davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-09-22

1 Is the touch of personal human sym pathy such as this woman gave.
 Today talked to an old man, who said:
 The older l grow the more despond- ent I become. have outgrown my be- lief in the goodness of people and things We older folk have learned what Is the cruelty of fate. Happiness is no more than a beautiful dream"
 Poor old man: l felt sorry for him. Disillusoned and unhappy, his frame of mind is that of permanent pessi- mi3m
 However. he is an exception.
 Most old people whom l know are seren and cheerful. The years have taught them that the law of compensa- ton holds If 1t should be cloudy to- day, why--tomorrow the sun may be shining. Knowing they must not ex- peet too much, they can smile in the face of disappointment.
 They have learned that both ecstasy and sorrow are short lived.
 Look ing backward over their lives, these elder people come 10 realize that while childhood and youth have their joys, they also have their griefs.
 For instance: If the child enjoys keenly. 1t suffers intensely Made happy by trinket. Ii is made miser- able by a trifle. One may remember that fin his childhood the refusal to be permitted to go on q picnic made life seem scarcely worth the living.
 To the old person sensibilty has been dulled. He Is salm and unruffled by trivial things.
 And as for youth, if it's joys are eager joys, it's sufferings are acute. It is the young who despair and commit suicide. There is no shield of experience to interpose between youth and sorrow
 The old man smiles at that which
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-09-22

an I would love to be there to see.
 But these are not harmless survivals, Toryism is essentially not harmless but a very hurtful thing. Only when dressed as an Arcadian shepherdess does 1t rightly attract or satisfy the aesthetic judgment. Gently crooning over the lost worlds of it's former pride, it has even value of it's own; for one can taste there the flavor of the days that are no more. The young and the modern can humbly and reverentlv learn how their fathers lived, historic continuity is preserved, and We get the virtue of the past as measurably our own inheritance.
 Now it is an open question whether General Nogi reverting to the old usages of idyllic and heroic Japan, must be classed as a dangerous or as q harmless and picturesque tory. His conservatism is unquestionable. II stands out like vast, all embracing rash. Despite his intimate ac- quaintance with all modern arts and sciences, all modern challenges of the old faiths. all modern assertions and denials, Nogi. the husband of lady who had imhibed the progressive spirit of this republic a ats one of its chief
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-09-22

this astonishing performance. His own countrymen are the only ones who can give the answer. For us 1t is enough to say that the act is too grotesque, too antique, too bizarre. Its impressive ness Is lost in our feeling that it is beyond the line of sound judgment of things that are, and of the utiltarian hypothesis.
 But on the other hand its impressive ness ought to be regained for us so soon as We recognize in General Nogi's act something typical and representa- tive. Here is the gist of the whole matter: The army and navy of Japan are dominated by the old Bushdo or law of ehivalry. They are an instrp- ment of modern scientific precision wielded by the absolute saeridcial pas sion of the old Samurai class. And General Nogi has contributed what he Judged to be the most effective inn pulse in his power at the most crucial moment in the national history towards this end. His act agrees with the fla nous proclamation of Togo after the last Russian fleet was destroyed. The soldier is as the sailor. He would deep en the absolute loyalty of the army 10 the Emperor. Hence he travels back
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-09-22

The woman wondered why so many of the convicts went from the prison and took up a criminal carer and were sent back
 She was told that it was almost ini- possible for an ex-conyict to make an honest living.
 f Which touched her sympathles
 She determined to aid the discharged ccnvicts, helping them, If possible, to adapt themselves to the world into which they were going
 And so Mrs. Jones-that is not her nar,e was always on hand when notified thet a prisoner was to be released. And she did more than merely to give good advice
 She took him D her home.
 There the convict was given few days of sheltered freedom before ne faced the conditions under which he must take UP the thread of his broken life
 Mrs. Jones--nameless here, but whose name is written in the Lambs Book of ifei-said she wanted to ger the convict look off the faces of the men, the convict habits broken up. and the fear taEen from the eyes that had lived in the presence of the guards.
 The men ate at the table along with her husband and herself. Her home vas their home. By every means she accustomed them to the feeling that they were free humans with chance.
 In most instances she was succ asfu and thus saved scores of men.
 It was the s.uman touch.
 Do you remember when the Naza- rene was here that in many cases where He made a cure He touched tho person cured? II was the human con- tact that restored the sufferer as much as sthe divine power. Somebody sym pathized and caredi
 And so you may form countless so- cieties for the reclamation of the con vlct in vain unless, somewhere, there
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-09-22

