davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1902-07-28
SENATOR cLAY's RIGID RULE.

From the P1ttSburg Dispatch.
 The platform of Hon. A. S. Clay, sen- ator from Georgia, is principally refresh ing as giving the lie to prevalent north ern idea of the natural amusements of the south. It has been supposed that the playing of draw poker, the racing of horses and the drinking of whisky were things that the southerner imbibed as with his native atmosphere But if that were so a southern senator would not rise In fierce denunciation of those practices Senator Clay not only denounces those practices. He goes far beyond putting under the ban those who indulge in them. He is quoted as declaring that a nom- inee for a fourth-class postoffce shall not be confirmed because his father, F years ago, engaged in all these deleterious amusements.
 If no man were permitted to take poli- tical office who allowed himself to be attracted by the seductive allurements of whisky, poker and horse-racing there would be a heavy political mortality But that rigid rule would be mild com pared to the addition that no man whose father was so loose in his practices shall have office, either. While there is scrip tural authority about the sins of the fathers being visited upon the children 1t seems little extreme in this case. In view of the fact that Senator Clays family has been domiciled in the south for some time his high standard -evokes an inquiry whether he Is quite sure of the record of all his ancestors being free from swelling the jackpot or backing the favorite.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1902-07-28
LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE.
Present Settlement Will Probably
 Cause Dozen Failures.

London, July 27.-Thanks to the per- sistent dropping of prices throughout the past week, the present settlement will probably cause a half dozen failures. South African securities are stin at the bottom of the trouble and Americans are the one bright spot of a dispirited market. At one stage of settlement 1t appeared that serious failures might oc- cur, but this phase was tided over and such accounts as have been closed are comparatively insignificant. The con- tinued decline in South African shares caused a realization on investment stocks, especially consols which suf- fered accordingly.
 The political interest in the colonies was not reflected in financial circles, tho Victorian loan proving quite a failure and the British Columbian loan, though underwritten, not being placed on the market as it was intended 1t should be. A majority of the financial writers seem inclined to believe that the worst is over, though the apatheticaI ways incl dent to a holiday time prevents them from becoming at all optimistic. How ever, with the weeding out process "hicn Will doubtless occur during the settlement 1t is believed that healthier interests may be induced to enter the market, and in anticipation of this, the closing dealings yesterday displayed a slightly better tone.
 The stock exchange requirements and the usual end of the month demands will make money, the rates for which have shown an easy tendency most in de- mand. Gold is still needed in Paris, but this condition is not likely to continue now that the rente conversion has proved so successful. The position of the Bank Of England is considered strong and any necessary aid can readily be afforded
 curious change in the bank routine consists in the announcement that on and after Saturday August 1o the bank will close at o'clock Saturday instead of at 2, the present Saturday closing hour.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1902-07-28

Isle of Pines is more American than Cuban. All honorable men will how ever say that the little island lying close to the south shore of Cuba be- longs to Cuba and should be handed over to her.
 Ths question comes up along with remonstrance from President Palma relative to a pile of coal belonging to the United States, which is lying on a wharf in Havana The pile in question consists of about ten thousand tons worth about s2O,OO0. The irreconcile- able element in Havana is kicking up a pretty fuss over this coal pile. By them it Is considered an affront to the dignity of the new republic, and Pres dent Palma has been induced to de- mand it's speedy removal.
 It is plain that Secretary Moody will not be in a hurry to move the coal. It will probably be put in bunk CTS of our ships from time to time until 1t is exhausted. This was the original intention, and it is scarcely probable that that intenton will be changed at the instance of Havana mob.
 The entire affair, as well as the controversy over the Isle of Pines, is unfortunate, because it stirs up bad blood between this country and the new republic, and there should be helpful acts instead of hot words be- tween them. It illustrates anew the folly of Senator Teller's piece of sem timentalism, and it also makes plain the injustice that the trusts did when they crushed reciprocity. That injus- tice is ranking in Cuban bosoms to- day, enabling demagogues to inflame the public mind against this country. If We harbor the trusts we are indeed responsible for their acts especially in legislation, and they own congress when the republicans are in power.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1902-07-28
cRITIcIsEs THE GOVERNMENT.
Lord colerldge Says Loss of Life and
 Money Was Too Great.

