davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-03-18
4 ReaL Arirstocracv
By JOHN CARLYLE

Students of the history of civilization agree that human progress is brought about by the activity of a small group--the intelligent group. In other words, they agree that civil izatlon rests upon living foundation and that this living foundation is entirely mat ter of quality and not of quantity.
 As long as this small but intelligent group does not entirely die out and so long as it accepts its great measure of responsibility for the maintenance of high standards of living civilization can be sustained. When the group no longer functions in high degree or moral and intellectual capacity, ciyiliza- tion must decline. -
 That is the history of Other civilizations and that will be the history of the present system. It is matter of quality, a matter ot a small group, not matter of numbers.
 What civilization needs, then, for its up- building and it's upholding is a real aristocI racy. @1r glS
 This is not to be an aristocracy of money or social position or special privilege To say, even, that it is to be an aristocracy of brains does not fully describe it. It is to be benevolent and beneficent aristocracy
 Its members will be those who have ac- qulred power and influence and leadership by their, full acceptance of their moral and ethical responsibilities for the good of the greater number.
 Its members will not prate about their rights" They will not be those who insist on getting all that's coming to them" They will not be those who insist that the other fellow must always meet them half way. They will not be the hard-boiled and the over-critical.
 The members of this real aristocracy will be the co-operators and the self-sacrificers and the kind-hearted. They will be the peace makers of life and they will bear the burdens of those who do i'll because of ignorance and because of poverty of thought and poverty of vision. '' VI
 Victor Hugo once said that the most pow- erful thing in the world is an idea whose hour has come.
 The idea that the benevolent and the in. teiligent few must feel to their depths their great responsibility for the maintenance of clyiliSation is one of the greatest ideas that man can ever have
 Its hour has come
The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-03-18
ON SCHOOL CONDITIONS

Reports from the nine sub-committees on conditions and needs in the public schools not only verify the school building survey made by the board of education, but show that the conclusions of that body were conserva- tive, and that conditions are even more des- perate than the board reported. The per sonnel of the subcommittee includes many of the most intelligent and publc-spirited citizens. Their work was painstaking and constructive. Their reports will be submit ted to the general committee representing the various civic bodies at d meeting tonight to recommend a program as a basis for calling q bond issue election.
 Conditions and needs of the schools as re- ported by the essub-committees emphasize the necessity of immediate improvements and re- lief, and clearly set forth that there can be no evasion by the citizens of their obligations. Just how far the community may go in au-
The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-03-18
TODAY. THE VIADUCTS

After waiting patiently and pleading ear nestly for a generation for relief from the Grade-crossing menace, the people ot Blr- mingham are again advised by the city com mission that their plans are worked out for the beginning of construction and that definite agreement between the city and the Railroads for action is expected to result from the conference scheduled today between the commission and several railroad execu- lives. The commission announces that it has finally completed definite construction pro- xram. The railroads claimed months ago that they had worked out complete plans, and were prepared to proceed as soon as the city commission would present workable pro- gram. But 50 far the commission has been outwitted as far as actual agreement on con- Etruction is concerned.
 The conference today should, therefore, be in the nature of showdown. The need for relief is pressing and grows more acute every day. The situation now is well-nigh intoler- able both as respects the menace to life and limb and the heavy unnecessary cost to the business interests. The railroads could make no better investment in their own behalf than to provide the necessary protection both to the public and to themselves. The com mission could perform more pressing pub lie duty than to bring about a prompt be- ginning in construction work. The public knows where the responsibility lies, and is looking to the commission for protection.
 H Tn this connection the public demand for the opening of Nineteenth street is properly insistent. To block a theroughfare in the heart of the business district, when the pub lie need for it's use becomes daily more pressing, is not only false economy, but de- liberate submersion of the public welfare to private interests. Why the city commission should appear to concur in such a policy under which the major public interest would be sacrificed on behalf of minor private con aideration is hard to understand. It is the duty of the city commission to safeguard the public interests by including in it's plans the opening and use of Nineteenth street. The commission is obligated to safeguard the public welfare, not to cooperate in programs Resigned to promote private interests. The people need Nineteenth street. That need is continuously increasing. That is the req son for the insistent demand from business interests and the unmistakable public senti- ment that this central street be made avail able for public traffic.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-03-18
Watching The Pardde
Rx ,JOHN PIT.GRINr

