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

bill to pay the national debt in anything
but greenbacks, he would vote for Sey-
mour, even If worse man than Frank
Blair were on the ticket with him"
They dragged the bill out in a twinking.
Old Thad died in August 1868, and when
Grant got to be President in 1869, the
first bill approved was one to pay the
bonds in coin. How Dan VOORHEES, used
the harp on that
And if Thad Stevens and pig IRON
Kelly had been in the flesh in 1896 both
of them would have been shouting for
Bryan and 16 to 1 If the tariff had not
kept them in line for it's graft.
Elihu B. Washburn succeeded to the
Craftsmanship of appropriations when
Stevens died, and he fitted the job pre-
cisey. He was as honest as Bill Nor
rison and he was as vlgilant as Bill Hol-
man. He was born in Maine, and his
fathers sons held four seats in the House
of Representatives, a record no other
family can boast.
Washburn, in opposing a raid on the
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-10-16

found that I had none, and ever since
then have called the word-EXpletive
Which goes to show that a teacher may
| be taught. But 1 have given as many
| illustrations as I intended; and these
have chosen, not for the finely educated
| reader, but for the benefit of those who
have but little time to give to books,
and yet might read a short newspaper
article
Another habit that many of us acquire,
despite our dictionaries is that of Civ
ing meanings to words that are wholly
unauthorized by any photographer. My
SEXTON in Richmond had great difficulty
in getting my study stove to burn one
wretchedly cold morning in winter. He
had to start the flames three or four
times, going off and returning to find no
fire. The last time he came into the
room and finding no fire, I heard him
mutter. "Dis am de mos unsearchable
stove | ever SEEM l fancy that he meant
to say it was the most provoking stove.
We who ought to know better often do
precisely what he did, we use certain
words with definite meanings, when
something foreign to those words is in
our minds.
A little while back my attention was
called to the popular use of the word
tremendous. Men speak of a tremendous
house and of a tremendous crowd of
people at the fair grounds, having in
mind the single idea of bigness, magni-
tude. Whereas, the word means that
which excites fear and trembling; that
which is full of awe. A poet Charlotte
Elliot. in one of her beautiful hymns,
uses the word as it was originally en-
ployed-
Standing alone on Jordans brink,
In that tremendous, latest strife,
Thou wilt not suffer me to sink:
Thou art my life"
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-10-16

office as state auditor he had been shoe
Ing horses in John Murphy's shop,
| kenehan is the sort OF labor leader
who not only leads, but labors-entirely
different from the walking delegate whose
hands are as soft as a dry goods clerks.
| For thirty years he has hammered an
anvil and shod horses, mules and bror-
chos for wages. But always he has been
student of affairs
For 20 years Kenehan has been secre-
tary and treasurer of the International
Union of Journeymen Horseshoers. And
during all that time no ill-gotten gold
has touched his calloused palm.
Honest as the day is long. Kenehan
has served in the Denver city council. on
the board of supervisors and has been A
member of the state central committee
of his party.
And he has never quit his forge for a
day, save once a year to attend the
horseshoers' convention.
Kenehan claims to be nothing more than
n blacksmith. and is proud of his bust
ness, but woe to the state employe who
sends a padded bill into his office for an
proval!
1t is a positive pleasure to meet this
fine man, but who is also an intelligent
student of economics, with breadth of
vision.
Here is the lesson
1t Is your duty to engage in politics.
but you should not depend upon that pre-
carious business for livelihood.
| Stick to your business. young man.
Be above the temptations OF bribery
in politics. and when office falls you
as it will-you can go back to your forge
or farm or office honest and independent
to the last.
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-10-16

