davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-05-11

Little suffragette stop blowing your
horn,
Or you'll be in the lookup, sure as
you're born.
Is that the way you mind your biz?
Smashing out windows and things?
Gee whiz,"
The poet was lost in admiration, and
if the truth must be told, he was like
wise Just bit chagrined He had
thought he held a monopoly on quick
verse ma king, and here was the editor
Singing off rhymes as If he had been
good grace, saying mildly:
Yes. that's pretty good. Or I might
say this: (the poet was not going to
be outdone)
Mary. Mary quite contrary.
How are you voting todaN?"
I'm voting the ticket that matches my
Pinkish, trimmed with gray"
At this point the road which had
curved and wound through a long
stretch of woodland, curved once more
an drought up short before a dilapi-
dated and obviously long deserted log
cabin And that was the end of the
shady and alliring road, Not tricl1le
of water in sight; not a living crea-
ture excepting the birds and insects.
where's your old mill? Where's youl
mill pond swarming with fish, unkind-
ly inquired the poet
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-05-11

And the bullets were made of
Bluff, bluff. bluff
With dark delberation
He aimed it at a nation,
And how the little gun went
Puff puff, puff
But the nation wouldn't flop;
1t just wouldn't be ''hed up
With bullets that were simply made of
H. T. IT
Tho destruction he's predicted,
The nations not afflicted
And hasn't vet cried a single
Cry, cry, cry"
"Bully!" cried the poet.
"Why. old man, it's the most sensible
thing l ever heard you say, if you did
have to borrow Mother Goose to do it!'
In the meantime the horse had walked
straight into the intersection of three
roads The editor drew up with blank
expression. (which way" carelessly
asked the poet. One road led straight
ahead; the one to the right turned sharp
ly up a hillside; the one to the left did
not seem TO be a much travelled road
but it was shady and tree bordered and
it wound in and out in a long vista OF
alluring, sun flecked beauty.
This is the road" cried the editor
with enthusiasm.
81 remember now. 1t ends at an old
mill and there's a big mill pond fairly
swarming with fish,
He chuckled up the horse energetically
as they turned into the grass grown road
of mystery and beauty
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-05-11
LESSON FROM OHIO RESERVOIRS-By Morris Knowles

The Ohio canal system. built in the
second quarter of the last century, con-
sists of two main divisions-the Ohio
canal or eastern route, connecting Lake
Erie and the Ohio river by way of the
Cuyahoga Tuscara was, MuslSingum,
Licking and Scioto river valleys, and the
Miami and Erie canal, or western route,
connecting Lake Erie and the Ohio river
by way of the Maumee, Auglaize and
Miami river valleys. In addition, the
Muskigum river was slaekwatered be-
low GAINESVILLE. Numerous lateral, feeder
and tributary canals completed a system
which had cost a total of approximately
SIG 10000 and which comprised in 1850
over 1000 miles of canals, more than 800
lift locks and half a dozen reservoirs
In the case of each of the main canal
routes, water was lacking on the summit
level during the dry season, and the
reservoirs were constructed to supplement
the normal flow at such times. The
Portage lakes, just south of Akron, We're
damned about 1S4s to supply the sum
nit of the eastern route: Loramie and
Lewistown reservoirs about 1S5o-60 for the
western route, and the Licking reservoir,
or Buckeye lake, about 1882 for the Lick
ing summit. In addition, Grand reser-
voir the largest in the state, was built
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-05-11

