davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The age-herald., 1900-12-02
SKETCHES FROM EVERYDAY LIFE.

tend the Confederate reunion he knew he had friends who would help him, and could I make small loan, etc. I was particular ly hard up at the time; besides, did not think it good thing for him to get in debt for money to spend on a reunion; so for the first time I did not stand a touch" In this practical age it seemed the height of folly for him to get in debt, with its con- sequent self-denial and penury, simply to go to Confederate reunion. It would have been much better for him to have bought some new clothes. or some thing to eat, with the money. Some such idea I hinted to him, but to no effect, for when the veterans left on the 29th saw him in the ranks standing as straight as an ar row-that is, veteran arrow.
 I stopped and watched the old fellows drill on the street in their old gray uni forms. There were all kinds and conditions of men in the ranks, but there was com radeship between them that is sseldom seen or realized today-a bond that only mutual suffering, age and sympathy can create. Many limbs were shaky, some were miss ing, but every face was happy. Every one was a man. As l watched, l understood his craze to go. I understood that there is something higher and better in life than common sense or common prudence. I un- derstood how he would sell the food from his table, the clothes from his back all for the price of ticket. Here in the ranks, he, the unfortunate, the improvident, the buff and sport of fortune, was man, and, like the rest, stood for all that is great and glorious and abiding in mankind.
 At the woord of command the gray ranks moved off. the band played "The Girl Left Behind Me-" and I swallowed a lump in my throat, stepped up to him and slipped a "loan" into his hand. F. H. M.
The age-herald., 1900-12-02

At sight of her white and venerable head, her kind blue eyes, her gentle manner, you wanted to take her in your arms and caress her with an old-fashioned hug. During her seventy years she had never said an unkind word; I doubt if she had ever had an un- kind thought and her heart was as pure and loving, as fresh and sympathetic, at seventy as at sixteen. Age had not wither- ed that golden heart, and on her golden wedding day it rang as pure and true as ever. The years had furrowed her cheeks, and her hands now trembled while per forming their deeds of kindness; but some lingering beauty of youth and the ever growing beauty of age made you forget any loss of youthful graces. Her little Greek nose was Joy forever. Its lines were still straight and unwavering-a true index of her honest and tender nature.
 He had been raised a Quaker. Nature had made him gentleman. His birth and training made him fitting mate for her Kindness, dignity and strength of soul mingled in his character, making an har- monious structure. I was but a child when I first knew them. My heart instantly flow ed out to her, but while felt his integrity and worth, was somewhat abashed in his presence. He seldom spoke-a result of his Quaker habits-and his silence seemed om- inous to me, child. It yas not until I saw him again. years after, that I read between his words and saw the noble heart under meath his silence Such silence; how elo- quent it can be! What worlds of care and suffering, of agony and heartache, lie elo- quently hushed in the uuspoken word!
 Fifty years ago, long before I was born, he had seen, loved at sight. 'wooed and won her, who was to be his joy and comfort through life. She was then twenty, and I know she was beautiful, How could she be otherwise, with that little Greek nose and those sweet blue eyes, which are still beau Nful today? He was madly in love. His Quaker heart, violating the training of his youth beatand throbbed unanimously. He married her, marrying "out of meeting," as she was not a Quaker, and as a result he was turned out of his church. Some years after, the Quaker elders, seeing this lovely heart he had won, said to him: William. if thou wilt say that thou art sorry We will take thee back" His only answer was, q am not sorry yet" and I venture to say that never during the fifty years of his married life did he have re- gret for marrying out of meeting; that he never said, even to himself, "I am sorry"
 He is now an old man. His gait is feeble and slow. His life's work is over He has been unsuccessful in the race for worldly wealth, though if good deeds and gener- ous heart are things of value, he is not so very poor.
 He never dreamed that he you'd live so long Thirty years ago he had reported at
The age-herald., 1900-12-02
SheIbY's Hour of Victory.

