davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The morning journal-courier., 1907-12-28

pie the most efficient civil service.
 In the affair of the police sergeants an examination determined the stand ing of the men. It naturally is assum- ed that, all other things being equal, character, faithfulness. and efficiency, the man of highest record would re- .eeive appointment. The men under consideration are estImable men. It would seem that in a situation where iI it is difficult to decide, the results of the examination would be the de- terminating factor By following strict ly the civil service rules the examina- ton itself takes all the responsibility and relieves every one involved in the matter from any charge of partiality. This is one of the beauties of civil service procedure. It works itself It is quite proper that the people, becom- ing solIcitous for the proper working of the civil service rules, should in. quire into the acts of any public of l flcials, and from the latter there is some explanation due to the public. It is positively essential that this im- pression that civil service is farce should be removed.
The morning journal-courier., 1907-12-28

have not met the sanguine expecta- tious of the advocates of the dena- tured product, The farmers who hsve tried the method find that they cannot seJl their product for less than tjlir- ty-five or forty cents a gallon. This leaves kerosene and gasolene still in the field.
 But it may occur to the farmer that if he an sell his product for purposes for which gasolene is not available, it might be better at the present price than to let fruits and vegetables de- cay. The more farmers and others persist in the r1aMng of alcohol. the more likely is it that inventive genius will be invited to provide methods to cheapen the process. There is hardly as yet sufficient time given to the working out of the problem. Some results must follow to the country as a whole by the removal of the federal tax. The alcohol is present in waste products and way will be found to produce it in marketable quantity and cheapened price. The farmers who are at work now in the production are pioneers and of course must have the difficulties of pioneers in any move ment.
The morning journal-courier., 1907-12-28
The woman in New Jersey who paid $12 for a husband probably got cheat ed, even if he was marked down.
RICH. nur-

This country has been buying a lot of gold, and it has been paying for it like a man. It has now, it appears, started in to buy radiun. The Bureau of Insular Affairs has bought for $3,000 oneythousandth of a gram of radium, which is equal to .O1543 of a grain, troy weight. The purchase, which has been made in New York, is for the bureau of science of the Philippines, which purposes to use the radium in a series of experiments it is about to conduct.
 We have been able to afford the gold we have bought, and we can buy a few grams of radium without is- suing any more bonds. But it is to be hoped that the demand for radium from our island colony will be tenn pered with moderation. for awhile at least. We cant afford to buy radium by the pound just now, even for the benefit of our dearly beloved little brown brothers. In ract it would be reprehensible extravaganza to be buy ing it for ourselves.
The morning journal-courier., 1907-12-28
THE TRouBLE IN INDIA.

The situation in India doesn't clear up much. and by and by the British may have some real depressing" to do there. A well-known Farsi scholar gives a rather different view of things than that which has been prevalent. In his opinion the recent troubles in the Pun1ab should be ascribed to the educated class of Bengalis and to the Congress party. He asserts that the Congress party is insIdiously doing its best to lower the English in the eyes of the people of India, who have no longer that respect for their rulers which they had until the present gen. eration. The work of the English of ficials under these circumstance. has become increasingly difficult Most of the educated class Of which the Con gress party is made up bear no good will whatever to these officials, or to the English race generally, because they think that but for them they would be the administrators of the country. He deplores the effect of English party politics on public opin- ion in India, but praises the flrmness shown by MT, Morley, He denounces 1 the policy of making concessions to the educated discontented class ot Bengalis. He says: Instead of trying vainly to conciliate by political con sessions which do not touch the real 1 people, the English would be much better advised in looking into the condition of the masses, and in try ing to find out what 1t really is thai makes their rule, with all it's undoubt. ed benefits. unpopular with them They will find 1t in the ever-increas- ing expenditure and taxation. Not that the, native does not get his tax; worth, But it may be asked, is i really worth while getting so muct from him and giving him in return so much of a highly efficient govern. ment at the risk of making British rule highly unpopular?
 This seems reasonable, much more reasonable than much of the talk hal been. The English mean well in In
 dia, but it is not at all surprising tha many of the tax-burdened natives ar, doubtful
The morning journal-courier., 1907-12-28
THE CIVIL SERVICE QUESTION.

