davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-02-26

| Moreover, one American factory Is now producing from it's own formula a non-posonous variety, apart from the
 sort covered by the patent above referred
 to and in actual competition with the cheap, poisonous match.
 s. Is all plain sailing therefore? By no means. Up starts the defender of the constitution and says: What! You pro- pose to tax the poisonous matches in or der to prevent their manufacture? This
 Esch bill requires manufacturers of pois- onous matches to pay $950 a year more than the other matchmakers, besides pay ing 1 cent per 100 for the matches that are marketed. In other words. the tax is
 to be used to destroy the industry in pois- onous matches. Impossible Unconstitu- tional 1t interferes with the rights of states, and it employs the federal authori- ty of taxation for a purpose for which it was never designed.
 l am not a lawyer, but l humbly lay claim to a certain measure of common sense. And my common sense and com mon humanity desire to make one team. pulling in the same direction, not wild Mazeppa steeds, tearing my personal
 constitution limb from limb. It ap- pears to me even more necessary to have head and heart keep time than even to respect the sovereignty of any authority, state Or federal. Without this a man be- comes a mere fool-fgure, a person in sane, unfit for any duty soever, social, political, military or civil. For instance, if fellow mortal is drowning before the eyes of a crowd, and I have nothing with which to save him, but slken curtain
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-02-26

the union of the states and the emancl- patton, citizenship and enfranehisement of the negro. Piatt was of the school of Jefferson; Townsend is even more of a fanatic Hamiltonian than Gertrude Ath- erton, and his book on Hamilton, novel, versely extravagant than the lady's.
 After Townsend retired from the Capital, Piatt secured the services of A. c. Buel as associate editor, and if you would get some idea of the paper 1t was. read the passage in Balzac beginning: sHe that has been a newspaper man will ever be one," or words of that import. It was the most irreverent. impudent, ir- ritating brilliant, captivating paper n the world, and Ben Butterworth declared that it was as much of a democrat as d Sunday paper could get to be. It hated Sam Randall and assailed Sam Tilden be- cause Randall was for Tildens renomi- nation in 1880. Piatt returned to his farm near Cincinnati but wrote a weekly let ter for the Capital, and Buel remained in Washington and filled the first page with "A Review of the Week. and both the letter and the Review were holy terrors to every sham in public life and their name was then and is now legend in this town.
 Townsend, who wrote over the word Goth" then plunged into correspond ence, and I make no doubt that he was the most prolific writer our cloth has
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-02-26

gods of delay in whose honor many hu- man lives have been sacrificed through the years
 These, moreover, are not the only kinds of martyr 10 the same deviish trio of Jersu or earth-gods, worshipped by our American Shamanists. Hardly a week goes by in which somewhere a child does not die Tin great agony through eating the heads off handful of matches. Here is one case from South Bend, Ind, no longer ago than February 10, and report ed in the Tribune newspaper of that place and date: Through eating the heads of IS matches, Horace Greene Warner, 2-year-od son of MT. and Mrs. w. c. Warner, died Thursday of phos- phorus poisoning" The mother had left the child sleeping Q few minutes before room floor with the contents of box of matches strewn around him. Examination revealed IS matches with the heads partly or wholly chewed off. The series of three physicians and two nurses were vainly employed in an effort to save the boys life.
 In the hearing of the Esch bill before the Ways and Means committee, December 16 last Dr. Andrews gave details of Ii cases of infants killed by eating matches. and seven cases of attempted suicide and other crime by the same handy poison.
 Now there are several ways in which the legislative powers could be lined up for humanity in this land as in other lands in which civilization is passing out of the barbarc stage. It would be possi- ble CD to persuade the half hundred
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-02-26

