davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-03-13
ORGANIZED CHARITY IN 1909

From the Survey.
 The Methodists of New York city over 100 years ago started their first or ganized charity. The record of this early venture is preserved in a volume in the library of the Methodist Histori- cal society. On November 12, 1908, at meeting held in the school at Worth and Hudson streets, the Assistance so- ciety for relieving and advising sick and poor persons in the city of New York was organized. At first there were four, then five and six, till finally the number became seven. These were called walks.
 In S09 the distribution of food, cloth ing and fuel began. Catharine Graham of S1 Church street, to whom $1 was given, was the first to be aided Dur ing the war of 1912 the society pur- chased soup tickets from the Humane society" at $3 per 100, and distributed 80 loads of wood. In December, 1872 3499 suffering individuals" were helped and the total for the first four years was 2S,0O0
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-03-13
THAT FIRST TIME ON THE STAGE

1 that trembling nervousness, that evil
 dent desire to be in any place other
 than where he is. But the lines must
 be spoken. Ah that exacting necessity,
 that disconcerting knowledge!
 You are an orphan, am told'-it is
 the cue for the young mans story ot
 his life. That full jury out in front
 Is waiting for the reply, which should
 come in an outburst of prideful self
 possession.
 Yes, sir" The voice is lost in the
 nervous chaos of the mind. "Yes, sir
 little stronger, this time. My father l is but memory; my mo- m-mother died
 when she was 10 years old" A fateful pause; faint filters from the front. But,
 dreadful epoch in his life, the young
 man grapples for the elusive lines; he corrects himself; he halts; the prompter in the wings is whispering Choctaw but words-words must come, An, now he has theml He speaks out with con- lvincing earnestness and a desperation due to his dire case. q mean to say II meant to say"-another pause-T died when my mother was 10 years old and I am now-I mean I was--' The audience back of that dazzling
 row of lights rocks and roars at him in hideous, dreamlike confusion. What
 has he said? He has no recollection,
 not the least idea; his knees are putty;
 his mind is perfect blank. The ex- perienced butler" who for years has brought on empty tea-cups and said,
 Yes, my lady" or The carraige waits" comes in to save the situation and af-
 ford distraction. The old man is forced to an impromptu monologue, and the lines that should have been spoken were simply these: My mother died
 when l was 10 years old" Simple, isn't lit?
 Few amateurs whose first apepar ances are greeted with this survive to play again. In the humiliation of their lrecoflections their ambitions sink to rise no more; but the memory of their deeds Is kept green forever. 'Remem- Der the time, old chap, when you play ed Gaston?' is sufficient to send chills of horror coursing down the swords mans spine.
 Most final performances of theatri- calls are in the same shape as the first professional dress rehearsal, and no one feels this more strongly than the participants themselves But to those who love it there is pleasure even in the labor-the social side of rehearsing, the relief from workaday life and the humdrum existence, that is a joy to remember, part payment for the houw spent in what stern paterfamilias oft en calls stuff and nonsense" Some times, the day after the performance, if criticisms of it have found their way
 into the press, there Is the feversh hunt for good notices or criticisms; there are heartburnings and elation, and in this again the amateurs touch elbows with their brothers or sisters who work for hire.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-03-13
PLAYS OF THE SEASON

In his summary of the seasons plays, William Winter, writing in the current issue of Harper's Weekly, denounces a widely prevalent misconception. The false doctrine has long been preached" he writes, that scarcely any drama of importance has been produced that does not depend upon the sex relation meaning drama that specifically ex- ploits sexual relations, generally illicit. That puerile, unwarranted doctrine has again, and recently, been proclaimed by a prominent theatrical journal, in the declaration that there has been lit- tie of great interest or value, in many generations of drama, apart from the rosily romantic or the fairy story that did not relate to the vital contact of the sexes That assumption entirely ignores many of the best dramas in ey- cry period"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-03-13
The Stock Market

