davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-12-08

"HE last stragglers of the army of
 vacation tourists are returning from
 x abroad now, laden with the usual assortment of experiences and impress sions In the cargoes of ideas brought home every year by these trans Atlantic voyagers there is mostly muca of A sameness;" but here and there among the home-comers is an observer who has seen some of the old sights from new point of view. Such one IS young woman who stepped ashore the other day after a month in Scotland where, being a Bostonian, she found special interest in Glasgow, the Scottish city with which Boston is compared so frequently and in so many ways.
 Of all things Glasgowegian-thats what things pertaining to Glasgow are called, bv some freak of derivation-the most famous, perhaps. in this country is the street car system. The Glasgow tram has been held up as an example to the world, though MT. James Dalrymple, who operates the municipal tram system, returned the compliment by nominating the nearly ideal one when he came oyer here couple of years ago as expert ad- wiser to Mayor Dunne of Chicago. So every American trolley rider-which now adays means every American, of course will be interested fin the impressions made on the young Boston woman by the
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-12-08

blity of such action and lead her to take more lively interest in the result. A grain of corn has very little about it to make it's loss matter of much moment but the same grain of corn planted and grown to maturity becomes an object of attention and care.
 The main objection that has been raised against granting suffrage to woman Is the disgraceful scenes which are at times to be witnessed at the polling places on cleo ton days. But that trouble could be remedied by having polling place for the women apart from the men, or bet ter still the whole system of voting could be changed so as to prevent entirely the possibility of any scene of disorder at all. The method adopted by merchants who promote contests could be followed, and instead of the voters going to the polls let each voter be furnished with ballot paper and stamped, addressed en- velope in which to mall the ballot paper. This plain would not only reduce the cost of elections to the candidates but it would save the community from the disorganization of business which attends election days. The extension of the suf- frage to women is almost sure to re- quire some changes in the conduct of
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-12-08

out the whole system feeling the ef- fects, just as physiologists say that an aching finger affects the whole human body. and that as women constitute at least the half-said by many to be the better half-of the people, the mere fact that they are not called upon to take an active part in the enforcement of the law should not disqualify them from the right to assist in the shaping of the law. The answer generally made to the demand for that right is that women exercise an influence over men which far outweighs their votes at the ballot box. If this be a fact it is a lamentable fact. If men can be swayed or turned aside from their conscientious convictions simply by female influences. 1t will soon lead to such condition as may be seen in the domestcated ele- phant Better thousand times to give women votes than that they should use their wiles and smiles to lead men away from what these same men believe to be for the general welfare of the na- ton. When the power behind the throne becomes strong enough to dethrone req
 son some remedy is badly needed. His tory shows that when evil influences oper-
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-12-08

served two terms, and was succeeded by James Barbour, of Virginia. whose brother was Speaker of the Seventeenth Congress. One day John Randolph, Of Roanoke, coming out of the Capitol, was asked by an acquaintance what was go- ing on inside. In that shrill voice, the terror of many an able debater, he an- swered: "I was in the Senate and Jeemes Barbour shot at hair and split it. and then l went over to the House, where his brother Phil shot at q barn door and missed it." John Gaillard came for 6 third time and was President pro tempore three terms in succession. So 1t will be discovered that I was mistaken in the assertion that MT. Frye holds the cham pionship for length of tenure. Gaillard served six terms, but they were not con- tnuous. Frye has served five continu- ous terms only, but should he survive he is certain of sixth and all continuous.
 And now we come to the greatest man who ever filled the station of President pro tempore of the American Senate, for Nathaniel Macon was more than Cato. There have been abler and far more bril- liant men than he in either house of Con gross, but perhaps, in character he was the grandest of them all. As a soldier of the Revolution he was as brave in the field as he was afterward brave in the council He served thirteen terms in the
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-12-08

countries permits the courage which prompted the adventure to become law lessuess in the pursuit of his purpose. The vanguard of any movement, like the vanguard of an army, consists of the daring and desperate but 1t smooths the path for the advancing battalions, and in proportion to the havoc which it makes are the terms of peace regulated. The suffragette claims equality with men in the possession and exercise of electoral suffrage, but that is power which car ries with 1t certain conditions which so- ciety still hesitates to impose upon women and which, if not imposed, will not be the equality claimed, but quite the re- verse.
 The theory of constitutional govern ment is too well understood to need ex- plantation, yet 1t is necessary to mention, as basis for the argument, that all goverdnment, constitutional or otherwise, must rest upon certain laws and operate through the inforeement of these laws. The power to inforce law must be ac- companed by the power to punish for its violation, and both the power to in- force and to punish must be entrusted to the human agencies. The policeman in- forces civil law, the soldier inforces the
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-12-08
DANGER THE POWER BEHIND 7HRONE-By r. 4 Nonks

