davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-01

N connection with the recent cele-
 bration of the opening of the Bor- A row memorial at Norwich, Eng land, much was written and published in praise of the great linguist and traveller, with special reference to his work for the Bible Society. Some good evangelical brother, having thus been induced to read the most famous of Borrow's writings, "The Bible in Spain," complained that it is not a particularly religious or edifying work, but is rather a story of travel and adventure.
 Borrow was born in 1903 and died in 1881. He was fundamentally a sol dier, heir of many generations of those stolid English warriors who in a hun dred lands had borne hardships, wounds, death, with equanimty, and faced perils in a thousand guises with out alarm. Like Robertson of Bright on, Borrow was soldier and more Like Richard of the Lion Heart, he was by every instinct a wanderer, an adventurer. But he never merged the soldier in the philosopher and preach \ er as did T. ". Robertson; and he ' never became fighter as did Richard Instead he wandered In far lands to meet men, to study languages, to grasp the souls of races with his in sular soul, and to convince mankind l that England Is the happiest land worthy of all admiration and imita- tion. because she is the land of the open Bible.
 Borrow, in every inch of him, was . fine example of the English con- servative of the Victorian period Dickens was his counterpart, with the same magnificent physique, the same overflowing enjoyment, the same eager
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-01

mony or natures sights and sounds and that discord, struck by mans folly and sloth and sin He is the "witness" of that tragedy. He has chosen the right word.
 or "The Bible in Spain" ran to three volumes. The "Everyman" edition makes it single svolume of 510 pages. A long book? But no! For every man, and woman, too it is still alluring on every page with the Just expression the humorous but massive twinkle. You pass from hillside to city, from desert to prison, always moro or less sedate- ly, in company with this giant of a man. And then you come upon some horse trade, or some conflict of his dignity with the dignity of a Spanish official martinent, something photo graphed fin a dramatically sufficient manner, and you see the whole page smiling at you. Thus, far from any city, his gipsy companion must leave him to proceed alone. He has ridden the gipsy's horse. The gipsy's daughter. Antonia, has a donkey which is now offered for sale.
 The burro,' replied, appears both savage and vicious.
 She is both, brother, and on that account I bought her; a savage and vicious beast has generally four ex- cellent legs. You are a Calo (gipsy), brother, and can manage her---'
 Tn less than an hour l was on the other side of the pass, mounted on the savage burro."
 And a very pretty picture he mak es ! This vividness is most attractive. But yet I find that the Borrow cult is eX- elusive. There are those who vote him real bore, yawn, and lay the book down.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-01

but young Houston bore it with stoieal fortitude, and fought the battle through. After the Indians had been routed. he agreed to the extraction of the arrow.
 Jackson's admiration of Houston led to a confidential intimacy. and between the two was trustfnlness supreme. Houston.s career as an Indian fighter and an Amer ican officer was made resplendent by numerous deeds which cannot be recorded here.
 From the army he made his way to Nashville. and by husbanding the bits of knowledge gleaned here and there. at random, he finally entered on the study of the law, gained admission to it's prac- tice became district attorney, went to Congress, won honors as an orator and statesman, became the leacer in Tenne-- see politics, was elected governor of the state, after which he married one of tie charming belles of Tennessee. He proved to be an unreaultted love, Tor his wife took occasion. sometime after the mar riage, to inform him that while she ad-
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-01

resistibly drawn by & desire to help" ->
 True history of charity "No thought of duty; only desire to help" Of such are the soults who serve not those who see in charity a fad. a duty to prate about, something wherewth to salve the conscience, a something to relieve the ennui of an aimless life
 No lip service or mere hand service there. but true outpouring of the heart. prompted, guided and aided by the wis dom of the mind
 The thorns which hold one to the serv- sharp and tough. and they hold tight very tight-not only to the clothing, but to the flesh. They are not to be shaken loose with a smile or the petulanee of an- noyance.
 We must see to the conditions which give them growth We must all strive to be Burkanks in the field of humani- culture, to grow human begings without thorns of improvidence and sloth and shiftlessness and evil habits. We must seek to graft on the stock of human na- ture. imperfect as 1t is. the branches which produce only perfect fruit.
 Such is true charity.
 In the meantime the clutch of the thorns is strong. But, like the nettle of which Shakespeare speaks, it will hurt less if 1t is grasped firmly and strongly than if approached gingerly and touched in mincing hesitating. inefrectual way.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-01
BY-PATHS OF HISTORY-SAM H

was content with the quiet presentation of his views and the principles on which they reposed. Jacksons vanity was often shown in his fondness for self-parade on public occasions where he posed as a martinet of etiquette. while Houston would seek to attract attention by cer- tain oddities in dress az when he would appear in the Senate chamber at Wash ington, wearing about his shoulders a many colored Indian blanket vide brimmed. soft. beaver hat, while carry ing heavy, pearl-headed walking cane.
 Houston was born and reared in ex- treme poverty. Left fatherless in Rock bridge county, Virginia. where he was born. he was taken, while yet child, by his widowed mother. to Tennessee. where his mothers home pns located on the boundary of the Cherokee nation
 Here, in the dawn of his life,' began his checkered and distinguished career. The Indians became fond of him, because of his brightness and courage, and their at- tention won completely the heart of the
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-01

