davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-10-23

speech In that prosecution was mereiless-
ly ridiculed by William NJ. Evarts, chief
of counsel for the defense.
The Secretary of the Treasury sent in
the estimates, and when they came,
the first session of the Forty-first Con-
gress, Chairman Dawes was outraged
and made speech that thrilled the coun-
try from ocean to ocean In denunciation
declaring that the administration de-
manded s1400O,OO0 more to run the show
than was necessary. 1t was known as
the "Other-end- of-the-avenue" speech
and that week Dawes was nominated for
the next President by 100 newspapers,
great and small A beggarly s14.000,00O
Since then Congress has not batted an
eye when voting s114,ooo,oo0 for extrava-
gance; Out when Dawes was chairman,
no pension appropriation bill carried
more than 100000. and that was deem
ed gross extravaganza coupled with graft
Bye and bye Dawes took his seat In the
Senate of the United States. the success
sor of Charles Summer, In that body, and
there he remained for 20 years, an able
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-10-23

the humorous side of life. At the nere
writing of the word my mind goes back
TO other days and to great comedians
whom I saw. and who won their nrond
laurels in find old comedies of classical
sort. VINO does not remember John
Sleeper Clark, old John E. Owens, Joseph
Jefferson, Owen Faucet, C. B. Bishop.
the finest Falstaff l ever saw. and a host
of others. They are gone now. and there
has followed them my warm personal
friend, my boyhood's chum, a comedian
of splendid abilities, Allison Mills. He
was as gentle as woman, as generous
as the air, true as the needle to the north.
he was manly and strong, and yet his
complexion was as rosy as that of a
girls. II knew him, Horatio. fellow
of infinite Jest. of most excellent fancy.
Where be your gibes now, your gambols.
your songs? Your flashes of merriment
that were wont to set the table on a
roar?"
The word comedy comes from the
Greek, "Komos,'' banquet, and "odos.''
song. But Komos comes from the verb
Koimao. which means to lie down. for
at the banquet the guests reclined. This
verb Koimao, to lie down, is the original
source of our word cemetery In whosb
silent chambers many OF our loved ones
lie in the long silence. What strange
combination of thoughts is this which
we have in the words-cemetery and
comedy 1t was this though, I suppose.
that suggested to Balzac the wisdom of
calling his stories of life's songs and sor-
rows, of its failures and its successes. of
its loves and its hatreds from the cradle
to the grave-"The Coincide Humane"
"All the world IS a stage.
And all the men and women merely
players.
They have their exits and their entrances:
And one man in his time plays many
parts"
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-10-23

interest, such as Trench on the Study of
Words, and the like, and select several at
random from the dictionaries near at
hand.
Constellation is good word with which
to start, and may be disposed of with
brevity. The root of this word is "ster,"
which means to strew. or to scatter.
Strike Off the proposition CON-" and the
suffix, 'tion,'' frequent termination OF
nouns. and you have stella" But ''stel-
la" is not formed directly out of "ster."
1t borrows a very common ending, lula"
and then we have ''ster-ula," which be-
comes 'ster-la," then STELLA star. a
scatterer of light. Now, replace the pre-
fix and you have "constella;" then add
the abstract 'tion," the suffix. and you
have constellation, group of light
strewers, stars bound together into fami-
lies travelling across the skies.
The word CONSERVATION is of close kim
ship to the word constellation. Follow
the same process of analysis; cut Off the
prefix and the suffix, and there is left
the root of the Latin verb, "ster-no," to
strew, to scatter. to throw down. Con-
sternation. therefore, is the scattering of
ones wits, the casting down OF one
reason to the extent of uselessness. The
past participle of ''sterno' is stratum,
whose plural is strata, and the geologist
can tell us how the earth's strata have
been thrown together or strewn and scat
tered beneath the surface of the earth.
Is there any connection between the
tail Of peacock and the opal ring which
my lady wears upon her tapered finger?
Perhaps there is not in reality, but SUI
perstitious people, unknown to them
selvesa have accomplished a relationship.
The noun opal comes from the Greek
"ops," an. eye. The Greeks called the
precious stone ''opallios.' because It was
In some sense like the eye. Similar to
the eye, the opal changes its appearance
constantly. Now its aspect Is as mild as
the gentle blue OF the sky, or as the eye
Of the little child; but 1t turns into the
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-10-23

