davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Omaha daily bee., 1909-04-25
Excuses for Crime.

Ever since Adam entered the plea
that Eve tempted him, man has been
prolific in excuses for his misdeeds
and the records of the courts would
indicate that human ingenuity had
about exhausted itself In this direc-
ton. II is so much easier to shift the
blame on someone else thar to shout
der it yourself and suffer the con-
sequences. Men and women whose
sanity had never been questioned, sud-
denly discover, with the aid of an at
torney, that they have been insane for
years, when their passions lead them
into collision with the law. The
science of heredity is appealed to and
the dead are besmirched to find a
loophole through which the living
may escape punishment.
One of the latest developments of
the prevailing legal-medico fads is the
defense of a man of hitherto high
standing in Atlanta, who was detected
at stealing and pleaded that a blow on
the head received years before had
made him a thief. No matter how alb
surd the excuse learned men can al
ways be found who will go on the wit
ness stand and back up the case with
the weight of their opinion.
The frequent acquittals on such de-
lenses, of men whose criminal acts are
clearly proven, raises the question II
the law is not going a little too far in
this respect and whether the public
is not entitled to some protection. Ad-
hitting that men who have really suf-
fered a mental lapse should not be
punished as responsible criminals, it
does o dispose of the proposition
that society needs protection from
their irresponsible vagaries or out
bursts of violence. If there were a
certainty of Incarceration in some in
stitution where they could be cared for
as mental irresponsibles, would such
Omaha daily bee., 1909-04-25
M BOILED DOWN.

obedience is the first step in training for
authority.
Folks who have most advice to spare
often need IL most.
Love is always a poor thing so long as it
tries to save itself.
No man can make life Joyous who does
not himself enjoy life.
There is nothing more divine In thisw world
than simple humanity.
The man who advertises his doubts often
breads truth most of all.
Heaven always gets your picture just
when you are not posing.
Luck may knock at the door, but 1t takes
hard work to force Il open.
The best way to flee from the tempter is
to fly to your brothers aid.
A mans faith is to be known by his alley
as we'll as by his front yard.
Shielding a fool from the fruits of his
folly is fostering his foolishness.
The loss of sympathy would be too high
a price for the loss of all sorrow.
1t is better to climb up though but lamely
than to run down hot foot and free.
There are too many people busy printing
the golden rule on elastic yardsticks.
Many a man thinks he is generous be-
cause he has a longing to give what he has
not got.
When you see a prophet striking atti-
tudes you may be sure he has some habits
to hide--Chicago Tribune.
Omaha daily bee., 1909-04-25
William M. Stewart.

With the death of former Senator
William NJ. Stewart of Nevada, passes
the last of the mining kings Of the
early days in the west. In every sense
of the term Mr.. Stewart was a notable
figure. physically, his kindly face. and
patriarchal beard made him a typical
Santa Claus. Mentally his equipment
was of the highest order and with the
single exception of his colleague, Sena-
tor John p. Jones, he was the ablest
of his kindly disposition he was en-
dowed with a physical courage, which
made him equal to the emergencies
of those wild days in the far western
mining camps.
During his career Senator Stewart
made and lost several fortunes and
at the time of his retirement from the
senate 1t was announced that he was
almost poverty-stricken. Despite his
years, with true western courage, he
set about the rehabilitation of his for
tunes and though it is not thought his
wealth now mounts into the millions,
as it once did, he died more than COM
fortably welkfixed, his intimate knowl-
edge in mining having enabled him to
profit by the later discoveries in his
home state.
The late Senator Stewart was a
type of a man which the conditions
surrounding him in his younger days
inevitably brought to the front, and
with others of his class, left an in
delible imprint on the affairs of the
Pacific slope. They did their work
well in their day and 1T has been
given to him to survive longer than
his compatriots. and witness a fuller
fruiting of the empire which was
builded upon their faith and struggles.
Omaha daily bee., 1909-04-25
omaha's Good Name.

