak. The more civilised the people, the less of these elements appears in their ritual, usage, and myth: most survives in their popular tales, and even in these it is gradually mitigated. My conclusion was that the tales dated from an age of savage fancy.

Lastly, I seemed to note, in European popular tales, some relics of ancient legal custom. The constant preference of the youngest child, boy or girl, might conceivably point to a time when the youngest child was the heir, as in Borough English: a very widespread custom. On this I would not now lay stress; another natural reason may suggest the favour always shown to Benjamin. Besides, in adventures, if there is to be accumulating interest, someone must fail; the elder sons would attempt the adventure

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 xiv first: consequently the youngest must be the successful hero. I have endeavoured to reverse the process in the History of Prince Prigio. On the other hand, I still incline to believe that the prohibitions on naming or seeing the bride, with the supernatural sanction of punishment for infringing the taboo, account for the central incidents in stories like Cupid and Psyche. If this be admitted, it points to a very remote origin of the tale, in an ancient stratum of custom, obsolete in Europe. This, in itself, is a curious little piece of human history. Again, the setting of a man to do dangerous feats, before he can win his bride, is a matter of known custom. In heroic Greece, a bride was usually bought, as now among the Zulus, by a price of oxen. But a man might make the accomplishment of difficult feats the price of his daughter's hand; such feats are the winning of the oxen of Iphiclus, the sowing of the dragon's teeth. The result of all these considerations would be that tales were first told when the incidents in them, so astonishing to a civilised mind, were matters of ordinary belief and custom, when beasts might act like men, when there were nuptial taboos, when magic and cannibalism were prevalent. The incidents would no more startle people in fiction then, than a duel, a stolen child, a discovered will, startle novel-readers now. But, as Sainte-Beuve says, had we inherited no fairy-tales, and started to tell nursery-tales in full civilisation, the incidents of Puss in Boots would not have been invented.

That is all my theory: the tales are of immense antiquity, and date from a period of wild fancy, like that in which the more backward races are still or were yesterday.

I have disclaimed any theory about the original Home, or the diffusion of the tales. I have frequently shown the many ways in which a tale, once conceived, might be diffused or transmitted. It might be carried by women, compelled, by the law of exogamy, to marry into an alien group. It might be carried by slaves all across Africa, and, in old times, to America. A slave of Javan might tell a Greek tale among Phœnicians or Assyrians. Soldiers of Alexander might carry them to Egypt. A viking expedition of early Greeks in Egypt, such as Odysseus describes (Odyssey, xiv,

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 Rh 262-275), might carry off an Egyptian captive with his tales, or the Greek himself might be taken and sold, with his tales, into Libya. Tales might come and go, north and south, with the amber on the Sacred Way. How tales known in the old world could be carried to the Huarochiris, subjects of the Incas, or to Samoa, and there get incrusted in the sacred national myths; entirely puzzles me, nor can I very readily see how a whole mass of our tales came to be diffused among Zulus and Bushmen, Red Indians and Eskimo. But "anything might happen in the great backward of time", as Aristotle says. I do not deny that such diffusion and transmission is possible.

On the other hand, I have frequently said that, given a similar state of taste and fancy, similar beliefs, similar circumstances, a similar tale might conceivably be independently evolved in regions remote from each other. We know that similar patterns, similar art (compare Aztec and Mycenæan pottery in the British Museum), have thus been independently evolved; so have similar cosmic myths, similar fables, similar riddles, similar proverbs, similar customs and institutions. Mr. Fraser's learned and copious work, The Golden Bough, is full of examples. All history is full of examples, and the Spanish missionaries met Baptism, Confession, and a ghastly Communion in Mexico. Is it impossible, then, that, out of similar materials, similar märchen might be independently evolved?

Here M. Cosquin says that, in certain cases at least, it is impossible. He may be right, I am not indissolubly wedded to the theory of possible independent evolution of stories akin let us say, to Cupid and Psyche. As to that tale, and most others, M. Cosquin claims for it an Indian origin. Now, I will grant, for the sake of argument, that this, that, and the other tale may have an original home, was invented once for all, and was diffused into all the regions where it is found. But why is India to be that original home? Here I cannot agree with M. Cosquin. I have shown, in minute detail, that no single incident, or custom, or idea, in Cupid and Psyche, is peculiar to India. All are either universally human, or incidental to a certain ancient state of society, which