London, -uly 27.-Lord Coleridge speaking at Ealing, County of Middle sex, tonight, vigorously criticised the governments treatment of the Boers. He declared that Lord Miner, British high commissioner in South Africa and governor of the Transvaal and for Orange River Colony, became an active partisan immediately he arrived in South Africa.
 'If," said Lord Coleridge, "the gov ernment had only had a tincure of liberalism, 1t could have known that our would be costly and that men would fight to the death for their country. The loss of lives and money since the capture of Pretoria must be laid at Great Britain's door. Had the terms on which surrender was final ly effected been then offered the Boers would have accepted them"
 Lord Coleridge added that If the gov ernment intended to police the new country with national scouts, these traitors" Lord Coleridge called them, peaceful settlement would be impos- sible.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1902-07-28
At the Auditorium.

Tonight at the Auditorium the friends of Givernor Jelks and the new constitution, of the primary system and honest elections, will assemble to hear discussed by John B. Knox and Dr. Cunningham the peculiar issues of the present campaign. The build ing, big as it is, should be filled by the friends of the reform cause. MT. Knox never descends to demagogry. He is ever logical, sincere and con- vincing Dr. Cunningham Is well known to the people of this county. He a typical stump speaker, and all who go the Auditorium will be sure to haer many rhetorical sallies In the best of humor touching the foibles of the Johnston-Wa campaign. The two speakers are perhaps the best in the state, each however in his own speciality. Dr. Cunningham's humor and keen attacks will offset MT. Knox's unanswerable logic.
 Let there be a full attendance to- night, both for the sake of the infor- nation that will be supplied from the stage, and also for the good credit of the cause. If there should be slim attendance the statement would be heralded from one end of the state to the other that Governor Jelks and constitutional and electoral reform had few friends in Jefferson county. Such a slander aganst the fair fame of this county should be nipped in the bud, and the best way to do it is by filling the Auditorium tonight-to the doors. It is a big theatre, but there are friends enough of Alabama's ad- mirable governor and of the new con stitution and of electoral reform to fill it, and even create an overflow meeting. Come out and bring your neighbors along.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1902-07-28
BERLIN BoERsE.
General Stagnation is Relieved by
 Heavy Trading in Funds.

Berlin, July 27.-The general stagna- tion of the boerse last week was re- lieved by heavy trading in general funds, besides large investments by domestic buyers, unusual foreign orders were exc cuted, London leading and Paris and Brussels following with heavy purch- ases. It is understood that the French religious orders and societies are buy ing German funds in large amounts after selling French rentes as a demonstration against M. Combes. the French premier, because of his recent order for the clos ing of the unauthorized congregational ist schools.
 German 3 per cents and Prussian con- sols yesterday reached the highest quo- tation known for some years.
 Iron and coal shares had the worst week for months, notwithstanding the fact that wrought iron bars advanced five marks and castings ten marks, iron shares fell heavily, some of the best de- clining 6 to 10 points, and coalers drop ped correspondingly. Trade reports from the iron and steel industry are not so favorable
 Other industrial shares were dull, but some machineries, textiles and cements were higher.
 The balance sheet of the Shuckett Electrical company of Nuremberg shows loss of 15,200.00O marks against net earnings of 6,250,00O marks for the pre- ceding year.
 The report of the Continental company for electrical undertakings, which con- cern the Shuckerts are financing, shows a loss of 119S,372 marks, and the Shuck- erts had to write off 100000 marks to cover the depreciation.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1902-07-28
IN HOTEL LoBBIES.
Feature of Iron Trade.

