davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1913-03-30

Rising in his saddle he sways his sword
about his head and yells, Our Lady
and Santiagow and plunges anew into
the storm of battle. Squirting his horse
into the thiclIest of the fight, he lays
many a warrior low
The Indians begin to break away.
They rapidly disappear. The fires be-
come intense unbearable. 1t is a circle
of flame leaping from so buildings of
dried wood all at once The fires rage.
The dead braves lie in heaps both with
in and without the wall. The blood
stands in puddles over wide area
At last there are no Indians to fight.
They have fled in confusion to the
woods. and DeSoto is master of tho
situation.
October IS, 1870. remains to this time
the date of the b1oodiest Indian battle
that was ever fought The sun goes
down on city which in the early
hours of the day resounded with the
sound of cane lutes and the voices OF
many dancers The mighty buildings
which met the astonished gaze of the
Spanish conqueror are now a mass of
charred ruins. The autumn grass. green
and luxuriant in the morning is nov
red with gore The populous city OF
10 hours before is deserted. The great
trees rich in foliage are now blasted
and scared. Where peace and pros
perfty were, havoc is now enthroned-
DeSoto had won; his greatest obstruc-
ton Is now out of his way, but fresh
and now unconjectured troubles await
him for which he is Ill prepared.
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1913-03-30

one of these precious commentators
says, Let her be round with him."
mean Let her be blunt or plain
spoken" | dare to asert that 1T means
nothing of the kind. neither in the
text quoted nor in King John, where
we read. :" rounded in the ear
with the same purpose" The verb that
Shakespeare used was "rown,' and
meant ITO talk privately" or to "whis-
ner in the ear" The preterit was not
rounded" as we have it in King John
in our present text. but "rowned; and
grounded" is no more correct than
drowned" or as Dickens in David
Copperfield, makes-let me Think
believe 1t was Mr.. Peggotty, say
"Drowndead" Rounded" is as bad as
"drownded' in the text of King John.
Polonius meant that Hamlets mother
be permitted to talk privately with
him; and crowned in the ear In King
John meant whispered in the ear All
the writers before the time Of Shakes
peare used this word as | have eN-
planned it.
/ call attention to the loss OF pre-
terit in Macbeth, through no fault or
the writer of the tragedy, but, as sup
pose through the carelessness OF the
printers. or proofreaders. of the Folio
of 1928 In Act Y, scene 3, Macbeth says
of the enemy:
Were they not forced with those that
should be ours etc. Thus the text reads
in the greater number of editions of the
play, and thus the Folio of 1923 reads;
but | do not believe it was thus written.
When the manuscript left the authors
hands. I think, this particular line read
Were they not farced with those that
should be ours?
| have just consulted J. Payne Golfers
edition, and find that he gives "farced,
but in the margin spoils it by giving
forced" as the equivalent Of "farced.
which is not | have at hand NUM-
Der of other editions, and find that they
all give forced
Now. it is we'll known that our substan-
tive Farce" derived it's life from the old
verb transitive ito farce" which nleart
ITO fatten." ITO stuff" and ito initiate
In Henry Y Shakespeare makes the king
say:
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1913-03-30

