davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-08-08

bound to follow, and who can say but what the next war will assume interna" tional proportions?"
 As I sat there in that vast temple and hurriedly jotted down in my note book the words as they fell from the transla- tors lips cannot help but admit that I was deeply impressed. The congrega- ton, clad in their bright picturesque gar ments, the priest mounted on his lofty pedestal. his long, gorgeous, many-colored silken robe reaching below his feet, It's soft sheen glistening as his slender graceful body swayed to and fro as he slowly turned around and around upon his lofty pulpit. his low pitched and musical voice which penetrated to the most remote angle of the immense struc- ture, formed a picture that once seen IS not likely to be forgotten.
 The people present. who in that vast gorgeous temple seemed but handful, but who numbered at least 5000, sat quiet ly and listened attentively Aside from the priests voice the only sound that could be heard was the soft swish Of their fans as they gently waved them to and fro.
 As I was sitting on the outer edge of the great clrcle Ol lll6 ColSi cBdlioh gained one of the four main entrances of the temple in advance of the departing worshipers, and here I could gain some idea of the great crowd that, seated in the temple, looked so few. Later on, as I arranged my notes and had time to study what had written, the significance and Justice of the sermon sank into me.
 I, too was a member of one of those warning Christian denominations, the whole of which the Buddhist had so graphically described. so l began to think it over, and I've been thinking 1t over ever since. Since that time, eight years ago, I have, as it were, checked" his sermon and I find it correct In every respect In fact, he let the Christians down very easy.
 Having journeyed into the Asiatic coun- tries and noted with what contempt the Christian natives are treated by the un- converted natives, I cannot but believe that the Buddhist priest was right The Boxer trouble that inspired his sermon, is the latest illustration of the result of "carrying the gospel" into foreign lands. The Boxer war and the cause that led up to 1t, made such an impression on some of our congressman and senators in Washington that they advocated the advisability of withholding from the mis- sionaries the protection of this govern
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-08-08
ORTH AND SOUTH IN I86I-By Savoyard

sions and cabins, each mute hut an un- impeached and unimpeachable witness to the truth that the invader has an i'm mense advantage?
 But 1t was not numbers that beat the south, whether it was six to 2s or ten to II, or 12 to r. The blockade licked the south If one single port on the At lantic had been kept open the south could have fought till this good day. The federal army was the best armed the best clothed. the best fed, the best equip ped, the best cared for military force the planet had then known. Stonewall Jack son captured at Bristow enough Rhine wine and lobster salad to make full ra- tion for his ragged rebels, and they en- toyed 1t accordingly-tha foot cavalry that had just beaten twice their numbers. The northern sanitary commission raised millions.
 As for the failure of Lee at Gettys- burg that will never be explained, as Napoleon's failure at Waterloo is mex plicable. As an aggressive soldier, Lee never had his match in our hemisphere. While Scott was the titular commander in Mexico, Lee his chief of staff, planned every battle and fought it out and that, too, was an invasion.
 The whole history of the big war be- tween the states amounts to this-the north had fate for ally. The death of Albert Sidney Johnston, the death of Stonewall Jackson, the failure of the powers at Richmond to discern the matchless military genius of Nathan E.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-08-08

Forrest. the neglect to make Atlanta irn- putting every inch of Sherman's advance this and these and all were the work of fate. as was Longstreet's inexplicable conduct at Gettysburg.
 As for the causes of the war. it would have come had there not been a single negro in the United States. The north would not stand hitched. and what nu- merical superior was ever bound by com pact? Power is not restrained by honor. 1t has no conscience to scar and no soul to save. When John Marshall decided that in a controversy, between a state and the federal establishment, the latter was the arbiter of the quarrel and a poltroon Congress abided the decision--that day the republic of the fathers died and the nation was born. The war was the re- suit for the stronger section decreed that a southern man should not carry his property into a territory where the north ern man was free to take his property That was the immediate cause of the war. The remote cause was in the de- clsion of the supreme bench that turned the republic into nation.
 As for the war, the north got the vic- tory, the south got the glory, and that will be handed down to the ages. even if We shall never produce a Walter Scott to make it as vivid to the imagination as it is to the understanding.
 I have no doubt that General Thurston was a brave soldier, and I am equally assured that he is an honest man and good citizen.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-08-08

