davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-01-07
COL. JAMES GORDON.
New Senator Picturesque Represent
 alive of the Bayou State.

From the New York Sun.
 We cherish the hope that Col. James Gordon, whom Gov. E. F. Noel has ap- pointed senator from Mississippi, will prove to be a picturesque character as well as 8 useful, if ephermeral, repre- sentative of the Bayou state when he arrives in Washington. He really does not know how long he will be senator for the legislature of Mississippi, which is to elect a successor to the late Anselm J. McLaurin, will meet on the very day that Congress reassembles, January 4 Col. Gordon may be a senator "A hours, or less Or more, or not at all. for Sem ator McEnery of Louisiana believes that Col Gordon is disqualified to take the oath by the precedents in the Corbett and Quay cases. So the colonel may present himself at the door of the Senate only to have 1t shut Tn his face.
 Pontotoc. from which Col. Gordon halls, is one of the back counties of Mississippi, up in the northeast corner and not far from the Tennessee and Alabama lines. As the crow flies it is 200 miles from from Jackson, the capital. The bear still
 
 Chowappa rises there and the Chookan- tonchi. and among it's towns are Toe copola, Buckhorn, Mudcreek, and Troy. Pontotoc is filled with antebellum mem ories and Col. Gordon was 2S when the war broke out. Thereon was it at Okolona in the adjoining county?-he or ganized, and at his own expense armed and equipped, the Chicashaw Rangers or Jeff Davis Legion, and at their head went forth to the war. Later he mobilized the Second Mississippi cavalry, drew his, saber and rode to reinforce Forrest. Col. Gordon also served under Stewart, Van Dorn, Jackson and Armstrong, A planter, he heard the ''tocsin" away back in Pontotoc and If he did not prove him. self thunderbolt of war, like Nathan Bedford Forrest he burned with zeal for the cause and made a dashing cavalry colonel.
 Col Gordon will be interesting as a new senator, if admitted, for these reasons: He dates back long, long before the civil war and has always been one of the first citizens of Pontotoc; Jackson knew him as a legislator before Sumter fell; he drew on his fortune to arm and equip his neighbors for the field and the con- fiict swept away the rest of his compe- tence; he has remained poor man back in Pontotoc, but always a first citizen, looked up to and esteemed, proud of his civic and military record; when he pre- sents himself in the Senate to take the oath he will be entirely new to Congress and Congress will be new and strange to him; full of memories of two genera tions and two or three epochs, he should have stories to tell never heard in Wash ington before; he will not come to set the Potomac on fire, for he says, During my brief stay in Washington I may not be able to do much good to the state. but I shall certainly not do any harm
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-01-07
UTILITY OF THE BEAUTIFUL.

By John Ruslxin.
 Mans use and function-and let him who will not grant me this follow me no further is to be the witness of the glory of God and to advance that glory by his reasonable obedience and resultant hap piness. Whatever enables us to fulfill this function Is, in the pure and first sense of the word, useful to us. And yet peo- pie speak in this working age, as if house, and land, and food, and raiment, were alone useful; and, as if sight. thought, and admiration, were all profit
 sss: so that men insolently call them selves utilitarians, who would turn, if they had their way. themselves and their race into vegetables; men who think. as far as such can be said to think that the meat is more than the life, and the raiment than the body; who look to the earth as a stable, and to its fruit as fod- der; vine-dressers and husbandmen, who love the corn they grind, and the grapes they crush, better than the gardens of the angels upon the slopes of Eden1 hewers of wood and drawers of water. who think that the wood they hew, and the water they draw, are better than the pine forests that cover the mountains like the shadow of God, and than the great rivers that move like His eternity.
 And so comes upon us that woe of the preacher, that though God hath made everything beautiful in His time, also Ho hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end" to grass like oxen, seems to follow but too closely on the excess or continuance of national power and peace. In the per- plexities of nations, in their struggle for existence-in their infancy, their im- potence, or even their disorganization- they have higher hopes and nobler pas sions Out of the suffering comes the grateful heart; out of the endurance, the fortitude; out of the deliverance, the faith. Deep though the causes of thank fitness must be to every people at peace with others and at unity in itself. there are causes of fear also-a fear greater than of sword and sedition-that depend ence on God may be forgotten, because the bread is given and the water is sure that gratitude to Him may cease because His constancy of protection has taken the semblance of a natural law; that heavenly hope may grow faint amid the full fruition of the world; that selfish ness may take place of undemanded de- votion. compassion be lost in vain-glory, and love in dissimulation; that enerva- ton may succeed to strength, apathy to patience, and the noise of testing words and the fulness of dark thoughts to the earnest purity of the girded loins and the burning lamp.
 Let us beware that our rest become not the rest of stones, which, so long as they are torrent-tossed and thunder stricken, maintain their majesty. but, when the stream is silent and the storm passed. suffer the grass to cover them and the lichen to feed on them. and are plowed down into dust.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-01-07
A crucifix From Jerusalem.

