davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-09-29

These terrible things having been fore told of Oedipus, his father had him maimed, as above related and had him exposed to destruction on Mount Cith- aeron, q mountain sacred to Jupiter. on which Acteon having seen Diana naked, was changed into a stag and torn to pieces by his own hunting dogs. and on which same mountain Pentheus, having disguised himself as a woman and climbed into a tall tree from whence he spied upon the secf ct rites of q god. was torn to pieces by his own mother and kins- women in punishment for his impiety Euripides proclaiming that to be rev erent and to adore the gods Is the noblest course for man to pursue, Invoking man to take warning from the terrible event.
 But Oedipus was rescued from this mount of destruction and reared by his foster father, Polybius. Greek word meaning long life the philosophy of which is that the secret things belong unto the Lore our God, and are inquired into at the peril in which Acteon and Pontheus placing themselves were de- stroyed, but that things that are revealed may be inquired into with impunity, the pursuit of which tends to the prolonga- ton of life.
 To such inquiries are we all brought to whom the divine gift of thought is more than the terrestrial gift of steam is to
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-09-29

solution, the myth being pregnant of the canon of scripture 'rhe things that are secret belong unto the Lord our God; but the things that are revealed belong to us, and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law"
 The Sphinx was said to have frequented the highways where she propounded her riddles to all with whom she came in contact, that is, these problems are to be met with fin every walk of life, and none can escape them. She was figured as having the head and face of virgin, the breasts of a woman, the body of a lion, the wings of a bird and the talons of an eagle: that is, In the order of these embodied forms, to have possessed the attributes of beauty; tenderness, love, and generosity; strength and vigor; elu- siveness and relentlessness; even as it is with the problems into which We are per mitted to inquire, for they are as beau tiful as a virgin, tender and loving and generous to those who solve them as mother, as strong and vigorous as a lion, as elusive a bird, and yet as in- exorable and relentless as the talons of an eagle
 The fable relates that this multiform creature occupied as her permanent abode the heights of Phicean Hill, and that in her very stronghold Oedipus presented himself for the solution of her riddle,
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-09-29

NSE of the prettiest touches to which
 writers of fiction have attained is < O that little touch in 'Trilby," a novel of by-gone days by Du Maurier, in which one of the characters of the book. Mimi La Salope, having rendered very pathetically an old song:
 'eParlez nous de lui, Grandpere;
 Granpere; parlez nous de lui,' an old one-1egged-sol in the book exclaims: ITO sing like that is to pray"
 The Age-Herald quite unconsciously opens its editorial columns every morn ing with a quotation from Shakespeare to quote from whom is to pray, and its :. editorial columns are opened with prayer. That great master of expression has said: "There is some soul of goodness in things
 evil,
 Would men observingly distil it out," and to the distillation of the good, and of the beautiful, and of the practical in mythology, 1t is proposed to introduce the devotees of these columns; the promise being that in a desultory sort of manner these myths shall be so unfolded, to the delight of those to whom the bond of 2 life is something other than the base
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-09-29

like my dear friend the Rev. A. ]. Bryan. or the people who sustain industrial schools And perhaps the root of this neglect is that we have only tho haziest possible conception of what education is. Education is generally understood as 9 big room and desks and a blackboard, with figures. maps, books and so forth. We had better revise the conception, and agree that education Is the adjustment of the human organism to the tasks of life. For the negro at any rate this requires hte creation of a curriculum to run from the first grade to the end and oven to begin before the child enters schoni. It may be termed the new city commission on negro health and welfare with author ity to secure the same. Why should Blr- mingham be, as Hamlet rudey expressed it, "a breeder of slnners?" Why should we fuss over old disputes when we know concerning white and black that all arc 'born to serve" and that life Is so ditf- cult that without authority over cur youth. authority wielded by wisdom and experience. authority unacceptable, ws gre fatally proficient. both white and black. in the art of going to the devil?
 That Is a good place to end. but add this word of RusSins
 Political economy is 0 sy.- tenn of conduct founded upon the sciences ana impossible except under certain con- ditions of moral culture. Which Is only to say that industry, frugality and discre- tion-the three foundations of economy are moral qualities and cannot be attaine x without moral discipline" But what con- ditions of moral culture" does Birning- ham impose on its children, white or black-especially the black? As to ths white" "Revenons nos noutons.' For they too often are as sheep not having shepherd
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-09-29

