davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-01-25

dened with adventitious terms aud ar
chaic phrases. 1t is not of a leisurely
prolix style. Space is money, and must
he saved Therefore, the newspaper story
at its best is soon told and when told It
is as clearly in the mind of the reader as
in the column just read. Clearness,
conciseness and proper emphasis ere the
virtues at which the newspaper writer
aims, and the technique demanded ~
the daily labor Is so distinct as to admit
of but few other qualities of style. Then
ns a rule. this writing Is done under
pressure. in newspaper office. with
seant time for revision, and with the
meagrest opportunity for deliberation,
These conditions are advanta geous,
however, for If the newspaper write :
had plenty time to tread dantily among
words to find those of which the massrs
know nothing his style would be dainty
enough but he could never grip popular
attention and hold It,
| have read many an editorial which
for virility and picturesqueness of Ian
guase equalled Carlyles at his best.
Last month there was held at Madison,
Wis, council of newspaper men In the
interests of "'colleges of iournalism "
Newspaper English in all it's phases was
discussed, its faults and its excellence.
Professor Beckman, a prominent edu-
Gator, said, "The news sense, the ability to
see what is new and its new meaning to
the great mass of humanity, is necessary
to men in every field of endeavor but
especially to men who write. 1t is the
news sense which enables the writer to
see through a mass of non-essentials
through dead rubbish to living facts
through husks and shells to the kernels
of truth. 1t is the news sense that gives
the writer understanding of and SYM
pathy with common activities of men, so
that he can find what will interest them.
With all its faults l still believe in the
news style as the most efficient style
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-01-25

There are all sorts OF furniture in
houses, from the Sheraton and Chppen-
dale which adorn the homes of the
wealthy to the packing box furniture
made at home. Probably the queerest
of all the house furnishings of which
there Is record is that of western
pioneer who died not long ago
He kept his coffin in his house for 20
years.
In China, according TO yeracious travel
ers, a coffin is considered a fine gift for
an aged person. The gift carries with it
the idea of comforting honor the re-
cipient. But in America and other non
Chinese countries coffin in a house is
a rare sight.
The old westerner who feasted his eyes
for two decades on the marrow house"
which was to be the last resting place of
maker He said he believed people are
overcharged by the makers OF coffins and
he would not pay the price. SO in his
leisure time he made the coffin, and when
he died he was buried in 1t.
Few houses contain actual coffins. They
are not pleasant sights, with the remind
ers of the inevitable.
But too many homes contain figurative
coffins. receptacles for ideas that are
dead and should be hurried into the earth
| as soon as possible.
| For example
| There's a coffin in your house for tho
national or sectional or sectarian pref
udice which disgraces you. Put the false
| ideaA into the coffin and bury 1t.
| There's another coffin for the family
| quarrel which has embttered your life
and estrwanged you frcm those who
| should be near and dear to you. Get
out the spade and pickax for that dead
body.
| Another casket awaits the opposition
to the entrance of new ideas about ed
ucation or government. Put that also
under the sod.
| Perhaps you have an inherited preju-
| dice against the taking of rational amuse-
ment at the proper time. You think this
world is all a fleeting show for mans
| illusion given" That's an especially
poisonous, dead idea Get 1t out of sight
and mind
And so with the long list of deceased
or moribund thoughts and feelings which
| are nursed in dark corners of the home
and of the mind. If they are only dying
administer to them the coup de grace.
| Do not let them linger TO tamt your life.
| They are nos worthy of a place in your
| existence.
No need of a coffin IN any household.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-01-25
ROMANCES OF ALABAMA H

men would signal their approach by
firing a small cannon kept on each barge
for that purpose. After the invention
of the steam whistle. now so common,
by Adrian stephens of Plymouth, whis-
ties came at once into use on all Amer
lean waters
For ages these great streams had
been rolling wanton to the sea, and
after the occupation OF Alabama by
the whites, the natural advantages
were readily recognized, but as nothing
was then known of the steam engine
of course there was nothing left but
to employ the most available craft Tor
transportation. Bor long period only
the awkward barges and flatboats We're
used 1t may be readily seen how the
introduction of steamers on our rivers
would facilitate individual and aggre-
gate prosperity which had been so
long retarded by the slow process of
navigation already mentioned.
Though Robert Fulton's first gro
tesque steamer appeared on the waters
of the Hudson as early as 1907, and while
a steamer had not yet been seen in
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-01-25
E ABOUT ENGLISH-By Dr. W. E. Evans

