davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-12-07

results in frenzy. So, while the sentence
passed upon the aforesaid offender might
seem small it was in fact severe. BY
the way, it was the cats love of liberty
that caused Proudhon, the socialist. to
carve a sleeping cat on his celebrated
monument, of which the whole world is
aware.
In nearly all countries cats have been
associated with some sort of supersti-
ton, the black cat being, as it has been
supposed the DEVILS favorite expression
of himself Witches were believed to be
representatives of the devil, and they
were pictured always with a black cat
in evidence. The witches in Macbeth"
in that weird, unearthly scene upon which
the curtain rises in the first act, asso-
ciate the cat with their wild incanta-
tions. The first witch announces, Il
come, Graymalkin," then all three cry
out, Paddock calls, anon" 1t will be
remembered that to the ghostly surround
ings of the mysterious House of the
Seven Cables Hawthorne has added a
strange cat which climbs fence and
disappears as Phoebe returns after the
awful death of Judge Pyneheon-"a
strange grimallSin, which was proWlng
under the parlor window, took to his
heels, clamored hastily over the fence
and vanished" Because of It's supersti-
tious associations only the cat was placed
under the window of the house where
GHOSTS walked" We are not astonished
at the the superstition of Mohammed
which led him to cut off the sleeve of his
gown rather than disturb the sleeping
cat; but we cannot understand why so
philosophical person as Montaigne
should be thrown into melancholia by a
disparaging glance from his cat. But
there is no accounting for superstitions
Many people believe 1t bad luck If
an estray black cat enters ones room;
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-12-07

snowy-white tent between which, over
the road was an arch of beautiful ar
tistic construction. beneath which stood
Governor Piekens and his suite awaiting
the arrival of the eminent guest. When
the carriage which bore Lafayette halted
under the arch, Governor Pickens advanc-
ed to greet him. and after a mutual in
PRODUCTION, the governor proceeded to ex-
tend the courtesies of the new state, in
apt and well-chosen terms. for which he
was remarkable, and was followed by
the reply of General Lafayette, in
phraseology just as happy. This was fol-
lowed by a sort of improvised reception
on the spot, when the distinguished eiti-
zens of the state were presented to La
Fayette one by one. In the meantime,
the ladies who had come to assist in
doing honor to the occasion, remained
in the tents, and the governor taking
the arm of the great guest, led him into
the tents and introduced him to the ladies.
This occurred at noon on Sunday April
8. 1925, and Immediately after these in
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-12-07

had served him during the Revolution, as
young man, but now somewhat ad-
vance In lfe-Rev. Isaac Smith, a Meth
odist missionary to the Indians. La
Fayette recognized him, and gave a warm
and affectionate greeting. In the exub-
erance of his zeal the missionary begged
that they bow in prayer. There under
the tall trees of the rivers bank the
party bowed in solemn prayer, Lafayette
and the Indians joining, and with uplifted
voice Mr.. Smith prayed the blessings of
heaven on the great patriot The Indians
intent on showing their interest proposed
to have a game of ball for the enter
tainment of Lafayette, after which Mr.
Smith invited him to his humble home,
where they recounted to each other the
scenes of their lives since they parted
at the Disqualification of the army, about
f3 years before.
After a season of rest Lafayette
started with the cavalcade along a road
which led through an uninhabited region
for almost a hundred miles, he riding in
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-12-07

being. He has put ii in modern Ian
guage, the language of what we call
science. Already 1t Was partly indi =
Gated in ancient books of Deuteronomy
and epistles to the Corinthians. But
the age had grown weary of the spir-
itual and didactic 1t comes back upon
us through surgeons and chemists and
the biological laboratories. God is
speaking> to us, lifting us up, saying
as He said to the sick of the myth
illogical past, Go and sin no more"
The causes of tuberculosis for in
stance, are, as Professor Rauschen.
buoch's prayer intimates. both univer-
sal and social. One of the facts not
yet widely known is that less than
10 per cent of us escape battle with
the bacillus of DIR. Robert Koch bad
cess to him!' said a Hibernian, when
he learned that the German physicist
had discovered the cause of consump.
ton. supposing apparently that to dis
cover and to invent were one and the
same thing. No man can distribute
the seeds of tuberculosis more thor
oughly than they have been distributed
already. They are in the homes of the
rich and poor, on all streets of cities,
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-12-07
DOMESTIC CAT-By Dr. W. E. Evans