tribute to the average man VINO makes
the other possible?
As American traveller famlilaf win
Mexican conditions recently stated that
two-thirds of the people of our sister
republic can neither read nor write
and that one-half of the remaining one
third are really illiterate
In other words. only one-siXth oil
Mexico's 15,O0O,O 900 population are edu-
Gated in any proper sense OF the term
The statement makes plain the rea-
son for the country's present mournful
condition-for the savagery, brutality,
anarchy and all the forms of lawless-
ness that afflict the land.
Physically speaking, Mexico is one OF
the garden spots of the world. The seen
erv Is beautiful, the climate. especially
in the high table lands occupying most
of the country, is mild, and the soil is
fertile. There are some of the best fea-
lures of both the tropics and the temper
ate zones.
In ancient times Mexico attracted the
cream of all those living on the North
American continent. While the present
territory of the United States was COW
cred with rowing savages the Mexican
Aztecs had comparatively high state OF
civiliza ton.
In vet more ancient times there was
still mightier civilization, as recent exca-
vations of the old ruins show. There were
cities miles in extent and containing
millions of people. When ancient Egypt
flourished it is probable that Mexico had
a. civilization but little behind that of the
Nile valley-the highest then existing on
the earth.
All of this but goes to show the desira-
Lilly of the country from the standpoint
of climate and physical characteristics
1t seems ideally fitted to maintain great
prosperous and cultured population.
What a shame it is that such an idea
climate should be infested by mongre
races made up of 40 per cent Indians, q
per cent greasers and the remainder
mostly Spaniards. of a people moreSthal
tvc-thirds of whom are Kept In absolute
ignorance. who are century ehind the
times and who are seemingly incapable OF
maintaining a civilized government. 1t Is
more than a shame; it is crime.
The ptIful example should make Amer
loans appreciate vet more keenly OH
splendid public school system, which
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1913-03-30

the Bible They seem to have had in
mind the English of the author of Piers
PIoughman, which was the English OF
the common people. When we remember
the life Of Chaucer we can readily I'M
derstand why he used the Norman French
words that one finds here and there in
his songs and stories. lie was the friend
of kings and courtiers, and, beginning his
court life as a page, he ended 1t as
knight His associates all used the Nor
man French, which the peasantry ue-
spised.
William Langland wrote Piers Plough
man in the same century that Chaucer
wrote his Canterbury Tales. He was
poor man who earned his living by sing
ing the seven Psalms" for the repose
OF mems souls and by copying legal
papers. His poverty induced him to write.
He knew the common people. He knew no
other sort. He therefore used their
language. So, If we are seeking abso-
lutely pure English we will not stop at
Chaucer. A few years ago Professor
Manly of Chicago asserted that five men,
instead of one. wrote the work of Piers
Ploughman. He reached this conclusion
on account of the varied style of writing.
No matter IL so men wrote 1t, the point
that-I make is not affected.
The masses of the people from the four
teenth to the sixteenth centuries resisted
into their language but were unable to
stop the intrusion. Finally, the church,
regarding herself as the mother of the
arstocracy as well as of the peasantry.
incorporated the language of both classes
in her service. and the new linguistic
Corners were thus made to feel at home.
The Book of Common Prayer of the
English church, and of the Episcopal
church, in this country. still illustrates
the fact that the church appeals to all
classes In the general exhortation, read
at every Sunday morning service where
the Prayer Book is used, these words oc-
ours. Dearly beloved brethren, the scrip
ture moveth us, in sundry. places, to ac-
knowledge and confess our manifold sins
and wickedness; and that we should not
dissemble nor cloak them before Almighty
God our Heavenly Father, but confess
them with an humble, iowly, penitent and
obedient heart; to the end that we obtain
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1913-03-30

NIGNS now grow more ominous and
rapidly. and DeSoto begins to
~ fear the worst. This is his great
est dilemma. He would avoid a clash
If he could and fight only II he must.
The occasion has become tense and he
thinks and plans fast. The Indians
have largely vanished from sight in
rather a mysterious way and those
now huddled on the square are in close
conference A Spanish spy whispers
10 DeSoto that a thousand warriors,
well armed, are concentrated in one
of the large buildings, while in an
other is a large supply of Indian NUM-
tons of war. The crisis is graver than
he had apprehended. The Spaniard
dreaded Indian treachery the more be-
cause 1t might exceed that of his own.
That which he has just learned is
startling, and shows that he has not
been mistaken in his suspicious.
Meanwhile, DeSoto keeps up negotia-
lions with the chief but receives only
rebuff. Meanwhile, also, he is sendin &
secret orders to his men to be ready
a any moment and for any emergency.
lie now realizes his error in allow
ing Tuscaloosa to get beyond his grasp.
That which he now wishes is TO have
him once more in his possession, and
60 this end he is working. His flattery
is profuse, his promises to the chief ex-
travagant. His principal hope lies in
gaining the possession once more OF
his person. He plies his ingenuity by
cajolery and by all the arts known to
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1913-03-30

