davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-12-19

, phy of Thomas Carlyle. Jane Welsh. who married Carlyle. after years of pa- tient endurance of his imperious compan1 ionship. sadly wrote, q married for anl- bition My husband has risen beyond my highest hopes, and I am miserable
 When she was dead Carlyle cannonized her. But truth to tell. Jane Welsh never loved Carlyle; she loved the sootchman' Irving, and it may be that Carlyle in his soul felt 1t, even as others knew It. She married for ambition. she got that for which she married and more-she got misery"
 However, this is . Aggression. Lord Lyt- ton and his wife lived miserably to- gether. On one side there was tho heat of temper. on the other there was temper, and with 1t a hauty imperiousnsss There fore, as h was impossible to live together. they separated. He went his way and she hers. Neither loved the other.
 There was a terrible gloom that en- shrouded the home Of Thackeray. but 1t was not of his making nor Of hers. Not many years after their marriage, when three children had been born to them, she became i'll and finally her mind became deranged. In her illness Thackeray was 9 faithful, loving husband. and would not believe that her mind was gone perma- nently. But at last he was convinced, and consented to her removal from him, in what might have been her beautiful young life. They never lived together again. The wife lived for many years, and did not die until some years after the death of Thackeray himself. About four months ago a smart" writer for one of tho cheap monthlies, published paper that reflected upon the relations of Thackeray with Mrs Brookheid. It was base in It's purpose and cruel in its insinuations. Years ago I read the Thackeray-Brook- field letters, written to Mir. Brookheld and to his wife by Thackeray. They con- tained the purest expressions of friend ship. indited only by lofty mind
 There Is . mystery that hangs over the married iifs of Charles Dickens. He and his wife separated forever. the chill dren remaining with their father. call it a mystery because the world has never understood 1t, and the family had too much delicacy to air their sorrows In pub lie print. Men have guessed at the cause, some blaming Dickens. others laying the fault upon his wife. No one knows 1t all; but this the world knows, that no children ever honored or loved . father more than did the children of Charles Dickens honor and love him, even when they had grown to womanhcod and manhood. Here I leave the sad case, by saying. I know nothing more about 1t than have written, What many have imagined do know.
 George Eliots case involves another mystery. I have read her biography twice, and have tried to obtain informa- ton on the subject by scrutinizing every line written by MT. Cross, her bioFrapher, who subsequently. upon the death of rewes. became her husband. But ono learns nothing from her biosraphsr. cf course. I have read the magazine articles bearing on the subject. but none of them are satisfactory. in view of the moral
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-12-19

was born we'll advanced in life myself. In these words Dickens spoke for him self and out of his heart. His early ex- perience tended to make him what he became, the apostle to little ones. Leav- ing the shoe-blacking business. he took employment in lawyers office from which he passed into the newspaper world as a reporter While thus engaged he wrote his sketches, and at p years of age he gave the Pickwick Papers to the world and won his spurs.
 While the world was holding It's sides and laughing at the drolleries of tho Pickw1ck party. Thackeray was doing but little. His working basis of life at that time was "Never do today what you can put off till tomorrow" Some attempts at authorship, in a modest way, he had made, but the Announcements were too great for him as yet Ills friends finally forced him to leave his ''skits" and do something worthy of him. During all this period Dickens was forging ahead. He had become known all over the Eng fish speaking world.
 Dickens knew the folk of lfe's lowly walks better than he knew any others. He had toiled among them. he knew their
 
