davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-10-09
THE ENGLISH NOVEL

By Robert Shelton Mackenzie No wonder. then, that Walter Scott, who, having shown tho world in the minstrelsy, and the Lay that he was editor and poet and being himself a novel reader, should be utterly dissatis- fled with the quality of the existing supply. The French revolution, 6istin- guished by its leveling principle and action, had ended in substituting a feudal empire for an effete monarchy; and even when Napoleon was redividing Europe into kingdoms and municipalities for his family and his followers, there
 mad sprung up--or rather revived--a deep devotion to the chivalry which had done so much in the past, and whose traditions had ingrafted grace into his- tory and breathed reality into song. To this feeling, this principle, Scott had ministered in his poems; and now. ac
 knowledged head of the romantic school, he resolved to extend it's limits beyond the ballad to the narrative poem and use prose as the more suitable me- dium. He strove to delineate the past as 1t seemed in the eyes of men who were dubious of the present and afraid of the future--noble, stately, giittering. and gay. with the pulse of live ever beating to heroic measures. His view of feudalsm in the 'Talisman., Ivan hoe" and the Fair Maid of Perth" was not the c,i4cature a few preceding au- thors had drawn. but portrait--faith- full if idealized.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-10-09
JENNY LIMOS ART

From the New York Herald.
 l TIT IS rather unfortunate that the name Jenny Lind should be so closely as-
 - sociated in the mind of this genera 1 tion with that of F. T. Barnum that her merits as singer are to an extent over shadowed. From the money viewpoint
 she was fortunate in Barnum, and he in her; but even if the snowman had never ! lived the great Jenny would be worthy of all the celebrations that are going on in her honor.
 Meyerbeer recognized in the Lind voice chaplet of song" Chorley, the great mu- sical critic. who first named her "tha Swedish nightingale" wrote that when he heard her he wondered whether 1t was really the case that music had never
 been heard till 1Sf7." The musical his-
 torian Lake, author of Famous Sing ers,'' say of her, The name of Jenny Lind will be remembered when Malibran, Grisi and many others have sunk into oblivion because of her good works. .
 But not alone because of those gool works. This simply added lustre to a name made bright by her genius ant marvellous voice.
 Moscheles could find no words ade- quate to give "any real idea of the inn pression she has made Groves Die tionary of Music and Musicians in de- scribing her voice says 1t was a ~so
The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-10-09

From the Kansas City Star
 9N nR MACSWINEY experiment in l INV reducing the cost of living con
 c va tinues to produce the most en-
 courag ging results. For fifty-four days he has steadfastly refused to look at ham and eggs at Brixton prison prices, yet he is still strong enough to tell what he thinks of the British government. At this rate he ought to be able in another three months, to knock the bottom out of l the beefsteak market
 It is wonderful what a man can do ever it is the lord mayor of Cork is sus- tained by.
 Perhaps it's by his spirit. And then again perhaps it's by spirits. Has Brix- ton prison a ghost? We wonder. Most
 of those old places have. Some have the
 ghost of knight in armor, and some
 the ghost of a lady carrying her head
 in her hand or something like that Per haps Brixton has the ghost of a hon that lays a ghostly egg every morning. Maybe there's the ghost of cook who fries the egg No jailers could be expected to catch such ghosts at their work. In- deed, everybody knows it's unlucky to see a ghost, and if anybody around Erik ton prison heard even the rustling of one they'd naturally shut their eyes and get out of the way You can't blame them.
 You couldn't blame them if they refused
The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-10-09
THE PRESENT CRISIS

By James Russell Lowell. Once to every man and nation comes
 the moment to decide. On the strife of truth with falsehood
 for the good or evil side;. Some great cause, Gods new Messiah,
 offering each the bloom or blight. Parts the goats upon the left hand,
 and the sheep upon the right, And the choice goes by forever 'twixt
 that darkness and that light. Hast thou chosen, o my peopla eM
 whose party thou shalt stand Ere the doom from its worn sandals
 shakes the dust against our land? Though the cause of evil prosper. yet
 tis truth alone is strong, And, albeit she wanders outcast nov.
 I see around her throng Troops of beautiful, tall angels to enshield her from all wrong. New occasions teach new duties; time
 makes ancient good uncouth; They must upward still. and onward,
 who would keep abreast of truth :, Lo. before us gleam her caHpfires! We
 ourselves must Pilgrims be- Launch our Mayflower. and steer
 boldly through the desperate
 winter sea,
 Nor attempt the futures portal with
 the pasts blood-rustsd ksy.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-10-09
Significant Detection
 From Republican Party