editor of New York daily remarks,
"As to their value for educational pur-
poses, of course, they are worthless.
Why argue about 1T? What did the
Greeks know about mental hygiene,
Practically nothing. What did Plato
have to say about sex hygiene? What
did it amount to? Almost nil If true
value must be found. where else would
the teacher look but to his own day,
the day of days. when such a genius
as Jack London flourishes upon the
earth and Richard Harding Davis flow
ers at his prime. The curriculum, ac-
oording to Prof. w. II. Wilcox of the
Maryland State Normal school, will con-
sist of equal parts of Alexander Du-
mas. Jack London, Richard Harding
Davis and Booth Harrington, with Sc
lections from De Maupassant for older
pupils and plenty of Kipling for all!
Equal parts of Booth Tarkington and
Jack London, with dash of De Maui
passant and chaser of Kipling. Not
all antiquity could compound a spir-
itual cocktail equal to this modern con-
cuction. Poor old Homer, what a duff
fer he was! And Shakespeare, what
did he know of the problem play and
the woman with a past? He was al
most as green as that dolt Dean Swift.
who never even heard of human inter
ests' and heart grips" All of which
being freely translated means that
some educators do not know the object
Of education and lack a refined un-
derstanding of the word value. narrow
ing it to limitations that are bounded
by dollars and cents.
In this same council Prof. f. n. Scott
OF the University of Michigan took oc-
casion to point out certain phrases in
popular use which he deplored and
among which are the following nor
rihle examples"
Whom are your"
"IIe didn't show up"
I'm going to take up"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-01-25
'ORY-EARLY NAVIGATION-By B. F. Riley D.

number multiplied. and by 1915 magnif-
icent packets were lowered from the
decks. and became floating palaces"
on our waters
At first a steamer was propelled by
a wheel at each side. but this gradu-
ally gave way to single wheel at
the stern. The period of the career IF
these magnificent steamers was a brief
one. lasting not more than Is or 20
years before the outburst of the civil
war Railways in Alabama were still
practically unknown. and steamboat
travel was exceedingly popular. On the
best and finest steamers, the enter
tainment could scarcely be excelled.
The state rooms were often elegant and
always comfortable, and the tables
were banquet boards The best coun-
try produce was gathered at the land
ings, and the table fare was one of
the boasts of the steamers The most
sumptuous carpets were on the floors
of the passenger saloons. while superb
furniture was alike pleasing to the
eve. and comfortable in practical use
The boats were constructed with three
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-01-25

our discussion Victorian literature
throbs with new and passionate feeling
for the common people Along with the
sense of empire comes the evolution of
nonconformist conscience arbitrating be-
tween the subject races and their over
lord. enforcing the rights of employees,
battling for manhood as against Mann
mon. How are we to account for this?
l. Is there a student of Victorian lit
erature who has failed to see how in
tensely it is informed with the religious
spirit? l spoke of the nonconformist con-
science. which has been such a power
since the days of Wilberforce, himself
both churchman and nonconformist, or
since Wesley's day, of whom the same is
still more true.
Now If you read Dickens you will find
him more than contemptuous about the
dissenters. But the historian and critic
must recognize that both in fact and in
spirit the work of Dickens was the result
of his essential nonconformty. Proofs
are multiplying of the fact of his educa-
tion under dissenting influences; that is
to say, outside the pale of the Established
Church. But all the hurting splendor of
his imagination was an exhibition of the
traditional wrongs that had grown up by
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-01-25