forgiveness of the same by His infinite
goodness and mercy . yet ought we
chiefly so to do, when we assemble and
meet together" etc. Let the reader notice
the many instances of two words used
to express the same thought, such as 'as-
semble and meet" humble and lowly,"
acknowledge and confess, and in the
absoution, "pardoneth and absolveth,'
etc. This is not the language of redun-
dancy or of pleonastic composition, as one
at first might suppose. But it is, in
way, the renicon of a pacific mother
addressing her children in terms that
might appeal to them most effectually
Undoubtedly the adoption of Norman
French terms by the English was Wise;
and in no department of literature was
this wisdom more evident than in poetic
composition. Said Dryden Poetry re-
quires ornament; and that is not to be
had from our old Teuton monosyllables."
The verbal limitations of the early Anglo
Saxon writer's are most evident; while
those who wrote after many foreign terms
had become a part of their linguistic cap
ital, disclose an almost boundless liberty
of poetic expression.
No other language has grown so rapid
ly and so expansively as the English; and
j suppose that no other has lost so many
old terms. AS new words have been
adopted, old ones have become obsolete.
New EXAMINATIONS nave Desi dScepleu' anu
old endings, no matter how much greater
their beauty, have been relegated to the
past or to the peasantry You look in
vain for them in literature, and listen in
vain for them in the churches. The old
plurals terminating in M or EN-" once
employed SO universally, are nearly all
gone. A few you will find in the Bible
of 1911, but in modern letters except in
poetry, you will find them not at all.
Long ago Ben Jonson, in his English
Grammar. which is published in Clifford
edition of Jonson's works, said on this
subject: "The persons plural keep the ter
mination of the first person singular. In
former times, till about che reign of Henry
VIII, they were wont 10 be formed by
adding EN- thus 1oyen, 'sayen, COM
pla iuen.' But now it hath quite gone out
of use. Albeit, I am persuaded that the
lack thereof, we'll considered, Will be FOUND
To he q great hemisn to our. tongue.
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1913-03-30

'Tis not
Tho farced title running fore the king.
The throne he sits on, nor the tide OF
pomp
That beats upon the high shore of this
world etc.
Change "farced" to inflated" and you
get the meaning. In Chaucer we read,
His typet was ay farsed full" Here
farced means stuffed Ben Jonson,
in EVERY Man in His Humor.' says, III
thou wouldst farce thy lean ribs Here
the word means to 'fatten." And So
| conclude that Macduffs army was not
forced" with Macbeth's followers, but
'farced,' inflated, and flguratively, fat
ten ed by their presence. But why
forced In the Folio?
In the time of Shakespeare the type
''ca SEES" from which the eompositor
picked up his type to form words in
his Composing stick" were so arranged
that 20" came In the little compartment
lust above "a" the ease" being always
tilted. for the greater convenience OF
the typesetter, % would often fall into
the compartment of "a lt was, there
fore, simply a matter of hasty routine
to spell forced" instead of "farced'
should an 20" have fallen among the
"a" type
The mistake in the Folio. as I believe,
occurred by the dropping of a letter
into a box where it did not belong. But
20" was paid back for the mistake
For tust above 20 in the type case
was a. and one day an IL dropped into
the 20" compartment. It just dropped
in TO make D call. While It was there,
however. the printer was called upon to
print Shakespeare's "Troilus and Cres-
sida," and what do YOU suppose hap
pened? If YOU will look at Act II. scene
2, In your edition of the play, you will
see. Shakespeare wrote,
Reason and respect
Make lovers pale.
But ~ was where 1t should not b.
and the printer set up the type,
Reason and respect
Make livers pale
And there it is in Shakespeare to this
day of grace, 'Livers' for lovers!
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1913-03-30

