davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-05-21
MOTHERHOOD: A THEOGONY-By George Eaues, D.. D.

gospel consists largely in the fact that it's goal is the reproduction through the ages of Him of whom 1t tells, a race given to the cross, bewailed and comforted by it's mother.
 Such thoughts as these gather shape amid the observances of last Sunday, May IA, when so many deyout persons, for the third successive year, followed the suggestion of a. pious daughter of West Virginia in the solemn remem- brance each of his own mother. In Eu- rope alone the literature of Mothers Day. is now published in 10 languages. Thousands in scores of lands wore "the white flower of a blameless life," the white carnation, symbol thereof at least, and the governors of states is- sued instructions or suggestions for tho general use of. the day as Miss Jarvis its originator, planned. After only two years so widely has this thought been adopted!
 And thus we come steadily verging to- wards the purpose of the Patristic church in her growing adoration of the Virgin Mother the supreme example of mother hood, the one who stands before man kind as the supreme expression of the divine relationship and functions of motherhood to mankind. The stupid, the selfish, the slow of heart. were to be stirred to feel the magnificence of their mothers. Those who happily were awake to the music of mother-love wene invited to join the song, to give expression to primal instincts, to yield thanks to God for the sources of their hearts tender ness, to send greetings to mother, if she was still on earth, and in any event, with out morbid sentimentality, to again asso- ciate in thought and prayer with her who gave them birth and shelter and food ana comfort, when each one was yet, as that great sentimentalist, Tom Hood, puts it., "a little, sinless child"
 Again the irresistible tide of human mysticism tends to overwash our ecce- siastical boundaries and make us one as
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-05-21

lows and golds and browns graced such a tapestry.
 Day after day this cultured lady would go about her tasks-and be- lfeve me, she was not cruel in other things She painted cleverly and did some good things in oils and water colors. She was charitable and relieved much distress among the poor of her neighborhood. The beauties of litera- -ture had their insistent appeal for her and she was constantly surrounded by the best books of the past and her period. Well beloved by her people, she lived her life out In an air of culture, in sort of twilight peace. It Is good to remember her. Yet. seen in my minds eye, there fingers that other memory of rich velvet drapery and against 1t the bodies of butterflies some that quivcr. and some that are motionless as the drapery itself.
 Lily Czepanek's death began with her marriage to an old army officer, thrice her age She was coerced into marriage after his failure to destroy her another way; and the result of this mating of April and December was that she became an easy prey for younger men---the only difference be- tween whom and the colonel was their ages. And then-and then-she became the impaled butterfly--took her place on the black drapery and left it no more. The pin heidi! o but there was
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-05-21
WHO DESTROYED LILY CZEPANEK?-B A. B. Beane

talk of mine is unconventional-but must there be no unbiased talk of Sudermann's book) We write page after page of ap- preeiation of mere words-illicet bunglng and dangerous emotionalism like Cham bers' and Phillips-and yet strong man like Sudermann is called by those word critics. who should be the fair balancers of the age vulgar charlatanisn. dan gerously bad, vicious" mot to be al- lowed children" etc, etc. Neither should children be allowed to stumble in differ ential calculus when their minds grope in common fractions. It is enough to tarin their plastic minds to fit the pleas ant grooves of obedience-to know the simple rights and wrongs of childhood. But for us who finally fix opinions, who are active units for marrying or making concepts for this and for all times to come-shall we be hushed?-shau any man be hushed. who knows burning words that expose our hypocracies and inconsisten- cies to the white light of reason? Nothing can be dangerously bad or vicious either. that has for it's aim the
 uplift of men. And this case Sudermann presents Is intensely worth trying and probing to its last issue.
 | Who destroyed Lily Cxepanek?
 | Who pinioned the butterfly to the black
 drapery?
 Who transpIanted the girl and the but lterfly from tho light to he darknessf
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-05-21

