davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1914-12-10
FACTS NOT THEORIES
By Long Boy

Believe me, when it comes to the
real thing, the blown in the bottle
kind, Bills got 'em all beat to fade
away"
Sounds familiar doesn't it? And
YET, one of the advantages of con-
versation is that it is a potent means
of worldly advancement. There can
be no doubt that a great many men
have been indebted to this, almost
exclusively for their success. Assum-
ing. then, that there is an art Of con-
versation-the mastery of which re-
quires study and practice, the ques-
ton arises. How shall the skill in
this art be acquired? To answer
this question we must first determine
what are the qualifications essential
to a good converser. First there is
the physical quality of a pleasing
voice. This is not indispensable,
for there have been good takers
with an impeachment in their speech.
OF the mental conditions of good
conversation the most important IS
knowledge. There is no kind of
knowledge which may not 3e ser
viceable at sometime. and the greater
the amount and variety of ones
acquisitions, the finer the talk will
be.
To be a good talker, one requires
not only to have varied knowledge,
but to have it at his instant and
absolute disposal.
Also, it is by plunging into the
water that we learn to swim; 80 it is
by conversing on all proper occa-
sious, with constant efforts at self
improvement, that one becomes an
accomplished talker. In short, the
way to learn to talk is to talk.
The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1914-12-10
OBSERVATIONS
By 1850

What a vast difference twenty
years has made in our schools and
their methods! When many of our
readers were yonng and trying to
get an education. they usually had
a mile or more to walk to school aud
were considered lucky if they got a
fair insight into the mysteries of
reading, writing and arithmetic, and
a little grammar and geography.
And after school was out, it was a
case of hurry home and assist with
the chores.
But what change has come to
pass! | do not know if there are
many among you who have had the
pleasure of passing through a mod
ern school of today, but such trip
| have had the pleasure of recently
on visit to st. Paul. Il wonder
when will visit St. Paul again?)
1t was one evening during my
visit that friend of mine suggested
that we should take a look at the
night class at the Douglas school.
School was ia session on our ar
rival and it is almost impossible to
give an adequate idea of the work
being done. The basement of the
building Is given over to the Home
Economonics Dept where large
classes in both sewing and cooking
were in session. were bright young
girls of the city were improving
themselves in the art of home ma
king. Many of these same girls
are bread earners for their homes
during the working hours and en-
ploy the only free time they have
in this way for their future useful
ness This may be said of practi-
cally every department in this
school.
The main floor of the building is
taken up with classes in advanced
bookkeeping and stenography. In
this class there were both boys and
girls, although it seemed that the
girls were in the majority with one
exception, and this exception was a
class of foreigners learning to read
and write English. Many of the
students in this class were hardly
able to understand or speak our ma
tional language.
On the upper floors the day stu
dents were busy rehearsing play
let to be given some time prior to
Christmas; the proceeds, we were
informed, were to be contributed to
the fund for the relief of the Bel
gians. And then when we reached
the Auditorium on the top floor, we
had the pleasure of witnessing one
of the finest games of basket ball
between the Douglass and "Selby"
girls it has been the writer's privi-
lege to see in long time.
There are nearly eight hundred
pupils attending this school in the
day time, while the night class num-
Der over four hundred and eighty.
There is no doubt Of the value of
such schools, and the contrast with
the schools of our young days is
great indeed. For it certainly can
not be a hardship to attend such
schools as these. and tie education
al value to the young people of
today can hardly be estimated.
The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1914-12-10

A young lady would like to. meet
a gentleman with money to burn.
He will find her a good match.
Wanted An honest blacksmith;
must be good forger.
Wanted young man to learn
we'll digging; one willing to COM
mence at the bottom.
Willie. we miss you; also an over
coat. return latter, and all will be
forgiven.
The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1914-12-10

There are many curious opinions
about the parole law. Some people
even seem to think IL was designed
to give men in prison an opportunity
for speedier restoration to social
usefulness and respectable manhood
Well, the wheels are beginning to
turn for the benefit for some of the
boys here.-Good Words.
The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1914-12-10

