davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-05-25
HEART TO HEART TALKS-By James A. Edgerton

Each of these cars is postoffice on
wheels.
| recall the case of one clerk who was
killed in railroad wreck II years ago.
>heard a prominent congressman say of
him repeatedly that he was the best
mail clerk that ever slung a sack"
He won national medal In two com
petative examinations. He threw the
cards of his entire division, then COM
prising something like 1900 offices, with
but 10 mistakes and did it in an incredibly
short time.
He went through several wrecks but
happened to come out unscathed. Finally
he was killed in his car and at his post
of duty.
His case is but typical of thousands
of others. for these servants of Uncle
Sam must not only be trained to point
Of efficiency superior to that of soldiers
but they muct face practically the same
chance of being MANNED or killed that
soldiers face
The railway mail service is the back
bone of the postal system.
1t covers practically every line of road
In the land. On it's efficiency depends
the prompt and accurate delivery of the
mails.
1t requires not only quickness of eye
and of hand. but retentive memory and
alert intelligence.
Yet these railway mail clerks do not
receive particularly high pay and they
are practically unknown to the public
They work at killing speed and fire.
quently for long hours.
Letters containing in the aggregate
vast sums of money pass through their
hands. Yet the cases of dishonesty
among them have been surprisingly few.
Each missive they handle may be of
vital Importance TO somebody car
ny messages of life or d~th. of love,
of important business transactions.
The next letter you receive, reflect on
what it represents
1t has been in many hands. all intent
on serving you.
1t is carried to you by a vast business
organization, a complex machine touch
ing every home in the land.
And
The most important cog In that ma
chine is the railway mail clerk.
1t is not popular 10 praise Thomas
Paine, perhaps the most Misunderstood
man of modern times.
Yet ] am convinced that it is Just;
and, being so convinced, | will do it.
Thomas Paine was the apostle of lib
eity in three lands--in his native Eng
land his adopted America and In France,
that he loved.
He endangered his own freedom and
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-05-25

point had shrunken. and the water was
scarcely OF sufficient depth to float the
craft. As quickly as possible things were
gotten in readiness, the Choctaws were
again left to shift for themselves. and
Bienville and his command drifted down
the river to Fort Tombeckbe. Here he
left De Berthel in command, with a year 3
supply of provisions, a quantity of mer-
chandise with which to trade with the
Indians. the wounded men to be cared for
till restored, and Bienvile with spirit
much subdued, and humilated over his
discontinue, returned to Mobile.
But what had become of D'Artaguette
and his 800? His fate was the saddest.
In seeking to comply with the request
of Bienville to join him in the expedition
aga inst the fort. he had fallen in With
a body of Chfckasaws, who by superior
numbers had overwhelmed him, and cap
tured him and his entire command. Him
self and his men We're prisoners in the
fort during tho engagement, and the am
munition used by the Chickasaws was
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-05-25

get away with his crippled command. As
the Choctaw allies had proved an incubus
to Bienville from the start, and source
of annoyance and of embarrassment. the
governor thought to enlist them in the
removal of his stores and OF the wounded.
To this proposal they at first demurred
then became sullen, and finally refrac-
tory, and proposed to abandon the French
outright, leave them to their fate, and
hunt again their homes to the south.
Bienville was a supple diplomat and
sagacious. and knew full well that If such
an emergency should come, the Choctaws
would reach the boats first, take them
and the stores left at Fort Oltibia, float
down the river, and leave him and his
men to perish In the wilds. In order to
avert this calamity. he proceeded on a
policy of concliation. 1t was ascertained
that Red Shoes was the instieator of the
discomfort, and he was as merciess as
he was shrewdly ambitious of Influence
and leadership. Bienville dreaded him,
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-05-25