With the many things that came to Birmingham this Christmas, scattered all the way from the practical to the use- less from the scientific to the religious, one of Birminghams citizens possesses a gift which he prizes vBry highly re- marked a layman. "A Catholic bishop in distant city sent the gentleman re- ferred to a most beautiful mother of pearl cross, very elegantly carved with the foundation of wood The bishop wrote: I am sending by this mail a crucifix which I purchased in Jerusa- lem. 1 had it blessed in the holy sepul- cher and after this 1t was placed on the tomb of our Lord and on Calvary where the cross once stood. He who Is worthy may receive an indulgence for a happy death and a sick person may make the stations of the cross upon it.
 "Of course this would not be Of much value to some persons but to others 1t has a great value by reason of its as sociations. These recall where 1t has been and what it could tell if 1t could speak, and our Catholic friend has n treasure that may, If he is worthy, give him a happy death."
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-01-07

at harvest time little over six tons of hay which netted him s65. 55.
 It is the old, old story of good farm ing. The three-horse blow is needed in Alabama as nothing else is. The scratching of the surface is simply economical waste of energy and soil. The experience of MT. Lehnert should be told and retold in every county of the state, and The Age-Herald re- grets it does not possess a picture of this three-horse blow.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-01-07
Schools for Negro Children

It is the plain duty as well as the plain interest of this city to treat ne- gro children fairly. At the present time there is not decent accommoda- tion in the public schools for the ne- gro children of this city. There are not seats enough to accommodate one half of the number. Only the oldest inhabitants can remember when a schoolhouse for negroes was built in this city. All can remember when one was burned to the ground under suspicious circumstances.
 The city authorities should have the courage of their convictions. Tie blatant demagogues should be push ed back while justice is done to the negro children. Negro labor is as essential here as it is in any other southern city, and the best of negro labor can not be retained here unless we build schoolhouses to accommodate the chill dren of these laborers. It is right in every respect to build such school houses.
 The condition of the negro schools in this city is disgraceful. They are over-crowded, shabby and insanitary. They are just what a public school house should not be, and the situation calls for something better, and that, too, speedily.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-01-07
Deep Plou6hln8 and Big Crops

w. c. H. Yam of Abbeville won the first prize in the corn contest, and George A Lehnert of Tuscumbia, Col bert county, won the second prize, his crop being only six pounds short of MT. Vann's. MT. vann lives in Henry county and MT. Lehnert in Colbert county, and the inference is that all the country between the two producers is capable of like results when three horse blows are used in farming in this state.
 MT. Lehnert raised 142 bushels and three pounds of corn on his acre, and the list of facts connected with his acre is as follows;
 oofl-Dark red loam- / Rroken-April 20, eight inches deep, with 7 . thrss-horse breaking blow.
 Yertilised-Juns A one-half of acre with well routed farmyard manure, the other half none.
 varset yof seed-"Early Prolific" and
 