A city's good name is Just as valua-
bic an asset for. its inhabitants as is
their own individual good regulations.
It is just as important for a city to es-
tablish and maintain a good name as
IL is for each and every person to have
a good name among his fellows.
Not long g The Bee exposed the
folly Of Omaha and Douglas county
permitting themselves to be misrep-
resented in the late democratic legis-
lature by a delegation made up of
crooks. grafters, incompetents. cor
poration cappers and coarse rousta-
bouts. Our people have been devoting
time, effort and money, year in and
year out, to cement friendly relations
with the cities and towns in tributary
trade territory and to make Omaha
stand for the best in business. art and
culture, and then suffered its reputa-
ton to be UNNECESSARILY damaged by
the disgusting performances of its law
makers at Lincoln.
The injury to Omaha's good name
and the antagonism and prejudice Gre
ated by the bunch sent to the legisIa-
ture simply capped the climax of the
ill-repute brought down upon Omaha
since our city hall was turned over to
the cowboy mayor and his democratic
retinue. The legislative gang had
only three months in which to do their
damaging work, while Mayor Jim has
been holding Omaha up to ridicule,
scorn and odium for three years and
is asking for three yeus more.
In the three years that Jim" has
held the whip hand Omaha's name has
beer almost a by-word from one end
of the country to the other. Omaha
has been relegated to the cowboy class
of frontier towns and advertised far
and wide as if our people were all of
the cowboy variety. Our cowboy
mayor labors under the delusion that
notoriety is fame and that II he can
only make Omaha talked about 1t mat
tiers not what shameful things may be
said of 1t.
The people of Omaha have a chance
to restore Omaha's good name by rele-
eating their cowboy mayor to private
life. Three years of a broncho-bust-
ing, poker-playing, conf1dence-game
administration of city affairs ought to
be burden enough for Omaha to bear
without a self-infiicted repetition of
the dose.
Omaha daily bee., 1909-04-25
Women and immoral PLAYS.

Under the lead of the Women's
clubs the women of New York and
other eastern cities are starting a cru
SADIE against immoral plays. If the
immoral play is to be abolished the
start is being made in the right place
and by the right people. New York
is the birthplace of the country's
drama and no considerable number of
plays are put ON which are not orig
inally produced there.
That the women al solve the prob
lem If they will is brought home to
everyone who has observed the YER
age theater audiences. Almost with
out exception they contain more women
than men. Eliminate the women
and the men who are there as escorts
of women and little would remain.
The count Of cash in the box Office
would not reveal enough to enable the
ghost to stalk If the patronage of men
alone we've depended upOn.
II women should cease to attend i'm
moral plays and those of immoral
tendencies managers would cease to
produce them. Acting is an art and
actors many times rise above the sor-
Omaha daily bee., 1909-04-25
Get the Garden Habit.

In these days when the cost of liv-
ing Is mounting up until the problem
of making the income account balance
the needs of, the family, is a good time
to turn for relief to the back yard
garden. The amount which can be
raised on a small plot of ground we'll
titled is astonishing and the utilization
of these patches, which are lying idle,
may be a big factor in solving the
economic problem of the home. A
growing tomato vine is much more of
an ornament than an empty tomato
can in the back yard, and a blister on
your hand resulting from gripping a
h%oehandle much to be preferred to q
CLASSY spot on the seat of your trous-
ers due to constant contact with a
porch chair. A melted down collar due
to Graduating parsley is no more diff
cult to launder than one rendered I'M
serviceable playing one-old-cat with
the boy and 1t will produce a whole
lot more for the family table. The
backyard bean and spud are gold
mines on a small scale. which are
more certain to render dividends than
the kind which gives back nothing
but a gilded certificate whose only
purpose Is to remind you in subse-
quent years that a chump and his
money had been parted.
Omaha daily bee., 1909-04-25
PERSONAL AND OTHERWISE.

In biting off more than II could chew,
Niagara displayed a common human
characteristic.
1t may be assumed without cabled in
formation that Mr.. Roosevelt is having a
'corking good time"
Down in New England pedestrians on
auto highways are divided into two classes
the quick and the dead.
The picked squad of official experts at
Washington think there is trouble enough
in determining what is whisky? ?" without
butting into the rattlesnake controversy.
Buffalo ice dealers did not utter a word
about the shortage in the crop while
Niagara was gorged, shortages are i'm
p~ressive only when they touch the purses
OF consumers.
By an inadvertent act of the legislature
the Rhode Island militia has been shorn
of legal existence, leaving a large stretch
of rock bound coast and bathing beaches
without visible means of defense.
The New York legislature wishes to adj
journ and is putting up the bars against
an extra session by appointing special COM
mittees TO deal with what the governor re-
CARDS as the most vital problems.
In a personal debate between Count F.
de ~Jouffroy d'Abbans and a San Francisco
editor, the count was laid on the mat
and a few sections of bis name fractured.
In other times the count would have been
transformed into a sieve.
A Pennsylvania who failed with the
usual missiles in dispensing a cat concert
rugged up a series of live wires on the
adjacent fence. He succeeded in burning
up the fence, a barn and a nearby wood
shed. But the cats came back.
Omaha daily bee., 1909-04-25
CHEATING IN PRIVATE LIFE.
Persons Socially "HiEh Up" Involved
in Smuggling Operations.
LEnnnnA- VI. nn.nnn

