davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-10-26

| Jeremiah Sullivan of Iowa is likely to
drop out of the. unofficial cabinet. II ie
/ understood that lie is going to be ap-
we'll Informed about things IN the middle
west. He is credited with full knowledge
Of and sympathy with the farmer. The
President has depended upon him to a
high degree for information about man
! u1acturing industries and agricultural
! needs in the grain belt and TO get a line
on men in the middle west about whose
capabilities he wanted accurate informa-
| ton
William Bayard Hale has been a good
deal in the public eye of late, becaus.
President Huerta of Mexico objected to
| his presence in that republic. Mr.. Hale IS
! a clergyman, but is better known as an
editor and writer. He is A years old and
comes from Richmond, Ind. He was ed
ucated at Harvard and was in the min
| istry from 1896 pntil 1900. Then he be-
| came editor of the Cosmopolitan Maga-
| zine In 1901 he was made editor of Cur
rent Literature. He gave up the maga-
zine field in 1902 to become a special cor
respondent of the New York World. Then
for several years he was managing editor
of the Philadelphia Public Ledger. Later
he was one of the editors of the New
York Times, and in 1903 he went to Paris
as correspondent of that newspaper. He
| is brilliant writer.
Various foreign governments have hon
ored him. he is knight commander Of
| the Imperial Order of the Rising Sun of
| Japan, and an officer of the Order of Leo
| pold of Belgium. He has been quite stu
| dent of history. He wrote the Making of
| the American Constitution which IS a
at a M a rd q a fat
with Mr. Wilson in some of his historical
| writings. Most of his articles In the ast
! four years have appeared in the World s
| Work, of which he is one of the editors
| he went to Mexico at the request of MIR.
| Wilson to study the situation there and
report conditions Like Mr. Dodge. he is
an ardent admirer of the President. and
the President knows his mental attitude
and his character thoroughly.
( 1t is no new thing for Mr.. Hale to en-
| joy the confidence of men in high places.
/ He Is a close friend of Theodore Roose-
welt, and was frequent visitor at the
White House during the Roosevelt adj
ministrations He has the friendship. too,
OF Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany.
| Joseph p. Tumulty is a young New Jer-
| sey Irishman. He was Mr.. Wilson's pri-
vate secretary when Wilson was governor
of New Jersey. He was Invaluable in
this position. not only because of his nat
rral qualifications for such work, but by
| reason of his acquaintanceship with leg
islative affairs through having been q
member OF the New Jersey assembly
He is a good deal like the late Daniel La
mont In mental equipment. He is shrewd
| bright and good mixer. He has almost
as much influence with Mr. Wilson as
Lamont had with Cleveland. or Cortelyou
bad with Cleveland and Roosevelt. In
some respects he may be considered the
most influential member of the unofficial
cabinet, being with the President every
day. He certainly is. SO FAR as New Jer-
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-10-26

people in Pennsylvania. who think Mr.
Palmer is one of the brightest men that
state has turned out. He is q member
of Congress. He fought the demo
cratic machine of the state of Penn
sylvania, and was a power in the Bal
timore convention, practically being the
leader of the Wilson forces He is II
years old President Wilson offered the
Secretaryship of War TO him, but "
Palmer declined because he is a Quaker
and, as such, opposed to war He
would like to have had the attorney
generalship. He is a graduate of
Swarthmore and won the highest hon
ors there. 1t is rather a queer thing
that a man who declined membership
in the official cabinet of a President
should become a member OF the un-
official cabinet but that is a fact in
relation to Mr.. Palmer He has been
In Congress three terms ana is of great
value to the President In keeping him
Informed in legislative matters.
There Is no doubt that Mr.. Palmer
was somewhat chagrined at not being
made Attorney General but that has all
worn off, and the President today has
no more ardent admirer
Knowing of the high regard in which
the President holds Mr.. Palmer, many
politicians have sought the Pennsyl-
vanians aid in seeking office. Here
is a story that Is told about one of
these affairs.
why don't you go to a member OF
the cabinet about this?" Mr.. Palmer
asked a visitor.
you are member of the cabinet
that has the most influence" the caller
responded.
Mr.. Palmer smiled. maybe" he
said, but things are different from the
way they used to be. You know when
Mr.. Roosevelt was President the men,
bers of his unofficial cabinet used to
go walking. horseback riding, or played
hot games of tennis with him and
while they hoofed it over the country
or galloped along the roads or played
on the tennis courts, they told Teddy
of some heroic work done by this foot
ball player or that lively westerner r,
and the President would say Bully
Wen have to do something for him.
But times have changed. When we
go up to the White House now and
tell tales like that TO Mr.. Wilson, he
will enjoy them very much and when
we finish with a flourish he will say
How interesting but he won't appoint.
Honestly, | could not do any more ia
get you a job than you can do your
self. Lay your recommendations be.
fore the President. He will make suc,I
inquiries as he wishes, and shen hi
will decide for himself"
4 Mr.. Palmer is the big man of the Del.
aware Water Gap country. He is a direc-
| tor in Stroudsburg bank, a Scranton
bank, trolley company, gas company
water company, boiler manufacturing
company, and a lot of other enterprise
that the summer visitors to the Pocono,
| help to support. In addition he is tn,
Pennsylvania counsel for the Delaware
! Lackawanna and Western railroad anc
the Lehigh Coal and Navigation com
pany,
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-10-26

