davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Daily Arizona silver belt., 1910-05-24

record in spite of the official return o.
 populations deaths to that effect. As an example of the uncertainty at taching to individual statements of ex treme longevity, the case of the oldest reported decedent is cited. The deatl was that of Noah Raby, known as "tht oldest man in the country,'' and it oc cured in the year 1904. Reference tc the census office transcript, which was returned by the state registrar of New Jersey, shows that the original death certificate related to the death of Noah Raby, stated to have occurred in Mid dlesex county on March l, 1904, at the age if l31 years and II months. The conjugal condition of the decedent was not stated; the birthplace of the dece. dent and the birthplace of his mother were given as "U. s. "; the birthplace of the father was not stated; and the cause of the death was given as senil- ity-an entirely satisfactory statement in this case.
 Dr. Wilbur then observes that in the index catalogue of the library of the Surgeon General s office, United States Army, second series, Volume TX, under the title of Longevity, may be found the following reference: "Cen- tenarians and more: (Sophia Cab, aged l29; Noah Raby, 13l years II months) Med Rec, N. r., 1904, lxv, 9s4. !" The issue of the New York Med ical Record of March ,, 1904, contained the following item:
 Centenarians and more.-Sophia Cab, probably the oldest woman in Chi cago, died there last week. She was supposed to be 129 years old. Born a slave, she spent most of her life on a plantation near Richmond, Va. When released from slavery during the Civil war she was S7 years old A still more remarkable story of longevity is con tained in the notice of the death of Noah Raby, in New Brunswick, N. J., on March l. It is asserted, with much that he was born in Gates county, N. C., on April l, (signiti- cant date) 1772, so that had he lived one month longer he would have been 132 years old He entered the United States navy about as soon as the Unit ed States had a navy, and after serving for a number of years, was honorably discharged in 1909. He never mar ried, but had smoked and chewed tobae- CD for l22 years and had at one time been a heavy thinker.
 Story Pure Legend
 Search was made of the records of the navy department and report was made by Surgeon F, L. Pleadwell, of the bureau of medicine and surgery, that Ca Noah Raby had been found on the rolls of the Constitution in 1889, when that ship was under the command of Captain Bolton, so it is possible that the report of his discharge from the navy as being of the year 1909 is pure legend. There may have been, of course, two Noah Rabys."
 The census report then goes on to state that the enumerators' return of the Twelfth census (June l, l9OO) show that MT. Raby was then an inmate of the Piscataway township almshouse, and his "age at last birthday" CPS years) and the month and year of birth "April, l772, as given in these returns
Daily Arizona silver belt., 1910-05-24

ate, in the utmost good faith, the num- Der Of years that they have lived, it is not at all surprising that many un- founded claims to extreme old age may arse. The deaths of centenarians re. ported by the census are too few to vit- late seriously the statistics, even if in every case the age was incorrectly stat ed, and they are therefore shown just as they were returned.
 In the annual registration reports of Maine and Massachusetts may be found details in regard to the reported cente- narians who died in those states. Dr. Wilbur states that it is perhaps desir- able that similar details should be given Tn all registration reports, or at least that the statement of ages should en- able the number of decedents aged 100 years and over to be known. If veri- fled statements of age can be secured, the evidence of longevity should be gwen. Physicians and registration of ficials should take pains to ascertain the truth about such cases, because they are of extreme interest to the public, and many foolish and sensational statements pass current. It should be possible, with the general adoption of modern methods of obtaining vital statistics, to determine, from the vast number of deaths registered, the maximum span of human life.
 cipal baritone role and other, artists of very high rank are to appear in the cast. A magnificent production is
Daily Arizona silver belt., 1910-05-24
HAT POST CARD Is
 LATEST FAD
Old Felt Chapeau with In scribed Verses Goes
 Through Mail

