davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-08-10

Fine words from a man who knew both
the internal satisfaction of tasks honestly
performed and the external glory Of
high honors wonl
When James Gordon Bennett sent STAN
ley to Africa to find Livingstone neither
the newspaper manager nor the young
mamie was only 2s-could foresee the
order of the knighthood of the Bath gilt
tering on the bosom of tho future en-
lightener of darkest Africa.
Neither could prefgure the secretaries
of the worlds highest scientific societies
thronging around Stanley's door to bring
to him certificates OF honorary member
ship in their ranks.
1t was to a task Bennett sent Stanley,
not to honors.
He performed the task. The honors
came afterward
So it is with the man who does things,
great or small. He glories in the doing,
in the accomplishment of results. When
the honors come he accepts them mod
estly. They spur him on to greater en-
deavor
Stanley was sent to find Livingstone.
He found him. In his book he tells of
the pathetic meeting in the heart of the
African Jungle There is much expression
+ of the joy he felt In the finding, with
no thought of reward.
When the work is truly done the re-
ward follows. as the night the day. In
Stanleys case it came in the shape OF
greater opportunity for exploration In
Africa He had toied through jungle
and swamp in leading his first great ex-
ploration party. The others brought him
wider fields and won for him the name
of being the worlds leading explorer
They took him into association with the
great of the earth and gave him riches
a titled handle for his name and a seat
in parliament.
But 1t is nowhere recorded that in
anything else he felt so much satisfaction
as in the doing of the first great task
set for him. In bidding goodby to MIR
Bennett he had said:
GOOD night, sir. What is in the power
of human nature to do 1 will do, and
on such an errand as l so upon God will
be with me-"
And God was with him,
May we not say, in the words of Stan.
ley, that God win be with all of us wher
we set out to find our Iivingstones? we
shall not need to go TO Africa: we shall
not have to toll through thousands OF
miles of fever and savage infested ter.
ritory. unyisted before by men of oul
kind. But we shall have to work, anc
in the work we shall find
No honor. no reward. however great
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-08-10

did cum like they is, ] cussed Gawd an
stopped prayin We lived in this same
house, the lonesumis' place on Gawd 8
earth, l reclln, jis like two hermics. day
in an day out, year in an year out jis
the two on us, fur John was killed two
months arter we wuz married by tree
a fallin' on him. which he wuz cuttin'
down fur Mister Dick son. I aint had
nobody but the baby, an he aint had no
body but me. He wuz so pendent like,
arter a while, / cum to luv the brat, an
couldn't stan his bein' outen my sight.
An | cant now Jis few days ago, I
thought I'd die eff he didn't cum home,
an [ got so mortally crazy fur him that
I cum to the doc an called him, but I
knowed he didn't herd me- then / he'd
spell O cryin' fur him. He's all I've got.
an eff you give him up to the consta-
bulls them as takes him mus take me.
Doctor. d you 'lieve in Gawd?'
| answered reverently.
We'll I aint got no book larnin'. but
pears to me that Gawd wuz way from
home when the dawgs cum, an when
Kunos was born, or he'd done dir'runt.
An eff there's a Gawd-mind. ] don't say
there aint. fur [ jis' don't know, but eff
there is one of em. hit pears like he
owes me an Kunos a sight o. happiness
somewhar else, fur we aint had nothin'
but shame an misery on earth Pears
like / can't make Gawd out, no how.
I've heerd folks say he's good; but hit
pears to me, bad as I am / couldn't do
nobody as mean as he dun me and IIunos,
fur all thp Ian in tla county
! promised her that / should not give
up Kunos to the constabuls.' and rode
off. At the turn Of the path to the main
road / looked back The boy had Joined
his mother and she had laid an arm on
his shoulder. Their eyes were following
ME. Above them hung the cold gray
cloud of sunless day, and around them
was falling the chill of what promised to
be starless night.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-08-10