There is every promise of a sustained iron market until after all the output for the first six months of 1903 is sold and I would not be surprised if prices con- tinued strong for the last half of next year." said an iron maker yesterday.
 As to features of the iron situation the following remarks by Rogers, Brown & Co.'S New York correspondent are of decided interest: The abrupt reversal of the foreign movement Is one of the most striking chapters in the history of Ameri- can iron. Two years ago all Europe was alarmed over importations of American iron and steel It was underselling home products in Great Britain and one the continent, and coming in such volume as to create panic among foreign makers. Many American houses opened branches in English and continental centers. The threatened invasion of cheap iron from this country has been the chief theme of foreign trade and financial writers since.
 The actual outward movement stopped over a year ago. but the foreigners were skeptical, believing the improvement in this country ephemeral, and that, on its brakdown. the surplus that must be un- loaded on Europe would be all the great CT.
 But the importations which com menced in quantity about six months ago, have steadily increased and are now the main factor in improving the bad trade conditions abroad. It Is difficult to as- certain the real facts, but the best esti- mates are that six or eight thousand tons of foreign iron and steel material in various forms are now reaching our shores daily'"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1902-07-28
The Fall of Venice,

Venice is again in mourning. There was an hour when she held the east in fee. II has gone. There was an hour when her argosies ruled the waters. IL has gone. There was an hour when the glory of her art dazzled the world. It has gone. There was an hour when no power disputed her marts and might. It has gone. There was an hour when of all cities she was the cruelest, perhaps the richest, indubitably the fairest, and certainly the worst It has bone. There was an hour when, from her Campanile, Gallileo discerned that the earth was not motionless, but moving The earth has spun so swiftly since that the splen- dors of Venice, like her sins, are dim today. Even the Campanile has crum- bled
 The Campanile is so old that, as is the case with other masterpieces, it has been fancied immortal. When it was built the Straits of Gibraltar-the Pillars of Hercules, as they were then called represented the limits of the earth. It Vas centuries later that this continent was discovered.
 The circumstances is significant It was with the discovery of the new world that the decline of Venice began. Yet the circumstances, though significant, Is natural. The fate of cities and of Cam paniles is decay. It is the fate of Venice. There was an hour when she was said to float on the Adriatic like a fleet at anchor. That hour is not gone, but go- ing. Venice, who from her argisies ruled the waters, as Rome. from her hills once ruled the world, is rotting away.
 After all. why not? Such is the doom of empires. The decay of our own over lordshlp Is tolerably remote, but it will overtake Us as surely as 1t has Venice.
 Meanwhile, as there is always some thing to be thankful for we may be thankful that Venice still subsists. Though Ter sins and her splenders have departed, her charm endures.
 That charm is such that it catches you as wonder does, as disease does also de- taining you, whether you vii: or will not. A tourist went there to stop over night That is thirty years ago. He is stopping
The Birmingham age-herald., 1902-07-28

there yet When we learned of the so- journ we could have assaulted him for sheer envy.
 For in and about the s in water that Is called the Grand canal. and in ana about the still lagoons. there are ghosts and entertainments, and with them colors and silences which by comparison with the fuss and hurry and noise of local life lift you to the uplands of dream
 For Venice hes long ceased to be pro- gressive. She is a lady with a past, a past at once admirable and abominable. with the memories of which she has been content, as. ages hence, perhaps. New York and Chicago will be content with their own.
 If there are, which is problematic, it requires no gift of prophecy to predict that in the. decay of these cities the charm which shall detain a tourist, even over night, is. at present, undeveloped. For that matter what shall detain the future tourist? The objects of interest which for us MT. Baedeker catalogues and to which MT. Cook conducts will have vanished.
 1oudy, however imaginative a tourist may be, no longer can he hear the music of archaic hymns rustling through the rushes of the Nile. The shriek of steam has hushed it. However somnambulistio he may be, no longer may he behold the gladiators saluting Caesar from the arena Telegraph poles prevent him.
 The course of the Nile is unchanged. As yet the Coliseum has not fallen. But Egypt is quite modernized, and Rome is up-to-date. Wherever else decay has not set in, the exigencies of contemporary life are replacing the poetry of the past with the prose of the present Presently tomorrow, century hence, and there will be but memory 10 tend the dead and prune the Ivy where the lily grew.
 It is in Venice that such rhymes as finger have been best preserved Those whom the rhythm enchants should jour- ney there before it falls with the city into the quiet of her still lagoons, before 1t is dissipated with her splendors and her sins, before 1t goes the way of all things earthly.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1902-07-28
Price to lAAaL-A