fellow" A friend said: Come; let's go to the track. I've got a tip" In the de- sire to be a sport and a good fellow he took the first money.
 His Is the old. old story-so old as to be stereotyped.
 It is the stuff of human tragedy weaved into the warp of human shining. And out of it was long ago coined this es- sence of human experience, the divine dictum:
 "The soul that sinneth it shall die.'
 In the years of his apprehension, shame and remorse the soul of Joseph Graeser died thousand deaths. It was spiritual suffering, not mere physical pain. The prison was a relief. The mans soul suf- fered.
 Mans punishment of a sinner Is one thing; God Almighty's is quite another.
 striking spectacle was witnessed near Lander, Wyo., a few days ago.
 An aged Indian chief preached pro hibtion sermon over the grave of his son. During the service scores of blank eted braves stood by In silence.
 Wolf Bear, subchief of the Arapahoe tribe, delivered the discourse at the grave of Leo Wolf Bear. )- The young brave got drunk, lay down on the railroad track to sleep and was killed
 In the course of his pathetic address the venerable chief declared.
 "The white mans whisky killed my only son.
 Continuing he said:
 You see, young men of the Arapa- hoes, what the white mans whisky will do. I don't blame the white man for drinking his own whisky, but I hope the young men and women of my tribe will have more judgment than their paleface brethren and abstain from f1rewater"
 Certainly. If sincerity is the essence of oratory, Wolf Bear is eloquent.
 And if restrained feeling is necessary element of successful public speech then this fathers. stern repression of his natural emotion, at the grave of his son is the height of eloquent self-control.
 The warning sounded by the old Indian Is pathetic and forceful In many ways
 The white mans whisky has been the great bane of the red mans history. The educated appetite flor ''firewater" has
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-08-08

Hussinecz, in Bohemia, in the year 1869. When a young man he began to preach and was very instrumental in founding a new Christian faction. He became student of the teachings and writings of Wycliffe, whose doctrine he supported and preached, for which he was excom- municated from the Catholic faction of Christianity by Archbishop Sbynks in the year 1410.
 Three weeks later he was tried and convicted of preaching false and heretical doctrines, and on July 6, 1A6, he was led out of prison. bound with chains to an upright iron pole. fagots piled around him, which were set on fire. and this poor Christian was slowly roasted to death by other Christians. Still, after such crime as this they send mission aries among us to teach us what they call the true faith.
 ..rhis man Hess was an idol among his people and his execution brought on the worlds bloodiest war, which was called the war of the Hessites. In the year 14o0 Pope Martin proclaimed a cru sade against the Hessites and immense German armies attempted to suppress tham From 142o to 1422 the Bohemians under Z1Skd, IFluihpLSHt o~s 1927 the crusade was stfmplated py Christian cardinal called Beaufort, who took an active part in the war. After inc death of ziska the Hessites were again victorious under the leadership or Prokop. In 14H the German forces marched against the city Of Iaus' put after the most appalling slaughter they fled before the gallant Hessltes. Inls bloody religious war after passing many phases. was at last ended Tn the year i4ss bv compromise. During the IS years, with but few intermisslons, that this awful slaughter ragged tnousanos of captiyes were burnt at the stake and tortured with all the hellish devices that human ingenuity could invent.
 You are all more or less familiar with the story of the Spanish inquisition, that record of horror that Is a blood-red, in- dellible stain on the worlds history. but want to here mention one incident that no doubt most of you are familiar wtn, as 1t will show you how fickle and un- stable Christianity Is. Joan of Arc was a poor little iliiterate French peasant girl. She could not read or write a word. She felt called upon by some supreme power to help rid France of her enemies. the Enslish. Aftsr wading through seas of blood. she was at last successful and became the idol of the people. Without
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-08-08

