davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-12-25

worthy, or at least that it was so with the majority.
 The new understanding sees in every case of misery a disease, requiring not blame, but it may be advice, 1t may be medical treatment, it may be social sur gerry. Even drunkenness and vice are as much the product of disease and bad so- eial conditions as of wilful sin. How brave, how patient. how ingenious is the unconquerable soul of the working girl whose story has been told in recent mag azines! Watch the indomtabe pluck with which she smiles at misfortune; when beaten in one direction by change of fashion or of seasons, see her change to meet the new condition and wrench her paltry income from grudging world What wonder if she go under fin that long, stern struggle?
 All these things and others like them were passed in masterly review by MT. Charles M. Hubbard, our Cincinnati vis- itor. at the annual public meeting of the Associated Charities Here in our city we have the modern attitude toward human need, and for this sort of relief this Christmas time, we do we'll to be thank ful. We have seen a noble group of women rescuing the Tuberculosis hos pital from debt, with their Red Cross stamps. There also is a cause for Christ mas thanksgiving.
 But the grace of Christmas needs yet further expression. My thesis this Christ mas day requires us to believe that with our thankful rejoicing we should mingle a determination to offer ourselves to the work A Survey" Is to be made very shortly, covering a certain area of the city. It's purpose will be defined by the officers of the Associated Charities: but I may be allowed to say that 1t will re- quire wise Christian men and women to gather, most tactfully and most com plete1y, the facts concerning the homes in that area. A good Christmas offering might be the gift of the necessary days. whenever they may be called for. And beyond that the need of the time is for men and women of good will to gather for study of the conditions, Of the work
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-12-25

ing all me and women of good will in the practical, daily, serious study of the Christmas grace. Such a non-sectarian body of intelligent philanthropists would go far towards the ideal of civic church.
 I will not dare to say that the era of the church Is over. But irresistibly the conviction is forcing itself on observers throughout the world that the era of the kingdom of love is with us, that creeds and theological contentious have given place to social service. that though church membership increases, congregations de- crease and that men and women of all hereditary faiths care less and less for the old forms and more and more for the creation of a dominion of brotherhood on the earth. Granted that the pendulum will swing back again towards a new differentiation of believers, and that virile conviction is needed to build high char acter. and that faith must abide, well as hope and love. yet the immediate duty is that we get together more organically for the battle of Armageddon in this twentieth century, the battle with poverty and it's legions of demon powers. In spite of the old lines,
 the spiritual vision has broadened, the battlefield has become the state, and the conviction has come to stay that all civil government, all social organiza,
 ton, is form of the kingdom of God or else form of the gates of he'll" sup- pose, therefore, that the most virile con- viction possible is that men are now to be regarded as sons of God whatever their ghastly degradation. Upon that | rock-bottom fact the Christmas grace is building still, after two milleniums.
 It may be that time and strength are being wasted on impertinent ecclesiastical l jealousies and ambitions. If so the
 waves rolling inshore will, as Caliban observes, thrust out their long green
 tongues and Tick the whole labor flat" | And perhaps some evangelist will pres ently arise who will declare with power that the real end of conversion is not to join the church" but to enroll for the | terrific battle for which the Associated l Charities is doing preliminary scouting.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-12-25
HARMON AND WILSON-By Savoyard

all to flinders. Perhaps 1t has another opportunity to commit suicide right now. No, I'll take that back. This country has It's eyes on two men, and we are going to draft them. both of them. My ticket is Harmon and Wilson. though with some reluctance would put up with the ticket, Wilson and Harmon. I do not believe that either one of these two splendid men and gigantic figures would refuse to occupy the chair that Jefferson and Clinton, Calhoun and Breckinridge, felt it an honor to hold. It is a great pity that our fathers did not so shape the constitution that the vice-president should be member of the Senate with the privilege to debate any question be- fore the body and with the right to vote on any proposition before 1t.
 But I am for Harmon. and 10 years ago said some day he would be Presi- dent, as he ought to be. He Is fit for 1t from every democratic standpoint and he looks and acts 1t from every imagin- able standpoint Tn the first place, he is democrat. and can tell you why he Is democrat without one particle of nonsense or poppycock. He knows the faith; he lives the faith; he does the faith. As doctrinaire he is as great as Thurman, and as an executive he is all that Tilden was. He Is the giant oak, stalwart and grand, and he not only looks 1t, but acts 1t and Is 1t.
 Did you-democrat. I ask-did you ever read a word from this grand man that did not go to the spot? He fs not a de- claimer. hear that man Harding, whom he beat 100000. could beat him out of sight splitting the ears of the groundlings. Judge Harmon could scarce be classed as "a orator. Neither could Jefferson, or Jackson, or Tilden, or Cleveland. But he is better. He has the ken to find the right, and he has the audacity-no. that Is not the right word--he has the cool, calm, serene courage to do the right. one day aimlessly wandered into the courtroom of the supreme bench of the
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-12-25