A genius for work is the secret of
success. The slave works. the tramp
works, the genius works. The slave
is accursed, the tramp despised, the
genius honored.
How can it be that work seems to
be so different, when viewed from
different points? Can the same thing
be honored, despissd, accursed?
To the slave, work is toll, because
he is driven to tank by a force
outside Of himself His work is not
of himself and for himself. Others
seize the product of his labor. His
mind does not comprehend the sig.
nifcance of that which his hands
perform, and his heart is not in
his work
Slavery was not wholly abolished
when Lincoln signed the proclama-
ton of emancipation nor when the
constitution was ratified. Work
devoid of intelligent interest and M
adeqate remuneration for the work
man is in reality slavery. Slaves
of all colors are yet to be found
bound to their tasks. No slave
counts work blessing.
There are other tramps besides
those poor creatures who travel thru
dusty highways from pillar to post,
working their way on er-end-
ing journey.
There are more than sixty thou
sand persons trampine from the
cradle to the grave, seeking, day
after day, the elusive soft snap that
shall afford living without work
ing for it. Their only object in life
is to have good time.
The true man is he who knows
that labor is divine. The source and
inspiration of effort lie within him
self. He sets himself to work. He
is his own employer.
He forms a purpose; he chooses
an end. 1t is his joy to plan his
work, then work his plan. His work
is the expression and outgoing Of
himself.
He never sacrifices himself for bis
work, for were the artist dead where
were the pictures? He never wastes
his energies in dissipation, but his
genius for labor is also a genius for
rest.
His holidays are for recreation in
the real sense of the word. He re-
creates enervated tissues, takes a
new breath, strengthens his mind
gets new inspirations, discovers fire sh
motives. that he may come back 10
his work better and stronger man
fertile in resources, full of zeal
Astounding in enthusiasm.
The man who has a genius for
work, so masters his work that the
more he works and the better the
products of his industry, the greater
and better becomes the worker.
The work that degrades the work.
man, the work that belittles the soul
and weakens the body, shall never
be wrought.
A mans work should be 80 chosen
and so performed that at the end OF
each days labor, the laborer himself
shall be the better for his toll. Then
and not until then will society have
solved the great problem of the
tWentieIh cAntnru
The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1914-12-10
America Most Successful Period

WHEN 1 say America of course l United States;
all For these United States and people
the Clouds Rolling By. Business improving and
who idle for months with possible of securing
work have been their various jobs Due the
MOL the and instant demand suppes factories
running night and day. This present
another exemp6caion that old adage Every cloud
lining But months all pessimis-
forecasts of the future: and we'll could be- for
every hand found suffering with possible relief
sight, be had and the Of the sewed
up tighter than a drum.
Did you ce-jam in the of the year, At
couldn't possibly be budged Even dynamite
But bye and bye the work,
folks worry lest the jam should quickly
much damage by going by staying. don't say
that the business outlook of country like jam
every particular there have been resembnce What
the country being flooded by the spring
the melt by checked by little freeze by night The de-
the worlds credit machinery result present
European crs the conrvavness of bankers coupled with the
of will this flood of
speculation.
The idea to keep things moving in the right direction at
proper and pace but do this need little
sunshine This for courage confidence optimism Not
sashes purges pnchpenny caution but manly
gumpion, grit and go-ahead
Still superior a topic of interest is THE
Home and where good values fair prices be
enable purchasing with which supply
all of these homes
that it has been realized that scared
than great regaining
poise, turn On SUNSHINE hope a shove.
Political Preachers
Some sound of warning should be given the growing
number of ministers who less mixing into politics.
The of the pulpit in free to unlock
heart and the chamber of
should submit their conduct review and seek the
of those dvnely appointed messengers of fe but the very
minister closes the Bible and opens the law
becomes society.
What the people today need religious preachers
political preachers We need how
to live worth while, of us know how to
Married life without love. and a boiler without
safety valve-someon is going get blown up.
mans first love and his first long trouersah, Most
of outgrow them nothing quite
place in the heart
Lie yourself and then believe it? That's nothing new
we can dc all that. But is art? Well before
and will be after art-it is
The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1914-12-10
THE HEART OF MAN
By Sherlock