the philosophy of economies. He was not
necessitated to make long study of the
subject, though he could study, and he
was that marvellous and rare combtna-
tion--a genius who could and loved to
work. That was the secret of his power.
Had he been mentally or physically lazy.
Breckenridge would have fallen into
dreamland and never emerged therefrom
except for a flash now and then to daz-
zle mankind.
He was a genius, and what is more =
genius full of courtesy, almost debonnair-
But he was more-a democrat, to the
manner born--and he could no more alb
stain from giving utterance to what his
mind forged than he could have COM
manded the stars in their courses to fight
for Sisera.
And that makes me regret the sequel
OF a fact while applauding his conduct.
Breckenridge supported Watterson in his
plea for full acceptance of the amend
ments that war had legalized into our
federal constitution. That deferred his
advent into Congress a decade.
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-10-23

metal but in flesh and blood on bone of
our bone. The Era of Manufacture has
set her there, instead of on the farm.
1 have been asking the modern man
for his definition of civilization. The
truth seems to besthat the modern man
is busily working out his definition be-
fore he ventures to put it into words.
Perhaps tentative effort might give
us: The coordination OF the common
welfare with individual freedom But
the modern man goes on to re-define
welfare and is then compelled to re-
define freedom"
Under the intensely individualist order
of things which was our heritage from
feudalism or from the crude manufactur-
ing and commercial age which ushered in
the age of modern machinery, the in
dividual soon became very small pota-
toes indeed. Modern industrialism gave
MIN new chance, putting a premium on
the workman fortunate enough to possess
his sons became princes of industry.
Soon too he began to found trade schools
and even universities for all his kind.
Side by side with these schools, of which
a grand example is that at ithaca, N. T.,
whose story the "reminiscences of Pro-
fessor Goodwin Smith have recently
brought to mind, is the whole machinery
of state-provided education and with 1t
the enormous educational activity of all
the Christian denominations. Surely the
backward. ill-taught. Unbalanced indi-
vidual is at last left without excuse! Here
is the open door which no man can
shut, the door to knowledge. leadership,
authority. wealth. The few have opened
it for the many
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-10-23
7IGHBORHOOD-By J. c. Hidden, D. D.

miles-none are sighted on this joyful
occasion when the son of the house Is
taking unto himself a bonny bride.
The wedding feast was amost elabor-
ate. We spoke of the bountiful pro-
vision of good things. YES" said our
host, I'VE always provide a plenty, for
there are great many volunteers. be-
sides those invited" What are vol
unteers?" 1 asked. "Oh, they are the
young men all over the country for
20 miles. They come to get a good
supper" you don't really take them
in?,"rI said. Certainly, you can't. ask
a decent man to go away from your
house when he comes to your sons
wedding. But you don't feed them, do
your" "Of course we do; how can we
tell man that he can't have anything
to eat when he comes at such time as
this?"
And so the volunteers come-they
ride up and inquire: What's going on?"
and are told "A wedding" or "a par
ty,' as 1t may be, and they are then
asked If they will net down." The
volunteer replies, IT thank you," or
L QOu care IL uo. I1c tHen goes
In and joins in the feasting and rejoice
ing. I am told they often come in
crowds. with their horns and fox
hounds---an exuse for the coming. max
ing it appear as accidental. 1t Is con-
sidered among them as very impolite
not to ask the visitors to join in the
festivities.
AS we enter the parlor tonight
we find the bride very tastefully and
becomingly attired in bridal fashion,
sitting quietly in large rocking chair,
surrounded by her lady attendants. The
men with great bashfulness congre-
gated around the doors. while the
bridegroom, still a little shy, stands
among them, going over occasionally
and saying a few words to the bride.
A gay young lady proposes a play
TO. break the ice." Then all come to-
get1ler, each man with partner" on
his arm. They form ring and begin
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-10-23

