davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-08-09

TSHIRD parties have played important
 parts in our political history, and
 \ glance at them may not be un- Interesting to any one who cares to read my stuff. As a general proposition a third party is rank and class politics, and they who institute it are usually loudest against class legislation. A third party Is the spirit of discontent without which free government among men would. die of dry rot; but 1t Is more than that-it Is the safety valve through which may vanish the empty vaporings of the knaves, who should have been born fools, and the fools, who should not have been born at all
 And our crops of knaves and fools are ps the fennel in the fence corner, and they have their benefcient uses. How oft, as a boy, have l lay down in a patch of dog fennel, looked up in the face of the blazing July sun, and dreamed and dreamed and dreamed-so it is with all of us.
 But as to third parties. The first one was the invention. of Thurlow Weed. Thad Stevens belonged to it. and it all came about because a fellow named Mor- gan had pretended to reveal the secret ritual of the Order of Free and Accepted Masons. Morgan disappeared, and it was insisted that he was murdered by Ma sons and that no mans life was safe who had Mason for a neighbor
 In 1892 this party, having dominated the politics of New York, entered the lists with a presidential ticket, because
The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-08-09
A GLANCE AT THE BARBOURS-By J. C. Hiden, D. D.

closing, said: And now as to the attack which the individual who last addressed you has seen fit to make upon me per sonally, I have to say-nothing But Sterne tells us that there was once a very good old man, named Uncle Toby He loved everything that God had made. just because God had made it. One day, while at the table, he was annoyed by a large blue-bottle fly, that buzzed about his nose After many efforts he finally caught 1t. The other people at the table. Knowing his kindly nature, watched him, to see what he would do with it. He held 1t in his hand, and might have crushed it with the movement of a muscle But 1t would only have soiled his fingers He took 1t to the window, and turned 1t loose, saying Chere a whitening look at his an tagonist), "Go, poor devil. there's room enough in Gods great world for thee and me"
 Justice Philip Barbour had one of the most remarkable memories that has been known among modern men. My father. who knew him intimately. told me: You might wake him up at midnight and ask for any section and clause of the con- stitution of the United States, and he would repeat 1t word for word" From the same authority comes this statement: "I have seen him time and again, listen
The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-08-09

commercial and financial interests were at first arrayed against Lincoln" l will cite an example. A full cavalry company was organized at Prarieville, Marengo county under the laws of the state. The state armed the men with new sabres or the latest pattern and the newest revolv- ing pistols. It was a splendid body of young cotton planters. every man mount ed most admirably. Seeing the enthusi- asm of the troops and their exceptional promise as soldiers, the officers, Capt. J. w. Tayloe. Lieutenants 1vey F. Lewis, George E. Tayloe, R. c. Randolph, raised a fund of several thousand dollars and long after the state had seeded and taken possession of Fort Morgan, indeed, long after President Davis had taken office, this fund was sent to Philadelphia by an officer of the company and there used to purchase horse equipments and uniforms for the whole troop, officers and men, The company thus equipped entered the Army of Northern Virginia, and was, until captures were made from the enemy, the best equipped cavalry in that army, it was claimed.
 We turn to other evidence of the up- hill task of MT. Lincoln at the outset to hold his government together. Nicolay and Hay admit: "The men in Dncoln's cabinet at that time looked on him as simple frontier lawyer, to whom chance had given the presidency At that very time, too the New York Herald and other influential representatives of public opinion were urging that movement be made to reconstruct the government on the newly published constitution of the Confederate States. On April 15, 1861, Greeley's New York Tribune had this as leading editorial utterance: "The day before Sumter was surrendered two- thirds of the newspapers of the north opposed coercion in any shape or form, and sympathized with the south Three-
The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-08-09

were of the progeny of royalty; Napo- leon was well bred and well educated; Washington was of the foremost gentry, and Jefferson Davis was bred gentle man and a scholar.
 There was never born on the hemis- phere, a human soul in humber environ ment than Abraham Lincoln. No youth ever manifested more grovelling instincts than he. He kept the lowest company he could find he enjoyed the rudest sports that prevailed; he was notoriously and boastfuly the most actively irreverent young man of the community where he lived MT. Lincoln was feet inches tall. His features were singularly irreg- ular and coarse; his hands and feet were abnormally large, and both hands and feet unduly exposed by coat sleeves too short and trouser-legs not long enough. His movements were gawky and his manners extremely crude. An accom- plished gentleman of the world, William Crawford Bibb of Montgomery, Ala, had a personal interview with President Lin coin, two days before he was assassinated and only three days after Appomattox. Bibb had secretly worked his way through army lines. with the consent of Governor Watts. He announced his ar- rival in Washington to the President and was granted, readily the interview. When the hour came, he was invited into a room at the White House, where he sat alone until the President entered, un- accompanied The President strode in, bade his visitor be seated and then jerked 6 chair up near him. Throwing both swinging legs over an arm of the chair and clasping his hands over his Knees, he awaited the preliminary utterance of the Alabamian. In half hour Bibb arose to go. The President, without rising, seized the lappels of the visitors coat and commanded him to keep his seat. The following conversation occurred:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-08-09
John Wthespoor

