davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-12-08
SCHEMES DEVISED FOR
 RETIRING SOILED BILLS

by registering without charge parcels of money for redemption. It is willing to do so, at least. and makes the offer in treas ury department circles, sent out by the hundred thousand; but few people are aware of the fact A dozen or more let ters containing bills for redemption are received from private individuals daily, and hardly one-third of them are register ed. It may be wondered whether the pub lie will more readily grasp the oppor- tunity to receive transportation as well as registry free.
 The fundamental difficulty of the whole situation is that not all the legislation in the world can affect the currency which is in the pockets of the people or passing from hand to hand. There are microbes in money and there is money in mi crobes," as a newspaper humorist has put it. But the treasury employees who handle the money sent for redemption do not think their calling dangerous one. An officer who has been for thirty-ive years in the department says that he does not recall a single case of contag- ious disease contracted by handling the soiled currency.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-12-08
THE THREE AMERICAS RAILWAY.
Hinton Rowan Helper the Originator of
 the Great Project.

From Munsey's Magazine for October.
 Some twenty-five years ago Hinton Rowan Helper undertook to promote what was probably the greatest railway scheme ever proposed. MT. Helper had gained a national reputation just prior to the civil war because of little book called "The Impending Crisis,' in which he pre- dicted with what afterward proved to be marvellous accuracy, the course of events leading to the clash of arms in 1861. Later he projected a railway running from the United States through Mexico and Central America, into South America then pene- trating Central South America, opening up that vast and rich but untouched re- gion and having it's southern terminals at Buenos Ayres on the Atlantic and Val paraiso on the Pacific.
 When Jay Gould was invited to share in the promotion of this gigantic scheme he declared that it was impracticable commercially; that not for a century would there be developed traffic enough to make 1t pay. What MT Gould decred Secretary Blaine warmly favored. He regarded the construction of an nteroon- tinental railroad as of the highest i'm portance to the United States, since 1t would bring us, politically and commer- eially, into closer relations with our sis ter republics of Central and South Amer ca. MT. Blaine became a sort of gov ernmental promoter of the scheme, and through his influence a commission of engineers was sent to make surveys and to report upon the feasibility of a route Since his death the report has been made, showing that there are no physical ob- stacles too serious to surmount.
 Meanwhile, Mexico and other states have been gradually constructing, each on its own initiative, railroads that might form links in a great intercontinental system. The Argentine republic has been reaching northerly; Peru has crossed the Andes with a railway, and within a year William R. Grace of New York and his partners will have completed trans Andean line connecting Valparaiso with Buenos Ayres. So that, while MT Hell per's promotion has not been successful, his idea has In part been realized, and capital now seems almost ready to de- velop a system by means of which a passenger could take a car at Chicago or New York and be conveyed to the great commercial cities of South America.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-12-08
sULLYs GAINS IN COTTON.
New York World.

From the New York World.
 Daniel J. Sully and his bull pool in cotton have closed out their contracts, and have secured immense profits Just how big their profits are MT. Sully de- clined to say yesterday, but cotton ex- change brokers say that they are $5,0Oo'O0O, and possibly a good deal more.
 Nobody actually knows how much cot ton MT. Sully and his friends were carry ing. According to general opinion, they bought more than a million bales at 10 cents and lower. They marketed this at between Il and 1g1a cents Their net pro- fits would easily average a cent. If they got out with this profit, they have made a clear $50O0,000, which is regarded as pretty good for a six-week turn in the market
 It has developed that William P. Brown, the New Orleans bull leader has not been acting in harmony with MT. Sully. He hasn't taken a very bullish view of the new crop up to this time. Indeed, 1t is said that he has been actually bucking the market for several weeks. and that he has lost heavily. He was not pre- pared for the low crop estimate made by he attempted to cover the market ran away from him. Mr. Brown, however, made over $1O000,000 in cotton last year, and his recent losses are small in compar-
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-12-08
MT. Bowie's Fish Hatchery Bill.

