davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-11-30

might soil my beautiful-wonderf erful-
gorgeous = marvellous - unmatcha-
ble-dazzling-i' He had meant to
say 'plumage' finally, no doubt, Don
aid, but he never did; for 1 knew the
silly fellow would continue with a
long string of adjectives until, well,
until the Rainy Season was over, SO
In love was he with himself. lost
my temper and waved my magic wand
right in the midst of his boasting.
And = instantly every feather on
him fell to the ground! Yes, everyone
of them! And there he stood, as
naked and bare and ugly as a chicken
after the cook has stripped it of it's
feathers.
Poor Nandu gasped and sputtered
few times and looked down at his
beautiful plumage lying on the
ground. Just then, up stepped a
froliesome crow.
Hey, you Nandu,' he cried, holding
up mirror, look in this glass and
see what a beautiful fellow you arev
"Whereupon, all the birds fell to
laughing SO hard that several of them
shook few of their own feathers off.
Poor Nandui He just stood and
looked a moment or two and then he
sank to the floor. overcome with
shame and sorrow.
'Oh, oh. oh Mr.. Old Man. he
walled. give me back my beautiful
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-11-30

Habitat, South America and particu-
larly Brazil. 1t nests in hollow in
the ground and matches from ten to
twenty-three eggs at a setting"
And the bird? Goodness, what
miserable looking fellow he wasl His
thin, coarse plumage was a color
combination of dark, dirty brown, dull
gray and a muddy white. He looked
much like an ostrich, only several
sizes smaller, having three, long, hard,
scaley toes at the end of his bone
like spindle-legs and a bunch of
feathers for tail decoration.
But such scrawny, coarse, dirty
feathers they were! Not one bit like
the soft, beautiful ones of the ostrich.
Indeed, he might well have been
called 1.-The poor relation of the os-
trich family"
Man, nan, d-u. du-Nandu,"
Donald spelled out slowly.
"Humph Maybe-but we always
called him the Feather Duster Bird!"
spoke up high, piDing voice right at
Donalds elbow. "Ha! Ha! What a
wretched looking fellow he is now!"
1t was the Wise old Man of the
Woods and, of course, Donald recog-
nized his high, CHEEKY voice immedi-
ately, though he did have to look
around a bit before he sighted him
perched on the railing almost under
his arm.
"Oh, I'm so glad to see you, Mr.
Old Man of the Woods!" cried Don
aid joyfully, for he knew story
would be forthcoming about the
Nandu.
LET me tell you about this-th1s
Feather Duster Bird" said the queer
little fellow, who was no bigger than
a minute and was dressed in coat
fashioned of humming- birds wings.
His funny wrinkled. jolly little face
was surmounted by a shiny bald
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-11-30

- HIS is story. of ingratitude.
Al There are three characters In
IA it-a family who went away for
~ the summer and left their pet
Icat, Mig, the second of the trio, to
shift for himself and, thirdly, the
family next door who finally took him
in.
Now. wouldn't you think, after all
that happened to him, that the cat
would be grateful for the kindness
showered upon him? But then, you
know, cats are treacherous animals
and have but little of the faithful al
fection of the dog or the horse.
When Nig's family closed up
their house for the summer, they set
a large bowl out in the backyard and
left an order with their milkman to
fill it to the brim each morning with
fresh sweet milk. Mig, OF course,
would be there waiting to drink
enough to fill his little "tummy" for
the day. Then, too, Miranda, the
hired girl, was to come to the back
yard about twice a week and bring
Mig a nice piece of meat.
Well, the scheme worked very nice
ly for a morning or two. Then the
other homeless cats in the neighbor-
hood got on to the fact that every
morning a big bowl Of milk was to be
found in a certain backyard. Can't
you just imagine one of those STRAY
cats meeting another on top of back
fence and saying:
Meow! What? You're hungry,
Well, for goodness sake-meo-o-w-
don't you know there's a big bowl of
milk over in the Smiths backyard
every day with only that weak, insig-
nificant Mig to guard it, Humphl
Come on-we'll soon chase him away
and drink it all up-meo- o-ow--
sus-sstl'
And they did, too. every day, until
poor Mig was all covered with bites
and scratches from trying to fight
them off. And he grew lean and thin
and scrawny. Why, bless you, those
"strays" would even steal what was
left of his meat on Wednesdays and
Saturdays, after Miranda had gone
back to her home!
Presently, the next door neighbors
noticed Mig and took pity on him.
They opened their home to him, fed
him every morning and evening and
allowed him to come into the house
and go to sleep on their soft sofa
cushions just as though he were in
his own home. Moreover, they
combed his fur and petted him.
But alas Mig had learned bad hab-
Its from associating with the "strays'
of the neighborhood. He had learned
to steal! And would you believe it,
time and again he would steal things
off the kitchen table of the family
next-door when their cook turned her
back. Presently, they caught him in
the act-not once, but several times.
Then, in self-defense, they turned him
out of doors.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-11-30