or of Cleveland While all the nations
are concerned with the national welfare
question, he welcomes that question TO
America
The truth is that the world Is young
yet, and the measure of its youth is its
stock of reformers and idealists. CynieH
who gibe are the only old fogies. Money
bags is not without brains and certainly
IS not without power of vengeance. But
the political idealist can soothe the ap-
prehensions of Money5ags while he bland
y pushes forward his plans. II there are
to be hard blows given, If there are
rapiers pointed or even the clash of
angry men in debate punctuated with
suffering. at least the idealist must be
suave and courageous and confident. In
an admirable quotation an English jour-
nalist catches the picture and the prayer
of our new President:
Bring me my bow of FURNISHED gold
Bring me my arrows of desire,
Bring me my spear. o clouds unfold!
Bring me my chariot OF firef
quently described as a classic. Maybe
men in the years to come win find a less
general term for it, will call it, perchancs.
the most significant presidential utterance
since the Declaration of Independence.
Does anyone today think that a rational
anticipation?
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1913-03-30

The standard of any nation is main.
tanned by the average of its citizen
ship
The exceptional man gets the notices
in the newspapers and biographical die
tionaries. but the average man does the
work of the world and upholds the
character of civilization.
The average man is the substantial
part of the structure of the state, while
the exceptional man constitutes the Or
naments and trimmings.
The average man fights the battles
the exceptional man wears the Shout
der straps. The average man makes
the wealth. the exceptional man APP
propriates it. The average man fur
nishes the waters in the river of hui
manity. the exceptional man is the
wave that CLEANS for a moment on Its
surface M
civilization can only go forward as
the average of humanity goes forward
When the few advance at the expense
of the many the trend of the whole
body is downward.
When the character. intelligence
prosperity and morality of the common
people are high, the statesmanship lit
erature, art and learning of the excep-
tional men will be high. just as the
waves on river that is bank full arc
more plentiful and more beautiful than
those of river dried at it's springs.
The solid substantial citizen, who
meets his obligations fulfills his duties
of citizenship, does his work and is q
good husband and father, Is the very
cornerstone of all that is wholesome in
our civilization.
The term man is here used generic
ally and includes woman. for the high
average of womanhood is quite as i'm
portant to society as that of manhood
1t may not be In our power to be ex
ceptional men or women, but it is en-
tirely within our power to help keer
the average high. -
We are required only to make good
with the talents given us.
BY being exemplary average human
beings we may be rendering more
important service to mankind than by
glittering our little Instant on the crest
of the wave.
1T II from the sea level and not tho
top u the wave that all heights and
depths are reckoned.
There are plenty to OFFER tributes te
The exceptional man. but why not .
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1913-03-30
HEART TO HEART TALKS-By James A. Edgerton

/ ceiving more extended notices in his
tory.
That man was wise who fed and
clothed the people before teaching them
higher truths. 1t is hard to reform a
] hungry man.
| Good cooks create good will.
Bysall means let us have vocational
schools teaching domestic science. II
all cooking were good the millennium
would be advanced several centuries.
F., The artistic cook is in very truth a
friend of man.
Recently the newspapers had a very
! funny story of jury foreman SO BASH
! full he could not report the verdict He
got it so twisted that the jury had to
| be dismissed, and had not the prisoner
simplified matters by pleading guilty n
new trial would have been necessary.
1t should be a part of our public
school education to train people to
speak in public. Every man and wo-
man should be able to express himself
| or herself intelligently before an as
semblage If called upon to do so.
There is no more inherent difficulty in
| speaking TO many people than in speaking
to one or two.
1t is merely a matter of forgetting one
self and thinking of the tisng to be said
Bashfulness arises from self conscious
ness and is only a form of inverted vanity
People who think more of their hands
and feet than of their message are guilty
of this reverse egotism.
The man who really has something to
say and means to say 1t will get hear
ing. BY having his mind on his thought
he forgets himself, and the rest is easy.
lie who thinks of himself more than
of his theme must have either a very
slight theme or an inflated idea of hint
sell.
There come times in every mans life
when it becomes necessary 10 express
himself in public just as there come
times when he must defend himself lie
has not a proper, all around training I'M
less he can do either should occasion
arise.
This does not mean that he should make
himself nuisance by talking too much
or that he should be quarrelsorne. Jt
only means that he should be able to ac-
quit himself with credit and courage
under all circumstances.
Courage Is the Keynote in both cases.
II may require the same sort of courage
to overcome stage fright that is called for
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1913-03-30
The Thriftiest of Nations