the paper his brother found 1t TO be a
mass of bank notes, which Sheridan had
used on a stormy night, and had never
missed. He appeared on one occasion
having on a pair of new boots Said he.
Now guess how I came by them A
number of guesses were given. mo"
said he, you will never guess. | bought
them and paid for them" On being asked
what sort of wine he liked best he said,
"Other peoples.
Sheridan was man OF many parts.
He was a great conversationalist he
was a great playwright. and he was
great orator. He was In parliament for
30 years, and spoke In the Warren Hast
ings trial for five hours. OF this ora
ton Burke said, It was "the most as
tonishng effort of eloquenco. argument
and wit united of which there is any
record or tradition" Fox said all that
he had ever read, all that he had ever
heard, when compared with II, dwindled
into nothing and vanished like vapor be-
fore the sun. Pitt said that "It surpassed
all the eloquence of ancient and modern
times" L said he was a great conversa-
tionalist. Byron exclaimed. Poor dear
Sherry l shall never forget the day he,
Rogers, Moore and I passed together;
when he talked, and we listened without
one yawn, from till in the morning.
What a wealth of history, beautiful die
ton and propriety of metaphor one finds
in Lamartines fascinating History of the
Girondists, And the same may be said
of his history of Columbus But while
vast wealth lies between the lids of his
books, Lamartine was wretchedy poor,
and a famous spendthrift. One of his
books brought him an income of 200 900
francs in one year But this was moth
ing to Bamartine for he had spent tho
immense sum of 3,000000 francs already.
Style In living. and a luxurious table were
his passion. There was no reasonable
ness In Lamartine's Strengthened condi-
ton. His writings paid him. and be-
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-05-25
WHAT?-By B. F. Riley, D. D.

and had dstrusted him all along. but
there was no avoidance of disposing Of
him, and he had to accompany the COM
mand. The governor sent for the chief
who appeared before him accompanied by
the despieable Red Shoes. Bienville not
only persuaded the chief to remain stead
fast, but gained his consent to have his
warriors become burden-oearers of the
camp equipage. At this agreement be-
tween the two leaders Red Shoes indg
nantly protested, and in his rage snatched
his pistol from his belt and would have
shot the chief on the spot. had not Bien-
Vile seized his brawny arm and prevented
the commission of the deed.
The march back to the boats was tedi-
Gus and irksome. covering only four miles
the first day. Two of the wounded men
died on the way and were buried In the
woods. The showers under which the
march to the fort had prevailed, ceased
for a week. or more. followed by season
of hot, dry weather. the river at that
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-05-25

finally lost it that he might give free
dom to all mankind.
An intensely religious man, he yet
believed in religious liberty and taught
it to an intolerant age that misunder-
stood his motives and mis- ideals
He belved not only in the Ameri-
can and French republics, but in a re-
public of the world He set the Colo
MES on fire for independence and heart
ened their soldiers in the dark days CT
the revolution He helped frame the bill
OF rights in France. He taught the rights
of man in England.
His Age of Reason" which resulted
in heaping calumny on his name was
written as much against French athe-
ism as it was against what he regarded
as superstition in America and England.
This man expressed his faith in God
in some of the most beautiful apostro-
phes in literature and showed "a keen
appreciation and sympathy with the spirit
of the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. of
whose character and moral ideals he
spoke in praise.
Perhaps he lacked education, for he
was ever commoner. the son of a sty-
maker and with only grammar school
training.
Yet few men have ever written In more
eloquent or tranchant English
II has been said that those who come
to save mankind are either worshipe1 as
gcds or chased as devils. 1t was poor
Paine's misfortune to suffer the last
named fate. Yet the law of compensa
ton operates, and through it he will
some day be placed as high as he was
before made low, for that is necessary
to balance the scales of justice
Personally | believe him to have been
the actual author of the Declaration of
independence, and there is abundant
proof to support this view.
All any rate, he was a prophet Of lib
erty and republicanism the world around,
ana in this age we should not stone our
prophets
There Is no reason why we should not
nave on these shores the noblest civili-
zatlon the world has ever known.
There Is no reason why we should not
take as advanced a place in art and
literature, in philosophy and religion and
in all higher realms of the intellectual
and spiritual as we have in the political
commercial and industrial.
There is no reason why we should not
become more than ever before a beacon
set upon hill to the people of all lands
and races.
In measure we have been and are
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-05-25

