davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-11-17

than there are children to be adopted. Why is it then that in so few instances the homeless child and the childless home are brought together? The explanation is sitting process applied to applicants and children alike.
 The investigations begin with the child. First an extensive search is made to learn whether or not 1t has relatives of any reasonable degree of nearness who are financially able or morally ft'' to assume responsibility for it's care.
 Next Its parentage Is traced if it is pos sible The progeny of degenerates, con firmed drunkards and grossly immoral persons are not offered for adoption. Likewise a child who is defective men tally is not considered. Possibilities of here ditary taints Of any kind. are fer reted out even to the third or fourth gen. erations In addition the child's institu- tional record is carefully considered Only then Is he ready to be shown to his fu- ture father and mother.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-11-17
To Lure the Cat
rom the London Telegraph.

From the i.ohuOn 1eleBrapn.
 '''a@. corning home rather late from the theatre the other night, says Robin Good
 -.i s,.a qalet as 1 walked d beneath the trees in our modest sub urban road. Then quite suddenly came upon a romantic httle scene in the front garden of one of the most respectable of the villas.
 Beneath two tall trees a fire of sticks had been lighted, and over 1t bent the shivering forms Of two young ladies in c, eaa4s aitss. | noticed. to my surprise. that one of the ladies had frying pan in her hands and the appetizing smell of bacon rose into the air. | wondered whether these two products of city civ ilizotion were playing at the simple life; but the next day I found the incident had a more prosiac explanation.
 The favorite Persian cat had been missed during the evening, and at length had been located in the upper boughs of one of the trees. All blandishments failed to persuade her 10 come down. and yet her owners refused to lock her out for the night. At last they remembered that she would always make her way into the kitchen in the morning and sit sniffiing at the frizzling bacon, and they decided to fry some bacon al the bottom of the tree to attract her.
 believe that after half an hour ever the fire the ruse succeeded. at the cost Of two bad colds.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-11-17

~ NICE 1S7ss when the story of Edwin
 Brood vas begun and left unfin- k> ished the solution of the myste- rious plot has been one of our greatest literary puzzles. Time was when every body was talking of it, as more recently they discussed the question whether Sher- lock Holmes was dead. It ranks with the problem of Hamlet's sanity, or whether St Paul was a married man.
 It has been my pleasure to watch great literary critic work the material over afresh in a very modern, very thorough, very journalistic way. and now the result has come out in what prob ably will be the conclusive argument in the great case. He calls his book, "The Problem of Edwin Brood, A Study in the Methods. of Dickens," by Sir William Robertson Nicoll. And his skull was shown first of all in the masterly use he made of the readers of his great weekly journal, getting them to unite in a series of prize competitions, closely related to the essential subject of his forthcoming work. So they became a kind Of uncon- seious jury, giving him the benefit of a great variety of points of view. i'm agine, however, that this served chiefly to enable him to test in a higher light
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-11-17

velopments take place. To consent to an adoption is always to take certain risk. Important ehidren's aid societies which have the oversight of a quarter of a thousand children sometimes arrange for but two or three adoptions year.
 Thirty or 40 years ago the risks in- volved in the adoption of children were not so we'll understood with the result that fewer safeguards were taken. Some times the field agent of some of the in- stitutions of the larger cities picked out half a dozen or so of their charges and took them on visits to churches in the adjoining states, where with the children as exhibits he appealed for funds. If a nearer happened to take fancy to one of the children the boy or girl was left behind. It was not then so well realized that this happy-go-lucky method of plac- ing children invited disaster. Many of the boys and girls removed by the va rious Societies for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children from unworthy homes are children who were parcelled out for
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-11-17