of the chsel Sometimes the strokes were delicate and sometimes sharp. They were needed to make us what we are.
 It is Gods slow process.
 What we may be doth not yet appear, but we know that the hand of the Artist and the pattern are Divine.
 If you lend money and collect more than the legal rate of interest you are guilty of practicing usury. If discovered you must suffer the penalty.
 We'll
 Do you know there is such thing as moral usury?
 When you collect from those about you more of service, or attention, or sympa- thy. or assistance than you are properly entitled to you are guilty of practicing moral usury.
 To illustrate:
 You are a husband and you require of your wife more than the marriage com pact provides. You demand of her more of self-denial. or patience, or forgiveness, or affection, than you are willing to ex- tend to her. Or you are a wife and you ask of your husband more of labor, of anxiety, of economy than you are willing to give.
 You are usurer
 Or you are a son, or daughter, and you exact more from your parents than you shoud--of your fathers money or assistance, your mothers care or l-ind- ness.
 You are usurious.
 Or you ask of your friends or ac- quaintances more time and sympathy than you are willing to extend to them You expect more than is your due and complain if they do not freely give.
 That is moral usury
 Your friend. for instance. without in- tending to do so offends you He shows by his manner that he is sorry he hurt you. You refuse to meet him half way, requiring a formal apology and cherish your grievance. Rank usury, Or you refuse to exercise charity to your friend who has his shortcomings. Or yon require of him more of self-denial than you would suffer for him. He will do all that may become man. You want him to go farther. Usurer.
 Now the law provides severe penalties for him who Is guilty of legal usury.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-09-29
HEART TO HEART TALKS-By Edwin A. Nye

I eountrymen Abdul Hamid was deposed for his cruelty and rascality by the Young Turks party, and no one cares whether he is living or dead. | The real ruler of his people encouraged education, elevated woman, forwarded progress The nominal ruler encouraged | ignorance and superstition, degraded wo- men and was brutal reactionary.
 The Turkish ruler distrusted his friends. Mutsuhito forgave his enemies. | Seldom has our day afforded such an antithesis-so startling a contrast be- tween men higher up. And yet
 Look around you
 VIII you not find Mutsuhito and Abdul Hamids in your own community?
 Doubtless you have read Dean Swift g gentle satire as to the Kilkenny cats? 1 According to the veracious ehronieler two pugnacious felines met in Hateful conflict and, urged on by malevolence and fury, continued the fight until they ate each other up, leaving-if one may add put to humor-nothing to tell the ! tale save their two tails
 Historically the story is true.
 Scientifically there may be some reason l for doubting the details. One may won der how. when they had eaten each others teeth, they continued to chew, or, | having eaten each others stomach, how
 
 Nevertheless
 One easily finds a parallel to the his- toric engagement of the cats in the story of a famous law suit begun some years ago by two Missouri farmers.
 The difficulty began over the payment of a part of the cost of a division fence, only a few dollars being involved. That was 12 years ago. Today the farmers are still fighting each other in the courts. As the lawyers have prospered the farmers have waned One has lost his farm and the other is heavily involved by mort gages.
 There is a prospect the attorneys will finally get even the two tails of these beligerents.
 Two politicians disagree. The fight waxes Today one speaks from the stump and tomorrow the other answers through an interview. They call each other names Each is injured by the other because there are some who believe what each of them says.
 Kilkenny cats,
 Y Two merchants, competitors, become personal rivals. then enemies. They in'
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-09-29