Henry Clews in his Saturday review says in part
 ''The New York stock market appears beset with unfavorable influences. Follow ing the decision of the. Interstate com nerce commission against the railroads came the call of President Taft for the special session of Congress, which will not only pass the reciprocity bill, but take up the question of tariff revision. Then came the Mexican difficulty and the re- duction of New York Centrals dividend, accompanied by rumors that dividend re- auctions by other roads may follow. Railroad managers freely expressed their disappointment at the rate decision. hence retrenchment is now the feature of the day among most of the great transpor- tation companies. A still further disap- pointing feature was the continued in- crease of an already excessive copper supply, as shown in the official monthly statement.
 Tt must be admitted that the market has withstood such adverse influences with surprising frniness. These success
 sive shocks affected values but slightly and any declines that occurred were quick | ly succeeded by almost equal recoveries While there has been a lack of activity there has on the other hand been g
 steadily growing undertone of confidence
 explained partly by the fact that weak spots have been thoroughly eliminated and that there is no weak speculative ele'
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-03-13
Parcels Post Killed

Way back in the first month of the short session Senator Burnham of New Hampshire introduced bill pro- viding "That for one year, begin ming April 1, 1911, the Postmaster General may, under such regulations as he shall prescribe, authorize post masters and carriers on such rural routes as he shall select to accept for delivery by carrier on the route on which mailed, etc., at such rates of postage as he shall determine, pack ages not exceeding eleven pounds in weight containing no mail matter of the first-class and no matter that is declared by law to be unmailable, and he shall report to Congress at it's next session the result of this experi- ment.'
 The substance of this bill was later incorporated in the general postof- flee appropriation bill, and it went along swimmingly until it reached the senate where it was stricken out. It met in the Senate the special in
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-03-13
ST. LOUIS VERB EXPLAINED
From the St. Louis Dispatch.

from the St. LOUIS fOSt-D1Spatch.
 If the St. Louis police department is sufficiently interested to pay attention to a point in philology, 1t may learn something of great interest to itself and the community.
 The point is expressed by the new active. transitive verb, "to gang" In getting at the root through the late Prof Max Mueller's list, the police will find that 1t comes from the Sanskrit ga through go, gehen, gingen and gang" The gang" as organized in St. Louis is noun substantive. It Is so substantial, as a fact, that when 1t makes its combined rush on victim, he may be left senseless. On recover ing, after such rush, the latest vic- tim has enriched St. Louis English with the active transitive verb ito gang" now under consideration.
 They ganged me-" he said as he re- covered consciousness. The explana- ganized existence and continued activity of the Bottoms gang" and other gangs
 whose rushes leave their victims Jn- conscious. temporarily or permanently 1 The new verb was badly needed4 to represent conditions. As it has A len explained now back to its ancientf fand modern roots, the only way wei can
 get rid of 1t is by the police tion which will root out the gangs.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-03-13