of nationalism among these forces. For
science is neither more nor less than the
enforcement of reason, seeking for
causes. and is another name for national
ism. The books which most fully ex-
pressed this truth in Victorian times were
perhaps "Lecky's History of Rationalism"
and Buckles History of Civilization"
To these many may be added, and l would
mark particularly "Lecky History of
European Morals and the "magnum
opus" of our own great DR.. Andrew
White, ex-minister to Germany, who
brings in the last word about the con-
f1ict of science with theology, a book
greatly belated however.
I have dwelt upon this negative side of
democratic literature because it really
gives the clue to the vast change that
has passed over the whole intellectual
world. and is still passing, with some
very poignant phases. The rise of a ra-
tionalism of science has been the death of
authority, tradition.
We may, perhaps, enumerate lines of
light and secular movement which illus
trate how tradition, authority. aristoc-
racy, were challenged and became knowl-
edge, freedom and the sense of communal
rights. This will be the positive side of
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-01-25

1"HOSE readers who followed the dis
cussion of this topic last Sunday
4 must have observed that 1t took
wholly the negative element into view.
THAT is to say, l have tried to show how
many other than the democratic tendency
went into shaping the peculiarly English
spirit of Victorian literature. Among the
lnondernocratic tendencies, which in part
account for that marvellous evolution. l
.ventured to include % The English habit
lof thoroughness, supplying really wide
land generous culture. co The feeling of
stability and serenity, growing out of
long and successful national history. go
The sanity that is Immediately traceable
to these (D The idea of empire. in itself
"a most anti-democratic sentiment. % The
birth of modern science and its application
alike to Industrial arts and to literary
and historical criticism. 60 The emer-
Igence of a scientific Interpretation of pol
|itics, especially in political economy.
Ia themselves these forces and tenden-
cies are far from democratic, and most
often are distinctly the outcome of a So
eiety long established on the aristocratic
basis.
1t is well to recognize the emergence
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-01-25

wheels. which wheels ran on two
beams of wood. the surface of which
was sheeted with iron. The car was
operated by means of a pulley ON the
summit which, in turn, was operated
by mule or horse moving in a cir
eular enclosure. The freight from the
steamer was strung along the bank
below to be cared for by the ware
house above. When cotton was 70 be
shipped from the top of the bluff, a
number of deck hands would go to the
top of the steps. and each bale was
slid down the tramway to the bout.
The bale would be started endwise ana
descend with whlzzing swiftness. strike
the lower deck. be seized by the hands
below, and put in place.
Great were the DAYS of the reign
of the steamboat, While slow, COM
pared with later methods of travel
steamboat passage was the acme of
comfort and enjoyment. The social
pleasure afforded was unsurpassed
While II would require several days to
go two or three hundred miles by boat,
the element of time was not so much
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-01-25

m HERE is always more to be said
about English, for the reason that
i each recurring day there is more
English. Twenty years ago there was
published a dictionary which defined
800 900 terms and the publishers We're
accused of padding the book But
a few months ago the same pub
fishing house issued new die
tionary based upon the first, and with
in it's lids there are 10000 terms upon
which English has laid its lexicographical
hands and claims as its own. And this
number was added to the dictionary after
the scholarly gentleman who had the
stupendous work in hand had excluded
6S, 900 terms as dead. obsolete, valueless, or
so rare as not to justify them place with
in a book intended for practical and pop
ular use. They also excluded many new
words. For it is not every new word
that gives evidence of its necessary ex-
istence or of permanenee. Every new
term possessed of life and used in the
standard speech and literature of the day
has place in the vocabulary of this die
tionary.
large proportion OF the new WORDS
of permanent value, of course are taken
from the sphere of scientific terminology
In the 20 years last passed every realm
of science has so expanded by discovery
and mechanical appliance as to have need
of technical vocabulary absolutely un-
known in former years. but essential in
the present state of scientific progress.
Then, too, there have been included
many dialectal terms among the new
words. American English, Scotch Irish,
and many other peoples have contributed
dialect novels, romances, and stories to
our literature without gossaries; and
while many of these strange souncing
and strangely spelt words one does not
care to interpret, yet, there are others
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-01-25