Last night was caught in a storm and rather than plug all the way home through the rain dropped into little restaurant for dinner. It was a dark. almost a dingy little place. A sort of a hole. But every seat was taken and every customer seemed to be content.
 "Dees-a night" said the waiter, i've have-a da cheesa pie"
 That little restaurant won another client right there. and incidentally a train of thought was started in my mind. One of my favorite theories has been that no man fails in business except through some failure in himself. The bird of success is hopping along in front of every one of us. We only need put out hand to lay hold on its tail feathers.
 "It was that cheese pie that made two fortunes that know of" said to myself, land bought baron outright in Switzer- land."
 When I first knew the Little French Cellar in another city it was in as dark and dingy and unkempt place as the one I discovered last night. Monsieur did the cooking, ma dame sat at the cashiers desk and mademoi- selle waited on the table, until the flood tide of prosperity forced the employment of Henri and Pierre. The new customers were brought by old customers who raved about the cheese pie. They stayed because they found other equally deleetable edibles. Their wives rarely came second time, for the fair sex thinks more of beauty in surroundings than paradise on plate. But the men kept coming until the cellar became a basement, and then a floor.
 Monsieur and madame accepted Henri as partner. They bought one farm and then another farm in order to raise the exotic vegetables they needed for their delicious dishes. When mademoiselle inherited she married a baron. He was luxury, she ad- mitted, but she could afford luxuries. The baroness kept as rigorous an eye on the res taurant as her mother had. It was still dingy and dusty, but cheese pie was on the. bill of fare. lzt
 Here is the proof of my theory. Year after year the rival restaurants have gone broke They had no cheese pies. Their proprietors lacked that one tiny inspiration that spells success. '-
The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-03-18
Health By Indirection
By H. ADDINGrON BRUCR

There is a valuable hint for the nervous in general in the advice which psychologically trained physicians nowadays give to patients who come to them complaining of inability to sleep:
 Don't try too hard to fall asleep. That will tend t okeep you awake, not only by keeping you in a state of tension, but by keeping your mind fixed on your wakeful- ness."
 For precisely similar reasons all whose nervousness is due to preoccupation with anx- ious, worrying thoughts, should avoid delib- crate effort to banish from their minds the ideas that torment them.
 Too often, having been warned by a medi- cal man that if they wish to be well they must suppress the particular worry that be- sets them, they seek to do so by resolutely reiterating to themselves, q will not worry about the thing that disquiets me-"
 What is the actual effect of this? It is to make it harder for them to banish the dis quieting idea.
 For, manifestly, with each reiteration of "I will not worry about this or that" the object of the worry is presented vividly to the mind. By the law of association of ideas, it brings up forthwith the painful emotional images that have become linked with it. The nthe worrier is likely to start worrying more intensely than ever.
 The proper mode of attack is not the frontal one of an emphatic, "I will not worry, but the indirect one of developing interests that will effect a gradual substitution of new ideas and associations in the place of the worrying ones.
 That is why ''Work Cures" "Play Cures'' and Hobby Cures are peculiarly beneficial to the nervous. Each in it's own way, as interest in it augments, tends to relax the tension of incessant self attention and to make dominant in the mind ideas having pleasant associations.
 Thus the required banishment of the un- pleasant is almost effortlessly effected-cer- tainly is effected as it cannot be through viz orous insistence on one's ability to conquer by sheer exercise of will-power.
 Don't fight, let go,' is another way of stating the same procedure. Remember al- ways that it is at bottom a question of oust- ing one set of. ideas by another. And the busting can never be effected by any means that. however unwittingly, keeps the unde- sired ideas in the forefront of attention.
 As the psychologist Hoffding long ago phrased it, in a passage of peculiar signifi- canoe to the nervous, and one which, if taken to heart by them, would in many cases mean speedy and complete freedom from nervous ness:
 Tt is not possible to oppose an idea quite directly. The art of forgetting can only con- sist in the suppression of certain ideas by means of others. One who wishes to forget must look for powerful and great series of ideas, in which his thought may efully oc- cupied."
The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-03-18
A Wonderful Castle
By Dn. FRANk CRANE