waded. while across the larger. bridge
less and wild. rafts were constructed the
timbers of which were held together by
the native vines. while such of the ami
mails as could swim We're forced to do so.
There was a flow of cheer and joeularity
which served as a condiment to hard
conditions, and when the camp fires were
lighted the stock fed on the native
grasses. and supper was eaten. men chat
ted and smoked. sang and told jokes,
while the Industrious wives and daugh
ters would ply their knitting needles. By
turns the camp was guarded against pos
sible contingencies for the night, and the
next morning the same arduous march
would be resumed.
The destination finally reached the
struggles against difficulties would be-
sin in earnest. Boundaries of chosen
land would be indicated by cutting belts
about the trees with a peculiar, personal
mark and then await the future for full
legal possession. In the construction of
temporary homes eolonists would vie with
each other in the ingenuity displayed
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-08-10

his head, thinking that he had fever. but
his temperature was normal I promised
to take him to his p1other in the morn
ing.
On the following morning I directed that
the buggy be hitched up for Kunos' return
to his home While waiting for this order
to be executed l sat at my desk to write
a letter. 1 had barely dated the sheet of
paper when / was startled by the widest
screams ringing through the house and
proceeding from the kitchen. I leaped
from my chair and in few seconds | was
in the kitchen looking with horror upon a
most sickening sight. Kunos had thrown
the cook to the floor and his ravenous
fangs were tearing mouthfuls of flesh
from her face and throat with the ferocity
of a rabbid dog. l sprang upon him and
dragged him from his helpless victim,
and forced him out of the house, while the
others who had been summoned by the
womans cries ministered to her and
'phoned for our family physician.
When the boy was outside the kitchen
door be cast upon me a look, and it's in
describable malignity 1 shall never forget.
His horrible green eyes were shot with
req, MS 1angS seemed longer than ever,
his mud-colored hair stood erect, his veins
were swollen and throbbing, his nostrls
were widely dilated. and his hideous face
was smeared with blood which his purple
tongue was licking as far as it could
reach.
When we had made the wounded woman
comfortable 1 went out to confront the
blood thirsty animal. I looked every
where for him, and called repeatedly. but
he had left the place.
The next afternoon 1 rode over to the
wretched cabin where / had first seen
Kunos and his mother. The woman was
standing at the yard gate. l asked If
Kunos had come home. She answered.
"Yas, sir, an he dun toll me bout the
axident at Eastwood. and wot he dun hit
fur" She informed me that Kunos
thought the cook had caused his dis
charge.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-08-10

he could answer the question. and he
is dead.
lie lived a good life whether he
might have lived a better. more useful
existence elsewhere than among his
beloved grass and flowers and trees
each reader must decide for himself.
When a man has reached the age of 81
and has had life filed with work and
honors 1t seems that he should be willing
to rest on his arms, to sit back and be
content to see the world sweep past him
in its busy course.
May he not say IT have done my part.
I am old / must give up thought of fu-
ture usefulness, content with what 1 have
gained of fame and wealth and the esteem
of my fellow men. The sunset path lies
just before me-"
Other men may say Not Lord Halls
bury of England. one of tho worlds
greatest lawyers
He is almost IS years old, yet he is
undertaking the general editorship of tlre
English Digest, new work in which the
whole case law of England. from early
times to the present, will be given in "a
volumes OF oOV 10 vv pages each.
| TO keep his hand in, as the saying goes,
Lord Halsbury has been editing recently
another work. Laws Of England In IS
volumes.
Wonderful old mani
| For many years he has been a leader
| of the learned British bar. For 10 years
he held the high office OF lord chancellor,
the highest judgeship in England
| He is old In years, but he holds with
our Longfelow that ''age is opportunity
no less than youth itself" No doubt he
turns often TO that page of Tennyson
whereon he reads:
Death closes all. but something ere tho
| end,
Some noble work of noble note. may yet
| be done.
| Youth has it's fire, its vigor the inspir-
alton of the life that runs Justify in its
veins Before it lies the world. conduer-
able by each newcomer on the stage
| Age has it's experience and its mem
ories, its accumulated knowledge and its
store OF friendship. IT knows from the
testing of the years it's capabilities and its
| limitations
Each adds its quota to the worlds store
! of knowledge.
The physical world contracts as each
explorer extends his journeys. The mem
| tai world expands with each invention.
each discovery each great piece of work
| undertaken and carried to successful COM
' petion.
To the oung man his daring, the toll
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-08-10