valuable when they shine with white,
unsullied light.
But the ambition" of the candidate
was commended. Let US look at the
word ambition. 1t has close relation
ship with some curious creatures in
the world of words. Among its cous-
ms may be found ambulate, perambu-
lator, ambiguous and a host of others.
Ambition comes from "amb," around;
and IRE" to go. The candidate must
go round" and seek voters. He is in
tent upon gaining votes. 1t is his alb
sorbing purpose, and so he keeps go
ing around" From this original prac-
tice and purpose, expressed by the word
ambition, larger meaning was given
to the word and 1t came to be used as
now employed The thought of go
ing around" you can find in all the
words that I have given as relatives
of the word ambition" To "ambulate''
Is to walk around; ambiguity is a go
ing around a thought; and a perambu-
lator is one who walks through things,
or a child's carriage pushed by one who
walks.
Customs have changed somewhat
since the old Roman days. Suppose all
candidates wore robes to indicate their
past lives so far as their uprightness
and integrity are concerned In these
blessed days of ours! How few could
wear the stainless garment, and how
many would wear coat of many col
ors. Instead now of walking around"
the candidate usually rides; and, bless
you, If the voter delays his appearance
at the polls, he is sent for and may ride
In a hack or machine" the bill be-
ing paid by another machine"
How comes it that the name of Shakes
peare's melancholy Hamlet should in any
wise be associated with "he-goat'
There is no such association, do you
say? Yet you are wrong. They both
suggest tragedy" A tragedy is q
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-10-23

compare with that of today. But aside
from Missionaries, socialists, labortsts,
communists or anarchists, there are thou
sands upon thousands of earnest, prac-
teal people of all schools. who are act
ually working out the next step. 1t is
something gained at least to see how
our losses occur. We can trace the loss
of American boyhood to the failure of the
community to reinforce the home. We
had assumed that all the responsibility
for the boy rested on the home. Does lit
Is the home responsible for the atmos-
phere of the city? Can the home prevent
salacious shows and their cunning APP
peal by Photographic advertisements,
to the nascent passions of the boys I'M
instructed nature? Surely the home can
forearm him with love of purity. a
reverence for womanhood, a knowledge
of himself. But generally speaking, the
home shrinks at least from the last
mentioned obligation. And the home is
victimized as often as it is blameworthy.
without the saved city the home is I'M
safe.
A boy sat on the edge of green
summered pool on Hampstead Heath,
where the day before a man had been
found drowned" The boy himself In a
Quixotic impulse had married a silly girl.
and she had run away from him. He
was the child of highly religious people.
a thinker, an idealist. AS he gazes
at the foul water a curse on the old
home rises to his lips, because it had not
Par 70 oip Ia
terrible difficulties of practical life. Sure
ly that boy is as sad a spectacle there
by his green and haunted pool as was
that other picture of New York working
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-10-23

ONE of the most interesting de-
partments of the English diction-
~ airy, in my judgment, is found in
the careful tracing the etymology OF
words. In the earliest English diction-
aries this subject was overlooked. IN
deed, only within the last rs years has
etymology been regarded as phase of
science, that science being comparative
piiilology We are not to think, how
ever, that the philologist is a student
simply of the derivation of words. The
subjects included in his investigations
are the origin of languages, the growth
of forms of speech, and the relations of
the various languages to one another,
as well as etymology.
1t will be seen, therefore, that this par
tcular science is one Of great impor-
lance, dignity and interest. Its investi-
cations have thrown much light on the
customs and habits of historic peoples,
who were simply as so many names to us
in the past vast amount of literature
has been written on the results Of the
studies Of philologists and bear upon al
most every phase of learning. OF course,
the popular dictionary can give but the
merest outlines of pathological processes,
but enough is said in the cases of partic-
ular words to excite a desire for further
knowledge.
The study of one word will often lead
one to many languages, for the reason
that the word has been great trave-
Ter and has found a resting place in the
English language only after coming
through many different tongues, cross
ing many seas. climbing many high
mountain ranges, and leaving far behind
1t the land which gave 1t birth. 1t is my
purpose in this paper to call attention to
a number of words and phrases which
are now well known, but which have
come down to us after various exper-
fences from other tongues far older than
our own. shall avoid such words as are
given in the many books published In this
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-10-23
GLEAMS FROM AN ISOLATED NEI(