The Memphians eXalt themselves anew, and the Age-Herald does not desire to les sen their legitimate pride or joy! The swamps of their county of Shelby have yielded up goodly number of people, and the score of leading counties stands as follows:
 Shelby (Memphis) ........ ..............153, ,557 Jefferson (Blrmingham) ................ .140, 420 Davidson (Nashvile) .122 S15 Fulton (Atlanta9 .......................n7 III, ,563
 The rest of the counties in the cotton states are not within the distance post, and need not therefore be mentioned.
 But let not the Memphians not over jub- Hate themselves for the facts they present should teach them that day is fast com ing when they will have to play second fiddle. These are the cold facts. Shelby County grew in the decade just ended to the extent of 4O,S17 people; Jefferson Coun- ty added in that decade 51,919 people to dts population. Shelby's rate of growth was 863 per cent; Jefferson's 5S.6 per cent.
 Let us see what this means, assuming nhat the hardwood Shelby can maintain Ills Tdle OL SIONlH lSIl years IOliSSIJ WnlCll is doubtful, and that the metallic Jefferson can maintain its rate of growth, which is mot at all doubtful, for Jefferson is grow ing faster today than it ever did in its entire history. Now. get your slate and pencil and see what ascertained percent ages mean at the end of another decade. Shelby will then have 2O9,5S1 population; Jefferson will then have 222, 7O6 Instead of Aiding in "a coal chute or a scrap heap" the Age-Herald proposes to sit down and ca lmIy watch busy trunk-sewered Jeffer- son outgrow Shelby with the steadiness and certainty of an avalanche. It may be done an smoke, amid blazing furnaces and grimy coal pits. but it will be done, and at the end of the decade the Commercial-Ap- peal man will be chatting the song of the dsconsolate Memphians in a very low and sore key.
The age-herald., 1900-12-02
Three Southern Centers.

The editor of the New York Commercial has been travelling over the southern coun- try, and he has come to the conclusion that. outside of New Orleans, which must always remain a great port at the mouth of the mighty Mississippi, there are three towns which promise to become large and permanent centers of trade. industries and population, and these three are Birming- ls1iam, Memphis and Houston
 The country is now old enough to enable one to see what its larger cities are to be. The list is probably complete today, be- cause every portion of the country has been explored and settled, and any addition to the list would now be difficult and per- haps undesirable. The resources and pos abilities of every section and every state flave had their effect, and the towns and their demands are known and determined.
 Houston is to be large and permanent town, because it is to have deep water, and 1t is to be the port and commercial cen- ter of the empire of Texas The misfortunes of Galveston have made this fact painer, and there are of course abundant resources in Texas upon which to build a large town.
 Memphis position is also secure It shares with St. Louis and New Orleans the trade of the worlds richest valley It has the last railroad bridge that spans the river, thus giving 1t more railroads than it can readily count; and at present it is a won derful center of pine and hardwood indus tries. These industries will be supplanted by others. and the central city of the great central valley will prove enduring
 Birmingham is scarcely of age but it grew rapidly as mine after mine was opened, and furnace after furnace rose in the air. When slaekwater navigation is provided the year round in the Warrior, no one can put limit upon the growth of the American Bir- mingham. Its coal and it's iron and steel are nearest the sea, and a barge cost of about S5 cents a ton will give this district the world as a market, and fill Jones valley with people of high earning power
 It is an even race between industrial Bir- mingham, railroad Memphis and commer- oial Houston; but all three will endure and become, together with New Orleans, the chief towns of the south.
The age-herald., 1900-12-02
THE GOLDEN WEDDING.

