davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-05-22

hammers, they will come to their feed ing place.
 Directly across from the Ducal palace stood the ancient Campanile. Its erec- tion was begun in the year SSS. It was 300 feet high and from it's summit one could have a fine view of the surround ing sea I am glad that I saw this ven- erable tower when I did, for it is no longer In existence. It fell to the ground only a few years ago. The new Campa- nile, on the site of the old one, can never have the historic associations of the first one.
 campanile Is a bell-tower, and there are many of them in continental Europe; the best known throughout the world are those respectively at Florence, and the leaning tower of Pisa. These towers are built separate from the churches lest the vibrations of the bells should damage mosaics and other works of ar artistic order
 To the square of San Marco all Venice comes as the soft shadows of twilight fall. to be famed by the gentle breezes from the sea, to promenade, to sit before the brilliant cafes. to wander hither and thither at will. while the music of a band of Italian artists fills the summer air.
 have a pleasant remembrance of the music in the square of San Marco. It was perfect night. The luxurious cafes were brilliantly lighted as were the palace win dows opening towards the square. Crowds were sitting about the tables in front of cafes; women in scores and hun dreds were wearing the inevitable hand kerchief. and multitudes Of them wore large crescent shaped ear rings. which now and then sparkled like tiny stars as the lights fell upon them. The band was stationed in the center of the square and rendering most beautiful compost tions. In one of the pieces. quite sud- denly, every instrument was silent. while the first cornet played a solo bar; a pro- found hush fell upon the great throng. The silence was broken by a repetition of the solo strain played. seemingly,
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-05-22

the other, the way for reverence was reopened, and it's resurrection made inn perative. Even Kipling began to ad- minister ungentle reproofs to the sec ond hand agnostic, largely on the ground that he was a fool and bore. The poets began to reafirm the person. alty behind nature, and the preachers began to talk of the ascent of man" instead of his descent as though they had at last discovered a means of reconciling Darwin with St. Paul.
 But 1t Is to be doubted whether even this new swing of the intellectual pendulum would have had any popular significance, had there not been at the other pole of the social current some thing developing infinitely more prac- tical, tangible and throbbing with good, red blood. This has nothing less than the evangelisf1c activity represented by such names as General Booth, Mrs. Catherine Booth, Sturgeon, Moody, Sankey and the great host of mission aries in every land, who have answered the gibes of cheap and secondhand un- belief with the miracle of regenerated human beings.
 Hence at the end of the day men of
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-05-22

reflected In the emerald sea; the gondolas are silently creeping through the liquid streets, their tiny lanterns shining like the eyes of some dark, living creature; thousands of lamps gleam from nearby windows out into the night and are re- fiected by the ripping water, whose mo- tion multipiles the scintillations innum- erably; add to all this the domes of churches, like Turkish mosques, rising into the sky, and one begins to feel that he is in some strange land of enchant- ment between heaven and earth. Here and there one. catches the strains of mu- sic from a hidden gondola, hidden by the shadows, and presently may be heard the soft, low song of Venetian lover sing ing to the queen of his heart as shc drifts with him under the stone archways and out into some strip of iridescent liquid silver.
 I remember one night in Venice well. There was not feck of cloud in the sky; hosts of stars were sparkling in the arching heavens; the moon was in the crescent of it's first quarter, looking like g silver gondola softly sailing over sea of sapphire, and suggesting a Venice above as well as Venice below I can now think of only one night in my life more romantically beautiful than that one. The other night was-but why should I tell everything that I know? As Hamlet said:
 Iris in my memory locked"
 The special interests of Venice lie in the neighborhood of the square of San Marco, a square that many persons think Is the handsomest in the worold, not even excepting the open space before St. Pe- ter's in Rome. San Marcos square is about 600 feet long and 300 feet wide. It is paved with checkered marble and sur rounded by stately edifices. At the en- trance of the square there stand two massive red-granite pillars which were brought as trophies from the archipelago in the year 1127. One of these columns Is surmounted by the figure of St. Theodore; the other, by the winged Lion of St.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-05-22
question, Is life worth living?
 has long been debated by optimists