It is easy to understand why some discussion has begun over the recent method of selecting a head for the de-
 tective bureau by the board of po- lice commissioners. Not long ago civil service examination was prepar- ed for sergeants in order to determine their eligibility In the mind of the public such an examination is believ- ed to be a useful and effective method in deciding the fitness of a candidate for any office to be filled. To prac- tically ignore the results of such an examination and to refuse to abide by it is an abuse of public confidence. Civil service rules are being extended more widely each year in the business affairs of city, State, and nation. At no point of the system can any disre- gard of it's requirements appear with out weakening it in some particular. The public has gradually become edu- cated to the desirability, fairness and l justice of the civil service process and are more and more inclined to regard with impatience, if not moral indigna- ton, any violations of it's provisions
 In reference to the recent action of the police board it is claimed that it was q secret, session and the phrase star chamber" is currently used One commissioner is reported as declaring that 'the result of the election had been slated before we went in" Some have talked of mass meeting to con- sider the subject This indicates the confidence held in the usefulness ot the civil service method Of course any who have been accustomed un- der the older process of selection by which some political motive became the dominant factor are likely to chafe under the restrictions of civil service requirements. The professional politi. elan everywhere cannot understand civil service rules But precisely fol this they were devised: to prevent DO litical intrigue and to give -the peo,
The morning journal-courier., 1907-12-28
CuRED.

Eva--"I hear that Helen has tossed over her beau" Edna-'T Tossed over several of them She is running her own automobile now. '-Chicago Daily News.
 MY boy, if you want to stay in the public eye"
 Yes, dad?' City Journal.
 Look here, waiter, where are those soft boiled eggs l ordered?f
 "De cook boiled em too hard, sah so he had to boil em over again Louis lville Herald
 plaaggs. aggsa4 o.r, vo,, ao,y
 T can buy snow shovel, can't IT. Philadelphia Ledger.
 He says his regard for me Is pure l ly platonic."
 What does that mean?'
 "A calendar for Christmas, I irlag- inc. w Washington Herald
 Mother (scverely, to her daughter) But you were out in the garden quite alone with Charles Daughter 10, no, mother, I wasn't quite alone. Charles was with me. Nos Loisirs.
 wife-Do you ike those beautiful suspenders I embroidered for you, dear?
 Hubby-Yes, darling they don't show when I am dressed.--Cleveland Plain Dealer.
 How did pa act when you asked him for my hand?"
 Very gentle and courteous; it quite took me by surprise.
 T told him you used to be a pugil- ist t"-Houston Post
 Professor Examining medical stud ent)-If you are called out to a patient what is the first question you would ask?
 Medical student-where he lives.-- Philadelphia Inquirer,
 Pattentv Doctor, you remember that I had the gout in my right foot. Well, 1t is ir my left now Doctor And yet you persist III saying that the waters prescribed for you didn't do any good "--Bon Vivant.
 His Wife-Are you going to. ask that young Jenkins and his fiancee to our house party?
 Husband-Not much.
 You dislike him, don't you?'
 'Yes, but not enough for that. '-Life.
 Visitor (whose hand had been forced) And when is your birthday, Tom Imy?"
 Tommy (who has been parentally warned never to fish for birthday pres ents-"Oh, it's gone by a long tinle--a year next Saturday" Punch.
 Jimmie said thea merchant sol. emnly, at the eleventh hour I've have forgotten to get fresh supply oi stamps
 And the office boy. in his excitement | responded with Goodness, sir, so wt have If we ain't a couple of blunder- headed idiotsp'--Tit-B Bits.
 'I wonder who invents all of the new words that slip into the language iron time to time2n That is easy to explain When pious man hits his thumb with ham mer he can't swear. and he has to sa. something Nashville American. l "St. Louis doctor sets sixty craz, women to shopping as cure, she rea' from the paper, 'Spose when they can shop all da. , without buying anything he'll regar : them as cured" he commented
 Her only rejoinder was a look o contempt Philadelphia Ledger.
The morning journal-courier., 1907-12-28

