davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Okolona messenger. (Okolona, Miss.) 1900-current, 1907-09-25
The Worm Turns.

His wife having spoken her mind to
him for the fifty thousandth time, and
having ordered him as he valued his
life, liberty, and pursuit Of happiness
to wear the pale green tie with en-
broidered yellow violets which she
had selected for him at ten-cent bar
gain counter, Mr.. William Henry Peck
stalked moodily to the little out-of-the
way Observation-Disclosures room
that was euphoniously termed his
"den," and for an hour labored upon
an epistle, which he addressed to THE
Peace Committee, The Hague" This
he mailed muttering: "Therei I'll
show her there is a limit to endur-
ance."
Okolona messenger. (Okolona, Miss.) 1900-current, 1907-09-25
On the Death Of RaIzac.

There can be but austere and seri-
GUS thoughts in all hearts when a
sublime spirit makes its majestic en-
trance into another life, when one Of
those beings who have long scared
above the crowd on the visible wings
of genius, spreading all at
once other ) wings which we
did not see, plunges swiftly
into the unknown. No, 1t is not the
unknown; no, it is not night, it is light.
1t is not the end, it is the beginning!
1t is not extinction, 1t is eternity. Is it
not true, such tombs as this demon
strate Immortality? In the presence
of the illustrious dead we feel more
distinctly the divine destiny of that
intelligence which traverses the earth
to suffer and to purify itself-which
we call man.-Victor Hugo.
Okolona messenger. (Okolona, Miss.) 1900-current, 1907-09-25
Not Too Simple.

John Simple, IA years old, of Dads
den, Ala, is not as simple as you
might think from his name. He saw
a fellow hanging around the barn and
acting in a suspicious manner, and
set big bear trap where he thought
1t would do the most good; and then
got up next morning to find that he had
bagged his game. The man had en-
tered the barn to steal one of the
horses, but put his foot into it instead.
He turned out to be noted thief, for
whom reward Of $500 had been Of
fered, and John Simple is going to get
the money It's not what boy is
named, but what he does, that counts.
Okolona messenger. (Okolona, Miss.) 1900-current, 1907-09-25
cAUsE "a ROLES -.
Decay Of the Citizen a Prelude to lite
DOWNFALL

Not long ago the EsquIline cemetery
was excayated, and there was discoy-
cred pit 1000 feet long and 300 feet
deep. 1t was an ancient burial ground
for slaves, who we're thrown into 1t
along with the carcasses of animals
and the refuse of the city. II 1t be
true that methods of human burial in
dicate the value which Is placed on
human life, these Roman slave pits
are In themselves sufficient to indi-
cate the spirit that lay behind Roman
civilization. The collective tyranny
was reproduced In the acts of the sin
gle citizen. His voraciOus egoism was
expressed in the boast of Roman cap
italists that their own domains aad
their own slaves supplied them with
almost every article that they needed,
and made them independent of the
fluctuations of the markets. That is
the picture of society breaking up
1t Is for such reasons that If the de-
cline of an empire is, as Gibbon called
1t, "the most awful scene in the his
tory of mankind" 1t is a scene which
cannot find it's ultimate explanation
in the narrow formulate of politics
and economics For nation is a col
lection of individuals whose actions
contain elements Of surprise, and are
incalculable, and the sum of their
characters is the national conscience.
Hence the national conscience may
vary from century to century. On the
private tombs of the Romans there
have been discovered dedications to
Nemesis. But we cannot measure ev-
cry step of that long and insiduous
process of deterioration in their pri-
vate character, which at last caused
her name to be written, with deeper
meaning, on the tomb of the state
From "The Nemesis Of Nations" by
w. Romaine Paterson.
Okolona messenger. (Okolona, Miss.) 1900-current, 1907-09-25
Sscs RANK IN JAPAN.
uceIcty There Is Divided Into Many
Separate Classes.