 doubtless, he had often heard or such people as Newman Noggs, Bill Sikes. and Noah Claypole and the others. Of the lovly he wrote, but not low were ms thoughts. He is always teaching the rospel of sunshine sincerity, honor and right living.
 Marian Evans. George Eliot, was the third child of Robert Evans ana was horn in old Warwickshire. Her people %lz, o1a father ing a carpenter. Her early religious in- struction was of the strictest sort, against which she finally revolted. Even in her childhood she evinced extraordinary in- tellectual ability. She gave herself to study and acquired mass of learning really amazing. There was hardly branch of scholarship that eluded her search She read Latin Creek Hebrew, German, French and Italian. She was a skillful musician. and was informed on most scientific subjects. She had a ponderous mind and "Miltonic range of information" Having cast away her early religious beliefs. she lived there after without conviction of the truth of Christianity, and trod the shadcwy path of Agnosticism. She translated Strauss, Life of Jesus'' from the German text into English, and her neeations were strengthened by her constant contact with the sophistry Of the German writer. She crystalized her unbelief by assocating with Herbert Spencer, Lewes, Stephens and others.
 Life was a serious thing with George Eliot There is but little humor in her works. Indeed 1t was not In herself. She had most to do with life's profound problems, its philosophy, its psychology. it's perplexities and its scientin9 specula- tions. Human personality wah . pros foundly solemn consideration to her. She never mocks the soul's emotions. rhack. cray does. She analyses tho motives of the heart with cold mercilessnssA but b
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-12-19
Euu11s

man q Hall. the English publishers of DickenS works. that '.the sale of these novels for years has been 25o,o0o volumes annually"
 During tho 30 years past the P. F. Col Tier publishing house has sold millions of books and within the nast 10 years the sales of their publications have been greater than ever before. The number of works of fiction sold by this firm stand fin this order:
 Thacksray. Osooo; Shakespeare, 7s2ooo; Scott. ssA goo: Dickens. 6.72o.Ooo.
 Mark you. this Is the report of only ono American publishing house How enormous would be the figures could we get q report of the aggregated publi- cations of Dickens work in this coun- ryi
 If enc has not the opportunity to read all the works of Dickens he should by all means read ''The Tale of Two Cities" "DavAd Copperheld. and Bleak HouuA."
 Thus have I Eiven more outlines of certain thoughts which inay fill in at some future time respecting especially George Eliot and Dickens.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-12-19

character of George Eliot. Lewes to her was her husband, though before the law he was not. for his wife still lived. From her he was not satisfactorily separated, nor lawfully divorced in the eyes of the English law. Yet George Eliot was-what shall say7 cannot say she was mar ried to him; therefore. shall say Gecrge Eliot lived with him as If they were mar ried She never regretted the step that she had taken, she would often say. and affirmed that her life was happy. She idolixed Lewss and the worship that be- longed to God she gave to the man. Their friends did not shun them; it seemed not to shock the colony of ntsxAry people among whom they moved; and yst-
 I shall make . closfnG comment upon the relative popularity of the worls of these four writers.
 Lord Lyttons works arc but little read now, and of the four authors his novAls. so far as popularity ts concerned. are at the bottom of the list. There arv thsso of his beoks that most certainly should bs read. I ysfsr to My Ncvsl," ''fhe Caxtons'' and The Last sf the 1srsns." Instead of reading "Hxnest MAatSavers"
  ins's Jonathan Wsld" at oncs.
 Thackeray Is still popular. end is q good seller always. vanity Fair" Is less popular with critical people than The NewcoHars." which I regard as his best work Some pronounce Henry Dsmend" his mastsrpiece- After reading . slowing critictsm of it. read "Henry Edmond" again. But my vote gtiIl goes for '"The Newcomea."
 George Eliot does not ssll by the side of Thackeray; and yet her works are popu- lar, 'Telix Helt'' is an intense story and full of vigor. Adam Bsds" is . great novel. '.rhs Mn on the F1ess'' nevsr iu,- pressed me- '1diddiemarch"is profound and holds one by its startiins analysis of character; while Romoia. in my judg- ment. is the greatest of them all. George Eliot said, 'I began to write Romola, . young woman; but when finished 1t I was old" It seemed to have cost her more brain force than anything else that she had written.
 Dickens is not only the most widely tioned but he is the most ropular writer in the world. I have a series of gtate- ments, made by librarians and publish CTS. which show that of ali works of fiction those written by Charles Dick ems lead the world.
 A few ysars ago the tbl arian of the Congressional library at Washinston, D. O.. said: T have your letter and In re- ply have to assure you that 70 far as tho popularity of Dickens being on tho wane Is concerned the experience of this library attests the contrary. His books are read hsrs in greater propor- tion than Scott. Bufwsr. rbaoksray or any other novelist"
 The custodian of the Astor library. New York, repiisd to the safns ineutry thus; we sstimats the relative use of the authors you mention ss fotlows: Dickens. Scott. rhacksray."
 The statement has bsen nsaAe by CAAD-
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-12-19