vvY1E are accustomed to it, are not
 A/ particularly concerned about it..
 W That fatal and natural aptitude of mankind to adjust itself to its environ ments alike makes ancient good un- couth' and renders ancient evil somewhat easily defensible. Indeed, we spring to arms when another criticises in us what in ourselves we know deserves to be whipped. You shall still find many to champion "the open sore" and to blame those who lament over 1t. That open sore is the unskilled thriftless, ill-housed, help less, but all too prolific city negro. His children, commonly without home train Z ing, haunted with fear of violence, play ing with risks that they do not compre- hend, preyed upon and exploited by fakes and tyrants dying faster than they can get themselves born, are reinforced by the worst specimens of their rural cousins. 2 afraid of their best helps and friends available What tho official justice every moment flew to their protection, would they not still be the open sore of our mod ern city?
 { have sometimes gone up and down the narrow ways where the city negro lives. in quarters all too narrow for him, and have heard all too rarely the twang of the old banjo, too frequently the reiterated cough. Consumption has come in where the former jollity reigned. The plantation melodies are gone. but the hemorrhage has come. And the morals of those days when negro boys and girls had cash value have not resulted in anti-toxins for ''the open sore" Alas, his tainted daugh- ters shall nurse--aye, and lill-our babes. Unnamable diseases shall blossom on those dear baby lips and dig vitality out of those blue eyes. And his lusty sons almost unrestrained, almost unmoved,
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-09-29

shame the petulanee of many a com plaining neighbor
 He suffered--and smiled.
 Despite his crippled state the boy found something sweet--even amusing about human life; something inextin- guishable and worth while.
 He died as he had lived--with smile on his face.
 What made him so brave?
 At his age he could fortify himself with no deep philosophy respecting life. it's compensation, it's needs of optimism
 He merely made a short cut 10 the doc Urine that. whatever happens, it is al- ways best to make the best of things
 And so the lad went about in his wheeled chair, keenly alive to every slight humorous phase. making his smiles, bringing into the dark corners of suffer ing every glnt of sunshine he was able to get and transmit
 I know men woh have lived to be 80 years 1e age and who have been of much less use to the world than this boy of S.
 If you want something for cool weather reading that Is worth while. get recent book. "A Vagabonds Journey Around the World"
 It is the story of the author. y>ho trav- eled around the globe on foot and pennl- less, mingling with the plain people of every cline and country and liviag in their homes.
 Often he suffered the bangs Of hunger and he encountered perils by land and sea.
 However,
 Always and everywhere. he met with human kindness. Wherever he travelled, In the lands of the Eskimo as in the jnngles of Africa. in China as in Australia. whether the people he met were white or black or yellow, always they displayed the spirit of human brotherhood. On board a steamer where he worked with the coolies, he found a bunkle the first night who was as good as a brother and who shared all that he had. In Burma an Englshman forced a handful of coins upon him, saying. Take 1t, old chap. I know you do not want | charity. but people were very kind to me when was on my uppers.y l The world oyer hearts were soft The half naked woman whose home was of leaves and who had a troop of children to be fed set out the best food
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-09-29

TN one of George Macdonalds books
 there is this fragment of conversa- Il ton:
 .I wonder why God made me-" said Mrs. Fabur bitterly. ''rm sure I don't know where is the use of making me" Perhaps not much yet" replied Dor othy, but then he isn't done with you yet He is making you now, and you don't like It.
 Dorothy's philosophy, could we get it deep into our hearts, would greatly help us.
 We must learn the lesson that the prob lem of this life is not in escaping hard and painful things, but rather in getting out of such experiences resignation which should make the heart gentle and the life sweet.
 We must learn that we are not made. but only in the process of making
 Therefore we ought not to complain at the strokes of the chisel that is fashion ing us
 A recent writer tells the legend of 'The Complaining Diamond" The rough stone cries out under the blows of the lapidary: 4.T cannot understand. Why should suffer in this way?" The lapdary reples s.sWait what thou knowest not now thou shalt know hereafter"
 And out of all this came the famous
  crown.
 The Master of Life holds the mallet. and he clips away waht is necessary to grave his own features on the stubborn sstone. We feel only the sharp edge of the chisel
 Even God Get us say it reverently) can not make character in a day.
 We complain of his slow making of us because we forget it takes time and much fashioning for the finished work
 The young man makes a failure. He cannot see that it may be the making of him. one may succeed too easily and quickly One may fail to learn his limi- tations CT to know the world as 1t is, or his work.
 All who have succeeded permanently have suffered the blows. the grindings, the pushing which the Kohinoor had to undergo
 We are being mtde.
 And to all of us, there is the teaching of Dorotbys philosophy and the com plaining diarrond We who are older bear upon our cheeks }nd brows the marks
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-09-29
City Born From Murder