TyHE word theogony goes back all
 most to the beginning of Greek
 \ literature, the poems of Hesiod, who told ..how the daughters of Zeus bore sons to mortals." It was his pur- pose to. supply an ordered history of the gods and demigods worshipped by his people, and he entitled the story "Theogonia.'' which means "the Be- getting of the Gods" Here, 700 years before Christ, was a dim but eloquent forecasting of the necessities under which humanity lies and a. melancho oly missing of the essential truth-ever hidden from the Greek, revealed only to the Jew-that 1t is not the daugh- ters of Zeus who must bear sons to mortals. but the daughters of mortals who must bear sons to Zeus.
 It will be replied that the Greeks recognized this transaction also. that 1t is an exaggeration to claim Jewish pre- confluence in adoration of mother hood But I think it will have to. be allowed that however close Greek comes to Hebrew in the end, they started with a quite diverse spiritual equip ment, the conception of the moral su- premacy of the Child through the Mother, strange and alien thought for the Greek. Thou shalt bruise his heel: He shall bruise thy head" Is the prophetic oracle for She serpent tempter. The Fallen Mother is to be saved in the Child. It is the very hu- manity of the Mother that makes the Jewish doctrine or Hebrew Theogony an anticipation of that divineness of mna after which our later positivists have climbed and clutched in vain.
 Hence I venture to call motherhood in the Bible Theogony, story of the begetting of gods For us Chris tans there Is one deathless picture etched by the Beloved Disciple, who was Mary's adopted son, making the spiritual reality eternally manifest, in his story of the Crucifixion: NOW, there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother" And the uniqueness of the
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-05-21

woman became insane. After an in- effectual attempt to kill her daughter, she died months afterwards in mad house. No sudden gracious death from knife wound was. reserved for Lily Czepanek, for in the scheme of things it was hey destiny to be destroyed in different fashion.
 With the mss. of wierd. sensuous opera, "The Song of Songs" the com position of her father. and her only worldly possession, she became a wage earner in library. Poor, did I say? Yes, but with a wealth of golden hair. great beauty of face and form, and an amiable disposition.
 knew lady once, of rare culture and refinement, who yet had one un- beautiful habit. And this habit, or fad, was to catch great wondrous- hued butterflies and impale them with pins against rich black background. It made rare mental drapery for her parlor remember. And in that somber place these sweet messengers of light went to their death slowly. slowly. Some times weeks would pass ana still if one looked closely enough, one could detect culver and stir in the tired wings. This lady had a passion for the beautiful, and I can recall the inn paling of no ordinary butterfly to that black background You with the art ist's eye can well fancy how rich yell
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-05-21

per cent. One day MT. Bone found hin- self minority stockholder in the proper ty of which he was the creator and with out ceremony he was deprived of all con- trol and his holdings left at the mercy of the majority.
 have before remarked the anomaly that this democratic community is with cut a. local paper to reflect it's political opinions. I don't mean an "organ' in the elder day sense. Such a paper would be hopeless failure anywhere. But there is great field in Washington for first class independent newspaper with pro- nounced democratic leaning and with no ax to grind-one free from sycophancy. or cant, one that can keep it's backbone erect in the presence of the President himself; one that sees Congress as 1t Is and paints 1t as 1t sees it. one absolutely divorced from the city government and the public utilities of the town. Tn short, one with the ken to know the truth and with the courage to speak the truth, and with the honesty to do the truth.
 Three things are needed-money, brains and character. Never was there more inviting field for him who has the capaci- ty and the will to serve his country.
 Scott Bone's fingers are black with printers ink The passage from Balzac, with which I began this letter, applies to him precisely, and soon we may expect to see him re-enter the field where he played so great and so brilliant part and for which he is so amply fitted by training and by inclination.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-05-21
SCOTT c. BONE-By Savoyard

