davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-12-12
FAST WORK IN PRINTING OFFICE.

From the Review of Reviews.
 In 1899, the President of the United States sent to the government printing off, flee, accompanied by a short message, the report of the naval court of inquiry upon the destruction of the Maine When printed, that report contained 29S pages of text. 15x7 inches, twenty-four full-page engravings, and four -colored Autograph It was not until 3 o'clock in the afternoon that the shop got the originals of the il- lustrations, and it was after o'clock that night when the manuscript of the text reached the foreman's hands. Before con- gress assembled the next morning. com- plete copy of this bulky volume, bound in pamphlet form, was upon every desk in the senate and house, containing, as it did the illustrations, Autograph, and text as perfect as if job printer had been given a month in which to do it. That is to say, thousand copies of a book more than three hundred pages were man. ufactured in sixteen hours from the time the manuscript reached the foremans S composing room.
 On another occasion, at o'clock on Sat urday afternoon the office received the manuscript report of the committee which investigated hazing at the military acad- emy at West point. By 9 o'clock, Mon- day morning, each member of congress had on his desk a volume containing two thousand pages or the committee report in full.
 Two years ago, the record was made in the printing of a bill which was no other than the Revised Statutes of the District of Columbia. This bill contained three hundred pages, and was ready for delivery to the White House for the Pres ident's signature. ninety minutes after the copy reached the printing office.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-12-12
Mir. German in Alabama.

After the "unalterable and conc1u- sive" withdrawal of MT. Cleveland from the presidential race, the Mont gomery Advertiser presented as pos- sible fillers of the ponderous gap the names of Messrs Parker, Shephard, Olney and Whitney-all capable men and good democrats, each one of whom any democrat could and would cor dially support in case he became the standard bearer of the party.
 But very many democrats in all parts of the particularly in Alabama-desire to know why the honored name of Marylands demo- cratic senator, Arthur Pue German, is omitted from the Advertisers list. The Advertiser thus attempts to explain the singular omission:
 We did not mention the Maryland sen ator because we do not look on him as a winner, either before the convention or the people. There are reasons why he is not likely to get the nomination and there are equally plain reasons why he would not be as strong in all parts of the coun- try as one of the others would. If the convention should decide otherwise and nominate hi mthat would settle it, and the south, at least, would support him. Whether he could be elected is quite an- other matter"
 The trouble with this explanation is it's lack of specificness. A man who enjoys the confidence of the democrats of his own state and of the senate, hay ing been chosen leader by the latter as soon as he appeared on the floor cannot lack the leadership quality. And it is a leader that the democratic party needs. Under our form of govern ment by party the President is neces- sarily the leader of his party MT. German would be a superb leader of his party if he were seated in the White House.
 He represents, too, much that the south holds dear. He has fought our battles when we were hard-pressed. He is close to all southern hearts. Why then does the Advertiser bar him from it's list of eligibles? It says there are reasons, but it neglects to name them. Unless it does state them specifically the people Alabama will begin to think it has no reasons it Is willing to present in black and white.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-12-12
NEW YORK COTTON QUEEN
 WHO MAKES UP REPORTS