sin. is an old one, but to fancy that one is luckless beyond others Is ill-founded I believe, if you will look about you you will find many of your fellow beings worse off than you are.
 The suggestion doubtless went in one ear and out the other"
 Prvation? Suffering?
 Why this woman did not live in a ram shackle tenement, up rickety stairs. Her husband never came home from the sa- loon around the corner with an empty pocketbook and loaded with liquor to drive her heavy handed into the streets.
 The complaining woman did not live in a two-room and closet apartment, where you buy coal by the scuttlefu, bread by the half loaf and ice by the pound.
 She never haunted the butcher shops late on Saturday night, when the very poor do their pitiful marketing, to buy for almost nothing what will not keep until Monday-to purchase a cheap soup bone or a neck of mutton for a penny or two.
 No: this woman did not know.
 She did not know that to find quarter of a dollar for the slot of the gas meter may become a financial problem and rent day a real tragedy.
 She never heard her children cry of cold in winter nor moan of thirst in summer. She never had to partly starve a living child to pay the funeral expenses of a dead one.
 Perhaps my complainant would not be- lieve that thousands live this life be- cause-"one half the world does not know how the other half lives"
 That's the point-we complain out of our ignorance.
 We are all of us as Illogical as this querulous woman.
 We compare our lots in life with the lots of the more fortunate, which Is er TOT.
 Go along the streets. Open your eyes. For one who is better off you can see dozen who are worse off than you.
 This is neither a religious tract nor n Sunday school story, but tale of today, Illustrating these two things:
 What liquor will do.
 What religion can do.
 Edwin F. Field, eldest son of the late
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-08-08

Cyrus w Field, layer of the Atlantic cable, was the conndant of his father and destined for his business successor. He had his town house on Fifth avenue. steam yacht stables, etc. and was Q member of the most exclusive set.
 Then drink got a grip on him.
 Slowly, but surely, he lost his property and sank into the underworld
 For ten years the name of Edwin r. Field was not mentioned in his old cir cles. save 1t was mentioned to point a moral or to unadorn a tale.
 Apparently Field was forever lost in the depths of the slums.
 Then one night about a year ago, in a kind of drunken stupor. what was left of him slouched Into the historic mission made famous by Jerry McAuley.
 Either coincidently or providentially famous and wealthy architect who Was interested in the mission work happened in He recognized in Field his old child hood friend and playmate.
 The architect took hold of the battered, besotted wretch, the remnant of a man, and helped him to his feet.
 The outcome of 1t all was this: Clothed and in his right mind. Field stayed In the mission several weeks He came to realize that religion was the only thing that could give him hope.
 For more than year he has lived so- berly and righteously.
 He would not go back to his old life even were that possible. Many day he says, q have stood in window on Broadway and signaled to my yacht to take me up the Hudson to my old home. But I have no regrets. l have round what wealth could not give me-peace Of mind and freedom from appetite
 Religion did that.
 And so this man who bears an honored name is day clerk in a Chatham square lodging house. He refuses to take dol lar that he does not earn and regards his present job as a stepping stone to something better-the best proof that his manhood has been restored.
 Evidently there is one force stronger than the invisible spirit of wine-Chris- tianity.
 It may be true, as alleged, that the religion of many persons is nothing but a doctrine or a sentiment or form or worship but with the fellow In the depths 1t appears as the only lever that can pry him out of his muck.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-08-08