toricity of the birth of Jesus, even though might not be a believer in the New Testament, which I am, most sincerely
 So, I am glad that we celebrate at Christmas an actual fact. Lord Macauly in his history of England. says. "A philosopher may be inclined to ask, why religion should reject the aid of asso- citations, which exist in every nation sufficiently civilized to have calendar and which are found by experience to have a powerful and often a salutary effect.' We do not reject the principle here described. But accept it and re- joice In 1t.
 I am glad that I am not an infidel and that I do believe in Christmas. If I were one of those scornful unbe- lievers, to be honest, I suppose I should be obliged to say to my children, NO, no; we'll have no stockings hung up in this house; we'll have no extra toys; we'll have none of the things that children about us have at this time; Christmas IS the memorial of a myth, it's a deception; there Is no reason for celebrating this day any more than any other.' Then, too, If l were an infdel, suppose I would see my little children looking through
 
 happy little ones passing and repassing my house with toys, dolls and drums. and their little arms full of good things that the day has brought them; then, my own children would hear the merry peals of laughter coming from the chil- dren next door, while their own little hearts were aching, I suppose should try to comfort them by saying, Its all a humbug, you children be happy as you are; don't believe in Christmas and I don't want you to do so.'' I am glad that I am not an infidel, and that my children have not father who does not believe in Christmas I believe in turning the house over to the children on Christmas day. If they make a noise, such a noise as will rack your nerves, all right. You've got no business with nerves on Christmas day. You can have nerves all through the year. but the children can have Christmas only one day in the
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-12-25

A SYONE who might have desired
 "A to estimate the zeal of a modern < A city in the great causes labelled tCharity," and who might have expected the annual public meeting of It's united charity workers to provide a measure of that zeal. would have had food for thought in Birmingham this past week. For the Associated Charities had called the people to it's first anniversary, since blending In one master1y and central or ganization the relief work of the city. Did the people accept the invitation? They did not. Those who were present were almost without exception the mep and women who have been actively at work on behalf of their less fortunate brothers Snd sisters. The others felt, apparently, ttat the meeting was none of their bus mess. Or else, in multitude of instances, the pressure of other duties hindered them and they were absent. So 1 sup pose the inquirer would have first been struck by the smallness of the gathering. as compared with the greatness of it's un- dertaking and of the city it represented
 But as our supposed inquirer listened and observed he would have been com- pelled to feel the atmosphere of an earn est purpose prevailing the meeting. Those men and women evidently meant busi- ness, felt responsibility and had gener- ous, Christian hearts. Clearly the thought and sympathy demanded by human need Us present with intensity in this thriving. Aggressive, beautiful town. It was more over picked gathering, including rep resentatives of the foremost industrial Undertakings, clubs and other organiza- Hons, These were the OeODle whose eyes shone with joy and gratitude at seeing the proofs of children saved from dirt and degradation, of homes rescued from 0run, of lives lifted out of the clutch of .dsease and hopelessness.
 And yet it must be acknowledged that Though q few ministers and prominent zchurch people were there, the churches F ere but slightly represented.
 Our visitor from Cincinnati, as he sur
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-12-25

United States, when this man, then attor- ney general, pleaded before that august tribunal. I did not intend to be there five minutes. I just wanted to look at old John Harlan from my state; but a sem tence or two from Harmon took me captive and remained as long as he spoke. That is the sort of man he is, and you will find it out if you ever meet him and hear him.
 And we are going to nominate him, too. He was my candidate in 1904, but they would have fought against him as they did against Parker, very nearly as good a man. However. the sun is now shining on our side of the hedge, and let us take our best man and make him leader. I always get it mixed when quote from memory, but here goes:
 And yet of noble race was Shenkin."
 And our party. has an embarrassment of riches. Besides Harmon, we have Will son. Dix, Marshall and others. All we have to do is to keep in the middle of the road of democracy. Including and ever since the year 1S00 the democratic party has been in the majority in our country. It was only when we went after strange gods and forgot the teachings of our sages and the warnings of our prophets that we were beaten. We have now come pack to the old homestead, and everybody who seeks to play elder brother will feel the wrath of 5000, 0cc democrats who are firmly and resolutely resolved to put up with no more non sense.
 At present the south is almost solid for Harmon, and our grand old section is not easily dissuaded when 1t is fixed in an opinion.
 And another thing-give us Harmon and Wilson in 1912, and 1t matters little what sort of capers the democratic House of the Sixty-second Congress cuts. and am confident in the hope that nearly all tho capers 1t will cut will be applauded.
 Up with the banner: Harmon and Wilson. The ticket will sweep the country.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-12-25