A traveller just returned from Japan
tells some things which perhaps all
the world does not know. Says he:
"Of rank, there are eight classes after
the nlkado and the Ziogoon, namely
% the princes; ~ the mobiles who
owe feudal service to the prince, or
the empire; 80 the priests; a. the
soldiers. These four form the higher
orders and enjoy the privilege OF
wearing two swords and petticoat
trousers; 80 inferior officials and doc
tors, called respectable, allowed to
wear cre sword, with the trousers;
go merchants and tradesmen, whose
legs may not pollute the trousers,
though by entering as domestics to a
man Of rank they may enjoy the privi
lege of wearing one sword; these are
the only people by whom wealth can
be accumulated; CD artists, artisans
and petty shop-keepers; 90 day labor
ers and peasants. Tradesmen who
work on leather, tanners, etc, are ex-
cluded from classification. They are
defiled, and may not even live with
other men; they live in villages Of
their own.
Okolona messenger. (Okolona, Miss.) 1900-current, 1907-09-25
M once.

Ever since there were men, and
women and horses there have been
balky horses and mad men. When a
horse gets the habit OF baking he
might as well be taken out and shot.
No one knows exactly why he does It,
but 1t Is supposed to be ugly temper.
Some six months ago lad named
William Frazer, living in Bristol, Eng
land, astonished lot Of people sur
rounding a balky horse by holding one
Of the animals forefeet up for about
ten minutes. Then he lowered It and
the horse started OF. The thing is
being tried all over England to-day,
and there has not been a failure 50
far. The boy says the idea Just came
to him." and IL 1t turns out a perfect
cure 1t will be too bad that he won't
make any money out Of 1t.
Okolona messenger. (Okolona, Miss.) 1900-current, 1907-09-25
$1,000 TONS OF cuRaANTs.
Brltons Seem to Be Exceptionally
Fond of This Fruit.

Our eat-grandmothers, although
they had to pay very high price for
dried currants, considered them quite
Indispensable to the compromising of
those pies, furmities and llorentines
which were the pride OF every house
wife. Domestic catering must have
been an arduous undertaking in those
days, for currants and other dried
fruits were not to be procured out Of
London except once year, at the an
nual fair of the local market town.
The royal dish Of plum porridge,
which it was the privilege of the
archbishop of Canterbury to serve
to newly crowned sovereign, was
composed largely of curraGts, the fruit
being stewed in strong beef soup en-
riched with red wine and red sack
Now that the order has changed and
simplicity is the keynote of the high
est class cookery, we Britons have
trebled our appreciation of the home
ly and wholesome currant; and al
though florentines and plum porridge
are dishes of the past, no less than
$4,000 tons of currants go every year
to the making of bread cakes, pastries
and buildings to tempt the British ap-
petite.-Ladies Pictorial.
Okolona messenger. (Okolona, Miss.) 1900-current, 1907-09-25
ReaK Too Much for Her.

\ Minnie was a nice well-behaved lit
he girl, but she was "awfully partic-
ular" about what she ate. OF course
her mother tried every means to
break her Of this habit So when she
saw Minnie cycling the egg before her
suspiciously, she said, rather sharp
~: There's soothing the matter with
the egg, my child; you must eat all
Of IT," Minnie said not word. but re-
nignedly commenced to test the CON
tents Of the egg. Presently she APP
pealed TO her mother "Mamma," said
she; must l really eat the beak.
too?"
Okolona messenger. (Okolona, Miss.) 1900-current, 1907-09-25

The head of a printing establish
ment in Richmond, va, was called
upon not long ago by a clergyman,
bearing the manuscript Of sermon.
Il would like to have the proofs Of
this by tomorrow" said the divine.
The printer answered that the time
allowed was insufficient. you must
give us a few days longer" he said.
mo; must have 1t tomorrow" in
sisted the minister. Il must deliver
this sermon to-morrow--not the day
after, or the next day but tomorrow,
It's special sermon, suitable only
for tomorrow wrote it ten years
ago, and now can't make out word
OF It."
Okolona messenger. (Okolona, Miss.) 1900-current, 1907-09-25
The Limit q Athletics.