loving fingers that have abored internationally plan
the gifts that lovingly from this Great America
combaants the have
of broherly that will endure until
time has ceased to linger.
MEN as rule do not kissing girl babies
under eighteen years of age" Hollands.
America s Most Successful Period
The Washington times., 1914-07-26
S'Ia!Hl S1;o9 n9HT coLoRtD 500

Pretty Petticoats of cottC
and silky batiste, in pink, b.
champagne. Some with plea
others with heavy scallopeC
serviceable for summer.
The Washington times., 1914-07-26

THIS COUPON
and l5c for Mems
Balbriggan Under
wear: shirts with
short sleeves and
ankle-length draw
ers. CT
The Washington times., 1914-07-26

iM8H Our stock of regular s1.0O and
iHSSSI $50 Japanese Bamboo Porch
NSs$SSS Screens now marked at 49c for
NSS$SI clearance.
S&$$Ik Included are Heavyweight Out
-S%SSH~ side Bamboo Screens; II. wide
@N$$3. and SIT. drop: complete with ropes
S&S$S and puleys-all ready to hang.
Y sxS IT. size reduced to soc.
The Washington times., 1914-07-26

quality stock that will give lasting
| service. (T)
The Washington times., 1914-07-26
of
OdlCO.

THIS COU P . y
and SC for Wilbert's
Colonial P o W d c r:
violet. carnation and
corylopsis. CD
The Washington times., 1914-07-26

Fine quality soft-fnish Nainsook Corset
Covers. with embroidery edgings. in scores
of styles. combined with ribbon.run bead
ing. Made fly front. Perfect fitting.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-05-10

cause they, from the first breath had to seek their own living and defend their most infant moments from encircling hosts of enemies?
 In any event it must remain sure that the longer the period of infancy and the more dependent, so much the greater is the opportunity to grow love and the so- eial graces. It is on motherhood that civ ilization rests. Motherhood that watches With vigilant eye the perils besetting the babe, that thrusts itself between babe and enemy, that carries in it's teeth the weakling infant and hides 1t in unap- proachable caves and fastnesses, is there by creating the response of the babe. a sense not only of dependence but of in debtedness and love Here in part at least, IS the root of the clan life. the basis Of the family and hence of patriot ism. Our country is our motherland more than our fatherland. Even to the Roman Rome is mother.
 In truth the most noble fatherhood is instinct with motherhood. All things be- ing normal, l suppose a daughter could be mothered by her father as we'll as sons could be disciplined with fatherly wisdom by the mother. For so many mil lions of years has the mother instinct been revealed that even among the birds the mother is not the only one to hatch
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-05-10

in the whole world. And behold society engulfs them. some sordid routine ne- cessity wears away their beauty, Maud Muller becomes household drudge and the radiant lad who loved her becomes a lifeless formality
 Through a thousand pitfalls and past a hundred thousand foes the child passes to womanhood or manhood The worst of them are not physical We are only now awaking to fight and quell these physical ambuscades that lurke on the lip and eyelid of the babe and haunt every breath It draws. It Is the motherhood in the race that quickens the eye and brain of science for it's attack on the bacilli of disease The same mother instinct makes for a wider, truer. more natural education. But we have not learned to cultivate the unstained, untainted soul. That also Is ours to do. Motherhood that has battled through anguish and humilia- ton unspeakable, looks with eyes of wisdom on its daughters and wonders what the perils of their pathway will mean. Amid the changing fashions and the looser connections and the break ing conventions. will the child of today walk safely In the maiden of tomorrow? Will the fine lad keep his feet in the flood that will sweep the highway
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-05-10