elections, and even if women arc not given the privilege at once there Is still great room for improvement in the pres ent manner of voting. But the women are in the field; they are taking their place beside men In professional and business life; provision must be made for them in public life as we'll
 The main fact to be borne in mind is that the power of woman Is Q dangerous power when used behind the throne, but used openly and freely 1t becomes great factor for good Instead of a woman ii1- fuencing a man to vote according to her views and against his own, each should vote independently and, at the worst, they can only cancel. While the good woman will always be disposed to accept her husbands advice in matters of poll tical nature since his experience and as- sociations are more likely to aequaint him with the merits of the question, still 1t Is q well known fact that many men themselves require guidance and instruc- ton in the simplest duties In life. Edu- cation has made women equally as com petent to vote intelligently as men, and the responsibility for their actions will make them equally as circumspect and conservative.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-12-08

of the sixtieth Congress he will have completed a sixth term-the longest ten ure of that office in the history of the Senate.
 The first President pro tempore was John Langdon, then a Senator from New Hampshire, man after the order of George Clinton or Isham G. Harris. He was the Carnot who organized Stark s brilliant victory of Bennington. that made Burgoyne's surrender inevitable He was succeeded as President pro tempore by Richard Henry Lee, who, as an orator, was to Patrick Henry, as the silvery stream of sylvan brook to the roaring waters of mountain torrent. Lee per- suaded; Henry commanded. Lee was the Cicero of the Revolution; Henry was it's Demosthenes. The next was Izard, of South Carolina, and Tazewell of Virginia, followed by four names now forgot, until Theodore Sedgwick came in in 179S for little while Afterward he was Speaker of the House, of which body he was re- peatedly member before he became Senator He had been in the Continental Congress from Massachusetts and was a pillar of the Revolution in New Eng land.
 And now we have a long list of what Disraeli said Lord Liverpool was-arch- mediocristies, as they live in the public esteem of our day, such as Laurence, of
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-12-08
SOME EARLZER PRESIDENTS PRO 7EM-By Saboyavd.

illustrates the value of character His monument is like the man. It is a huge pile of stones thrown on his grave by every pilgrim who visits the spot to do reverence to the great man who lies bur jed there.
 What blessing it would be to this generation to have a statesman, cast in the mold of Nathaniel Macon, to lead this people out of the political labyrinth. in the windings of which even our wisest and best are now bewildered and appar ently helpless, such as ever results when the blind lead the blind and the foolish are preferred over the wise.
 That same Samuel Smith who had been chosen President pro tempore of the Sen ate more than twenty years earlier now succeeded Macon and served two terms, and upon his retirement l.. W. Tazewell, of Virginia, came in, relative-for aught I know a son--of the Henry Tazewell who had been chosen President pro tenn pore nearly twoscore years earlier.
 And now we come to the name of an- other very great man, one who could. If reincarnate, lead us out of the wilder ness in which we are wandering sixty seven years after his departure from the scenes of men-Hugh l.. White, pre- eminently the wise man. He succeeded Andrew Jackson in the Senate and served with distinguished ability and unblem-
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-12-08

New York; Ross, of Pennsylvania; Liv- ermore, of New Hampshire; Tracy, of Connecticut; Howard, of Maryland; Hill house, of Connecticut; Baldwin, of Geor- gia; Bradley, of Vermont; Brown, of Kentucky; Franklin. of North Carolina; Anderson, of Tennessee; Smith, of Mary land-celebrated as the first man who ever served forty years in the national legislature, and he is one of the half dozen men of our history entitled to that distinction. Miuedge, of Georgia, suc- ceeded Smith as President pro tempore, and was succeeded by Gregg of Penn sylvania. Next was Gaillard, of South Carolina a very eminent statesman, who was succeeded by John Pope, of Ken lucky.
 William H. Crawford, of Georgia, came next. He was one of the leading states men of a generation that produced gi- ants. It is not at all unlikely that he would have been President had his health continued robust, and it is certain that his candidature for that office defeated Henry Clay in 1924, He was the great grandfather of MT. Culberson the pres ent able and distinguished Senator from Texas, himself Presidential timber and a probability. Joseph B. Varnum, of Massachusetts, succeeded, and, after serving a single term, gave way to that same Gaillard of South Carolina, who
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-12-08