"Of course" began the athletic girl
Il can accomplish many acrobatic
teats by now can climb creased
pole, dangle from the curtain rod,
handle the dumb bells and turn a
double somersault without landing
on my head every time, but what am
trying to do now Is to enter surface
car without staggering, walk along
to a vacant seat and take 1t gracefully
before the inevitable and gigantic Jerk
81 the car starting can land me In the
lap Of fellow passenger
Okolona messenger. (Okolona, Miss.) 1900-current, 1907-09-25
snart Doctor.

my husband Is troubled with d
'buzzing noise IN his ears. What would
you adviser" Il would advise him to
20 to the seashore for a month Or
two" "But he cant get away "Then
you can go."
Okolona messenger. (Okolona, Miss.) 1900-current, 1907-09-25

Pauline turns up her nose at offers
o. marriage" why sog" "The only
tf'ars she consldere sre abiect pleas"
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-05-12
VI.

In a chapter on 'Marius and the Great
Poletarian Rising of the Ancient World
SiRnor Ferrero points out that Italy had
long been living in the apprehension Of a
great social uphesval, Jus a hundred
years before Christ the day Of reckoning
was felt to be at hand. Not, OF course, that
decadence and ruin filled the whole Of the
picture. Even amid the chaos Of society
and politics there were symptoms OF in
tellectual advance. The diffusion OF Greek
philosophy and the progress Of education
had made men sensible OF the severity Of
the old legal code and caused them to
revolt against the stupid md barbarous
superetitions which II embodied. 1t was
In A. d. OF that the last vestiges Of human
sacrifice disappeared in Italy, At Rome
the DEGREES Of the praetors marked a oon-
tinuous development OF the principles OF
equity, and about this time the cumbrous
machinery Of legal procedure was i'm
mensely simplihed, Both in literature and
art there wa evidence Of considerable
activity.
Nevertheless. in whatever direction men
might look, whether at political or social
conditions, or within the sphere Of individ-
ual morality, signs Of approaching disorder
and decay could be perceived. The rise in
the standard Of living was forcing the old
aristocracy into strange shifts for q liveli-
hood; some kept aioat by population or
e1tortion or by mourning debt; others by
matrimonial connection with rich tax
farmers or hnanciers. Most, however, OF
the old aristocratic families e under.
and the glaring contrast between the i'll
won gains Of the few and the penury OF
the many did much TO aocentuate the
general unrest. A new line OF cleavage
appeared In Roman and Italian society.
On the one side was the great host Of men
who had lost all they had to lose, the ruined
land owners and bankrupt traders who were
70 be found in every corner Of the peninsula;
on the other a small and g%rasping clique
Of parvenu m~illionaires.
Il was, OF course, the alliance Of Marius.
the successful soldier, with the democracy
that assured for n time the triumph Of the
proletariat, and although this was followed
by the brief conservative reaction under
Sulla there was really nothing left for
Julius and Augustus Cesar 70 do but TO
take up the work Of empire building where
Gaius Gracious and Manus had left IL. II
now we turn 70 the Anal chapter OF the
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-05-12


the trAnGition from ths old order to the new
In al Glasses Of The Roman community
involved q thorough rcAdjustment OF the
whole constitution Of society. Those pie
beians who remained in the country still
lived a sober and honorable family life.
after the manner OF their fathers. respect
ing the nobility and the law; but those who
had settled at Rome in order to devote
themselves to commerce or shopkSsping
or contracting or any OF the urban profess
sions acquired all the vices that corrupt
the populaoe OF . rich commercial city;
they became greedy. dissolute and eXcit-
able, with a continual craving for amuse-
ment and luxury; they criticised every
authority and submitted to no rule; they
rioted and swindled and refused the re-
sponsibilities OF wedlock; aud they dis
played an unmeasured pride at the i'm
perial greatness Of Rome. Meanwhile the
old Latin stock was slowly losing it's purity.
becoming contaminated into a mongrel
mixture OF blood from every race and
country as Levantines, Spaniards, Gauls
and Scythians became absorbed by manu-
mission In the citizen population. Ag-
grandizement abroad and commercialism
at home, the cosmopolitan immigrants and
the debasement Of Roman nationality, all
tended to undermine the ancient structure
Of society.
The prosperity difused by warfare is
never more than momentary, and in the
second quarter OF the second century B.. =.
a period Of depression s~upervened auto
matically in Rome. Between 1893 and 1854
B. C. there were neither important cam
paigns nor occasions for intervention.
There was q cessation in the demand for
military supplies, and peace deprived both
nobility and peasantry Of the customarily
derived profits from warlike operations.
Even speculation in State lands came to q
standstill, for the larger and better portion
had already been disposed OF, either on
lease or by division among colonies or
through unauthorized appropriation by
powerful families. Commerce, too, began
to languish when slow profits became the
rule. Thus the generation which had
grown up amid the short lived prosperity
OF the Macedonian war found the stress Of
competition far severer than had their
fathers, especially as there was no decline
in the cost OF living, which seemed, on the
contrary. to multiply regardless Of the con-
ditions of money making.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-05-12
iii.