nal brancn of the laws I have had the temerity to address myself heretofore. to which subject, had l had the advantage of the invaluable history of Alabama now appearing in these columns from the pen of MT Dubose, l might have addressed myself with more asperity. But theade- formities of our criminal practice are, demonstrably. novel. whereas the incon- yeniences attending our civil practie are venerable. And with what pains have we brought about the most painful and distressing features of the system as it exists, though they were ever considered the most scientific. having developed the first, most scientific school of specialists i1 the law. the special peader.
 In what pathetic tones does Tal- fonrd bemoan poor T. W. about the last of his. race, recalling the warmth with which he dilated on his profes- sional triumphsp Now chuckling over the fall of q brother into q trap set artfmly for him in the fair disguise of liberal pleading"-now whispering past joy in the stumble of the lord chief justice himself, among theHfilmy webs drawn around his path, his nice discernment, his vast memory, his skill in drawing analogies and discovering principles in the great obscurity' of the year books. going on and on "in giddy pazes running his mind grow ing subtler and more acute with every glass-how dextrousIy he glidci through all the strange wlndings of a case with never failing sagacity, gar nishing his discourse with many legal pun and leaned conceit. which was IS the light bubble of the deep stream of his 'knowledge." But how the TO- nance of the English pleader's heart could ever inspire that of the American practitioner otherwise than as mere classic Is inconceivable. The English spleader's subtlety was the perfectly logical development of practice un- Known fin America and in which that subtlety Is, to a great extent. but q mere affectation. referable only to the extreme slowness with which the hu- .mand mind "progresses,' and relieves itself from the influences of ancient usageA
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-09-22

p1es, and certain principles that arc evolved are championed by certain parties. and presently we perforce fall into the tyranny of airing by the A party because it is ours, damning the party because it is not ours, and perhaps tolerating the party because, representing a small group, 1t scarcely deserves our praise or blame. And If the name republican" keeps me in kin ship with that belief of Jefferson in the dependableness of the masses to right it's wrongs in the long run, I am not vexed that the founder of democracy was a republican" or that the politi- cal forbears of Judge Taft were fed erals in that youth time of the repub- lie. Let us not be alarmed over the names of parties. I like that catchy phrase of the first bull moose "the tyranny of namesi" It Is the cleverest thing he has said. It was the caption of an Outlook editorial just after the African lion hunt.
 That strong centralized government which the federalists advocated, coun- selled by Alexander Hamilton, and op- posed by Jefferson because he thought it would eventually be destructive of popular liberties, marked the beginning of the democratic and republican parties. This breach between two cabinet officers
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-09-22

ltieal service. that our social salvation must forever be an outgrowsh of political concepts-for politics is indeed the sci- ence of government and not something else The group of voters that "contin- ues In power" must also continue in service"
 Social wrongs do not of themselves right themselves. It takes men and woIn- en deeply in love with right ends to halt the traffic In human bodies; to bid the captains Of crime halt the while you handcuG ttem Nor must this service of the future be eternally bent on bounding men to courts and prisons, l see no good reason why the nation and state should not be nurses and physicians ns well as eNecutioners Why should there not be sanetoriums for diseased minds dncludine what we call criminals) as wei as bodles2
 No. 1 an not quitting my subject. Tn- deed, I have only got al the heart of II. These are al tasks for democracy, or whateves continuing party shows it's ft- ness to grapple with the social diseases. This Is the price democracy must pay: a service for continuing in service. If de- mocracy Is not strong enough to do this work, some outgrowth of the party will become so. The name of the party wiA> make no difference if we get the work done.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-09-22