military law; hence it follows that there must be policemen and soldiers. Physi- cal force, rather than moral suasion, is represented in the policeman and soldier, and since it has been deemed expedient to confine the fore represented by thse bodies to men only, it is but right and proper that those who may be obliged to inforce laws should be the ones to make the laws.
 Under constitutional form of govern ment the people make the laws, not di- rectly themselves but indirectly, through elected representatives. In the same manner the laws are enforced by the people, not by themselves directly but indirectly, through representatives. When two nations go to war the people of those nations are at war with each other, but the actual hostlites are carried on by the military and naval forces as repre- sentatives of the people of each nation. So long, therefore, as soldiers and sail ors are drawn exclusively from one sec tion of the human family it is but natural to expect that the same side will con- tinue to exercise the rights which such exclusiveness confers.
 But it may be argued that as no part of the body polite can be affected with
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-12-08

two-story trans so popular, apparently, in the British Isles.
 'The thing that most impressed us in Glasgow" she says, was the agility and lofty indifference to danger of its h. habitants, especially the women who must be-as an old guide in Verona said of the much coptorted daughter of Hero dias, on one of the church doors-'very acrobatish' to entrust themselves to the top of those lolloping trans. Up to the time my husband and I, two wayfarfng Americans, landed on Scottish soil, the top of tram had seemed to us pecu- liarly desirable spot. Fresh air, all the breezes that blow, an uninterrupted view of the scenery no cry of Move up for ward, please no fat ladies squeezing into places too small for them, no one stumbling over toes and knocking hats over eyes-in short, none of the trials of our native land,. but a serene, dignified progress through the air, giving one the delightful sensation of riding on Q very tall and very amenable horse.
 How do we survive our disappoint- ments. It was no horse but camel we mounted that morning on Sauchiehall
 street-leave out all the middle conso- nants and choke between each syllable and you will be able to pronounce this quite nicely-and a camel of particular ly vicious and unaccountable temper.
 Spying a tempting looking green tram we waved our umbrellas commandingly. The conductor, very superior person, in an equally superior uniform of dark
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-12-08

blue and silver, blew blast on child's whistle, and with a rattling and a jar suggestive of steamer coming into dock, the whole lofty structure stopped.
 .' Outside, of course,' I said.
 |" oh, of course, my faithful compan- ion replied; and with light and assured step we began to ascend
 ''The third step was barely reached when convulsion of nature appeared to take place. The tram had started-started quite oblivious of the fact that we were dangling on a spiral precipice With nothing between us and destruction but a slender brass rail. I gasped and tried to look over my shoulder for advice
 '' Go on,' an agitated voice called; keep going on;' and since I should be obliged to tumble my poor husband into u street if 1 didn't I perforce did as I was told; but with the shock of unex- pectedness added to the natural difficult ties of the position. I have often won dered since how I did it.
 "The top reached, we heaved sigh of thanksgiving and dropped into the nearest seat. Luckily there were few to reach 1t. It was pleasanter after we got there. but before long the seats be- gan to fill up and 1t seemed to me the air was growing more vile.
 !" What is this horrid smell?' l asked.
 '' Pipes replied my husband In stage whisper.
 Sure enough it was pipes; clay pipes, in various stages of awfulness; in the mouths of men with heavy. slouching
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-12-08

opening of the eAeneid. and then ask himself the question: Were these abs tract deitles?e It is clear that the poet is depicting persons; that they are in- tensely active: that they eontrive their schemes to help their favortes, and to thwart their enemies; that they discuss these schemes-in short, that their per- sonality distinctly appears at every point of the narrative.
 It was only when men had ceased to bleieve in the gods that they began to philosophize them into mere impersona- tions of certain abstract ideas. So long as Zeus and Apollo were regarded as real gods. and were worshipped as such. they were always regarded as persons, and their worship was intensely realis- tic. The Lystrlan really believed that Barnabus was Jupiter, and that Paul was Mercurius. The whole narrative shows that their conceptions of these gods were of personal character.
 In Mohammedansm the same concep- ton is universally prevalent. No Mus sulman ever thought of Allah as an abs tract god, but always as q person.
 Judaism shows the same conditions wherever it was a real religion, acting upon the everyday lives of men. Spin
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-12-08

ozee was a Jew by birth; but nothing could be farther from the intensely real istie conceptions which the Old Testa- ment prophets uniformly give of Jeho- yah than are the flne-spun, and almost unintellisible speeulations of this prince of modern Pantheists That he was no Jew in his beliefs is perfectly clear
 It is an incontestible fact, potent upon the very surface of the record that the God of the Bible is never treated as an abstraction by any one of the many Btbie characters who are represented as belieY- ing in Jehovah as God.
 Some critics of a<speculative turn Of mind have imagined that they found reason to complain of what they called the "anthrepomorphism of the Bible, l. e. of it's making God so intensely realistic and personal as to reduce ham to hu- man form; but probably no human being, except Matthew Arnold, in his Literature and Dogma" ever imagined that the Jehovah of the prophets was an abstract idea, and not a person.
 Now, where did that Chaldean shep- herd, Abraham, born and reared in the midst of heathish idolatry; living all his life with almost nothing that we now
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-12-08