-HE question, Is life worth living?
 has long been debated by optimists
 A and pessimists. Somebody has pun ningly replied, That depends upon the liver" The remarkable philosopher ho composed the book of Ecclesiastes is sometimes supposed to have thrown some light upon the matter, but the question which he was discussing was really quite a different one, namely, What sort of a life is worth living?" That every ra- tional soul should have some distinct aim ir life, some serious end to live for would seem to be truism in morals, and yet, when we see how large proportion of the popualtion of civilized and Chris tian" communities do actually spend their lives, it seems hardly out of place to em- phasize even so elementary a principle as this truism inculcates. I have known A. daily paper to give three or four lines to A great religious meeting in the city, and. in the same issue of the paper. l found two-thirds of a column about "A rat-killing downtown" {.
 Under such circumstances we naturally ask. What is the character of the readers to whose taste that paper is catering? What end in life do such people propose to themselves?
 Here again we find in print, and that in a religious newspaper, the old notion that the choosing Of Matthias, as the sue cessor of Judas Iscariot, in the apostolic college (Acts l. 15-26) was unauthorized and wrong. Lack of space forbids a full discussion of the question now and here, but it seems pertinent to ask some ques- tions: Did not the whole number of the apcstles, who were then living, perform this act? Did they not enter upon it in the most solemn and prayerful manner and spirit? And if their joint act thus performed Is to be repudiated as unau- thorized, what becomes of the authority which is usually called apostolic exam ple?" And what ineligible meaning can we attach to Luke's statement that Matthias twas numbered with the eleven ape stles?' .tss
 MT. Sturgeon is quoted as saying that Thomas Carlyle was "a good Old Tes- lament Christian.i I should like to see the quotations verified; for if MT. Spur eeon did say this. then we are forced into this not very pleasant dilemma.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-05-22
VENICE-First Paper-By Dr. w. E. Eva1s

Mark Between these columns, in olden times public executions took place.
 Looking through the columns, with one's back to the sea, one looks upon an object of special interest It is the Tower of the Clock. It was built in 149s In this tower, on the west side, there is dis played massive clock, and beneath it there is seen a monster bell. On each side of the clock there is the bronze fig ure of a man, each one holding a huge steel hammer. When the hands on the dial point to the hour. the bronze men raise their hammers and come down with tremendous force upon the bell; thus dc they batter out the passing hours to the giddy Venetians.
 An interesting fact is associated in my mind with the hammering of the bells. l had known of the regularity with which the Venetian pigeons came to the square of San Marco to be fed as the bronze fig ures struck the bell for ? o'clock, and had some curiosity to see them come to their dinner in response to the dinner bell. At five minutes before ? o'clock there was not bird in sight. But when the bronze giants hammered out two o'clock" from every direction came the birds, darting, circling, f1uttering; poising in the air, swiftly dropped to the pave- ment at ones feet to pick up the wheat or corn, and scraps of bread that had been generously scattered broadcast for them.
 This feeding of the pigeons has beer the custom of Venice since the thirteenth century. At the siege of Candid, in the century named, the Venetian admiral received and transmitted important communications by means of carrier pigeons, and since that time they have been cared for. Formerly the sen- ate of the Republic of Venice provided for the care of the pigeons in their nat ional budget. For hundreds of years they have been fed by the public, and, I sup pose that as long as the old bell suf- fers itself to be pounded by the great
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-05-22
THE WONDERS OF RADIUM
Sir William Ramsay on Some of the
 the Facts of Modern Alchemy

