davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-22

''rhe business of the child is play" 1 So say many eminent educators And | in saying so they recognize and assert the need of providing rules for play, just l as other business is conducted under cer- tain. set regulations. If these are vio- lated, business fails. If the children are | permitted to make their own rules Of play. without competent supervision and guidance, very often the result, considered | as play, is failure.
 | The world is beginning to recognize the fact that while the instinct of play is | universal and seemingly inborn, its proper expression is often stifled and perverted. l An instance of this is seen when chill dren of differing ages are mingled. AL most invariably the other tyrannize over
 the younger and attempt to boss them.
 The older may enjoy themselves-al-
 though this is doubtful-but there is no
 question that the younger does not. Every citizen, male female, with an interest, direct or indirect. in child
 or in children. should see that the young
 sters of a neighborhood have proper places in which to play.
 The playground movement is marching
 on. Join the procession.
 l Whether a man wins greater success | by carefulness, prudence, watchful-
 ness, discretion. avoidance of the ''tak-
 ing of chances" or by boldness and
 daring and exercise of initiative | Such is the discussion that has been
 started in London by the statement of a successful man of business who
 has retired at the age of s1. He said:
 l 'I attribute whatever success I have
 had to my cowardice. always feared
 to wade In so deep that 1t was diff
 cult to wade out"
 l He was called in the dispatches Il successful man." but his name was
 not given nor the measure of his suc-
 cess. It was therefore difficult to tell
 wherein his success lay. It may be as
 sumed, however that he has retired from business with fortune. (Wheth .
 CT or not the accumulation of fortune
 Is success is another question: 1 Many prominent Londoners do not
 agree with this man. They say his ad-
 vancement is exceptional that the l first essential of a business man, If he
 is to be successful, Is boldness. a will ingness to take chances.
 The man who never ventures never | does big things" says one. There is
 one word which is the keynote of suc-
 cess in business today. It is initia- I tive"
 | The world must have it's Columbuses. l its Pearys. it's Amundsens, it's explor-
 CTS and its pioneers if the big. new fields of commerce and industrial en- dcnver arc to be found. Following them must come the army of willing | workers to bring the resources of the
 new lands into reach, to make them
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-22

against cessation, and, secondly. because of the Christian confession of One risen from the dead but this is by no means Ia personal experience. We believe in spite of the universal experience of man. kind. We feel that something of the kind must have occurred; that Easter is more than a hope, dream, a symbol, a spiritual fact in physical guise. Judged by experience, Easter is most unlikely. Judged by our idealist hearts, the resur- rection Is the least impossible of all con tingencies.
 Death is inexorably final that we rebel. Our friends do not return. We ourselves have not made excursions into that dark mystery and brought back data for constructing a science, a geog- raphy thereof. If we go, we go to stay. On that harsh condition the waves of hu- man emotion and speculation have surged and broken in vain, beating up no more than theosophic foam-the imaginations of spiritism and the horrors of faked in- terviews with the dead, witches of Endor and black art of Ephesus, to this day.
 On the other side of the problem We feel indignant at the abominable waste involved by death Here is brain that has accumulated such vast stores of
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-22
RAMBLES IN BOOKLAND-By Dr. w. E. Evans

withheld from his readers, and the liter ary world was wondering whose pen gave many thousands of readers the pleasure of reading the Inner Shrine" When the name actually appeared, that same liter ary world took off it's eyeglasses and ex- claimed, "Ah, really We don't know any more now than we did before Who is Basil Ning?" Since those days he has made himself known through 'The Street Called Straight" "rhe Wild olive'' and now "The Way Home.
 "The Inner Shrine" stamped the author as a person possessing certain elements of literary power, if not greatness in authorship. But 1 am not sure that his last book is the equal of his first the Inner Shrine The technique of au- thorship perhaps, has advanced since the days of the Inner Shrine" but the fatal acquisition of an immense vocabulary de- tracts from the virility of the earlier pages of his writing. Hence, the long and unnecessary conversations. whose end is known before it is reached, retard the movements of the story and in many places they make 1t drag wearly. While one is reading the novel he is forced to eXclaim mentally, This would be almost great story if one-third of it were cut.
 Nevertheless, "The Way Home Is Gn interesting tale. 1t is study of souls welded but not mated, who stand as a type, l suppose, of many thousands of people who have married their "oppo- sites,'' and never understand one another until it is too late. The best thing in the book was said by poor Hattie Bright when she compared men and apples with the purpose of smoothing matters between Hilda and Charlie Grace-"But when you can say that of a man, you say a lot. Don't you? A man is like an apple, l always say. When it's sound at heart, you can put up with a few spots on the outside With q woman, l suppose, it is
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-22