ton on the cap was a sign of distinc-
ton and of honors well won. and only
the very fortunate gained them Sew
eral collegiate institutions in England
in the long ago adopted this sign of
success among their students. the gold
button indicating high scholastic at
tainments. In China, up to a very few
years ago, the first grade of literati
only were permitted to wear a gold
button on the cap. Guildenstern's an
sWer to Hamlet was a hint that the
conditions in Denmark prevented the
utmost happiness; they lacked 'the
very button"
The above reference to a button re :
minds me of a passage in the Merry
/ Wives of windsor" The host says, "He
will carry't; tits in his buttons You
will find this in act 3, scene 2. What
| is the meaning of "'tis in his but
tons%' IT means he will succeed; and
the allusion is to an old, old custom
| rracticed by children, q custom with
which every child is familiar to this
day, that of counting their buttons. The
child viii touch his buttons as the
words are said, "Rch man. poor man,
doctor, chief. etc" And so. Ford, re-
ferring to this playful custom of chill
dren. says: Hell carry't," meaning,
"His buttons show he will succeed
he'll be a chief tits in his buttons"
The saying, "as dead as door nail =
is very old. Jack Cade. in the second
part of Henry VI, says, Come thou and
thy five men, and If l do not leave you
all as dead as a door nail l pray God
may never eat grass more" In King
Henry ~ the saying is somewhat
changed. Falstaff asks ''What, is the
old King dead?" And Pistol replies, "As
nail in door" Now, why should a door
nail be any more dead than floor
nail? Dickens. in his Christmas Carol"
announces the death of old Scrooges s
former partner in business thus: "Old
Marley was as dead as a door nail
Mind, don't mean to say that I know
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-10-26
SOME ALLUSIONS IN THE PLAYs-By Dr. W. E. Evans

of my own knowledge what there is
particularly dead about a door nail I
might have been inclined myself to re-
gard a coffin nail as the deadest piece
of ironmongery in the trade But the
wisdom of our ancestors is in the simile
and my unhallowed hands shall not dis
turb it, or the country's done for. You
Will, therefore, permit me to repeat
emphatically that Marley was as dead
as door nail" Now, there can be no
doubt, ] think, that the particular nail
to which a1lusion is here made by Fal-
staff and Pistol as well as by Dick
ems, is the nail in the lower part of the
knocker. which holds the plate OF the
knocker to the door. This door nail
having a large protruding head, upon
which the l<nocker batters many times
a day, cannot be supposed to have as
much life in it as those nails which
were hammered upon only once, and
then left to themselves in the win
| dows or in the floors. The door nail
/ is, therefore. the deadest of nails, and
is still l1noclSed on it's poor, defenseless
head, although it is already dead as a
door nail"
In Hamlet, act g. scene 2. Rosencrantz
says to Hamlet, my lord, you once did
love me- To which Eamlet replies, Of
fering his hand, "And do now, by these
pickers and stealers." The fingers were
popularly known as pickers and stealers
-pickers, or hooks to- draw forth a COW
eted article. and stealers, because the
article was by them hidden away. The
church catechism, under the question,
What is thy duty toward thy neigh
bor?' has this as part of the answer
'To be true and just in all my dealings
to bear malice nor hatred in my
heart; to keep my hands from picking
and stealing.
Speaking of the catechism. am re-
minded of another word in the prayer
book. In the litany we are taught to
pray that we might be delivered from
lightning and tempest; from plague, pes
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-10-26