The pit boss? He has done his best He has reported conditions to the manager and the manager to the owner and has been answered that "more economies must be used in operation"
 Who is guilty? The coal baron hundreds of miles away from the place of the crime.
 Or
 Here are hundreds of children under legal age working in big cotton fac tory There is law on the statute books of the state against child labor but it is not enforced.
 Who Is guilty? Somebody miles away who Is sending his family to Newport or to Europe for the summer
 Criminals? Think you they are the tnieVes who slouch through back alleys or 'he plckpockets and women of the street who i'll the benches of the police court of morning?
 No; they are the men "higher up"-ths dwellers on Fifth avenue or Prospect bou- levard.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-12-25

meath which sleep the little ones whom God called back to Himself before they had been missed by the angels. But be 1t remembered, that, He who was born on the first Christmas day, long afterwards said, Suffer the little children to come unto me-
 Yes, thousand times yes, I believe m Santa Claus. I believe in all those emo tions, principles and loving customs; Tn all that sweet charity, In all that tender brotherliness, and in all the innocent merriment and gladness that this day stands for; combine all these into one and you have Santa Claus, be he whom he may. I believe in him with all my heart. and I'm glad of 1t.
 Another characteristic of this day makes me glad It is a day of domestic reunions.It is suggestive of homecoming Long ago the family began the process of separation. The boys went off to col iege, or to distant cities to make their way in the world. The daughters have been absent at school, or some of them have married and now have homes of their own. The old people have spent much time of loneliness, yet have they been happy in the consciousness that the children are prospering, and besides they will all be back in the old home lat Christmas" And now that Christmas Is come here they are-all home again, the boys from college, the girls from their seminaries or colleges, and the married ones with their children. Log fires blaze merrily. The house Is like another place. There's music and laughter and chatter-and the Christmas dinneri An. never was there dinner equal to the Christmas dinner at the old home, and never was there a turkey as big as that which was saved flor the home-coming of the children God bless the dear "ol folks at home,' whose love never changes go we where we may, and whose prayers follow us in all our wanderings. and ma Y God be pitifully tender and mericful to him who knows nothing of the old home" nor of loving hearts that remember him in the sacred hour of family prayers.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-12-25

now already being done, of the causes and remedies of physical moral. social breakdown. 1 am not sure but that sucn a parliament of practical service Is the greatest need of any city, a greater need of Birmingham than even the new hotels or the increased variety of manufactures, about which so much has been truly said. Such a parliament would meet once a month or oftener, and consider in sue cession the work done by the Mercy Home. the Boys club, the Juvenile Court, and perhaps the Salvation Army, with other forms of rescue or relief. It would be supremely civic conscience. at tacking every social problem in a scien- t!fc, thorough-going way. It would strengthen the hands of the city govern ment with moral purpose. It would ally itself with the cause of public health. It would make the children of Birmingham it's own special care. and put the city on level with other cities in the use of its school buildings as social centers. The work being done so nobly by Dr. Phillips and the board of education would obtain all the funds and all the encouragement
 it demands. and cheese-paring would be thing of the past in the main functions of government-those functions, 1. e.. which belong to the saving of the city's soul. We might perhaps even rise to the level of fighting tuberculosis among the negroes and aboishing that eye-sore Of decency the man with elanking chains sweeping our streets. These improve ments are all in the air. If l can estimate the purposefulness of certain splendid people, they are about to become prac- tical politics; for the civic club. the par llament of philanthropy and hygiene. the synod of service, or whatever it may be called, is going to achieve itself. And, as our friends of the apron and trowel might say: "So thought 1t be,"
 The Associated Charities has begun to provide a means for overcoming dupli- cation, overlapping. It will complete it's work when the proposed parliament or club is established and becomes a local school of civics and philanthropy. enroll
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-12-25

WHERE are few. a very few, who in 8 fit of political obsession fancy A they are democrats. when they are as oblivious of the preachments of Jefferson and Tilden as Nicidemus was of the divine mystery of the second birth--only a few of these are disconso- late and refuse to be comforted for the democratic victory of last November, and chief of these Is William Jennings Bryan,
 Harmon had 100000 majority in Ohio,
 Wilson 5000 in New Jersey, and Dix
 660o0 in New York, to say nothing of
 F'oss and Baldwin and Plaisted.
 Didn't I tell you years ago that the
 democratic party would triumph as soon
 as 1t again became democratic? And when Bryan abdicated, did 1t not again become democratic, and did 1t not tm-
 mediately triumph? All of you who read my stuff know that
 Bryan says the democratic victory was achieved under the leadership of men who are slaves to the interests" {"
 Of course he does not show the candor literally to so pronounce it. but everybody
 who knows how to read sees that in his
 comments on the election. MT. Bryan
 would cause a riot fin funeral process
 sid if he were not nominated to drive the house. and of course he will not allow
 a triumphal carnival if he is not chosen to drive the chariot. He fears the demo-
 cratic party will again go through a slaughter house into an open grave, to quote Marse Henry.
 f But let us see about that slaughter house and grave business, Watterson an- ticipated. The democracy went to vic tory when 1t was democratic in 1892. It
 went through the slaughter-house and
 dropped into an open grave when 1t
 turned populist in 1894. Now that Is
 history known of all men. When the party repudiated Cleveland and Carlisle and took up Bland and Bryan, 1t went
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-12-25
The Ameer's Nfxhtdress