of them shall write with some particu- larity-Lytton, Thackeray. Dickens and George Eliot. The element of unity in what shall follow will be discovered in a statement of common characteristics or in totally different temperaments ascribed to the writers named.
 Bulwer, later known as Lord Lytton. was the son of an English army officer and from childhood was accustomed to surroundings of wealth, culture and social dignity. Later on he inherited & fortune by the death of his mother whose family name of Lytton he assumed. His life was one of ease. of travel, of reading and of enjoyment in the highest social environ ments in England and on the continent He became a member of the house Of lords and though he never distinguished himself in the sphere of politics, yet he was interested in the sociological condi- tions of the masses The hand-to-hand fight with adversity for bread he personal ly never knew; and the poverty and crime which he describes in Ernest Maltravers, amid which the reader is introduced to Alice he never saw, except by the light of the lamp of imagination as it fell upon the paths of poverty.
 Thackery was born in India. His father was a crown official with residence in Calcutta where he enjoyed a lucrative stipend. The boy, William Makepeace Thackeray, when very young was sent to England to receive his education. His first Latin was learned at the old Charter House which the reader, if he has been in London. must remember. '"Charter House Square, is a little green-grass retreat shut in from the noises of London by tall surrounding buildings, and not far from the tidal traffic of Fleet street. From the Charter House school Thackeray went to Trinity college. Cambridge university While here his father died, the son in- heriting the estate. For & while Thack- cray enjoyed his fortune. but it was soon gone A part of 1t he lost at cards. but more of it departed through misplaced confidence. To his reverses the world is indebted For he had intended to give himself to art, but to literature was he driven to make the pot boil" His finan- cial experiences. doubtless, prompted "The Adventures of An Irish Fortune Seeker" as well as the greatest of all his works. "The Newcomes. The keynote of this masterly novel Is not, as some critics have supposed, the miseries of uncon- genial wedlock Beneath the fact of this misery lies the cause, and that is money. The whole story is a treatise on the use dHu dpusc oI ilOHey. AZ we Fedo UT Pendinnis. Warrington and other young men, we sac Thackerays own financial embarrassment depicted.
 Dickens was born in poverty, and when years old he was at work in a shoe blacking factory, helping to support his fathers family, He was necessarily de- prived of many joys peculiar to the life of the average child. and was old before his time. In his unfinished story, unfin- ished because he died with his pen in his hand. he makes Mir. GrewFious say. Young ways were never my ways was the offspring of parents we'll ad- vancsd in life. and half believe that
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-12-19

~ NICE the dawning of the present
 century the world, or some part or O it. has been celebrating the anni- yersaries of birthdays more frequently than ever before. For years yet to come will this custom be observed. because the last century, and particularly the early part of it, was prolific of distin- guished men in every sphere Of thought and activity. I shall refer to some whose births occurred In the nineteenth century and who became eminent in the world or letters.
 Macaulay was born in 1900; Dlsraei In 1895: Lord Lytton in 1895; Tennyson in 1909: Thackeray in 1911; Dickens was horn in A year memorable in our national history. 1872; Hawthorne in 1894; Long, fellow in 1907; Trollope in 1915; George E,Iiot in 1S1s A little later came the Brownings into the world
 Nearly all these eminent people lived up to a time easily within the memory of the majority of the readers or thls newspaper. Thackeray died in 1883, Dick- ems 1870, Hawthorne 1864. Lonsfeiiow lsn' Lord Lytton 1873. D'lsraeii lsSo, the sai'e wear in which George Eliot died; and dear 
 an unclean sentence, died in 1SS2.
 When the nineteenth century opened Byron was 12 years old, Leigh Hunt lo. Shelley, who became the fast friend or the two last mentioned, was s, and Chrls- topher North the genius of Scotch stories, was 15.
 Some of the famous ''old guard in the literary world crossed the line Of de- markation between the eighteenth and k,x~tou Wordsworth. who wrote his Excursion" the year Dickens was born; Sir Walter Scott, who about the dawn of the new century sang 'oThe Minstrelsy of Scottish Song:" and at the threshold of the cen- tury, the year in which Macaulay was born, Tom Moore published the "Odes of Anacreon." Southey and Coleridge also were with this illustrious company. Rich ard Brinsley Sheridan's years also Tapped over into the dawning century. He was born in Dublin in 1771 and died in Lon- don in 1S16. He wrote his great classic, ..r.ha Rivals' which the Jeffersons re- centlv played in Birmingham, in 1778. 1H wears ago. and yet 1t Is as fresh and as welcome as if it had been written yes terday. It Is pure enough for nun to see.
 The names mentioned stand for various social spheres and for variety Of do- mestic conditions. They illustrate that genuis is not partial to men because of the lowliness of their birth, nor because of their aristocratic origin and ancestry. Some of them were lowly born, others were of lofty degree; some were very poor, others were reared in the midst of cultured elegance. Yet, the world stretched away before them all, and US opportunities invited them alike to pos sess themselves of it's possibilities. It IS ever 70.
 select four persons of those named. four distinguished writers of fiction. and
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-12-19
FRENCH SAVING WAYS. And New York Extravagances Paris .WoWdnt be 0Iulty of.
From Inc New York Sun,