] IT N every presidential campaign there U is some Hopping from one party
 to the other, but in most cases the | reasons are selfish or because of some personal grievance with this or that leader.
 It is not so with Herbert Parsons, of New York, who has been one of the staunchest of republicans. He served in Congress on the republican side and was a member of the na- tional republican committee, 1916-2O: and his active efforts as chairman of the New York county committee brought him into great prominence.
 MT. Parsons announcement made yesterday through the county organi- zation is terse and to the point. q am for the League of Nations," he said. "Cox is for going in; Harding is not for going in. * So I am for Cox"
 No synogism could be stronger. MT. Parsons is a man of wide culture and a fine sense of honor. Few men who 
 have. served in republican harness have displayed larger vision. He is acting solely on principle and there fore is not personally Ndisgruntled.
 That there will be considerable de- lection from the republican ranks may be taken for granted. It goes without saying that Parsons example will be followed by many republicans of influence.
 Certain it is that MT. Parsons is doing his own thinking, and his an- nouncement that comes over the wires will prove heavy blow to the party of reaction.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-10-09
MACSWINEY IS SPIRIT HEN

to interfere with a ghost pa'pab.y ant indutiably frying liver and u~eoA gAl onions.
 Whether MT MacSwines is sustaine by his spirit alone or by the aid of the. } spirits, everybody must admit it's gevI job of sustaining. We don't recall ber- ter, unless it's the case of Elijah, whom the ravens fed. It has awakened the ad miration and surprise of many. The BYit- ish government, however, does not seem surprised. Not at any time has it ap- peared to fear that the prisoner would fail to be sustained somehow. Perhaps it was aware of the strength of his spirit, and then again perhaps it was aware or the Brixton prison spirits. Anyway. it has shown confidence in the result of mayors own. It refused to release him even when he exhibited every indication of not having had any breakfast. It al-l ways seemed confident he would gain strength by the time the lunch hour passed-reckoned in spirit time
 If Attorney General Palmer. who is re- ducing the cost of living over here, could manage to engage the services or some of the Brxton spirits he might get quicker results. The government ought to see that there is ghostly hen in every home Then we'd all go on hun ger strike until the price of eggs came down
The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-10-09

prano of bright. thrilling and remarkably sympathetic quality from b to g. Tho upper part of her register was rich and brilliant and superior both in strength
 and purity to the lower. These two por- tions she managed, however, to unite in the most skillful way, moderating the power of her upper notes so as not to outshine the lower. She had also a won derfully developed length of breadth, which enabled her to perform long and difficult passages with ease, and to fine
 down her tones to the softest pianissmo while still maintaining the quality un- varied"
 The same article also gives some of her most difficult and intricate cadenzas, which as she sang them "could scarcely be equaled for difficulty and perfection of executioa.' and says of certain sim-
 pie cadenza that the notes as rendered
 were positively nastelees and produced
 an extraordinary effect"
 Such praise from musical critics is re-
 assuring to us of today that the fame Of
 Jenny Lind in America. connected as ir
 was with that of our greatest snowman.
 was not an outgrow of Barnum meth exploited one of the worlls great t
 singers, and that our fathers and grs4
 fathers and grandmo;hers really l.I just cause for the enthusiasm they j. played over Jenny Lind's singing in .s- fle Garden seventy wears ago.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-10-09

letters in the English-speaking world, well up in the eighties, who still writes with remarkable power of expression is Frederic Harrison of London.
 No young voter, or old, as for that matter, should fail to read what Dr. Eliot has to say about the League of Nations and the democratic party's compelling attitude on this vital question.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-10-09
FRESH EGGS
[Ddianan0liS Nave