James Barnes in the Century Maga- zine.
 <<Low is it going, old chap?
 asked an excited amateur as A he stood in the wings after his first exit-"how is 1t going?"
 "Splendidw returned the prompter, sarcastically. No one has yet spoken a line that is in the bookr'
 The actor scratched his head, or, bet ter. his wig, his enthusiasm undam- pened. We are bit fluffy" he re- ing great time. Oh, if we'd only had three more rehearsals.'
 He was enjoying himself, so was the rest of the cast, and so, apparently, was the audience. And this enjoyment is the why and wherefore of amateur the atricals, and the only reason for the existence of the amateur before the footlights.
 Some cynic once remarked that mo woman looks fool upon the stage, but every man does" A scathing statement this, but applied to the amateur it often has more than a modicum of truth l perience than the average actress to enable him to appear at home and to speak lines naturally under artificial surroundings and set limitations; and specially Is this true of those who ap- pear for pleasure only. A society girl with an attractive extertor pleasant voice, and that indefinable quality |called temperament" after very short training appears well and pro- duces effects with an ease that Is denied the other sex. Says another cynic, in Ia possible explanations Most women are acting half their time" This may be true where social conditions force them to be constantly on guard. Most men are bad dissemblers. They lack the essential subtleties; hence they lack more often the convincing power; in theatrical parlance, they fail to get it over"
 Wonderful are the opportunities for unpremeditated amusement that the av- craze unskilled amateur possesses! Trembling for the first time before the footlight. feeling all hands and feet, the absolute blankness of forgotten lines chilling his very soul, even the kindliest of audiences has risen at him, bursting into roars of laughter and rap turous applause, ignorant of the actors suffering, regardless of his shattered nerves.
 The scene-a library. The stern par ent Is seated before the fire; the aspir- ant for his daughters hand approaches for the first momentous interview. He is "a self-made young man, bound to carve his way" so the book reads (and, be it mentioned. 1t Is his debut before the footlights). The old man (who has played hundred parts) greets his en- trance with a scowling scrutiny; the applicants perturbation is not at all assumed. No actors art could simulate
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-03-13

terests in their stronghold and it was defeated.
 But this is no loss. Such experi- menting as Senator Burnham pro- posed is uncalled for. Some countries have had parcels post century and the system is profitable and useful wherever it has been adopted. It is coming in this country despite the four big express companies and the senators that they control. It is one of those popular efforts that are in variably achieved after long course of agitation. The express companies will conform to the inevitable and then we will have a real parcels post and the country will wonder why it did not adopt the plan at least fifty years sooner.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-03-13
TRTsTRAM Rowrnu

By Algernon Charles SWinburne And while they sat at speech as at Came a, light Isa wind fast'h<rd.plpx forth And blackening till its mitht had
 marred the skies:
 And the sea thrilled as. with heart sun
 dering signs One after one drawn. with each breath
 1t drew,
 face. Then 1'ristram glrt him fer an oars.
 mans place
 And took his oar and smote. and toiled
 with might
 In the east winds full face and the
 strong seas spite . Laboring; and all all the rowers rowsd More nightly than any weafied three. And Iseult watched him rowing with
 sinless eyes Ff x-&tF That loved him in holy girlisk wise For noble joy in his fair manliness And trust and tender wonder; none the She thought if God had given her grace Man. and make war on danger of earth Even such . man she would ss; for
 his stroke a.st{;s7fr Was the mightiest as the misltysw water
 broke, sl. And in sheer measure like strong music
 .drave r5aLHa4l Clean through the wet weightEo the
 wollowing wave, s.tsia And as a tune before a greet king
 played Hff' For triumph was the tune their strong
 strokes made,
 And sped the ship. through with smooth strife of cars X Over the m;d-sca's gray xVsmrpaven floors For all the loud breach of the waves at will. fitf VI 4N So for an hour they fought the storm out still, sf < And the shorn foam spun from the blades, and high The keel sprang from the wave-ridgs and the sky Gfarcd at them for breaths [. space
 through the rain. s. ssys..,f,
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-03-13
REFLECTIONS OF A BACHELOR

From the New York Press
 There's a perpetual resurrection for family skeletons.
 A great man has to listen to no end of advice from little men.
 A woman knows how much man loves her by how much she wants him to.
 A politician seems never to be ashamed of himself but maybe he wishes he could be.
 The more you hammer a strong man the stouter he is; the more you coddle a weak man the softer he is.
 Charity begins at home. but honey. moons end there.
 A man would make great hit witt his own wife by trying to elope with her.
 You can hate a man more for achiev. ing honor that for committing a crime Any woman whi knows how to be sue cessful with men knows better than tt !let them know she does. About the easiest thing is for mar to ask his wife to wear a certain. thins for him, but the fool never thinks of 1t
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-03-13
Apportionment Is Not Shelved