gives to the young man an agony of spirit. The old man knows
 The youth Is apt to be impatient intolerant and eXacting. The old have learned patience and charity and for giveness. Is fl 10 be doubted which has the happier frame of mind2
 And fear? The old have listened tc the preaching Of many dire prophecies that have never come true, Again and again have they heard the awful crush of the presaging storm die out betimes Into the mere rumble. succeeded by the batter of the gentle rain Why should they be disturbed at the lowering clouds?
 Yes. my friend is the exception
 Most old people have come 10 know that things in this world are not all bad and not all good but are good bad and indifferent-snd mostly good. Soothing the spirit with the belief in the ultimate outcome of the good thoy trust and hope unto the perfect day.
 had been lecturing the carrier boy rather sharply He had been miss ing the delivery of my evening news paper about half the time
 The boy was new to the route and when l spoke to him once before he appeared rather independent. But this time he was little fearful when he looked up and said;
 Don't you make mistakes, mister?'
 The shot went straight home In- deed, I have made a lot of mistakes both of head and heart-and some one might properly lecture me for them
 We are apt to be slow in making ex- cuses for the other fellow If the newspaper is not on the front porch when we look for 1t. If the mail carrier should chance to come but once in- stead of twice q day, if the telephone girl at central fails to respond at once If the waiter at the cafe is delayed, we
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-09-22

with plenary power to bring In the defendant in a cause. crippled at the outset, and exercising their jurisdic- | tion within as narrow limits as If they were cireumscrbed by the express
 nomination of the ancient original writ not as q consequence of the limited power to be exercised under special commission, which was the logical con sequence of the original writr in tho English practice but because being quite unable to recognize these doe trines touching amendments. depar- lures and the like as perfectly logical consequences of jurisdiction limited by
 che terms of special commission. we
 have fastened them upon our law courts as principles by statute and
 usage.
 Our practice should be freed from that which In tho nature of things was never logically incident thereto. and prescribed forms should be abolished and all rules of pleading and practise discontinued which resulted from the limited jurisdic-
 ton of coErts of law under the English practice. if the plaintiff should inartih-
 cially state his case and his proposed
 amendment should surprise the defend- ant. the court has the power 10 grant the defendant time within which to pre- pare his defense, but the plaintiff should
 not be sent out of court. All distinctions
 between causes arising out of breaches of contracts and those not arising out
 of breaches of contracts should be rele- gated to the past. carrying along with them in their train the whole job lot of doctrines touching ioinder and mis- lioinder. departures ct i'd omnes genus, and
 relieve tho practice of the incubi inherited ] from the original writ. In bungling.
 laborious manner the state of Alabama
 has bean groplnS abont the base of that
 "templa serena. edta doctrina sapien- 1 tum" of the poet for hundred years
 nearly, Nying to free itself from the sn-
 cidents operation and effect of that sorisinal writ Issuing out of chancery as commission to court of law to entertain pleas. and the result is clotted
 heap of nonsensIcal statutes in which the devil himself can alone take delight
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-09-22