BALTIMORE, Ma, May 23.-A man stuck an Scent stamp in the crown of a big felt hat, pushed it through the special delivery window at the postof lice and asked if it could go through the mail just as it was. The clerk. with an appreciative grin, said that it could, and cancelled the hat with hand stamp. Then the office force, by permission of the sender, took look at the strange plece of mailing matter.
 The hat was addressed to Mir. and Mrs. Harry Clement Palmer, Birch wood, White eBar, Minnesota, the ad- dress clearly written across the crown. And all around the brim there had been written two messages in verse, and here they are:
 This old felt hat that you admired,
 With all its dents and all its spots, l Tn sending you to do the work
 Left usually to forget-me- nots; For flowers will fade and petals fall,
 And die, as even love may die
Daily Arizona silver belt., 1910-05-24
Census Statistics Declare from 100 to 110 Years
 Is the Limit
CENTURY SELDOM
 REACHED BY MAN
Stories of Extreme Age So Popular Are Doubted by
 Wise Scientists

WASHINGTON, D. C., May 23.-A chapter concerning reported centenar. ians is contained in the census bureau $ latest annual mortality statistics report prepared by chief statistician Dr. Cres- sy l.. Wilbur, of the division of vital statistics.
 The report aflirms that it is undoubt edly true that the age of one hundred years is occasionally attained. It sug. gests that it is perhaps doubtful wheth. CT, as shown by incontrovertible evi. uence, the age of no has ever been reached or exceeded. This would, it Is stated, set the possible longevity of man or the extreme span of human life somewhere between 100 and l1O years.
 Dr. Wilbur declares that it would be a fact of vast interest to humanity if 1t were true that human being could live 15O, or 40, or 130 years or even l20, or 1l0 years, as established by ex. act observation. The capability of the bodily mechanism would be tested and it might be inferred that, with better hygiene, superior eugenics, and proper methods of living the extreme limit of life might more frequently be attained and that after many generations the average age of humanity might per. haps approximate to this limit.
 The report goes on to show that uI to very recent times the most incredi ble reports, the most inaccurate state ments, and the most uncritical mthodS of study, have been believed. Since Thomas Investigations in 1873 great skepticism has arisen in the minds of many, in regard to the reputed ages of centenarians and, the report declares some have even stated that there were 10 actual cases of censenarians on
Daily Arizona silver belt., 1910-05-24
AMERICAN GIRL ID MAKE DEBUT IN
 OPERA
Miss Blanche Showalter to Sing Prima Donna Role
 in English Piece

NEW YORK, May 23.-A notable thing in American music annals is soon to happen at Cincinnati. An Ameri- can girl, whose voice is said to be equal to that of any living soprano, is to make her bow in new grand opera.
 Miss Edna Blanche Showalter, a young woman of twenty one, is the sing. CT. The opera is the work of FIoridia, an Italian composer, long resident of this country, and the libretto is by Paul Jones. The production of the opera is under the auspices of the Ohio Valley Exposition, to be held in Cincinnati in August and September.
 There will be two sets of principals, Miss Showalter alternating as prima donna with Mime. De Pasquali, of the Metropolitan Opera House, New York. MT. David Bispham will sing the prin.
Daily Arizona silver belt., 1910-05-24

Where are those violets We plucked, One day out walking, you and IF Some day you may be mighty glad That you have got this old felt hat To use for stufing leaky pipes
 Or weathering doors, or like O that; And when your larder may run low, Then with what joy you two will
 greet it.
Daily Arizona silver belt., 1910-05-24

For, with little gravy on,
 You really, in a pinch, might eat it!
 The man who mailed the hat said the friends to whom it was addressed had asked for it as souvenir of visit to their home, and he was simply taking the easiest way of complying with the request.
Daily Arizona silver belt., 1910-05-24

an enormous stock of Foreign and Domestic Cigars that we have marked so low that we want you to come to the store to see about it.
Daily Arizona silver belt., 1910-05-24