 ~Whttel"
 Planted-Apri1 1.
 Cultivated-May 14. g: Juno g. 20.
 Size of Plat-1S0xzi0 feet.
 width of rows-Three feet.
 Thickness in Drill-Thirteen inches apart.
 Plants to Acre-540o.
 Growth of Plants Thrifty from begin ming.
 Ears to Stocl1-Two.
 Laid By-June 30, with a cultivator. Harvested-October 10.
 Bushels-142 and pounds
 Total Cost-s0.7o; market price, soc per bushel. S114.D.
 Proft-S104. TO-
 MT. Lehnert did even better in rais ing sweet potatoes on plat contain ang little more than an acre. Again has three-horse blow was used. and the net profits of the plat was $277.76 n5or was this all. On piece of ground con1nining 44.1oo square feet he uset .<ho three-horse plow. and he sowed or t bird oats and Japan clover. He cu'
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-01-07
A NEW RIDDLE.
Special to the New York World.


 Washington.-Charley Staley of the pat ent office has local reputation as wit He came downtown New Years morning with the first conundrum for 1910. This is it.
 What is 1t that you sleep in, sit in and brush your teeth with?'
 Charley sprang this all over Washing ton. The answers were many and va rious To each effort to solve his riddle Charley gave a genial smile and neg ative shake of the head. Finally the new conundrum got on the nerves of MT. Staley's friends. They backed him up against the cashiers desk at the Riggs house and demanded the answer At the threat of force Charley succumbed.
 well" he said, this is the answer:
 You sleep in a bed, you sit in chair and you brush your teeth with tooth- brush. I think any d---d fool ought to know that"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-01-07
St. Louls' Growth.

''St Louis has been growing very rap idly ever since our Worlds Fair in 1904, . said B. c. Stevens of that city. 'The estimates of population are usually ex- aggereated, but in the case of St. Louis the census will put us far above the 100000 estimate which appeared In the statistical table of American cities as of January 1. 1909. I am confident that when the census enumerators make their count they will find that St. Louis has a population of about s0o.00o instead of 7oo,- 900. It is believed that during the past 12 months the city's increase has been at a much greater rate than in any previous year
 "St. Louis has not extended it's limits since 1878. Ia that year by special legis- lation it was made independent of St. Louis county. It is in no county. If the population of the county and the pop ulation of East St. Louis were included in St. Louis we would have a city of about 1,25O.00O.'
 MT. Stevens is sepnding few days in Birmingham He owns the De Soto coal mines in cnls district.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-01-07
SYMPATHY.
Sir Thomas Noon Talfourd.

By Sir Thomas Noon Talfourd.
 (From 'Dion." Act I, Scene 3)
 Iris little thing
 To give cup of water, yet its draught Of cool refresAnlent. drained by lowered
 lips,
 May give shock of pleasure to the franc More exquisite than when nectarean juice Renews the life of joy in happier hours. It is a little thing to speak phrase Of common comfort which by daily use Has almost lost its sense, yet on the ear Of him who thought to die unmourupA
 twill fall
 Like choicest music, fill the glazing eyo With gentle tears, relax the knokteA hand To know the bounds of fellowship again; And shed on the departing soul . sense. MoEs precious than the benison of friends About the honored death-bed of the rich. To him who else wore lonely, that anothse o8 thA UaAk family is naas and 1eelA
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-01-07
HOW JOHNNY HELPED HIS PAPA
From Judges Library.

From Judge s llprafy
 Johnny loved his papa, there was no doubt about that. and one morning. after he had listened to long disquisition from the author of his being addressed to his elders, on the general uselessness of the vermiform appendix, ending up with the broad statement that he hoped he'd see the day when every appendix in creation was cut out, the little boy resolved upon an agreeable surprise for his daddy. He worked in secret for several days, and then sprang 1t.
 ''See what have done for you, daddy!" he said leading the wondering father into the library and showing him neat pile of many pages which he had accumulat- ed "I've cut the appendix out of every book in this library"
 If was then that words failed, and John nv's fathers vocabulary made general assignment for the bensat ef ats eredi- torA
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-01-07
AT THE DAYS END.