'Suave, mari magno turbitantibus aequora
 ventis
 terra magnum alterius spectare la
 borem;
 sed nil Hulcius est, bene quam nunita
 tenere edita doctrina sapientum templa serena, '
 etc.
 Saws that poet who beautieffed his sect more than any other; but it were mat ter of speculation whether in his conceit he realized that therein he proclaimed to the world that he had hfmsei1 a. tained to those serene heights, and VI fortified therein. from whence he could look down with ineffable satiation. sat isfaction and saturation upon his fellow ,nortals Below, winding and wandering and blundering about in darkness, Tn search of the path of truth. Here is your earliest minaret; your most ancient muez- zin. proclaiming to the world through the silences of antiquity what hour II IS upon the day of progress, and summon ing the nultitudes and urging them to scale the heights to which he has at tained as superior to all other human at tainments possible or conceivable Alone though he was the results are eloquent of the pos abilities of persistency; 7 Hast thou not seen a fountains falling drops,
 Scoop in long time the hardest rocks" says this same poet, and his true celes- ,tial exhortation took captive the ray ished souls of men. vibrating and re- verbrating in their hearts, until the entire race of man. male and female has sealed the dizzy heights, and in- stalled itself in the clouds, ever clam bring higher higher, higher. until by n short day it blds fair to so far dis tance the poor Ttuezzins as that from below it shall soan be listening to the burden of his sufnmons which simply proclaimed the unparalleled serenity of the particulaH height to which he had attained PApgress is in the air to such extent that if new dog catch CT is to receive inNestiture of office. he must be . progre&siye dog catcher.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-09-22

fountains, admitting modernism thus to his most constant companionship, nevertheless was heart and soul tory Call it an obsession, If you will. Call 1t the conquest of sense by sentiment if you choose. The fact abides that this typical modern Japanese gentle man, under the strain of great crisis, becomes manifestly what he must all ways have been secretly, a devotee of the old gods. attached profoundly 10 tho days that are no more. This sci entihc. remorseless, iron hearted war rior planting siege guns by the aid of the most exact and mathematical science. is at heart sentimentalist, dipping his fingers in the honey of Hymettus. which dead heroes stored for him centuries ago, grooming with the pipes of Pan. and always producing an antique Oriental impression, de- spite the cut of his pants.
 Was it right or wrong for Nogi to perform the happy dispatch?n Being a Japanese, not Christian, not Jew. neither Christian nor Jewish standards apply to him. And so the question stat ed can only be answered in full knowl- edge of what he hoped to gain and of what he did gain for his country by
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-09-22

" DUNG MAN:
 l want you to read what Macau-
 4 lay says about the opposing gen. erals at the battle of Merwinden: '.Of all the 10000 men gathered around Merwinden under all the standards of western Europe it is probable that the two feeblest in body were the hunchback dwarf who urged forward the fiery on- slaught of France and the atsthmatic skeleton who covered England's slow re- treat"
 You are neither hunchbacked dwarf nor an asthmatic skeleton.
 But suppose you were?
 Or. suppose you are runt and a weak ling, physically?
 Nevertheless, take courage!
 There's Napoleon. You think of him as a robust, sawed off little giant, able to get along with four hours sleep. but do you know
 He came to Paris an undersized, hol- low checked boy at whom they poked fun at the engineering school because he was small? Even after he had shown special talent as an artilleryman he was dismissed from the army and despaired of his future
 He tells us about making the thin soup upon which he and his brother lived, and . he says, 'I breakfasted off dry bread, but l bolted the door on my poverty
 Note the nerve and the fine pride of the phrase.
 | Most young men would have given up. . After seven years as lieutenant there was no promotion in sight. but the little cor poral wrote in his diary:
 .'I've done all I can do. Now let the world look out'' And there's Theodore Roosevelt
 A puny city lad who left New York, went west and lived the cowboy life in order to save himself from premature death. Think or say what you like about
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-09-22

enter commercial circles. and as em- ployers of labor, or as competitors in the market. scalp, slay. skin their op- ponents and retreat to their several lairs. In them the virtues and the vices of the tenth century are rampant, particularly the vices.
 When MT. F. E. Smith, or Mr. Bomar Law, for instance, caused the Ulster men to resist home rule to the death and the last ditch, they are survivals of the cromwellian epoch, unaware that two and a half centuries have elasped and that another world is here, To be dressed for the part they should garb themselves like Guy Hawkes. or the Elizabethian conspirators, and they should order supplies of helmets and cuirasses, bikes and culverins for their intended army How cheerful to con slider MT. F. D. Smith, a tall and some what pleasant looking and harmless man of pacific aspect. emulating the fiery Rupert or masquerading as the doughty Praise God Barebonesl Could MT. Bonar Law hew his way through forests of Celtic spears and capture MT. Spencer Churchill. where he sits astride tall gray horse which has a green banneret above his ears? Faith,
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-09-22