There are thirty-five fish hatcheries in this country established and main tained by the general government. Nearly every state has one. and Con gressman Bowie thinks the time has fully come when Alabama should have one. Mississippi and Georgia have an ticipated Alabama. but Mr Bowie pro poses that Alabama shall soon catch up with the fish-cultural procession. He has introduced bill calling for an appropriation of $25,OO0 with which to begin the work of providing food fish in this state, and is confident the bill will become a law, and that a fish hatchery will become feature of this state
 Intelligent action towards the stock ing of our rivers and lakes with food fish, would thus be guaranteed, an1 the sum total of the benefit to this state in the course of a few years would thus be very large. No German carp would be introduced, and perhaps some way would be devised by which the carp we have would be eradicated. These fish are not good food, nor are they useful in any direction They suck in the eggs of other and better fish, and it would be a public blessing if they could be driven from our streams and lakes.
 Sucn work comes within the prov. ince of fish station, and Congressman Bowie's proposition rises from one re- lating to his district to one relating to the entire state. Every Alabama mem Der should push it along MT. Bowie is force in himself, and when he sets a bill in motion it is apt to move on until it becomes law.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-12-08
KEEP OUT WOMEN LAWYERS.

Special cable despatch to the New York
 Sun
 London.-The decision of the Lord Chan cellor and the five judges in refusing the admission of a woman to the bar has re- ceived the unqualified approval of the legal press. The Law Journal declares that such an innovation would hinder the administration of justice. It continues:
 "When we consider the zeal emulation and acrlmony in cases conducted and how keen and close and personal in the strug- gle they involve. the change in the drec- tion of a lady barrister is greatly to be deprecated. Introduce charming woman on the scene, and what man with the ordi- nary instincts of ohivalry but must lower his lance before such an adversary, must feel himself at a disadvantage, disarmed and shorn of half his fighting strength.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-12-08
As to Addresses.

Speaking of giving copies of addresses to the newspapers for publication reminds me of an amusing little incident" said George B. Squires of Washington, second vice president of the International Retail Clerks Protective association, who Is in Birmingham. q was called to Brocton, Mass, one night to address a clerks meeting. When I arrived there, after five hours of travel, I was informed by the committee in charge that the meeting had been called off. Knowing that I could only remain in the city a short while, I was disgusted. However, I went up to the hall and newspaper reporter was sent for, at the suggestion of the com mittee. Taking him in an adjoining room l dictated a lengthy address which was to have made at the meeting. The committee gave him an elaborate account of the meeting, which was not held. Un- consciously he wrote a column article about the meeting which appeared the next morning. The committee informed me later that many members of the as- sociation had read the account of the meeting and had expressed great regret at not having been able to attend.
 Up in Brocton the meetings of the clerks now are always largely attended"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-12-08
A VANISHING ISLAND.

From the New York Commercial
 One of the most curious islands in the world Is one known on the charts as Falcon Island. It is curious from the fact that it appears and reappears at in- tervals in the most exasperating manner, and has been doing this ever since 1888, when it was first taken possession of and charted.
 This island is one of the Tonga group and when in 1888 England took posses sion of it her officers found it crowned with palm trees and tropical vegetation. The highest bluff was some one hundred and fifty-three feet above the sea-level, and on this the Union Jack was planted. Put only a year later the island has dis appeared. The cliff was represented by a low-lying, dangerous reef, and there was not the remotest sign of vegetation. For thus making away with itself Falcon Is- land was speedily wiped off the charts
 But in 1892 French man-of-war re- discovered 1t and duly planted the tri- color flag thereon. At that time Falcon Island afforded for the planting of the flagstaff a cliff twenty-five feet high at the southern end dhe bluff mentioned above was at the northern end), and 1t was covered with a growth of green bushes and ferns. But Falcon Island did not behave any better with its new pos sessors than with England for in April 1894 it had again done the vanishing act only streak of reef remaining.
 About a year later the Tongan govern ment took it in hand and went to find Falcon Island. They did find 1t with a vengeance; for when they arrived they found an island with bold, steep sides, the highest point being fifty feet above sea level. It was taken possession of in the name of King George of Tonga and formed part of his possessions until 1897, when it again isappeared-apparentl for good that time, for since then. unless it has reappeared quite recently, it has not been heard of.
 Falcon Island holds a unique record. Several islands have disappeared before now. and many of them carried down thousands of people. But when they went down they stayed down, whereas Falcon Island bobs up and down ana causes navigators to doubt their figures and wonder if visions are about.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-12-08
Messaqe of the President.