The morning dream'' is a dream of
 splendor, Flooding the world with crimson light, But Evenings dream, the stars to attend
 her,
 Her peaceful brow with blooms bedight, Is a sweeter dream OCT which to ponder, When heart grows faint in the world s
 turmoil, And the path leads home, no more to
 wander, And Love makes amends for a day of
 toill
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-01-07

The heads of the great railway sys- tens have told the President what he should do and should not do. But the President sees the advancing shadow of the Man from Elba.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-01-07

The Duncans do not appear on cold or breezy days. They hover at reg ister on such days in their Grecian clothes.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-01-07

Banker Morse will not be permitted to have a stock ticker and telegraphic facilities in the Atlanta penitentiary. He will have to skip the Wall street habit for 15 years.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-01-07

Mayor Gaynor reads Ben Franklin as well as Epictetus, and he finds the former better informed about political lightning and where it may strike.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-01-07
Had Been Traffic Manager.

"oscar G. Murray, who gives up the presidency of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, was traffic manager of the Big Four and the Chesapeake and Ohio when l first knew him." said a railroad man.
 MT. Murray is now in his s3d year. He was comparatively young man when he began to draw $19,O0O a year for working up the traffic business of the Big Four and the Chesapeake and Ohio. operated at the time under one manage ment. In those days traffic managers were not as plentiful as they came to be later, and s19.000 was considered a fancy salary. But as president of the Baltimore and Ohio MT. Murray received I have heard, s5O.0O0. In retiring from the presidency he becomes chairman of the Baltimore and Ohio."
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-01-07

Charles w. Morse is to learn the tailors trade in the Atlanta prison, but there is no guaranty that he will turn out suits at low cost under the Aldrich tariff
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-01-07
Queen GIxea aanouet.

The Hague, January 6.-Queen Will helmina gave a banquet tonight in president of the Hudson-Fulton cele- hratinn.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-01-07

Weston will try again to walk across the continent in 100 days. He missed 1t by five days when he tried it last year.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-01-07

In some of the Massachusetts pub lie schools there is course in cord wood saving, and the schoolmaster is expected to set an example for the boys.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-01-07

New York consumed 5OOoOO quarts of alleged champagne on New Years eye.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-01-07

Senator Cummins, like Senator La Toilette, calmly awaits the return of the Man from Elba.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-01-07

It has been suggested that Dr. Cook be appointed court jester to Denmark He is an excellent joker.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-01-07
A pITrsBuRG HUMoRIsT.

Because he was denied the privilege of eating New Year dinner with his rel atives a wealthy Pittsburg man, just for spite" set free number of lunatics who were inmates of the County Home. Six of the lunatics nearly froze to death. It would take about fourteen expert alienists to convince us that this festive person isn't a lunatic himself.
 PAUL COOK.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-01-07

An Indiana farmer paints his feet every night to keep them warm so that he can keep on next day writing his book.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-01-07

Emperor Menelik should not indulge 1 in so many death reports, for one of them may some day come to stay.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-01-07
IN LICK.

"How are you and Miss Gridley getting along?'
 '.Finel She treats me like a dog" ''I don't understand Like a Pomeranian poodle" "oh, I begin to see what you mean now"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-01-07

British Columbia is building gyro- scope railroad and all the rest of the world is willing.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-01-07
About Persons.

Col Emmet O'Neal of Florence. one of the anti-amendment leaders, and now candidate for governor is registered at the Morris hotel He states. that he will issue formal address to the voters Of the state in the immediate future, which will set forth his political views on the several matters In which the people are interested.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-01-07

The American public likes to be humbugged. but Dr. Cook plainly over did it.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-01-07

The trouble about river gorges is great deal of good ice goes to waste.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-01-07

Mrs. Russell Sage distributes money with as much facility as her husband gathered it.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-01-07
IN A WORLDLY WAY.