But Borrow's vital English. tingling
 with fine intensity and shaped by 8
 most sane art, is itself a great factor In his attractiveness He avoids rant, but he preserves his free spontaneity
 of soul and of word. He is a painter.
 but never pedantic painter; he al- ways chooses his words carefully but
 never slavishly echoes the conventional
 word. Hear him:
 "At the bottom of the valley we
 entered small village, washed by the
 brook, which had now swelled almost to a stream. A more romantic situation had never witnessed. It was sur rounded, and almost overhung, by
 mountains. and embowered in trees of various kinds; waters sounded, night ingales sang and the cuckoo's full note boomed from the distant branches, but the village was miserable"
 Now look at the two words "situa- tion" and witnessed" in their Bor-
 rovian connection. Conventional use Of the first word indicates either site or metaphorically a crisis. But here 1t means the whole scene, the border of woodland, Including also the valley be- yond the reach of the travellers vision, which can, however tell It's beauties to the ear; but alas, In the foreground, horribly near the wretched huts in the village; all is romantic and the vil- lage itself miserable" Or consider the use of the strange word, witnessed" Which gives emphasis to the moral and aesthetic contrasts or the situation" To witness" implies a more or less complicated proceeding. Had the author been thinking only of the beauty and grace and charm of the scene he would have said "beheld." But he is think ing of the tragical contrast between ,this beauty and that misery, this har-
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-01

mired him because of his greatness. and had married him to become the wife Of the governor, her heart was anothes's. The cruel blow stunned him to despere- ton. and rather than seek to smother it's effects by a suppression, for the sake Of propriety. Houston resolved to hide h'm- self from the world
 Without consulting his most intimate friends. he quietly resigned the gover- norship, left Nashville abruptly. and sought oblivion by going to a distant Indian tribe of the west, that in his deep solitude. he might never again know what was going on in tho busy, busting world of civilization With Enoch Ar den grandeur Houston chose to make a sacrifice of himself, rather than sac rifice the woman whom he had married to a life without love. A howl of vie tuperaton was raised throughout Tennes- see, and he was denounced for abandon Ing his young and beautiful wife. but he had locked the secret in his bosom, and
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-01
HOUSTON B. F. Riley, D. D.

There Is little doubt that Jackson ln- spired the removal of Houston to Texas for the accomplishment of that which has now become history. Jackson knew his man, and Houston knew his chief. The situation to which Houston addressed himself in Texas, was not only difficult. but 1t was one studded with the most delicate conditions. Not only was cour- age needed by the leader of a movement like this, but the highest expression of usefulness. and the mastery Of skill that Is rare.
 Once the revolution was begun, others aspired to supreme leadership. and in nothing was more displayed the sagacity of Houston than that of yielding hera and there, for the time, in order to gain an ultimate advantage by the use of these same would-be leaders. The skill and management which resulted in making General Sam Houston the hero of that vast region toward the setting sun, hava never been surpassed fin American diplo- macy.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-01
2T ITO HEART TALKS-By Charles N Lurie

How otherwise can you be certain that you are not expressing genius It is insurance for the future. The giving of close attention to the devel- opment of the child is the paying of the premium which oftentimes returns large dividends In future years.
 According to the beliefs of many eminent psychologists, every normal child possesses brain power which may be developed to an almost unlimited extent if the right measures be taken in time.
 If your son or daughter is to be the one to astonish the world in later years and bring glory to family name 1t is never too early to begin to develop whatever talent he or she may possess.
 The story of Lieutenant Sakuma of the imperial Japanese navy is not quite new neither is 1t old. It has been told before but it will bear retelling, for it country and throws a blazing light on the mind of man as it acts in unusual circumstances The story of Sakuma should stand with the account of the sacrifice of Nathan Hale and that of the boy of Holland who stopped a leak in the dike with his finger.
 Lieutenant Sakuma commanded a sub msStle boat. The vessel was making a dive when it sank lower than was in- tended, and in the attempt of the crew and officers to close the siuice the chain broke. We endeavored to stop the in- rush of water with our hands," says Sakumas narrative, but too late. The water entered at the rear, and the boat sank at an incline of 25 degrees"
 The commander and all his subordinates were killed by the gas generated in the submarine.
 The boat was raised, and in the pocket of Lieutenant Sakuma's coat was found his story of the accident. written by the light which filtered through the water and entered the boat by the coming tower.
 The naval attache of the Japanese eni- bassy at Washington calls the narrative "the sad and tragic yet heroic record written by Lieutenant Sakuma while ap- preaching death after the fatal sinking of the boat. beginning with the total im- mersion at 10 a. m. and ending with the last moment of death at 12:40 D. m.'
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-01