 \ I wish you could see my castle. It is 1 like it. ss@ 9s It is old, so old that the historians do not know when 1t was built. A place is not really home nnless it be old. One might as we'll be in hotel hs in q new house. $ ]
 It has grown that Is more accurate than to say it was built.
 Each generation has added or taken from it, or altered it to suit
 It rises from the edge of river. From the doors you can step into a boat. A green sward on the other side slopes down to a lake. In the distance is the sea. Back to the north is high mountain on which the snow fingers until June, making of the peak a white needle that is silver and glass and gold in the evening sun. A forest of ancient trees is in the park. t
 Entering my house you find yourself in d broad hall that leads to. a central court where there are palms and a fountain and rose trees.
 The family room is very large, as spacious as a banquet hall. At one. end is a fire place great enough to burn full-length cord wood. Beside it are wide leather seats. The ceiling is of oak and heavily beamed. Wide windows on all sides open down to the floor.
 All the wall space throughout the castle is occupied with book shelves. The house is one huge library. All the great books in the world are there. I have them all bound in uniform red limp leather, with my book plate in gilt on each.
 T I have a stenographer who speaks ten Ian. guages and takes dictation as rapidly as I can give it. She has never made a mistake. My study is full of light. A wood fire crackles cheerily while work. Every morn ing fresh roses or lilies or other soft breathed flowers are on my desk.
 There are twenty guest chambers, and the castle is always full of company. The most clever, learned and intelligent men and women of the whole world come to visit me-
 There are also beyy of young people of ginger beer age, popping with enthusiasm, ever with me. I cannot do without them: In my dozen automobiles they make daily ex- cursions round about. ;- ,fe i
 Ships from the Orient can sail up the river to my door; and they bring strange stuffs and woods and spices, and amuse us with their different manners and speech.
 It is always tempered summer where live. The smell of oranges, of tamarinds, and of flowers is in the air continually.
 l have treasurer who supplies me with all the money need, a secretary who at- tends to my correspondence, 6 tailor who looks after my clothing, factor who man! ages the castle and estate, a chef who is a past master in cooking, a physician who at tends to the health of all, deyout man who has taken holy orders in Mohammedanism. Buddhism and Christianity, and who, there. fool who amuses us when we are bored. fore, keeps us supplied with juicy argument. and wife who looks after my immortal soul. ,5 -.'
 Alas! l am afraid you can never find this place, much as I should love to have you come and see me- -
 For my castle is in Spain,
The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-03-18
Forum Of The People
A Pest Election Grievance''
ne Editor of The Age-Herald:

To the Editor of The Age-Herald: -+"
 Will you allow me space in your valuable paper to express the post-election grievance of defeated Musgrove supporter? As the boiting prohibitionists and the wet crowd are wrangling over the Underwood victory, we deep dyed in the wool drys are believing the vets are entitled to more consideration, and no doubt will be shown more in the fu- ture, for they voted to a man for their leader. The real simon-pure faction of the drys stood loyal by their chosen leader, but went down in honorable defeat Instead of con- tending for any share of the victory, we are consoling ourselves with the fact that it is better to be in the minority and be right than be in the majority and be wrong. I have voted for Mir. Bryan three times, Hobson once, and Mir. Musgrove twice. This will in part explain my shortcoming in the brand of state manifested in our election
 will vote for an original dry in Oregon before voting for a recent convert in Ala bama. If you remember correctly, the vets and drys supported Governor Brandon. He swore to enforce the laws, yet he with his pardoning board and power has done more to destroy the prohibition laws than all known agencies. He has never disappointed the wets Some of the drys regret voting for him, but are not saying much about it. We need men with backbone from president down to enforce our laws. Not until then are the violators going to respect them Look at J. l.. Roden with his fifteenth par don. It's enough to make Cole Blease hang his head in shame. The towns in our state encourage the violations of the dry law by assessing small fines. They do this in order to get the revenue for the town It is no more nor less than cheap license to do busi- neSs
 With the drys disrupted and the vets re- joicing over their victory. prohibition is evi- dently on the wane. The pendulum has swung, and now the bootleggers are camp ing on the trail of the drys. We need an educated public sentiment, and above all good men, without previous wet affiliations to enforce laws. Syrup here has scared to the price of one dollar per gallon because of the demands of demon rum. Many poor children in this section will have to do without their sweet till the supply increases. In some sections near here you can get from drink to carload. The very atmosphere is sur charged with the odor of the fumes of demon rum: If anyone doubts this statement, ask the Rev. H. T. McNeel of Marianna Florida. D. D. STEPHENS, Nj. D.
 Slocomb, Ala, March 15 19924
The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-03-18
The Right Word
By CURrIs NICHoLsoN
A Study Of The PrOnoun Find the error in this article)

(t1nd the error in this article) The following letter has been received from R. G. Earle of Durham, Oklahoma: Please give the correct form for the pro- noun in the following sentences and give the reasons:
 Its being (me) should make no differ ence."
 The right word is I, because the pronoun follows being.
 T took that tall man to be him tor he).' The right word is him, for the objective case follows the infinitive "to be" proceeded by subject; as, knew it to be her. Its being he Cor him) should make no difference"
 The right word is he. Consult the first example.
 "To be he (or him) is to to be a scholar" The right word is he. The nominative case follows to be, when to be is not preceded by a subject; as, I would like to be he.
 Being he tor him) is not being q scholar. The right word is he. Note the reason in the first example = For one to be him tor he) is not to be an idler.'
 The right word is him. Note the reason in the second example. "l wish to be he tor him." The right word is he. Note the reason in the fourth example.
 Yesterdays Error
 Wrong for two persons are only re- Right: for only two persons are re- ferred to ....
The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-03-18

thorizing expenditures to provide the pressing needs of the schools will be considered by the general committee tonight, and is a matter for the voters to determine. It is evident, however, that existing conditions strongly call for relief, and that the needs are so pressing that failure to provide them now would be false economy. The community has heavy responsibility, and should go just as far as the present financial condition of the city will justify in meeting that responsibility. Any other decision would be short-sighted and wasteful, and would result in injury to the community through neglect of proper public education.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-03-18
NEW Y. M. H. A. BUILDING