A I expected, the newspapers of
"A Richmond gave exciting accounts
4 a of the capture of the negro, under
flaming headlines. The part that Kunos
had played in the horrible affair was
faithfully recounted, and in addition, past
achievements of similar character were
nscribed to the boy which were wholly i'm
aglnary.
Within few days I was visited by re-
porters frsm Richmond, who wanted to
see the strange boy and write story
about him. They were, however, disap-
pointed in Kunos. For he would not talk
with them about the one quality OF his
life that distinguished him from other
boys. Indeed. he wanted to leave the
farm until the strangers had gone away,
and asked If he might go to the mill and
bring some meal. let him go.
We sat on the front gallery, the three
reporters and l. I handed out box of
cigars, and we sat and talked "I de-
clare said Mr.. Worthngton, that is the
oldest looking boy I ever saw. He's as
much like mere animal as" II believe
he is a mere ANIMAL" interrupted Mr.
Beadles. Doctor, I should like you to
tell us all you know about the boy ana his
anteeedents'' said Mr.. Powers.
I thereupon related my first and only
meeting with the boys mother, and told
the gentlemen all that / knew | gave
the story of the escaped convict, of the
blood hounds following his trail, of their
mangling the woman, of the boys birth
at the hospital, and of how he received
the name of Kunos, Just as the poor
woman had told me. | also described the
killing of Mallery's hound, and wound up
my recital by telling them of the boys
knowledge that Major Warbutton had
passed Eastwood, although he had not
seen him pass
We'll. | be d.. | beg pardon, DOCTOR
] mean that beats me-" said one of my
guests. THAT boy should be in the en-
ployment of Gibsons detective agency;
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-08-10
A PRENATAL

he'd make a fortune said one of them.
Il shouldn't like to have such a looking
boy around my place, though observed
Mr.. Worthington. "The very sight of him
would give me the creeps' After an early
dinner the three gentlemen left in their
automobile for Richmond.
In due time 1 received marked copies
of the Richmond newspapers in which
were given reports of the visit of our re-
porter to Eastwood. the home, as the
headlines apprised the public, 'of the
human blood hound" Also there came a
copy of the Washington Post containing
an editorial on the subject of Prenatal
Impressions with special reference to
Kunos. The article was a very able one.
Remarkable incidents were cited to prove
the frequency of the fact, and quotations
were given from a number of learned
writer's, such as DR.. David Skae of Edin-
burg university, Sir Godfrey King of the
medical college of Melbourne. and NJ
Ivernes, statistician of the College de
France received also letters from many
professional men throughout the coun-
try.
Some weeks passed without incident In
my quiet country nome Then there oc-
Cured an uncanny circumstance which
unnerved me for the time and caused me
to conclude that I should send Kunos
back to his mother.
The night was dark and stormy and the
wind was blowing in orthodox hurricane
fashion, while the rain was hurled in vast
sheets out of the black sky. l had gone
to bed; but, wondering if all the fires
downstairs had been thoroughly put out
and not being satisfied that they had, l
determined to go down and investigate
The better to see any glowing Goals that
might have been overlooked I took no
lamp with me- but quietly passed on in the
darkness from one room to another.
was returning from the kitchen when my
attention was attracted by a faint light
under the door leading into the room that
Kunos occupied. I laid my slippers aside
and ascended the stairs. Kunos was talk
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-08-10

TN the city of London, center of the
worlds materialism, dwell many
thousands of workmen whose days
are passed in hard tiresome toll.
When evening comes they have little
or no inclination for pleasure. They
are content to rest.
But many of these men are not Lon
doners born. Their ranks are recruit
ed from the counties where they spent
their boyhoods and learned that love
of nature which is so easy to acquire
in rural England.
These men in London turn for solace
,end comfort in their hardships to pets.
ley breed and raise chaffinches.
ez-zInto their hard lives the sweet voiced
chaffinch pipes a note of JOY.
Sometimes the chaffinch owners,
Jealous of their birds fame as singers,
match them against one another in
singing contests 1t is one of the most
interesting sights in the great city to
see the working men with their birds
gathered in a back room or loft, while
their tiny throats in sweet voiced COM
their tiny throats in sweets voiced COM
petition. There are prizes for the best
singers
But the most interesting part is this:
On Sundays and holidays the bird
owners sometimes takes him into the
open life of Epping forest. near Lon
don. There the cage is hung on tree
that the captive chaffinch may have a
chance to refresh its memory of the
wild, free life of the woods.
The men believe that unless the birds
arc permitted to hear wild chaffinches
now and then they will lose their beau
tiful notes and finally NOPE and die.
Is it not true of men and women who
live in cages?
We must get in touch with nature
now and then or we die.
Or living on in unrenewed vigor, we
lose our fine, sweet note of enjoyment
of life. There are healing and strength
in the contact with nature. Every one
of us needs it.
Perhaps the London belief in the ne
cessity of permitting the chaffinch to
hear its wild brethren is akin to the
old Greek story of the giant Antaeus.
You remember he was the giant who
wrestled with Hercules The latter
could not overcome his so long as he
permitted him to touch Mother Earth.
As soon as the wrestler with the god
rested for a moment on the bosom of
the earth the life current which per-
meates the soil renewed its strength.
1t was only when Hercules held him
off the earth's surface and strangled
him that he was able to overcome him.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-08-10
ROMANCE OF ALABAMA H