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 xvi has left traces everywhere. As M. Cosquin is well aware, our oldest märchen in literary form are derived from an Egyptian papyrus of the age of the second Rameses. What reason can we allege for supposing that Egypt borrowed them from India, or India from Egypt? We have no evidence at all as to their place of origin. Again, we have the well-known märchen embodied in the Odyssey, the Perseus legend, the Jason legend, all much older than Greek knowledge of India. The Cyclic poems can hardly be placed later than the eighth century B.C. In them we find traces of the märchen of Keen Eye, the constant companion of the hero in märchen, as also of Jason. We have the pursuit of Nemesis, who takes various animal forms, like a character in the Mabinogion, and another in The Arabian Nights, and the Giant in Puss and Boots. Hesiod shows us the transformed character, Metis, swallowed by Zeus, when she is a fly, as the Giant, in form of a mouse, is swallowed by Puss in Boots. Also, in the Cypria we have the girls who produce corn, wine, and oil, as in a Buddhist legend. But this was Greek before Buddha was born, what shows it to have been borrowed from India? The story of the rescue of Hesione from the monster, a common occurrence in märchen, is ancient Greek: what has India to do with the matter? These reinforce the evidence of that regular märchen, the Perseus tale, with the Cap of Darkness, a "property" of märchen known to the Iliad. The Jason legend, as it stands, is a mass of märchen; the first part is the flight of two children, known in Samoyed (Castren), in Grimm, in modern Greek. The second part is our Far-Travelled Tale. Our Odyssey is notoriously a tissue of märchen.

If M. Cosquin still holds that all these, with the ancient Egyptian story of Bitiou, came from India, it would be well for him to demonstrate the point by evidence. There is no trace of ancient Egyptian or ancient Greek acquaintance with India. I am not denying that the märchen of ancient Greece and Egypt may have come from India, in course of commerce and slave-dealing. But

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 Rh there is no evidence that East borrowed from West, or West from East. Stories must have spread both ways, later, in Alexander's conquest, and with Buddhist wanderers, and in commerce, the Crusades, Arab adaptations done into Latin, into French, and so on, but why should India be the original home of märchen? I have destroyed the theory that the ideas and customs are peculiarly Indian. I have shown that, if Puss in Boots was originally Indian, with a Buddhistic moral, gratitude to animals, that moral does not occur in the Indian form of Puss in Boots. Till M. Cosquin shows that the ancient Greek and Egyptian märchen originated in India, a country unknown to ancient Greece and Egypt, I fear I cannot be converted to his theory of India as the cradle of märchen.

M. Cosquin (International Congress, p. 68) takes a case. A girl is delivered to a dragon, and saved by the hero, who kills the monster. I am supposed to call the sacrifice of a girl to a beast, as an expiation, a "savage idea". Eh bien, I really cannot call it civilised! The west coast of Africa, where sharks do duty for dragons, is the only place where I remember the rite in actual practice. Garcilasso de la Vega mentions a similar custom in Peru. Given the rite, the rescue would be heroic. So far, the idea might be developed among any people who practise the rite. But what follows? The hero falls asleep as he waits for the monster; the girl tends his hair ("catches vermin in it", not a civilised attention, except in the case of Prince Charles in his Highland distresses), twines a ring in the hair, sees the monster approach, drops a hot tear which wakens the hero; the dragon cries, "Hullo, here's a pair of you!" This incident is found in the Greek isle of Syra, in a modern Nubian story, details and all, in Armenia; and the "burning tear" in Wallachian and Swedish.

Do I believe that the details have been independently developed in Syra, Nubia, Armenia?

Certainly I do not believe it. I believe the scene has been invented, as it occurs in this tale, once for all, and diffused in the various ways which I have suggested.

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 xviii But the sacrifice of the girl to the monster, her rescue by the hero—do I believe that to be of Indian origin?

Why should I believe that Perseus and Andromeda, Heracles and Hesione, were borrowed from India by Greece before or about Homer's time? I have no evidence to show whether Greece borrowed the incident or not, and I believe the incident might be invented wherever people were capable of sacrificing a woman to a wild beast. That coincidence of fancy is as possible as the Rescue from the Bull in modern novels.

Again, I do not say that, if we find nuptial taboos in a story in a given country, therefore that country once practised nuptial taboos. I believe that the nuptial taboo accounts for the origin of the incident in the tale, but the tale may have been borrowed, and the taboo may never have been practised in the country where we find the story.