From the New York World.
 Around hut, where, according to tradition, a young Irish princess was murdered, grew mp the present town of Gheel, in Belgium. which became known as "the colony of the crazed.' At first Temple in memory of the princess was erected. and later it be- came refuge foIs the sick in mind" The remarkable thing about this Bel gian town is that the residents accept patients into their own homes so that they may enjoy the beneficial effects of domestic and social intercourse. Nearly every home contains at least two mental incompetents. and except in certain cases the patients are per mitted to go about town and enjoy themselves. A stranger may not know whether he is meeting patient or u sane resident in his walks through the town. For more than 100 years this system has prevailed at GheeL
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-09-29

Should there not also be penalties for the practice of moral usury2
 There arel
 They arc not written in law books. but in your moral constitution. And unlike the written laws of men, bound In sheep or buckram, these laws are always en- forced,
 Whatsoever a man soweth--whether it
 be of selsflhness. or greed. or ingratitude,
 or stubborn lack of kindness-that also
 shall he reap. When Emperor Mutsuhito of Japan died
 one of the usefully great men of our day passed away. When Abdul Hamid. the Turkish ruler, was deposed, one of the most cruel and useless men of his generation was got rid of.
 Mutsuhito became emperor in 1867. at 15 yearr of age. In 1889 he changed the government from an absolute monarchy by voluntarily giving his people a con stitution-Japan's first great forward | step.
 He sent representatives to foreign coun- | tries and received like officials at his court in Tokyo-an entirely new proceed ure. He sent young Japanese into other countries to be educated. Tn uniting the provinces into one nation
  down. but Note the difference: Abdul Hanid put to death every reyo- 1 lutionist who dared to show his head Mutsuhito promoted his enemies to Of fees of responsibility Making his wife his confidant and com panion. by bis example the Japanese em' peror put the womanhood of his country on a footing with its manhood. Abdul Hamid by his harem debased and cruelty abused womanhood. The Japanese emperor early undertook | measures for the national defense. Ir order to provide money he and the em
 press agreed to reduce the household ex. penses so they might contribute annually
 3oo,00o yen for the building up of the army and navy.
 The Japanese victory over the Russians justified the foresight. Abdul Hamid, on the other hand. dissi pated the revenues of his government fir maintaining his army of guards and spies.
 Mutsuhito died at 6o years of age, q
 world figure. loved and venerated by hiI
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-09-29

he returned to his command. though his wound was yet unhealed. and was surprised by the receipt of his com mission as a brigadier general.
 Ills command became noted in the western army for it's fighting qualities and "Clayton's Brigade" was the syno- nym of dash and courage in all the active campaigns of the western army and in It's long series of conflicts, this intrepid brigade was engaged. After the battle of New Hope church. in which engagement General Clayton was again wounded he was made a major general, which comission he held till the surrender of Johnston in North Carolina. In addition to the wound re- ceived at Murfreesboro he was knocked from his horse by a grapeshot at Chick amauga, and at Jonesboro he had three horses either killed or disabled under him.
 After his return home at the close ot
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-09-29