it is preceded by careful study of the literary methods of Dickens which con- pels admiration and will probably compel acceptance. MT. Walters, the originator of the Landless-Datchery theory, Is sn- Enthusiastically convinced that now "ths mystery of Edwin Brood i5 a mystery no longer"
 But what of tf As a question of fact there is of course, nothing in 1t. Dull and Gradgrind sorts of people will cons demn those who spend their hours In such fruitless puzzle as whether an imaginary person was intended by the imaginer to be imaginativeiy killed, or whether second imaginary person, third. or A fourth, or some one else, was intended to be the imaginary Nemesis to bring HI imaginary murderer to justics. On III otaef nand, those who think thf Ill Charles Dickens We had a great q II III personality will still be concerni s. HI know all they can learn of the | HI ments of his so creative brain, and |, W love ever reverently to follow the last footsteps he took along the river side and up the hill. Here his footsteps leave a trail firm, clear, characteristic With ths empty chair at Gads Hill these last foot prints are likely to bring tears and quic<- ened interest. because for many years to come this man will attract the wondering love of men.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-11-17

remember lighting fires, I remember
 sitting by 'em:
 I remember seeing faces, hearing voices
 through the smoke; remember they were fancy, for threw
 a stone to try ,em.
 Something lost beyond the ranges"
 was the only word they spoke.
 Seeing faces and hearing voices through the smoke of campfires were a part of the glamour of the romance of the early pioneering of America.
 Hard and sterni were the lives Of the pathfnders. but through all the hardships and deprivation was the spirit of. high adventure and poetic fancy.
 The hope of advancement. of the ac- ouirement of free lands, of the making of homes-these were -the motives that moved the men and women who took the trails.
 But beyond material prosperity
 There was the lure of something lost beyond the ranges" the quest for some thing new.
 Slowly crept the covered wagons along river beds and over mountain passes, slow and solitary beyond the Appalach- ians. The campfires moved faster over the prairies, then beyond the Mississippi, until came the rush to Fl Dorado, with it's promise of gold and allurement of ad- venture. From where rolls the Ore gon'' the tide returned, and the frontiers were gone.
 Are there then no more pioneers?
 Has the restless, hardy spirit of Amer lean life, bred in the bone and blood of many generations, been tanned?
 Does this persistent force still hold?
 If so, how to use 1t?
 Surely there IS abundant call for all the courage and fortltude and initiative that distinguished the fathers.
 And If one can find 1t there Is even in our times the charm of risk and of ad- venture. because there are foes in our so- cial life more deadly than the painted savages. But
 How shall we fire the fancy of our youth 10 see the faces and hear the voices? How make them see that something lost beyond the ranges?" fl
 If we are able to touch the imagipa-
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-11-17

often the man and woman who were de- termined to have blonde go away well satisfied with brunette.
 When. finally, all these details have been settled the waif goes to it's foster parents for the year of probation. With the best of intentions on both sides the rela- ton may prove to be unwise owing to temperamental differences. Again fair promises are not always kept, especially if nature plays a trick and presents a childless couple with baby of their own. Occasionally couple find that the adopt ed child increases q latent proneness to wrangling or again the expense is too much. being greater than they antici- pated. Usually. however, the probation period proves satisfactory to both sides.
 Even though thls is the case, no thoughtful person will suggest that these precautions are snperfuous. It is easier to adopt a child than to inadopt one. It may indeed be better for the child to live in free home" or ''boarded home, for then the state or private society in Iterested can interfere if undesirable de-
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-11-17

their work. As 8 result the Massaenu. setts superintendent of minor wards holds savings bank books with deposits amount ing to $20.0o0 which belong to boys and girls of his family of 5000. To the credit of human nature, however. most adop- tions fall within the 19 year period when children have no commercial value.
 The superlntendenta of some institu- tions declare that they cannot meet ons- tenth of the applications they receive for 0 girl baby 2 years old. This Is explained partly by the belief that little women ara more easily trained In the nioeties of ds- pertinent than their ruder brothers.
 But chance even after all investigations are made. largely determines whether . child is to remain in the care of a stats or private institution. or whether soms lonely couple moved by its personal ap- pearanoe will eagerly offer to provide . new nome and love. z. (gxclusive Service The Survey Presn Bureau)
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-11-17