and stands there alone and trembling un- til the verihcation of her figures brings relief to her tense nerves.
 You can't imagine what strain 1t is to simply fold my hands and wait to see whether I am right or not knowing how much 1t means to the men who employ me. Why, if I had millions staked on 1t myself I couldn't be more wrought up over it. Of course, in a smssler way, it is just as vital to me, for ds course, if my reports were unreliable I'd soon lose my customers"
 Have you ever been far out of the way?' she was asked
 She hesitated a moment, with a little rueful smile on her lips.
 "Yes, I was seven points out of the way one month in my quality estimate.
 How did I feel? As though the end of all things had come for me. I was simply heartbroken about 1t, and l came back here to my office and cried and cried in utter unstatisticianlike fashion. When the phone rang I was shaking so I could hardly answer it. for firmly be- lieved that 1t was only the first of all my subscribers, who would call up or send someone to upbraid me for my failure, If not to sever all connection with me. But it was not anything of the sort. and do you know, that not one of those men ever made the smallest reference to my mistake or seemed to have less confidence in me because of it. I do hope they won't lose it now or think I had any hand in bringing my work before the public. for indeed I have no idea how it leaked out.
 Aside from that. I am delighted over it-that it should be admitted that my reports could so influence the market. I knew that eventually this recognition would come but was not prepared for 1t so soon"
 The knowledge that K. M. Giles" is woman will come as a great surprise to hundreds of the correspondents who have been filling out her reply postal cards for years All but three of them believe that she is man. These three, knowing her sex have been among those who have lent her a helping hand. When the cot ton pods begin to burst these three men, who live in widely different sections, send carefully collected samples to Miss Giles, and it Is largely through these specimens which she receives all through the cotton gathering season that she is able to judge so accurately of the quality of the crop.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-12-12
WORTHY OF ACCURACY.

From St. Nicholas.
 The most important lesson or all for a young man to learn, regardless of his future calling, is thoroughly 70 appreciate the worth of accuracy. Without accuracy in his work, he Is failure. Without ac- curacy in his thoughts his life will be a comparative failure. No man, young or old, will for minute claim the contrary. In spite, however, of the universal ac- quiescence in the statement that accuracy is essential to success, it is not easy Of attainment. Let well enough alone' is, unfortunately, saying and I regret to say, very extensively put into practice. It is certainly dangerous thing for parent to say to a child. and never Is said by an instructor to a pupil.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-12-12
Condition of the Treasury.

The annual report of the secretary of the treasury is not a document full of startling propositions. There is not much in it of special interest to the cusses neither the tariff nor internal taxation, and he has not word to say about ship subsidy. The currency is sparingly discussed, not even it's elas- tic nature receiving much attention. He does say that all the various forms of our national currency must be kept at parity-a proposition that will ell counter dissent in no quarter.
 Outside of these wild suggestions
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-12-12
WoMEN's WORK CHEAP.
Many of the Poor Fight Starvation at
 Point of Needle.

From the New York Tribune.
 There is nothing so cheap as the strength of women" said the Rev. Anna Garin Spencer, before the women's Con ference of the Ethical Culture society. "On the farm labor-saving appliances are first secured for the man, and it is only a long time after that anything is pro- cured to save the strength of the house mother. That is the reason that she breaks down, becomes prematurely old, or even goes insane. In the cities 1t be- comes a nightmare to think how many women are fighting starvation at the point of the needle in the belated indus- try of sewing"
 Mrs. Spencer was discussing the prob. lems of the sewing society and expressed the opinion that sewing, simple and inof- fensive as it seems, is a dangerous kind of work to handle.
 Sewing as a home industry can never compete with organized industry she said. "Penelope with her needle, sur rounded by the ladies of her court, may be a very pretty picture. but the handi- craft of sewing is passing away, ana we cannot and ought not to wish to pre- vent 1t.
 "A great many women who now try to support their families by means Of the sewing provided for them by phiian- thropic societies ought not to be forced to earn at all." Mrs Spencer continued. ''They have more than they can do in caring for their families, and 1t would be better to give them the money outright. If they like the work and it comes to them as change and recreation the case is different. And this brings in another aspect of the case. So much of the work we provide is dull and unpleasant. If we could only find something new and inter- esting it would not only brighten the lives of our benefciaries but enable them to do better work. People who are dull and stupid at work they do not care for will often brighten up and do excellently at work that interests them.
 'In making work for the poor. philan- thropists ought to try to utilize such tal- ents as the workers possess in new ways. as the Charity Organization Society has done in making rugs nl old-fash-
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-12-12
From the New York Sun.