1t would have entered the arena and con- tended with Thor and his hammer.
 But the newspaper came to supplant the pamphlet. though not till after the time of Forney, long after. Perhaps the first newspaper Washington had was The Post, conducted by Stilson Hutchins. It was independent in politics with democratic leanings. but it was a newspaper. and that was something new in this town.
 In 1888 William Henry Smith of the Associated Press obtained an option for the purchase of The Post and he put it in the hands of his son Deievsn Smith, who chose for managing editor James Halford of Indianapolis, who engaged Scott Bone for news editor. After a few months Smith surrendered his option and acquired The Indianapolis News, which under the management of Delevan Smith, 1t became the equal of anysnewspaper in America. Read It's editorial page if you would know what a newspaper ought to be.
 Upon the retirement of Smith, Beriah Wilkins a former democratic congress- man from Ohio, and Frank Hattan, who had been postmaster general in President Arthurs cabinet, bought The Post. Hat tan had gained national reputation as editor of The Burlington. Hawkeye and was a capital newspaper man. both as writer and executive. He continued MT. Bone news editor and under their management The Post became one of the leading newspapers of the country
 Upon the death of Battan, in 1894, Bone
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-05-21

ence lies herein, the diamond is car bon crystalized It Is a bit of carbon upon which God has worked for it's perfecting throughout many ages. It illustrates how the Creator can bring light out of darkness.
 I once saw the Kohinoor, or "moun- tain of light" among the crown jewels of Great Britain. This marvellous stone was found in Galconda before the Christian era, but up to the year 1S49 it was held by pagans in India. At the battle of Delhi it fell into the hands of the British soldiers, who presented it to Queen Victoria. Commercially 1t is worth about $500, ,000. The Orloff diamond blazes among the crown Jewels of Russia. In the ages far distant it temple. It is said to have been stolen from the head of the idol. It was brought to Queen Catherine of Russia by Creek merchant. She paid $45o.- 900 in spot cash for the stone, and as long as the Greek merchant lived paid an additional s20,O0O annually. The Regent diamond, placed by Napoleon in the hilt of the French sword of state, was valued at $1,000,000. I do not know what has become of the .'Braganza" diamond, belonging to crown of Portugal. since that unhappy nation has passed through it's recent revolution. It was one of the world s famous stones and worth a fabulous sum. Among other stones of unspeak- able value in the history of kings and nations, were the "Sancy'' and the Star of the South." the former belong ing to Henry " of England.
 It is not every diamond that Is color, less. Some are tinted with yellow, pink, rose and green, while in one celebrated collection there is a blue diamond. If the reader has visited the Greenvault, in Dresden he was amazed, as I was, by the wilderness of dazzling diamonds on every hand. They constitute the collec- tions of Saxon kings through the cen- turies. The vast wealth compassed by the old stone walls is beyond computation. Here one may see the world-famous green diamond. It weighs less than 40 carats and might be taken for an emerald
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-05-21
Y ERMANN SUDERMANN stripped
 human soul in "The Song of 4 Songs," whatever else he did.

II ERMANN SUDERMANN stripped II a human soul in "The Song of 4 Songs." whatever else he did. It is a Rabelaisan, Swin burneistic Ib- senesque, if you can fancy that com posite-you who have either not read 1t, or who cast 1t aside or burnt it after Lily became enrolled with the stunned. And the book Is something more than that. It is a terrible ar raigpment of that portion of society whose tendency 1t is to make cesspools of crystal running water--that society which would rather break and shatter blossoms than know the sweetness and joy of their. bloom.
 Lily was the offspring of half-mad musician, himself temperamental to a dangerous degree. and foolish cling ing woman who loved him overwell. In spite of her miserable beginnings, this daughter developed into clean and strong young womanhood. Her father, though of vicious passions, had still the musicianly. temperament-too vici- ous, too temperamental, one may guess. to long endure respectability. His ul- innate assertion of the wife, a weak though fond creature, seemed the naural result of such union. The assertion would be for only while, the wife be- lieved when he would return. After long waiting and watching, and no word from Czepanek. the wretched
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-05-21