lips, Bailey's, wesley's, Johnson.s, sher-
idan's, Walkers, Smart's and others.
Bailey's dictionary was published in
f720. and up to that time no dictionary
had employed the mark of accent to in
dictate the syllable that should be
stressed in pronunciation.
Johnson's dictionary was the first to
give quotations from writer's to illustrate
the proper use of the words defined Now,
all large dictionaries give such quota
tons. The Century dictionary Is par
ticulary valuable in this respect.
The dictionaries with which the reader
is most familiar perhaps, are the Inter-
national Webster's, the Century and the
Standard. The International Is Web
ster's enlarged. The Standard is some
thing of a rival of the International l
do not think, however, that the Stand
ard can ever displace the work of Noah
Webster Notwithstanding its many ex-
| celent features, its method Of indicating
pronunciation will long retard its growth
| In popular favor. Words are respeled
phonetically and in the characters of the
! Standard scientific alphabet. This al
phabet was formulated by the American
Pathological association, of which body l
had the honor to be a member for some
years. Personally, however, I prefer the
old method as used by Stormonth, Wor-
cester, Webster and the Century.
Some words that men use In the Eng
fish speaking world will live forever, 1
suppose. There are others. however, that
live for awhile, fill their office and then
die. By comparing the old dictionaries
with those of modern times, one Is i'm
pressed with this fact. And by compar-
ison of the literature of the long ago
with that of our day, one finds that age
by age, words once current and virile,
drop out of use, die and are forgotten.
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-10-16

roseate "reminiscences of her early days
my young mother kept her little son s
mind quite alert. She entertained me
by the hour telling me all about the
wonderfully interesting men and women
she had met as visitors in the executive
mansion, and at the governors receptions,
and even now I recall the scenes and
events of those far-away days, as she
described them to me. and connect them
with my own experiences of childhood
in Richmond. A great tenderness floods
my heart as / look back away down the
vista of time and catch glmpses and soft
echoes of those days.
Last year l preached to a large congre-
cation l had never preached to or known
before. A brilliant lawyer introduced
me as MY own and my fathers friend. .
Nothing he could have said about myself
or my career could have so touched me
and drawn me to him. I knew where to
place that young man. Love and rever-
ence for his father included that fathers
friends.
My young friend make your parents
friends your own, if they are of the right
sort; their greater experience and wis
dom will help and encourage you to build
UP character of high moral recttude.
honor and Christian faith which will
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-10-16

NNE of the most interesting books
in the world is the English die
~ tionary. 1t is difficult to lay 1t
aside when once its pages are opened.
1t is full of variety, suggestively in
structive in all branches of learning
inasmuch as it sends one to innumera-
able volumes on all manner of sub
jects for further instruction, and is an
Interestingly garrulous guide down the
pathway of our language to its historic
sources. 1 have just added one more
dictionary to the number that I have,
and it is this fact that has led me
to write of the English dictionary.
The dictionary is not the result of
an hour of inspiration. 1t came not
into being as suddenly as sprouts the
magic flower of the Hindoo sorcerer.
The present day dictionary was pre-
ceded by many others and it's many
points of excellence were suggested by
the imperfections of It's antecedent
class.
The great English dictionary was
compiled by Richard Huloet and pub
lished in 1852 This book for that pc
riod. was remarkable for its disclosure
of scholarship. 1t gave the meanings
of English words IN the vernacular,
and in addition. gave the definitions In
French and synonyms in Latin. Three
classes of readers were in the mind
of the compiler. namely, the masses OF
the people, who despised the Norman
French and insisted upon the general
use of English; those who composed
polite society and spoke French; and
scholars, who considered English an
ephemeral tongue, and, therefore, al
ways wrote in Latin. Lord Bacon wrote
his scientific works in Latin for this
reason. The prayer book of the Church
of England contains many illustrations
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-10-16

childish mind by pronouncing sovereign"
sovereign" 1t was favorite word with
him; for he was an ardent state rights
man. who often had occasion to use the
phrase, these sovereign states
He represented the Albemarle district
in Congress, served with John Quincy
Adams, but would never allow himself
to be introduced to that peslSy abolition
ist' and bitter hater of the south. One
day when Adams was pressing him
hard in a debate he turned to a friend
and said: What shall I do with the -
old rascal?" The here, is to be filled
with a participial adjective, more en-
phatic than pous.
On one occasion while sojourning In
our home, he had in our superior court
a case in which one of our neighbors was
his client. l remember her quite we'll.
for she was known and read of all
men, as of 1.-The salt of the earth" He
was studying his case, l fear, on Sunday,
and as he knew little of the Bible he
turned to my father, who had his bible
lat his fingers ends and said: Hidden,
isn't there somewhere in the Bible an ac-
count of a virtuous woman?" My father
turned to the 31st chapter of the Book
of Proverbs-the finest tribute to be
found in all literature, and said: YES
here It is" The general memorized 1t
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-10-16