that William Tell and the apple on his
sons head is unhistorical and-and-well,
am afraid that the children of coming
generations will not even have left to
them Santa Claus, in whom l believe
most profoundly.
The cat was domesticated animal in
Egypt as far back as 1900 years before
the Christian era, and at an early period
the Egyptians regarded it with religious
reverence. They built temples in honor
of the eat and made sacrifices to It, When
the family cat died it was embalmed and
became a mummy, the owners of the de-
funct creature displaying their grief by
shaving off their eyebrows. Diodorus says
if man killed cat either by accident
or of purpose the Egyptians put him to
death Herodotus relates that Diana, to
escape moestation by the giants changed
herself into cat.
Blackstone, in his Commentaries, saws
that anciently to kill a cat was consid-
cred a grievous crime and was accom-
panied by heavy penalty. There was a
cat appointed to guard the grain of the
Kings barn against the depredations of
fouehts, ana lnlS royal feline was pro-
tected by a law which read thus: 'If
anyone shall kill or bear away by theft
the cat which is warden of the royal
barn it (the recovered caD shall be hung
up by the tip of its tail its head touch
ing the floor and over it shall be poured
out grains of wheat until the last hairs
of its tail shall be covered by the grains. -
How much wheat would this vertical
burial require, Mr.. Farmer? Before an
Swafipo inc ~ tI,a hol
thus suspended, the squirming, and the
thousand-and-one gyrational motions of
which the swinging cat was capable. You
know, any sort of restraint, or lessening
of its liberty, infuriates a eat, and to
hang it up by the tail is an insult that
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-12-07

deep in black unsprinkled dust whera
the windows are blocked by the building
next door, where the skylight is dark
With fallen SCOT, where the Walls are
laden with living germs left by others
no have passed that way, passed on to
the consumptive's grave.
For the germ, the seed, the bacillus of
tuberculosis loves dark, damp. dirty
places. >He has his biplane too, the COM
mon housefly. and that biplane carries
him not by ones or twos, but by millions
If such a bplane could be invented for
mankind the steamships would rot for
lack of passengers and Europe and Asia
would settle on these shores with resist
less hordes. All the machinery of laissez-
faire civilization is available and most
convenient for the dissemination of the
tubercle bacillus. Hence the awful, but
inwardly most beneficient, fact that he is
everywhere. that practically everyone is
host to him, that everyone does well to
fear him and be on the watch
Beneficent? Most certainly. If it were
not for such a disease germ at the lips
of all men they would soon be a most
pleasing discipleship of the German who
talked of the superman, a selfish, ruth
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-12-07

cade were largely reinforced by the ad-
dition of fresh installment of troops
and of many distinguished citizens who
had made their way across the country
from different directions in order to share
in the demonstration. Once within the
confines of civilization the journey to
Montgomery and beyond was relieved
by the cultivated fields of the white man,
now in the bloom of young and promis-
ing crops. and the homes of refinement
dotting the country over. This was
great relief to Lafayette, who had been
buried for almost a week in the depths
of an uncultivated wilderness. The i'm
proved roads enabled the procession to
make greater speed as 1t moved toward
the village of Montgomery.
On a range of hills about two miles
from the village, arrangements had been
made for the cavalcade to halt for the
formal reception to be given by the
governor, who had come from Cahaha to
meet the distinguished guest at that point.
On each side of the road was a large,
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-12-07

more readily than negroes II the aver
age white man lived under the same
conditions as the average negro. I
was forced to say that did not know.
But what I do know is that unless
we repent. socially and most commun-
istically repent. and change our ways
as well as our hearts. cease toying with
the agonies of the under dog. black or
white. we shall all likewise perish and
shall most richly deserve it.
But someone says: Is not the Anti
tuberculosis association charity? And
the answer is. yes. on the same terms
as the fire department and fire insur-
ance and the water supply are char
tiles. 1t is a charity for the Same ,rea-
son identically as that our school gys-
tenn is our greatest charity. But think
what the children will say. and what,
the observers Of today and tomorrow
will say to us of this year of grace
1913 when they discover our level OF
social intelligence! Because our public
money is unavailable, because our fiscal
arrangements are undeveloped and
chaotic. therefore and only therefore,
must we voluntarily Join hands and
begin to do our duty better.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-12-07