Following this comes the delicate work of passing upon the fitness of those wish ing to becorhe foster parents. An agent usually visits the prospective home to see if it is clean and sanitary References are required and neighbors consulted. Servants even are sometimes questioned to make sure that the man and his wife do not quarrel for responsible agencies do not wish to give a child into the care of wrangling parents.
 Even now the way is not vet cleared for Johnnie or Jenny to have new per raanent home. Other steps still remain to he taken. Probably the request for child says girl is desired. Often the years record shows that two girls are adopted for every boy. However that may be the applicant usually specifies a child of a particular age. build or com plexion. But in fact this first preference is often forgotten. Wise superintendents allow for change of mind. They Show the applicant children of all kinds and
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-11-17

slppi will be the most powerful nation in the world"
 Did he intend to conquer England and Russia and then tho new conti- nent?
 President Jefferson sent Livingston 10 France to buy the Island of New Orleans. Talleyrand. fin Napoleon's name. refused to sell an acre of the holdings.
 And then
 Suddenly the entire Louisiana pur- chase was offered at a. small sum- Al though he did not have the authority to buy so much, Livingston happily took the risk and closed the deal.
 Napoleon's prophecy came true.
 The United States controlled the val ley of the Mississippi and, 1t Is trite D say, Is the greatest nation in the world.
 Small things2
 Small things are the hinges on which the gates of history turn.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-11-17
HEART. TO HEART TALKS--By Edwin A. Nye

T do a lot of earpentering both inside and outside"
 Goodl
 Miss May is thrice pioneer-a pioneer of Alberta a pioneer in the back to the farm movement, a pioneer of the new woman era-and all this is progress roward the greater freedom which our daughters of the future as well,as our sons will surely enjoy. The singer with the golden voice poured a flood of song into the great music hall. thrilling and moving the people al- most to the verge of tears. But
 Behind the singer and the song was the modest violinist, standing in the shadows and weaving around the song a subtle tracery of sound, sustaining and filling up the measure of the singer s voice.
 It was the violin obligato
 The singer got all the applause. And neither the audience nor perhaps the sing CT gave full credit p the modest vio- linist
 It is the way of the world.
 Those who sing the solos get all the plaudits and all the flowers
 Wonder is man the world calls great. He stands in the calcium light and bows acknowledgment of the encores. But Behind him stands the obligato player his wife She has made him possible. The world does not know. He gets the cheers She is merely the obligato player. Behind sGeorge Washington was Mar tha Washington-obligato player. Be- hind the general of the Salvation Army was Catherine Booth-his oblgato player. Perhaps the greatest woman in America is Jane Addams Who was her obligato player? Read her autobiography. She knew and appreciated who 1t washer scholarly father. Obligato players Standing in the shadows behind the successful man is the mother or father or wife, who guides teaches sacrifices. encourages-glad and proud to be the humble player of obligato.
 John the Baptist played obllgato. He said of the Master, to whom he was forerunner "He must increase. and must decrease. I am but a voice of tiie
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-11-17

ton Of our sons and daughters and make them see the need for chivalrlc effort we shall set in motion the determneu strength and the love of danger that pioneered and peopleda continent.
 Miss Jack May, former London society girl. says she is the happiest girl in the world.
 She would rather blow than go to opera, plant corn thar attend a pink tea. She much prefers currying horse 10 posing at society function in an evening gown
 She is real farmer.
 Miss May, who is the daughter of Ad- miral May of the British navy, is the successful worker of s2O acres of land in Alberta, Canada. She does the work with the assistance of a girl of IS.
 She did not go to her farm unprepared
 When this favorite of society went to South Africa as a nurse during the Boer war not much comment was made. It was in the field of war that she gained her absolute lack of fear.
 Then she entered the Swanly Agricul- tural college in Kent, where she took a full course
 Society said she was queer"
 But her friends were really startled when, after her graduation, she took up the management of a dairy farm. She milked her cows, delivered the milk, did all the rough work-and enjoyed it.
 Later she amazed her London friends by going to Canada and buying a half section of land.
 She is a genuine farmer She blows, seeds, reaps, binds and markets her grain Last spring, after she had finished her own blowing, she plowed a large tract for neighbor. for which she was paid s2. 50 per acre.
 She likes the freedom of the fields.
 Give me the bright sunshine and brac- ing cold in preference to butterfly so- ciety. existence in damp and foggy Eng land.
 Miss May believes in mixed farming and stock raising. She derives good income from poultry. "A good stock of pigs" she says. will lift the mortgage on any farm
 Says this girl farmer:
 Amy woman can be as successful as I If she makes up her mind to it. She must go to bed early and get up early. In the winter, besides feeding my stock.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-11-17
FINDING HOMES FOR OUR WAIFS-By James P Heaton