fifths of the American people sympa- thized with the south" We need not fol- low further the long list of unimpeacha- be authorities.
 The war was Lincolns war. Whether he was mistaken in the signs of tho times, 1t is certain he believed the gov- ernment of which he was the head was in imminent peril. Did Lincoln ever ask himself whether he had legal claims upon his office? Could he have sustained the validity of his election at tribunal of law?
 By the act of March 2, 1885, Congress declared the state of South Carolina re- duced to the status of military prov ince If the nullhcation ordinance went into effect. Now IS states, all of the north, voted for Lincoln in November, 1860. Sixteen of those states were in open and boastful notification. They were subject to the principle of the act aimed at South Carolina. They were not states, but military provinces under that act, approved by President Jackson and re- ported by Senator Daniel Webster
 MT. Lincoln saw the peril of compe- tition In peace with MT. Davis and his government He resolved upon war to unite his own incongruous people and to destroy the solid Southern Confederacy. He came very near losing the game. Some more Confederate dash and some less sentimentality would have captured Washington on the night of July 21, 1861, and set Breckinridge up as President of the united country. A few hours more of life and strength to Albert Sidney Johnston would have closed the war. Had Stonewall Jackson been physically equal to the execution of Lees orders in the Seven Days fighting; had Jackson not fallen at Charlottesville had Oates not sent 15O of his men out of reach at Gettys- burg had J. E. Johnston been let alone at Atlanta, MT. Lincoln would have failed
The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-08-09

that had won that hat on horse race Of a man whose hands were innocent of blow or hoe. He was barkeeper
 It has always been a source of some satisfaction to me that the orator of that occasion never got an office. He taught that no labor was respectable but farm labor, and yet l am under the delusion that as I write this I am a laboring man. But for this work l would go hungry tomorrow.
 We'll the Greenback, Farmers Alliance, Grange movement eulminated In the pop ulist party, whose one and only principle is that all men in authority are knaves. and that the chiefest of all malefactors was Grover Cleveland. Tom Watson is the greatest man who ever belonged to this party, and he came very nearly be- ing a statesman. He is entirely honest: but he sees things at inauspicious hours of the early morn and the late night. He is a much greater man than Jerry Simp- son was, and in a battle royal of politi- cal dsputation I'll bet money that Wat son would survive William J. Bryan.
 MT. Sam Gompers is the head of a third party. If he should succeed in auctioning off labor to the party that will bid highest for it-and that is what he means what, indeed, he says-then 1t will be a gloomy day for labor the next morn.
 I can prove by rule and figure, and by bank statistics that labor was never be- fore so prosperous as it is this moment in these United States.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-08-09

given me. I choose to plunge dagger in your heart. CHARLIE.
 Keep the children at home
 The way to keep them at home is to make the kind of home they ought to have.
 The writer knows one home of the right kind. You could scarcely drive the chill dren away from that home with club.
 It is not a fine home or expensive to keep. It is just comfortable And it is presided over by woman of rare sense and tact This woman cares more for
 her children than she does for fine clothes or for society, or for woman s
 club. She wants her children to have a
 good time while they may-and knows
 how to give it to them.
 For instance:
 Two boys belong to this family What
 fun those young cubs have! They do not
 go grumbling to their chores. Mother
 knows how to make drudgery rare
 sport. Or, if the task is hard, there is
 the sure reward of play at the other
 end There is big yard and garden. The boys work betimes in the garden and en- act high inks in the back yard. There Is a big tree, the barn, the alley. Noisy Of course. That develops lung cells. And they are mighty hard on clothes! But If you want to find the boys of the neighborhood go to that house-the infal lible boy test of the sort of mother Tel lows have.
 The bows have a room of their own. | 1 happens there are two windows in this room on the west. And there are striped awnings over those windows. Lots O people in the neighborhood are richer , hut they never think of buying striped window awnings-"just for boys room Down in the basement are plenty O tools and soft pine boards. And things are a bit topsy turvy down there Bu YOU should see the 'contraptions' th i bows make And if by any means the' 1; make something for "mother'-why, tha 1 is best of all. ] In the yard are a swing and a ham mock TO be sure they break down oc | casionally, when too many kids tumble l in at once But rope and hammocks d' ] not cost much And nobody is eve | scolded.
 There is also a girl in the family. l She is something of a romp The neigh l bors call her 'tomboy.' She IS a 1 1.-the as the family cat. And there ar l freckles on her nose But when tn 1 other girls play with paper dolls am l mimic their mammas 1t happens the | nearly always do so over at this girl 1 home. Elsewhere they might rumpl l things up and incur remarks.
 You might think there is great de | struction of property 1 nthis nome nu there is not. And. above ail' Tn the oah
The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-08-09