From tho New York Sun.
 One of the things that strike for sisner visiting New York" said an cb- servant Frsnchman the other day. Ifs the fact that so many Americans have no idea of the value of money. They do not know how to eccnomise in little thinss. or if they do they Ae not care to.
 Saving q may appeal to them, but saving fvs cents-no. In France we be- lieve that saving the five cents makes 1t pessfhis fer us to save H.
 Here is . case in point: The other day I saw . woman, evidently of the posrer class. and . child climb up the stairway of the sixth avenue elevated station at Twsnty-eishth street. She got on the train at rwsnty-third street. She paid 10 cents for tho ride. and she probably paid tho same sum soins back. In Paris anybody would have walked tho distanos.
 II was amazed upon going out of my hotel tho other day to see biz. husky cab driver having his boots poiished- He probably paid 10 cents for the job. In Europe cab driver would nave had his own brushes and backing.
 "It is this saving habit that makes France rich country and elves our people the wherewithal to buy American securitisa. It is tho absence of the knowledge of how to cave in sunalI thtngv. or putting q it into praetiee. that hAsps e many ot your people from Nelng thrifty and makes the distanoe eo great between yeur mi,lloaAissa snd your or Atnasy lsborafA"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-12-19

always just. Recall how she tears away the mask from the heart of Tito; remem- Der how relently she lays bare the ouiv- ering heart of Gwendolen, in Daniel Deronda-
 Her moralizings are solemnly profound, and even more startling than those of Hawthorne in "The Scarlet Letter" in the chapter headed, Tho Interior of a Heart"
 Each of these writers-Lytton. Thack- cray. Dickens and George Eliot--as is common with authors. brings much out of private life into the realm of fiction. You scarcely lose sight of Lytton, tho stately gentleman of fortune, in any of his works while in some of them his personality blinds ono to his characters. Recall Chillingly. Pelham and pevereux.
 Thackeray carried into Ais stories scenes, incidents and characters that he had witnessed in actual life.
 Dickens does the same thing. only ne IS a propagandist quite often Tho wrongs he has seen in actual life he introduces into his stories, and then by serious words or by satire and ridicule he seeks to reform the wrongs. Witness tho cir cumlocution office, tho Marshalsea prison for debtors and the laws delay in tho chancery case of Jarndyce VI Jarndycs' and many other instanceA-
 George Eliot, in nearly all her great stories, lives over again the days Of her great mental and moral conflicts. and solves anew the stupendous problems of her early years when she cut the cable that held her craft of life to the moorings of Christianity. She seems ever to be trying to justify herself also. aa If even yet she were not sure that she had not erred.
 This is an insignificant fact which now give, but it Is worth knowing.
 When George Eliot was a child she saw a person drown in the river near her home. It made a profound impression upon her mind. In later years she took the fact out of her life and used 1t. Hence, the tragic drowning scene in ''The Mill on the Floss" and Grandcourt's drowning in the Bay of Genoa This lat ter is, I think, the climax of Daniel Deronda.
 There is yet another point of likeness between these four writer's Upon the domestic hearth of each of them fell strange, black shadow. It is often said that the wives of literary men live neglected and that husbands whose wives are professionally given to literature md not the comforts of home under their own roofs. The scholarly Faust was followed by a black dog whithersoever he went, It was Mephistopheles, the demon. Many scholar has been haunted by the black dog of domestic unhappiness, the dog even lying. as if at home. upon the hearth, contented in the midst of pathetic discontent. One need only point to the Tennysons and Brownings. tho flaw thornes and Longfellows to show that the statement Is not universal. Yet. many cases in the world of literary people. sad as 1t is. may be found to confirm the statement made. Sadly enough has
The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-12-19