~ AIRY, Ind, is becoming the Mecca
~of the educators of America
- Not SO long ago there was no
town of Gary. only a lot of sand dunes
and dreary stretch of shore and lake.
Today Gary is one of the great steel CEN
ters of the world with more than 10000
inhabitants. Monster steamships come to
its wharves laden with the ores from the
northwest. It's mills transform the ores
into steel that goes to every quarter of
the globe.
Big as are its mills and wonderful as
are its furnaces. they mean less to many
visitors than do the schools in that city
which the United States Steel corporation
created To make steel is no longer won
derful, but to introduce a method of
teaching that may revolutionze the whole
school system of the United States is
startling.
William Writ, a country schoolmaster
who got his training in the little town of
Buffton, Ind, has brought the new fame
to Gary He is modest. He does not
claim to have done anything remarkable.
AS a matter of fact he has wiped out
every fault under which schools have
struggled for half a century or more, has
used everything that is good and then has
added ideas of his own which have proved
so successful that 1t seems strange some
one did not think of them long ago.
One of the great things he has accom-
plished Is in making school so attractive
that children delight in going there. In
most cities the school hours are from 8
to 3. In Gary they are from to 5. In
Chicago, New York, Pittsburg and other
large cities a certain number of hours
each day in the life of the child is taken
up by what the educators call street and
alley time. There is no such thing at
Gary. The children find no particular
pleasure in the streets. The school fur
nishes their every need In that direction.
And as for truancy, such thing is un-
known in Gary.
The trouble the world over in connection
with the educational system has been
that the effort has been to make the child
fit the school. In Gary Mr.. Writ makes
the school fit the child. He does 1t not
only with greater educational value to the
pupil, but at cost so much less to the
taxpayer that the difference is astonish-
ing.
Gary did not get Mr. Writ because of
any great reputation he had established.
Not at all. Mr. Writ went to Gary as a
sightseer before a pound of steel had
been made there. He wandered about
looking at the large amount of construc-
tion work under way and happened to get
In conversation with sewer contractor
who was unusually well informed. They
talked about the monster mills, the innu-
a it,frn of,6 hn
thoroughness of the system. Then Writ
asked what were the plans in relation to
the schools. The contractor was glowing
in" his 5praise Of the school building that
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-12-07

| liam Writ has built for himself in tho
public school system of that town oa
Gary.
Mr.. Writ does not look like the pedal
gogue. He talks and acts like the gen.
eral manager of railroad, or the SUPER
intendent of big Industrial plant He
has given the most remarkable example
of the wiping out of waste ever presented
in a public school in America The chill
dren of Gary are educated at a lower
cost per capita than in any other city I'M
the United States and they are better ed
ueated. The raw material which MY
Writ has to work up is composed mostly
of the children of Poles Huns and other
foreigners of low grade
In New York city s40,Oe0,o00 a year IN
appropriated for the schools and the re-
suit is poor. The proportion of we'll edu-
Gated boys and girls who come out In
small
In Gary it Is different-very different.
Great as is the reduction in cost of ed. /.
ucauon according to the Writ system
that saving Is not to be measured with
the tremendous profit In the output OF
better boys and better girls who will
make better men and better women.
That is why the eyes of the educators
are now directed toward Gary and why
william Writ and his system have come
TO De subjects of earnest study.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-12-07