she, you may be sure, smiled upon
him and replied to his questions most
sweetly.
Yes, the Princess declared. she had
made the gown with her own hands.
But the Prince looked closely at the
embroidery and knew it must have
been done by needlewoman who had
devoted her entire life to her work.
And besides, he couldn't, help but
think that his Good Fairy would
scarcely consider woman who
dressed in this fashion economical.
Just then he espied Alicia holding
her corner of the train.
"Thy serving maid, Princess Lor-
raine," he said with smile, sis
suitable one for so. beautiful mis-
tress."
Nay, oh Prince" replied the Prin-
cess in a sharp, cross tone, "she is
but a worthless chit Of a girl. Alicia,
why dost thou intrude where thy
presence is not wanted? Stand
back,"
Then the Prince knew that the
Princess Lorraine was not sweet
She is indeed fair maid, o Prin-
cess" said the wise Prince, watching
her out of the corner of his eye.
'Indeedl Indeed!" snapped Lor-
raine
But, methinks, she has not heard
of my coming" continued the Prince.
for she seems to have donned the
simplest of gowns"
"she!" exclaimed the Princess,
angrily. Mercy! Surely thou dost
not consider her worthy of thy no.
uce, O Prince! Why, she made her
gown out of the odds and ends of an
old dress of mine, and 1 crave thy
pardon for not attiring her more suit
ably. But she is just a maid, thou
seest. and good for nothing but to
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-11-30

bear up my train"
Then Prince Domino knew that the
Princess was indeed selfish and cruel.
Thou hast spoken well, o Princess"
he said. II have found me a wife,"
The Princess smiled proudly = for
of course he must mean her.
But, to her utter amazement, Prince
Domino walked over to Alicia, bowed
low before her and kissed her hand.
Come, maiden fair" he said. 'I
choose thee! That thou art beautiful,
have but to look at thy face and
see. That thou art sweet-tempered,
| have but to remind myself that thou
art serving maid for such a cruel mis-
tress. That thou art unselfsh, have
but to remember that thou didst not
strive to catch my eye and please me
but to bear up thy mistress train.
And that thou art economical and a
good housewife 1 am sure, because
thou hast fashioned of odds and ends
of cloth the beautiful simple gown
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-11-30

eTMS a matter of fact, 1t could not
81 have been longer than ten min
H "a utes that little Donald had
y u been standing in front of the
enclosure at the Zoo gazing in at the
queer, scraggy, ugly-looking bird, be-
fore it happened. But it seemed like
hours and hours. Slowly, letter by
letter, he had spelled out the label
attached to the wire screen.
Common Rhea, or Nandu," 1t read.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-11-30
o. X@&EEDl-zZXE NZEcS n
FSYf0QZNZI77ZEcyT O1YZeSF
The Odds-and-Ends Princess

Her gown was the most gorgeous,
the richest, the most wonderful of all.
Its train was thrice as long as she
was tall, and was embroidered with
thread of gold and diamonds and
rubies and emeralds until it glistened
like a jewel-boX. Indeed, Alicia and
two other serving maids had to act
as train bearers and hold it up.
The Prince had looked upon many
of the maidens before the Princess
entered the room. But as soon as
she did, he came straightway to her.
He was dazzled by her beauty and
the gorgeousness of her attire and he
bowed to her in most courtly fashion
and paid her many compliments. And
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-11-30