the enlisting office at Macon for duty in the army, but the doctors declined to pass him. They told him he had heart disease and could not live a month in a campaign All during the war, with the South's stress and need for soldiers they still refused him. He returned home to die He told her what the doctors said, but though -un- nerved by fear and anxiety, she determined that he should not die; that if love and good care could avail, he should live out his three score years and ten, or more And so he has
 How many of us will do likewise? How many survive the trials of human life for so long a time? Which of us will walk in the sunshine on our golden wedding day. as I saw them walking, hand in hand, up and down the garden walk, lovers still? All the trials of their fifty years of welded life have not chilled their hearts. The loss of their little fortune, the death of their only child the silent passing away, one by one. of the friends of their youth; their circle of contact with the outside world narrowing day by day-none of these mis- fortunes have withered their hearts or dampened the fire of their love.
 l see them pause, as they reach the end of the walk, to turn back. She gazes at him with look of endless devotion. "Dar- ling, are you tired?" she says. Shall we go in now?" He presses her little hand that lies in his. "No," he says, with his Quaker-ike brevity. He looks tenderly at her, and they resume their walk towards the house, modest little cottage hidden from the street by thick evergreens. There is 1Uaripd a door to receive the cards of host of fash ionable callers; no express wagons rattle up bringing presents from wealthy rela- tives. Seldom the front door bell rings. A few kindly neighbors call to offer their con- gratulatiops, but they are all poor like themselves, and presents are few. How ever they do not care. They continue their walk, hand in hand, while the sun, as if to make up for the lack of worldly presents, pours down upon them a million golden rays from heaven, filling their hearts with life-and warmth.
 He had seen better days, but was now one of the unfortunate. Ills clothes were shabby and he had a rundown appearance that was constant bar to his getting em- ployment from anyone who did not know him; but in spite of poverty and hard luck, he was always cheerful, always bouyant- a heritage from his Irish ancestry. He had Oeen a soldier during the war, and a good one. He always stood erect in his shabby clothes, and whenever he would come into my office, as he frequently did, to give me a little ''blab and blarney," as he called it, and incidentally make "touch' for a small loan the usual preliminary was a. military salute. had known him for years he once did me a favor, and whenever could, always stood small touch.
 He came into my office one day, saying he was going to Louisville to att
The age-herald., 1900-12-02
DOWN TO SLEEP"

By Helen Hunt Jackson November woods are bare and still November days are clear and bright Each noon burns up the morning chill; The mornings snow is gone by night. Each day my steps grow slow, grow light As through the woods I reverent creep Watching all things lie down to sleep.' I never knew before what beds, Fragrant to smell and soft to touch, The forest sifts and shapes and spreads; I never knew before how much Of human sound there is in such Low tones as through the forest sweep, When all wild things lie down to sleep" Each day find new coverlids Tncked in, and more sweet eyes shut tight; Sometimes the yiewless mother bids Her ferns kneel down full in my sight; I hear their chorus of good nights;' And half I snile and half I weep, Listening while they lie down to sleep" November woods are bare and still; November days are bright and good; Life's noon burns up life's morning chill; IGfe's night rests feet which long have
 stood:
 Some warm soft bed, in field or wood, The mother will not fail to keep, Where we can Hay us down to sleep"
The age-herald., 1900-12-02

Dear friend, far off, my last desire,
 So far, so near in woe and veal;
 o loved the most, when most l feel There is lower and higher;
 Known and unknown; human divine;
 Sweet human hand and lips and eye;
 Dear heavenly friend that canst not die, Mine mine for ever, ever mine;
 Strange friend, past, present, and 10 be;
 Love deeplier, darklier understood;
 Behold I dream dream of good,
 And mingle all the world with thee.
 My beloved, we cannot hold it true with him who in days of cid. with jingle of cap and bell. did laughingly ask of the idle winds if friendship was but name, a charm that luled to sleep, a shade that followed wealth or fame and left the wretch to weep.
 We of these days of homemade joy, the you and me of the world of sunlight and laughter-we know many things which were not q present help to the gentle OIL yer in his pursuit of the little pleasures of life Many @eRfhg souls amongst us have stood sorely in need of the truer friendship; have been in dire distress, in danger of ma terial disaster, possibly in the devils pres ence of disgrace and at the moment when unmerciful misfortune pressed heaviest, there loomed out of the blackness the white angel of fidelity, the radiant face of friend ship. Those of us who have lived through such moments have knowledge that the most precious possession of this life is friendship that is real, is true, is self=sac- rificing, self-denying; that will nerve our hearts when danger threatens that is dark CT than death, the danger of dishonor In the eyes of our fellowmen, disrepute in the estimate of good women.
 Maybe but few of us have known the ter rible danger of dishonor, apparent or real; but He who taught us prayer bade us to pray that we be led not into temptation. Along lifes way, winding in and winding out, through the fiowery and the thorny fields by babbling brook and brimming river, over the hills anas across the dales. upon the one side there walks our guard ian angels and temptation walks upon the other; and here and there as we go tempta- ton ties the knotted grass of grief to trip us. IHe pest Ol us sometimes SlufnDle, ana whether we fall low or stagger to recover, it is then that we need men and women whom We love to love friends.
 It comes to all of us, in every relation and condition of life, my beloved, that we need friends: not merely those who wish us well; not such alone as give us glad greeting when the sun is brightly shining; not such as-will not speak evil unkind- ness concerning us; not the fairweather associates who will drink our wine and break our bread. But wellwishers who will do good for us in our name speak good words concerning us whenever chance pre- sents the moment, or, chance failing, who will not only in our behoof, in our cause, in our service, grasp the skirts of happy circumstance, but who will create the cir cumstaree for the good word or the good deed.
 