i correspond with the age subsequently, stated upon his certificate of death
 His birthplace, as we'll as that of hi,
 father and of his mother, is given a.
 North Carolina; his conjugal condition
 as single; and under the head of edu
 cation it is stated that he could reaG
 but could not write. At the Eleventh census (June l, 1S90) MT. Raby's Gage at nearest birthday was given as IT. years, the other aprticulars being the same as stated in 1900, except that his mother s birthplace was stated as Penn sylvania. No record was found of MT Raby among the inmates of the aims. house at the Tenth census (18S0), but his name appears among those there enumerated at the Ninth census (1S7O) In the returns for this census his Gage at last birthday" was stated to be 59 years, and not 9S years as it should have been if his subsequent statements as to his age were correct, and his birth place was given as South Carolina and not North Carolina. Birthplaces of parents were reported at the Ninth census. It appears not unlikely that the statement of age made in 1870 was at least approximately correct, so that at the time of his death at an advanced age on March l, 1904, he was over 90 years old (92 years and II months if the statement of age made in 1870 is precise,) and not an actual centenarian at all, much less the "oldest man in the country"
 Truth Impossibble
 The report later on states that it would be impracticable for the bureau of the census to determine the truth in regard to all unusual ages which are re- ceived upon the official transcripts of deaths, nor can the state or city offices be expected to investigate all such cases. Indeed the evidence necessary for conclusive proof of extreme longe- vity in any case given may be extreme ly difficult to procure, even when the fact exists. This is true for European countries as shown by Thomas and Young, and is even more true for the United States, for greater part of which, even at the present day, there is no complete registration of births. The statements in regard to the ages of decedents are made by the infor- mants and can not, as a rule, be ques- tioned or rejected by registration off cials. Such statements are, undoubted- ly, in the vast majority of cases, be- lieved to be correct by the persons who reported them, and, when officially reg istered, become, like the other state ments upon the certificates of death, prima facie. evidence of the facts. Any statement upon certificate of death may, however, be refuted by sufficient evidence of its untruthfulness. It is well known that many of the state ments of exact age, even in the middle period of life and in youth, are not strictly correct. In old age, with i'm paired memory, with possible uninten- tional confusion of what has been heard and what has been actually ex- perienced by the individual in regard to the events of early years, after the death of contemporaries whose testi- mony might contradict claims to excess sive longevity, and with the well known tendency of many persons to exagger-
Daily Arizona silver belt., 1910-05-24

WASHINGTON D. c, May 2OSenaor of hearing of the Balng attorney admitted telling elected The statement made by Attorney Piles had Morgan member of the Bnger committee demanded that the be records This tner nquy along this line However, the following
 
 election Of Senator Piles for the consideration of the
Daily Arizona silver belt., 1910-05-24
Big Sam Kee Sale Still Continues

 I | goods H~%mR%GM
The advocate. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1901-1913, 1910-09-29
GARDENING IN THE FAhFI
(FrOm the Boston Herald.)

Have you been envious Of the gar
dens Of your friends this summer
and determined that another season
will see you with O garden? If so,
you may be planning big things you
will do next spring and be quite un-
aware that fall is now the accepted
time for garden making.
From now to the middle of Octo.
Der, and even later if bulbs are to
go in, you can be just as busy as you
please putting in perennals-that
is, plants that grow from year to
year without eplanting--setting out
vines and planting your hyacinths,
tulips, narcissi, snowdrops and other
spring blooming bulbs.
Though you may want to have
only an annual garden, there Is YET
room for activity, as the garden can
be made in the fall and allowed to
settle and get in good condition for
early spring planting.
lhIS preparing the garden is most
important Of all your preparations.
Flowers can go in later or can be
set out as growing plants, but moth
ing you do will thrive unless the soil
is in condition.
Most yards that have been neglect
Cd need to be entirely remade. You
can do this yourself with the aid Of
a small boy to do the heavy spading
but it Is cheaper in the end to en-
The advocate. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1901-1913, 1910-09-29
EATHAVAGANCE Runs RIOT
Ninety Dollars for Hat and $50 q
Day for An Automobile.

AdviCes from Buenos Ayres are
that each United States delegate to
the Pan-American Conference was
assigned to reception room Of his
own, which adjoined his sleeping
room, so that he could appropriately
receive visitors from the other dele
cations or such other persons as he
wished, The entire arrangement
proved very satisfactory to the
Americans, and also to the hotel
management which thereby enriched
Itself $500 day from the 100000
appropriations made for the delega-
ton by congress, says the Boston
Herald.
TO infer for a moment that this
price was eXorbitant would be mere
~ to misunderstood that Bucnos
Ayres is living up to it's reputation
The advocate. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1901-1913, 1910-09-29
gage some one VINO IS I'D In the 1bux:

