davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-10-06

Britons than about their contemporaries in those far Asiatic islands. All the years between the alleged birth of "Jimmu Tenno," in the seventh century, B. C., and the date of the compilation of the oldest history, the ''Kojikiin the eighth century, A. D.. are, as King Arthur ob- served, "clouded with a doubt This is notorious, and has been recognized by readers for the past thirty years. And yet Mock Joya" writes as follows:
 Ever since Emperor Jimmu ascended the throne in 660 B. C., the spirit of Bush ido has ruled the whole nation Until the fourth century, A D., it had been the custom when the emperor died for the highest officials of the court and the greatest warriors to kill themselves and follow the emperor to the world beyond and be his servants, serving and protect ing him as they serve his majesty in this world. But at the beginning of the fourth century the custom of commit ting suicide at the death of the emperor was prohibited by the imperial family, and, instead the custom was introduced of burying several clay dolls around the body of the emperor to guard and pro- tect his majesty along the route to the other world'' etc., etc.
 And so MT. Mock Joya tells us that certain "clay dolls' were buried with Mutsuhito to guard and protect him, and further that the Count and Countess Nogi
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-10-06

committed suicide in obedience to the old custom prohibited by the imperial fam fly in the fourth century, A. D!
 May we perhaps reverently protest that the Japanese are not imbeciles, as Mock Joya's story would indicate? Further more. and particularly, is it not well to preserve silence when one does not know Of course if Mir. Mock Joya should ob- serve this rule of silence where knowledge fails he would sully the "World' with scant supplies of copy. But it is precisely this sort of ineXact but sensational writ ing that makes American journalism a byword in Europe, and from which the new American journalism is honestly at tempting to free itself Puerilities a1d imbeciities dished up by hashy boys and gravely rehashed by sober men are sian ders not only on the persons involved but grave islander on the intelligence of American readers Therefore l do well to protest.
 Anyone who will take the trouble to ex- anime the excellent International Ency- clopedia, published by Dodd, Mead & Co.,. may find what men like pr. William F.. Griffis and my old neighbor the lamented Prof. George William Knox, have to say about things Japanese. How far the new Britannica is revised on this subject have had no time to determine. but without looking up that article would confidently
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-10-06
RECONCILIATION-By A. B. Bealle

and thirsts-the same old natural clamor for work and play.
 I think 1t means much that we can talk about these things; that we may even discuss the probability of. a revolution. without losing our tempers. If in the process of learning our lesson of human brotherhood, few undermen get shot down by state troops, or a few millions worth of printing machinery get dyna- mited into kingdom come. or some scores of guilty and innocent Industrial Work CTS of the World get herded into bull pens by respectable Law and Order
 leagues, the ultimate result cannot be changed. Indeed, these brutal gestures may have their own use in hastening the reconciliation It Is not greatly to our credit that we have at times lmnoverish- ed and even killed our neighbor but it is 10 our credit that we deplore our greed our murder. It means that we are de- veloping a national conscience if 1t means nothing else.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-10-06

floors, according to their long unused strength. Those that are high shall be brought low, the gossip runneth, and those that are abased shall be exalted in breath-in the twinkling of an eye.
 Indeed 1t has come to be somewhat moro than mere gossip-this talk of the revolution. But however 1t shall all come to pass. or whatever may acrue to a changed scheme of living, none will carefully outline. Divers are the pro- cesses suggested. manifold the tonics prescribed for turning the scheme topsy- turvy; but on one point only both seers and numhskulls agree-that a revolution bulks large ahead.
 The wise men for the most part sus- pect that it will make for a saner scheme of government and must come partly through the ballot, partly through the elimination of the professional politician from politics. The numbskul cherishes the thought of a dynamic change; the more violent he supposes. the more last ing; the bloodier, the more defensible..
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-10-06