' THINK the preamble to the resolution
 of the legislature, February. 1860, en- \ abling Governor Moore to order an election of delegates to convention of the people-a accession convention-is the clearest and the most accurate state ment of the issue involved in the election of a President of the United States to transpire in the November succeeding, which may be found in the literature or Alabama. This legislative expression taken in connection with the opinion of the state supreme court pronounced few years prior in the case, Dorman vs. the state, written by Associate Justice Richard w. Walker, present the argu- ment, as nowhere else to be found, upon which Alabama engaged in the southern movement of 1S60-61. Both are compar- atively brief papers, easily understood, and the men of these times who aspire to an inspiration of exalted patriotism and knowledge in the highest sphere of state craft, should study both.
 The successful belligerent in the war of the two Amherican Confederaces has claimed the right to write the history of the conflict This history has not thus far been just to Abraham Lincoln. The opposition which he met and overcame, solely by his own intellectual resources, at the outset of his career in the presi- dency, has been deliberately suppressed in the books, or so disguised as to mis- lead Within the inconsequential period of time, from March 4, 1861, at the noon hour until the evening of April 4, 1865, MT. Lincoln became the most potential character on the face of the globe. He ruled as no man ever ruled in the plenti- tude of power, parallel vastness of con- ditions and an equal ferment of men s ideas. When he took the oath of office, the men of importance who trusted his capacity or believed in him, could be
The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-08-09
T TO HEART TALKS-By Edwin A. Nye

It is more than philosophy. It Is life
 abundant life-life of the spirit.
 Now.
 Is there no greatest thing? Surely. Let
 us all answer:
 Love is the greatest thing in the
 world" Without 1t knowledge Is vain.
 ambition is purposeless, money is useless.
 contentment impossible. It includes all
 else It is the supreme motive of religion,
 the essence of self-sacrifice, the spring of
 art, the source of all highest pleasures. Drummond was right. The greatest
 thing in the world is love- It is reported from Paris that Sarah Bernhardt Is making another attempt to secure admission into the Legion of Honor.
 Two or three years ago Bernhardt tried to get into the charmed circle of French distinction, but the cabinet refused to adopt the action of the council. It is to be hoped she again will be un- successful and that she never may be al- lowed to wear the bit of red ribbon on her breast.
 And that is not heartless wish. When Napoleon Bonaparte instituted the order and decoration of the Legion of Honor he decreed that no person with a questionable past should be admitted. | Doubtless the rule has been violated. but | if is nevertheless the rule. Sarah Bernhardt Is woman of great t, genius, but
 | Her life as 1t is known and read of all men, has not been above reproach. Many | times she has violated the moral codes. 1 Her career has been checkered with many 1 lapses and escapades. i It may seem a hard thing to remind a | woman of her past delinquencies, but | Bernhardt is a public character She is | seeking public honors The public mor- als are concerned Punishment must fol- 1 low violation or the standards must be | lowered.
 l Much Is pardoned to genius-too much. | And when genius is consistently sinful 1t | must be made to suffer the same as me- {, diocrity-and more so | If is pleasing to turn from the career 1 of this French actress to that of Clara 1 Morris the American actress, who is about the age of Bernhardt and who is | snendine her declining years in the love | and esteem of all the people. l Though poor in purse, because of her | eenerosity, Clara Morris is rich in char 1 acter.
 | She too like Bernhardt came up l through great tribulation. She too, had | penius and strove. But our American ] stage celebrity, like her contemporary,
 Mary Anderson, walked always the paths of rectitude and righteousness. Clara | Morris and Mary Anderson! One names
 these women almost with veneration
 When nj isfortune came to the former
The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-08-09
TNO the best mother a boy ever had
 These are the last words you will 4 hear from me. Lovingly,