When the list is complete we will have the finest and best presentation of Dingleyism as it really exists that has ever been presented. MT. Griggs proposes to complete it. He should spare no effort in this direction, for it will enable each voter to see how much he is taxed by the sacred tariff n order that concerns may be built up like the 1400 million dollar steel trust that annual earnings aggregating $40, 100000 may be swept in by a sin gle concern. The eyes of the Ameri- can people may be dull, but when they see in figures furnished by the Ding 1eyites themselves what indirect tariff taxation really is, they may rise up and demand a revenue tariff-a tariff within the constitution itself. Ding ley robberies are wholly without it, although subservient courts may de- clare otherwise.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1902-07-28
New Cuban Questions.

In the treaty of Paris is the clause:
 Spain relinquishes all claims of sov- ereignty over and title to Cuba.
 Spain cedes to the United States the island of Porto Rico and other islands now under Spanish sovereignty in the West Indies.
 This of course hands over to some country the Isle of Pines, but to what country? In Spanish days the Isle of Pines was considered part and parcel of Cuba, being attached to a judicial district in Havana province. But when the Platt amendment was adopt ed it contained this clause:
 That the Isle of Pines shall be omitted from the proposed constitutional boun- daries of Cuba, the title thereto being left to future adjustment by treaty.
 As the Platt amendment became a part of the Cuban constitution the nonclusion seems inevitable that the
The Birmingham age-herald., 1902-07-28
Platforms Are Humbuus.

The Knoxville Tribune has discov- cred that the democratic party of Ala bama has no platform. We never heard" 1t adds, "of a party before that had no principles, no objects" The esteemed Tribune should study the first fifty years of the republics history. Down to the time of that slick politician, Martin Van Buren, there were no conventions and no plat forms, and yet there was excellent party government. The present demo- cratic party was fully organized in Jefferson's day, and it became at once power in the land, and yet it held no conventions and adopted no plat forms. It had no use for "hot air." prediction promises that are rarely made good-of devices to catch votes that really weaken the conditions of the people.
 We should overcome the platform habit, and be content to be judged by our acts instead of our promises. No one however pays much attention to the American platform. No other country employs such a transparent and clumsy device. England affords perhaps the best example of party gov ernment in the world, and yet she has no platforms, and nothing resembling one. France, republic, also has we'll defined parties, but no platforms. The early years of our own country were it's purest years in pubic as well as private matters, and there was no platform down to Martin Van Buren's appearance as a leader in politics. Jackson knew neither convention nor platform, neither did Madison, nor Jefferson, nor Washington. Martin Van Buren, first, last and always a politician, started the convention scheme, and the convention invented the "hot air" platform.
 Alabama under a new constitution has abolished both the convention sys- tenn and it's concomitant humbug, the platform, and has returned in part at lest to the early and better methods of the republic. The Tribune is a re- publican paper. Its party consists of a ring of officeholders and recruits-are not wanted beyond the supply of of fees. Such a party may need a plat form, but the democratic party of this state, made up of men who pre- fer acts to promises, does not need any such device, and it proposes to live down the habit, and to try some thing better. The democratic party in South Carolina is well organized and effective, and it has not had a platform in many years, and it does not propose to have one in the years to come.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1902-07-28
Vatican and United States

"At no time in the past would an ex- change of diplomatic representatives on the part of the vatican and the United States government have been thinkable, but conditions have come about that make diplomatic relations probable in the future, say a few years hence," said a non Catholic last night.
 With the Philippines and Porto Rico already annexed to the United States and Cuba to be annexed the large Catholic population of this country will make 1t desirable for the government to have an exchange of representatives The Taft commission has paved the way. do not think congress will be slow to pass the necessary bill for keeping an embassy at the vatican when the time comes for considering the matter seri- ously."
The Birmingham age-herald., 1902-07-28
MIR. RoosEvELT's RETIREMENT.