From the Indianapolis News.
 The pert proprietor of grocery, in East Twenty fifth street, is nothing if not good at repartee.
 The other day, rather early in the forenoon. one of the good wives in the reighborhood stepped into the store and lnquired:
 Any real fresh eggs' Great empha sis on the real freshly
 "oh, yes ma'am.' he replied. Some just laid this morning."
 A day or two later, somewhat ear Her in the forenoon than fore. the good wife again dropped into the store and inquired:
 Any more of those real fresh eggs?"
 Whereupon the grocer cried to his clerk;
 Run to the back room. boy, and sec If this mornings eggs are cool enough yet to sell'
The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-10-09
DISCOURAGING A CUSTOMER

From the Youths Companion. The real Turk. unlike the so-ealled mongrel Turk, does not have~to impress his sense of superiority on others. And, although the latter is always eager to do business with you, according to MT. Herbert Adams Gibbons in Asia. the real Turk is often quite indifferent
 Some real Anatolian Turks are mer- chants and sit in the bazars. But they will not go. out of their way to make A sale, and they really do not care whether you buy or not. Often they ig- nore strangers; sometimes they rebuff them. When you meet with this type in the bazars where all the Jews and Gentiles are hard after your money, it face.
 Once in a little open shop l saw a rug that attracted me. I started to en- ter but the crouched figure on the mat put out long fingered left hand grasped firmly my ankle, and removed my foot outside the threshold. I thought there must be some superstition about which foot went first; so I tried the other. The same left hand proved again it's strength. All the while the mer- chant did not speak or look up. His right hand was stringing beads, and he was smoking a nargile.
 He simply did not want to bother with me. and my shoe told him that l was a franga tEuropean). Later got to know that old bird. and we laughed over stories together. But he never asked me to uySanything, and did not want to risk his friendship by making second try for the rug. There are moro important things in life than buying and selling
The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-10-09
Real Finance.

The woman's department of the State Fair is the best thing that I have seen this side of the Mason and Dixon Line" said c. A. Ritter, of Cleveland. Ohio, yesterday. Tt is i'm .
 possible to believe that the decoration
 of the interior of that building cost only $24. It is certainly a work of art changing that old building into thing Of beauty If all of the departments of the fair were lived up to as the women have done in their department, it would be impossible to estimate the good done.
 One woman, I am told decorated her booth at a cost of only 150, and
 1t was pretty one, too, and has made
 arrangements to sell the refuse after
 1t is over for more than the decora-
 tons cost. That is what I call finance.
 If the directors of the association were
 equal to that finance. your fair would
 certainly be a money-making proposi-
 tion besides the general good that it
 does"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-10-09
IN HOTEL LOBBIES
 AND ELSEWHERE
$. 0. S. for Crops

 T don't want anyone to think that am that kind of a human being that { likes to spread gloom, for I am not But just the same the people of this state should wake up to the fact that | the crops in many parts of the state are not going to be as good as they were last year" says Will Lathem.
 Around CottondaIe, Tuscaloosa and Gordo and other points that l am familiar with the boil weevil has been the main object in causing the farmers to feel discouraged. But right behind them, doing nearly as much damage as the boll-weevil. is the corn stalk worm and the bean bugs. The corn stalk worm gets in at the root of the corn stalks and sucks away the sub stance that should go into the making of the ears of corn.
 Everybody knows the destructive work of the bean bug. They make a bean field look like it has been exposed to shell fire for about two hours. But l am not going to offer a remedy. I don't know any. But 1 think that ff the government experts or anybody else have any kind of cures or remedies to get rid of these pests. they should crops of the state are to be preserved they must be taken under control at once.p
The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-10-09
Should Be Removed.

Every city has to have them, but 1t seems to me that Birmingham has more beggars than is her share" said w. E. Harris last night q do nor mean 10 De heartless, and no one has a more kindly feeling for the down and out than I have, but it is an imposi
 tion on the public to have so many people asking for help It is true that many of them sell pencils OF soma. thlng like that to give them an excuse Tor being there, but their real motive IS to beg. Charitable institutions should provide for these people and not let the public be left to be imposed upon"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-10-09
NO GERMANS