true of Dickens Is true of Ruslxn, Carlyle.
almost all the noveliats, almost all the
poets, and all the historians. They see
a goal of national welfare in the coming
of the people to their own. But they see
through a glass dar<ly. So that on the
one side religion and on the other side
economies We're working together to pro-
duee the literature of the age now closed.
The last prophet of that age was scien-
tide genius only Just dead. Or. Alfred
Russell Wallace. And 1t is most instruc-
tive that this man, keen intellect of
purely scientific type, had courage to eul-
tivate so large a passion for humanity
that his contribution to economies in the
work on naturalization of the land viii
with his fame as scientific
evolutionist. the equal of Charles Dar-
win
But here democracy begins to pass
back to communism, and we come into
touch with what must he called the
Georgian era, as distinguished from the
Victorian. OF this there is no need 10
Say more than that IL marks 50 large. so
new phase of democracy that it is cer-
tain to create a literature of its own.
as we'll as a vast and far-reaching social
upheaval.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-01-25
HEART TO HEART TALKS-By Charles N. Lure

The time viii come to each of us when
relatives and friends win have to call
In the undertaken
be the undertaken for his own dead
ideas.
For the purpose of this article you are
a boy about 10 years old, just old enough
enough to be considered even q little bit
grown up.
Now
If you were asked which word you
hated most of all the words in fathers
big dictionary. wouldn't you answer, II
hate that word 'don't?'"
You would You know you would.
Here's how you think:
Why will the grownups insist on using
that hateful word so much? Why can't
mother and father-yes. and big sister
and brother, too-give 1t rest once in
awhile? I'm sure it's being worn out
with so much use.
Now. there was the other evening,
when we had company at our house.
They brought me into the parlor all
dressed up and made me show Off all
could do when | wanted to play And
then after they got all they could out
Of me in the way of amusing them
they told me to go to the corner chair
and sit still.
tried awfully hard to obey, but SIT
ting stills hard work for a little chap.
And whenever | moved my hand or
my foot there was always some one to
say: Don't do that! Why can't you
sit still?"
If grownups had as much sense as
they think they have they'd know that
nature to sit still. and you're hurting
him every time you order him to sit
still. They ought to know that your
bones and your muscles are growing
when you're kid and that they just
went let you sit still.
Besides, when you're trying to mind
and be good and quiet your mind starts
off to think about something to do, and
you just can't help thinking how 1t
would feel to do it. SO you start
And then. of course. you move your
hands or your feet or your body, and
there's somebody after you with that
terrible "Dont, Why can't you sit
still for a minute?'
You Just can't-that's why
Those words "Don'tw and Keen
stillw ought to be rubbed out of the
dictionary. They're no good for chill
dren. OF course, every boy who's got
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-01-25

name of God, amen There's only one
thing l leave-I leave the earth. My
relations have always wanted that They
can have it,"
1t was generous, of course in the old
man to leave tie earth to his relatives
But he forgot that there are others
who have an interest in the terrestrial
globe. 1t was not his to leave.
Nor does it belong in reality to any
one-not even little bit of 1t. Any
ownership of the earth or portion
of it is only temporary, not permanent.
And as it is foolish for any man to
think he can control all of the earth
in his lifetime, so is it foolish for him
to think that he can leave any con-
siderable portion of 1t to his heirs
After all, the earth belongs to all.
If we cannot have unlimited access to
certain portions of it we may enjoy
the roads leading from place to place.
The landscape is always ours to enjoy
in fee simple. No private ownership or
monopoly can deprive us of that.
The sunrise and the sunset which ligh.
the earth cannot be purchased or corn
cred" The moonlight and the ripping OF
the brooks, the roaring of Niagara and
the eternal song of the oceans waves,
all priceless attributes of the earth whers-
on we live, belong to all in common.
Any one of them is worth more than
an estate
When 1t comes to leaving the earth
one does not leave what belongs to him
| alone, but what is common possession.
1t cannot be monopolzed or devised, else
would some of our very rich men seek
20 acquire 1t all.
There will never be an earth trust
Reading between the lines of the very
short testament, one can make out a
tale of an old man embittered by strife
among his relatives for his worldly goods
Il leave the earth. My relations have
! always wanted that. They can have it.
| They thought him rich. They made
plans to seize his wealth, perhaps even
before his death. They let him see tn
| they thought he Jagged too long on the
stage of life and that to crafty theil
greed he should take himself off speedily
| Sordid aims and strivings!
And at the end he had nothing to leav.
| nothing, that Is, save the earth from
| which he was glad to depart. He thought
bitterly in his last earthly minutes, nc
! doubt, that it would have been better
for him to have been thought poor rather
than to know that he was the cause oi
family strife which inevitably follows
such greed.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-01-25