 That phrase most fraught with evil of all the phrases the devil has coined for the human tongue is, He is no better than he ought to be, or its kindred speech, uttered to imperil a woman's honor.
 That sort of wickedness assumes a thou
The age-herald., 1900-12-02
REFLECTIONS OF A BACHELOR.

From the New York Press.
 Nothing makes man reel so wei as womans joke
 A man laughs because he is amused, but a woman laughs because she has mysteries.
 Every woman who cries too much tries to get out of it by claiming she is 'so nerv ouS."
 Probably Noah hadn't had his wife in the ark five minutes before she had all the parlor furniture changed around.
 A man is successful in society to the eX- tent to which he forgets his clothes: a woman to the extent to winch she doesn't.
 It is a mistake for a man to make hs wife so happy that as soon as she gets married she quits worrying about her good looks.
 The average woman would lot rather have her husband lose thousand dollars in his business than to have d lookinE glass fall off the wall.
 It is probably ttse same instinct which makes a young woman like to trap girls into getting married as it is which makes her want to save souls at a revival.
The age-herald., 1900-12-02

sand forms of words. glanees. unsyllabled mutterings. and 1t is crime against sa- cred law which is endless in it's cursing.
 It has broken millions of honest hearts, and caused seas of tears to flow and drown joys the angels cherished.
 It is as base as a woman's betrayal and as accursed as the most baleful device the spirit of evil ever set to ensnare innocence and paint it with the red mark of shame.
 When such baseness is first given speech it may be stayed if it fall upon the hearing of one friendly soul, who shall stand before the traducer and cry, Thou Hest! Every slanderer is a coward, and every black lie that fingers on his lips proclaims him base. When he speaks, then it is that the angels cry for one strong friend of the traduced one to tell the slanderer he lies.
 
 An God, for man with heart, head hand, Like the simple great ones gone
 For ever and ever by.
 One still strong man in a blatant land, Whatever they call him, what care I, Aristocrat democrat. autocrat-one Who can rule and dare not lie.
 There are men and women who go about constantly seeking every possible hint or suggestion of any possible wrong, short coming, or innocent indiscretion respecting any reputable man or woman, and what ever these scavengers of society find they magnify a thousand fold and repeat as truth to all listeners. Failing to find any hint of wrong regarding anybody, the scav- engers create base hints or islanders out of the muck-heaps of their own foul imagina- tion and go forth sowing poison against innocence.
 These scavengers are easily identified; 1; they ge.-about constantly and everywhere self-placarded slanderers for if you will but mark them, they speak we'll of no one, except at rare intervals and with manifest reluctance. Name in their presence any person, and forthwith they say something in detriment, and what they say will range from the flush upon maiden's cheek to the foulest scandal. Some words they are certain to speak in terms deroga tory, pleas ing to themselves and annoying to you. They speak something of evil respecting everyone, and brazenly deride you if you praise others and-show any measure of un- selishness. The basis of all their villainy is self, and no selfish man is to be trusted. For common protection against all these selfish scavengers of society at large every reputable woman and man, and even all children need the watchful care and cham pionship of real friends, faithful souls who will defy islander and exalt virtue.
 Be thou as chaste as ice, as pure as snow, thou shalt not escape calumny.''
 The calumniators we have with us alway: they are the scavengers of society. "The friends thou hast and their adoption
 tried,
 Grapple them to thy soul with hooks of
 steel"
 We all of us have our friends my be- loved. Let us cherish them as the prime possessions of life, which makes this life really worth the living. Without them we should merely cumber the earth, powerless to serve others and unhappy in serving ourselves.
 And, mark you, fellow-lovers of the earth,
The age-herald., 1900-12-02
21ee)-05oea~
GERM OF RoYALIsT PARTY.