1 Was the box stolen because of tho wealth of metal that nearly covered 1t? This is quite probable, for the return of l the box to America and to Philadelphia l in particular, was broadly advertised, and 1 it may be that thieves were awaiting it's arrival in New York and that one or more of them were among the stage pas- sengers. Then 1t is just as likely that the international treasure was not spe- cially the desire of the thieves. It was generally known that the chest at the back of the stage contained valuables, and probably they stole the chest not knowing what 1t contained of special value.
 If this latter supposition be true, 1t may be that, in some obscure house, between New York and Philadelphia, the box still exists, stripped long ago of it's costly or namentation and kept as an heirloom. This is not in the least impossible, nor, indeed, improbable. Unexpectedly have many long lost treasures been found where no one had reason to believe they were.
 For many centuries the original manu- script of the Magma Charta was lost to the world. The libraries were ransacked. and masses of ancient papers, books and manuscripts were diligently searched but it could not be found. It is hopelessly lost, said the antiquarans. Yet, in our own times. it was finally discovered in a tailor shop. the tailor cutting it up into tape measures to use in his business. Think of it. treasure of priceless value, being put to such uses. The Washington box may yet come to light. Should it do so, l cast my vote for placing it in one of the Washington glass cases in the Smithsonian institute, In Washington city.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-02-26

states and territories to pass a uniform law, forbdding the manufacture, impor- tation, or exportation of poisonous phos- phorus matches. That would probably take 90 years and still be possible" acnly in the opinion of optimists. Even then i. would need reinforcing by some sort of federal law or treaty, interstate and in- ternatioDal, to make the disjointed sec tions of it progressively secure. And in having their bones melt into filthy pus, more Bartolmey Plazas leave their lower jaws in the hospitals, more wives and husbands fill their homes with the foul stench of necrosis and their families with mute misery. as they are bandaged and rebandaged. ad nauseam: more little Horace Warmers paddle with baby fingers among the matches and suck the pretty viper-heads away, to be inwardly burned like rats and die "in awful agony
 Briefly, the men who promoted the Esch bill are philantropists; but they have se- cured the service and advice of capable lawyers and have acted in conference with the match manufactures. Neverthe- less there are certain constitutional questions which come up to prohibit the passing of the bill. The measure pro- vides that a tax be placed by Congress on all matches manufactured of white, or poisonous phosphorus. As things stand they may be summarized thus:
 1. A non-poisonous substitute for white or yellow phosphorus has been discovered and is in use in all other civilized match producing lands, though slightly more ex- nensiye
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-02-26
HEART TO HEART TALKS-By Ed,u;n A. Nye

1 for what he believes to be right He should have a mind of his own and l use it. | He need not be arrogant. Nor tyrannical He should highly regard the wishes | of his wife. even though she some times may seem to him to be capri cious whimsical. But kindness does
 not require subserviency or surrender of convictions. To say nothing of the unmanliness of it. a surrender of such sort may
 lead a wife to think very much less
 of her husband. Women always admire strength In
 men.
 If the man has strength of charac-
 ter a victory over him may seem worth
 while She who wins a weak husband to her way of thinking accounts the victory as worthy of no special cele- bra tion. A husband should always be kind to his wife--alwaYs. He should neither be a mere echo Of her wishes nor mere plaything of her desires. Marriage is partnership. Full partnership. mind you. Each partner is entitled to his or her convictions. and each must retain his or her individuality. moderated always by regard respect and courtesy to- ward the other partner He who would so far forget himself as to insist that his wife should merge
 her individuality into his. she who would demand that in matters of opin-
 ion she should dominate the personal .
 ity of her husband-these be tyrants and not partners.
 I clipped this from the "beauty' page of a Sunday newspapers
 "Wrinkles are caused by tired mus cles. They are more easily prevented than cured. To remain wrinkleless wom- an must live placid existence, free from all emotion
 Certainly. but
 I would be pleased to see the picture of the woman--except she be harem beauty or of the leisure rich--who is able to live placid existence free from emotion.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-02-26

ruinous financial panic, cruel industrial depression and pitiless commercial stag nation of 1873 that continued for six years, or until a return to specie resump- tion Redfeld unfortunately died young, ere he had attained to what should have been his physical prime and intellectual zenith.
 For many years I read Cath daily, and that an abundant wealth of informa- tion and suggestion were his wares. His diseursive style always fascinated and occasionally bewildered. He seemed to know everything and could give the source of his infornla ton. He appeared 10 know everybody an1 who was everybody's $ daddy and who everybody's mamma. He took captive his readers and for years he was the leading correspondent of thu to hear that his pen yielded him a com fortable estate, and pity 'tis that 1t is } fashion so few newspaper pens follow. "Then age and want. oh! ill-matched
 pairi
 Champ Clark says the greatest triumph the orator can achieve Is to extort ap- plause from those who disagree with his preachments. That is as may be: but cer- tainly the highest excellence attained by the newspaper writer Is to fix the atten- ton and command the admiration or the reader not in accord with his views. That
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-02-26