because we wanted words of recognized
good usage and that are up-to-date. We
knew yours would be up to the minute
A number of the words chosen are mt
strictly English except as English has
appropriated them from other tongues.
The words that puzzled the stenographers
most, and which they missed entirely,
We're "chevrette," "Dachshunds." pas
torches" "siesta,' "saeristan." "eclaires.p
and "Steatite'
A spelling bee in Birmingham for stc.
nographers. under the auspices of the
Chamber of Commerce, with a prize Or
prizes for successful competitors. would
think be attended with considerable In
terest by ambitious stenographers and
others as well, for who is a good speller!
Correct pronunciation of Engnsh terms
is almost as rare as perfect spelling. Aud
yet. one who coweets anothers pru-
nunciation should be very sure of his po-
stion before he insists that a proneps.a.
tion other than his own is incorrect. There
is wide difference of view amony
scholars as to the pronunciation of ocr-
tain words and the endeavor to mats
orthoepists everywhere agree seems futile.
therefore,, before you can say tnat your
neighbor's pronunciation is incorrect YOU
must know that he is without authority
for his pronunciation. This means that
YOU must be familiar with the questioned
word as pronounced by the Century the
Standard, the Interna tional. Starmonths
Worcesters the encyclopaedia, the Inn
perial Muray's and others. This view
may not be fiattering to the self-appontei
authority in the family but he may-aad
it safe to adopt ii. How many ways arsN
authorized to pronounce each OF the j.
lowing words which we use every das,
schedule. Nomenclature, Prayer. Verm-
CELL, Popularity, Enunciation. Luxuriant
and-but these will do. Each word has
only one right way of pronunciation, do
you say? Look little closer.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-01-25

these parts. enterprising spirits, in an
ticipation of the coming use of steam
boats. organized a company at st. Ste
phens, the territorial capital, in 1915.
which company was duly authorized
by the legislature of the Alabama Ter
ritory, and bore the name of the ST.
stephens Steamboat company. This
was followed two years later by an
other which was Incorporated under the
name of the Steamboat Company of
Alabama, and year later still. came
the organization ofthe Mobile Steam
boat company. 1t is supposed that the
fathers had no enterprise in those early
days, this will serve to disabuse the
minds of all doubters. They wer,,
dealing in steam futures but they wA-e
ready for the coming tide of steam
progress. In due course of time. these
rival organizations introduced steamers
on the rivers of the state, but they were
not rapid of locomotion, were at first
small, rather elaborate in adornment.
and afforded some degree of comfort
to a limited number of passengers
These diminutive floaters were gradu-
ally displaced by larger vessels, the
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-01-25

consideration in those leisurely days
as 1t Is now. and the regret vas often
that the time of passage vas not
longer. During the busy season, the
schedule Of the boats was most irres-
ular. and not infreauently passengers
would wait the arrival of the boat Tor
- hours and even longer.
Il was interesting. the contention
and competition among the rival boats
for freight and passenger traffic. In
order to be able to advertise the popu-
larlty of a given steamer, the subor-
dnate officers and others of the crew
would solicit passengers at the hotels
'of the terminal cities. and would not
only offer free passage. sometimes. but
actually offer consideration of a small
sum of money, in addition. to such "a
would make choice of that steamer
in preference to another.
The war greatly crippled boating
on the rivers, and with the rally aud
rehabilitation of the south from the ef-
fects of the war, the railway came OF
anon, and the steamers largely disap-
peared from our rivers.