TIT was Confucius who said Behold,
 know not life; how should we
 know death? and that is a most deeply reverent confession, made with due awe and humility. There is none of the cheap agnosticism of wilful unbelief in the great ori- ental moralst, and his apothegn must not be so interpreted. The first time [ heard it quoted was from the lips of Il Japanese evangelist, himself trained Confucian scholar. and give it as nearly as l can remember in his version. 'I wo shirazu. ika in shite shi wo shiran ya?" sort of play being made on the con- trast of 'i'' Qife' and "shi'' 1death), death being therefore apparently some thing added to life
 Confucius warns his disciples from use less, fruitless prying into the secrets of the world beyond the grave. Is it not enough that we first explore our own world, the life we have, before attempt ing those deep mysteries?
 To this day we have dogmas about death. but little or no personal expert ence. By necessity we are driven to ac- cept belief in the other world; first, be- cause of our instinctive resentment
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-22
HEART TO HEART TALKS-By Charles N. Lure

Going home dad used to lead the way.
 and once in awhile he'd turn round and
 say, so cheering-lke, so tender, Come, come. my son; you're nearly home." The ] fathers gentle, kindly words kept the
 little fellow up until home was reached and rest soothed the tired limbs. Now the old man trusts his heavenly Father to lead the way. He's getting
 kinder anxious like about the journey
 bome." but still the Father leads the | way.
 It is beautiful thought. The father led the way to the tired lad, and now the
 Guide and Comforter of the same lad,
 grown weary of the cares and sorrows
 and burdens of the world is the Father
 of us all who searcheth all hearts. With
 him is home--the real. everlasting home toward which we all look when the
 thoughts of our earthly end come to us. An so I'm followin' Father home, says the poem.
 We are all following some guide or other, but perhaps we are not all headed for home. We cannot know, for the way !, is hard sometimes, and the only light wherewith to guide our footsteps is the lantern of faith. May we not trust in that as in sure help and comfort and believe that ahead of us is stretched the
 kindly hand of the forgiving Father
 showing us truly the way home?
 Extinguish the light. and what have
 we? Only a dark and uncertain path snares. It takes very bright light, in
 deed, to help us to avoid them-perhaps
 the brightest light in all the world, when
 all is said and done.
 | Happy the man or woman who feels
 the helping, kindly, loving hand of the
 Father leading on with surety and com l fort in the road of life. The hand is
 outstretched and in it there is room fol all.
 | We have but to grasp it and suffer it to lead us along the way of life. I Some books are to be tasted, others ! to be swallowed and some few to be
 chewed and digested,' said Bacon 1 In the third class is the ''Meditations
 of Marcus Aurelius, the wise Roman Elm peror, who had the God given faculty of seeing the world through clear eyes In the '.Meditations." which was moi written for publication, but was ad. dressed to himself, the writer set down what he really thought. In few books has this been done. When a man writes for the reading of others his views are
 always colored, Intentionally or not, by l the influence of the idea. What will the
 world think of this, my thought, which l I am setting down here for it's inspection | and analysis?"
 | Not so in Marcus Aurelius. The book distir gushing characteristics are frank ness and ingenuousness. And because il l ia the revelation of the mind of man
 who was sincere in all his dealings with
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-22
Disguised in Shirt Sleeves