Tho same old hungers and thirsts arc shared by these social combatants--these mines In our world motion picture. How like we all. are. stripped of our gauds! For tho old needs of work and play are essential for all who feel the press of going forward and not backward, though our ideas of what that work and play is
 differs. And if this is the eternal law of readjustment that gets the world for warded-gets the worlds work bettered- lot the scheme be and quit trying to im- prove it. May 1t not even be that silken shoon and ragged shoes. meeting on the stairway of the present, divorced this long long time by class and creed O life, will
 recognize the other as brother and friend?
 The noblest revolution. after all, must be one of readjustment and not of de- struction-a solemn, eternal business of reinforcing, replacing, re-estimating, and on the whole getting the social machin- cry in It's fittest, best running order, and not prematurely smashing any of 1t. Indeed, the revolution is on at this mo-
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-10-06

tury, the entire drama Of mans quar- relings. misunderstanding might be play ed out on stage where scarce breath Ing room would be needed. These actors of mine would represent societys ex- tremes and yet they would be of much the same timbre. mentally morally, phys ically. Though these stage folk might put the very Devil himself in their glances of hate and venom, the play would last just to the bright denouement when the audience. seeing itself portrayed in the foolish. tigerish attitude of combatants. would get it's own lesson ready-made fin human brotherhood.
 The wise man in the orchestra circle and the wise man in the balcony, the rich ass in the parquet and the poor ass in the peanut gallery might learn from intelligent mines at my motion play that the differences between men are not really differences, but only masks. Back of the masks are the same old hungers
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-10-06

It Is better for us to tally and test, take measure of our chances to escape the long knives and the bludgeons of labor I suppose. now than at any flu ture time. We of Birmingham who for long time have missed strike troubles and all of the resulting hell of the worst wage disputes. can better see both sides of a question than our sister city of Augusta, Ga, say, or that sister further off-Lawrence, Mass, of the wounded heart. where the last word of syndieal- ism is said.
 We seem to see. as in silhouette. the races of men at peace. so far as declared war is concerned, and yet represented as two figures, couchant-the one. the em- ployer; the other. the employe-the one, owner of the tools; the other, the user of the tools. Given two first grade ac- tors of intense power, tableau of some importance could be arranged for the motion picture audiences of these states. At this beginning of the twentieth cen
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-10-06

enlisted in the Confederate army, but the health of MT. Brewer became broken, and he was assigned to post duty during much of the war. but served for period on the staff of Gen. Wirt Adams in the Mississippi campaign.
 His fondness for journalism led him to resume the editorial pen Just after the close of the war. when he published at Camden. Ala, the Wilcox Times. It was at this time, when MT. Brewer was only % years old. that Governor Patton ap- pointed him on his staff with the rank of colonel, by which title he has since been known.
 In 1868 Colonel Brewer removed to Hayneville and founded the Haynevile Examiner. The times and the environ ments served to evoke from the young editor the best that was in him. and his paper became one of the most powerful engines in the State in the exposure nf the corruption of reconstruction. The slo-
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-10-06
The Housing Problem Tn Towns
By EDWARD T.HARTMAN