primal and necessary instincts: that the new bud must be perfect and come to perfect maturity? Why else that hungry passion with which the deep-eyed and re- sentfnl mother heart shields and nurses the bud attacked and damaged by a wormg
 Because the sick child is sick, be- cause the defective child is different. because it is lame or blind or dumb. like fierce sentinel the mother stalks back and forth on guard, snatches 1T up and smothers it with angry kisses. thinks of 1t in her dreams
 And is not this too the most splen- dld evidence that the race carries with In 1t the seed and pledge of it's own perteetion2 Brought to it's highest point or excellence. motherhood means no less thaIe- the expectancy that all the beau tles and powers of life shall be achleNed In every mothers babe Tho mother of the Gracchi because famous not because of what she said but be- cause every mothers heart says the same thing. These mothers think of Us as paragons of human perfection. physically intellectually, socially We are to be the equals of the best ever altained by men. 1t is said by students or the old Hebrew story that when the nrst mother of literature bore her first
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-05-10

child she cried out. q have gotten a man, even the Lordl" The common yer sion runs otherwise because not all translators carry imagination into their renderings of history. It was as though the dear mother heart of the race con fessed the expectation of a divine man to come, and supposed that her first born must be he We of these days are coming back to this great con- fesson. We know that there is type to be begotten among men, balanced in brain and heart, with perfect memory and perfect imagination and perfect genius of construction and perfect physique. The man Is coming whom we seek
 But Eve lived to weep over another son slain by this one whom she so eNtravagantly welcomed, and once more the poisoned iron entered her mother heart 1t is the tra gedy of the race. We look into the eyes of the boys and girls with infinite expectancy. Here Is a face radiant with unalloyed in- telligence. radiant with ehildlike love. We gaze upon the beautiful form thus glowing with innocence and delicate, fragrant wisdom; we thank God for the dear, sweet girl or boy. we expect everything from that promising life, a haracter, an achievement quite unique
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-05-10
A mother Is a mother still, The holiest thing alive"

Nearly all persons who acquire the drug habit began to use opiates for the relief or some mental or physical ailment. samuel Taylor Co1eridge began the use or laudanum in order to ease the pain or neuralgia, and became confirmed in the use of this tincture of opium until he lived In continuous state of narcotic lntoxieation He could gulp down ap- pallng quantities of the poison In read ing coleridge one is ever in an expectant mood Some startling climax will be reached presently you think But you are disappointed. The writer of Olympian genius does not reach the possible height Tor which you have prepared yourself Instead, he is stumbling along through the foss which drugs have formed about him. Had 1t not been for the opium habit, which bound him in chains of steel il is most likely that Coeridge would have been without peer in the world of let ters l doubt if Sir Francis Bacon could have stood on equal footing with him.
 Hall Caine published volume of memoirs in 1909. which he called My story More than half of the book is taken up with the story of the life of Dante Gabriel Rossetti the poet that Caine most loved. The life of Rossetti. or course, l cannot give in this space, but shall tarry just here long enough to say; That Rossetti began the use of chiorai for sleeplessness, taking only moderate doses at first. But finally this dreadiul drug got the mastery and held nm In its devilish grip until just before ms last illness, which came upon him when ne was about 54 years old. He passed away from earth rejoicing that he had at last overcome the drug demon
 About two years after Rossetti had married beautiful young woman, he returned home one night to find that his Wife was dying from an ovardosa of
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-05-10