plumage and = and--I'n do anything
anything you wish'
No, no. sir-ree!' cried. You've
been vain, conceited, silly fellow
and you must pay the consequences!
Here. pick up those feathers of yours,
tie them together with this piece of
string and then go sweep out every
inch of this place with them!'
But I'm cold, I'm cold, I'm freez-
ing! walled shivering, scrawny Nan
du. Give me some feathers to put
on. Yes, yes-any kind, just so they
will keep me warm
well, Donald, to make long story
short, I did give him his feathers
again-but not until he had swept out
the place with them! And then. you
may be sure, they were sorry looking
things. They never improved, either.
and from that day to this they look
like--well, like just what they are
the feathers in a feather duster! For
Donald, right now men pluck the tail
feathers of the Nandu and make
feather-dusters out of them. Maybe
the one in your own home was made
goodness, here's Nurse calling you
7 must skedaddle = goodbye, Don
ald."
And the Old Man vanished.
What! Land sakes," exclaimed
Nurse, as she picked Donald up from
where he had sunk down on the
ground, asleep, before the enclosure.
what funny things you do dream!
Feather busters, humph! Certainly
feather busters don't grow on birds!''
But on that point Donald was right.
as line on the label on the enclos-
ure read: ITS feathers are used in
the making of rugs. feather busters.
etc."
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-11-30

my magic wand and-prestoi--the
place would have been swept clean
in a jiffy. But that would have been
bad for the birds, and goodness knows
SO many of them were lazy enough as
it was!
"I made them divide into groups
of a dozen and then take turns each
Nandu was in the tenth group but,
bless you, when his turn came and
his companions started in to work,
one cold, drizzly morning, the proud,
conceited Nandu wouldn't SO much as
bulge out of the comfortable, dry cor
ner he had found for himself
HE work? He soil his beautiful
pink feet and dirty his gorgeous plum
age? No indeed, not he! Let the
others do the work, he said, for he
himself was too good for such things!
well, the rest of the birds came
running to me. Sakes alive, what a
chattering and screeching there was
as they tried to tell me about Nandu,
all of them talking at once. I quieted
them as best l could and then, with
them following me in a long process
sion, hurried to the Big Shelter.
Sure enough. there in his corner,
ladmiring his beautiful feathers, was
Nandu.
"'What. hop I exclaimed, fixing
my gaze upon him sternly. What is
the meaning of this. sir Don't you
know it is your turn to clean up the
placer =
But the silly fellow merely looked
at me out of one corner, of his eye
and tossed his head. s4-s
Really he replied quite haughti-
ly, I think entirely too much of my
self to do such a thing. Besides. I
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-11-30
An Ungrateful Cat

+ It was not long before Nig's own
family came back from their vaca-
ton and welcomed him home again.
And. would you believe it, even to this
day Mig says mighty mean things to
the other cats about the family-next-
door and tells how they turned him
out to starve.
Which, after all. is much like the
gratitude of some people, isn't it?
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-11-30

thou now wearest. Come, be my
Queen, and 1 shall deck thee with
gowns and jewels such as no woman
yet has worn"
And so, they were married and
lived happily ever after.
But, do you know, the Prince rarely
called her Alicia; he preferred to call
her his Princess Odds-and- Ends!
Now wasn't that odd. or was 1t?
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-11-30
191e POLAR BEAR

ZTWAY up North where littl,
sg grows
y HBut seals and fish and Esquimeux
The polar bear has made his home
And on the fields of ice does roam
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-11-30
The Way To
Be Strong

Y NEVER have to warm my nose
B Or keep hot soapstones near my
u toes,
Oh wrap up warm in furry clothes
To keep myself from getting froze.
When other little children wheeze
And bust their buttons when they
| stand right in the biggest breeze
Just like the aborigines.
Because | have healthy skin
From wearing everything that's thin;
My legs are bare and tough as tin
And people look at me and grin.
But | just grin straight back and say.
Il bet you wish that you could play
Olt in the snow the live-long day
AS though it were the month of May"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-11-30
n OurPuZZle Corner =
ARITHMETICAL PUZZLE.

1. Add swampy place to every
thing and get the name of prominent
man.
2. Subtract color from a game
and get something used in summer.
8. Double a certain part of speech
(article) and get girls anne.
a. Divide an animal in half and get
to recline and a proposition.
BOYS NAMES.
l. J-r-e. 2. All. 8. mr.. a.
O-i-e. 8. L-r-n-e. 6. -e-am-n.
7. F-a-ci-.
ANSWERS.
ARITHMETICAL PUZZLE: 1. Mar.
shdH marshall. 2. l7an-tan fan. 8.
An Anna. 4. Lion lie, on.
BOYS NAMES: /. Jerome. Q. Car.
roll. 3. Henry. 4. Oliver. S. Lao
renee. 6. Benjamin 7. Francis.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-11-30

The turkey is a very quarrelsome
fellow. Very frequently they get into
fights with each other and peck at
one another's neck as viciously as
possible. Once one contestant man
ages to get the advantage of the other
he will keep pecking and pecking at
him until he kills him.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-11-30
A FEW FACTS ABOUT TURKEYS.