that captured from the ill-fated D'Arta-
guette Up to the time of the attack on
the fort. D'Artaguette and his men were
as we'll treated as Indians can treat the
captured, but on the retirement Of Bien-
vile. DArtaguette and his men were tie
to stakes and burned.
4 For all the disasters attendant on the
ill-starred campaign, including that of the
fate of ID DArtaguette, Bienville was held
responsible by the Paris government.
with which he lost favor, and the wane
of influence and of power followed. Bien-
vile was a victim of conditions over
which no mortal could have had control
but 1t was a Juncture of conditions thai
sometimes comes to the most meritorioua
of men, into which Bienville was brought,
and he had to be sacrificed. While the
work that he did laid the foundation of
the civilization of three southern COM
monwealths, he was removed in dishonor.
and left the scene of action and sank
from view forever.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-05-25

fortune was spent. Tiberius would gulp
down crushed precious stones in his wine
and pile up the plates of his guests with
gold and jewels, which were borne away.
He built boats of cedar and covered them
with gold Rarest gems were inlaid in
the gold. Nero's crown was said to be
worth s2,5O0000. When he went fishing
he used lines of purple silk and hooks of
gold In his journeys through his do
minions 500 asses were taken along to
supply milk for the bath of himself and
his wife
In those ancient times and long be-
fore Nero there was a passion for dis
play inA all circles. Plutarch. remem-
tation was remarkable. Their ships had
masts covered with gold, the sails were
woven Of purple, and the oars were en-
cased in silver. All of which reminds
us of the ship in which Cleopatra
sailed
''The barge she sat in, like a FURNISHED
throne,
Burned on the water; the poop was beat
en- gold:
+ ulple lue sails, ana SO pelIumeu, tnat
The winds were lovesick with them; the
oars were silver;
Which to the tune of flutes, kept stroke"
But long since the period of time of
which ! have thus far written have
there been famous spendthrifts.
Oliver Goldsmith might with all pro-
priety be called the hero of impecunios-
ity. He was rich in intellect and made
the word richer by his Animated Nh
ture," and his Vicar of Wakefield:" tut
the poor fellow was never in debt 1t has
been said of him that HE was dunned
for his milk, arrested Tor rent and
threatened by lawyers, but he never
learned the virtue of economy" lie
travelled through Europe on foot and
begged his WAY from CITY 10 CITY The
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-05-25
OF ALABAMA HISTORY AFTER THE BATTLE

standing discussing the scenes of the re-
cent conflict and indignant at the conduct
of the Indian allies, they turned jocularly
to Simon, the negro commander, and
child him on the cowardice of his black
crew. Simon was polite and bright, and
was much In favor with the officers.
While he smiled in return to the jocu-
larity of the officers, he glanced about
him, suddenly picked up a long rope, and
said "Pll prove to you that a negro is
as brave as any body when it Is neces-
sary to be-" and with this dashed toward
the herd of cattle and horses, selected a
mills-white mare, hastily made a halter.
mounted on her back, and sped the en-
tire circuit of the walls of the fort.
perhaps distance of a quarter of a mile.
He was fired on by hundreds of rifles
from the fort, but dashed back to the
group of officers, without having received
a scratch, leaped from the back of the
mare. gracefully saluted the officers and
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-05-25

great success that came when he was
older made no difference in his habits
of spending his money recklessly. He
would borrow money to bestow upon
objects of charity and would always find
ii inconvenient to REPAY the little
amount" In the period of IA years he
earned $4,000; within few years he
had spent it all and was $1,000 in debt.
In addition to this he had received money
from publishers in advance upon books
which he had promised to write but
which were never written. When he died
he was in debt beyond all hope and left
behind him only a few worthless trifies
at which his creditors turned up their
estimable noses.
Richard Brinsey Sheridan, "old Sherry.
was a very prince OF spendthrifts. Large
sums of money came to him, but he was
always in debt and always very poor In
six months he spent about $4,000 for prac-
tically nothing Then followed a period
of deep indebtedness. Poverty drove him
to literature; then came an offer of fine
paying position under the government
but it was all the same to this prince
of spendthrifts, Money passed away like
water through a sieve. Yet, he was the
lightest-hearted man in the realm of Eng
land Ne never woTied-he let other peo-
pie do that. Only a light heart such as
Sheridan's, could have given the world
''The School for Scandal" the best COM
edy since the days of Shakespeare. Not
withstanding his natural goodness one
day his wife was found in great dis
tress, and she said she had just found
out that her husband was villain. Upon
being asked what she meant, she said
that all the love letters he had sent to
her were copies of letters he had sent
to other women
There are many anecdotes told as IL
Illustrating SheTidan's careiessness I'm
money matters. His brother once found
the window frames stuffed with paper
O siInnca THAR ra ttlino Irnnrn lnnl1Inac n
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-05-25