on the spot, went before the jury and
acclaimed It in the most dramatic style,
and closed his speech thus; Gentlemen
of the jury, there is my client! Wil you
allow this man to rob her of hep little
patrimony?" That speech put the other
side practically "out of court" and Cor
dan was triumphantly successful.
During his congressional career he had
the misfortune to differ with Jackson S
administration on some question of public
policy-perhaps the removal of the de-
posits." which, by the way, were not re-
moved. and knowing Jackson's powerful
influence with the rank and file OF the
democracy, he did not desire to have his
difference known. But the question was
up and he was obliged to define his po-
sition' on it; so he argued it ndepend-
emily in a speech at Louisa Court House,
saying nothing about his difference with
Jackson. He used to tell the story with
great glee: Just as ! was clinching my
argument an old red-mouthed democrat
sung out; 'Gineral Gordan, what does
Glneral Jackson think about that arr
knew / was gone soon as he said
it, but with as much dignity as the cir
cumstances would allow, l replied I am
sorry to inform you, sir, that differ from
the President Ah, hal! said the old
wheel-horse. Well, l reckon he knows! f"
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-10-16

IN a personal sense. and even for the
public service, the retirement of
= James A. Tawney from Congress is
q bereavement on the one hand and a
disaster on the other. If we shall ex-
cept Oscar Underwood of the minority,
there is no man on the floor of the pres
ent Congress SO well equipped for chair
man of appropriations as Jim Tawney.
His voice Is ever for economy. He has
saved this country a thousandfold his
salary. He has been a watchdog of the
treasury without a brass band to spout
his honesty. Like many a greater man
In the country, he came from the shop
of toll. He Is a blacksmith by trade.
and there is not a community In our
land where he could not make living
forging horse-shoes, shoeing horses,
cutting tires of vehicles. and other
labor that the modern industrial economy
has left to the Village blacksmith"
Fate was rather cruel to this admir-
able man, and some harsh things were
said of the way he got to be chairman
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-10-16

There's a great detective story that isn't
fiction but every word true in the the
October American Magazine. It is the
story of what a handful OF public spir-
tied Pittsburg citizens did for their city
when they found that bankers and bus
mess men were accepting and giving
brides. i is the intensely interesting tale
of the most ingenious detective work Al
bert Jay Mock writes about 1t and the
man who did the most effective sleuth-
ing is Robert Wilson-an itinerant preach
er of Scranton, who the Pittsburg men
got to come to clean up their city. How
he did II makes the best sort of reading,
When asked what methods he used In his
detective work. Mr. Mock writes that VIII
son replied
"'Suppose now, I am on graft case,
take my Bible and concordance, 60 up
into the garrett, say my prayers. and look
up every reference In the Bible on the
subject OF graft. 1 read them over and
over till my mind Is full of them, and
then | go down to the city hall and hunt
a CRATER
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-10-16

blood, Grant got the capital prize, and
thus Washburn was a very prominent
man, the dscoverer of the greatest
general since Napoleon, If not since
Hannibal as the voiceful and sonorous
and flamboyant hyperbele of that day
had 1t. That Grant was a very great
man nobody will deny, and a greater
man than general is now generally con-
coded. But that aside, Washburn be-
came one of the most powerful men of
the country because he had writ letter
to Dick Yates in 1861, advising him that
Captain Grant, West Pointer, be APP
pointed colonel of the Twenty-first reg
lment of Illinois volunteer infantry.
which was accordingly done, and that
made Grant what he was, or rather 1t
gave him opportunity for Appomattox.
Grant got to be President. Washburn
wanted to be minister to France But
he also wanted his name to be among
the Secretaries of State. Grant was a
man who never subscribed to the infamy
of that miscreant Talyrand: Some
services are so great that they can only
be repaid by ingratitude," and so made
Washburn Secretary of State. After a
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-10-16