must be firm and self-respecting. Above all, don't slouch as did the recruit whom Sir John French advised so well.
 Feeding the bodies of their children keeping them decently clothed, send ing them to school to be educated by teachers, paying some attention to their moral training
 Such constitutes, in the mind of most parents. the fulfilling of their duty to- ward their children.
 It is not enough.
 "If parents would give children what they needed" says Dr. Helen Webb an English educator, "and help them to the full stature of their possibili- ties they must feed them with the liv- ing ideas, which are the heritage of them all."
 She goes on to deal with instances of children from 6 to 10 years old who were called "unmanageabl ble." and says that "the schools are generally blamed. but the children are probably in reality suffering from intellectual starvation, not from repletion. and the chances are that full diet of wholesome ideas is what is really needed"
 Parents, thinks this advanced wom- an, need food for thought in regard to their children just as children need food for their expanding brains in the same way/as their growing bodies re- auire nutriment
 In recent years there has been a commendable tendency to see in the sasking of questions by children not merely an indication of "cuteness" in some cases and in other cases a de- sire to be bothersome, but a real, im- portant symptom of a need of the growing boy or girl.
 The brain expands with the rest Of tine body and needs food.
 It is to the best interest of the par : ent as well as of the child to keep 1t supplied. No labor should be too great. no self sacrifice of time or trou- ble should be grudged. that will con- tribute to the expansion of the child's intellect. If possible give your child the advantages of travel, of books, of visits to collections of art objects and natural history. Train in him the see- ing eye. the reflecting brain. the in quiring disposition.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-01

rule, men are not so much given to intro- spection, to self-anaIysis as are women.
 Akin to the woman who finds it her eI eatest recreation in dissipating the joy of others, as the novelist says is she who takes a mournful joy in nursing her own grievances. We all know the woman who is never happy unless she is sad Give such a woman the boon of a scratch on finger. and Immediately visions of a hospital cot and surgeon. nurses and serious operation arise.
 But not sorrowful visions-oh, no!
 There is the glory of being really se- riously ill and the object of tender so- licitude on the part of family and friends And the distressed mind pursues it's thoughts further. even to the point of the dissolution of the body and revels in the thought of death and burial
 It is a disease of the mind. Un- checked, it may lead to actual insanity. Let everyone who has in the family such A woman-or such g. man--do all that lies within his power to combat the nor bid thoughts.
 Sometimes laughing at such person serves the desired end, for some such minds are reused by ridicule to & true sense of the proper places of Joy and grief ir life.
 If laughter will not serve the purpose. visit to a medioo-psychologist is "in- dicated " as the doctors say.
 Writing in the Survey, woman friend of the poor tells how her heart was touched by visit to the slum district of her city. She says:
 My first visit to the poor haunted me- The smell of those close rooms would come to me suddenly. And the burning eyes of the sick child danced upon the page when 1 tried to read. Then I remembered the rosebush that had reached thorny branch out through the ragged fence and caught my dress, detaining me when I would have passed on. And again the symbolism of it all came over me.
 These memories and visions of the poor-they were the clutch of the thorns. Social workers have all felt 1t. It holds them to their work, because the thorns curve backward. and one cannot pull away.
 "There was no question about going back to visit the poor and no thought of duty when I went again. l was ir-
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-01

oNsCIENcE approves or condemns
 the morality of act, a word,
 or an emotion, according to the light which it receives through the intel lect. It is sometimes called an instinct but there is no good reason for thus classifying it.
 The function of conscience is as distinct as that of any faculty of the human mind, although its province Is different from nll mental faculties. It has to do with 'fhe ethical and moral phases of wordfi thoughts. motives, and deeds, and with this side e them only is it concerned. The beauty or brilliance of a thought, the eloquence of words. the popularity of an act, it takes no account of. Its vocabu- aary consists of two words-right and wrong. And in pronouncing these words 1t is as rigid cenor as was Cato
 Upon the rightness or the wrongness of the subjects that come within its sphere of cognizance conscience pronounces its Judgment in the light of facts received through the understanding. It has no other way to receive intelligence. It must receive light from without through tho intellect How else could it be in- formed? Conscience is Tot light in itself Nor without imparted information can conscience ever become the judge of what is right or wrong. Therefore, conscience In itself is not a standard of what is right or immoral.
 Conscience does not proclaim absolute ' right nor absolute wrong. It approves a mans course when he does right, but conscience nowhere fixes a standard of right. This is done outside of the man. What the standard of right is, one is to learn outside of his conscience. That is by the use of his intellect. The standard
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-01