been. Hawthorne In his Marble Faufl'-
takes his principal characters to the
Capitoline hill and while they are
there, Kenyon says '1t was from this
point at least we are at liberty to
think SO, II we choose, that many a
famous Roman caught his last glimpse
of his native city and of all other
earthly things, This Is one of the sides
of the Tarpeian rock. Look over the
parapet and see what sheer tumble
there might still be for traitor in
spite of the 80 feet of soil that has
accumulated at the foot of the preei-
pice."
In Titus Andronicus. act Nv, scene 2,
Aaron takes the blackamoor child from
the nurse and proclaims:
He dies upon my scimitar's sharp
That touches this my first born son
and heir.
| tell you. younRlings, not Enceladus,
With all his band of Typhon's brood,
Nor great Alcldes. nor the god of war.
Shall seize this prey out of his faith
Acildes was Hercules. Typhon was a
monster who breathed out fire En-
celadus was an enormous giant who
was finally overcome and buried un-
der Mount Aetna, though not slain. It
required the whole mountain to cover
MIN, so large was he. The occasional
eruptions of Mount Aetna are only the
fiery breath of Anceladus
In the Merry Wives of Windsor"
act ~, scene 8. we read:
ut is thine host, thine Ephesian calls.
Why "Ephesian % The host was call
ing Falstaff from his room and thus
announced himself. Shakespeare could
not resist the opportunity to pun Just
here. a "pheezer' was an admirer. n
jolly companion. an unconscionable flat
terer So the host. most properly, calls
himself Sir Johns "a-pheez-ian.'
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-10-26

banking concern operated under the
name of L. W. House & Co. This bank
at one time played prominent part in
Texas development. II. w. House looked
after the banks at Houston and Austin.
Edward NJ. House looked after the
great House plantation on which sugar
and cotton and such things We're raised
and also attended to the land interests
that he had acquired in the Brazos vail
ley and in west Texas. He withdrew
from the bank altogether more than
10 years ago and since then has con
fined his attention to agriculture and
politics. He never has held office.
Three or four times he could have been
governor of Texas had he so desired.
Twice he could have had the United
States senatorship. but he refused. 1t is
an open secret that an ambassadopship
was offered to him by Mr.. Wilson ana
that he declined. He says she is going
to remain n private citizen until the
end of the chapter. For private citizen
he is a very lactive man in public af-
fairs
The first time he showed his hand
in Texas politics was when James S.
Hogg was candidate for governor
and the democrats Of that state split
wide open. Hogg was a radical of rad
icais. The things Hogg advocated were
revolutionary in the 90's, but most of
them are law today and are consid-
cred sane and sensible. He wanted reg
ulation of railroads, regulation of in
surance companies. regulation of big
corporations generally. He was a grea.
big man weighing approximately 800
pounds and was picturesque in figure
and in speech. One of the things he
said at a national convention hit the
country hard. 1t was to the effect that
- a kAA l. s,,4 81
Wall street and scatter them over the
landscape.
George Clarke was the candidate oil
the conservative democracy against
Hogg. Mr.. House threw his influence
to Hogg and did much to elect him
governor. Mr.. House has a rare fac
ulty of picking winners. He made
Charles Culberson governor Of Texas
and was instrumental in sending him
to the United States Senate. He was a
potent force in the selection of Joseph
D. Sayers as governor and also of Mr..
Lanham. He and Woodrow Wilson have
heen friends for good many years and
it is nothing new for the Texan to
counsel Mr. Wilson in regard to poll
tics. Mr.. House, has a talent for or;
ganization. For nearly two years be-
fore teh Baltimore convention he did
silent but effective work for the nom .
ination of Mr.. Wilson. He has had more
work to do since Mr.. Wilson was elect
ed than he had before. Thousands OF
persons eager for office have sought
his aid. Some of them got 1t and some
of them didn't. This has been rather
disappointing administration to persons
whose claims were based on political
activity.
Mr.. House has a home in Austin, Tex,
and home in New York. When Presi-
dent Wilson comes to New York he gen.
orally goes to Mr.. Houses residence for
luncheon or dinner, or to pass the night.
Once or twice month Mr.. House is sum-
moped to Washington. What the Presi-
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-10-26
UNOFFICIAL CABINET-By Richard Spillane

