Word: yarns
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...August 17, 1858, the first message went over the wire : " Europe and America are united by telegraph. Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good-will toward men." The first cable consisted of a core of seven twisted copper wires, covered with gutta percha, hempen yarn saturated with pitch, wax, etc., and a spiral sheathing of iron wires, The whole about 6/10 of an inch in diameter and weighing one ton to the mile. The same general principles are followed today, but it is necessary to make the portions near the shore stronger and heavier. Cables cost...
...room of a fruit vessel with as much pride as the script of a new novel. His stateroom, however, was always filled with a store of books, books piled here and there, until there was scarcely a place to sit, and McFee in the midst of them, spinning a yarn to the captain, explaining with pride to his visitors the glories of the ship...
This last fact seems to be true of the yarn-spinner. The writer who takes his trade seriously as art with a capital " A " finds the process of creating a masterpiece onerous. Take Joseph Conrad, for example, who made a statement on his arrival here, or was so quoted, that he had never learned to enjoy writing. But the raconteur, whose one guide is a brilliant imagination who lets his only guide be the swift telling of a tale of life, love, mystery and the complications along the side lines. That must be real...
TIMES HAVE CHANGED-Elmer Davis-McBride ($2.00). The dubious phrases " a splendid book for a train " and " would make a wonderful movie" recur to the mind in dealing with Times Have Changed. But the book deserves somewhat better than that. Mr. Davis tells his rapid, adventurous yarn in a pleasant and amusing way. If you ever feel that, even though you may have married the most wonderful girl in the world, the good old days before that event occurred had a certain flavor-if you care for stolen jewels -if, in fact, you would rather be entertained than " searched...
...concerns the love of Victoria, the daughter of a wealthy, aristocratic landowner, for Johannes, the miller's son. There is not much " story" in the accepted sense, but rather a finespun mood of a sensitive girl whose injustice to her lover brings about tragedy. Hamsun rarely unwinds a yarn merely for the fun of the thing. He is chiefly interested in the representation of subtle soul-moods and situations motivated by the temperament rather than by violent action...