slum district, no ugly section. 1t is beautiful alike in all it's parts. Civic art has never been heard of there as a problem within itself. simply because it has always been looked upon as an ;n- herent part fin the development of the community. The people of Bournville have not had to try to graft impossible stone acanthus leaves' upon store box architecture. upon unpaved streets, and upon neglected back yards.
 Bad homes are responsible for large percentage of the immortality which the churches are trying to cure they 1re responsible for a large part of the sick ness which the hospitals, dispensar,es, and nurses are trying to cure. and for much of the poverty the charities are trying to cure. The housing problem. that Is. the Constructive problem. is one of the biggest items in homemaking
 The economic aspects of the housing problem are serious. Towns get. as q rule. what they bid for. That is, if force of circumstances brings a large number of people to town the quality of these people will depend in large measure on the kind of homes which are offered to them. If the people have to content themselves with abandoned dwellings, out-buildings and similar inferior homes. they will be an inferior type of people; because self-respecting people will not live In such homes. What is the re- | suit, therefore. when a town sets up a call for an increase of population on this basis? Industrial foaters begin to come. The newcomers do not increase
 the taxable values because they live in
 inferior homes. and living so tend to pull down other taxable values around
 them. The arrival, therefore, brings
 little or nothing into the town treasury. l on the other hand. the town has to
 meet the problems of education. polics, | courts, jails, hospitals. poor relief. T''.S
 people who are willing to come Into hai 1 homes are the people who keep the i remedial institutions busy and who do
 practically nothing 10 help maintain aay ! institutions.
 l But when the attractive homes on well
 planned streets are offered, self-respect- ] ing people will come. the taxable values
 of the town will rise and the per capita demand fdf all the remedial institutions
 will be decreased.
 1 It Is well. too. not to overlook ths economic values of tho aesthetic and so-
 ciai aspects of the problem. The money
 values of civic art and of civic con.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-10-06

Exclusive Service The Survey Press Bureau)
 Almost all well directed efforts to ad-
 vance our social standards enter around
 homes, religion, education and play. When these fail and when accident, in-
 competence, and injustice oyertake pe1- pie. we have to develop philanthropIes, settlements child helping societies. courts, probation police and medical
 charities.
 Now as 10 the home. The house Is not
 all of it, tut, as Joseph Lee says: Al though the home is itself invisible, n spiritual. not a material. body it's ex- presslon has to be concrete. and a con,.i- tion to the best development of all the rest, is the house or physical setting In
 which 1t finds itself. The question of
 the sort of niche that shall exist in tre
 community in which family can build
 is vital to the development of this most
 Fundamental of our institutions
 We are in this country slow in arr,y-
 ing at proper understanding of the housing problem. As rule. "our tow has no housing problem" Did you ever
 hear of mother who waited tin her boy was ready for the juvenile court. the hospital. or the insane asylum before
 she admitted that she had boy prob
 lem? Did yousever see manufacturer
 recognize q factory problem only after
 his building was burned down or ready
 for the junk heap? No. the mother and the manufacturer both recognize their
 problems at the very start They a,so
 know that the remedial aspects of the
 problem are greatly increased by care
 lessness toward the first part of the work.
 Our towns and cities refuse to recog- nlze the real, the constructive problem
 and even after the damage is done they too commonly introduce palliatiyes in-
 stead of removing the cause. The prob
 when every street is laid out, when | every bit of plumbing is set up. when | every sewer Is laid and when every water connection Is made. It is t,ie problem of making communities.
 | For many years we have had Tn Mas sachusetts a succession of short-live1 organizations to improve the appearance l of towns. They have died mainly be-
 cause beauty cannot easily be enerafsc cd upon rottenness. People are beginning
 to see that In town in which every
 house is of good design there are thosr elements of art which when combsns a l make for beautiful community. 'hs
 town of bournville, IF England, has nS
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-10-06

turn with his facile pen to the production of the rarest English and the highest ex- pression of thought His passion for lit- erature. for he is most versatile stu dent. has resulted in a style peculiarly his own--crisp, terse, luminous. condensed, cast In classic mold. Ills History of Alabama. published in 1872. is an invalua- hle contribution to the literature of the State. As a stylist he is rigid in exact ness. while preserving a singular flavor which is most agreeable to the learned
 reader. His Children of Issachar." a
 novel, deals with lxu klux times. "The Se- cret of Mankind" is metaphysical pro- duetion which has won such praise as to cause 1t to be compared to the works of Tacitus and swedenborg. Though pub published as far back as 1895 this work Is securing revived popularity. and is now being translated into tho German. The last literary production of Colonel Brewer, Egypt and Israel" Is a schol-
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-10-06
ssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