From the London Standard.
 Sir William Ramsay, speaking at the Authors club dinner the other evening" said 1t was the chief aim of scientists to make authors predictions come true. Taking as his text. "The Concentration of Energy" he said that the whole of human material progress consisted of the power to concentrate energy to raise what was called the economic coefficient. The word "radio-activity'' was a new word; in fact, the French academy has not yet decided its gender. He mem toned the fact because the academy has
 just decided that the word automobile" was masculine.
 There were three kinds of rays emanat- ing from radium, continued the speaker the alpha" beta and gamma rays. The first kind could easily be bottled, for the alpha" rays were due to a gas which could not escape unless the stopper of the bottle was moved. The beta rays were also particles, but very small and moving with enormous velocity; where- as, the gamma" rays were not particles but were waves in the ethereal medium which surrounded us, and were analogous to light. Professor Rutherford and an- other scientist supposed that radium changed entirely into different products. emitting at various stages of it's decompo- sition alpha" particles. The change ap- peared to be into gas.
 How long would radium last if 1t were always changing into that gas? My an- swer.' said Sir William Ifs forever The yi,r ,ff i- lu,a to the amount of radium there. We can tell. however. how long it will take rad ium to half change into the carnations. and the time we have just measured in our laboratory is 1850 years"
 Sir William mentioned that to facilitate him in carrying out experiments the Aus tran government lent him small quan- tity of radium, which was worth $45.o00, and which he was unable to get insured. He would not say where it was. Laugh- ter.) Radium could be squeezed into a tube finer than the finest thermometer tube. It's emanations went on changing into other things. each of which had a name. There was Radium A, which lived for quarter of an hour and then changed into Radium B. which in its turn lived three-quarters of an hour. Radium c lived for half an hour, and in the course of two or three hours all these three substances had been produced and had disappeared. Then came a fairly long-lived substance. Radimum D, which was half gone in 40 years. It gave one time to look at 1t. and it was a lead-like substance, with metallic luster. Then there was Radium Fl and Radium E2, and Radium F, which was probably identical with the polonium discovered by Mime. Curie in pitchblende. They had the greatest concentrated energy known, and he doubted if they would ever get any greater. Scientists. however were all ways In a state of doubt, and he doubted his own assertions.
 In conclusion, said Sir William Ram say, though it was very doubtful If rad- ium could cure cancer, it was quite cer- tain that it could cure rodent ulcer, and that fact should be widely known.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-05-22

Either MT. Sturgeon knew very little about Carlyle's religious opinions, or else he had extremely loose notions as to what an Old Testament Christian was. It Is about as certain as testi- mony can make it that Carlyle disbe- lieved all miracles; and the Old Testa- ment is full of them. It would re- quire a powerful advocate to defend Carlyle from the charge of being pam theist. He positively refused to say that he believed in q personal God. Froude's Life of Carlyle I take to be a fair book, and it tears Carlyle's reli- gious opinions into shreds and patches.
 Some time ago one of our south ern cities I attended musical enter tainment, given by the Young Mems Christian association The entertain ment was literally patronized by the best people of the city. and was s-ereatly enjoyed by a very large and apprecia- tive audience. The compositions were mostly mot from the grand old ras- ters." but it was wonderful to see how much music those boys managed to put into their foolishness. Even their High Jing Diddle" was musical. There is, however, one criticism wh ich will probably commend itself to the judg- nent, as well as to the taste, of thoughtful Christians who were out in some force at the entertainment. It was not a little shocking to at least one pair of ears to hear a foolish comic song rendered to the old hymn tune of "Joy to the World, the Lord is come" and to hear another comic song in which Daniel in the Hons den," and Jonah and the whale" figured alto gether too conspicuously. This criti- cism is made in no unfriendly spirit to any of the parties concerned, but it is made honestly and I mean every word of it.
 In the proceedings of Baptist Con- gress," find a paper from the pen of my distinguished brother. the late Noah k. Davis. formerly professor of moral phil osophy in the University of Virginia The choice of his subject strikes me as pe- culiarly fellcitous, when I remember the cast of his powerful and acute mind. His
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-05-22
Unproftnble State Telephones

From Lesie's ''
 That state utilities do not pay is a standing charge which has not yet been refuted. The experience of the federal telephone service of the Australian state of Victoria bears out the criticism. An annual profit of s10o,00o three years ago been changed to present deficit of sSS. 500 Nor can the advocates of state utilities say in this case that the changed financial result has been produced by reduction in the cost of service to telephone users. But even supposing low tolls to have been the cause of the deficit, what sort of justice would it be to put the burden of this deficit upon the whole people in- stead of keeping it where 1t beongs-up- on the users only of the telephone? If every state utility cannot be made to meet its own expenses you have taxa ton of the whole people for the benefit of class. That private ownership un- der governmental control conduces to greater economy and superior service seems to be proven by the history thus far of public utilities.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-05-22

with elements of history, sacred and pro fane you will recall the time that /the chest was brought out of the east e Venice
The Washington times., 1910-04-02
SUNDAY BASEBALL
IS GIVEN APPROVAL
House District SuhcOmmit-
tee Favorable to the
Proposition.