~
 The late Paul Deroulede was not the sort of man about whom one told funny stories. one ran too much risk of being called out!' But the story of his es- cape from Breslau, where the Germans had imprisoned him. Is decidedly amus- ing.
 A friend of his Lieutenant Jaunaux. came to visit him in the prison disguised as a Polish Jew. He wore a long coat and shaggy fur cap. and made him. self sufficiently conspicuous to be no- ticed by the sentries. and he went on paying visits every now and then until everybody became quite familiar with him.
 One day, after visit Derouede strollc1 with him to the gateway of the fortress They waited chatting. till the sentry $ back was turned then, quick as thought, Deroulede slipped on his friends long coat. his fur cap. and his spectacles. ana with a stick In his hand limped slowly out through the gate and off to the rail- way station. He got train at once safely crossed the frontier. a+
 The really comic parr of the story re- lates to the lieutenant. who walked calm ly out of the fortress in his shirt-sleeves and nobody took any notice of him at all.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-22

gan at once to transform conditions q generation of labor like this. there strucSion gradually widening and after q generation of labor like this, there was produced an immense difference on the face of Europe. As knowledge was impaSted. 1t correspondingly grew of course and auiclSened an increasing Fest on t,te part of the populations here and there and under conditions Hike these there sprang up some of the foremost institutions of the Old World. The hard crust of ignorance which had so long covered the face of Europe was pierced here and there by the examinations of knowledge. a har- vest came on anon and Europe entered on new career
 The quickening of mental energy sought expression in numerous ways tc the enrichment Of the world. From this
 situation came the fever of explora-
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-22

different; she can be what she likes al heart, so long as the side is rosy and smooth. But I've had more to do with men, and I've got to know them. And Charlie-Mr Grace-is one of the truest-- in spite of his faults"
 These arc the simple words upon which the whole story turns. From this moment Hilda thinks of Charlie as she docs If an apple, spotted on the outside, but with a true heart within. And because of the broken sentences of an embarra sed woman, the book thus far laden with dark clouds and storms, finally closes under tender skies of light and love "I'he Way Home is a painful book to read. One sees how great a fire little spark may kindle, and how easily
 "A little rift within the lute May by and by make all the music mute"
 fancy that most estrangements that separate husbands and wives in their love and sympathies. grow out of things at first of no greater importance than those which put asunder Charlie Grace and Hilda, both of whom were wrong-Hilda i'ih'iihe tpV iii'tiii biih ptfuHl- ting his heart to seek anchorage in an- others affections. It Is not true that "all's well that ends we'll" as a universal proposition. but the story of "The Way Home does end well, and the reader is glad.
 Still ] ramble onward into the highways and byways of Bookland. Have you seen George Macaulay Trevelyan's last book of essays? A series of papers written in the style of the old-time leisurely Eng fish writers compose the book. There is a charm in this writer's compositions. Q culture disclosed in his many sugges- tions. and a fine criticism here and there, which make one forget the passing of time until the clock. striking 1, arouses
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-22
BYPATHS OF HISTORYA HARVEST OF LETTERSBy Riley,

cost The reigning Sultan of that time said that he was unable to sleep, so disturbed were his dreams of Constan- tinople. l. was the purpose of the Mos lams to use this the key to the pos session O. both Europe and Asia, as they had no other or less plan the sub jugation Of the Old World to the sway of the crescent.
 Concentrating an immense force about the walls of constantinople, they laid siege to the beautiful city which fell into their hands in 1453 and has remained their capital city ever since. It is said that here was first used can non in war The strong walls Of more than 12 miles ln circumference, re- quired something more for their demo- lition than the ordinary implements then in use.
 Long the center of art and of learn ing, ,'onstantinople ceased from the cay of its capture to be the city which 1t had been for centuries. It was the
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-22
CONCERNING DEATH-By George Eaves D. D.