Kansas City Journal.
The recent discovery that the govern
ment had been d~efrauded Of hundreds of
thousands OF dollars in duties on goods
struggled into this country from France
is followed by the announcement that the
disclosures involve persons high up in
the social world mad that therefore there
is a disposition to move slowly in the work
of furnishing the guilty. In the nature of
things, importers of costly articles do not
belong to the proletariat, The average day
laborer is not the most liberal or most
constant patron of the diamond merchant,
the art dealer or the vendor of rare Jewels.
But the ~smugglers. who are able to eXpend
thousands Of dollars for foreign Cmade
gowns and other Injuries, are also able to
pay the duty thereon, and they should be
made to do so. It is one of the ~scandalous
anomalies of the day that secret service
agents must follow rich Americans over
Europe and keep close watch on what they
buy, in order that the government may not
be cheated out of its just dues by many
of them.
There seems to be. a fascination about the
evasion of customs duties which many
people of wealth are urable to resist, though
1t would he manifestly unfair to say that
this is a general crime. Human nature as
It is constituted at the present writing i'm
pels people, often irreslstibly, TO eXpend
vastly more ingenuity and effort in getting
something Tor as nearly nothing as posi-
BILE than would be required to honestly earn
the difference. Whether it is beating the
conductor Of a street car or smuggling in
goods worth hundreds OF thousands of
dollars, the instinct appears TO be lament
ably active in all classes, though not more
so in one than In another. The principle is
the same in all.
Omaha daily bee., 1909-04-25

did view of whether one production
will net as large financial return rs
another. The manager who furnishes
the money is a business man and Is
taking only the business mans chance.
II he knows IN advance hat the
women will not %patronize a play there
is not n chance in a thousand of it's
ever seeing the light of day.
If the women Danish the so-called
high art immortality by ceasing to pa
tronize It on the stage the law will
soon put an end to the low and vicious
and the immoral play will be a thing
Of the past. Only 80 long as the box
office index shows that suggestive
shows bring the greatest returns, just
so long will the managers feed the
public upon them.
Omaha daily bee., 1909-04-25
What it Costs to Live

Under the auspices of the Sage
foundation, Prof. Colt Chaplin of Be-
lott college las been conducting some
Investigations of what 1t costs the
l~aboringman to live in New York. A
careful survey discloses that with a
family of five on 5000 per year, a de-
cent living is possible, but little mar
gin remains for recreation or mis-
fortune. Any income below this, the
professor finds, means that the fam
lily must reduce its scale of living be-
low what in New York is termed de
cent"
II these conclusions are correct, and
there appears to be no reason to ques-
ton them, a serious sociological prob
lem is presented, 80 far at least. as the
metropolis is concerned. 1t doe not
require further investigation to tell
that there are thousands OF families
amount to live upon. Any scale of liv-
ing below what may be termed de
cent" means an impairment of both
the mental and physical fabric.
The investigation shows that nearly
half the total income of those receiv-
ing 5000 goes for food, the next larg-
est item being rent. In those of smaller
incomes the percentage paid for rent
runs as high as 81 per cent of
the total. What is true of New
York is true, in a probably
lesser extent, of other American
cities. The demand. however, is every
where for cheaper rents and cheaper
living expenses. yet how to cheaper
them is the serious problem, Cheaper
provisions can only come through les
SEEMING the toll between the producer
and the consumer, for supply and de-
mand are governed by memorable laws
which fix other elements of the price.
Omaha daily bee., 1909-04-25
Value of Peace and Order.