Did you ever hear that the turkey
came near being our official Ameri-
can bird, instead of the eagle? 1t is
a fact, for no less a parsonage than
Benjamin Franklin urged its adoption
strongly at an assembly in Philadel-.
phia. But others thereN preferred the
eagle and voted for it.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-11-30

Turkeys are great walkers. Indeed.
they can march fifteen or more miles
a day and, because walking Is cheaper
than transporting them by rail, they
are often driven long distances to
market. Right now, in many parts
of the country, armies of thousands
of them may be seen being driven
along country roads.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-11-30

~ HIS is a story. of ingratitude.
Al There are three characters In
"a it-a family who went away for
W. the and Left their net
The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1913-10-27

and had heard the shot. He entered
the room and found his friend on the
bed where he had left him, and, as
the observer supposed, in II sort Of
a drunken stupor. A revolver lay on
the bed beside him, and the visitor
supposed the shot had been fired in
bravado into the air. Hearing "a step
outside he picked up the revolver and
secreted it. to avoid questions. When
questioned he became excited and
lied. That was the whole story, and
every word of it was true, but had
the injured man not recovered con-
sciousness no jury would have believ-
ed it..
Still. all this. and all else that can
be brought forward to show the pos
sible fallacy of circumstantial evil
dence, does not destroy it's value. All
evidence is circun,stantial, more or
less. and some of the least Trustworthy
evidence is that which is given by
honest eye-witnesses. The spectator
fails to see correctly: he becomes con-
FUSED: he forsets; he does a. score of
things which impair his value as ~
witness. The combination of facts
which goes under the name OF cir.
cumstantial evidence, while it MAJ
mlslead at times. because OF impcr-
fect knowledge of all the facts, is good
and results i'll making the
truth known oftener than it fails.
The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1913-10-27
c1RcUMsTANT1AL EVIDENCE.

S~eventeen years ago, in the old In
dian territory, a mar was accused of
murder. The evidence against him,
though purely circumstantial. was
clear and convincing. Only the fact
that h body Of the man supposed
to be murdered was not found saved
the suspect from conviction and death.
Recently. by chance. the mar who
had been under suspicion for so many.
years came across a stranger who
turned out to be the man whom he
was suspected of killing. Cases like
this are not at all rare. and they all
strengthen the arguments against cap
ftal punishment. 1t would not have
been ct an ou Of the ordinary for hu-
man remains to have been found and
Identified as those Of the supposed
victim Of murder, and then the case
against the suspect would have been
complete. Had he been executed
there would have been committed a
wrong which could not even have
been partially righted Had TIE sem
tence been to the ~penitentiary, while
society could " have remade to
h man the cost of such d mistake.
It could at least have undona the
wrong in part.
One exchange, in commenting on
this case, considers it an argument,
against circumstant evidence. Such
evidence is universally admitted in
courts, and yet it may go astray. Some
years ago there occurred in Grand
Forks an incident illustrating how a
very convincing set Of circumstances
may cad to a wrong conclusion. A
young man who had been drinking
In his with a number of COM
panions. who were driven away by
the police; was a little later lying on
his bed. shot inc apparently dying.
At the foot of the bed, when an. off,
Ger arrived, stood n Of the party
lately driven away, and with whom
the injured man had been having
angry words. The air was full Of
powder smoke. The officer demand
ed the CUR from the intruder, who
denied having one. On search being
made a revolver was found dropped
inside the waistband Of his trousers.
The 'circumstantial chain was COM
plete. There had been a quarrel: the
suspected mar had been driven away:
he had returned, and IL shot had been
fred; on being asked for his gun he
denied having one. and was immedi-
afely shown to have hurriedly on
cealed n and then lied about il. The
thing that saved that young fellow.
was the fact that the injured man
temporarily to tell a con-
nected story Of what had happened.
He had been in bad condition as the
result Of n debauch. Angry. disgust
ed and remorseful, he had ATTEMPTED
suicide and shot himself in the breas,
tiIs acquaintance had been coming up
the staars ta make Yp tho ,apaxsAl,
The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1913-10-27