known Daily he wrote thousands Of
 words for newspapers, besides his steady stream of poetry. fiction and history.
 His physical strength must have been ex-
 traordinary and his industry ceaseless.
 James Gordon Bennett, the elder. is said to have been the inventor of "Washing-
 ton correspondenee.N The story, as l re- member to have read fl, was that Ben
 nett then "beggarly Scot, was nere
 for Ben Watson Webb's paper, and com ing upon "Walpoles Letters to Sir IIor- ace Mann" he deeoured them and set about writing similar gossip for the Cour-
 fer and Enquirer.
 boy in Barren county. Kentucky. I got
 hold of the Cincinnati Commercial. and "Mack'-Joseph B. Mcculough-was it's Washington correspondent. Later he made the St. Louis Globe-Democrat the very best newspaper in. America. His
 letters were simply delightful. He was an all around newspaper man. As editor- in-chief managing editor, newsgatherer and paragraphst combined, he was sim ply unrivaled. His theory was that the art of Journalism is to divine where nell will break loose next and have a man there to tell about it. Thus his journal istic genius was like the Confederate General Forests military genius: T al- ways gifts thar fust with the most men. When Mack left Washington to take
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-02-26

Now, considering that a great commer- cia1 company has, for humanitarian req sons, surrendered to the whole people . formula costing them s100,000, paving the way for federal prohibition of traffic in the poisonous product and making thereby an unprecedented record in the patent of- flee at Washington. Congress may surely be expected to follow with less unpre- cedented act, even by using it's taxing authority to save the innocent martyrs who are now victims of our quasi-cviliza- save Us from oleomargarine.
 I am aware that in commercial affairs like this, where great concern has come 10 be practically q trust, the room for deception is very great, the temptations to hoodwink the public and the legislator are very great indeed. But 1t must Dc borne in mind that the function of gov- ernment is primarily to prevent the great est wrongs, and then lesser wrongs in their due order. It Is surely more im- portant to prevent murder than to prevent fraud, more important to prevent the killing of many innocent people than even to prevent the enrichment of trust. It may be that the Esch bill could be twisted to the advantage of the trust and the disadvantage of the public. Even # that were so, is it not more urgent to pass the bih, with it's risks, and pay moro for our matches, than to go on killing tho innocent-men, women. children and babes? And if other people have stopped the slaughter of the innocents, shall America continue it, just for the honor of those JerSu- gods above named. Greed. and Quibble?
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-02-26

cord. ladys sash, or bell-rope, I am going to throw him that and haul him ashore, despite the laments of the lady that for which 1t was intended, and de- spite the fact that 1t is hers, not mine. So with Columbia's constitutional cords and sasres; there are hundreds of people, just as good as you and just as good as members of Congress or Presidents, who are being done to slow torture and death in a sea of phosphorus fumes. They are working for you and me. to give us ligh. and fire. They have adventured them selves into that sea of poison that we may have these convenienees, these nec- essaries. And they are rotting their bones there. Along the edges of that sea lie the writhing forms of children who will die because these others have there among the fumes, made and sold matches To change the figure, we can, with one stroke of the pen, abolish those poison- ous fumes. "Only," we say, this pen Is a Gold Pen, a Sacred Fountain Pen, a Constitutional Privilege Pen, and cannot be used in any such business. The only 'oi u Pch cNSI uotu III Suc0 luHdne GIL terprise IS the State Sovereignty Pen, which is most excellent article
 Now that is the kind of stuff that makes me despair of democrary. How can we get the people saved? How can the king- dom of love come into this sordid earth :? How can those who are now being mar tyred be snatched from their hellsh mis- cries? That surely is the supreme consti- tutional question which far antedates the late lamented gentlemen who framed our government for us.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-02-26