In clearly written, almost crisp, sen |tences, sometimes marked by literary skill, President Roosevelt reviews the |public business of the year. There is, however, no crispness of opnion in the |opening two-thirds of the message. He |gingerly discusses the trusts and the unions, advancing many truisms, but presenting no new proposition. He Is content with publicity, which, by the way, promises no reforms or fruits.
 The President does not refer even Incidentally to the tariff. He seems to hhve forgotten that Dingleyism is still Evaporation, bleeding the many for the beneft of the few. He says there should be no change in the money sys- Fem, except that customs receipts Should be deposited by the banks at 3he will of the secretary of the treas tiry. He asks for a commission that i'll investigate the ship subsidy cheme, its report to be made at the hort session after the Presidential lection, or at some later day. Any old ay will do, if it be after the day of allots in November
 Thus he disposes of the trusts, the Ariff, the currency issue, and the ship
 lbsidy problem, or at least he thinks eyoes He wants none of them in his
 ay prior to November next He says ot1ing that will offend a single great aHpaign-contributing corporation. He avs nothing touching all the subjects mentioned that is a bit surprising or sooseveltian. Ee is simply getting
 iy for the November battle.
 1t when the clos4 third of his
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-12-08
DoubIe-Tracking the Southern.

The enterprise of the Southern rail way is manifest in the work of laying a second track all the way from Wash ington to Atlanta. Beginning at Wash ington, thirty-three miles of double track have been completed, and in Feb. ruary next the double trackage will be extended to Orange, distant eighty four miles from Washington. Already the good effects of the change are felt at the Washington end of the great system.
 Much of the congestion of the traffic will be removed when the improvement plans of the Southern are extended to Salisbury, an important functional point in North Carolina, about $50 miles from Washington. It is believed another year will witness the comple- tion of the second track to Salisbury, and perhaps in 1905 the great work WILL Dt tAttnuCu u alldntet
 The development and betterment of the Southern railway relates closely to the development and betterment of the entire south east of the Mississippi river. No other system so thoroughly ramifies the southeast, and every mile of second track laid on it is a promo ton of southern growth and southern resources.
 The Southern looks ahead and the time is fast coming when the Louis vile and Nashville will have to be double-tracked between Louisville and Birmingham, in addition to the double track between Birmingham and Mont gomery. The south is outgrowing the old-time single-track railway, and it should be matter of general congratula- tion that the Southern is leading the way towards a duplication of tracks.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-12-08
The Holiday Trade.

''The holiday trade opened up in earn est on yesterday" said leading retail merchant of Birmingham. "The wealth CT was ideal for shoppers and the streets were crowded from 10 o'clock in the morning until late yesterday afternoon with a busy happy crowd of holiday pur- chasers. Along Second avenue, between Nineteenth and Twentieth streets, and on Nineteenth street from First to Third avenues, it was a hard matter for pedes- trians to make much headway about noon. Monday is always a busy day for the retail merchants of Birmingham anyway.
 From now on, with a continuation of the fair weather, the merchants of Bir- mingham will have about as much busi- ness as they can handle until after ths first of the year"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-12-08
The Guckenbergers.

