davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-10-16

of the Young Women's Christian asso-
citation, before whose door an automo-
bile is standing, and I know that some
woman who might be at home in COM
fort and ease is burdening herself with
the problem of the working girl. Be
yond the park 1 can almost see the roof
of the Y. M. c. A. gymnasium, and Sec
rotary Stubs informs me that the old
administration building is about to walk
onto the tennis court. while it's superb
successor is planted on predestined foun-
dations The city laughed aloud while it
gave nearly three hundred thousand dol
lars to these two defenders of young life,
these cultural seed plots of American
power
Does any stupid person call these many
enterprises "charities?" The word is in
solent, inappropriate, out of date as con-
Germs one and all. They are simply the
Inevitable expressions of the social fact.
And as we contemplate them we are
looking at what moves us to the same
joy as when we read of the growth at
Corey or of the increase In business at
the postoffice or the clearing house
Now the functions of the critic are not
fault-fnding, not silly, egottstic carping.
Rather they are the functions of looking
with appreciative sympathy and studious
understanding on the progress of the
world movements. Broadly speaking, this
is what men see: the growing recognt-
ton of the social bond. Tolstoy has not
taught In vain Carlyle and Ruskin have
not died. Above ALL Christ Is coming
to his own, and the world of the day
is futtering with newborn life of broth
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-10-16

these devotees who choose for their field
of activity to strengthen weak hands,
confirm feeble knees and see to it that
the blind are healed instead of being
turned out of the way. Paganism defled
strength and beauty. These Christian
hearts are paving a way to social we'll
being here and now as well as to a
future heaven, for the pain-wrung, the
sorrowing, the defeated. But why should
they be so few where Christian congre-
cations are so numerous? They are, after
all, the very bulwark of our Christian
civilization Sympathisers they have
many. Studlous, intelligent understand
ing helpers are not yet numerous
helpers are not yet numerous enough.
The whole enterprise suffers because 1t Is
reckoned Charity a something not
really necessary but gratutous. 1t can
not be gratuitous. 1t is a phase of ma
tional life. 1t is in civic consciousness
supremacy necessary. But the logical ad-
ministrators are these voluntary ex-
perts.
What then is the principle implied
That society must care for the weak
or lapse into paganism. Uncalculated
forces are Juggling the modern world
back toward the old pagan pig stye
and slaughter pen. Science, fashion,
selfish culture and above all the enor-
nous increase of irresponsible wealth
are allying themselves In the effort
to repeat in America the experiments
of Eph Rome, Paris, making self
Indulgence the keystone of its glitter
! ing bauble-arch, beneath which the
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-10-16
HEART TO HEART TALKS-By Ed,vn A. Nye

down a ravine, which soon becomes a
brook. Gathering impulse at every leap.
it lodges the rocks and joins to itself
the streams that flow in like direction,
so that when 1t reaches the base of the
mountains-it justifies the name of river.
When the first SHOWS are melted in
early June (the first SHOWS to melt are
the last that falD its banks will scarce
contain the flood. Later and for the
remainder of the year it is full fed by
the earlier SHOWS that have been packed
away into the crevces and ravines.
And now the river gently flows through
the meadows of 1.-The park" where re-
sort hotels and summer cottages are
builded. carrying in its deeper pools the
gamy trout-rainbow and speckled and
the other fighting species.
Then, gathering itself for another long
leap downward, it shoots into the great
gorge and starts on its trip of more
than 20 miles and descent of full $500
feet to the valley of the foothills.
What a journey!
Hemmed here between the eternal hills
and there by the frowning precipitous
rock, It dashes ON its course, here In
filmy cascade and then queted for a
moment, and now in foamy rapids and
then in plunging waterfalls of dashing
spray ~'HsHsHNa1
And seldom are you out of the sound
of it.
What does 1t say?
To the civil engineer who bewails the
loss of power it merely says. Going
down" But to the poet its murmuring
thunder. softened into the perpetual sigh
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-10-16