The Crumpacker bill will no doubt be repassed in the extra session, al- though some senators do not like to give the democratic legislature of New York, for example, the power to undo the republican gerrymander of that state. This gerrymander is one of the worst and 1t has stood twenty years. The republicans part with it reluctantly.
 The legislature of Alabama will soon have the task of state appor- tionment in hand, and ten districts are to be formed here instead of nine. Jefferson county's surplus can not we'll be placed. The apportion- ment unit is 210,000, and Jefferson county held last April 226,000 peo- pie. A population of 175,000 in a county that grows as Jefferson does would not be an unreasonable basis to begin with, but perhaps it would be more satisfactory to let Jefferson jog along as a congressional district undivided and intact.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-03-13
What cannot be eschewed must oe embraced. ,,..
New York's New Theatre

The fOunQefS Ol tiio 4NS"
 sn New York have made an announce ment to the effect that they will not abandon their playhouse, but VIII proceed to build a new one-a ne" New theatre, better suited to the nroduction of standard dramas than the present building. Productions such as the "Bluebird," and the "Piper. would undoubtedly have filled the theatre for the entire sea- son they say, but they have been sunwilling to limit the performances to plays of that class, meritorlous as they are, because the aims of the en- terprise and the class of box owners and subscribers have called for a wider range of productions. The statement continues that although durinp the two seasons now closing the New Theatre has been more llb- erally supported than any other the atre in New York devoted exclusive ly to dramatic productions, the tound- CTS have been compelled to reach conclusion adverse to the continued use of the present building as the home of the enterprise.
 The founders firmly maintain their belief in the mission and purpose of the New theatre. It is the hope of the founders that in cooperation with the Metropolitan Opera com pany the present New theatre build ing will eventually become the home for the production of such operas as require for their most effective pre- sentation a smaller auditorium than the Metropolitan opera house.
 The New theatre was designed by a leading theatrical expert, but after the building was completed 1t was 1OunQ to De unSuitSu III many " spects to the production by stock company of a repertory of modern and classical plays chosen primarily for their artistic merit.
 It has not been many years since discriminating theatre-goers almost despaired of reforming the stage or in any large degree elevating it. Shakespeare and standard comedies of literary quality were being sup planted by trivial comedies full of horse play. But the state as an edu- cative influence must always be reckoned with, and there will be suf- ficient demand on the part of thoughtful people to make New theatre worth while, and the an. nouncement of the founders of the New York institution is at once com mendable and encouraging. Their high purposes have been already ap- preciated, and when they erect the New Theatre patronage will doubt less be ample to make the plays pre- scented profitable financially as well as morally. The old antagonism of some of the churches to the stage has practically passed away. There are few church members indeed who do not go occasionally to see a good play and feel the better for it.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-03-13
Considered From Welfare Side

q have but one regret in my visit to Corey-that cannot stay longer and study out the proposition that is pre- sented in this model industrial city, said Dr. Samuel McCune Lindsay, vice chairman of the National Child Labor committee, director of the School of rhilanthrophy of New York and profes- sor of social legislation in Columbia uni versity, New York, who has been in Bir- mingham several days in attendance on the Child Labor convention.
 q am deeply interested in town plan ming and have made that a study for years. I visited Essen. Germany, mum Der of years ago and saw the plans in use in that city. There, however, the company owns all the property and rents or leases to the workmen. The latter have nothing of their own. It differs from Corey largely in that respect. for the men of Essen cannot look forward to ownership and the accompanying feeling of proprietorship.
 T admire the farsighted views that are evidenced at Corey, the wide streets and
  which show me that Corey has not been planned for today only, but for 25 years to come.
 Tn one sense the work at Corey is philanthropic, for it has a tendency to build up and better the condition of peo- pie. The most significant feature of Corey to me is that you are showing people by the use of brains how to help themselves and to stand on their own feet You are not only putting money into the undertaking, but you are putting braiV, and brains are after all more necessary in such an undertaking than mere money. Of course money has to be available to perfect such plant as there is at Corey, but money without brains would not accomplish what is being ac- complished there.
 "The Corey plan Is sound and valuable, primarily because it affords men an op- portunity to help themselves. It is dem- ocratic because 1t looks to the men who live there governing themselves. You ex- pect to sell to the men at Corey and lei them work out their own ideas, first giv- ing them the opportunity to do so and placing the necessary equipment in their hands.
 "Such surroundings as are found al Corey raise the standard of living, and whatever raises the standard of living benefits the human race. It has direct valuable effect on the child labor prob lem, for whenever you raise the stan dards of living you provide ideals fol the father and mother, and ideals ant child labor cannot go hand in hand ir the same house. AS soon as man get: into good home, with pleasant surround ings, modern conveniences, etc., he want! his child to be educated instead of being placed in the mills to work. In that wa, Corey has a strong influence on the chilt labor movement If we had such mode surroundings all over the country ther' would be no need for child labor move ment.'
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-03-13
rENNYsoN,s FRIEND HALLAM