tenn thus became fixed. with it's laws of chivalry sanct1ed by ancestor worship and nature worship7 We cannot, with existing materials. reunits that vague. dim history Anyone who chooses may get Prof. Basil Hall Chamberlain's anno- tated translation of tho "Kojiki." pub llshed. I think, by Trubner's, London. And thus, with that great scholars as- sistance. one may get all that can be secured. general impression of race not unified until long after the "kojiki" was written, but unified at last within liv- ing memory. under the late Emperor Mutsuhito, who first emerged from the old clan and feudal ern into the clear light of national leadership
 But returning to the story of Count and Countess Nogi, it surely might be stated as a most possible but humiliating fact that the grand old hero was as weary as he said he was, that he felt his days of usefulness were over. and that he chose a time of national sorrow to close a life which had at last grov U empty. This is not so romantic as tn, other hypothesis. for it means simply that like many a man and woman before them, this man and this woman com mitted suicide to escape mental depres- sion, or, as the coroner's verdict might phrase 1t, while of unsound mind.''
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-10-06

the s per cent bonds Of the State were funded at 6 per cent. He never suffered a tax collector to settle with subordi- nate, but always with himself.
 Another illustration of his share in the financial rehabilitation Of the State is afforded by the fact that Colonel Brewer originated the State law of sale of prop erty for taxes. which law he worked through the legislature during the ses- sion of 1STS-9. He is the author of the law relative to descent and distribution by means of which parents inherit from their children when they die intestate. without wife or children. For seventy years the State had made no provision for parents. and no matter how old or inflrm they could not inherit and the property fell to the brothers and sisters of the intestate.
 From the dry, dull details of rigid busi- ness and the eXacting irksomeness of burdensome labor Colonel Brewer could
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-10-06

gan resounding from the Hayneville Ex- aminer. 'the people against the fools and thieves in power,' caught in it's aptness the ear of the State, and became a popu- lar legend throughout the reconstruction era.
 In 1876 to 1880 Colonel Brewer served the State as auditor. During 1880 he was chosen for the legislature and served during the remarkable period of eighteen years, twelve of which as senator and six as representative. At the end of that period he was chosen for congress. where he served for four years. Twenty-six years of public service, years of diligent activity. entities him to the gratitude of the people of a great State.
 Valuable as his service was in every position occupied by Colonel Brewer, his most useful service was rendered while he was State auditor. His career in that ca pacity began with the administration of Governor Houston, which was one of re-
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-10-06

arly production Of Phiiology, and shows a remarkable knowledge of the language of the ancient Egyptians and Hebrews.
 At this writing Colonel Brewer is still among us His boise is still as erect as when a lad. and his speech as clear. though he has passed his sixty seventh mile stone. Tn commenting on an allusion made to him in the Mobile Register in September. 1907. which journal spoke Of him as the last of the Southern col onels," the Montgomery Journal said of Colonel Brewer: No man in the State has a more distinguished personality, a per sonality more distinctly southern. and none whose brain and intellect, culture and learning so forcibly remind of the Old South as does the Registers Hayneville friend"
 In quiet leisure Colonel Brewer is spend ing his closing days at "The Cedars,' his country mansion few miles distant from Montgomery.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-10-06

trenehment and reform. The pivot on which the economic administration of Governor Houston turned was the office of the auditor, over which presided Col onel Brewer. Here he discovered the leakage of the resources of the State, and it was Colonel Brewer who not only discovered this vent but sealed it. and gave backbone to the economy of the administration. To illustrate. Colonel Brewer found that the tax collector of Mobile county was allowed credit of s62, ,0o0 for the lands bought by the State in 1s74-5. and yet it was shown that Mo bile was sold every year. while in the county of Dallas, not including the town lots. 5000 acres were sold in 1875.
 Conditions like these had prostrated the State financially. and the s per cent horse shoe' money of the State was being hawked in the market at 50 and 60 cents on the dollar. Within two years after Colonel Brewer became State auditor
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-10-06