s"se SOME one WHO Is up In the bus
iaess of getting the proper soil. =
The beds should be dug to the
depth of two, preferably three feet,
all stones and debris must be re.
moved and the space filled with 4,
layer Of well-rotted manure, then
rich loan and on top a layer Of finely
crumbled soil.
The drainage OF beds must be good
and the exposure such that 1t gets
the morning sun and does not suffer
from stagnant water or the glare
from back walls. :, ....
If you can afford to go to a land
scape gardener you will be sure of
the best start, one suited to your sur
rounding8. >... rs
Make UP your mind how much you
can afford to spend, then see what
can be done for your price. Go to
the right person and the beginnings
will be such that they are but the
first step to bigger things hereafter,
not makeshift that must be dis
carded when money is freer and in
terest keener.
--1t-you really want a garden, not
imagine you want one, it will be
we'll to sacrifice something else and
put all the money you can into get
ting a good start.
The advocate. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1901-1913, 1910-09-29


The program Of questions demands
not the statement Of principles, but
the results obtained In different
countries, of the application Of legis-
lative measures for first offenders.
Statistics alone can not give these
results. Though the data may be
accurate there must be in addition
ali investigation Of moral and soCio-
logical nature. ! shall confine my
self to a consideration Of the charact-
er Of conditional liberation and the
manner in which it has been regulat-
ed and applied in Italy.
The evolution Of the idea Of pen
atty has not yet reached the last limit
Of progress, but it is approaching it
by the acceptance by legislation Of
principles, like that of conditional
liberation, which confirm anew The
principle maintained by Cesar Bee
caria that the essence of the penal
system should be placed within the
limits Of n legitimate defense, and
that one OF the checks to crime
shonld not he the cruelty Of punish
The advocate. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1901-1913, 1910-09-29
BAPTISTS CELEBRATE

Buffalo, n. Y, Sept. 29.-The CEN
tennial anniversary Of the establish
ment Of the Baptist denomination in
this section is being observed here
this week. The forty-five churches
Of the Buffalo Baptist Association
participated in special exercises in
the Prospect AvenUe Baptist church
today. The celebration will continue
over tomorrow.
The advocate. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1901-1913, 1910-09-29
WEIGHT or THE SOUL"
English Authority Ridiculcs ALLEGED
Demonstration.

There is a popular notion that
the weight Of the living body is less
than that Of the dead one" saws a
writer in the Lancet "In a recent
issue Of the Pioneer Mail a CORE
spondent discusses this question in
connection with the behavior Of /,
crocodile which he shot dead while
1t was basking asleep on quickscnd.
When shot the crocodile began
to sink and almost disappear before
IT. could be reached. The correspon-
dent is clearly inclined to accept the
popular notion Of an increase of
weight at death, but for the fact that
recent experiments undertaken bv
some learned authorities in America
have proved that a dead body was
lighter than q living one. From this
they (the learned authorities) dc.
duced that the soul had a definite
weight In pounds avoirdupois.
1T is possible that some Of our
readers are unfamiliar with the cx.
periments which the correspondent
OF the Pioneer Mail refers. They
were made and recorded q few years
ago by DR.. Duncan MacIougal'. OF
HaVrhill, Mass. Patients were weigh
Cd in the act of dying. The scale
used recorded an increase or de-
crease beyond the fifth Of an ounce
hot particularly delicate instru-
ment for estimating the weight or
that part Of the living body which
IS usually regarded as immaterial
and imponderable.
In the first Of a series of six OK
periments DR.. Macdougall placed q
man dying from pulmonary tuberci,-
losis on the scales . .r:res patient lest
weight at The rate Of one-sixteent!l
Of an ounce FER minute until the mo.
ment Of death, when the beam end
dropped with an Audible stroke.
showing the sudden decrease Of
three-quarters of an ounce in weight.
What was the cause Of the sudden
decrease? DR.. Macdougall, after ex-
Guiding the loss due to escape of
breath and fluid contents Of the BODY
by evaporation Or other natural
means, concluded that the marked
and sudden decrease was due to the
escape Of the soul substance. In this
particular instance the soul was evil
IDENTIFY a very material one, weighing
three-quarters. of an ounce.
"The expe:imenter extended his
observations to dogs, but the results
gained were negative. At the mo-
ment Of death the dogs Lody refused
to show any alteration in weight. We
are of opinion that the correspondent
Of the Pioneer Mail in seeking to ex-
plain the disappearance of a shot
crocodile in Quicksand need not
take his learned authorities too
seriously. DR.. Macdougall's observa-
tons are to be explained by a Decu-
liar bias on the part Of his scales,
Or on the part Of the friends who as
sisted him. At least the scales used
by the other Investigators have re-
fused ton reveal any sudden diminu-
ton in the weight Of the body at
death
'In the usual acceptation Of the
term death occurs when respiration
and circulation have ceased, but III
more strict sense the death of the
body is gradual, the muscular sys-
tenn, for instance, being really alive
some hours after the apparent death
Of the individual"
-----------~->--s-e-----
EATIkANAGANCE Runs RIOT
The advocate. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1901-1913, 1910-09-29
TAILOR WANTED.