They had come into the store about
the same time. many a before.
But Peter worked because he liked to.
1t wasn't exactly necessary. at he
boastfully informed people. Yet,
with the usual perversity of fate, he
would be kept and she would be laid
off. She wondered duly if he had
laid much stress in his reports of her
three tardy mornings in the last
month. OF course he had. There
was Il tinge of ill nature In the twin
kle of his sharp black eyes. But she
reminded herself stoutly that he. of
course. had to do his duty. And If
the firm cared much for her services
she wouldn't have been laid off for
so trifing a cause.
That night in her room, a lonesome
place IN the third story OF a second
class rooming house. she relieved
her life-gray. toll filled. So little re-
lieved by JOY. Her mother had died
when she was nine. Her father. n
tired. inefficient man, married soon
again. The second wife was a. delt-
cate, likable. hut inefficient
Henrietta grew up into a sober. hard
worked girl, and drifted on into a
sober. hard worked oma The
Younger brothers and sisters had scat
tered. Some were dead. None had
received SJTDIlG GHOOW Il2Ilt III ilSdlIu
from their parents. Father and deli
cate. likablc stepmother had disd;.;;
Henrietta clerked. She had never had
the opportunity to learn better, more
lucrative work. She had not the as
s%crtiveness of character that hunts op-
portunity. She just driftcd from week
to week. from year to cal. taking
drabness and trouble rs they came.
rebelling mutely sometimes. But at
night she was too tired for planning
too tired for anything hut supper
and bed. In the morning she had
to hurry to get to the store. All day
she was busy.
Now, at forty-five, she was out,
with less than $500 saved. Some peo-
pie. of course, might have thought.
that a great deal; might have schelned
way to make it more. But Hen
rietta only thought fearfully of how
soon it would melt unless she got
work Immediately. And it was not
the right time of the year to get work..
Moreover women at forty-five with
tired. sober faces and sober economi-
cal garb are looked at askance by
business men wanting help. Women
who are. efficient are seldom laid off.
She did her work mechanically dur-
ing the days Of the work remaining
before the notice tool effect. Some
of the younger girls changed pouts to
The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1913-10-27
THE EVENING STORY[6
smiles. They h.a cot other Mace. y ,

smiles. They had got other places. OF
were going to stay at home a while.
And Peter Haynes went around with =
smile SO CHEEKY THAT her vague resent.
ment swelled. He with his thousands
of dollars in th8Shank wouldn't have
minded! But thoae who needn't, mind
were, the one that always were kept
1t seemed queer to go ont Saturday
night and know that 1t was for the
last time-almost like leaving home.
She had worked there so long. Her
eyes were not so gray as her face and
She walked slowly.
But with Sunday morning courage
came. After all, she wasn't so badly
off. n got a newspaper and care
fully read the, .hclp wanted columns.
1t seemed that few people wanted help
in July. and no ono at all wanted SER
vice that she could render. Her cour-
made her turn to the business
chances" page. For SALE" partner
wanted" ITO SELL" hut every caption
required far. more than her 1910.
What could one do with that small
amount when it was moi backed by too
much brains?,
And then at the very bottom OF the
last olumn she read with interest
that h tiny delicatcssen store around
Nhot WY SoAAcl on WillN'u ucI WlhuOW
looked was for sale. No price was
mentioned. but 1t was a tiny store
that she was sure it wouldn't be
much. She dressed hastily, ate break
fast, and hurried down.
The tiny store at that early hour
was crowded with customers. The
owner, a fat. perspiring Teuton, aided
by Il fatter. more perspiring wife. was
attending to customers as fast as he
l. f,n1llH PYyt h0 40 rar11. nnCln1k~l kAN-.
when Miss Wiley told him the object
Of her call. and led the way to the
back room. Then he flung his hands
up in horror at the amount she could
pay. Five, Six times that he wanted.
II could see for herself how excel
lent business was They would sell be-
u they were tired working and
wanted to go back to the old country
for a long visit But. Colt in Him
mel! They would not give the store
away. Disguised he waved Miss WI
ley u
h paused at the counter to buy
some brown cookies that tempted her.
They reminded her. too, Of a kind that
she used to make for the children
many years before She wished visit
fully that she could have bought the
store. She had a sudden strong de-
sire to make cookies and bake beans,
such as filed the small brown bowls
on the shelf, and try her hand at pies
and doughnuts.
mo, I guess not" a familiar voice
behind her said, regretfully "If 1
had a woman who could help me
run it, I'd risk it. But I'm afraid to
tackle it by myself. I've been think
ing it over all night"
She turned hastily. Peter HAYNES
was standing there. twinkly eyed and
brisk as ever. talking to the CORPUS
lent Teuton who, as well as his wife.
looked very disappointed. w might