the recognition of authority. When both ideas cease to have force thsre is spiritual chaos. Authority must be vested somewhere. In the coming rew Catholicism where will the seat Of authority be found? Dr. Smyth sug- gests, although he does not directly say as much in the printed abstract of his sermon, that the seat of spirit ual authority will be the Common Christian conscience" which will be- come quite developed in the new spir- itual community democratically ad- ministered. as, for example. in the po- litical sphere where a self-governing consciousness has been developed, the common will of the people is ever as- serting itself as authoritative. Is this Dr. snlyth's thought?
 If a new Catholicity will establish spiritual supremacy in the minds hearts and conseiences of men by the direct presence of the spirit of truth instructing, stimulating, inspiring the common. social consciousness, it is tc be welcomed. Whatever form of or. ganization the new Catholicity may assume. let it by all means be of z large tolerant spirit. respecting the re- ligious views of every man. One de feet of any church that is anchored to some particular group of theologi cal theories is that these theories ar, assumed to be f1nality, as thougl the last word had been said and n, other could be said. Out of such position naturally comes an uncharit able regard for others who may hav different views. Let the new Catholic ism be so largely spiritual and aooun, so fully in the love that "thinketh n evil'' that there will be room for tn widest divergence in religious think ing, all bound by the fellowship tha makes for true Christian unity.
The morning journal-courier., 1907-12-28
rhs River of Forgetfulnea..

Adown the slope woman, old and With years of toll. came to the river Her hands outstretched m hopeful
 eagerness, Approached the boatman resting on
 his oar. "oh, tell me" pleaded she, If this be And closer to him drew in her dis
 tress That I can leave my cares and trou~ Is this the river called Forgetful-
 ness?' compaasionately, then. the boatman .This is the stream of wonderful re-
 nown, And e'er you cross to wonder smiling You lay your troublous load of sor-
 row down
 "oh, will then forget the faithless
 love
 That cursed with bitterness tht
 weary years, The broken vows the pleadings all 1T The sieepless. lonely hours, the scald-
 ing tears?' 'Forgotten they will be, but listen vel Ere you decide, the love of bygonf
 hours, The thrill of ecstasy, when lip to lip. You slipped loves nectar mid tho
 springing tiow'rs. 'wdli be forgotten, too; you can not The memory of these to wonder
 shore Again she questioned; 'Will l, too, for The little graves of children? Nev.
 ermore Can I remember tiny arms that cluns About my neck, and baby voices
 sweet, That prattled sunshine, in my lonely The patfering music soft of little feet?' NO, nevermore.' the boatman gravelS
 said.
 The sun sank gently in the waiting
 west. As up the slope a woman slowly toiled With memry pressed still closer t
 her breast. --Florence Golf schwarz in the Cincin anati Commercial Tribune.
The morning journal-courier., 1907-12-28
RESULTS DISAPPOINTING.

Not long ago the expectation of the country was raised to high pitch by the predicted usefulness of denatured alcohol In order to bring this article into large use by placing cheap product in reach of the people the federal tax was removed Everywhere the farmer was expected to furnish his own power and heat by using the waste fruits and vegetables of the farms and distilling them Cheerful firesides were pictured; churns and wood saws were set whirring; the farm boy weary with turning for years the everlasting grindstone wore smile of bissful satisfaction. On the highways the il1-smening gasolene was to be disDlaced by the cheaper alcohol, and everywhere the blessings to be conferred were too numerous to mention
 However, these prophecies have been very little fulfilled thus far. Il is reported that only ten stills have been established for the making ot the product. The farmers, generally conservative in using new ideas and methods until they have carefully thought over the matter for awhile
The morning journal-courier., 1907-12-28
PRIVATE PENSION BILLS.