inherit tendencies and appetencies for the
very hiehest things of life, and to come
into The world with proclivities already
formed to embrace the good and true
things of the world. | do not believe
in the theological dogma of original
sim" Nor do | believe that personal piety
NAV be inherited 10 the extent OF waving
ones responsibility for individual en-
deayor. But upward tendencies may be
reproduced in the offspring, just as GER
tanlv as passions of the other sort may
he Inherited. | do not know the process
of tbe correlation of thought and physi-
cal impressions This phenomenon is be-
yond our present state of science and
battles our experimentation. But it needs
no scientific training to discover the fact
of hereditary influences. We often see
children of whom We say, He has his
fathers physique but his mothers cast
of mind; or she is like her mothers peo-
pie, but mentally she takes after her
fatber's mother Beyond question, the
doctrine of heredity is an established
proposition of science.
I knew two certain boys at college One
of them was the child of devout,@ God fear
ing parents Along with this characters
tic they were highly intellectual people
the two do not always go together. more's
the pitv This boy was manly fellow,
active in athleDcs, sougnt dIter on tns
ball field, and alert for everything that
tended to elevate the student body He
was also a fine student and consistent in
his application, and conscientious in all
things Morally ne was incapable of a
wrong deed and his mind seemed always
az nure as a girls. The best things in the
life of his parents were reproduced in
him II was as plainly disclosed as sun
light. The other boy was not good nat
Iurallv He had 10 fight for every inch
! of progress that he made. He was not
parficularly clever as a student, yet ne
won some distinction in his work. His
greatest difficulty was with his charac-
tier. lie had an ideal, but seemed never
70 make any approach toward it. One day
he was in my room on the campus, and
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-05-11

uTIINK l have heard you complain OF
handcaps, of obstacles, in the way
of your success.
| advise you to study the career of
Helen Keller. Then II you are not
ashamed of your complaints there is no
hope for you.
Helen Keller is blind and deaf. Being
deaf, she is also dumb.
Yet today she is 81 well educated wom-
an, known in many lands. writer Of
ability whose work is eagerly sought by
the best magazines, a lecturer who Is
heard by cultured audiences.
What are your obstacles compared to
hers?
You have all five senses. You can read
for yourself, write with your own hand,
speak without being taught by long diff
ficult and laborious process.
You have five senses where she has but
three. But the two which she lacks are
those most needed for education and ex-
preston. Therefore you possess more
than five chances to her three for win
ming success.
Yet she has won out. won in notable
and noble way. You, then, should be
ashamed to fail.
Tmmured in her sightless and soundess
dungeon, Helen Kellar had the will to
win. That is the secie,. Have you tha
will to win?
Having the WILL she also worked and
induced others TO help her work. Are
you afraid to work?
There arc no obstacles so great but
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-05-11

The editor said something. II wasn't
exactly unprintsble. for 1t has been
seen in print, but it wasn't just the
word for the politest section of sun
day paper. so Wen pass it by
He said it though, good and loud, anl
conventional phraseologY that he guessed
it was the other road he should have
taken-the one that led up the hillside
So they turned about and retraeed their
way. in silence for a brief space. In the
minds of both crept the thought that
the mysterious and inviting woodland
road was very realistic of life. One dis
covers a new phase, an alluring bit of
sun-heclSed road that promises-who
knows what? one follows it up. onls
to find that it ends in a blind alley OF
mere commonplaceness
That shady curve ahead. thick with
bordering ferns. dim with the softened
light coming through overlapping boughs,
what wierd thing, what exciting mystery
lies beyond?
One presses onward, one passes thu
shadowy bend and beholds-a cornheld.
When the editor and the poet reached
the intersection of the three roads again
they tossed pennies to see which road
they shold follow and Fate, having a
little fun Just on her own account led
them up the hill road.
Seems to me this road gets narrower
aud rockier the farther we GO grumbed
the poet
That's Just the way | remember it,
was the EDITORS cheerful reply. 1T was
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-05-11

have taught the necessity of examining
reservoirs and dams. and of enforcing
suitable standards of design and construc-
ton. Yet If we examine the statute books
of Ohio we find no legislative provision
of this kind whatever Nor is there any
provision for study, mapping and gauging
of the water resources; a very necessary
preliminary to a full understanding not
only of the potentialities of regulated
flow but the possible menace from un-
controlled waste jsMNMU
But before we criticise Ohio for this.
let each reader pause and consider the
situation in his own state. With only two
or three exceptions, conditions are pre-
elsely the same throughout the country.
Even in Pennsylvania, which has probably
suffered more grievously from dam fail
ures than any other state. there is as
yet no public knowledge of the design
and cond ton of all dams, and no authori-
tory in any official or body to correct
dangerous condition, even If 1t were dis
covered.
Must we walt for another Johnstown
or an Austin to change these things? Or
will we learn from what might we'll have
occurred in Ohio, and make a repetition
OF such disa asters-at least of those due
to ignorance or Impossible? The
lesson is plain. VIII we profit by 1t?
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-05-11