than for the bonnie Queen herself in the
year 1903
An interesting and most gratifying
story needs to be written, for instance,
concerning the educational work being
done in Birmingham at public cost.
Every citizen would be stirred to a
new sense of civic pride, could he know
precisely how great progress has been
achieved In our city toward the edu-
cational ideal of modern America, both
as regards the normal and the abnormal
boy or girl. Nor should the practical
idealism of the Sunday school leaders
fail of recognition, side by side, with that
of Birminghams DR.. Phillips in the pub
lie schools There are saints still await
ing beatlhcation.
| am reminded, too, as I write these
words, by the beating of drums and the
glitter of banners, of the enormous de-
velopment of the brotherhood idea in
our modern life. 1t is rare to find a man
who isn't brother of some sort, per-
haps a brother of him who Yields the
lightning, and so, with characteristic
weakness, calls himself Jovian Like
Jove himself he is independent of wires
nowadays, but he is bound by hoops of
steel In the sacred fellowship Of the
younger gods. The gentleman who sells
me ticket at the railroad terminal calls
me ''brother," and so does the unknown
who sits beside me on the street car.
There are knights and ladies of all names
and colors, Hebrew heroes, Indian chiefs
and even giant quadrupeds, all standing
around in a vast circle, a cloud of wit
nesses to the prevalence of social unity,
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-10-16

saddest of divorces shall be celebrated
the divorce of religion from charac-
ter. as in the old pagan time. But on
the other hand, are the servants of
the vast forgotten, the halt, the manned.
the lame, and the blind? It Is a prime
article Of the Christian faith that for
these rather than for the others the
wedding feast of the ages was spread.
Through these, rather than through
the others, civilization in its modern
sense viii be saved.
Only to save 1t shall we not need q
closer federation of workers. of Judges.
juries, police, educators, students,
preachers. Legislators, the wealthy and
the wise, in a determined move for such
laws and such obedience and such at
tention to detail and such individual
enthusiasm as will save the moth er
with the child, the boy with the home,
till in the long run we may be able
to Identify the nation with the church :
If any be able to receive It, let him
receive it. To save one we must save
all. Gone forever is the old social In
difference. The flight of the American
ca gle is less strong, her vision less
keen, for every American boy lost, for
every wrong or cruelty or shame en-
dured, for every home that fails. No
wonder she is turning to her nest her
self to bid her proud young cities live
not for the prosperous and strong
alone, but especially for the welfare
of the average, and more especially for
the uplifting of light and hope on those
whose faces are grey with shadows or
scanned with sins
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-10-16

| arms, was dishing up some potatoes (all
there was for supper to two little tikes
that hung to her skirts and talking of
what a good time they would have when
father got out of jail. The constable
tumbled the poor furniture in the street
and turned the family outdoors. Neigh
bors offered to take them in, but they
declined The woman and children spent
the night in an old shed near the canal.
1t grew cold in the night In the morn
ing the baby was dead"
That's all.
All excepting this:
Why, 1900 years after Christ, In the
should dog be pampered and fed and
transported like a prince, while babe.
made In the image of God, is thrust out
and left to perish of cold and priva-
ton?
Why?
Let statesmen who pirate of our prog
ress and economists who write of the
beneficent order OF our Christian civili-
cation answer that 'Why2"
If only the rich and idle, the selfish
and the lf-centered would draw aside
the curtain that hides how the other
half lives; If only
But there are the two pictures.
And why?
1t takes its rise on the continental di-
vide.
On the crest of the range the melted
snowdrops and the rain divide These
go eastward and those west. The trick
ling eastbound drops form a streamlet
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-10-16