It is hard to teach an old dog new tricks, and it is also hard to keep an old dog from practicing trick that he has found profitable. It was gen. erally understood when the "old age" pension law was passed, putting on the pension list practically the whole remnant of the army which fought for the Union, that there would be no further occasion for private pension bills. Indeed, one of the chief argu- ments urged in favor of the bill was that the private bill'' would no long CT obstruct the public business of congress. But in the first week of the session just begun, out of a total of 7,544 bills introduced, all but a few dozen were private pension bills.
 This is a generous country, and no- body who is anybody in it wants tc see an old soldier meanly treated. But there seems to be no end to the de- mands made upon the generosity ot the country by people who ostensibS act for the benefit Of the old soldier It is known to be a fact that many ot the private pension bills are in the in, terest of pensioners who are lesl needy and meritorious than other, Nwho only share in the public pension bills. A country that has been saved shouldn't be plundered.
The morning journal-courier., 1907-12-28
Guard the sale of Firearms.
lThe New Bedford standard. 5


 Judge Hadley of Lowell protests against the indiscriminate sale of fire- arms, and with good reason If a dealer chooses to be careful as to whom he trades with in deadly weap- ons, well and good; if he does not, and apparently in many cases he does not almost anybody is likely to acquire a gun or a pistol All kinds of safe guards are now placed about the traf- fic in deadly poisons, as is wise. But deadly weapons can be acquired by any person who has the price, with a mini- mum of difficulty or with no diffloulty at all. The case of Steele. who ac- complished the fatal shooting at the State house, is directly in point. Under any reasonable system, he should nev- CT have been able to buy that revolver. even after the mistake of letting him loose from an insane asylum had been made. Plenty of other illustrations
The morning journal-courier., 1907-12-28
A SIGN OF THE TIMES.

There are many signs of the times, and some of them are decidedly sig nifcant For instance, the attitude of the big brewers in this country toward the Prohibition movement The big gest of them all has openly declared that hereafter his beer will not be sold in bad places with his approval. A writer in the American Brewers Review shows his recognition of the situation by saying this cannot re- frain from saying again to the brewers that the most important part of the work before them is to attack the anti-drink forces on the moral side. The first and most important step in the entire argument is to deny abso- lutely the claim of the anti-alcoholists to that moral superiority which they assume; to show in fact, that so far from being superior, their standpoint is decidedly inferior, medieval sur vival of a lower culture. We who stand for temperance not only in the use of alcoholic drink,b of all things are defending a far higher moral standpoint than those who would compel all men to move into hot houses in order to save few unfor- tunate oegenerates.
 This isn't quite as funny as it may seem to some at first sight. But the Prohibitionists will weicome the issue thus raised if it will stay raised long enough. They will feel pretty confden that the superiority of the moral side of their cause will stand any attacl that can be made on it in the presen
 condition of general morality.
The morning journal-courier., 1907-12-28
A Fading Fad.

(New York Letter to Philadelphia
 Ledger)
 Toy dealers declare the teddy bear craze is dying out. When the stores closed late last night most of the toy departments were pretty we'll cleared out except for teddy bears. During the holiday rush just over thousands of dogs, elephants, monkeys and rabbits, made of furry cloth and stuffed as arc | the teddy bears, were sold, but few Of the great numbers of bears that went Unto the toy shops early in the season 1 have left the shelves. Last season l dealers could not get enough of them. 1 This year they are drug on the mar ket
The morning journal-courier., 1907-12-28

American and British methods ot building are compared in recent is- sue of the Building World, in which it is contended that many English firms in quiet English way, achieve just as much as any American and on simi- lar lines. In New York the best brick work is that done by English bricklay- CTS, says the magazine. An ideal com bination would be that of the quiet self respecting determination of the English contractors methods coupled with the better organization that the Americans have mastered. To encour. age this there must be inducements 1t is the offer of an incentive, says the writer, that keeps up the enthusiasm of the American in his work, and the absence of incentive leaves the young Englishman comparatively listless.
The morning journal-courier., 1907-12-28
The pnllYing Congress.