IN A WORLDLY WAY. We can't live long if we go too fast And the candle burn at both ends, And a big bank roll will fade at last If fellow just spends and spends. The wisest chaps are those who play The white lights now and then, But don't keep 1t up till the dawn of day, When a mans work ought to begin.
  All work, you know, makes Jack a dull boy,
 All play makes Jack 8 lightweight There's a mean in between and the sweets won't cloy If we'll manage to strike the right gait!
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-01-07

Uncle Jocannon Is beset by 29 irrec- onsilabies who will accept no terms except unconditional surrender.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-01-07

The New York pair that were mar ried in a taxicab were certainly fully up-to-date.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-01-07

The effort now is to keep your reso- lutions on straight and in working condition
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-01-07
FELL" THE MESSENGER Bt


 Being good to ones self.
 BILL" THE MESSENGER BOY.
 The Muskogee Times-Democrat tells what happened to a messenger boy:
 :" 'Bilr Is messenger boy, the smartest on the force of the Postal Telegraph company. .BilP owns white pony-just an ordinary looking horse with a shaggy white mane. Bill and the horse had been great friends until the other day when one of Bills pals gave him pair of spurs for a Christmas present. Bill put on the spurs and crawled onto the pony. Now for dash down the avenuei Bill sunk the spurs in the sides of tho pony. but the animal did not move. Bin dug again and the pony bumped It's back and. reaching around with its mouth, grabbed Bill by the leg and gave him a yank. When Bill jabbed him, the pony rolled back its ears and bit Bill on the leg. The manager rushed out of the office and told Bill to hasten with his message. So Bill had to crawl off his horse and take off his spurs before the pony would move"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-01-07
suPERsTIToUs.

SUPERSTITIOUS. Here. take this life-preserver. The ship is sinking Not for mel It looks too much like an automobile tire" What has that to do with it?" 'I was run over by an automobile once"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-01-07
DOESN'T LIKE PERs1MMoNs.

DOESN'T LIKE PERSIMMONS. Are you in favor of taking the pucker out of persinmons
 "It doesn't make any difference to me whether the quicker Is taken out of per- simmons or not. just so the puclzer isn't taken out of kisses"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-01-07

The promptness of the January thaw was remarkable.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-01-07

In 1910, kind friends, the Man from Elba will return.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-01-07
A POPIJIAR PRACTICH,

When a man robs others, To pile up pelf, That's what we call, brothers, Being good to ones self.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-01-07
OVERHEARD, AS IT WE'RE.

OVERHEARD, AS IT WE'RE. The rain comes down on a water-logged
 town,
 With a melancholy dripping; And some wear blue and some wear
 brown
 refer to the maidens tripping Along the streets, their skirts held high, Where the silver drops are glistening. It may be wrong, but some hosiery Is so loud that I can't help listeningi
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-01-07
DoUBLY CAPTIVE.

'It is customary to speak of young married couples as 'Cupid's captives.
 ''So it is, when as a matter of fact, they are more apt to be in the tolls of the furniture man."
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-01-07
"cHANTIcLER.'


 No other play was ever advertised so much in advance as Rostand's "Chanti- cler." It will soon be presented to a waiting world. which appears to be fairly eaten up with curiosity to know some thing about tho latest work of this in spired Frenchman, which he calls his masterpiece. Although the secret of the plot has been jealously guarded-this seems like a press agents ruse-the prin-' cipal events of the play have leaked out The conclusion is characteristic. The Cock has been thinking for long time that the sun couldn't rise unless he crowed, but one morning, tarrying be- meath the wing of love, he oversleeps and when he awakes, lol the sun is al- ready about his business. Then the crush ing realization falls upon the Cock that he is not omnipotent. He Is in fact, very small potatoes in the cosmic scheme
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-01-07
ADRIFT WITH THE TIMES

of things and the pride in his bosom melts away The Cocks barnyard com panions still believe in him and fatter his powers and yield him precedence, but deep down in his heart the Cock knows that he Is only fraud and the bright, glorious sun concerns itself about his petty ambitions not at all. He still her aids the dawn, but not as the creator of dawn-only as a herald.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-01-07

A GOOD RESOLUTION. He swore in spite Of fell mishap, He still would be A cheerful chap.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-01-07

GIVING HIMSELF AWAY. Who prays for blizzards Without number, Is more than apt To be plumber!