HEW are aware of the extremes to
which the earliest settlers Of
= Alabama were reduced in their
migration from the old colonies to this
region while it was yet territory
1t may be said that the original stock
of Alabama settlers was generally of
the best type of Anglo Saxon man
hood and womanhood. Inherently they
had no superiors on the continent. They
are not TO be thought of as adventurers
restlessly migrating to a new region
with dissatisfaction which sought re-
lief in the mere act of moving, for adj
Venturers would never have undergone
that which was experienced by these
fathers in pitching their homes in
wilderness infested by savages and wild
beasts The fact that they did that
which was done labels the type of char
acter of these original commonwealth
builders.
Back of their migration from Vir-
ginia and the Carolinas from which
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-08-10

And, while you forget the things
which are behind, do not fail to reach
for the things which are before!
There is only one thing that clings in
memory more than q handshake, and
that's the feel of the shoulder hunch that
your comrade gave you when you were
close in ranks, the battle line advancing
under shot and SHELTON Painter, Penn
sylvania veteran at Gettysburg reunion.
After 90 years the soldier feels yet that
hunch of the shoulder.
1t feels good in memory.
1t remins him now, as it told him then.
ry to return. Do not bring from them
real comrade, the man with whom he
had bunked and with whom he had
shared his rations.
When the day OF battle came the same
man was ready to fight for him and to
die for him If necessary.
In the hunch of the shoulder all this
was told again. 1t was an assurance of
comradeship, a pledge of aid
Can't you picture the scene for your
self? The men advance in close rank. Be-
fore them lies possible death. There Is no
time for a handshake for words
Just the move of a shoulder, just a
little shove. But It means a lot.
There's a place for the hunch of the
shoulder in peace times as well as in
war
In a sense we are all lighting in a bat
tie. 1t is the world old battle for life
and perhaps for the means of living. To
some of us it spells tragedy.
When the strife is hardest, when there
is greatest peril of wounds and death,
how well to feel the hunch of friends
shoulder How well to know that he is
fighting at your side, ready to help you
if called upon!
He need not speak. The hunch is
enough.
And you yourself? How is your own
shoulder?
Not crippled, let us hope, by the rheu-
matism of selhshness. Not too busily
engaged with the rest of you in fighting
your own battle to give friendly little
shove to the man next to you.
He's your comrade, you know. EIe
needs you.
Give him a hunch of the shoulder. Let
him feel your friendly presence.
Perhaps he will do the same for you.
No honor, no reward, however great
can be equal to the subtle satisfaction
that man feels when he can point to
his work and say, 1.-THE task | promised
to the utmost of my ability is finished. =
Henry M Stanley.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-08-10