The word is simply another spelling of
the Latin gerundive of the ininitive
'tremere,'' to tremble, to quake It's
synonyms are-appalling, frightful, ter
rifle, horrible. Macaulay uses it thus In
his essay on Maehiavelli Froude also
uses it in the sense of awe-inspiring Sir
Walter Scott, however, misses its mean
ing. in Kenilworth, and uses 1t to de-
scribe thickness" I may say, in pass
ing, that nowhere in the plays of Shakes
peare do we find this word, though its
synonyms are in conspicuous evidence
IF one were permitted to be facetious
he might say the dictionaries justify the
use of many words that mean just the
opposite of the thought in the speakers
mind, for we say we are "peeling'' an
orange, when we are unpeeling 1t. We
say we bought ''dressed turkey" when
truth to tell. every particle of its dress
ing had been taken away and 1t was
quite nude.
The most remarkable instance of
mans saying the reverse of what was in
his mind the dictionaries are not re-
sponsible for. 1t is all the more astonish-
ing from the fact that II was carefully
written in what many critics have called
zone of the finest poems lin the English
language" I refer to two lines In Gray's
Elegy. The poet wrote,
Far from the madding crowds ignoble
strife, "A I
Their sober wishes never learned to
stray"
But he meant to say that his village.
Hamden, never had anything to do with
the madding crowd at ALL
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-10-16

- ABLY VlnSen McLedh 10 h0ii "
* the enormous fortune of slo'-
- 100000
Lucky infant? But wait
He Is an ordinary looking small baby
tust like yours-or, rather, the paoy
newt door to you--and his papynooo
Is under a constant menace. some time
ago some men tried to kldnap the
child. a.,
It is a big responsibility TO nave tnat
sort of a baby about the mousse
The newspapers have printed story
about a steel cage fitted over TINS
babv,s carriage to protect the child
from being stolen while the nurse
takes him for an outing, but TINS stois
the mother of the child has denied.
It is true, however, where the BABY
goes there goes big detective, 1uliy
armed
PITY the kid-and his mother.
Always about this child there Will De
tho atmosphere of fear. Think of be-
ing obliged to surround your baby with
guards day and night lest 1t be stolen
And when this child Is grown TO De
a small boy fancy to yourself now ne
will envy the raggedest and, dirtiest
unchin who plays in the street or digs
in the sand while he, the scion OF lux
ury, must be carefully guarded. one
may almost imagine the wistful look
that will come to the lads race
He is handicapped.
AS a young man he is likely 10 DE
spoiled and may become another Harry
Thaw. Certainly he will be envled ana
sneered at-and hated.
He cannot know the Joy of struggle
the struggle of the poor boy who
forces successful issue of his enter
prises by dint of personal endeavor
What handicapl
Because you cannot grow manhood
in a dollhouse. Men are made by the
hard and cruel process of going up
against the sharp corners of life.
Besides, there Is ahead of him the
worry of his Millions He is apt to be
distrustful of his fellows lest they take
his money. And doubtless his heart
will become hardened to the cry of the
poor and the unfortunate. The chances
are all against his being happy man.
Wealth has its burdens.
And money often times is like a mill
stone about the neck of its possessor.
And finally when this future man of
millions shall die he must answer on
the Judgment seat for the proper use
of his money.
Are you not glad your baby's future
usefulness and content are not thus
handicapped?
When you have read the text of this
talk you may say, much as you might
WISH you cannot own a home, be-
cause
You are only wage-earner.
Or draw a small salary.
Nevertheless. | say to you, buy home.
In almost every city or town it is posi-
BILE to buy a lot or acreage on payments
with a small cash payment down, or a
house and lot on similar terms.
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-10-16

pliment to Thaddus Stevens and to re-
lieve the committee of ways and means
of some of its labors. Coinage, weights
and measures and banking and currency
were also taken from ways and means.
Stevens was too old and feeble to under
take the onerous work of the committee.
and Elihu B. Washburn was the real
chairman, the watchdog of the treasury,
and a viglant and faithful one he was.
Speaking of Stevens. In some respects
he was one of the greatest parliamentary
leaders who ever spoke our tongue, but
he was animated by hate ever, and by
love never. Indeed, he did not even love
the negro; he only hated the slave
holder. He was a club-footed man, a
phase of the mark God put on Cain, and
for his deformity he hated all mankind.
He died with a threat on his lips. He
was a greenbacker, for rag money, and
SO was pig Iron" Kelly. The last
speech Stevens made In Congress, or
about the last, was notice served on
| his party that If the House passed the
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-10-16