ment, and has been. I dare say. for . million or so of years. It looks as if ths process win not be hastened for all our prayers or tears.
 This. however, we can be right cer- tain of; that the work of readjustment is being wrought by brain and not by blood. We may as we'll awake at once to the fact that Is eternal, that we have to introduce somewhat moro than gentle blood. somewhat more than the delicate air of what wo call good breeding to altogether justify our appearance Not even large bank credits will entirely justify your being here. Right hearts. and all that go with them--civic health, common care for those who lack. the new Christ-vlsion-are what shall bring to pass reconciliation between silken shoon and ragged shoes. We feel nearer of kin to him or her who has once been a personal care to us. Through consid- eration we win to toleration: through service we win to love.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-10-06
<<X XOEK JOYA" is a name I have
 MI hitherto missed, but the Lit
 1yX orarv Dtpest assures me that |

<M'ssa'a s'a.s?. sss4 @,...: !. s.s; ss, n. ':s. ss
 M erary Digest assures me that gt stands for the Japanese reporter or the New York World" who has written the story of the recent happenings In the land of the Rising Sun for the behoof of the "world's' readers Nevertheless Mock Joya may be other than Japanese Hungarian, let us say. or Czech. For 1t is certain he could not write Mock in the Japanese sylabary, and therefore that. if a Japanese, he is adjusting him self to a foreign environment but not making name that looks less foreign than any other name.
 But when this gentleman, In this year Of grace 1912, sends to a metropolitan paper like the World" puerile presentations of Japanese history" and when the "Di- rest'' thinks it intelligent to copy such puerilities without warning or comment. ought not some one to take it in hand 10 supply notes of interrogation? For there is no student of Japanese history today who believes that we have access 10 any considerable number of facts dat ing earlier than the year 700 A. D. or course there were facts, there were nap penings, there was Japanese people, in the years preceding this late date. But we know far more about the ancient
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-10-06
Interesting People

From the Chicago News.
 | Joseph F. Sullivan, hopelessly crip- pied, not yet past the age of 2f. enjoys the distinction of being the youngest mayor in the United States. He was recently elected chief executive sf tho town of Imboden, Ark. defeating two old political csmpaigners. His life has been a hard struggle his father having died when the lad was 5 years old. leav- ing him with feeble mother Fge was stricken with paralysis which has de- prived him of the use of his left arm and both lower limbs. His ambition l is, after he has taken a turn ~ two out of politics, to enter some u1iver- sity and complete his course h liter ature.
 For some years after the nplkado adopted the western mode of living his meals were prepared by French- man. He was determined. however. that in cookery. as in other branches of knowledge, the Japanese should be- come independent of tho services of foreign adopts. The best of his native cooks, Oyagni, was sent to Frsnre and carefully trained in all the refnements Like most of his race, oyagni proved an apt pupil On his return he as- sumed command of the imperial kitchen and trained a sufficient number of his countrymen to displace all the fsreign- ! CTS.
 Andrew Lang unraveled many his- | torical puzzles. but there was one mys- | tery the secret of which he kn8w but would not tell He knew the truth about the famous murder of which Alan Beck was suspected, and for which James Stewart was hanged. Stevenson. in "Kidnapped, lays the crime 10 the account of mysterious companion of Aian's. and in so far that neither Alan
 nor James was the murderer ts was right, said MT. Lang. But the Identity of the assassin was clan secret. re- vealed to MT. Lang as Il fellow clans man. and he refused to make 1t public
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-10-06
HEART TO HEART TALKS-By Ed

let him keep his office and the place he has won in society?
 Can there be any other answer than the one with which I began this story?
 William Burke is the man.
 Before going to Philadelphia he served a sentence of four years in the Massa- chusetts penitentary for burglary. He owns a prosperous cigar store, has been active in reform politics and is held in esteem.
 This Is his life story:
 William Burke never knew his parents nor where he was born. His first reeol- lection Is of living in the streets, sell ings newspapers and sleeping in alley boxes and doorways. Naturally he fell into bad company end evil ways.