NO GERMANS
 What do you ti.nk about the new immig ,apts?''
 T guess theyn do said the 2Sse,, ana citizen.
 ~Yese As soon as they set through Ellis island you don't l.e@, any of them in- quiring for the near t turuyeren.o
 "A FAMILY AFFAIR Senator snortworthy says he nas been mentioned for the presidency Indeed? Who mentioned hin." The senator maintains an air of pre- found secrecy, but I suspect his private secretary"
 HE'D BETTER NOT RETURN Where are all your bellboys?" ' They are holding an indignation meet. ing, said the head clerk. q gave them zen minutes 10 pass a set of resolutions. '~ NuaL ; tne lfOuDle9'
 "A millionaire just eft the hot., ana. the total amount of tips they got out ofa him was less than eighty cents"
 HARD TO SAW Docs prohibition prohibit?' asked the inaustive stranger
  T really don't know,'' said the cautious man.
 But isn't it fact that your local jaler resigned because the jail wax empty?"
 Yes. but I understand he is now naak- ing great deal of money in the boots logging business PAUL COOK.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-10-09
Amendments Aim at
 a Greater Alabama

6TWO amendments to the state con-
 U stitution are to be voted on in November. One will allow Alabama to aid the development of the common port of the state at Mobile. The To- cation of the port does not enter into the question. It is as much the port of Huntsville and Fort Payne as it is that of Greenville and Montgomery. of Eutaw and Talladega, of Tuscaloosa and Birmingham.
 The rumble of low prices points to the outer world as the place for us to send our surplus production. We can reach the outer world with greatest economy and dispatch through the port of Mobile.
 The amendment appropriates no money. It will only enable successive legislatures from time to time to de- vote such state aid to that common cause as seems proper and right. The people, through their legislators, will have voice in each appropriation.
 The Jefferson county amendment applies only to this county. It is en- tirely separate and distinct from the state amendment. It will enable lief ferson county to stand by the Port
The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-10-09
TESTS
From the Writers Monthly.

From the Writers Monthly.
 Administrator Walter Hines Page was formerly one of the editors of Worlds Work and, like all editors, was obliged to refuse great many stories. A lady once wrote him:
 Sir You sent back last week a story of mine I know that you did not read the story. For IS a test I had pasted together pages Is, i9 and 20 and the story came back with these pages still pasted and so I know you are a fraud and turn down stories without reading same.
 MT. Page wrote back:
 Madam: At breakfast when I open an egg I don't have to eat the whole egg to discover it is bad
The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-10-09
A BETTER PLAN

From the Kansas City Star.
 By paying $40 day for an apartinent in Chicago. Ethel Barrymore finds that she is saving s110 a day over the amount it would cost her to live in Chicago hotel. Well, that is one way to save money, Another way'is to stay away frcar Ia ic., a
The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-10-09
DECAY OF A BANDIT

From the Baltimore American.
 A noted bandit confined in western penitentiary has become reformed character by taking up embroidery. The scope of up-to-date penology is thus widened by introducing cross stitch stitch and purling into prison life as reformatory agents.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-10-09

do Cne people snail decide after the amendment is adopted. Jefferson simply asks the people of Alabama to help unite the letters that inhabit 1t from exploitation of a vital interest.
 Both amendments mean greater Alabama. It is difficult to conceive real opposition to either. The German liner Bismarck, which would have been the worlds largest vessel and was to have been turned over to the allies when completed. was burned at Hamburg. The cause of the fire was not explained. No ex- ! planation is needed. # x x Sixty persons arrested during an- archist riots in Italy have refused to eat. Since there is no great abundance of food in Italy. they may discover that they are not hurting anybody's feel ngs.
 'spinster' wrote letter to the New York Tribune protesting against tho indecent exposure of a young woman's ears. We are willing to give her the benefit of the doubt She probably wasn't dressed to go out # # #
 The birth rate in the United States is not what it might have been if the people of this country had paid little more attention to the late Colonel Roosevelt
 Consider the cow" advises con- temporary. There is a scarcity of ruminants in our town, but we are compelled to consider the wild motor car every walking moment.
 x < <
 Dr. Eliot says President Wilson is not issue in the campaign He is not speaking, however, for the propaganda ists of the republican campaign com mittee.
 "Of course Cleveland could win a pennant-after Cincinnati showed her how" says the Pittsburg Dispatch. We don't want a repetition of that Gin cinnati victory Senator Harding continues to emulate the time-honored weather-vane in shifting his position as the wind blows. Uncle Joe Cannon predicts repub lican victory. Uncle Joe solemnly Wilson was a goner.
 # # # Beauteous movie stars should twinkle | while they may. When youth is gone, the heartless camera will tell the world about it.
 # # # When silk shirts become a drug in | the market there will be hope for the white collar" man who never wore | one in his life.
 Law enforcement officers who sell l confiscated wet goods to a few trust- worthy clients are probably thinking about the wife and kiddies."
 < # *
 When Cox and Roosevelt are elected young Theodore Roosevelt will be forced into temporary eclipse Comiskey's present to the Straight" White sox players lifted their hearts out of the grave
 Tender thoughts of the turkey bird inspire some doubt about the cranberry crop.
 Our football players are on the level Otherwise they could not look so fierce and wild
 The predicted shortage of chorus girls must have referred to the little ones who dance in the front row.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-10-09
Looks Better