adoption by hit or miss methods. Often the blame for this belongs to the parents of the children who made no adequate inquiry concerning the people to whom they entrusted their offspring. oeea- sionally one still hears of London waifs who are sent over in patches and dls- tributed 10 Canadian ranchmen with ap- palllng celerity. Usually, however, in our larger cities the reputable societies do not promote an adoption which does not bear all the ear marks ssf being a gilt edged proposition.
 Children who fail Of adoption are ''boarded out" in approved homes. For their care until they are 12 years old or so an allowance of about $3 a week Is often made, although some are placed in free homes." When they grow older the cash value of childhood complicates tho situation, for there are people who wish to adopt children in order to exploit them ae wage=sarners. Often. however, the families taking children of thls age are required to pay them a small wage for
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-11-17
zALABAMA-W H.. FORNEY-By B. F. Riley D.

now shattered. He fell on the field from the terrible shock. and while prostrate he received another wound by ball car rying away part of his heel bone. In this preearious condition he fell into the hands of the enemy. and was retained a prisoner of war more than year. While confined as prisoner at Fort Delaware he was among the 50 officers chosen to be exposed to the Confederate guns on Morris Island. and was taken near the scene ready for such exposure as mat ter Of retaliation. but humane and timely intervention checked the atroeious de- sign, and in due time Colonel Forney was exchanged. Still cripple and hob
 bling on crutches he returned to his com mand in 1864, and was commissioned a.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-11-17

wilderness'-a herald. player of ob- ligato.
 There are many such.
 They are content to accompany the solo singers. content to stand in the rear Of genius.
 And why not?
 If one cannot sing solos and is able to play aceompanments, why not7 Dos ing well what we do without praise and because of the joy of doing and be- cause we can thus contribute to the pleasure and welfare of others, why not ?
 Do not envy the soloist.
 Play your obligato.
 Have you ever seen true portrait of Napoleon Bonaparte?
 If so you may have noted slight malformation of the neck. The un- natural srowth, which remained dur ing his natural life, was caused by an enlargement of the thysoid gland when he was small boy.
 That thyroid gland changed the ma D of the world.
 One day early in the eighteenth een- tury an obscure physician living in a small town in Corsica had brought to him 0 little boy named Nabuliene Euanaparte. He was stunted. back ward and at times subject to ungov- ernable fits of temper.
 The physician, who was learned be- yond his time, know if he did not cure the boy the latter would soon develop into an imbecile
 How he made tiie cure is not known. bGt he was successful. and the boy grew up and changed his name to Ma poleon Bonaparte.
 What career was hisl
 At the age of B this man had tanned all Europe with the crack of his whip lash. He deposed kings and queens and handed their thrones over to his brothers and sisters as one might give toys to his children.
 StridinE the world like colossus, Eonaparte at the zenith of his power had one foot on Europe and the other in America.
 By strategy he had acquired what we know as the Louisiana purchase,
 He' railv the territory west of the Mississippi. He said. Whatever na- l-o-. cOntrols the valley of the Missis-
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-11-17