(The New York Journal of Commerce
 Probably all the business that has been accomplished during the month of December could be packed into thirty minutes. The Senate has done more, but it. too, has minimized it's work and endeavored to procrastinate If has heard two or three serious speeches, but it's actual accomplish nent has been of the smallest. As Q result of the months meeting, there is a firmly seated conviction in many minds that the session will produce nc results on, most subjects, and that even on topics like the currency, where leg fslation is imperative, the record ol action will be of the smallest
The morning journal-courier., 1907-12-28
OUR CONTEMPORARIES
This Is a Nation.
fTha Now yort World

IIhb NEW lUIh WuIIU9J
 The fathers laid down for Us not an adamantine and unyielding framework within which the body polite must shrivel for lack of freedom, but broad principles suitable for the needs of all time This is 9 Nation a vital and growing organism, not a petrifaotion. There is no need in it either of hysteri- cal passion for sudden and ill-consid- cred changes or of blind adherence to practice and precedeRts which no long, CT flt the times.
The morning journal-courier., 1907-12-28

A strange and comical military body is troop of cavalry at St. de Moo away, a province on the east coast of Africa. which is under the rule of the French Governor General at Madagas- car These soldiers go about their military operations on oxen. The ami mals are lean creatures but move with surprising rapidity.
The morning journal-courier., 1907-12-28

Paid nothing, promised nothing. :" So says the new mayor of Boston in reporting his campaign expenses. And perhaps he will feel soon that he got nothing.
The morning journal-courier., 1907-12-28

Tn the museum of the University of Ghent there is a set of artificial teeth found in a tomb at Orvieto along with jewels and Etruscan vases. Their age is dated as from 5000 to 5000 years before Christ. Teeth stopped with gold have been found in Greek tombs. In the construction of false teeth recourse was had by the ancients to bone and horn Behzoni found in some num- mics artificial teeth made of sycamore. False teeth were very common among the Romans.
The morning journal-courier., 1907-12-28
JApAN,s GRAND EXHIBITION.

The Japanese war-seare has gone ae way of many other scares, and for the next four years and a half Japan will be too busy getting ready to make some honest dollars out of the rest of the world to think of fighting any body She is already preparing for the grand exhibition of Japan to be opened in Tokio April i, 1912. All foreign government and peoples are invited to participate. And at the re- cent dinner given by the officers of the grand exhibition to the ambassa~ dors and ministers stationed at Tokio the dove of peace and goodwill was the most conspicuous bird present The sentiment of the Japanese to- ward other countries was shown by the minister of agriculture and com merce, who felt that the proposed ex- hibitioh--in it's nature and scope in- | lternational--was really "the outward expression of the principle of brother hood of all mankind and also a, proof of the fact that the Japanese are low 5ers of peaceful pursuits ' In other words the object of the exhibition was no other than to come, through it's means, lin closer contact with different peoples, in order that they might understand each other better. Moreover, such contact would further develop their mutual interest in com merce and industry, so that they might reciprocally benefit each other
 Of course and just so. Japan wants peace and prosperity, and peace thai she may have prosperity. Her grand exhibition will be grand thing fol herself and for all who participate ir it. It is to be hoped that the airshiI line to Japan will be in operation by 1912
The morning journal-courier., 1907-12-28

are released automatically at a desired time no human agency can raise the safe. and to break in through 2 mass of stone and concrete which measures ten feet by ten feet by sixteen feet with dynamite would wreck the build ing without making it possible to get at the safe.
The morning journal-courier., 1907-12-28

where drunken or irresponsible persons have become possessed of firearms to the hurt of others Civilized conmuni- ties ought not to tolerate such a con- dition.
The morning journal-courier., 1907-12-28

The young man who is walking from Chicago to cure himself of drinking shouldn't be asked by any body to take a walk"
The morning journal-courier., 1907-12-28

A generation ago water-drinking oc- cupants of civic chairs were very rare in Scotland. Total abstainers, how ever. can claim as a result of the re- cent elections that forty-six Scottish burgs are presided over by abstaining proVosts. The list includes Sir Will liam Bisland. Bart, lord provost of Glasgow, and Lord Provost Gibson, Edinburgh.
The morning journal-courier., 1907-12-28

George Fred Williams says there are plenty of good Democrats left Yes, that's about the way they are feeling
The morning journal-courier., 1907-12-28

The Church Army of England has received an immense collection of Ian, tern slides from the estate of Alexan- der Lamont Henderson, a pioneer of modern photography who was for years photographer to Queen Victoria and the prince consort