The income tax.
The initiative, referendum and recall
The dethronement of bosses.
The submergence of partisan spirit.
The rule of the people.
The control of railroads.
The curbng of monopoly.
The conservation movement looking to
natural resources.
These and many more remedial meas
ures have come or are on the way.
As they have one by one been crystal
lized in the national policy | have often
thought of the pious ejaculation of the
Pennsylvania delegate.
Let all the people say 'Amen!"
Not only in our own land but abroad
the rule of the people has been arriving.
The great strides made in Britain and
in Australasia and other parts of the
British empire the growth of the demo-
cratic movement in Germany, the estab-
lishment of a parliament in Russia, the
advance of popular government in France,
the gradual awakening of Spain, the in
auguration of republics in Portugal and
China, the freeing of Cuba, the driving of
Turkey from Africa and nearly from Eu-
rope, the prospect of a new United States
of the Balkans-all these are signs of the
advance toward enlightenment and a
higher order throughout the earth.
Let all the people say "Amen'
We have but started on the road toward
the word republic 1t may yet seem a long
way off, but with mans ever accelerated
progress who dares to say that it may
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-05-11

not arrive during the lifetime of the
present generation?
Whether it comes now or later, how
ever it is happily on its way.
The masses of men are going to de-
velop themselves, enlighten themselves.
rule themselves
w are approaching the era of the peo-
Pile.
Did you ever hear the complaint that
history is dry | have. But | never
heard it that | did not wonder at the
sort of dry mind that could transfer its
aridity to the most delightful and human
study in the world.
To him who sees the golden thread of
the divine running through it history is
sort of holy writ,
The annals of the last 1900 years are in
way a continuation of our Christian
Bible, the embodiment of the plans there
formulated.
All drama, fiction and poetry are but
history revealed through seeing eyes. Not
infreouently ii is revealed in distorted
form. If read understandinglyTt real
record is more beautiful than these fam
cies drawn from it, for it is nearer the
truth and > therefore has deeper depths
than even the novelist or poet has seen.
History is romance, religion, politics.
poetry. herosm, tragedy and drama all
rolled into one.
Did YOU never read it and identify
Yourself with its characters, thus living
over the old scenes? If not you have
failed to find the soul.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-05-11

oil sand while a company of state militia
ratrolled the banks, No breaks occurred
at any point. but the situation was critical
for two or three days.
These situations teach a lesson that
ought never to need repetition. 1t may
be stated with certainty that reservoir
failures did not contribute measurably
TO the flood damage in Ohio. The trouble
was caused entirely by excessive rain,
attending excessive run-off and insult
fieient channel capacity to carry the
water.
But even IL the reservoirs did not fail
With disastrous results. the margin was
narrow one and the lesson Is equally
plain 1t has long been one of the most
firmly established engineering principles
that an earth embankment must not be
overstopped. Twenty-four years ago, the
Johnstown disaster due to insufficient
spillway capacity, impressed this upon
the whole World. And it is an interest
ing parallel that this was caused by an
old reservoir originally built by the state
for canal purposes and later abandoned
and used for pleasure purposes. Yet
here in Ohio We're four earth emba nix
ment reservoirs, one of which has no
spillway and a far from sufficient dis
charge pipe two of which filled UP so
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-05-11

very narrow and rocky just before We
got to the pond"
But they didn't get to pond They
got to an abandoned coal mine. where
the road lost itself in tangle of sullies
and rocks and underbrush.
BY this time the editors spirits We're
beginning to droop and the poet found
ii was up to him to be cheerful.
Say, I'm hungry. Let's eat our fish =
he suggested The editor glared, but the
poet reached under the buggy seat and
drew forth two cans of sardines and a
box Of crackers He also drew forth
another package, but what was in it has
nothing to do with this story, and col
Germs no one whomsoever
They lunched in the shade of a big
boulder. and then set out on their homee
ward way i'm frame of mind decidedly
more eXhilarated.
When they reached the intersection of
roads for the third time the editor casual
ly remarked:
after ALL | believe YOU go out Of the
opposite side of town TO find that mill
pond road. must have forgotten
Il shouldn't be surprised If YOU had"
said the poet.
ITS going to rain. too. You'd better get
that horse going"
! 1t did rain. Just nice little spring
! shower, sufficient to laX the dust anu
wet the near-fshermen To the skin.
.'Hullo there, What did YOU catch -
called out an officoas acquaintance as
they drove their wearied steed into the
! livery stable.
| Caught cold" said the editor shortly.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-05-11