From the New York Sun.
 N T the seventh annual dinner Of NP0 young MT. Rockefellers Bible
 ' class, on Tuesday evening, Sen- ator Depew spoke of the supreme folly of attempting to rival and reach great fortunes at the sacrifice of 'all the pleasures of life and all its opportunities in the many directions open for enjoy ment, culture and progress" "A modest independence, said the genial senator. '-is success"
 Of the eighty millions of people of the United States, he put the number of millionaires at not more than one hun dred thousand; and even if you get into their class, continued the phlosophic sen- ator, you may be far from the top; rela- lively to others in it your means may be only modest. ''The million dollar man has no rank or place or considera- tion in the ten million class, and the ten million chap Is a little fellow in the fifty million or hundred million circle"
 Such philosophy does not tend to make poverty any more content with its con- dition and happily, it does not discour- age the ambition for acquisition, for zeal in that quest is one of the great im- pulses to advancement in civilization.
 If there are one hundred thousand mil- liorv ires in this country, as Senator De- pew estimates, they must have accum- ulated their fortunes themselves. after the most modest beginnings with very few exceptions Fifty years ago there were not more than one-tenth as many The possessors of these great fortunes are almost invariably the sons of poor men and started in life poor. The father of young Rockefeller of the Bible class was poor merchants clerk fifty years ago. Fifty years ago Senator Depew himself was a boy at Yale from a com fortable but not affluent home at Peeks- kill. At that time even a one million dollar man was a curiosity in nearly every part of this country. The one very great fortune in America was John Jacob Astor's; Commodore Vanderbilt was only
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-12-12
REFLECTIONS OF A BACHELOR

From the New York Press
 The iceman's loss is the coalmans gain. When a woman has on her afternoon tea manners. she says figure; when she means business. shape.
 A womans idea of a foot to be proud of is one that will fit a shoe numbered smaller than it really is.
 It is so easy for a girl to fool a man that when her mouth is only chewing gum she can make him think it is saying her prayers.
 Married people have lots of trouble be- cause either he doesn't get home in time for dinner. or if he does, dinner doesn't get ready in time for him.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-12-12
From the New York World.

HERE are Sullys and Browns and
 0 Prices there are kings and kings,
 but there is only one cotton queen in New York, and her name is Giles.
 Miss Kate Giles Is pretty, too, which makes it all the more interesting. She has golden hair and big gray eyes and a cotton boil and tea rose complexion, and altogether it is not wonderful that the great cotton brewers seek her out to talk about the cotton crops.
 By means of a simple yet comprehen- sive system of correspondence Miss Giles keeps nervous finger on the ever-chang- ing pulse of the cotton crops in all the eleven cotton-growing states. Twice a month she mails a thousand or more re- turn postal cards to all points within the cotton belt, the reply card bearing the following questions:
 l. Cotton-what is the present condi- tion in your county?
 9 When will picking be finished?
 B Please give indications as to weather conditions.
 4 Has there been frost in your county severe enough to injure the plant?
 5. Is the crop in your county larger or smaller than last year? How much?
 g. Are the planters holding their cot ton for better prices?
 Twice a month she reduces 10 order the chaotic mass of information that comes flooding back to her and issues her report on the extent of the cotton crop in ad- vance of the government report. It is the promptness and wonderful accuracy of her forecasts that make them of such value to those who play the dangerous cotton game. While others are waiting anxiously for the government estimation, those who get their information from Miss Giles are buying or selling, as the situation is shown by her warrants. and fortifying themselves for the movement that the an- nouncement of the government report is likely to produce. Once a months she gleans from her statistics the quality of the crops, and announces the result day ahead of the bureau of agriculture.
 The next twenty-four hours are unquiet ones for Miss Giles especially the five minutes before noon on the third of each month, at which time the official estimate is posted on the produce exchange. Five minutes before the fateful moment on these days she slips up into the balcony
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-12-12
American Cheese.