From the New Iork Journal.
 President Roosevelt has found it neces- sary to direct the secret service agents who throng about Oyster Bay, while the administration Is taking a much needed rest, to smash any kouak or larger cam era discovered directed at him.
 The necessity for the measure will be apparent at once, even though previous Presidents have never had to resort to such measures to protect them in their privacy. If a man wants to wrestle grizzly bear on his piazza, or climb pole, or play tennis with a champion, or otherwise divert or disport himself, 1t IS his unalienable right, even if he is presi- dent of the United States, to do his stunts undisturbed by the casual passerby. Every American's-like Englishmen' S. home is his castle, and If public curiosity is aroused by visits of men rlgged up as Rough Riders and similar manifestations of the presidents popularity, there Is no reason that the Presidents modesty and desrre for seclusion should be outraged by any chance photographer who is nov ed to perpetuate the spectacle of Presi- dent at play.
 MT. Mckinley never had to enlist the Secret Service n-en to keep the camera brigade off the porch of his Canton home, and Mr. Cleveland fished at Buzzards Bay unmolesteG by the multitude, and MT. Harrison ana MT. Arthur, and even General Grant, escaped the molestation.
 That MT. Roosevelt is so pestered must be due to the sudden increase in interest In the personality of our Chief Magistrate CT possibly the other Presidents did not care-but MT. Roosevelt cares, and that is the reason enough that the gathering hocks of photographers should be scatter ed from Oyster Bay.
 Besides. there are enough photographs of MT. Roosevelt.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1902-07-28
FROM THE BLACK BELT,

From the Demopolis Express.
 Jelks is noble fellow-has lofty ideas as a man and democrat. He is no petty partisan and demagogue. He is above it. His aim is to make the state a good gov ernor and not merely to set things in shape to advance himself. Always doing everything in a manly sensible way. Turn him out for Johnston? Never! The manhood of Alabama will spurn such an idea Jelks represents everything that Is truly democratic and is always willing to be guided by the wishes of his party. That Jelks will be nominated and elected by large majority we have not the slightest doubt. The people do not pro- pose to have any more of Johnston, ana all good democrats should see that he does not vote enemies to the party in the pri- mary on the 18th of August
The Birmingham age-herald., 1902-07-28

terday, Roe Davenport, of Chattanooga, who is spending the summer here, aeci- dently discharged the weapon. the bullet pentrating his hand and entering the abdomen of Robert Davenport, his eous- in, who is visiting him. Robert is in 8 serious condition and may die
 A telephone message was sent to Chat tanooga almost immediately after the accident and George Davenport, the father of Roe, ordered special train with physicians to go at once.
 At 11;1o o'clock an engine. pulling a single coach, left Chattanooga over the Alabama Great Southern railway for Sulphur Springs. about thirty-five miles distant. ant carrying Drs. Holtzelaw and Nelson and the brother and uncle of the injured boy The engineer was ordered to make the trip in the shortest possible time. and he did. When the train had made it's way out of the yards he pulled the throttle wide open and the engine flew over the track at terrific speed.
 The trip was a record breaker and when the train stopped at Sulphur Springs and the physicians hurried to the injured boy, the engineer remarked that they had made thirty miles in twenty minutes, or they had averaged ninety miles per hour.
 The physicians at once saw the serious condition of their patient and after an unsuccessful probing for the bullet work ed the remainder of the evening in an at tempt to save the injured boys life.
 Roe Davenport was found to be only slightly hurt about the hand, and al- though Robert was resting last night, he may grow worse and suceumb to his injuries in a very short time.
 Drs. Nelson and holtzclaw returned to Chattanooga last night
 Roe is about 19 years old, and his cous- tY, fc