But motherhood Is not stupidly in- nocent. It Is the tried and tested faith of the ages. It builds its Ebenezer for every s.child. for every generation. Hitherto has the Lord helped us" We shall not die We do not know what the world Is coming to. It was not so in our time. And yet these small men and women of nursery and school, these fair sons and gracious maidens of mid- dle school and college, these sturdy young fellows In khaki. marching to Mexico, will live at higher level of intelligence than We have lived. and from among them mightier geniuses, more masterful thinkers and leaders shall arise than any of the most famous dead.
 only let us sweep the obstacles. or at least the fanged serpents from their way. Only let us give them warning of the two voices of their souls and the two voices of the world, lest they mis- take the lower for the higher and SD fail
 That is the cry of motherhood, hope and solicitude. solicitude and hope. That is why we who are of middle life can still remember how mother used to look at us with a smile that now we know was very wistful.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-05-10

of their Slavic origin. and well they may be, for all the staying qualities of those people are derived from those ancient western Asiatics.
 The fighting qualities of the Russian are derived from the strain of the Tar tar. while the home-loving, patriotic and government building clements come from the side of the slavs. In the Russian meet the extremes of fiereeness and of gentleness-the harsher and the serener virtues of different or of opposite races One finds in the character of the Rus sian people that which relates to the extremes from which the subjects of the present Czar are evolved. The barbarc splendor which is a passion in the mod ern Russian, comes from the Tartar. as do his fiereeness and cruelty. Set over against these harsher traits there is passive submissiveness to authority. gentleness and an urbanity, together
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-05-10

representative men of the village and residents of the surrounding estates who gladly responded when approached for financial assistance. The first thing the committee decided upon was to light the streets with electricity. 1t was thought that the tax payers would not assume this expense until they had seen the great improvement the lkhts would make In the streets. The com mittee had the lights installed, and for two years met the expense through public subscription. The amount they were obliged to raise was s1,500. The third year a lighting district was es- tablished and practically every tax payer signed the petition to have the lights paid for through taxation
 On of the greatest needs of the vil- lage was water supply For five years the committee tried to solve this problem and recently It's labors have been rewarded. A company supplying water to a village three miles distant has been induced to exted its mains to the village of K. A fire company Is to be organizied with its home fin the Memorial Library.
 one of the churches has been strug- gling for years with debt. The sec retary of the Memorial Library offered to cooperate In canvass to pay off the entire indebtedness. A large paper elephant blocked off to represent var ious amounts. the aggregate represent ing the church debt was placed in one of the stores. Everybody was enlist ed to help and two days before the time appointed for the, canvass to close tho entire sum had been raised. Every body gave to kill the elephant"
 These are the more spectacular ach- ivements due to the influences eman- ating from the Memorial Library; but in point of fact. the whole community has caught the spirit of progress. In- stead of indifference and neglect homes are being improved. houses painted lawns well kept and otherwise much is being done to make the village attractive.
 The new community spirit which has changed the life and built new town on the old site was brougt about through resident leadership. Do such rssults merit the investment of . life in a- small town7
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-05-10

seems to be accompanied with no pain Keats, In his Ode to the Nightingale seems to think this. He says,
 "A drowsy numbness pains
 My senses as though of hemlock had drunk
 The pain of "drowsy numbness' is no suffering.
 There can be no doubt that many of the narcotic poisons are as benedic- tions to the race when wisely pre- scribed or scientifically applied Thou sands Of sufferers in hospitals have had good reason to thank God for the temporary loss of consciousness which some form of anaesthesia has produced
 Yet, how often has this nepenthian boon been abused to the degeneration Of manhood and to the desolation of the moral nature If they could speak, what tragic tales might be told by opium morphine cocaine. heron. and the other ''drowsy syrups of the world" Sometimes one is able to detect the dope habit in man or woman at once; yet, again, we are astonished beyond words to learn that such a man, or such woman, is addicted to the vice of "eating opium" as De Quincey called it. The hiding of the habit does not continue long. It is like murder it will out.
 At first the user of the drug Is ex- tremely careful that no one may know of his vice, but after a while he becomes bolder the strength of the habit asserts itself. and, finally, there comes a loss of all shame, and he sinks to the sphere of drug fiends' without a qualm, consoling himself with the reflection that every body knows it. As if a personal crime were lessened in degree by a universal knowledge of its turpitude. Yet, to this illogical process of reasoning may the mind of the habtitual user of drugs be reduced.