k HY surprise at the conduct of Mars MI Henry Watterson verges on 4 amazenaent. Here he is, a dead game sport, betting on a certainty. and laying the wager with a blind man at that. He didn't learn that trick in old Kentucky; he must have picked it up in Paris during lhis recent visit. But one can hardly think that either for his several letters from that capital of the world during the month of October were the very best work even he has ever done, and they are the despair of all of us of meaner and blunter pen. I promise to say something more about these same letters before the world is two months older.
 But to get back to Mars Henry's bet. He has already won it. The feud be- tween the houses of Taft and Roosevelt is already begun. 1t was inevitable. We see 1t in the case of Pinchot vs. Bal finger. We see 1t in the substitution of the constitution of the United States for the big stick of Teddy. We see 1t in the turning out of the custom house at Charleston of one Crum. Above all, we see it in the personal popularity of William Howard Taft, who seems not
The Paducah evening sun. [volume] (Paducah, Ky.) 1906-1929, 1909-03-04
smallpox situation.

The city health officer feels very
much encouraged today over the
smallpox situation in this city. No
new cases have been brought to the
notice OF the city health department
in the last three days. The vaccinat-
ing corp has visited all parts OF the
city except fredericksburg, and the
corps will start in on Mechanlcsburg
this week. DR.. II. p. Sights, city
health officer. stated this morning.
that the residents OF Mechanicsburg
have had plenty OF time to get yacci-
mated and obtain from a physician a
certificate OF vaccination and IL the
certificate cannot be shown warrants
will be sworn out against the parties
who are committing a breach OF ordi-
nance.
The Paducah evening sun. [volume] (Paducah, Ky.) 1906-1929, 1909-03-04
MAI. SAUNDERS
DIES AT MAYFIELD
OF PARALYSIS

Mayfield, KY, March 4.-Major
George w. Saunders, 20 years old,
died last night at his home as the re-
suit of a stroke of paralysis last Sat
urday night. Although he had been
in feeble health for several years.
Major Saunders had been able to be
about. He was a native of Graves
county, and had been a resident of
Mayfield for many years. In the
Civil war he was an Officer on the
Union side, and was prominent G..
A. r. man. He had always been a
staunch Republican, and for several
years was Deputy United States mar
shall, and while serving several years
ago his pistol was discharged acci-
dentally, and his right leg had to be
amputated. AS result he never
was strong since. Besides wife he
leaves one son, Jesse Saunders. Maj.
Saunders was well known In Padu-
cab. aud besides his duties had often
visited there. -. q
The Paducah evening sun. [volume] (Paducah, Ky.) 1906-1929, 1909-03-04
Melvin Parkhurst Has Sue
ceeding in Organizing a
Strong Company.
Will Return Soon to Start Up
Industry.
LOCAL CAPITAL Is INTERESTED

Encouraging news has been receiv-
ed TO the effect that the Mergenthaler
Horton basket factory will resume op
Grafton again in the near future. Mr..
Melvin Parkhurst, Of New Haven,
Conn. who was in the city several
months ago with capitalists, has sue
ceeded in organizing a company to
operate the factory. and he will be
In the city soon TO start the wheels
again. when Mr.. Parkhurst was in
the city on his first visit he arranged
plans with the Commercial club. and
then returned east TO secure the finan
cial backing for the operation of the
large factory. The information came
TO friends OF Mr.. Parkhurst In a per-
sonal letter.
The factory was at one time one
OF the most important industries IN
the city and the weekly pay roll
amounted TO several thousand dol
lars.