treasury, was fond of quoting the dog
gere beginning:
'Harkl Mr.. Speaker, hear a lion in
the lobby roar
And then he besought somebody to adj
wise him whether to let the beast in or
turn him out. 1t came down In tradition
from a parliamentary orator in the time
of Charles II. a very great prince, by
natural endowments, but a king whose
only use for a "states-generar' was to
get supply from it. But old Wash
burn, honest man and true patriot, held
the purse strings as tight as was pos
sibe when to be a loyal man and to
hate treason and rebellion was license
to plunge your hand into the treasury
up to the elbow. 1t was the period of
Credit Mobiier, the era of Sanborn con-
tract, of Leet and Stocking, of general
average" and all that. 1t was the palmy
days of the lobbyist and the grafter-all
In the name of loyalty.
Gen. Grant was a constituent of Wash
burns, who got him a commission in the
army in 1861. In the terrible lottery of
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-10-16

of appropriations. When Hemenway
was made Senator, there was absolutely
nobody for the place on the republican
side except Tawney. Hill of Connecticut
might have served, but he was engaged
elsewhere. So Tawney was appointed.
He thus became part of the house
organization, and loyalty prompted him
TO support 1t. His mistake, and 1t was
a grave one, was opposing, in debate,
statehood for Arizona and New Mexico.
1t was a qualification that Cannon,
Grosvenor, Dalzell and the others should
not have exacted of him. And painfully
did he expiate 1t when Mark Smith drew
on him. II Samuel Xxx, $40.
Had Tawney been silent, he would
have escaped that blistering retort. But
many a greater man has done prescisely
as Tawney did in similar situation.
Nobody ever dreamed that there was
any odor of corruption clinging to it.
The committee of appropriations was
created in the life of the Thirty ninth
Congress-maybe the fortieth-in COM
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-10-16
~ EN-. WILLIAM F. GORDON was
y an intimate friend of my father,
~ and my own childhood's friend

~ EN. WILLIAM f. GORDON was
- an intimate friend of my father,
~ and my own chidhood's friend
My fathers friends were usually my
friends from my very earliest years, and
always felt pride and delight at their
notice OF me. was the oldest child of
my parents, and both father and mother
made a companion of me. can remem-
Der when 1 was very young child my
father represented Orange and Green
counties In the Virginia senate for years.
These counties sent one delegate for the
two counties from 1888 to 1912 or 1S43.
remember my mother and myself accom-
panied my father to Richmond and board
ed there during the sessions of the leg
sature. And IL was there that l knew
Gen. Henry Harrison and other noted
men who were friends of my father, and
they made much of me, calling me my
little friend" 1t is remarkable how sus-
ceptible young chld's mind is to last
ing Impressions.
NV mother, in her very early girlhood
had spent much Of her time in the ex-
ecutive mansion of the capital with her
uncle, James Barbour. while he was gov
ernor of Virginia, and when she camc
back with ME became a pet with the
people who had known her; and in her
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-10-16
How they Loved Each DINER

From the National Monthly.
First Woman-"Look here, did you say
I stole that diamond brooch you lost"
Second Woman-'No, l did not. 1 only
said that IL you had not helped me look
for it would have found It."
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-10-16

ABLY vinsen Mclean is heir to
X the enormous fortune Oh siV'
. 100000.
The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1910-04-21

streets. Main street, between
Church and McAlister streets, will
be furnished with sidewalks right
away. Parts of Acline avenue will
likewise be paved. These walks
will be of best concrete built in the
most approved manner. When we
put more than twenty-five thousand
dollars into drains, a good many
persons said something much cheap
er will do" but the policy then
established to have only the best
even should we be able to get only
a little at a time, will be adhered to
right on, experience having proven
the wisdom of this policy.
w. L. B.