I cannot guess why I am supposed to lay stress on this theory of independent evolution of tales. In the conclusion of "A Far-Travelled Tale" (in Custom and Myth) I give the three hypotheses, "that all wits jumped, and invented the same sequence of situations by accident"; that all men spread from one centre, and carried a tale of the centre everywhere, or "that the story, once invented, has drifted all round the world". I show how the diffusion might conceivably be accounted for by exogamy, trade, slave-dealing, war, "by all these agencies, working through dateless time." "Much may be due to the identity everywhere of early fancy; something to transmission", as M. Cosquin quotes me (Introduction to Grimm, xlii, xliii). I should have said "much" in both clauses. In fact, I am obliged to say that I know not how the stories are so similar, for transmission to the Western Pacific coast from India, Africa, or Europe is difficult to accept. But the backward of time and the possibilities of migration are infinite. Thus no one can say that I dogmatise. But my fault is not dogmatising against the possibility of independent development. Thus, in Cupid and Psyche, M. Cosquin says: "According to Mr. Lang, a 'fortuitous combination' of fantastic elements might produce, at one moment, in a number of countries, the following

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 Rh sequence of adventures: Girl to be devoted to a serpent or other monster, who is really a man in a beast's skin. He marries the girl. She may not see her lord; is betrayed into disobeying this rule; the husband disappears; she wanders in quest of him; is set on impossible tasks by his mother; accomplishes them by aid of animals; she and her lord are reunited. Mr. Lang thinks this little romance, with its chain of adventures, might be invented at once in I know not how many countries, and might spring armed from I know not how many brains. That would be the miracle!" It would, indeed, only I never said anything of the sort, as far as I remember. I said that all the incidents were either universally human, like Psyche's jealous sisters, or were suggested by nuptial taboos and other customs, common in many countries. I never said that all the tale of Apuleius might spring from any number of savage brains all at once. What I said, and what I demonstrated, is, that tales of a similar character, turning on transgression of a nuptial taboo, might and did occur, probably independently, among Zulus and Red Indians. Some of the proofs are given, from Zulu and Red Indian sources, in Cupid, Psyche, and the Sun-Frog. They differ greatly in detail and "sequence of adventure". What is consistent is the disappearance of wife or husband, on the infringement, by husband or wife, of a mysterious prohibition. I argue "tales on the pattern of Cupid and Psyche might have been evolved, wherever a curious nuptial taboo required to be sanctioned, or explained, by a myth". I added that " they might also have been transmitted in the unknown past of our race". Where the sequence of adventures in Apuleius is strictly preserved, there I believe firmly in transmission, in borrowing. Where the sequence does not occur, but the essence or central point does occur, the disappearance of wife or husband, usually more or less supernatural, often occasionally invested with an animal's form—when this occurs in South Africa or North America, blended with local superstitions, there I believe that independent development is perfectly possible.

It is not hard to confute an opponent, if it may be done by attributing to him a theory which he does not hold, and

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 xx that. We are all prone to adopt, unconsciously, that form of reasoning, "du moins si j'en juge par la confusion regnant dans beaucoup d'esprits", as M. Cosquin says. There is a point at which the sequence and combination of incidents into a plot can only have been made once, and that point is reached wherever a tale like Cupid and Psyche exactly follows the arrangement of Apuleius. But other tales, retaining its peculiar central situation, do not present its sequence of plot. In the case of certain remote and backward peoples, their tale of this kind, to my thinking, may be of independent origin, while I do not and did not deny that they may have borrowed and altered it. In fact, I decline to dogmatise.

Mr. Jacobs is my next critic. He insists that to study survivals in the tale is not to study the tale. I suppose I have "studied the tale", more or less. My reason for writing on it was to show that the peculiarities of the tale could be accounted for without the use of Mr. Max Müller's solar theory: this was a late performance, like the rest of the world, I first read the tale for pleasure. Mr. Jacobs likens me to one who, in future ages, should study The Mystery of a Hansom Cab, to learn the properties of hansom cabs, and argue that the story was written to illustrate these. The mystery of Mr. Jacobs' vein of humour! However, it is true that I do regard some märchen "as a species of Tendenz Roman," stories with a purpose, or capable of being used, at least, to point a moral. There is no mistake about the moral in the tales where charity or courtesy are denied by the first and second adventurer, who fail, granted by the third, who succeeds. Perrault notices, perhaps exaggerates this truth. Now, I can conceive that, when some young bride objected to the irrational taboo, then a taboo story—the awful results of breaking a taboo—was told to her: that is not out of human nature. Mr. Jacobs admits that savage customs and ideas do "obviously" occur in fairy-tales, but these are " not the essence of the story". The "obviousness" was not so manifest, I am conceited enough to say, before it was set

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Page:History of West Australia.djvu/513

HOUGH youth as the spring-time of life is pregnant with fertilising germs, there are few who take the necessary precautions for their protracted expansion. A period of action, many make it a stage of curious inaction. Some fritter away its valuable and all-too-short moments in continual deliberation as to the adoption of a career on the morrow. The morrow comes and goes, and so does each deliberation, till youth departs for ever.