little day. Let us lie down to pleasant dreams.
 Night-good nighti
 Martin Luther threw his inkstand at the devil
 He believed in . personal satan who could materiallze himself, and when he thought he saw his satanic majesty he went after him with the first weapon at hand.
 We laugh, but
 Have you ever thought how much easier 1t would be to resist temptation if one could believe in personal devil?
 You fight an unseen foe.
 If you could get Lucifer backed up against the wall when he comes to tempt have it out with him. But
 He is a smooth citizen.
 He wears a myriad disguises. He may make rear or flank attack or get you into a corner and compel you to hold up your hands, or he may take the shape of the Lorelei and enchant you with lure that will put your boat upon the rocks.
 He has his Calypso islands as well
  only you do not recognize them as such If we only knewl
 We may know him when he openly tempts us with his cardinal vices of strong drink or gambling or other definite aboveboard sins, and we can easily say to our ancient enemy:
 Get thee behind me, satan!'
 But
 How defend ourselves against tenpta- tions concerning which we are blind Suppose he tempts us through our love of ease of body Or mind. through self ishness or popularity or self righteous ness-insidious avenues of approach?
 He does do that.
 We are like children. We are unac quainted with our temptations. or, i we do know them. we love the follies tS which they lead all too much.
 Wise old devil!
 Nevertheless, if we make the most o ourselves we must conquer the thing that most easily tempt us. We cannot throw an- inkstand at z devil we do not believe in.
 But we can know our weak spots. W, can kr.ow the temptations to which oul natures are most subject and thus cir curnvent the devil.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-11-17
MEN WHO HAVE MADE ALABl

years. Reared in Calhoun county, he was educated at the State University from which he was graduated in 1s44. after which he entered on the study of the law.
 When the Mexican war broke out young Forney enlisted in the first regiment Of Alabama volunteers commanded by Col onei Coffey, in which command he be- came 9 lieutenant, serving as such at the seize of Vera Cruz. Retiring home after the expiration of the term for which he enlisted, which was one year. he en- tered again on the study of his law books. Licensed to practice in is4s he was the next year chosen a representa- tive from Calhoun county to the legisla- ture. With this single interruption he
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-11-17

war The people honored him with a seat in the state senate. but under the mili tary rule of the period It was denied him He closed his career at JacksonyiIa Ala.
 The state has never had more loyal citizen as was illustrated by his unselfsh devotion to it's interest. and the army oi the Confectionery no braver soldier. Ta General Forney patriotism was a passion as was abundantly shown by the philo. sophie fortitude with which he bore his misfortunes and sufferings. saers may have been more brilliant and flashing than he, but he was an illustration of the hero who did what he could. and by cint of actual merit he rose to promi, hence in the army and to equal proml. hence as a civilian.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-11-17

was devoted to his profession till the dec laration of hostilities between the north ern and southern states. He entered the army as captain in the Tenth Alabama regiment, and was destined to suffer from unusual casualties from the first conflict in which he was engaged to the close of the war. The regiment of which he was member was doing some de- tached duty at Drainville, Va. when he became engaged with the enemy, and among the seriously wounded was Cap tain Forney. who was shot in the leg.
 but within Go days he was again in com- mand of his company at the front. Mean- while he had become tNe major of his regiment, with which he was engaged in
 the battle of Yorktown. At Williamsburg
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-11-17
MAN AND WOMAN IN THE GREAT sTATE-By A. B. Bealle

deadly matter It is through that stodgy mass of false sentiment that the woman of today and tomorrow has got to wade if she Is ever tq attain to any thing like moral and intellectual equal ity with her brother and her mate"
 And this superior oyerwoman says further: 'If the Great State or any upon It's women with a sentimental eye. the last condition of those women will be even as their first. Once more they will sink back Into the class of wives and mothers. and found their claims to consideration solely upon the race; whereupon the Law, like the society from which 1t emanates, will pet them and kick them by turns. onco more they will slide back to the posi- ton of parasites living by sexual at- traction and finding favor in the eyes of husband or lover on the express condition that they do not presume to compete with husband or lover In intel lect"
 What Clcely Hamilton presupposes, and what most other partisan suffragists pre- suppose at the beginning of their drgn- ments, is that her husband, her lover, her brother Is her worst enemy. While am strong for equal suffrage and think that with woman's vote a new and vlrile strength will be injected into politics, do not think the mere act of filling out bal lot of taking keener interest In the ends