equal to the satisfaction that we shall
feel when we can point to our work
and say, "The task I promised to per-
form with all loyalty and honesty to
the utmost of my ability is finished"
Letterman-George W. Letterman-
is dead.
You did not know Letterman or
know of him, perhaps
If not the loss is yours. as the death
of Letterman is the Kingdoms loss.
Letterman belonged TO the race of
born naturalsts. To him the starry
beauty of an anemone In the grass was
more than the glare of the electric
light in the city wilderness. His mind
perceived more beauty in the stately
aisles of the forest trees than In the
arches OF a cathedral.
For 70 years Letterman studied and
botanized in the Missouri woods and
fields As his knowledge of nature
grew so grew his fame, until few men
were more highly regarded by the
botanists of the state and nation.
Many famous scientists visited his lit
tie cabin and roamed the woods with
him. Rare plants were named for him.
Fame brought to Letterman no in
flation of spirit The man who lives
much with nature is never vain or con-
ceited He knows his own littleness.
Letterman was a true member of the
family of Agassiz and Audubon and
Muir and Burroughs.
He did not seek the world
The world sought him.
His wisdom in the ways of plants
reached the seats of learning, where
men and women study botany with
books and microscopes as we'll as with
universities asked Letterman to join
their faculties. to become an instructor
of the young
Letterman preferred his haunts along
the brooks to a stately chair near the
river of learning. He would not leave
his woods.
Did Letterman choose Alright for him
self?
Considering himself alone, probably
he took the better part He may have
felt himself untitled for the life In the
hall of universities, although he was
man of education. Perhaps he feared
the restraints of regular hours OF
teaching. when his soul would long
for the great oudoors which he had
made his home for so many years
The world lost, no doubt by his de-
cision. But possibly he gained
Should he have sacrificed himself
and given more freely of the stock OF
nature lore which was in him? Only
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-08-10
HEART TO HEART TALKS-By James A. Edgerton

There is lesson for all of us In the
stories of the London chaffinch and the
ancient giant.
on the walls of the great Bedford
reformatory in New York state, which
is doing wonderful work in reclaiming
women once believed to be lost, hangs
the singing.
Forgetting the things which are
behind and reaching forth to those
things which are before"
1t is the motto of the institution and
1T embodies the spirit which governs
there
1t were well for America and the
world If the motto were lived up to
In all reformatory and penal institu-
tions. We might see at measurable
distance the coming of the day when
prisons shall be all "penitentiaries, :"
places for penitence rather than pun
ishment
But others besides those In refor-
matories and penitentiaries need the
lesson embodied in the motto.
II is another way of saying, LET the
dead past bury It's dead. The past
is gone; the future is not yet come
we live now.
Far back along the road of life which
we nave travelled to the milestone at
which we now find ourselves are the
landmarks of opportunities missed, of
missdeeds done. How fast. think YOU.
can you travel along the road which is
yet to come If you stop all the time
to look back at them. perhaps turn
in your career to visit them?
Let them stay there.
II YOU must go back to them let If he
only for instruction and warning. Hur-
ryto return. Do not bring from them
souvenirs to weigh you down in your
future journeying.
Above all, do not seek to retrace the
steps of fellow traveller on life,s
road for the purpose of reproachinp
him with past falterings If he is
plodding along manfully do not seek
to hold him back by casting before
him the shadow of his past.
AS we journey through life We face
the sun of hope. 1t casts the shadows
behind us, not in front of u.s. Turn
and the shadows lie before you. Keen
on going and the shadows stretch be-
hind.
Sometimes we glance backwards and
then they seem to lie thick and fast
and gloomy and threatening on the
road. When we have mounted the hill
and cast our last long look behind on
the highway we have Travelled we shall
see that nowhere were they as menace
ing as they seemed.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-08-10

Of the held-to the old man, ike Halls
bury, the labors OF the library and tbs
laboratory.
The Sentinel=record., 1913-11-08
CHILDREN HATE OIL,
 CALOMEL AND PILLS
CALIFORNIA SYRUP OF FIGS" BEST FOR TENDER STOMACH,
 LIVER, BOWELS.

Look back at your childhood days. Remember the dose" mother insist ed on-castor oil calomel, cathartics. How you hated them, how you fought against them.
 With our children it's different Mothers who cling to the old form of physic simply don't realize what they do. The children's revolt is we'll founded. Their tender little "insides" are inured by them.
 If your childs stomach, liver and bowels need cleansing, give only deli. cious California Syrup of Figs" It's action is positive, but gentle. Millions of mothers keep this harmless fruit laxitive" handy; they know shildren love to take it; that it never fails to clean the liver and bowels and sweet en the stamach, and that a teaspoon ful given today saves a sick child to- morrow.
 Ask your druggist for a 50-cent bottle of California Syrup of Figs, '' which has full directions for babies shildren of ali ages and for grown-ups plainly on each bottle. Beware of commercials sold here. See that it is made by California Fig Syrup Company" Refuse any other kind I with contempt