after James Gordon Bennett the elder taught that the mission of the daily pa- per was to be history of yesterday. Gales and seaton contending against Blair and Kendall did not seem to know what news was and they appeared to care as little for 1t as they had knowledge of it. They got their news of what was going on in Congress from the New York Her. aid that came by stage coach; but their editorial pages would have been a credit to HaAitt himself. It was their mission to convict. to convince and to persuade. Their publications were pamphlets, pow erful in the field of political disputation, and even our great newspapers of today would be better for a more or less liberal infusion of the pamphlet of that elder |day.
 They were of the race of Shenken-the Journalists of the first half of the last century. They said nothing to the wind: they wrote not upon the sand, nor did they strive to conquer truth with fattery, if I may borrow a simile from a great English poet Of them 1t was not writ: willing to wound. and yet afraid to strike"
 They were not very meek set, not very tolerant. They were terribly in earn est and they were exemplars of Thomas Jeffersons conception of free press that would not fiatter Neptune for his trident. Perhaps 1t was brutal, but it was not base It was cruel, but not cowardly. It believed something and with a hazel wand
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-05-21

took exclusive control of the editorial de- partment and directed It's policies. Every department was under his vigilant scru- tiny and daily the paper grew in popular favor and in political influence. It was a clean paper and some of it's features as original as they were popular. For ten years Scott Bone was among the leading newspaper men of America. He was a writer as well as an executive, and while in full control it is related that he fre- quently turned in to the city editor three line paragraphs of local news that came under his personal observation. He was a pews man to the marrow. and brilliant editorial writer also
 About 1906 or 1907 MT. John R. Mclean acquired ownership of The Post and Mir. Bone resigned his position. Two or three years later he founded The Washington Herald. of which he made a wonderful newspaper, when the facilities at his com mand were taken into account. The pub lie, reading and advertising, seemed to realize that 1t Is not promotive of the pub lie veal to have the newspaper field dom mated by a monopoly and especially so IT that monopoly nau pfiVdte lrterests to subserve. It is most difficult under taking to establish a newspaper from the beginning. It requires both brains ana capital and plenty of both, also genius; but Washington was an inviting field then as now, and Bone undertook it. Whether or not the venture would have proved al together successful we shall perhaps never know.
 We have fallen on times in business America when 51 per cent is equal to 100
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-05-21
The Muck-Rakers' Delight

From Leslies.
 Refusing to protect men and women from a dreadful malady occasioned in the manufacture of matches. because forsooth, the so-called match trust'' might be benefited by such Legislation. the muck -rakers succeeded in defeating the measure urged by President Taft, prohibiting the use of white phosphorus. An investigation had already been made revealing cases of horrible disigure- ment among factory operatives. known as necrosis of the jaw, due to the use of white phosphorus, and the use of some harmless substitute had been urged by the investigators. On such a method the Diamond Match company secured a patent, but in the interests of humanity conveyed the patent ir trust to certain government officials, whom the Diamond company authorized to permit its use under such regulations as they might deem sufficient
 Now comes the muck -raker. The President had urged a law which would prevent the use of the dangerous white phosphorus but the muck rakers, al- leging that such restriction might in some way benefit the match trust--no one knows how--turned 1t down. ands disregarding the fact that thorough investigation had already been com pleted, Congress now orders another in- quiry into the unhealthful evils conn rlained of. and. further directs the President to ascertain wh ether the match industry is controlled by any combination or trust beyond the point of free and reasonable competition in trade" Meanwhile small match fac tories are at entire liberty to continue the use of white phosphorus, causing diS6Rlramanf n of their operatives. The muck -rakers will find 1t impossible to justify their action and deserve the contempt with which an indignant public regards their action not only in this. but in many oth- CT matterA
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-05-21