Our author thinks that on the whole the
first thirty years OF the second century B. c.
formed, 90 far az Rome was concerned, one
Of those happy epochs when any man can
make q fortune even out Of the smallest
capital, because commerce. industry, ad-
venture and every kind Of novel enterprise
are advancing swiftly and harmoniously.
Many who had begun life poor ended II in
comfort, and many ascended still higher
from comfort to luxury. By the side Of
the old nobility there was now q new bouT-
oeoisie OF wealthy capitalists who had made
fortunes in the slave traffic, In oversee trade,
in farming the State taxes, lands or mines
or in army contracts. These men were
enrolled by the Censors in the Centuries
OF the Knights. and thus the Equestrian
order, which previously had consisted Of
possessors OF moderate wealth who were
not mobiles. soon developed into q class Of
rich capitalists and merchants, The COM
mercial spirit was spreading upward as well
as downward. from the proletariat 70 the
aristocracy, thwarting sven In the most
conservative households the obstinate
prejudices Of the agricultural age.
Beneath this outward show Of prosperity
the seeds were being sown for a violent and
far reaching revq5utiOn. The rsPidity Of
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-05-12

first volume We shall find some philosophical
reflections on the situation with which
Julius Cesar had 10 deal. Speaking OF the
condition Of things In Rome. Italy and the
provinces in the year 50 A. D.. Signor Fer
zero reminds us that contemporaries who
had been at once spectators and actors In
the great social and political Transformation
which had been witnessed since the death
OF the younger Gracious spoke OF 1t as a
corruption OF ancient Manners as q
disease inevitable from the frailty Of man
kind. the amazing and ominous progress
Of which no foresight Of stateamen could
stay. our author holds that we, on the
other hand, who have q longer and ripper
experience Of human nature and history.
can form a clearer and less olouded vision;
across the gulf Of intervening centuries
the lamentation and invective OF the ancients
fall strangely familiar on our ears, and by
listening faithfully to their echoes and medi-
tating on their meaning we may penetrate
at last to the very heart Of their complaint.
Only 30 shall we comprehend the true
nature OF Roman imperialism"
We are hidden TO keep distinctly In view
that Roman writer's. when they spoke OF
corruption were thinking Of the up
heaval occasioned in the aristocratic,
agricultural and military society Of ancient
Italy by the progress OF imperial expansion.
Our author compares the transformation
which was thus brought about to that
effected by the progress OF industry in
England and France during the nineteenth
century. in north Italy and Germany since
1s4s and in America between the days of
Washington and Franklin and the time OF
the Wal OF Secession. Our attention Is
called to the fact that almost identically
the same effect which was to be produced
in these countries by the increase OF wealth
and the progress OF industry were pro-
duced in ancient society by the extension
of the Roman power over the whole OF the
Mediterranean basin. Italy was no longer
a nation OF thrifty and hard working peas
ants but the conqueror and Insurer Of the
Mediterranean world. She was now q
united and homogeneous community. in
which, with the exception Of a few miser-
able outcasts, all ranks In the State, mobiles.
financiers and merchants, had been drawn
together into a single bourgeois class.
living in ease and comfort on its invested
capital, on the quick profits derived from
imperial expansion and on the labor and
services of multitudinous slaves who toiled
in their fields or looked after their houses,
filled the intellectual professions or en-
gagged in commerce, administration and
politics, The suspense and depression
which had provoked the disorders OF the
Catilinarian agitation had been removed
by the vast treasure which PompeiuS and
his men had brought back to the West
and by the taxation and exploitation of the
newly conquered provinces. Once more
precious metals were cheap and abundant
and trade and speculation were proper
tionately brisk.
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-05-12
IT,.