Sunday baseball IN the District Of Co
lumbia was given the stamp Of approval
today by subcommittee Of the House
District Committee
The fun District Committee is believed
10 he in favor Of the proposition, and il
is expected that the matter soon will be
submitted 10 the House. At a meeting
OF the subcommittee today a favorable
report was made on the bin introduced
by Representaive CoUdrey ~ Missouri
declaring 10 O ug lawful 10 play harm
less athletic games I'm the District Ot
Columbia on sunday Ar Loudrey s
primary object in introducing the bill
was 20 IeSalize sunday baseball IN the
District
Il nave no doubt" said Nr. COudrey
today. that the fun District committee
VIII accept the favorable report OF the
subcommittec. l also feel confident that
the House viii pass the bill
The bin provides that Immediately
after lis passage Ell shall not be Uu-
lawful in the District OF Columbia for
any person or corporation c. ne Chris
uan Sabbath. or nrSl day 0f the week,
commonly called Sunday, 10 play base
ball. cricket, golf tennis. rowing, run
ming, or other clean and harmless ath-
letiC sports
The bin introduced by Re resentative
Murphy Of ases~oUri prohibit uE tipping
in hotels. roS-aUrautS, cafes, and eating
houses iu the District of Columbia, also
was fdvorably reported today by sub
committee - the House District Com
r1ittee,
As drawn 10y Mr.. Murphy. the hil
made it mISdeme4uOr for walters and
ether employees ir hotels and similar
public places 10 receive fees as amend
ed by the subcommittee the bin in
Clu6es I'm its provisions Cues-s Of hotels
ard restaurants and provides that they
too, shall be guilty OF a miSdemcanOr Il
they tender tips.
The bill carries a Eue Of not less than
s. nor more than $50.
The Washington times., 1910-04-02
PASSENGERS HURT
IN DERAILED TRAIN
Engine Grew Fatally lniur-
ed in Accident Near
Dunlow, w. Va.

HUNTINGTON, W Va, April Ed
Eiaeer John c. Griffith. Of Portsmouth,
Ohio, and Fireman Frank Vaughan, OF
Portsmouth. ONO. were fatally injured
anc thirteen passengers were hurt when
the Norfolk and Western train, No. ~,
on the Tadpole division. was derailed
a few miles south Of Dunlow early to-
day.
The train was going ar a high rate
when the engine left the track and
turned over an s-1hsnkment and was
followed by all the cars OF the train
The engineer and fireman were caught
under the wre, hsgc. tUt the latter was
rescued. A rescue train has been dis
Matched from KAuoys-
The baSEaCeUan and express agents
Jumped from the train and escaped with
few injuries
The Washington times., 1910-04-02
MOZAMBIQUE COAST
SWEPT BY CYCLONE
Portuguese Governor Re
ports Loss of Life and
Property Damage.

LISBON, April 2-The governor of
Mozambique. POrtugals East African
possession. wired today that a cyclone
had swept the coast Of the colony, re-
suItinE in a heavy loss Of life and an
enormous property damage.
The sca-leyol rose twenty-five feet the
governor says. iumdatinE the entire
coast and rushing inland for many
miles. Houses were washed away, and
plantations of cotton, tobac o. and cof-
fee laid waste
The coast for more than rO0 miles IS
strcuu with wreckaEe. and a score OF
bodies have already been found The
storm is said to have been the most
severe experienced in that part o.
Africa in twenty yee-S-
The Washington times., 1910-04-02
ROMANCE
TO CULMINATE HERE
Scion of Noble Family in Land of the Miakdo VIII Be
Married Here to Girl He Met Shortly After
Reaching These Shores

A romance dating hack four years,
when & sturdy little japanese and 4
pretty miss from Paris met IN san
Francisco. will culminate in their mar
riage in Washington April i next.
Lieut.. Hiroshi Sskurai, scion OF a
noble family. vas fresh from d con-
ouerinr army when he landed in San
Francisco four years ago as the repre-
sentative OF Yokohama Specie Bank
one OF the first persons he met IN the
large. strange city was Miss Emilienne
A E,ranchet. who had come TO this
country the year before with her par
ents.
According 20 the young lieutenant
Who is now representing the NOko-
barna hank in Washington. and is also
officfaIly connected with the Brazilian
embassy, Il was a case OF love at first
sirbt with him He has been IN Wash
irgron three years. out during the sew
ersI months ne remained in San Fran
cisco he and Miss FTanchet became vel
acquainted.
The Washington times., 1910-04-02
NURDERER'S TRAIL
ENDS AT CAR TRACK
BloodhOundS Pursuing As
Sailant of Springfield
Woman Are Halted.