WANTED-a man to work in tailor
shop, one who has had some ex-
perience in the business, for fur
ther information address,
M. B. BROCKMAN,
Tailors,
Mt. Hope, w. Va.
9-22-3t.
The advocate. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1901-1913, 1910-09-29
& iAsnt out the certainty or It's ap-

plication. - g,
The principle that punishment in
its application should look to the
moral Improvement of the cuIprit is
or social Importance and the mitiga-
ton OF penalties for certain offenders
and making 1T sharper for habitual
criminals, is truly social duty. 1t
is certain, long experience has de-
monstrated it, that short sentences,
applied without distinction to iuven-
lie delinquents and first offenders,
for certain kinds of misdemeanors.
have not always produced good re-
suits either as measures Of prever-
ton or repression. AS preventive
measures they fail to deter from
crime because they do not take away
the hope Of escaping with IMMUNITY.
which is the great incentive to wrong
doing. AS repressive measures thew
40 not impress the one who submits
to them in such a way that he IS
more disposed to yield to social re-
Qulrements. A law has only a
theoretic value unless it is for social
advantage.
Problem Has Two Parts. .-
+. The problem may be divided into
two parts. On one side, that which
concerns Juvenile offenders, the vic
tory won for the principle that in
dealing with them it is not a Dues
ton of true penalty, but measures
Of discipline, and education, through
the intervention of special courts,
and institutions of a social and bene-
hcent character. 1t is to be desired
that there should be an even wider
substitution Of educative for repres-
slVe measures for these cases. The
triumph Of modern social ideas will
be reached when the day comes
when minors shall be entirely ex-
empt from the action of penal codes
and brought under a regime which
shall have no appearance Of punish
ment. For minors l believe we
should not speak of conditional sen
fences, but that the efforts of legis-
lators and philanthropists should be
concentrated In securing extra-penal
methods-purely and simply educa-
tive.
AS to first offender, or delinquen: IS
who are not first offenders, who by
their character, their antecedents,
and the nature If their crimes
awaken no grave apprehension, the
attitude Of the public toward then,
should be different. For these in
particular reformat9ry methods are
suitable and: should be applied &C.
cording to- the different traditions
and customs Of different countries
There are offenders who may be cal
led criminals of-Dassion, >. and .of oc,
nasinn, for WhaIns1tl 81 saiE 1 sslt
may prove effective, especially as a
deterrent. In these cases the pun
ishment is personal, If I may SO eA-
press myself, rather than Social. Here
the idea Of chastisement.. Is Of TIE
first Importance. But if crime can
be prevented without personal sIf-
fering that is sufficient, provided the
ends of society are met. A principle
Is just in so far as it is actually
necessary. The human application
or penalties is necessarily imperfect
and for some cases absolutely
dangerous, because it is practically
The advocate. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1901-1913, 1910-09-29
ATTENTION SCHOOL TEACHERS

e. If you are a school teacher in a
town, village or rural district and
desire to use your spare time profit
ably, 1T would pay you to write Mr..
A. r. Stewart, Tuskegee Institute,
Alabama for particulars.
9-22-3t.