| There is a story told by a person who
ought to know that the President sent
| for Mr. Dodge and asked him to state
| his views in regard to the Mexican sit
uation from the standpoint of mine
! owner. Mr.. Dodge gave them. Then Mr..
Wilson said, Now give the views of
my friend, Cleveland Hoadley Dodge"
AS a mining man, Mr. Dodge thought
Intervention was the right thing; as a
plain citizen and a friend of the Presi-
dent, he thought otherwise.
Mr. Dodge is in the singular position
of being in Wall street and yet out of
it. Although one of the biggest mining
| men in the world, he never has issued a
share of stock in connection with any
of his properties. There is no specula-
tion in anything with which lie is con-
cerned in a business way. He has his
own staff of prospectors and engineers.
He buys mines or develops them, but
he never exploits them through the stock
market or the curb market. He is a
business man in mining and miner in
business. Without any stock market af-
filations, he is in a position to judge
finance and general business with un-
prejudiced eyes. In a quiet way he is a
good deal of a philanthropist, as was his
father. He is president of the board of
! stitution in Constantinople which has
done so much for the education and
practically for the freedom of girls and
, women of Turkey in Europe and Turkey
in Asia. He Is vice president of the
New York Chamber of Commerce and
of the American Museum of Natural His
tory He is treasurer of the Russell Sage
foundation and Is not only president of
the board of trustees of the Young Men S
Christian association, but member Of
the international committee of the Y.
NJ c. A. AS for banks and insurance
companies and railroads, mining con-
Germs and steamship companies, he is in
so MANY of them that the list would be
a formidable affair if put into type With
it all he is one of the most modest of
men. His office is way down in the old
fashioned part of John street in New
York, where his father had his headquar-
ters half a century ago, and where there
has not been a change in the surround
ings In many, many years. He lodges
publicity and works as hard and earnest
ly as II his daily bread depended on each
days exertion. The President has great
respect for his opinions in the matter
of finance The two men are as inti-
mate today and as devoted in their
friendship sas the. were at college. But
even with Mr.. Dodge, President Wilson
! is hard headed. 1T is the same in rela-
/ uci Win MI. DouSe as IL is Win MI
| House. Mr. Wilson wants information,
opinions. discussion and then arro9ates
| to himself the right Of thinking it all
out in his own way and doing as he is
guided by his own Judgment
j. The "a" in A. Mitchell Palmer stands
| for Alexander. If you should happen
to wander through the quiet town Of
Stroudsburg. Pa. you will see little
| two-story frame structure near the
main street and on the door leading
to the second floor you VIII notice a
very small sign reading "A. Mitchell
Palmer, Lawyer There are lot OF
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-10-26

ness and saneness of his judgment, the
fairness of his spirit. and his profound
sense of right, that every itigant would
promptly accept this condition. He was
Jury, advocate. and judge, all in one,
and for many years. in that interior
pioneer region he acted in this three
fold capacity while he rendered unre-
quited service as a missionary. His was
a strange, strong, romantic life, spent
for the good of Others to the neglect OF
lis own personal comfort That class
has dwinded to a list SO small and rare
that. today when similar devotion Is
shown, the world knows no higher des-
gnation Tor such man than that of
Crank" yet 1t is the crank that turns
things
In later years and under better condi-
tions, Mr.. Travis came to ride the wide
regions through on horseback, with his
leathern sadde-bags beneath him. I'm
der the tall pines which, then grew in
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-10-26
ROMANCE OF ALABAMA HSTOR-ALEXANDER TRAVS-y

THE name of Travis is immortality
linked with the tragedy of the
Alamo, where the gallant Col Will
liam Travis was massacred with his de-
voted band in that historic fortress at
San Antonio. The Rev. Alexander Travis
was an uncle of the hero of the Alamo
Col. William Travis was a resident of
Alabama before he removed to Texas,
and practiced law in Clarke county.
Thence he removed to Texas where he
became one of the most prominent sharers
In the struggle for independence.
One of the dominant traits of the Travis
stock was that of cool courage. This
was illustrated as much in the life of the
heroic missionary in the woods of SOUTH
ern Alabama as it was shown by his
nephew In the Inflated fortress of the
Alamo. Alexander Travis removed to
Conecuh county, in 1877, and was one of
the pioneer settlers of that region. He
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-10-26