been spending himself for the Joy and welfare of others
 His beruest to us all Is that the achievements of the one are for the service of the many and that the one lives in the many though ho dies. nay. because he dies. As the dust goes to comman fund of earth. so the spirit and Its inspiration enter into the com mon life of mankind.
 We know not life" Not yet havc we quite learned the supreme lessons that life teaches. Death is for tho higher grades. for the post mortem graduates. It is by faith that we as sert. in the presence of fiercest con trasts. taav the lessons of death com plement and perfect these that we gather in earth's primary department, it's secondary schools. it's rough and tumble world. So little, so very little. does philosophy supply to us concerning the world to comel So vague Is even the faith basis on which we standl
 In a somewhat recent volume of New England theology it has been argued that death has vast evolutionary value. I think its supreme value is not phys ical, but moral, disciplinary.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-22

Hs're .ssss ss' s'sss sa 's- asa1s s;-ss A him. The famous Scotch vaudeville performer has visited many of the larger cities of America, and his fame has reached the towns and villages.
 But probably most people do not know that Harry Lauder, now the highest sal aried of the worlds vaudeville artists, went to work when he was P years old in a Scotch coal mine, first as pit boy driving pony and then as miner. He toiled in the mines II hours a day for 10 years, earning at the end of that time about sS week. (New he earns about that much in one minute of his working time)
 q was in water up to my hips most of the time' he says in telling of his life, swinging a heavy pick. I sang as I worked, and my comrades got to like my singing My reputation spread in the iit- tie town where I lived, and I became in demand for concerts. My pay for this averaged about 50 cents a night, and 1 felt that I was about as rich as a prince Then came the time for his definite
 
 for the queer, crooked stick which never fails to make his audiences laugh. His gifts of singing and mimicry Were too great and too valuable to the world to be hidden in the depths of Scotch coal mines Ills first professional appearances after he left the mines were in Lanarkshre, Scotland, with a concert company. He got only q a week at first, but he did not have to get up at o'clock and spend the day underground, so he considered himself we'll off.
 With the spreading of his fame in his native country came the calls first to the London music halls and then to America. Now he is a star" very well off finan- cially and favorite in every English speaking country on earth
 The important part of the story is this
 ''I sang as I worked and my comrades got to like my singing
 It was a countryman of Harry Lauder Thomas Carlyle by name, who wrote
 Give mo, oh give me. the man whc | sings at his work''
 The pit boy Lauder probably never heard of Carlyle and certainly had not read his works. But the spirit was there. It could not be killed even by the hard work. the long hours and the prtvations.
 Into the writer's hands has fallen a poem which is marked ''unidentified.' II is worth ascribing to the author, If he can be found. It's title is Following Father"
 Its author is either an old man or as- sumes the character of one. He tells how, when he was just a little lad and worked around the farm with his father he used to get all tired out and long for the time to go home.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-22

wisdom and knowledge that it is in- credibly foolish to spill them at last into a hole in the earthi Here is char acter disciplined and chaste and noble that its service is needed for all time among the spiritual purlieus of our racial imagination. Here is a heart so graciously unselfish that to have it stilled is loss, and apparently nothing but loss unspeakable. ITO what pur- pose is this waste?'
 On every count death challenges our instinctive common sense outrages our feelings of what Is fit. Yet there are other forces at work, also. through our experience. tending to reconcile us Knowing how inevitably We decay with age, We adjust ethical desires to this condition, and say of an aged mans death. Tt was at ripe old age. He had lived long and we'll" meaning only that, considering the horrid alternative of physical decrepitude, death isi merci- full and appropriate. Nevertheless when 1t comes, even to the most advanced years, We feel aggrieved in proportion to our love and interest in the life now so irrevacably ended. It has come to be accepted as the lesser of two abom- inable wrongs, the less monstrous of
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-22