is genius, and Townsend discovered
 abundance of it.
 My humble self am an example. Born
 and reared democrat of the straitest
 Bourbon sect, nstinctively and by pre-
 cept jealous sof power. state as well as
 federal believing that our system is yet
 experimental and fearing that the re-
 public may yet degenerate Into q despot-
 ism. imperial or oligareh, yet I was fas-
 cinated with, captivated by, the writings
 of this man. who Is ten times more of a consolidationist than Alexander Hamil-
 ton or Thaddeus Stevens. Nor is that all. l am southern native
 and to the manner born-southern as the
 cotton plant. the okra-pod, the hoecake. Not only was Cath over-intolerant of my section, but he uttered contempt for
 and harbored hatred of my people; but
 1 read him diligently and pertinacieusly.
 and I now confess that l prohted greatly from his writings.
 But journalism is not what it was when Gath" was in his bloom. A new genera. ton, with new methods, is to the fore. l Gradgrind Is editor, and he wants current 1 facts and will have none else. Even 'the l row. Is thing that was, and there never again will appear a Mccullough, or . Piatt, Redfeld or a Cath | But Cath Is still spared to remind us 1 that the cloth was twice Twenty Years Ago"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-02-26

At night while the others spent their substance in riotous living in the sa
 looms of Pittsburg. Farrell went to night school. And he read every book about iron and steel he could lay his hands on.
 Some of the others found fault with his bookishness. and Farrell had to | fight to defend himself. l He could fight. He was Irish.
 By and by he was made foreman Of his gang. That called for more read ing-and fighting.
 When he was 23 he married, and when he was 25 he was superintend- ent
 ou say there is no romance in such { career?
 You can see only tale of sordd plodding, the prosaic struggles of a young Irishman.
 But wait Granted the boy sought only to sue ceed In making money, is there not | something between pathoS and heroism in the pitting of poor boys aspira- ton against the grim industrial forces l about him?
 Is there not something fine in his boyish purposes that held fast? l A New York newspaper says Several divorce suits recently were brought l tor peculiar reasons. The complainantS were wives who gave as chief reason that their hus- bands were too good, permitting them | to have their own. way at all times and seeking to gratify and not deny | their whims and caprices. Whereat l the newspaper asks: l Is the kind husband a failure? | Which depends. 1 It may be noted in the first place that these New York women are of the class of the leisure rich. Ordinarily wives do not bring divorce suits al- leging the exceeding kindness of their husbands. | Neverthele A husband may be so kind as to be- | tray a weakness of character. Some times he may best display real kind ness by opposing the wishes of his ] wife.
 A husband should always stand fast
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-02-26

1.-TWO weeks ago I ventured to tell q
 horrible story of suffering brought
 4 about by our use of matches man ufactured of white or yellow phosphorus. 'Phossy jaw is simply the decay of the bone, the loosening and loss of the teeth the poisoning of the blood by exuding pus, and in many instances the surgical removal of the jaw itself, made necessary by it's decay. Persons who breathe the fumes of the mixture into which the bit of wood is dipped to make what we call a match, persons who handle the matches for packing them-all persons indeed who are habitually in physical contact with the industry, are in imminent danger of this poisoning Most of the persons so exposed are women over Is years of age, and children, chiefly girls, though now and then a ghastly instance of mans martyrdom appears, as in the photograph before me of Bartolmey Plaza, who seems to have absolutely no shred of the bone left to his face below the level of the ears. He has just been photographed (February 12), and on that occasion he said: T have a good woman. She changed the bandages of my jaw every hour when it smelled so bad no one else would come near me-"
 Here then Is another martyr to civiliza- tion, as truly martyr as the poor woman whose story I told two weeks ago. Only inc martyrdom is real the "civilization' is not genuine. It is bastard variety demanding toll of lives today, not for ad- vancement, but for greed and for indf- ference and for theoretical bubbles, three
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-02-26