i forget that these persons are falllble luman beings
 Even as you and I.'
 For many years l edited newspapers, and, like all editors, l insisted upon accuracy In the news. perfection In the composing room and punctuality n the mailing department
 Nevertheless
 Despite my constant urging. the re- porters would fail to get both sides of a story, and where the facts are lacking utilized their fertile fancies; linotype slugs would consistently get in upside down; and mall editions would occasionally be missed. The boys made mistakes
 Even as you and l."
 And sometimes when I traced 4 piece of "pi' to it's source I discovered that perhaps the floor man had sat up all night with q sick baby or wifs and was dead on hs feet" He was human--
 Even as you and l."
 It is always proper to insist on the sepvice for which you pay That is exact justice But
 Mercy 4ss above justice. And tho quality of mercy is not strained. It bIesses both him who gives and him who receives. We should remember that service is rendered by people who get tired, who have headaches and hcartaehes. who forget
 "llven as you and l.H
 The newsboy taught me a new les son of tolerance and charity. The boy really desired to serve me. It paid him to do so. Merely he had not been able to get my location straight in his head
 Since the day he foored me by his ad homlnem interrogatory he has not missed number of my paper. He was only human--not a machinc- Even as you and l."
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-09-22
HEART TO HEART TALKS-By Edwin A. Nye

I Roosevelt politically, there are few men
 who are his peers physically. l And of literay men there are Darwin, ! who was an invalid for 40 years, ard 1 Stevenson, who when he could not raise | his head from his pillow wrote stuff that l will live.
 | Do not these instances-and there are | hundreds more-make you ashamed to say | you cannot do what you want to do, or | be what you want to be? l The flesh may be weak but is the split willing?
 When you can say with Napoleon I've done all I can," then you can also say: Now let the world look out And it will look out for you-and get out of your way. The man who has lived an active life quits 1t at his peril. To retire is to die Besides, a ptrposeless life IS of all states the most miserable. To go to he'd with
 nothing to look forward to and wake up
 in the morning with nothing to do is to live pitiful existence. 1t is not the years that make man old. It is the death of the spirit of the
 man.
 In his eighty-fourth year Judge Roger A. Pryor of New York said to reporter. "The passage of time has in itself no effect on man or other material things What a man does counts.' Moreover man should, if possible. continue when old to do the things he hes been doing in the past. And, if his work be not that of physical labor, he should be able to do better work when he is old. He gathers cumulative strength. Darwin wrote books for many yeats. but his greatest work ''The Descent of Man." was written when he was 70 years old.
 Beethoven composed music up to the day of his death
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-09-22

sia A wrong had been done by her peo- pie which needed eXpation, first wrote out the reasons impelling her, then Journey 2oo or 800 miles to Tol<io, and In front of the Russian regation com mtted suicide. Surely an impressive apologyi Instances could be multi piled indefinitely. It Is national characteristic of the Japanese to seal their testimony with their blood"
 Hence Nogi's death. and that of his devoted vile, mother of heroic sons. Ia a great exhibition of Japanese spirit. the famous and heart inspiring Yamato Damashi. inc soul of old Japan. do not know that there Is anything more impressive anywhere among the na- tions And incidentally, too, 1t con- tains a noble confession of tho reality and the majesty and the nearness of tho eternal and the spiritual. Never- theless. though not wholly unbeautiful. was not Nogis death something fur loss than m assmptton-nn ascending among the gods2 Waa IL not rather sort Of sublime lmpertinanee. a presump- ton AS though the eternal love could not be trusted to accomplish It's re- domptlon without such Il temporary stage play?