'It may not be generally known that there is only one variety of cheese in the quality of which the old country sur passes the United States, and that is Sweitzer," said prominent German-A Am ercan.
 American cheese makers have never been able to turn out first-elass Sweitzer.
 'The finest Limburger in the world Is made in New York No imported Linn burger can be compared with it. Ali the choice cheeses that epicureans affect are manufactured in America, but the ingenious Yankee must experiment q while longer before he can produce good Sweitzer'
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-12-12
The Iron Market.

Birmingham pig iron is now firm at s9.50 on a No. foundry basis" said manufacturer. This is an advance of 50 cents 8 ton within the past few weeks Some of the iron makers are declining s9.5O for delivery beyond January and the feeling is very general that the pig metal will command $10 for No. early in the new year. l have an idea that the price will go little higher than the figure named but with $10 the Birininghan dis trict will certainly jog along very pros- perously."
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-12-12
THE SOUTH AND CHINA.

From the Atlantic Constitution.
 In 1875, our American share of Chinese imports was 1,O160OO taels-tne tael being worth sixty-three cents in gold In 1902, just twenty-seven years later, Chinese imports had grown f1vefold, but our share of them had increased to S0,13S, 713 taels, or nearly thirty times what they were in 1875.
 Our sales to China in 19O2-1903 amounted to SIS, 603, ,369 and, of that sum, cotton cloths brought us s13 6S9,S6O, or more than two thirds of our exports from United States to China in the last fiscal year. As an offset to that we brought back in exchange about s16,OOO,OOO of raw silk, tea and spices.
 The above figures as to cotton cloths show how considerably interested the cotton growers of the south should be in the future trade relations between this country and China. The celestials are more eagerly asking every year where withal shall we be clothed?" The largest item of import into China from Great Britain and India are of cotton cloths Our country is fourth in the order of trade with the Chinese and IT our inter- ests there are properly guarded and ad- vanced by our diplomatic and consular representatives, we ought in decade or two, at least, -have the practical control of that advancing market. For, as re- marked, China is growing in civilization and in less than thirty years has in- creased her imports from 70,O0O,0oO taels to 315, 900 900 taels.
 We ought right here in the south manu- facture the greater bulk Of the cotton goods sent to China from this country, and our southern representatives should keep their eyes on the negotiations be- tween our government and that of the celestials in order that our advantages may have full play in future commercial daaIc hatuypa,, tha fuo
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-12-12
SNoWFLAkES.
" Mapes Dodge.

By Mary Mapes Dodge. fl Whenever a snowflake leaves the sky. It turns and turns to say "Good-by! Good-by, dear clouds so cool and gray!" Then lightly travels on it's way.
 And when a snowflake finds tree,
 "Good-dayr' 1t says, "Good-day to thee! Thou art so bare and lonely, dear, I'll rest and call my comrades here" But when a snowflake. brave and meek, Lights on a rosy maiden's cheek.
 It starts-"How warm and soft the day! Iris Summerr-and it melts away.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-12-12

Selma. December 11.-(Speca1.)- )-This morning while at work in the shop of the Union Iron Works a negro boy by the name of Walter Bowen had his coat sleeve caught in the set screw of a re- volving shaft and before the machinery could be stopped the bones in his arm were crushed until amputation of the member was found to be necessary.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-12-12
Pipes Not Guilty.

Huntsville. December 11-(SpeciaD-Th standpipe which supplies the hydrants of this city with water was emptied and cleahed yesterday on advice of the health authorities, who believed that impurities in the water caused many cases of ty- phoid in Huntsville. After looking into the condition of the reservoir the belief is that the fever had some other source.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-12-12
Should Assist Captain Falkner.

q read with considerable interest the statement by Captain Falkner In regard to the Mountain Creek soldiers home in this mornings Age-Herald' said news paper man, land I think the position taken by Captain Falkner is emnently correct.
 'I cannot see how any man in Alabama could lay the least blame on Captain Falkner in regard to the home as he has worked, as no other man in Alabama has worked, to care for the indigent Confed- crate veterans. All applications for ad- mission cannot be granted at once as Che home is only large enough to care for a limited number. If larger home is nec- essary to prevent suffering the people ought to start movement to assist Cap tain Falkner instead of thoughtlessly crit icsing him. As the captain suggests some persons are prone to do more talk ing than giving. The Confederate soldier has no friend in Alabama who has done as much for him as Captain Falkner. The Thompson incident should be an incentive for the good people of the state to begin active work in helping Captain Falknor carry out his plans.'
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-12-12
Does This Need an Affidavit?