Dedication of the imposing new home of the Young Mems Hebrew Association marked another step in the moral and social progress of the community. It required industry, purpose and faith on the part of a compara- lively small organization to undertake the erection of this structure. So much the more credit for the spirit of the members who at- tained notable success in their worthy ef- forts. The new home will supply need in providing means for advancing the physical, religious and mental purposes of the associa- tion, and will contribute to it's opportunities for service, while providing additional archi. city. tHSt's!
The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-03-18
4 AComparision Box

lkatherine Edelman in Kansas City Star.) Often l walk beside little streams A1d the thought comes: How like life is to these waters: some of it finding easy, pleasant ways, tnrirpled by evrn the smallest current And some fiIuiin2 s,Iange places anl paths Outside the winding sheltering banks; And some working itself over rocky, hard
 places And coming out clear and cool and sweet But some. alas! Seeking and finding the darksome, staEnant
 places '. And lying foul and murky and loathersome
 to the eye, Its only hope of cleansing the wild. torrentiaI
 storm Just as the sin burdened soul is often swept By some deep and heartfelt sorrow Into nobler. more beautiful existence,
The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-03-18
LET IT BE A REAL BONUS

The bonus proposal to be recommended by the house ways and means committee has the double demerit of being an evasion and compromise It is an evasion in that it is not q bonus but scheme for turning bonus credits into life insurance authorized over a period of twenty years. It is compromise, because it is an admission of the justice of the demand for the bonus without any pro- vision for a real payment, except for those who were in the service more than sixty and
The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-03-18

less than one hundred and ten days, who will be given cash consideration. Either this nation will grant a bonus or it will refuse a bonus. If it grants bonus, it must be in such form as to extend material benefit. The only sincere alternative would be no bonus at all at this time. But. there must be bonus. so let it be a square out-and-out. bon,is not subterfugc.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-03-18
The McNary Forestry Bill
To the Editor of The Aee-Hersld.

4o tHc Ol l ne Age-t1eralQ.
 l am taking the liberty of calling your attention to a matter in which I feel you must be very greatly interested. It relates to the McNary forestry bill about which talked at various group conferences recently in the South. The bill was introduced in the senate December 15. and was referred to the committee on agriculture and forestry. senator McNary believes that if he can have tnls Dill reported out of committee within the next two or three weeks it can be passed Tn the senate. The same bill in the house, the Clarke bill, is now before the house com mttee on agriculture. Mir. Clarke is conf. dent that he can have it reported promptly and favorably acted upon if members of that committee are made to understand it's inn aportance. The point is that the lumber in- "dustry must place itself on record in rela- tlon to T federal forest policy. It is the consensus of opinion among lumbermen for esters and all who are familiar with the va rious legislative proposals hitherto offered Tn both the house and the senate that the McNary bill is the most sound and practical the most businesslike and least regulatory of any proposals now under. or likely to be under, consideration.
 The P1nchot bill, providing for an occupa- tlon tax of $0 on all lumber produced in the United States, with a proviso of return of $4.90 in case the cutting of the timber con. forms to certain regulations to be set up hereafter IS also before the senate committee on agriculture and forestry. This bill as introduced by Senator Capper is impractical ble and would place unnecessary restraints and penalties upon the lumber industry It IS ot much importance that the national for estW policy be directed along the McNary ln%3, not the Pinchot lines make this ex, plantation in the hope that you may perform signal service to q great industry of your state by helping to secure the report and passage of the McNary- Clarke bill.
 NATIONAL LUMBER MANUFAC CTT1R
 FRS ASSOCIATION.
 Edgar P. Allen,
The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-03-18

Federal officers had the books analysed by government experts at once. They re- ported it to be synthetic literature. 'It Is all freshly made stuff. Every book we read had a terrible kick in it, and was colored like the real stuff, but it was rank poison," de- clared one of the chemists.
 The confiscated literature was tried out on white mice. White mice have to stand for everything. One of the books, a daring novel written by a famous European writer whose works have been banned in this coun- try, was placed in the same cage with a white mouse. The mouse died almost imme- diately.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-03-18
TO THE POINT

People who talk the most generally ottrsct the least attention. Any woman can fool man by letting him think he is fooling her.
 When a man insists that he knows what ne IS talking about, make him prove it.
 A man without single idea is less of
 It's easier to write book ons"Jov to c.at recipes. e " '0"l w"