Benjamin Guckenberger, formerly of Birmingham. now of Boston, has a prom inent position in the famous Faction piano forte school. He teaches theory and counter point and delivers lectures on the history of music. It is fiattering to Bir- mingham to know that this long estao- lished institution-the Faction school-in introducing Mir. Guckenberger to Boston by means of circular, lays stress on the good work he has done in Birmingham.
 Mrs. Guckenberger is also prospering in Boston as a singer and voice teacher. While keeping up her classes at .'The Hub she retains her position as solo contralto in the leading church Of Spring. field.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-12-08
TIE onIY pAIIy HEWspAPEa N ALABAMA
Alabama Cement Rock.

The geological survey, at the request
 of Senator Morgan, has procured and
 published two valuable papers concern
 ing the cement resources of Alabama. l These reports are contained in a
 pamphlet, known as Senate Document
 No 19
 In the first paper Edwin c. Eckel dis ] cusses without the use of technical de-
 tails the methods of making cement,
 as we'll as the Advantages of Alabama
 materials. He considers the Selma
 chalk deposits superior for cement pur-
 poses to the St. Stephens limestone,
 but either is good material, especially y'f it lie near coal of good quality.
 Eugene A. Smiths paper follows MT.
 Eckel's, and MT. Smith discusses in
 the fullest possible manner both the
 St. Stephens formation and the rotten
 limestone of the Selma deposit. The Selma chalk is about 1000 feet thick, varying at places in the percentages of lime and clay but extending well across the state, with Demopolis and slma as central points in the vast bed. The supply of cement rock in this cretaceous formation is simply in ,xhaustible, and cement plant placed on either the Tombgbee or Alabama could command at once cheap fuel ant cheap transportation to tidewater. Sen ator Morgan never loses sight of the . demands that will spring up for ce
 rhent when the digging of an isthmian
 anal is begun.
 The St. Stephens formation lies south across Alabama and even into Florida. MT. Smith is inclined to regard the St. Stephens limestone as even more valu- able for cement making than the Selma chalk. He says it is more uniform in Icomposition, higher in lime content, and more easily quarried and crushed than the rock at least of the Demopolis division of the Selma chalk. He adds "a table of limestone analyses, and there is wealth of information in those tables.
 Alabama may yet become the seat oi la great cement industry. No othei state has rock of greater cement value and but three or four equal or approach this state in that respect. Roundly [speaking, a good part of the state be How Montgomery is underlaid with valuable cement rock, and tidewater Is |not far away, and every mill can be placed on a navigable river.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-12-08

message is reached the issue is like wise reached upon which he proposes to go to the country-Panama. The subject fills the closing ten pages of the official pamphlet. In those pages he discusses the question at great length, attempting even the impossible in the ethics of the case. He fully justifies secession in the United States of Colombia, and he attempts to show that the lightning-like recognition ae- corded Panama by this country was morally sound. He recites fifty-three outbreaks in tifty-seven years on the isthmus, but he forgets to state that the fifty-three outbreaks were commit ted by his beloved Panamaians, nor does he suggest that our new allies, or rather subjects, will be apt to break away fifty-three times in the next fifty seven years unless our guns are kept pointed and shotted.
 There is very little need of President Roosevelt's elaborate argument over Panama. If he had simply written "off agin', on agin', gone agin'," he would have covered the case. Panama is an accomplished fact, and the less said about the manner of accomplish ment the better The people acquiesce in what has been done, and no ques. tions are asked
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-12-08
Ignorant About City Hall.

q was surprised and amazed to see how little the Birmingham people knew about the interior of the city hall," re- marked an Atlantian last night. At the entertainment given by the ladies of the Hillman hospital bazaar tonight I saw much ignorance along this line. When the performance was over I was stand ing in the armory gallery and I observed that number of people instead of going down the right way through the armory they went out in the corridors, seeking for some place of exit. Then after they had gotten down On the third floor they again wandered around through the corridors searching for some way to reach the sec- ond floor. Of course in both cases the right way was the nearest way. The peo- pie of Birmingham need to get better acquainted with the city hall. The only way to do this is to visit 1t oftener. They have one of the handsomest and most modern city halls in the country"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-12-08
From the Boston Transcript.