Having made the purchase, you will
find way to make the payments as
they come due. You will begin to save
instead of spending your money on things
you do not really need.
Try 1t!
You cannot more than fail, and you
will be no worse Off than now. The
chances are nearly all in your favor.
If 1t Is known you are paying on an
investment, your credit will improve.
And on a pinch you will be able to use
the land contract for a modest loan.
Make the plunge!
You will discover fascination you
have never known before. You are
due for entirely new sensations. Pri-
vate ownership will get you out of
your present rut of unrighteous con-
tentment. A grip on your own prop
erty will enable you to see over the edge
of things
You will be better citizen.
Because, naturally, you will have an
awakened interest in local government.
You will want to know where and how
your takes go. Your interest in public
fairs will take you to the primary
and to the polls with a new zest
Quit paying rent.
OF all the ornaments on the mantel-
shelf rent receipts are the poorest ex-
hibit. Substitute tax receipts. They tell
different story.
Buy real estate.
If it is only 25 feet front, buy real es-
tate. And get slice as big as You can
pay for, preferably acreage located in
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-10-16

the line of the growth of population.
Real estate cannot blow away. No
one can steal 1t from you. And unless
you make a big blunder you cannot lose.
Your purchase will grow in value.
Own your own home.
That ownership will give you new
sense of satisfaction In life. It will add
to your self-respect and independence.
1t win provide a refuge for your loved
ones
Look on that picture and then this:
THE private Pullman car Plymouth
Rock that pulled out of here CChicago)
tonight was devoted entirely to the use
of Paris Ever hear of Paris? Well, he
is little dog bought in France by Mr..
Drews of California for his wife. The
Drews could not think of allowing Paris
to ride in the baggage car, as the cruel
railroad company ruled, SO the Pullman
was chartered. In addition to having his
own private car, the dog carries a little
bag around his neck, in which Is a tiny
handkerchief for use when needed. Paris
feeds on boiled rice and has his own
bathtub in course of construction
That is one picture.
Here Is the other, in the same news
paper:
This baby died from exposure. Day
before yesterday Mrs. Dolan and her
brood were evicted from their tenement
shack by the landlords agent. AS one
of the neighbors tells the story, Mrs
Dolan had Just returned from days
washing and, holding the baby in her
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-10-16
AN OLD TIME STATESAlAN-By J. C. Hidden, d. D.

rebound to the good of man and the
glory of God.
But l have wandered from my subject
General Gordon was an Albemarle man,
an uncommonly able advocate and prac-
ticed in our superior court at Orange,
Va When he came to Orange court our
old Montpeliso home was his during his
stay, and one of my earliest childish rec
objections is a visit he made us there.
| quite distinctly recall that on Sun
day morning I had learned ''by heart'
and for the first time, that glorious old
hymn
alas. and Did My Saviour Bleed.
And did my sovereign dep
And after I had recited 1t to
my mother and she said to
me: Now, go into the library and
say your hymn to General Gordon" The
nursery door was opened. and in went
the little 5-year-old, and handed the little
blue-backed hymn book to the father of
1.-THE subtreasury system of the United
States, saying: General Gordon. NAM
ma says l must say my hymn to you
can see him now as he took the book,
adjusted his spectaces and said: "Well,
now, let's have it, l can quite distinctly
recall the impression he made upon my
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-10-16
COMMITTEE APPROPRIATIONS Savoyard

few days the Secretary resigned and was
appointed to France, where he did
good service during the Franeo-Prussian
war of 1901.
But there is sequel to that. Grant
came back from his tour around the
world, Conkling, Carpenter, Cameron and
Logan had fixed to nominate him for
President in 1880. Had Conkling been as
much of a boss in a New York repub-
lican state Convention then as Teddy
Roosevelt was the other day, the thing
would have gone through Carpenter was
dying, and Logan depended on Washburn
to hold Illinois for the third term.
Washburn failed him, and joined the
recalcitrants. The rest Is history. Blaine
nominated Garfield and Conkling elected
him. Washburn dropped out of public life.
and politics In America is nothing ana
has been nothing so far as men are con-
cerned. but what 1t was in Rome between
the regime of the Brutus, who banished
Tarqu,n and the time of tho Brutus who
slew Caesar.
I shall again take up the committee q
appropriations in my next.
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-10-16