of expectation among the guests as they
sit waiting ten, fifteen, twenty minutes.
half an hour. Surely there has been a
tiagedy-has the bride tainted? oh has
the white-faced bridegroom been cow
ard enough to back out? Away with the
thought! A lady comes to the door and
beckons to the brides father. What can
be going on up stairs? There is a deep
silence. The women shake their heads
and whisper to each other. Do they
think the scared bridegroom has re-
some of them think so. The men look
serious and stern. Woe to the BRIDE
groom If he disgraces their sex? At last
the doctor came down and said there
was nothing serious. the bridegroom had
only tainted. A young girl Indignantly
exclaimed, who ever heard of such a
thingr' There was an amused litter
through the room. We hear stir on
the winding stairs. They are coming
down cautiously, each man little ahead
and leading his lady We draw breath
of relief when they are safely down.
The bride is modest and composed, but
the bridegroom shakes like an aspen
tree in full leaf.
They are made man and wife. The
bride puts up her white veil from her
bonnet and reveals really intelligent.
beautiful face; is kissed by her lady
friends, the men shake her hand, and
the party leave the house. The groom
and bride led off in a nice top-buggy. fol-
lowed by the company. !. A two-wiieeled
cart with the brides trunk, logged along
in the rear
AT last we drew up half frozen at
large old country house just at dark,
but the house is all ablaze with light.
and as we enter the ruddy fire from
the burning logs in the, large. old open
freplaces brings a grateful feeling of
comfort to US.
There is large assembly of lads and
lassies, mid1le-aged and old people.
whole families--all the neighbors for
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-10-23

chant, Secretary of the Treasury, in the
hope that he would do for the people
in gross what he had done for himself
in particular-run the show with the
highest degree of efficiency and with the
least possible expense-just as he had his
stores on Broadway, New York city.
But 1t was discovered that law of
Alexander Hamilton's time precluded any
importer from being Secretary of the
Treasury, and Stewart was the biggest
importer in the country, and SO there
was a hitch. Grant in the White House
imagined that he was the Grant at the
head of the Army of the Potomac con-
fronting Lee-when he used to order what
he wanted of men and supplies from
Stanton, Secretary of War. He sent a
curt message to Congress, ordering that
tho law disqualifying Stewart be repealed.
John Sherman. chairman of finance,
brought In a bill in obedience to the or
der of the President, but Charles Sumner,
then very powerful in national councils,
killed it. and Grant took for Secretary
of the Treasury George s. Boutwell,. who
had been one of the managers of the
Impeachment of Andy Johnson, and whose
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-10-23

most sickening ingratitude, had Ben Hill
lived, had Rustin remained a senator
had these been the conditions, then the
Senate of America might have contended
with the House of Commons of England
for first place among the political de-
Lucrative bodies of the world.
l have said that Garfield was the best
of all the chairman of appropriations in
the House in the management of sup
ply bill on the floor. and so he was; but
there was one man on the democratic
side, who came after him, and was even
his master, and that man was William G.
P. Breckenridge.
When Gladstone and Disraeli were
rivals, and both had been chancellor of
the exchequer, 1t was said that Disraeli,
in many respects the greater man, put
the commons to sleep when he opened
the budget, whereas Gladstone made
statistics eloquent" And so could Breck-
inridge make dry tables of figures inter-
esting. What gifted man he was! What
versatile man he was! AS the manager
of an appropriation bill on the floor of
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-10-23