The ruler of Afghanistan. Habibullah Khan. figures as a man of unconscious humor in Leaves From an Afghan scrap Book" by Ernest Thornton. an official of the British government.
 At the close of the Durbar held at Ka- bul in honor of the ameer's birthday in the summer of 1906 his majesty was miss ing for a brief period and then suddenly appeared. having changed his full uni- form of field marshal for dinner jacket, his only decoration being the pale blue order of St. Michael and St. George. We at once rose from our chairs, writes MT. Thornton, but with a wave of tho hand the ameer bade us be seated and, turning to me- remarked:
 T change clothes. I put nightdress on" I could hardly keep from smiling, and his majesty saw It. ..
 That not right?'' he asked.
 Not quite. your majesty,' I said. Evening dress is the proper name"
 Same thing, came time," said his majesty stoutly. "Nightdress. evening dresSy'
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-12-25

tact with one of the most earnest of mod ern scientific philanthropists, Graham Taylor of Chicago, Congregational min ister, a theological professor, but above all a dweller among the poorest of the people that he may understand and coun- sel them. He knows the bitterness of many hearts, and the horror of great darkness that enshrouds many lives in that great Babylon by the lake. The re- morselessness of life has so powerfully appealed to him that he has made it his business to tell the rest of men how the other half lives, and to aid the other half in the high and solemn duty of keeping sane in a most insane world. But his chief joy seems to be in the growing interest of educated men and women in those problems of poverty which, like waves on a rugged shore, forever crash through the mean streets and the sordid dwellings,. Hence he lectures to the the ological students, preparing them to be minister with wisdom for social crises as well as spiritual councillors. He also meets daily an interesting group of other students, chiefly women. in "school of philanthropy and civics," studying with them the growing literature of sociology, anu Sellu1Dg Inb1l Oll IcS uidl Ol mercy, like medical students to hospital clinics, where their knowledge may be tested and enlarged and put to practical use. He is one of the makers of the Sur vey Magazine.
 And this seems to be the one great outstanding lesson that modern students both learn and teach: that it Is not money, but friends the broken-hearteds over loaded sufferers most really need. Not money. but the fellowship of some clear, strong, wise, resourceful mind which can approach the tangle from outside, and straighten 1t by showing how it can be strengthened, by staying by, sympathetic, until the knot Is united and the travelled mass of confused misery is somehow strengthened, and the gray sky grows blue and sunny or at least, gleams of hope and courage quicken the poor home. Those students In philanthropy for the most part are
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-12-25

They kept coming, and Bob Seeds had to charge fee for telling how. He hired stenographer, but she couldn't keep up. Bob raised his fee.
 Finally he had to go on the lecture plat form, so insistent was the call. And when he delivered his lectures the farm CTS wanted to know more about his sys- tenn. So he had to write a book entitled How God Made the Soil Fertile"
 And Bob's wife cries no more on the doorstep, and she Is glad her husband did not migrate.
 Moral-Do not go seeking diamonds 1t the end of some long rainbow. Dig in your back yard.
 But have no pull"
 So said young man who was advised to apply at a certain place for job.
 Such expressions-all too common in our day-show that the habit of looking for special favors has become inwrought into the fabric of society.
 Looking for a pull is not only wrong In principle, but m most cases is fatal to success
 The clerk who presumes on the friend ship of the department head to enjoy lib- critics denied to others or to excuse lapses for which others are disciplined will soon-
The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-12-25

Nine times in ten there is string tied to such a preference.
 You are expected to return the favor.
 And when it comes to trading favors. one for another, what guaranty have you that you will receive more than you give The man who grants you your conces- sion is likely to ask of your civility two in return.
 You say you have no pull?
 Oh, yes, you have You have pull on your own strength and self will, on your own patience and persistence, on your own pluck and push.
 And when you pull that string the other end of it is not found in the hands of some other man.
 That is the pull that pulls.
 A teacher in one of the schools of big city made great effort to keep in order a boy Il years of age. son of wealthy society woman.
 She sent him home after a series of mis- demeanors, instructing him to tell his mother why he had been dismissed. The next day the lad was asked if he had told his mother.
 "No," he replied.
 "Why?" he was sharply asked
 ''Well, teacher" he replied, T haven't