From Sir Francis Doyle's "Reminiscences
 And now what shall I say of Arthur Hallam? have been somewhat taken by surprise, though perhaps without sufficient cause, to find how much of his memory has ceased to exist for the younger men who sway at the present time. He had remained so vividly be- fore all of us, first as the most charm ing and perhaps the most promising of our contemporaries, and, secondly, as the hero of the great poem, Tn Memo one. But a poem is one thing, the man in whose honor it is written quite another. We now read "Lycidas' without taking any great in terest in MT. King, and those who come after us may go on admiring Tennyson's verses without dwelling much on the image of Tennyson's s friend.
 He was the eldest son of the well known historian Henry Hallam, and he died suddenly when about one and twenty. His death was a very sad one and he left behind it in many hearts a sorrow not to be put aside. A son of MT. Tennyson, though born many years after he had left us, has been called Hallam and s@son of mine has been called Arthur. It seemed as if neither he nor I could bear to let the name pass quite away from us, and have no douht that the same thing has happened in many other families as he was regarded by all who knew him with unusual affection. '
 Well all of us, even MT. Gladstone, think, felt whilst conyersing with him that we were in the presence of a larger piofounder and more thoughtful mind than anyone of us could claim for himself.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-03-13
AMERICANS "EASYo FOR PARIS

From the Washington Post.
 Tt has always been mystery to mo why Americans who visit Paris allow themselves to be imposed upon by Paris shopkeepers,' said L. F. Newland, q New York lawyer. who has spent 15 years as government agent in the French capital, at the Willard. For some unaccountable reason they believe than in any other city in the world, when. as a matter of fact, just as good articles can be purchased in the stores of this country at much less cost
 T have known women who have com plained to French milliners that the price asked for hats was too low Ap- parently they believed that the hats offered them were not expensive enough to, be good, and the same shopkeepers have simply turned to another lot of inferior goods and priced them at a higher figure than the ones offered in the first instance. The strange part about 1t is that the American women have taken for granted that the higher price indicated a superior article. If they were to live in Paris as long as I have, they would find that the Parisans are past masters in the art of stick ing tourists.
 Every year the number of Americans visiting Paris Is increasing. Cheaper passage on the big steamship lines doubtless has had much to do with this. and while some years ago only per sons of wealth could afford to spend a season in Europe, now all classes of men and women are numbered among the tourists. American merchants, clerks, and mechanics are seen as fre- quently in the streets of Paris as capi-
 talists and other men of wealth were a few years ago, but they all look alike
 to the Parisians, and the moment a
 visitor is tabled as American he is
 made the victim of exorbitant prices
 It Is true that the price of living in
 Paris has increased considerably in the
 last five years, and many attribute the
 increase to the extravaganza of the
 American visitor. who has broken ur
 the standard scale of tips so long main tained by the French people,"