"HAN Gen. Sam Houston, American
 history has no more romantic fig
 A ure. The comparatively contracted orbit of his career presented the spec tacular life which would otherwise have been his. He had all the forces which were Andrew Jackso$ss both as a sol- dler and statesman. minus some of Jackson's faults. Possessing all the grim courage of his chief. Houston was not im- pulsive nor impetuous. Nor did Houston ever invoke the element of the arbitrary in support of his firmness, which was sometimes true of Jackson.
 Houston was born a leader of men, and not only won them, but held them. He shared with his chief in personal vanity but did not so often make it of fensive. Much that Jackson did by pre- oipitate action and bluff, Houston did by methods of suavity and of amenity. When resisted in public life. Jackson was stormy and drew to himself much public notice, while Houston was calm and firm, and
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-01

In the library of Congress in Washing ton is displayed photographic facsimile of the Sakuma statement with type written translation for the reading of Americans. Therein is taught a lesson of extreme patriotism There is no word of regret for the loss of life, only of apology for having lost the ship.
 ''We now sacrifice our lives for the sake of our country, but my fear is that the disaster will affect the future develop ment of submarines" says Sakuma. Tt is, therefore, my hope that nothing will daunt your determination to study the submarine until it is perfect machine. absolutely reliable We can then die without regret.''
 In another place he writes:
 ''It is my opinion that men embarking in submarines must possess the quail ties of coolness and nerve and must be extremely painstaking; they must be brave and daring in their handling of the boat. People may laugn at this opin- ion in view of my failure, but the state ment is true. My brave mon arc doing their best"
 This man and his fellows died willing ly and bravely in the service of their country. No one can do more.
 "To dlssipate joy was her chief rec reation," says Arnold Bennett of one of the characters in his novel, 'Hilda Less- ways"
 We all know her. the woman who Is a living fire bucket for the flame of joy, the human happiness extinguisher.
 She goes about life seeking happiness to devour. For one to be content or joy ful in her presence she takes as a per- sonal affront, as she is firmly and thor oughly convinced that this life Is all a "vale of tears," and nothing that anyone can say will convince her to the con trary.
 It Is her duty to convert the world to this view. in order that no occasion for mourning may be missed Weep ing is mant natural state. Laughter is abnormal. and there is no joy in life.
 Her motto is: Vanity of vanities--all is vanity!"
 Of course. there are men of the same disposition. The hypochondriac is not ex- clusively of the female sex. But many candid women confess that the members of their sex ave more prone to take sorrowful view of life than are their brothers. Perhaps that Is because. as
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-01

lous}y with the understanding of the mature person he would approve such a division of his possessions.
 There's a story about Sir John D. P. French, famous general and field mar shal in the British army. In a provin- cial English town he met a slouching young recruit.
 "Tell me. lad." said the general, ''does this city belong to your"
 The raw soldier saluted and replied in an embarrassed tone:
 "No sir"
 Never mind" said French; straighten yourself up, pull yourself together and look as though it did"
 Funny? Yes, but true.
 If the British army recruit takes Gen. eral Frenchs advice, pulls himself to- gether and carries himself as though the city belonged to him, he may find himself some day owning Field Marshal French 8 baton-provided. of course. he lives long enough and remains in the army.
 It is recorded of Napoleon Bonaparte that when he was only a poor scholar in the military school at Brienne he ale ready bore himself with the pride which marked all of his later life He seemed to spurn the streets with an air which said plainly:
 This place is not good enough for me. l shall go hence to higher rank I shall command place in the world
 He was poor, and the majority of the students at Brienne were rich and proud. He wrote to his father asking for per- mission to return home because his com- rades sneered at him. "I am tired of poverty and of the jecrs of insolent schoI- ars who are superior to me only in their fortune. for there Is not one among them who feels one hundredth part of the mo- ble sentiment which animates me-"
 He placed his own valuation on him self and expressed it in his bearing. It was not conceit for behind 1t were the first strrings of the military and ad- ministfative genius which made him in later years the master of Europe.
 If you feel that you have good auali- ties in you show 1t in your bearing
 In whatever walk of life you find your self 1t will win respect and esteem for you. It must not be arrogant, but 1t