Peace and order have a commercial
as we'll as a sentimental and moral
value. In Illustration the republic of
San Domingo was for years racked by
discord and petty wars and plundered
by first one despot and then another.
The result was a burden of national
debt and a people surrounded by most
bountiful natural resources were pau
perized and the national treasury
bankrupt. So insistent did foreign
creditors become and so intolerable
the conditions that the United States,
to prevent some European nation step
ping in, interviewed, and officials from
this country undertook the task of the
fiscal administration The warning
factions were told to cease their fight
ing and go to work; since which time
peace and order have prevailed in San
Domingo.
What these conditions have wrought
are a most powerful argument for
good government. The honest admin
istration of the revenues of the coun-
try have enabled it to make a substan-
tial reduction in the principal as well
as meeting the Interest on the public
debt, which before was in default.
In m the results are no less
gratifying. In 1905, when the United
States took charge, the imports were
s ,736,S28, and in 1908 they were
$~5,127,463. The exports in 1905
were ~$6,S96,344, and in 1908 they
we're ~s9,4S6,344. The internal COM
MERGE of the country shows a COM
p~aratively large increase, for stability
allows the producer and the trades
Omaha daily bee., 1909-04-25
Beautifying the National Capital.

The latest scheme for identifying
the city of Washington and at the
same time serving a useful purpose
is to form, out of one of the streets
leading from the capitol, an avenue of
the presidents and vice presidents. The
plan is to start with a statue of
Washington and, in regular order down
the avenue, place the statues of the
successors of the first chief executive.
American cities, owing to their COM
parative youth, are far behind those
Of the old world in ornate adornment.
From the nature of things the beauti-
full has been too often forgotten or
pushed aside for the practical, but in
Washington, the capital of the nation,
a good start has been made on the
road to civic Identification. In many
places rise monuments TO the great
men of our history and among them
many of the. presidents, but the pres
ent proposal adds to the idea of civic
beauty that of historical value. Only
a small portion of the people of the
United States ever see the capital city,
but the man who is so devoid Of ma
tional pride as not to desire to have
1t made one of the grandest and most
beautiful capitals of the world, is not
worthy of the citizenship which is his
heritage.
Omaha daily bee., 1909-04-25
THE WANDERER.
Eugene Field.

Eugene Field.
Upon a mountain height far from the sea
| found a shell,
And TO my listening ear this lonely thing
Ever a song of ocean seemed to sing,
Ever a tale of ocean seemed to tell.
How came this shell upon the mountain
height?
Ali, who can say
Whether there dropped by some too care
less hand
Whether there cast when oceans swept
the land,
Ere the Eternal had ordained the day?
Strange, was it not? Far from it's native
deep
One song II sang:
Sang of the awful mysteries of the tide
Sang of the misty sea, profound and wide
Ever with echoes of the ocean. rang.
And, as the shell from the mountain
height
Sang of the sea,
So do / ever-leagues and leagues away
SO do / e-ver-wandering where l may
Sing, o my homel sing, o my homei
of thee.
Omaha daily bee., 1909-04-25
A MORAL UPLIFT.
Two More States Checkmate the
Divorce Business.
.ew York Tribune.

The decision of a Nevada judge that a
divorce EAR be obtained in that state only
by an applicant who has established a
bona fide residence may help to break up
the pernicious practice of colonization there
for divorce purposes. There are still a few
states whose laws permit a great latitude
in pushing claims for release from matri-
monial ties; but the list is happily short
enlng.
The people of South Dakota, by a popular
vote recently dispersed the Sioux Falls col
ony, long Furnishing and notorious. Ne
vada has since become the asylum for the
get-divorced-quick element. Yet its laws,
II construed as rigidly as Judge Pike has
now construed them, may hereafter bar
"railroading'' suits for the benefit of tenn
porarY sotourners.
Omaha daily bee., 1909-04-25

man to hope that he will reap the re
ward OF his labor. The large number
of nonproducing adventures who
Joined first one revolutionary force
and then another, as opportunity for
plumber offered. have been forced to
join the army of producers instead of
d%estroyers. Where once there was
desolation there is prosperity and on
tentment.
The role of peacemaker is pleasant
and profitable to all concerned where
the peacemaker is big enough to COM
mand obedience.
Omaha daily bee., 1909-04-25
All Would Be Chaos Were Mortal
Not Proud.