Christiana who died within three
months. Alphonso, astonished at these IA
talities, resolved to wear the ring him
self, and died within very short time"
The ring was finally attached to chain
by the Queen Regent and suspended from
the neck Of a figure of the Virgin in a
church in Madrid.
The chairman of political conven-
ton, referring to his townsman, who
was running" for Congress, said: "The
candidates ambition Is most praise
worthy" and in this short sentence used
two picturesque words that are worth
considering, Candidate" and "ambi-
ton" Candidate, you will see, is close
ly related to the word candid. They
both come from the same Latin source
and are not very far removed in re-
lationship from the words candle" and
"ch andelier,' and also "candelabrum. =
In ancient Rome he who sought the
SURFACES of his fellow citizens in or
der that he might be elected to Of
fee wore white, somewhat glistening
robe, whose chief characteristic was
that 1t was stainless and pure. 1t was
"candidus," this robe, white and with
out spot, and symbolical of the life
of him who wore 1t. BY assuming the
white robe he said, MY life has been
like this garment that wear bright
and pure" He was then recognized as
"candidatus," man dressed in white.
He was also to be a shining example
of all virtues to his constituency. He
was to let his light shine for the idea
of brightness and shining were set
forth in the word "candidus." Here we
find the hint of the candle whose Of
fee 1t is to shine. as we'll as that of
the candelabrum. "Candelier,' from the
Latin "candela," became chandelier
in the French tongue and means that
which holds cluster of candles The
shining, candidate, the shining candle
and the shining chandelier are most
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-10-23

Here Is the lure of wide land, of adj
ventures within reach. Often his mother
loves him so much better than she I'M
dertsands him! Often her love is mar
velously dissembled by an appearance of
indifference The feeling that the boy
must be the master Of his own fate often
bids father and mother step aside and
let the poor little ignoramus make fatal
mistakes.
Nowhere else does liberty produce such
perils for youth as here. School author
tiles and home authorities succumb when
the boy insists that he is, for instance,
free to smoke cigarettes, free to spend
his evenings on the streets, free to
learn how to be a man. If bye and bye
he goes to college, what can those OPP
portunities avail7 Little, If he has lost
his innocence, his moral mobility. Lit
tie If home is despisedl II he frankly re-
bells. accepts a cheap job at desk. and
in drivelng way presently falls In
love- with weakling girl, raised in a
similar atmosphere, what hope is there
for them or for the permanence of their
home, CT for the efficient training of
their offspring7
AS frequently as not he runs away,
hangs around the race tracks, swaggers
to keep his courage up, and then swag-
gers because he has acquired the habit.
finally adding himself to the terrific list
of lost souls. II he repents he may exc
out an existence In Industrial servitude
at $50 per diem, which will give him
enough to live SO that he can work and
earn enough to live, so that he can work,
But what better is that than the tread
mill of an ancient jail?
Never before has our civilization been
assailed with a passion of invective to
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-10-23

But, students Of these institutions can
easily see that they reject repel, inns
prison more than they welcome eman-
cipate Every solemn-faced dean is a
Rhadamanthus, whose function 1t is to
weigh the souls that present themselves
in his more or less venerable and mys-
FERROUS halls. A recent circular from a
southern college puts 1t all very peatly.
The president writes that he wants
boys. but not loafers." The stuff that
students are made of is the only boyhood
ne will welcome. Anyone can pick up the
MASTERS, the loafers, the cigarette flends
on any street corner. No college wants
them.
Now, my complaint against the civiliza-
ton that boasts American freedom Is that
1t is wasting huge masses of its best
material. There's a vast rent in our
fishing net, a break In our cog wheels,
wound Undesirable in our body poll
tic. Through that rent innumerable boys
are lost. By that gap in the cog wheels
of our social machine, innumerable boys
are passed over, left uncivilized, unwoven
into the social structure. By that wound
in the body polite innumerable mothers
hearts are bleeding to death, their boys
dying in the waste places.
l am aware that up to the present the
older English system falls desperately in
the same respect. The colonies are all
sprinkled with young men whose absense
from home Is cheaply purchased by a
monthly allowance; and they make a ro-
mantle addition to the purlieus of the
social Gehenna. Lower down the scale
81 DIT ut xtcAA M dn,,Ht fIar
sufficient numbers of lost boys. Yet it
must be admitted that the FOOLS para
disc of youth lies singularly close to the
romantic, lazy, unsocialised American lad.