pride of it's successive sovereigns to add to its glory by fostering every known means of advancement. Every possible inducement was offered men of letters and of art 10 make the city a place of residence.
 The chief ambition of the successive rulers wits to make Gonstantinople a seat of learning. At a time when learn ing was restricted to a favored few, It was the ambition Of the sovereigns to win as many of them as possible to this metropolis. on the Bosporus, where under the patronage of the government they conlc pursue their studies and proseeuts their Investigations. not alone without hindranee. but under the constant inspiration of encoura cement. Teachers HOW and then went to other parts of the continent and founded schools. but instruction was restricted to the few. while the masses remained dismally ignorant.
 In Sonsequence of the conditions all
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-22

tious, gasc bi-th to the development of Earops. and later of America
 Whatever else there was in the proe- idence which allowed the capture Of Constantinople by the Turks, there was manifestly that which dissipated the concentrated learning and light. for which 1t had so long been famous and for the subsequent illumination of the continent of Europe The time had come for the unseen bolts to be drawn by unseen agencies from the gates of futurity. for the entrance of subduing forces and we have the results In tue history Of nearly five centuries of pro- gress on two continents with much leavening imparted throughout H. world.
 The refluent forces will in turn ex- pei the unspeakahle Turk" from civil ization and thus will harmony mora widely come to the Christianized Id tions of the earth
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-22

him from the Vaccinations of the world of thought into which he has been led by the most pleasant of guides, as we'll IS the ripest of scholars. Some of the sub jects discussed by the scholarly essayist are 'The Writing of History" Walk ins,' Poetry and Rebellion" George Meredith" "If' Napoleon Had Won Waterloo" and others.
 l have begun a story from which l eS- pect 10 receive much enjoyment--"Geof- frey Austin Student" 1t was written py the Rev. pr. Sheehan, a dignitary Of the Roman Catholic church and the author of number of works Of fiction among which My New Curate'' has place. | read My New Curate' a few years ago and found 1t to be an unusual story, far removed from the commonplace books of parish life and curate stories. The -"liter makes no effort to conceal from the reader the fact. His fine culture and learning, his ability to analyse character and his vital touch with the world. render him a master story teller. While the copy of "Geoffrcy Austin Student" that have was printed in Dublin, l suppose it may be purchased of any book publishers in this country.
 But I am about at the end of my space. though not at the end of my rambles in Boosland I have wandered by the mar gins of lakes and rivers in many lands and I have seen many of the glories of painting, sculpture, and architecture that have excited the highest enthusiasm of admiration in the world of art: but if necessary I sholud willingly forget all these for the privilege of taking iny Tannhauser- r-staff in hand and wandering off into the fascination of Bookland. "A blessing on the printers art!
 Books are the Mentors of the heart The burning soul, the burdened mind. Tn books alone companions find"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-22

spoke of him in 1865 as one "of the most discreet, clear-sighted, upright and capa= cious statesmen of the age He had the courage to resist Thad Stevens, be. it said to his praise: and in balcony speech in front of the White House in 1866. he publicly denounced Stevens, Sumner and W endell Philips as traitors and disunion- ists. We are told by MT Schouler that Jchnson's private life was most upright and that officially he was incorruptibe. He would never accept presents from lis friends while in office. nor would he appoint relatives to official posts.
 Of course. no attempt is made to de- fend Johnson's condition when he was sworn into office as vice president. Ev- crybody knows that he was drunk, or, tc put it most chartaby, that he was under the influence of liquor. There can be no doubt of that. But of one thing wc are assured, namely, that never again was he in any such condition; and many arc the witnesses of his habitual tenn perance and even his total abstinence I have mentioned this book as in my rambles in Book-Land. for the reason, that it is one of deep interest, and as it places some things of the reconstruction period in a new light. It will pay the reader for the time devoted to it's pe- rrsal.
 The last book of fiction that I have read is Basil Kings '"The Way Home.' My reader finished reading it. I sup pose, some months ago, but l have been rambling over so much territory in Book land that something had to wait for me to catch up. Then too there have ap- peared within the past six months num- Der of biographies, and histories and these should always take the precedence in ones reading, ] think. Next to these fancy that essays should follow, or the letters of literary people However, to go back to Basil King.
 Iror somatire tbis name wa .