WAS man of peace, but this did not
obscure the heroic impulses of his nature.
for III graphing with the stern conditions
Of pioneer life, In seeking to bring them
into due subordinaation to organized So
cal conditions unusual pluck was need
ed, not alone, but wisdom and prudence,
as we'll
While sharing fully in the hardsnips OF
the early colonizers of south Alabama,
Mr. Travis, as a minister of ehe gospel,
led in all movements in the emergence
of that region from chaotic conditions
to the higher plane of advanced society.
Himself denied the advantages of an edu-
caion. he was the foremost in all move
ments to provide for general instruction.
He was the founder of the town of Ever
green, now a bustling little center on the
Louisville and Nashville railway, between
Montgomery and Mobile. He founded the
academy at that point, which school has
given place in later years to one of the
state agricultural schools.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-10-26

dent usually wants is information. He dis
cusses matters with Mr.. House as he
Goes with his other close personal friends.
There are some things that a man like Mr..
House can learn about more easily and
possibly more accurately than even the
President of the United States, or a regu-
lar cabinet officer. Mr.. Wilson wants
not only inside facts but the calm, dis
passionate view of affairs from such of
his close, intimate friends as are students
and without bias. Mr.. Wilson always is
ready to hear another mans opinion on
a subject He is coed listener. But
after he has heard from his close per-
sonal friends and others. he sits back,
makes his own analysis and acts accord
ing to his own Judgment.
Apparently there is a perfect under
stsnding between Mr.. House and Mr.. Will
SON The friends of the Texan say that
he is content with the honor that comes
through being a friend and confidant of
the President of the United States. He
wants nothing more. He is not million
aire, but is wealthy enough to be abso-
lutely free. His fortune is about 100000.
His children are grown and married He
would rather sit in the shadow and plan
a procession than go out and take part
in the parade He is cultured, kindly,
and has the faculty of never angering a
person who disagrees with him in q dis
cnssion., He has a homely way of putting
things and while seeming to agree with a
persons contention he has a queer way Of
turning things and making the other man
agree with him. He will listen and nod
his head and acquiesce, apparently, and
then by degrees work around to show
another phase of the question. and before
4faf.x 1-f,.. tl,..k ts.x
ing with Colonel House instead of Colonel
House agreeing with him.
Cleveland II. Dodge probably has the
largest mining interests of any one man
in the world. He is the head of the great
house of Phelps, Dodge & CO.. He is SO
years old and Is son of the. famous
William Earl Dodge. He is a bachelor
of arts and a Princeton graduate and
one of the most ardent admirers Woodrow
Wilson ever has had. When Mr.. Wilson
vas a plain professor. Mr.. Dodge was
his most intimate friend. When Mr.. Will
son was president of Princeton, Mr.. Dodg
was more than a friend to him. He did
anything or everything Mr.. Wilson re-
quested to aid the university. He helped
Mr.. Wilson in his campaign for governor
OF New Jersey. He helped him in his CAM
pa gn for the democratic nomination for
the presidency, and he is at the beck and
call of Mr.. Wilson today
Some of the largest properties that Mr.
Dodre controls are in Mexico The great
Montezuma mines in northern Mexico
which employ thousands of men, and
spread over miles and niles of territory
belong to him. These mines turn out q
has his own private railroad to trans
port their product. The great Copper
Queen mine-one of the richest in the
world-which is near Bisbee. Ariz., be
| longs to Phelps, Dodge & Co.
It probably would be greatly to tn.
interest of Mr.. Dodge If the Unites
States intervened in Mexican affairs
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-10-26

those southern parts, he would frequently
sletch himself at night, on the green
grass, tired and sleepy, with his head
pillowed on his saddle-bags, and beneath
the stars, he would be wooed to sleep
by the moaning pines above him. HIS
faithful horse was tethered close by to
browse the wire grass and the native
peavines while the missionary would sleep
and await the coming of the dawn. With
cut a cent of compensation, Alexander
Travis labored through many eventful
years, creating the means with his own
hands with which to sustaip) his work.
and uncheered by aught else than the
consciousness of duty to humanity and
to God.
With the expansion of population. and
with the growth OF prosperity, Mr.. Travis
came in the second half of his life to
possess a measurable degree of wealth.
but from a steady purpose of doing good,
he never wavered. He was man of COM