shed honor In 1886 he refused to be dic- tated to by "Old Hickory" even, ran for President against the heir-apparent Mar tin Van Buren, and carried his and Jack sons own state of Tennessee, as well as Georgia. In that same year of 1886 he was again elected Senator from Tennes- see, but resigned in 1Sf0.
 George Poindexter, then Senator from Mississippi, came after Hugh l.. White, as President pro tempore.' He was na- tive of Virginia and went to the then Territory of Mississippi in 1892 and was it's delegate in Congress for three terms, 1SO7-18l3 He served in the war of 1Sl2 and was a district judge. He was rep resentative from the new state in the Fifteenth Congress and Governor or Mis- slssippi from 1919 to 1S2l He was Sen ator in Congress from 1890 to 1885, when he moved to Kentucky and practiced law at Lexington, but later returned to Mis- sissippi, where he died In 1853.
 Poindexter lives largely in tradition. more than he does in actual history. He was very brilliant man, fine orator after the order of Henry A Wise, and but for some faults of temper, all too violent, he might have filled q great place in our parliamentary history
 This subject will be "continued in our next" +
 Washington November 25. 1907.
 Copyright, 1907 by F. W. Newman)
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-12-08

call "cultne;' without sciences, arts, manufacturers. agriculture, commerce; without even house to live in; where, where, we may well ask. did such a man get that elear-cut and perfectly in- telligible idea of his covenant God, whom he loved, reverenced. worshlpped and obeyed to his life's end? There is not the slightest trace of an abstract God in any scene in which Abraham figures. His God could see and hear and talk and be talked to. There is not touch of abstract speculation in the whole of Ahrahams theology. Indeed, outside of Job" and "Ecclesiastes." the Old Testa- ment is singularly destitute of speeula- tion. Nothing can be more concrete and realistic than are the Pentatarch, the Psalms, the Proverbs, and the prophetic books generally.
 It Is, moreover, q noticeable fact that nearly all Jews who have distinguished themselves as speculative thinkers have practically abandoned the Judaism of the Old Testament. Philo, Spinoza and Mendelssohn were all of Jewish birth. but not one of them can be called q Jew in his creed. Abstract tn theological speculation is foreign to the general
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-12-08

THE Municipal Council elections have
 shown very clearly that women
 ! have come into governmental life to stay, and on more than one occasion during the recent elections women have been returned. and yet propapiy no change has shown more clearly the neces- sitv for women to acquire the parlia- mentary vote She is still on sufferance, and even though a majority in the dis trict may consider that she VIII do the work better than man, she still labors under the great disadvantage of having m absolute right to command the at tentjon and respect of those who are working on public questions. As the law stands at present, only widows and spin sters have a right to sit in Town Coun- oils. so the number of women eligible as candidates is limited. unless the mar ried woman has property of her own and pays rates on her own account, m wnlcn case she is equally eligible. The work of the Town Council will necessarily ap- neal to women for it deals largely with the general health and weii-being of the community. the administration Of educa- ion and the inner workings or such ln- stItutions as lunatic asylums, industrial schools and reformatories. There is wide and splendid opening for the woman who wishes to give her general house. keeninr knowledge to the world at large, for che is eminently fitted to deal effi- ciently with questions which affect the general well-being of the human family.
 The marriage which is to take place in tbe orleans family at Wood Norton in Worcestershire, reminds me that that es- tate has been associated for upward or half d century with the Orleans family. The lata Comte de Paris, whom remem- Der. father of tine present Duke of Or leans, lived at Wood Norton for some years, and the present duke inherited the property from the Due d'AurnAle 1t IS in a part of the world with which am familiar. surrounded by acres of fruit trees. which form so beautiful feature
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-12-08

But even if we admit all that Mr. Keary claims as to the origin and devel- opment of the language of primitive man, there is a glaring fallacy in the state ment of his conclusion. That conclusion involves abstract gods" or ''the one ab- stract God" But it is clear that this fails to account for any one of the great historical religions which have provided among men-heathen, Mohammedan, Jewish and Christian
 If We go back to Homer and study the delties that play so important part in his marvellous Epic, one of the most striking things that confronts us is the utter absence of distractions Zeus, the king of gods and men. is anything but an abstraction. He is a person-has hands, feet, mouth. voice, will. purpose. a capacity to love and to hate after a thoroughly human fashion. And so of all the deties of the Greek pantheon. There is not an abstraction among them, but they are. without an exception, thorough ly personal.
 The same thing is true of the Roman divinities, which were, indeed, borrowed from the Greeks. Let any candid man read Virgirs fine account of the part played hy Venus and Aeolus, near the