TNO the best mother a boy ever had.
 These are the last words you will X hear from me- Lovingly,
 CHARLIE. Having written the above, Charles Jacobs of New York city, young man of 1s years, put a bullet into his brain. There was no good reason why he should have done so. No motive Is as- signed for the act. When his mother heard the pistol shot she hastened to his room. She was crazed by the shock. Scarcely could she be prevented from hurling herself from a window.
 Query?
 Would boy who really loves his moth heart?
 Certainly not, if he is sane.
 The incident and the note serve to re- mind us that there are altogether tooo many young men like Charles Jacobs. Perfervid expressions of love for moth- CT like the above are mere oozngs of sentimentality. The expression is cruelty belied by the action.
 It Is easy to sing the refrain, "If you Such expressions are natural. It is quite another thing to repay the mother love by course of conduct that will make the mothers life happy one. It is easy to sing the refrain, "If you love your mother, meet her in the sky The sacred therqe lends itself to the haunting notes of the tune. But 1t is an entirely different proposition to make mothers last days her sweetest days and to cause her always to be proud of her boy.
 The sentiment without the life is the veriest bathos.
 The grisly bum who infests the police courts easily prefaces his maudlin plea for clemency by the sniffle, q had one of the best mothers boy ever had" The declaration is an indictment which leaves no room for special pity. More is to be expected of him who had good mother. And if the son goes down de- spite the mothers goodness the more de- linquent does his conduct appear
 ''The best mother a boy ever had" If only the Charles Jacobses could see the full significance of the words The pity of it is they cannot understand thai such a mother calls for "the best boy a mother ever had!'
 The mother of Charles Jacobs will fine in her heart a great pity and great love for her boy. Mothers are made tha way But
 If Charles Jacobs had been consistent he would have written these words 1T |i farewell to his mother: Rj To the best mother boy ever had. Sxo contrary to every instinct you have
The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-08-09

vocabulary of this bright mother there is no such word as don't
 The recipe for keeping the children at home is a simple one:
 Rx.-A little good sense, a few ounces of patience, a pinch of tact. Mix with real mother love.
 A Worcester mother has burned her children's copies of Mother Goose" An dersons Fairy Tales and the whole juvenile library of classic fancy. rule her nursery.
 No Santa Claus.
 No Jack, the Giant Killer.
 No Alice in Wonderland.
 Only facts"
 Now, what does the woman think the fabric of chlld's mind is made of?
 Why, the childish imagination is like an oriental garden run riot. It's early fancies are of the wildly improbable-visions i'm palpable, mirages that rise and fall. When the child calls the roll of it's infantile heroes and heroines, strange shapes and glowing sprites answer, Here We'll
 There Is no harm to the child's future in the kaleidoscope of it's early imagin- ings.
 Sometimes, indeed, the mother may be startled at some of the special wonders seen and reported by her innocent off spring. She needs only to remember that she herself was once a child. She vii understand.
 I In the early years the athletic menta 1 forces are just getting under way fol 1 the long race that is ahead What won l der If at first they indulge in some freak , ish gambols? | This Worcester mother would put | full stop to this gentle. preliminary train | ing of the gathering mental powers O
 the child and bind them to the treadmil of the grownups l Impossible. The warp and wool of the childish min, 1 is not built that way. The child mus ! needs indulge its childish dreams. I 1 must needs wonder at the doings of tn 1 genii of the little folk-else it is not
 child, but only freak of nature! l It seems this too careful Worceste l mother Is afraid lest the "fancies of in | fancy may foster the superstitlons of ma l turity." Is it so? Has 1t been so of al ] the hosts of the children of the past wh | have so devoutly bent to the wondrou | waving of the wondrous wand of tn l fairy queens?
 One need not particularly pity tn | Worcester tots.
 The solicitous mother may take ava and burn at the stake every fairy boo in the house. Nevertheless nature nsve
The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-08-09

, an admirng world offered gifts and trib-
 ute.
 It is well that Americans should honor
 Clara Morris and that the French people should refuse to decorate their brilliant actress with loose morals. Because:
 The world everywhere needs a revival of the stern teachings of moral obligation and clean living. And delinquency in high places must not be condoned. The French nation cannot afford to low CT the ideals of feminine honor, even for the sake of genius. The leap year question, Shall the girls propose?" is again up for discussion. Those who advocate the right of fem mine initiative say: There is no good reason why man should have the exclusive privilege of taking the first step. It is simply a matter of custom. And the custom is relic of the days when women did not amount to
 much and were given little to say, being in effect the slaves of men. On the other hand, say the opponents of a change:
 To make woman the prime mover in marriage proposeals Is to destroy the true
 conception of the family. Man is the head of the family, say these observa- tives. He supports the family. There fore it is his peculiar province to make the first advance in the founding of the family.
 And the others retort: It is not always true that the man is the real head and support of the family. And, if it were true, 1t does not follow that woman is less interested in the fam
 fly and the home. The woman takes
 home and family the more seriously. To
 man marriage is an episode; to the wo-
 man 1t is everything. And there you are.
 However as a matter of fact
 Women usually do propose. They may do 1t as Priscilla in "The Courtship of Miles Standish" did it. They may say, 'Why don't you speak for your self John?" Or as Patti did. When the lover of the great prima donna said to her, "All Paris says we are
 engaged" she replied: "Well, why not? I am sure I should be happy" In most cases, while the girl may not actually propose in words she proposes in actions. And actions speak louder than words. Few young men will care to propose who have not received some form of real encouragement, some assurance of the acceptance of their suit And the bright girl knows very well how to give formal engagement. | There are some exceptions (mostly in
 novels). but the ordinary proposal is