The terms of the will were duly ex- ecuted, and once more the box was de- posted within the walls of the castle of Lord Buchan But later his lordship af- firmed that the 'Liberty box should stand near the Liberty bell" So. again 1t was brought across the Atlantic. in the cabin of one of the old clippers, after a long and stormy voyage.
 It was received at New York. and placed within large iron-bound schest along with other precious parcels, to be delivered at Philadelphia. Before the stage coach started from New York for Philadelphia, the chest had been securely strapped in it's place. The two cities in those days were much farther apart than logged along for many weary hours, changing horses and drivers betimes Then too, there was much danger of meeting gentlemen of the road" besides, should the driver patronize too many bars en route, in that proportion was his coach imperiled. Then. too, at the va rious inns, passengers and driver would take their meals, leaving the coach to take care of itself. Therefore, the box that was started from New York never arrived at Philadelphia.
 Somewhere on the road the chest at the back of the stage coach was unstrapped and spirited away. The famous box was gone. Men were sent back to seek 1t. Every nook along the stage road and every depth of forest was searched; ev- cry inhabtant of the country along tho highway waS interrOgate1 and eVary SiiS- picious person ''shadowed." The loss of the box was advertised in the newspapers, and "watchmen'' were charged to exer- else double diligence; but the hox was gone as completely as if the earth had swallowed if
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-02-26

strange box was brought from it's con- cealment, and in the presence of his grave and heroic captains, ..the Bruce opened the box. It was found to contain the symbol of Scottish. liberty-the sa- cred regalia of Scotland. Bruce assumed the crown at once, for it was his by right of succession. The box had served it's
 purpose, and soon disappeared. But
 through the centuries it has been asso-
 ciated with the name of Wallace. in pa triotic song and story.
 ITS EVOLUTION.
 The fortunes of war are ever capri cious, and this was the case with the
 wars, and their fortunes, that the Scots
 fought for their liberty under the great Wallace Bannockburn was followed by the battle of Falllirk, with it's dire disas-
 ters to the Scots. This famous conflict occurred July g, 12ss. Sir John Graham
 and Sir John Stewart valiant Scottish leaders, were slain. Their graves may be seen today in the churchyard at Falkirk, about q miles north of Edinboro. Wal lace was overwhelmed at his loss. The god of war seemed set agalnst nm, ana, exhausted and dispirited he threw him.
 self under the shade of an old gnarled
 oak, wishing for himself that he might
 die Subsequently he was betrayed into
 the hands of the English. was tried for
 treason, was found guilty and paid the
 penalty of his offense with his life.
 The oak tree under which Wallace
 rested after the battle of Falkirk, from
 that day was regarded with sacred af-
 lection by all lovers of Scottish liberty
 and came to be called 'Sir William Wal
 lace's oak.
 THE BOX IN FACT.
 In the 18th century, when Scotland was aroused by Sir William Wallace to write
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-02-26

enshrfned in the dearest sentiments of the Scotch people. and associated with the principle of liberty. So dear to the heart of Lord Buchan. Something wrought out of the Wallace oak" was suggested. But what should it. be2 A sword? No; a wooden sword would be preposterous.3 Stay; Sir William Wallace bore the sacred box that contained the re- galia of Scotland.s What more appropri ate then, than box of wood from the very heart of the Wallace oak? It was so decided.
 The box was quite small. Being only 1 inches long, 3 inches deep and not more than inches wide. It was highly pol ished and massivey ornamented with precious metal There was within the box sterling silver plate. thus engraved:
 "Presented by the Goldsmths of Edn- burgh to David Stewart Erskine, Lord Buchan, with the Freedom of their Cor poration, by their Deacon, 1791.''
 Lord Buchan received it and called 1t a magnificent present.
 WASHINGTON AND THE BOX.
 Wallace and Washington are namss with which to conjure. They stand for the same great principles, at least, so thought Lord Buchan. With this estimate in mind Lord Bushan secured permission from the Goldsmiths guild to present the Wallace box to Gen.. George Washing ton, then president of the United States. Accordingly the box was transported to America, in the custody of Archibald Robertson, a portrait painter from Aber- deen He it was who painted Robert sons portrait of Washington.
 The box containing a request for Wash ington's portrait, and a note of explana ton, which, in part, read thus: II have intrusted this sheet, inclosed in a box made of the oak that sheltered our great