odists, Baptists and others. The Meth odist denomination Is split in two sec tions, called respectively the North and South Methodists. and these two sections are in turn sub-divided into + other branches.
 "T,he Christian child will, of course, become a member of the faction to which its parents belong. Latter day Christian ity is not at all harmonious, but these different and numerous warning denomi- nations among them seen to be agreed that they must send their missionaries among us, to teach us form of worship upon which they themselves cannot agree. Christ was really the son of a carpenter. He was an exceptionally bright boy, was studious and through untiring effort and lack of opportunity educated himself. Seeing the misery of the people among whom he lived he de- ternined, out of goodness of his heart to try to better their condition. When he attained manhood he started out to preach to the masses, and being a man of wonderful personal magnetism and liv- ing in an age of ignorance and supersti- ton he performed what the people thought were miracles, and he soon had an immense following.
 "Working upon the superstitions of the people he founded a religion, and 1t Is to this religion that the Boxer war, with it's appalling slaughter, is due Christ was undoubtedly a good man and many excellent morals may be drawn from his teachings, but could he have known how much sorrow, boodshed and death his doctrines would have brought upon the world he would, I think, have been content to continue as carpenter, instead of offering up his life for his principles The whole history of Chris tianity is written with blood and punctu- ated by death The different religious factions or denominations among them have gone to war with each other, killed each other, tortured each other with the most damnable devices, and In the name of the Christ they worship. piled fagots about helpless victims and fired them. while singing praises to God.
 "The bloodiest war in the worlds his tory happened during the early years of the 15th century. I will give you brief summary of it, so you may see for yourselves what part the Germans had in it. These Germans were told year ago by their Emperor to so among the Chinese, our neighbcrs, and take no prisoners
 John Hess was born in the village of
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-08-08

''There Is no shadow of justice in the gen eral arrangements of nature" MT. Mil. then, it seems, when he lets himself alone, does believe in arrangements" in nature. Gan he. or any other sane man, believe in arrangements that mo- body made? Did he not unconsciously slip here? and did not his slip involve more than he intended to admit?
 But he further holds that. What im- perfect realiza tion justice obtains in any human society Ca most imperfect realza- tion, as yet) Is the work of man himself, struggling upward against immense nat ural difficulties into civilization, and mak- ing for himself a second nature far bet ter and more unsefish than he was ere ated with"
 Now. of course, all this assumes that the biblical writers have given a false account of the origin and the condition of primeval man. Mr. Mill knows that man was not created holy, but that he was created selfish savage; that the "fall" of man is a myth, and that the rise of man from the barbarism in which God created him Is the only bright page
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-08-08

lost the American Indian many bar gain: 1t has caused him to commit many crimes, and has been at the bottom of much of his race degeneracy.
 As Wolf Bear we'll says, the Indian is the last person who should tamper with the white mans liquor.
 Moreover
 Did you note in the old mans warning his appeal to the women as we'll as the men of his tribe? That was no accident of speech.
 As If to push the race down the moral toboggan slide more rapidly the Indian women both young and old, are becom- ing slaves to an appetite for strong drink.
 And 1t is a melancholy fact that like tendency among the white women Is be- coming so general as to be alarming
 But here Is our moral:
 If the American Indian. with less worth of inherited character less gained as- tendency of civilization, cannot afford to indulge in whisky as a beverage without bringing upon himself a certitude of woe. where shall the white man ap- pear?
 Suicide is said 10 De 1ncredSlns.
 An eminent authority declares that sui eide is as frequent today in this country as in the early days of the Roman em- pire.
 Why Is 1t?
 Ordinarily we say of the unfortunate who rashly shuffles off this mortal coil, s.,The poor fellow must have been in sane.".
 Which in a. sense Is correct. But
 When you come to think of 1t the won der is there are not more suicides.
 Complex conditions in our large cities tend to lower physical and mental vital ity. Encouragement and failure lead to mental dejection and dissatisfaction.
 However
 It safely may be stated that at the bot tom the greatest source of suicide is self ishness
 "No man liveth to himself No man can live a normal, healthful life of him. self by himself and for himself. The self-centered person can only travel in a circle-within himself-He gets nowhere. Contrariwise, the man who lives out
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-08-08