all This, but not in the degree that it
is our opportunity and duty to be.
Everything is in our favor-our re-
sources, our Institutions, our history and
our youth.
Our danger is of losing sight of our
high ideals and manifest destiny in the
pursuit of temporary, partial and per-
sonal things, of submerglng spiritual in
material things, of thinking more of lux
ury than of leadership.
Set apart from the old world as we
are, we could become the evangel of
peace, of universal education, of human
itarian enterprises, of social organiza-
ton that would do justice TO the work
ers, eliminate waste and bring producer
and consumer together; of agricultural
and industrial efficiency, of practical
philanthropy and helpfuness one to an
other, of freedom from corruption of
popular government at its cieanest and
best
These are not impossible ideals. They
are both practical and necessary.
With these things more nearly realized
we could become a nation such as was
contemplated by our founders.
Is it not time, in Lincon's phrase, that
we had a 'new birth of freedom" and
that America should in the highest and
best sense take her rightful place as the
leader of the world?
AS write this it is raining. The water
Just outside my widow is plunking down
from leak in the caves.
Rainy DAYS have their uses. but for my
self | prefer to invest in sunshine.
on rainy day | can almost believe
in infant damnation, whereas when the
sun is shining it is utterly repugnant.
However, | did not start out to talk
of the weather nor again of theology.
Those things are only thrown in as back
ground.
So We viii literally turn our backs on
beth. throw a fresh log on the hearth,
pull up the most comfortable chair, light
our pipes and talk things over,
You want to get on in the world. Well.
that is inst what I want you to do. You
cant get on any too fast or too far to
suit me so long as you play the game
square.
Are YOU playing il square? Think il
oyer. You need not tell me. tvt YOU
had better not try to deceive yourself.
we will assume that YOU are. l dc
not believe a man like you could long
be content to play IT any other way.
Now, since you play fair. why don't
YOU get ahead faster? Maybe you don
work hard enough.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-05-25

po"ea' while they cheered his exploit. No
one doubted the courage of Simon after
that feat
Ihat night the French slept on their
arms. Not a note came from the fort
1here was funeral silence everywhere
When' however, light broke over the
scene on the following morning. a horri-
BILE spectacle met the gaze of the French
The Chickasaws had sailed forth during
the night, and had borne within the fort
the dead left on the scene, had uuartered
them, and had hung from the walls por-
tions OF the bodies of the unfortunate
slain. This act of barbarous defiance
added to the sting Of defeat. infuriated
many or the officers and men, and they
demanded to be given another chance
at the Chickasaws. and they would de-
molish the fort Incensed and insulted,
they became almost uncomfortable, but
Bfenville admonished GOODNESS and pru-
dence, for he had had enough, and was
now more concerned about how he should
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-05-25

Range with humble livers in content.
Than to be perked up in a glistenlng
grief,
And wear golden sorrow
such as a fine house in a fashionable
section. all covered with mortgages, and
himself trying to meet an infinitude of.
burdensome debts
Yet there are men who spend all that
they possess and give no thought to
the horrible sequel-debt They have
no idea of the value of money but let
it slip away from them as little chill
dren let dry sand flow through their
separated fingers.
Kings and rulers have sometimes set
the bad example of most extravag gantly
spending money, which noblemen and
others in high social rank have not
been slow to follow, forgetting the old
priciple of noblesse oblige. Knight, in
his history of England, says that
Henry VIII set an example of the most
extravagant splendor, which ruined
many of the mobiles in trying to imi-
tate. In Hoods Life of Cromwell"
we read that, while the people were
starving under the weight of oppres-
sion and forced loans, the King was
spending fortunes right and left either
for himself or for his immediate
friends. We read of over $4,000 being
paid to William Rogers, a goldsmith;
of $4,000 paid to Philip Jacobson, a
jeweller. for a ring; of $4,000 paid to
Henry Garway for one diamond; of
$4,000 paid to Sir Manrill Abbott. for
a diamond set in collar of gold And
the people were already bending low
under the yoke of financial oppression.
Is 1t any wonder that they finally
chopped the Kings head from his shoul-
ders7 Even a worm may turn at last.
Gibbon, in his immortal work, says
that at one time it was the habit of the
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-05-25