After the close Of the second Punic War
and the Immediately ensuing wars against
Antioohus OF Syria and the Gauls in northern
Italy. q reaction headed by Publius Scipio,
the victor OF 2ama, ook place against the
ambitious Imperialism which had become
prevalent since the first SUCCESSES over Car
Image. The danger to which Italy had been
exposed during Hannibal's invasion had
dismsyed every clear sighted statesman.
The fact had BEEN driven home that Rome
could not rely in an emergency on more
b 100000 allie bodied male citizens;
The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-05-12

apropos Of Fox's alleged fondnesS for
Italian literature. HAllam has said that
Sew have hesitated to place Maochiavelu's
'MandraRolan and 'Clitia' above Ariosto'e
comedies" and Maoaulay thought the
sMandraRola' inferior only 70 the best Of
Moliere. Landor. for his part. saye that
he passes over as very vile productions
Macohiaveri's two comedies, highly praised
as they were by 'Voltaire. and can find
little TO commend In the life Of Castruccio
Castracani. IL never smiled at the witty
things attributed to him, and attributed
to others long before. but surely the Com
mentary on Livy' and This Prince ere
the two most valuable gifts q mortal ever
bestowed on his fellow creatures. II you
will surrender your rights n liberties,
look into these books and you viii see the
conseuuences.' Lander adds: "Tho his
torian Of Florence was not only g speoula-
tive politician, but be wrote also On the
practice and stratagems Of war. He first
among the moderns recommended the
general use OF infantry and pointed out Ito
superiority to cavalry
III.
In one part Of his book Lander digressea
TO compare Virgil with Homer. He ad-
mitted the former to be worthy the name
OF Roman In poetry. Never was verse
more harmonious. sentiments moro equi-
distant from fatness and hyperbole or
touches OF nature more true. Nevertheless
Lander maintained that the passages which
Virgil translated from Homer are inferior
not only TO Homer's but to everything Of
his own. He is convinced hat nearly all
OF what Virgil has initiated from Homer
had formed a part Of the school exercises
OF his youth. In Landor's opinion the best
translation ever made from Homer 10 not
among the many versions OF extracts from
the "Iliad' and Odyssey to be found In
Virgil. but was Immediately before the
eyes Of Virgil in Lucretius. In his de-
scription of the habitations Of the gods
Lucretius followed Homer, closely. and II
10 only In the very termination Of the para
phrase that the Latin poet is left behind.
Lander held that in proportions, In char
acters. In interest, in action Homer 10 in-
comparable. at appears as IL no other
epic poet knew or thought anything about
proportion. Nothing can be more Rfbbous
than the 'Eneld': it Is without exception
the most disproportioned poem In exist
enoe." The belief il expressed that even
had Virgil lived to finish the sEneld' tie
radical fault could not have been cor
rected. OF Paradise Lost Lander thinks
that such stupendous genius. 10 much
fancy and 90 much vigor Of intellect never
were united in a poem, . yet he admits that
II 10 neither 30 correct nor DO varied az the
'niad,' nor. however important the moral.
30 interesting. or 90 attractive, Worth
marking also are LAndor's illusions to
Spenser and Chaucer. 'The Faery Quesns'
lie pronounced rambling and discontinuous.
full Of every improperly and utterly de-
hcient In a Just conception Of fsshion or Of
character. In Chauoer, on the contrary.
he recognized the strong. homely stroke,
the broad and negligent facility Of q great
master.