From the Louisville Courier-Journal.
 There is no room to doubt that royalty and nobility are looking up We are to have royalists deputy in Congress f-om Hawaii. He can hardly form a party by himself, or even a group, but he will be able to do service nest egg. His heart will go out to the Sultan of Sulu, with his harem and his slaves, and he may stretch his arms towards Sulu, either east or west, in etfectonate yearning We have got at least the germ of royalist party
The age-herald., 1900-12-02
MAY GIVE TROUBLE TO TEDDY

From the Indianapolis Sentinel.
 Senator Hoar is evidently on the trail of Teddy, for at the distribution of prizes at Harvard last week he told the students that their education was not intended to fit them ito hunt the grizzly bear" There is in this suggestion of what may be expected when the Senate is in session.
The age-herald., 1900-12-02
SURPRISING FIGURES.

From the Boston Herald. - The official report that 9s4 postmasters died and 5000 resigned last year seems to be al variance with the somewhat popular saying as to the adheiveness of office hold CTS.
The age-herald., 1900-12-02
Governor Sanford in Cffice.

The health of Governor Sanford will doubtless be promoted by the fact that no friction or complications are to arise in Montgomery because of his serious illness. Peace is to reign there and a legislature ill full harmony with the new administra- ton vii help on the cause of good govern ment At some time, perhaps, it will be- come known how much the people are in- debted to the Legislature, but at present 1t is best to let by-gones be by-gones, for all elements of discord have disappeared from the scene, and the people are in the sad dle
 For the sake of freeing Governor Sanford from care and anxiety in his brave battle against disease, it is to be hoped the Leg islature will soon take it's customary re- cess. President of the Senate Jelks is at hand, it is true, but all things considered il is best to give Governor Sanford all possible freedom from official anxiety. He needs all his energies at present towards the recovery of his strength.
 The State is to be congratuiated upon the transfer of executive power under pecu- larly complicated circumstances-circum stances that were not thoughtfully consid- cred by the Constitution makers of 1875; but alTs well that ends well; we need not further discuss an omission that promises 4a . like nature can arise. This emergency is an additional reason for the speedy hold ing of a constitutional convention.
The age-herald., 1900-12-02

The five editors in the Florida Legislature are expected to see that each statutory story is told in the first paragraph.
The age-herald., 1900-12-02

It seems that MT. Lease keeps a drug good ground for a divorce.
The age-herald., 1900-12-02

Jay Gould had sized up Daughter Anna pretty well when he made his will. She must be content with income, and let the principle stand.
The age-herald., 1900-12-02

There is no need now of getting ready to welcome the twentieth century, for En- peror Bill did that a year ago, and he never took it back.
The age-herald., 1900-12-02

It has been ascertained that 173 American heiresses, worth $2O5, 2OS,OOO, have married titles, and most of them wish they hadn't.
The age-herald., 1900-12-02

The Kansas City Star chronicles the re- tirement of the Kansas City mosquito for the season.
The age-herald., 1900-12-02

Dowie's lacemakers did not pass through Mansfield Ohio, in their journey to Earthly Zion.
The age-herald., 1900-12-02

street car horse went through the New York horse show as a thoroughbred, but no last years gown stood the ordeal
The age-herald., 1900-12-02

The late Senator Davis had just entered upon his third term.
The age-herald., 1900-12-02

The French offer Mir. Kruger dead loads of sympathy, but not an ounce of inter- vention.
The age-herald., 1900-12-02

MT. Zimmerman has been heard to say that he considers the Duke of Manchester's articles as first-rate, when he should have said able.
The age-herald., 1900-12-02

Admirers of General Cronje are buying coat.
The age-herald., 1900-12-02

Congress meets tomorrow, and the troubles of the country will then begin to thicken.
The age-herald., 1900-12-02

The men who saw Napoleon are beginning to cash in their checks.
The age-herald., 1900-12-02

The Chinese fight at least up to their pay, which is 21s cents a day, It is sometimes forgotten, and then the Chinese forget to fight.