| You can't get anywhere unless you "stir
your stumps," as the saying goes. The
only way to arrive is to move.
! Assuming, however, that you work
| hard, what is the trouble? Possibly you
do not use enough intelligence.
Outwardy all men look pretty much
alike. They have the same kind of hands
and legs, faces and bodies. They are
not widely different in physical charac-
teristics
What is it. then, that differentiates
them, that makes one a world celebrity
and the other a clodhopper? Why, it is
a mere matter of brains The winner is
bound TO find out the truth about things,
while the other takes hcarsay or preju-
dice or some other half baked or made
quate process.
You have got to get right down to busi
ness and think things out.
BIT
II you play fair and work and think,
and if you do all these hard enough. no
body can stop you.
There is whole lot in atmosphere and
attitude.
Like attracts like he man who looks
prosperous and acts prosperous viii at
tract prosperity.
Get the success habit. 1t is irresist-
ibe
Don't be TOO much of a shrinking daisy.
Shrinking daisies have their place, but
not in the modern world of business.
The shrinking man will usually have
shrinking trade. In the language of
a former President, buck the line hard"
Even the man you buck up against win.
like you the better for it.
| remember once hearing a very ex-
pressNe line play up and play the
game
If you are going to get in. the game
at all yon have to play 1t for all you
are worth.
/ once heard of business man who
was down to his last 50. He fortunately
had dress suit left. however. so he ar
rayed himself in his glad habiliment
spent his last 50 for ticket at swell
theatre, sat beside n man with wnoitl
he got into conversation and succeeded
| in interesting this man in business deal
| that put the chap who had spent his
last three back on his feet
! He kept his nevre ana played the game.
| He had the success habit.
! Psychology may count for more than
capital.
Often the chief use of cas- his to put
man in the right mental attitude to
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-05-25

I'm the long run we get what we earn.
Payment may be deferred, but in the
end the account is balanced.
To believe this confers a certain deep
comfort, for it gives US a sense of faith
and security.
We can rest our case in the convic-
tion that ultimate justice will be done,
work.
There shall be recompense-recompen
| for good, recompense for evil.
The law of retribution is recognized
the world around. In the orient it is
called karma. In the occident it is
is practically universal that if the scale
| IS not balanced in this life then it is
balanced in some other.
Herbert Spencer had laid down the
|proposition that widespread belief in any
given idea is an argument in it's favor.
The belief In ultimate justice, in the
law Of compensation, is as wide as the
world. 1t has persisted through all ages.
1t is a part of all creeds.
1t is impossible to think of a physical
universe in which there is not absolute
balance and adjustment.
If we mediate deeply enough 1t will
become plain to us that it is just as in-
possible to think OF a moral universe in
which there is not absolute balance and
adjustment.
AS above, so below; as within, so with
out.
Henry Dyummond once wrote book
My own belief is that there is but one
My own believ Is that there is but one
law and that If we see its workings on
any plane we may find the analogy to
them on every other plane
We find absolute balance in the ma
terial world The analogy to this in the
moral world is justice compensation, ret
fibution.
BE careful therefore. (of the causes
you are setting up, for sooner or later
the effects will come back TO you.
There Is nothing more certain than this
that some time and some place you
will get yours.
Did you ever see one of the fast mail
trains on a trunk line railroad?
1t is an impressive sight even from
the outside. 1t is more impressive il
seen from within.
Everyone of these cars, whirling along
sat 80 or 80 miles an hour, is a hive of in
tlustry.
" Mail clerks occupy almost every avail
able foot of space. With fingers work
ing with lightningi speed they sort the
letters. each according to its destination
or route. tie them into bundles and put
them into their right pouches.