Written by Andrew Rosewater when a young man as a answer to Abra-
I'M Lncoln's favorie poem, why Should the Spirit of Mortal be Proudg'
The course of mans life from cradle to shroud
Would be aimless and hopeless if man were not proud.
Doomed to like fate, by like trials tried,
All would be chaos were man without pride.
Like a rudderless ship, like the beasts of the field,
All would be chaos, If mans pride were to yield.
His noblest ideals forever be lost
On seas highest waves ships of state would be tossed,
Loves passion were lust, mans progress a cloud,
All would be chaos we're mortal not proud.
Proud of his birthrtght of body and brain,
Conquerlg more and more natures domain.
Let him ever be proud, though mortal he be,
Since he masters the earth the sky and the sea.
Tho death be his portion and dust be his lot,
His greatest achievements destroyed and forgot,
Not alone for himself-though he knows he must die,
He builds for the good of humanity.
Not proud of his wealth, bat his actions and aim
Goaded by pride to win glory and fame.
Omaha daily bee., 1909-04-25

pleas be made so frequently? II to
the certainty Of such retirement, were
added the assurance that they would
not be released as soon as the occur
renee had ceased to be a subject of
public discussion. there is good
ground for belief hat more criminal
cases would be tried on the real evil
dence Of guilt or innocence.
Omaha daily bee., 1909-04-25

President Gomez of Cuba wants to
borrow $4,000, 600 to invest in i'm
provements I'm the island. During
American occupation the island repub-
lie appears to have caught the idea of
making IL a country worth living in.
Omaha daily bee., 1909-04-25

The city council of Atlantic City has
passed an ordinance prohibiting the
taking of photographs on the bathing
beach. The explanation is not vouch-
Safed whether 1t is a concession to the
modest or t the slim ones.
Omaha daily bee., 1909-04-25
why Disturb the DreamR

Bryan's coy desire to see some other
good democrat nominated for United
States ser ator from Nebraska seems a
little premature in view of the fact that
the democrats will have to carry the
state in 1910 before the election of Bryan
or ANY other good democrat" comes with
in the range of possibility.
Omaha daily bee., 1909-04-25

The engineer who is blowing up the
ice gorge at Niagara says that there
is enough of the product in sight there
TO r~efrigerate hades. Transportation
facilities, however, are hardly equal to
the task of affording relief.
Omaha daily bee., 1909-04-25

A new law passed by the Wisconsin
legislature makes a communication
between an employer and his stenog-
rapher privileged. If what the office
boy secs car be placed in the same
class how happy all will be,
Omaha daily bee., 1909-04-25
specInc for the Blues.

Kansas CITY journal.
For a specific for the blues, and to prac-
tice the good divine's recipe of living for
the day. try a base ball game, of course
in congeniaI companionship, and come home
tired but happy and well started on the
road to health.
Omaha daily bee., 1909-04-25

A new religious sect born in Connec-
tieut gives out the statement hat the
World and everything in it except the
members Of this sect are TO be burned
up. IL might be a good plan to an
ounce the location of the fire escape
so confusion may be avoided when the
Fnsh comes
Omaha daily bee., 1909-04-25

Andrew Carnegie tells the Peace So
ciety Of New York hat a great war is
coming up between Germany and
England, It isn't fair when Hobson
is busy with the tariff for anyone to
invade the Alabamian's field.
Omaha daily bee., 1909-04-25

New York women object to the plan
of separate subway cars for women.
II the womans' car is crowded who is
going to get up and let the late arrival
have a seat?
Omaha daily bee., 1909-04-25
Harland

Marian Harland declares that
women are more rude than men. Men
are not called upon to mix in his af-
fray and they IA have all the fun
they wan II they will retire t some
high spot and look on.
Omaha daily bee., 1909-04-25

The governor of Colorado has dis
would be II war should break out be-
fore the tailors could make the uni
forms for the new crop of colonies.
Omaha daily bee., 1909-04-25

II all of the senators have their way
the tariff bill will need an introduce
ton to its parents when finally passed.
But all of the proposed changes are
not made vet.
Omaha daily bee., 1909-04-25
what Might Have been.
Chicago Tribune.

Chicago Tribune.
If some other president were In the
White house the present high price OF
wheat might furnish the text for a special
message or two to congress. Still, we are
mentioning no names.
Omaha daily bee., 1909-04-25

The Nevada man who said he had
never heard of Theodore Roosevelt
evidently was not a malefactor of
great wealth, but he lays himself liza
bile to be included in the Ananias club.
Omaha daily bee., 1909-04-25

Henry Watterson accuses a Ken
lucky gentleman of being a ~prevarica-
ZIONIST. Is Mr.. Watterson becoming
polite or discreet in his advancing age?