" HIS is Tuberculosis Day Hence
this paper. Most people know
4 many things about the laws of
health and the causes of disease which
were hidden from our forefathers. Com
paratively few stop to consider how
stupendous change has been induced
by the discovery of the practically uni
versal cause of all disease. Before that
vast generalization dawned on the hu-
man mind diseases were reckoned the
mysterious hand of Providence. But
when 1t was learned that they are
generally the product of disobedience
TO natural laws which may be known
and must be obeyed, the whole scene
shifted from Gods responsibility to
our own.
There is one point worth noting by
the way: That with modern acquaint-
ance with the rationale of disease we
may come to treat the matter with
sort of contempt. That is a real peril.
But no believing mind. no funda-
mentally honest mind, no deeply reyer-
ential mind Is going to miss the august
fact that to us of this day the Eternal God
has unveiled the way to physical we'll
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-12-07

and woe betide the sick man under whose
window a black cat news. If a black
cat follows you on the street, a cat that
belongs to someone else, look out for
disaster, and If the cat pulls at your
dress dear madam, or at your trousers,
my dear sir, you had better turn back
towards your home-this is eminently true
if you were going where you should not
be.
Some people believe these superstitions
and their antipathy to cats that are black
or of any other color, is accordingly in
tense. Henri III, King of France; Fer
dinand, Emperor of Germany, and Ma
poleon were constitutionally afraid of the
proximity of a cat. After his great tri-
umph at Wagram, Napoleon sojourned at
the palace of the defeated King of Aus
tria, and in the night the guards and SEN
tinels were startled by screams proceed
ing from the chamber which the French
conqueror occupied. Upon entering the
room they found the idol of France in a
fit of terrible agitation, with perspiration
streaming down his pale face, while he
made deadly lunges at a poor cat that
had quietly crept into the room in search
of mice. Doubtless the cat was as much
astonlshed as Napoleon was alarmed.
To this antipathY to cats Shylock, In
''rhe Merchant of Venice" alludes, say
ing:
Some men there are who love not gap
ing pig,
Some that are mad If they behold cat"
John Dome, poet and clergyman,
whose works were published a few years
after the appearance of the great folio of
Shakespeare's plays in 1923, wrote, "a
man that is not afraid of a lion is afraid
of a cat" | knew of a clergyman who
would turn pale and become dreadfuly
agitated If a cat came near him.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-12-07
SYSTEM-By Richard Spilne

, was under construction. The school was
to be conducted along the most modern
American lines
II am sorry 10 hear that" said Mr.,
Writ
''Why?" asked the contractor.
Mr.. Writ told him. What Mr.. Writ
said first amazed the contractor and then
aroused his enthusiasm.
"You are the man we should have
here" declared the contractor.
When Gary was organized as a city,
the sewer contractor talked so muc1
about the country schoolmaster that T,
E. Knott, the first mayor, sent for Mr..
Writ and offered the superintendency of
Gary's school system to him.
1t was not easy for Writ to convince
the leading men of the Steel City that his
ideas about schools were correct. Most
men are 10th to depart from what is ac-
cepted, what is conventional and what is
established the world over. Mr.. Writ
did not talk to them of the school as a
school, but as plant, and he treated the
whole subject from business and an
engineering standpoint. 1t would be alb
surd, he pointed out. to use a steel plant
only half the time, yet it was the custom
in schools to let the plant lie idle half the
time. A plant that did not turn out good
material was not conducted efficiently.
The average school turned out poor ma
terial. because the average school held
few attractions for the children. Boys
and girls were eagera for the arrival OF
the closing hour of the school day to get
into the streets. The boys got into mis-
chief, shot craps, told dirty stories,
smoked cigarettes and some of them de-
veloped into rowdes.
Why not make school a place to which
the children would love to go? Why not
fill the wants of the child the whole day
| long? Why not have the school SO regu-
| lated that it could adapt itself to any and
every pupil, from the mentally deficient
to the unusually bright. so that all could
profit without disadvantage to anyone?
| All this was fine in theory as 1t was pre-
sented by Mr.. Writ. The men of Gary
could understand 1t as Writ put it before
them using raw material as simile fol-
| pupils and mill as a term for school, but
| ore was one thing and human beings an
other and they were doubtful as to the
result. They had the courage, however
to give chance to Mr.. Writ to demon
strate what he said he could do.
! He demonstrated. A school building
which, under the old system would ac.
commodate 1040 pupils. he proved to have
ample capacity for 2oS0. His school cover.
everything from the kindergarten to the
college. In most cities technical schools
and regular schools are separate. No
| SO In the Writ system. In most cities
high schools and grammar schools are
! separate. Not so with Mr.. Writ. Ir
most cities parks, gymnasiums, play
| grounds. swimming pools and social cen
ters are distributed widely. Mr.. Writ
idea was to have all these where tn,
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-12-07