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. April Blood
hounds arc still on the scent OF the
murderer of Miss Martha Blackstone
and the assai.ant Of Miss Harriet Dow.
who were shot at the Dow home on
Thursday ui-nt.
Tho hou-.s sent here from Pough-
koepzie had uo difficulty IN picking up
the traiI and following it from the house
where the murder was committed
The hounds followed the scent across
the city limits into the town of Lonc
Meadow. on the road to Hartford. The
trail then led :" trolley pole From
this point the hounds went straight to
the tracks, where they lost the scent
The Washington times., 1910-04-02
MISS ELEANOR SEARS
GIVES UP HER WALK

san FRANCISCO. April AS she
could get mo- masculine uaccmaker, Miss
Boston. who started 20 walk from Bur
lingame tu the Hotel DelWoute a dis
tan-e OF l6S miles On Gftv-fye hours. was
forced 10 give mp tine tramp at Cilroy.
Her chapcron, Mrs. Francis CarOIan. re-
fused to allow her To 60 on alone.
The girl made siNJy-Jbrcc miles in .
hours ard 40 minutes. and could easily
have covered the distance Of los miles
tn the prescribed time.
Miss Sears is great friend Of Mrs
Nicholas I.OuEWOrth. She has been
quoted a. saying, Most men in our set
are mollycUddies.
The Washington times., 1910-04-02

4 year after SabursTz coming %
Washington Miss Franchet moved here
with her parents and younger sister,
end since then the Young couple have
been constantly together. and "a few
weeks ago Miss Franchet surrendered
uncondiuonally. and gave her promise
TO marriage.
This morning Lieutenant Sakurai
called at the CITY hall and. after an
swerinS the necessary questions. was
granted a marriage license Rishou
Harding. Of Washington. who hs 3
known the young japanese for some
time, VIII perform the ceremony. and
has arranged 90 have 70 onicisted IN
his home, in Massachusetts avenue.
Hiss Franchet will be attended bv her
sister. Helene, and following the cera-
mOny the ~ al pair will go 10 Boston
by sea. aLd viii visit New York on
their way back TO Washington They
expect 20 make their aome in an auarr-
Tent house in Twelfth street north
west
The young mans father is the inspector
of education I'm Tokl o, and his uncle.
NJ. Hioki is japanese minister 10 Chile
The Washington times., 1910-04-02
PENSIONERS
TO RECEIVE FULL AMOUNT
Increase of Crime During Month of March Brings Re-
ceiptS Again Up to Normal-Pan Proposed to
Avoid Dependency on Fines

Owing 10 the increase in crime in the
District Of Columbia the pensioners Of
the police and fire departments Will this
month receive the full amount of their
pensions for the month of March
During the month Of February there
was a falling off of fines in the Police
Court. from which the pension funds
are in part derived, resulting i'm de-
fciency Of S9SfJo I'm the Fire Department
fund and S2.9l60 in tho police pension
fund The pensioners Of the Fire De-
partment. received, therefore. only 60
cents on the dollar, and those Of the
Police Department 80. On April 4 they
viii receive the fun amount of their
pensions for the last month. due To d
recent increase of fines in the Police
Court.
In order that the pensioners may no
The Washington times., 1910-04-02
.PITTSBURG JURORS
INDICT COUNCILNEN
Six Members Alleged to
Have Received Money
as BribeS.

PITTSBURG. April 2-The grand
jury ln d presenment today recon-
mended that indictments charging
bribery he filed against Morris Einste-a
and six select cOuuciImeu.
The c0uncilmcn are alleged 90 have
received money distributed by former
Councilman p p kcarus
The Washington times., 1910-04-02
TWO LAUNCHES SEIZED.

The local authorities at Greytown
have delivered the two American
owned Easolene launches, the Lark
and EssuerZa, which We're seized some
time ago, over 10 Commander Gilmer
of the gun boat Paducah. These vessels
were seized some time ago ard the
Incident was called to the attention
Of the state Department. which is
sued directions 10 the Paducah TO re-
cover the vessels