From the Chicago Reeord-Herald.
The Swiss government has Just pub
lished the results of an inquiry it has
been making into the savings of the Swiss
people and the means OF thrift at their
disposal 1t applied direct to the savings
banks to supply the information required
Seven banks out of a total of 1854 refused
to comply with the governments request.
states the Manchester, England Guardian,
but the other 10i7 all sent in full partic-
ulars of this work.
Every where 1t is apparent that thrift
is very much on the increase. For in
stance, in the 10 years from 1897 to 1905
the average sum in savings banks per
head of the Swiss population rose from
309 TO 4is franc. In other words, Switzer-
land from the savings bank standard is
the thriftiest nation.
Next to her comes Denmark, with sol
francs saved per head of population. and
then, a long way behind, the German
empire with POI Prussia eos, Bavaria go,
Saxony lO5 ard Wurtemberg 23i1, Norway
20, the United States 30. Austria 2ll.
Sweden 1877 Hungary 1859. France 1873. Bel
gum 129. Great Britain 122, Italy los, This
Netherlands 50 and Russia %.
Switzerland as yet has no postoffce
sa ings bank. and no penny savings bank
although 80 OF her savings banks will
open an account for a sum of l franc or
less, while only three require 10 francs
or more as a deposit.
At the end of 1908, the year in question.
the sums living in savings banks to the
credit OF Swiss subjects amounted TO
nearly 67500.0o0 francs. as compared 10
not quite 100000 francs in 1897.
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1913-03-30

with free press, constitutes the mos
powerful engine of democracy developed
since the world began.
1t takes brains to be a good cook, whlt
any one could be an average lawyer, doc
tot, dentist or druggist. In some cities
there are splendid buildings for the do
nestle sciences. They take a high RANK
even waiting lists of the domestic science
students.-M Bloomfield. Director OF
Vocational Bureau of Boston.
The usual concept of an artist is one
who mixes different colored paints and
makes weird marks on a canvas.
A slightly broader view includes q GER
tain high class of stonecutters, also people
with fearful and wonderful makeups who
declaim behind the footlights and inii-
tate real life.
All this is too narrow. Art is the
combination or modification of things
to certain end. In its broadcast sense
it is applicable to any product of the
hand of man.
In common usage, however, we apply
1t only to the more finished products,
to the things done in the most work
manlike way.
If we say thing is artistic we mean
that 1t is beautiful and that it has been
done In a sl<iliful manner
The word may be used concerning the
humblest tasks IL done with taste and
diligence There are artistic house
Keepers, artistic cooks
VINO has not sat himself down to a
meal that was dream--everything
pleasing to the eye and to the palate,
each dish properly cooked by new ways
OF cooking that were a delight?
Even potatoes can be cooked in an
artistic way
think I have heard the same thing
of prunes--but we must draw the line
somewhere
How better can men be served than
by good cookery?
he who Is properly fed can do better
work. have happier disposition, be
more at peace with his fellow men and
thus be higher morally, mentally and
spiritually than he who is i'll fed
napoleon said that an army moves on
Its stomach. but eating is not confined
TO the military. Not only an army, but
all civilization moves on its stomach.
IL the truth were known the cooks OF
the world have had more uplifting
and civilizing influence than those re-