the one family and the one father, all of
them brothers-or even sisters.
Should you go upstairs to his little suite
of rooms on Twenty-frst street, and visit
Secretary McGrath, he will probably ask
you to sit down a moment while he an
swers the phone. There, at the headquar-
tiers of the Associated Charities, you will
brotherhood. Stay a few minutes and
listen to the secretary's talk. You will
be interrupted more than once by some
demand, some derelict sick person. some
degenerate TO be taken off the streets,
age, or 1t may be cash, little way
north is the office of the Boys club and
the Children's Aid society. where the same
thing Is being wrought out In further
detail of Illustration.
I take up an English paper and read
of The National Brotherhood Confer
ence'' at Bristol, finding that the thou
sands who gathered to 1t represent what
Is called the up. S. A." which means the
Pleasant Sunday Afternoon brotherhoods.
associated with churches in cities all over
England. These are local expressions of
the spiritual brotherhood of men of all
classes, and their weekly meetings are
addressed By experts of all sorts, travel
ers, authors, statesmen, inventors, edu-
Gators, Journalists, farmers and many
others, too numerous indeed to mention
here 1t Is the English free church,
mans effort to use the knowledge of the
cultured in the service of the toilers, a
suiritual communism of privilege.
Out of my window | see the red walls
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-10-16

The places of departed words, however.
are at once filed by words of later birth.
New dictionaries in science, new inven-
lions, new social customs, modern phases
of industry and thousands of conditions
unknown to our fathers, demand new
terms. Then, too, many words known at
first as slang" are elevated into good
verbal society and become respectable
citizens, notwithstanding that they were
born In the slums.
Such words as have been appropriated
from the sphere where slang Is most used,
as a rule, are worthy their elevation.
for they are generally noted for their
vigor, although they puzzle the etymolo-
gist and annoy him to distraction, for
they battle his most careful investiga-
tions Phrases and words often classed
as slang, 1t is curious to note, in many
cases are a revival of words that were
"of good report" in the time of Eliza
beth. You are utterly too too in slang
means the utmost limit of the superla-
tive. Hamlet said, 20 that this too too
solid flesh would melt" what the dick
ems is his name?" sounds quite modern;
but in the Merry Wives of Windsor, writ
ten about 1894 Mistress Page says, 81
cannot tell what the dickens is his name
"a bum show" said young man, COM
ing from a theatre, there was much
noise and that was ALL" In this same
sense was the word bum used as far
back as Ben Jonson's time. Hes a bully
fellow" is not elega' t English, and yet
we read in The Merry Wives of Windsor
Bless thee bully DOCTOR" and to Sir
Jack, the host exclaims, How, now
my bully rock" meaning good chap
Hes a brick" means about the same as
a ''bully fellow" but 1t is much older
Four centuries before the Christian era
a visitor to Sparta expressed astonish-
ment when he found the city without
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-10-16

of joy, loudly whispers, ITO the sea-to
the sea and the clouds again.
And then, hating at the canyon s
mouth, for the first time is the hand of
man laid upon it. A 1.-THE of its spark
ling waters is piped 10 miles away to
quench the thirst of a cityful. And the
bulk of the stream. as If weary of its
journey, glides quietly into the prosaic
bitches to irrigate the valley
And out of the lateral bitches when
own again. Used over and over to fruc-
tify the fields, 1t moves on into other
streams and thus to the sea.
How like a useful human life
The same modest birth and creeping
youth, the full flowing of quiet blessing
to the world and on to the great sea!
Should you have occasion to visit the
office of the state auditor of Colorado you
may meet a heavyset man with honest
irish eyes, whose hearty ways will make
you feel at home.
That is "Roady" Kenehan.
And should you be a stranger with a
newspaper mans habit of acqulsitveness
concerning affairs he will chat with you
for half an hour and not grow impa-
tient
Ask him about his political career and
he will say nothing.
Last year one day Ready Kenehan took
off his leather apron, washed his hands
In the cooling tub and strobe up the hill
to the state house
An hour before he took the oath OF
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-10-16