Hunting over in our county has been better this season than it has been in years" remarked a prominent Clay coun- ty citizen last night. This week W. NJ Costner who lives at Ironaton. in Talla- dega county. came over in Clay and broke the records of all former Nimrods in our section. He only spent eight hours in tho field but in that time he bagged one hun dred birds, seven ducks and two tur. keys"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-12-12

toned carpet rags that any woman can sew. Made work also should never be conducted as commercial enterprise. It should be first and foremost educational. so that the workers may graduate into the regular industrial ranks"
 Mrs. Spencer also protested against the making of garments to give away ex- cept in the case of those who find sewing a recreation.
 we ought not to make work" she said, flor well-to-do women who can easily employ themselves to much better purpose than In making garmentsn
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-12-12
weddino at Huntsville.

Huntsville, December 11-(SpeciaD-Em- met Hines and Miss Cassie Elkins, both of Tullahoma. Tenn, were married last night at the home of F. L. Harris, rel ative. The Rev. F. P. Culver officiated. The bride is a niece of the late exGover- nor Peter Turney of Tennessee and is quite popular.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-12-12
SOME REFLECTIONS ON
 ACCUMULATIONOFWEALTH

laying the foundations of the estate his descendants have multiplied in magni- tude. Even the very names of nearly all the New York millonaires of this time were unknown to the public of that day. The occupants of most of the boxes at the opera were poor then and obscure so- cially, or they are the children of men then poor and humble And so it was generally with Senator Depew's one hum dred thousand millionaires of this coun- try. ta
 When the young men of MT. Rockefel- 1er's Bible class look upon this progress in individual wealth, the most of it made during their own lives and when they see before them in their millionaire leader conspicuous example of distinction in material wealth, it is useless for them to try to divert their minds from thoughts of wealth and the ambition to get it. Of course, they want to get rich too. They dream of getting into the millionaire class, and the vision is not spoiled by any fear of heartburning lest they may not be at the head of it, lest the ten million and the hundred million men may be far ahead of them. It is true, however, that the mere millionaire has lost the singular distinction he once enjoyed. Obscure wealth Is frequent in New York. and we only learn of it when the wills of it's pos sessors are probated. Ali the same, mill lion is desirable.
 Is it worth while to strive for any such temporal gain? For the individual not. the philosopher might say, but how about society? Where would civilization be if there was not in society the ceaseless dis content which spurs on men to better their conditions materially? How could there be progress If wealth was not accu. mulated as capital for undertakings look ing to further progress?
 It was a waste of words for Senator De- pew and young MT. Rockefeller at this Bible class dinner to attempt to cool youthful ardor for acquisition. Croesus as lecturer on the supreme folly" of competing for riches is not likely to pro- duce deep conviction among young men.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-12-12

San Domingo has the finest assort- ment of names and titles ever spread before an astonished world. Wos V Gill is by no means singular in that island,
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-12-12

The soft coal operators in other states are endeavoring to reduce the wages of miners, but it does not follow that they would then reduce the price of coal
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-12-12
SUBSCRIPTION PAID.

From the Albion Qll) Journal.
 Mrs. Nathan Briggs left at our office on Monday a sweet potato that weighed over six and one-half pounds by the office scales The tuber was the largest to find it's way here this year. and will furnish rations for the office force for several dave
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-12-12

In New Jersey they are planning a campaign against the mosquito, but the mosquitoes of next summer may change their tactics.