Campbell, in his Pleasures of Hope"
asks;
who hath not owned with rapture smt-
ten frame.
The power of grace. the magic of a
name
We have all felt it. apart from sentl-
mentality. There are names that fill us
with dismay There is name that Mil
ton says made hell tremble." Lord Mac
aulay tells, i'm his History of England,
how horror struck the masses were at
hearing the name of Jeffreys. There are
good names, however. which. when pro-
nounced bring benedictions along with
them, and stand for benevolence. for So
briefly. for integrity, and for uprightness
and downrightness of character.
TO the latter the child has a right
He should not be obliged to bear a name
that suggests falsehood. sharp dealing.
inebriety or dishonesty in any form Start
the boy with a blameless and unbalanced
| name It will be as AN ornament of
grace upon his head and chains of gold
about his neck.
| wanted to write. also of the evil
of bringing children into families where
pra ctical starvation sits at the table. and
elrest poverty crouches at the hearth
stone In rags and shivering with cold.
From these conditions comes much of our
pauperism, and many of the criminal
clascs grow up in such homes, If homes
they may be called. Here are sown the
seeds that spring up and bear the shock
ing fruit of anarchy and nihlsm. There
should be such legislation as TO require.
under penalty, that If child cannot
haze reasonable provision for his health,
for his education and for his moral in
struction then, the man and his wife
shall remain childess; for the child has
right to the best conditions. and as he
cannot speak for himself. the state should
authoritatively declare his rights for him
and protect him,
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-05-11

/ ate a republic out of raw material
mere than century before the age of
republics
He had to hew his way with the
sword in time when reason would
not avail. lie had to Kill the serpent
Of kingeraft in an era when mankind
knew no rule but that of kings lie
had to practice religious tolerstion in
time when the world knew not tho
meaning of the term.
Cromwell literally fought the devil
with fire, met force by force and du-
piicity by duplicity. Yet through IL
ali he Kept his soul white
Withal he was a man He was true
to the heavenly vision. He fought u
good fight. lie kept the faith lie WAS
loyal to God and to humanity 1t was
his faith as well as his ironsides that
made him invincible.
His belief in God was like burn
ing fire. 1t was present. with him in
all his battles.
Cromwell had the saving gface of
common sense. He was practical in all
things. one well known sentence of
his reveals something of his two sided
character.
Trust God but keep your powder
dry"
1t took the world two centuries to
understand him, to remove the cloud
of clumsy and lying calumnies heaped
upon his great name.
ct the ages do justice, and Oliver
Cromwell, tall and white of soul. the
great hearted soldier of God. is coming
into his own.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-05-11

A N interesting paper might be
"a written on the subject, the
I \ child's right not to be born at
all but 1 do not purpose to discuss ii
row. / have in mind other things that
are just as important
That an unborn child has certain
tights, has often been decided in the
courts, and some of these rights are
protected by stipulated conditions in
forensic phraseology used in many le-
gal documents, such as wills, deeds. as
signments, etc. There is a case, fresh
in the public mind, in which an Astor,
still unborn, was> protected and his
rights recognized BY documentary in
struments, just as if he had been
child playing upon the lawn at the
s,si. tho will was written, or when the
Titanic went down. l shall assume
then. that the reader accepts the thesis
that the unborn child has rights.
The first and highest right of the
unborn child is that he shall be Well
born. I do not mean that he has a
right to be born into conditions of
wealth and luxury, nor into a social
sphere where his birth will be heralded
by the songs of a nation and the boom
ing of cannon, as was the case with
Napoleon's child. Many of the world s
best men first opened their eyes upon
scenes of poverty, and were nurtured
in humble cottages, and reared in OBJ
sclrity. Indeed the curse of some lives
is that plain living and it's usual atten-
dant, good discipline, have ever been
absent.
But mean by the language, the right
of child to be well born, that first of
ali, he has right to be born with a
sound body He who begins the race Of
life enfeebled by inherited disease Of
raird or body, is placed at terrible
disadvantage. The competitions in the
" orld are so great, the struggles for
success SO heated, and the top so far
away. that it requires all the vigor pos
slbie to a sound mind In sound body
TO reach the place of even reasonable
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-05-11