II IAPPILY to most of mankind, most
of the time, this life seems good
4 L and sweet and beautiful and we'll
environed To rise in the morning with
work to do, to face the eager world with
q glad greeting, to draw deep breaths
of pure air, and so to wash the blood
to sparkling brillance and dancing eulo-
gy, to know and help to create the sur
rounding atmosphere of home, of SYM
pathy-all this Is as the red wine of the
worlds wedding festival. 1t makes men
and women nobly content, courageous,
clean.
Never before was this keen sense of
the goodness of life more truly justi-
fed. A thousand fingers point to a thou
sand trophies gained In conflict with pri-
meval darkness, savagery, ignorance
Physical welfare has reached level I'M
dreamed of In the elder days.
Intellectual equipment, once the monop-
oily of a CASTE Is the common heritage.
Poverty has been pushed over the edge
of modern social conditions, has become
relative, not absolute; since wealth has
become SO widely distributed and so great
that everyone Is immensely removed from
the danger of starvation. 1t Is probable
that any thrifty laborer's family in this
city Is better clothed. better fed, better
housed than those families that were con-
sdered well-to-do middle-class people in
the time Of Queen Elizabeth. 1t Is GER
tain that the honor of almost any home
is safer now than then, and that the
resources of scientific skill are more
available for the sick pauper of today
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-10-16

of the use of English, French and Latin
words, thus adapting 1t to all classes.
To instance: ITO acknowledge and
confess our manifold sins and wick
edness; mot dissemble nor cloak
them" Humble. lowly, penitent;" In
finite goodness and mercy" Assemble
and meet" Those things which are
requisite and necessary" "Absolution
and REMISSION" "Pardoneth and alb
solveth;" Confirm and strengthen,
and many others. Doubtless Huloet
hen compiling his dictionary, had
church terms in mind
In 1873 John Baret published his
triple dictionarie,' in English, French
and Latin. So pretentious a work could
not contain all the words in these three
tongues, but those only that were Of
tenest employed.
The first dictionary in which only
English words were used was pub
lished by Robert Cawdrey.
In 1911, the year in which King James
version OF the Bible was printed, there
was published the Cotgrave dictionary.
whose title was. "A Bundle of Words"
This gave English and French words,
but 1t had many excellent features which
its predecessors had not The definitions
were more complete and were followed
by aphorisms and sayings in which &C.
Cured the word defined.
In the same memorable year 1911, there
appeared a revised edition of Florio's
English dictionary, which was first pub
lished in 1893. This dictionary was called
Queen Annals World of Words" Queen
Anna being the wife of James L This
was a dictionary of English and Italian.
In 1915 there appeared Bullokar's die
tionary, and in 1923 Cockerman's was is
sued, to be followed in 1856 by Blount's.
Then, as the years passed. came Phil
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-10-16

walls, and asked the King what he would
do in case of invasion. The reply was,
Sparta has $4,000 soldiers and each one
of them is a brick" '"ro kick the bucket
had its rise in the time of Elizabeth A
man named Hawkins was about to COM
NIT suicide, and in order to reach a
rafter he stood on a bucket which he
kicked from under him. His last act
was his "kiclSing the bucket"
Notwithstanding the accessibility of a
dictionary we all at some time violate the
ordinary rules of ortheopy In spite of
ourselves, we give words pronunciations
that are nowhere to be found in the die
tionaries In order to point out an err
ror or two, as The Age-Herald has no
cases with diaeritlc marks, I shall use
capitals to indicate accent.
Manyof US persist In. saying, 'Tt was
OBLIGATORY" instead of ut was OBliga-
tory" The accent is on the first syllable.
HE was such a hosPITable man." some
say; 1t should be, HE was such a HOS
pitable man." My Opponent in the
game, etc." should be My opponent.
etc" 1.-The Idea of such a thing" should
be, 1.-THE IDEA of such thing" "She
misconSTRUED my language" should
be, "She misCONstrued my language"
"Our deficit must be looked after" said
a business man. His meaning was clear.
but 1t would not have been obscured had
he placed the accent on the first syllable
and said "DEfcit." young lady told
me that she was very fond of "deCORa-
tive work; she meant "DECorative"
work. IT should like to see a dirIGible air.
ship" said a man; he should have ac-
cented the first "DIRigible.'' By
the way this word acknowledgements that
which can be controlled or steered. I said
once, THE second word is simply exPLE-
tive of the first" A member of the class
which l was teaching privately asked me
my authority for that pronunciation. 1