~ ENERAL CLAYTON served the
 state in a variety of capaci- 0 ties. In the legislature he was one of its most alert and active members as chairman of one of the important committees as a Confederate commander. he was courageous and skiIlful as a circuit judge he was ranked among the ablest in the state, and as president of the state university, he rendered his last service with signal satisfaction.
 He was educated at Emory and Hen Try College from which institution he was graduated in 1S4S, and for distin- guished scholarship bore away from the college the Robertson Prize Medal. He lost no time after the completion of his collegiate course, for year later, he was admitted to the bar and entered at once on a successful and lucrative practice. The first eight years of his
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-09-29

hostilitles. General Clayton was elect ed judge of the eighth judicial circuit. in which position he served till his re- moval under tho reconstruction regime. After that time he devoted himself to law and to planting. In both of which he was successful
 After an unsuccessful candidacy for the goyernorship General Clayton later became the president of the state uni versity. inwhich capacity he served to the close of his life.
 General Clayton was an excellent type of the old-time Southern gentle man. Free and cordial in intercourse with friends hospitable, and jovial he was deservedly one of the most popu- lar citizens of the state as well as ono of the most prominent. He left a rec ord cherished alike by the soldiers of his old command, by the students of the university by the people of a great state.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-09-29

jured each other by every possible meth cd, cutting each others throats commer- cially. The war even gets into their ad- vertising.
 Kilkenny cats again!
 Two neighbor women fall out about the children, or the chickens, or what not. They wage mimic warfare. They call each other names. Husbands are in- volved. The neighborhood and the police courts know about the row.
 The cats are at iti
 Or two society women disagree over some matter of petty precedence. They set out to kill each other socially. They resort to islander. Each injures the other because there are some who believe the whispered words of malice and reputa- tions are tarnished or ruined.
 Eating each other up!
 There are fighting arenas other than Kilkenny.
 They called him Cheerful Hymie.'
 The pet of the Omaha hospital. f. his death was the occasion of widespread and genuine grief
 Hyme was years of age, was afflicted with an incurable hip disease, had under gone several operations and had lived in the hosiptal for three years.
 He was known as Cheerful 1iymle De- cause of his disposition Bearing a bur den of suffering that would have taxed all the patience and philosophy of an older person, Hymie never complained of his own troubles. The nurses say his funny sayings were q better medicine than any the doctors gave.
 By his request he was wheeled about the hosiptal and gave a cheerful greeting to all. giving special attention to any newcomer who might be having q hard time.
 He never spoke of his own suffering and if questioned made a joke about it Living in the constant atmosphere ana amid the depressing scenes of q hospital he did not permit the surroundings to af- feet him.
 Knowing his disease was incurable. tho little cripple faced the future with [ smile.
 Nobody knows how many sleepless nights he spent on his little cot squeezing back the terrible pains. | The little fellow never stopped to ques tion his Providence nor to debate in hi' mind the use of 1t all; and he put t'
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-09-29

Even so our little world of religions, politics, societies have been like groups of playing children, ever running round and round in a circle giving forth little shrieks of laughter, tickling each other with tiny wisps Of grass. Only. there Is q difference between the groups of chil- dren with their wisps of grasps, and the groups of larger children with their dead systems of philosophy, their impo- tent schemes for saving the world. The chief difference between little boys who stick pins in katydids and pluck off the legs of frogs, and the little men who kill each other with bullets, Is that the children are intensely in earnest and cu4 rious about their sport, while the little men are mostly bored with their whole performance. Children are vicious at times because it is joy to be so; men are mostly vicious because 1t Is the eus- tom of the country to be so.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-09-29

should come from different parts of the state However two companies of Colonel Clayton's regiment were ac- cepted and mustered into service.
 Pressure was brought to bear on Colonel Clayton to remain in the legis- lature, but he positively declined to re- main, and declared his purpose to en- ter the prospective army of the Con- federacy. Finding that the governor would not accept the entire regiment of which he was the commander he resigned his seat in the legislature, and took his place in the ranks of one of the companies as a private. There upon the governor gave him commis- sion as aide e-de-camp and sent him to Pensacola to receive the Alabama com panies as they should arrive, and or ganize them into regiments. Colonel Clayton had the distinction of organ izing the first regiment that was or ganized for the Confederate service. Of this regiment he was chosen the