pavement or lolls on the judges cush- toned seat? The boy must be healthy. And is it enough, O mother, that he should be at ease, sleek, fat, piggish, as though his mother were no better than g. he remembers his divine lineage. and wins the well done" of the Voice that speaks in his soul?
 Darwinlan evolution made little account of ideals. gave little consideration to the mothers, but supplied the grim phil osophy of individualism with a watch word: Struggle for existence that the fttest may survive.'
 Closer study gives room. as Drummond put 1t, for a nobler watchword even for consistent evolutionists, a Struggle for the life of others" going on through the ages The story of the past tells of gen. erous courage being evolved through pa- rental love, of the birth of tribal loy- alty, of lovetand sacrifice helping in the evolution of earliest man And within the confines of actual history stands Mary, emblem of the Jewish nation and of motherhood, the mother heart. In all mankind She shows us more than evo- lution ever could. Because she cannot shake off the conviction that her son is Son of God she will follow him to the cross and bleed with him there An in- finite ambition touches and inspires her.
 Precisely that is the instinctive sense of every mother heart. To her her child is alone unique not more the son of his father than the Gift of God, Son of the Highest, born to do heroic deeds and save his people. By their mothers Wash ington, Caesar, Moses, came to their con- sciousness as children of Destiny, heaven born. From the weak and faulty yearn-
 nRs of the motherhoodeof the race. hnd- led by divine impulses, spring the dreams and achievements of mankind. And
 though we be not named the Grachi, but
 only Smith. or Schmidt, in our blood, too is an oracle that must not be neglected
 that we also are here in fulfillment of a mothers dream.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-05-21

Young Bone continued to write for the papers and his communications appeared in the leading journals of Indianapolis and Cincinnati. Sooner or later nearly every one gets into the walk for which nature best fits him. The divinity that shapes our ends takes care of that. Scott Bone would have made an able lawyer; he would have been a successful politician; he would have taken high rank in the world of business, any one of its numer- ous branches; but he was best fitted for Journalism, and newspaper man he was and is
 Ere he had emerged from his teens he was in Indianapolis, where he sounded the entire gamut of repertorial work, from
 cub" to political writer. He was city editor of The Times, and later he went with Shoemaker of The Sentinel, and be- came political reporter for that paper, and thus he made acquaintance with the lead- ing politicians of Indiana-Harrison, Hen dricks, Voorhees,, Mcdonald, New and the rest He was democrat, but no blind partisan-one who could see the faults of
 his own party and one not blind to the ex- cellencies in the opposing party. In 1884 he went to the Indianapolis News, then as now the leading paper of the state, and here he made rapid strides, doing all sorts of work and discovering those admirable executive qualities that later were to become so conspicuous in an- other and a wider field.
 l For nearly four-score years the journal ism of the national capital was distinctive | ly polemic, and such 1t remained long
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-05-21

the divine word for the race It was so with Mary. God was committed to her. Apart from all disputes, this is clearly true: That the inmost secrets of her personality were laid bare to the Holy Spirit, and that through such intimacy with God she was able to communicate God to mankind. do not care to miti- gate the miracle. Its daily repetition Is the miracle of nature and humanity. I am aware of the ease with which many minds choose to gnaw the shell of the miracle and quite lose it's contents. Blind, blind, blindl The hosts of the orthodox, who repeat, often without consideration, the august and tremendous confession, "I believe in Jesus Christ, His Son, born of the Virgin Mary are they not blind?" The others who, with shallow sophistry, reject that confession because they cannot relate 1t to their own lives, are not they also hlind?
 Do we not know in fact that woman hood in every nation has been divinely designated to be in touch with the spiritual powers? Her conservation to pain, to burden bearing, to the intuitional
 tad primal realities whether in the ca pacity of squaw or queen, is precisely the essence of her sex-life. This is only an- other way of saying that just as Jesus came through a woman, to be the utter ance of creative thought, so it must be through the ministry of woman that every masculine soul shall discover itself and begin to make known the hidden word.
 Woman, in the worlds language and ex- perience is the symbol of life. She stands for human life, the life not of the animal but of the child. She Is first nurse or nourisher, first conveyancer of life. Not in physical sense chiefly, as we so ab- surdly. stupidy think. but all along the line, that which is vitally best for boy and girl it is her mission to give.
 Tigress, she-bear, lioness, nay the lit tie sparrow hen, guards its young. l have seen two mocking birds engage in