"O write of this common carnivor-
Gus creature is not to descend
L from the proper dignity of a con-
tributor to this page, for the cat daintily
treads through the paths of all sorts of
literature and has done so for many
ages Serious writer's have not considered
this animal beneath their literary notice,
for while cat may look at king,
king may look at a cat and learn some
thing, or receive a suggestion of value.
Romanes, in his learned work on animal
Intelligence refers to the mind of cats
and curiously illustrates their ability to
think. Poe found in the BLACK Cat the
foundation of his weirdiest story. Bal
zac has a tale called THE House of the
Tennis Playing Cat Addison in the Spec
tator has an essay on the Limitation of
the Cat" The pencil of the great
painter Breughel portrayed upon his
canvas a cat concert, which many thou
sands of people have looked upon with
pleasure. Huddesford the poet and sa-
tirist, wrote on THE Death of Dick An
Academical Cat" Thomas Hood, in humol-
Gus mood wrote on the Value of Dead
Cats" In the Fairy Tales of the Irish
Peasantry," by Yeats, the author does
not forget the cat. Shakespeare makes
40 references to the cat, in 20 of his
plays. The cat daintily takes her way
through the Sketches by Boz" And
everybody recalls Peter Pndar's' rhyme.
THAT Niobe mourned not more
For fourteen brats
Than Mistress Tofts to leave
Her twenty cats
We find a cat in "Alice in Wonderland"
and a Chesire cat. at that do not re-
member whether 1t is in THE Manxman"
or the "The Bondman'' that Hall Caine
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-12-07

tween Newgate and Tyburn, receiving az
many as 1900 lashes." The cat men,
toned was the cato -nine-tails." The
OF a public speaker reaches
it's height, or Depth when he is inter-
rupted by 'cat-calls." Many a time
server says, Before I act [ shall wait
to see how the cat Jumps" One who has
secret to another Is apt to
say, But whatever you do. don't let the
cat out o. the bag" The mice in .
house had been disturbed by the stealthy
peregrinations of a cat and held a coun-
ell to hear how hest they might escape
her. It was finally agreed that a mouse
should hang a bell around puss' neck to
give warning of her approach. That is
very well,' said a young mouse, but
who'll bell tho cat?' 1t would cost life
to bell the cat. In every great reform of
an unpopular sort someone asks, Who'll
bell the cat?" | think you have often
heard that Care killed cat as a warm
ing against undue anxiety. And no one
wants TO be a eats paw for another.
Said Lady Macbeth when instigating her
husband to the murder of King Duncan:
"Wouldst thou have that
Which thou esteem'st the ornament of
life.
And live a coward in thine own esteem,
Letting dare not wait upon I would
Like the poor cat in the adage?"
The adage was very old one. and
read, THE cat loves fish. but won't wet
her feet to get it," Two people quarrel-
ing are said to be like Kilkenny cats"
for
There once were two cats in Kilkenny.
Each said There is one cat too many
So, they fit and they fought,
They bit and they claught.
Till instead of two cats
There weren't any"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-12-07

L ARGE barges were in readiness to
convey the party across the Chatta-
~~ hoochee to the Alabama side, where
was gathered a multitude of distinguished
citizens, troop of Alabama militia under
General Taylor and body of Indian
warriors In their native attire, who
seemed more enthusiastic than the others
As the barges glided toward the bank,
the Indians raised yell after yell, and
rushed to the edge of the water to receive
them. They were under the command of
Chilly Macintosh, or Little Prince. So
soon as the barges were arranged for
landing, the Indians dashed on board, un-
hitched the horse from the sulky that
bore Lafayette, each vying with every
other to render the promptest service,
and drew the vehicle to the top of the
steep bank with every indication of de-
light
When all was over speeches of welcome
and the response were in order Here
Lafayette met a former aide of his, who