But there are great exceptions to these unsettled, frivolous souls, and Western Australia claims one at least—Mr. E. G Price. When we state that he is still but twenty-four years of age, and when we show the various records of his career, perhaps the reader will judge if that is so. Mr. Price was born in Kent in 1872, and educated at a college in London. His studies were continued uninterruptedly up to the age of seventeen, when he was seized with a yearning desire to go abroad. Everything in the metropolis seemed cramped and pressed. Though wide it was narrow; no vista, no field for youthful enterprise, opened up in the fond imaginations of a sanguine mind. He embarked for Western Australia alone, and seventeen. On his arrival in Perth he looked about him, and found an opening in a mining manager's office. The discovery of the Yilgarn Goldfields, which aroused a slumbering community to a sense of active importance, was being noised abroad at the time he assumed his first role. Two years' experience in the office afforded a valuable insight into the secret and successful operations of mining. Nor was he slow to take advantage of such desirable information. He joined the firm of Messrs. Holman, Haines, and Co. as accountant. For two further years he contributed to the success of his employers by his financial abilities.

In 1894 the Hampton Lands Railway Syndicate confirmed his capability by appointing him accountant. Shortly afterwards the company sold out to the Hampton Plains Estate, with the result that the Swan Syndicate was formed in London, and Mr. Price was appointed manager. The capital was originally declared at £30,000, but was subsequently increased to £51,000. Mr. La Page, M.I.C.E., is chairman of directors, and Mr. Price holds his power of attorney in Western Australia. The duties of the new position were severe and responsible. Though he was possessed of a store of energy, there was a continual drain upon it by the magnitude of the work, which threatened at times to completely exhaust his resources. Still he laboured on in his earnest desire for the success of the syndicate. Its members appreciated his sincerity, and endorsed their former opinion of his worth by allowing him great liberty of action. He acquired various properties, which, chosen with care, are exceedingly remunerative to the shareholders. He purchased town lots in Coolgardie, which have proved to be valuable investments, as prices have risen to many times the sum paid. At his initiation, many flotations have engaged the attention of the syndicate. The Hampton Gold Fields (Limited) was floated in London, with a capital of £100,000; the Hannan's Star Gold Mines, with a capital of £80,000; the Brown Hill Extended with a capital of £65,000; and the Darlot Exploration Company, with a capital of £275,000. Any one who knows by experience the amount of trouble and labour involved in flotations will readily appreciate these results. Mr. Price acts as attorney for all these different companies. His ready and impartial attention to their several interests finds honourable mention in their reports. He did not abide content with the cold measure of justice, which is the legal virtue of subordinate labour.

Perhaps the most notable feat in the history of the Swan Syndicate was the promotion of the Coolgardie Water Works Co., with a capital of £250,000. Mr. Price, who ably advocated its formation, must be congratulated. Not only to the mines will its results be beneficial, but to the growing town of Coolgardie as well. Every detail of this scheme was carefully studied by him, and reported on accordingly. He was delighted with its simplicity and utility. Besides being agents and attorneys for all these flotations, the Swan Syndicate holds similar powers for Block 42, Hampton Plains (Limited), and the Hampton Trust (Limited). Mr. Price is attorney and legal manager for Block 32, Hampton Plains (Limited). Perhaps the excellent dividend of 50 per cent., which Mr. Price's services have reaped for the shareholders in the last half-year, will bespeak his merits more forcibly than an array of words.

title: Page:History of West Australia.djvu/513


text:
Author:Wilhelm Bleek

Works

 * The languages of Mosambique, 1856 external source
 * A Comparative Grammar of South African Languages, 1862 part 1,
 * Reynard the Fox in South Africa or Hottentot Fables and Tales, 1864 external source
 * On the Origin of Language, 1869 external source
 * A brief account of Bushman folk-lore, 1875 short work external source
 * Specimens of Bushman folklore, 1911 external source

title: Author:Wilhelm Bleek


text:
Author:Harold William Taylor Wager

Works

 * (Cytology)

title: Author:Harold William Taylor Wager