 N LEANER paper money, one of the
 0 great needs of outlying sections O of the country, especially in the west and south, Is the end toward which several proposed projects of legislation are directed this session. Representative Wiley of New Jersey has introduced a bill prohibiting the reissue of paper cur rency when it has once returned to the treasury. This is now the rule at the Bank of England, and it's example is cited by MT. Wiley in the preamble of his bill to prove that the scheme is practicable.
 Under the present plan the treasury has, besides the usual paying and receiv- ing telers of a bank, redemption and as- sorting tellers. At the redemption win dow any one can exchange soiled or oth- erwise undesirable bills for fresh ones. The asserting teller is responsible for the separation of the bills which are fit to which are not fit. If a package of bills comes from an easter city, perhaps one half will be judged fit for reissue; if from the south or west, 1t Is very likely that the entire lot will have to be destroyed.
 Five minutes watching of the man do- ing the actual sorting shows that no bills are sent out again on their travels to which the ordinary customer in store. for instance, would think of objecting Yet they are not perfectly fresh, and, presumably, after passing the average number of times from hand to hand be- fore coming back, will be trifle dirtier than if they had started brand new.
 The destruction of the unfit currency in the macerator is one of the things in which visitors to Washington are always interested, and little statuettes made from the resulting pulp are among the most popular souvenirs. The result of putting all instead of only a part of the paper money passed over the governments counters into this beneficent machine would be that perfectly clean bills would be sent out where practically clean bills are today, and that a large amount of ad- ditional work would be thrown upon the destroying apparatus and upon the bureau of engraving and printing. which must furnish the substitute bills. It is point ed out that the Bank of England's expe- rence dealing as 1t does with no piece of paper of less value than five-pound note. is very different from handling of our millions of one and two-dollar bills.
 Another plan proposed for the ''purifi- cation of the currency is that of Repre- sentative Gaines of Tennessee. It IS that the government transport free of charge the soiled or tattered bills which banks or private citizens turn in for re- demption, and send back the fresh cur rency as we'll at its own expense That would mean, of course, that the back woods citizenif he cared to take the trou- ble, could keep the contents of his pocket book in just as presentable condition as the resident of sub-treasury city.
 This is not hew idea. as in past years appropriations have been made for carry l ing United States notes for this purpose. | In 1882 the amount so allowed was s50.- | 900, and in 1883 s4s0O0. Though it does not pay carriage. the government still does ] something to encourage these exchanges
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-12-08
IN HOTEL LoBBIES
Birmingham VIII Advertise.

'T used to think that Atlanta was the Orleans, of course, always excepted, but Orleans, of course, always except, but now, without question, Birmingham leads" said W. B. Cheshire of New York at the Morris Tn Wall street Birming- ham Is as well known as Philadelphia, Baltimore oraSt. Louis. In hotel circles it is as well known as any city in the country, and for the postoffice. the de- partment has issued orders that any mail addressed to Birmingham without the state attached, must be forwarded to Bir- mingham, Ala. In the lobbies of the ho- tels and on all the exchanges Birming- ham is discussed as the important city of the south and has the greatest future of all southern cities"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-12-08
SERMONS IN SENTENCES.

From the Chicago Tribune.
 Grumbling Is the child of greed.
 Sincerity is never se1r-conscious.
 Style is no substitute for sterling strength
 Character may be Sold, but 1t cannot be bought.
 The life that does no good is guilty of much harm.
 The hope of this world Is in the hard things we have to do.
 No man moves this world until he IS profoundly moved himself.
 If takes more than bellows in the pull nit to start fire in the church.