1 am glad to note that the old resi- oence between the First Presbyterlan Church and the Christian Church on Twenty-first street is receiving a coat of paint said John C. Henley, flor it had been allowed to fall into bad repair and naturally so as the owners are waiting to build a mercantile establishment on it later. l merely mention it as show ing what little paint can accompl;.I, in the tidying up and brightening the looks of an old house It's a good ad- vertisement for the paint dealers
The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-10-09
Omnipresent

Charlie. the grandson of c. M. Me haffey. 4014 Avenue E, Aypndale. set ou, five cotton plants in the back yard last spring.
 They grew, f1ourished and fruited, said MT. Mehaffey yesterday This morning I examined them closely. Every boil was inhabited by weevil. How they got there, I don't know, but they have ruined the youngsters crop"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-10-09
Some Russian Gold
 for Propapandists

PLANTATION and disease are dec S mating the population of Petro- grad and most observers agree that soviet Russia is on the verge of eco- rcrric ruin. vet we are confronted with the apparent paradox of $33s, ,6o6 in Russian gold which recently arrived in America. The department of justice and secret service officials are now in- yestigating this mysterious shipment.
 It is not unlikely that the money IS intended to carry on the propaganda of bolsheyism. A slightly larger sum of soviet money was paid to well known London paper and the disclo- sure created scandal which is still being talked about.
 America should be on guard against the menace of the foreign-language newspaper, as we'll as radical publi- cations printed in English. Not until the war opened our eyes did we realize the danger of an alien press, financed from abroad and hostile to American institutions. Propagandists are just as numerous and just as alert as they ever were, and the bolsheviG are by ns means the least active of this un- ssyury crowd
 If soviet gold is being sent to Amer iea from some unknown source the American government should find out where it comes from and who is re- eeiving it. The sum of $339, ,636 is not considered large nowadays, but it would be a great help to many q long haired, wild-eyed editor who is preaching the doctrine of destruction.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-10-09
NOT LIKE JIM HAM

From the Washington Post.
 He stroked his whiskers carelessly." '" wrote Jack Messenger of J. Ham Lewis.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-10-09
A MORNING PRAYER

A MORNING PRAYER
 Grant that I may not wrong thee today, o God, by longing Tor to- u,orrov. Thou hnst given me this p,cment for a sacred purpose. so may | use tt--and tomorrow VIII DC better than my dream. Amen.
 --M- s. B.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-10-09
NOT TO BE FOOLED

NOT TO BE FOOLED
 We'll remarked the talkative man, Whats the news from MexicoY T understand Caranza's dead, said the ultra-conservative citizen
 Good heavens. Carranza was assasai mated long ago"
 Maybe he was but 1 got into the habit of waiting for news from Mexico to be fully coroborated about the tune we were going to catch Villa in twenty four hours"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-10-09

STRICTLY NEUTRAL. Whats Rhis scerario about?" asked the movie magnate Cleopatra" replied the hack writer. Who's she"
 She was queen of Egypt" "Ha! Ain't t there some kind of quarrel between Egypt and Great Britain?Y Yes"
 Well just can that scenario. I ain't going to get mixed up in any of this anti British propaganda
The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-10-09

A SOUND PRODUCER The party spellbinder Is tireless and loud; The joy of his life is Haranguing a crowd. He may not be learned, Well read or profound, But the strength of his lungs doe Amaze and astound.