"By the way. that Teddy stuff of
yours has given me an idea remarked
the poet
You know I'm doing column of
suffra gette- -isms for Town Items, and
it makes me think of gust what ! need.
Something like this:
There was a little maid
And she had a little vote,
And was taking 1t to the
Polls, polls, polls.
She met little chum
Who said Let's go and bum
And get some nice hot chocolate and
Rolls, rolls, rolls
so they went to a cafe,
Then they saw photo play,
Then to a sale of silllen hose they
| Went, went went.
When they reached the polls at last :
They were closed, all good and fast
Said the maiden, I don't care a copper
Cent cent, cent "
| We'll like your nerve" said the ed
tor coldly. Did you ever hear of some
person or other stealing Jones thun-
der?'
| It's not steal" calmly returned the
poet Mother Goose Is public property
You haven't got her patented, have you?
Not exactly" said the editor "but
| just the same you let my verse alone
| If you want to make suffragette
rhyme ala Mother Goose, why not try
! this:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-05-11

about 1Si1, to supply the northern slope
of the Miami and Erie canal, entering
Just below the summit level.
During the middle of the last century,
Just prior to The civil war, these canals
We're very active, and brought in a gross
revenue, during some years, of over half
a million dollars. In 1851 the gross earn
ings were over $500 and the net earn
ings almost $4,000. But later the decline
came, as it did on all of the old canals,
and rs the canal section and lock dimen-
sions were outgrown by the demands of
modern traffic. a gradual abandonment
or navigation occurred. until now, and
for many years past, there has been no
canal freight traffic at ALL Some of the
branch and feeder canals have been Of
ficially abandoned, and either left to de-
teriorate without attention, or else filled
up Several of the reservoirs were dedi-
Gated by the legislature by several acts
passed since 1891, to use as public parks
ands pleasure resorts, with the provision.
however, that they must be maintained
for canal purposes.
For the past few years, therefore, the
only revenues from the canal have been
from the leasing of lands for oil well
drilling and from the sale of water or
water power to private or municipal
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-05-11

ID ARLY reports of the recent Ohio
floods gave many the impression
that the disasters were due to
the failure of reservoirs and as these
reports were not generally corrected
later, this impression no doubt remains
III the minds of some. An investigation
made during the week following the dis
asters showed this to be incorrect: but
rae escape was narrow in some in
stances that the lesson of the reservoirs
II diven home almost strongly as if
they had failed with enormous destruc-
ton of life and property.
Most of the reservoirs in question be-
long to the Ohio state canal system, hav-
ing been constructed to supply water no
The canal in dry seasons. In addition, the
Columbus water supply storage dam on
the Scioto river, was reported to have
lailed, causing a panic in Columbus, and
number of power dams in various parts
of the state were the subjects of similar
rumors. But these rumors We're either
entirely without foundation, as in the
case of the Columbus dam, or else the
dams were relatively unimportant, so
that for the purpose of this article con-
sderation may well be confined to the
canal feeder reservoirs.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-05-11
PAIGN

if Bienville could hayl5 the command of
d Artaguette to aid him. which was des-
tined not to be, he could possibly sue
ceed though the Chickasaws were the
fieroest fighters among the tribes. and
they had among them English officers
who were training them for the coming
attack.
The command was again ready to move,
but the keen edge of the novelty and en-
thusiasm was now blunted on the part
CT at least a large contingent of the COM
inand which was going simply because
they had to go. The scene was d peculiar
one as the boats were ranged along the
bank Of the river at Fort TombeclSbe.
With refreshing complaeeney the French
took possession of the boats. Simon and
his 70 black followers owned their crafts.
and the Canadians and Indian allies were
left to make their way as best they could
along the river to tie point where all
were to unite to go against the Chicka-