everywhere a trail of brightness-a trail that shall grow brighter and brighter into the perfect day and light you to the Celestial City.
 Be booster.
 And many a weary, discouraged picket on the outposts of his life's threatened citadel shall bless you and take courage.
 Don't be "good fellow" The other fel- low gets the fun, and you pay the fid- dler.-Warning of Good Fellow.
 Joseph Graeser of Chicago, secretary of a loan and building association, stole from time to time s2o,0Oo from the asso- citation funds.
 He took small sums at first; but, hav- ing once crossed the line of honesty, other thefts followed naturally or as a necessary act.
 Sobbing in his cell at the police sta ton, Graeser grew calm after time and issued this note of warning to young men:
 Do not think you can take a small amount from the till and pay it back. You can't Once started, your needs be- come greater all the time until you have no alternative but continued theft flight and suicide.
 ''Do not live beyond your means. Once in debt you will never, never get out. Do not gamble You are drawn tighter and tighter Into the tolls.
 DO not spend money to pretend what you are not You get tripped up in the end, to the shame of yourself and friends.
 "Since I took the first $25 out Of the till I literally lived in he'll I took the first money to play the ponies I took more to win back what I lost have long known what the end would be, and my waking hours have been filled with agony and my nights with horrible dreams.
 My arrest came as an actual relief
 But shame and pity for his family Of wife and two little children succeeded the dread of discovery.
 My wife Is standing by me. She ought not to- I should have made her happy but did not. It nearly kills me to have her so faithful after what have done"
 And so this man has alternated be- tween purgatory and hades.
 His weakness was in being good
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-08-08

production, for that is the very polnt to be proved" l think It altogether un- necessary to prove that such being as man was not made by blind force Topsys remark: Don't reckon l was made at all: spect l jes growed," can hardly be accepted as the ultimate philosophy
 "The instance of finding "a watch on an apparently desolate isand,' is very strangely treated on page 1es. Our author admits that he would infer that the watch had been left there by human being; but the inference could not be from marks of design, but because l already knew by direct experience that watches are made by men," Exactly so. But if he had never seen a watch before, and had no experience as to how 1t was made, and the question arose, How did this thing come into existence?" Is there any human being without some pet theory to take care of, who would not say that an intelligent designer had constructed it for a purpose?
 Mir. Mill seems to have little respect for
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-08-08
SORRY PRACTICAL JOKES.
Many of Them Are Cruel and Prompt
 ed by Evil Nature.

From the Indianapolis Star
 That was a poor sort of joke played by New Yorker who inserted in a pa- per an advertisement advising that 30 able-bodied men could find employment at a certain address. The able-bodied men. and some whose attempts to ap- pear able-boded were pathetic, flocked in numbers to the place. There they were informed by the proprietor of the shop that their services were not needed; that. fin fact, he had inserted no advertisement. Evidently some person burdened with a peculiar sense of humor had been re- sponsible for sending these men on their forlorn quest with the Idea uppermost in his small mind that he was playing good joke on the supposed employer. The joke, if it was joke, worked completely. The shop owner was vexed and chagrined and the footsore men turned sadly away.
 The humor of the thing will be seen at once when it Is understood that some of these men tramped wearily many blocks. only to meet rebuff while others, not able to walk, spent for car fare the few pennies they had managed to pinch to- gether for such an emergency. It meant a wasted day for all of them. It meant wasted hopes for men already, some of them, near the shoals of despair. It meant a loss of faith In mankind.
 It is unpleasant to think that such jok- CTS exist. but it is none the less true that they are to be found here and there, an incubus on society. These are the persons who rock the boat, who point the loaded gun "in fun" who pin crepe on the doors of the living, who anonymously Insert false marriage notices. and they are all of them blood brothers to those who wag the tongue of islander. Most of such offenders give thoughtlessness as their excuse. But the real truth Is that persons who do so offend are wanting in the milk of human kindness; they arc of evil nature.