davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1903-01-06
Wine Flowing.

Many vendors of soft drinks are taxi
ing out government licenses for the priv
iege of using wine favoring," remarked
the proprietor of soda water stand
wine makes a good flavor for certain
sherberts and certain soda beverages. So
little of 1t is used in glass, not more
than a spoonful. as a rule, that no one
could be exhilirated by It.
There Is a popular soft drink made of
egg and milk that needs sherry to give 1t
Just the right taste. Merchants who have
a large trade in this line can afford TO
pay S25 a year to the government, but L
am certain the internal revenue bureau
would not have put this tax on us but
for abuses at soda fountains in many
cities. 1 do not know of any abuses in
Birmingham but it is a well-known fact
that soft drink vendors In certain cities
serve soda water we'll dashed with wine
or whisky, as the customer may prefer.
I have one concern in mind that sells a
full drink of whisky at his soda fountain
and only charges 10 cents for it, while the
same liquor at a saloon would cost 10
cents Such abuses have evidently come to
the attention of Uncle Sam"
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1903-01-06
ONE WAY OUT OF 1T.

From the New York Times
Lawyer Abe Hummel is authority for
the state cement that II bachelors who wish
to avoid breach of promise suits will use
telegraph blanks in doing their proposing
they will always keep on the safe side.
He bases this assertion on an incident
In a Westchester county breach of prom
Use suit, In which Mr.. Hummel appeared
for the defendant. The plaintiffs lawyer
began to read the alleged proposal of the
defendant to jury, as it appeared on a
message blank He began with MY
Dearest Louisa"
Mr.. Hummel interrupted: "If the court
please, this document is partly printed
and partly written. BY all the rules of
evidence the plaintiff cannot offer parts
of that instrument He must read 1t all"
The opposing lawyer protested that the
printed matter had nothing to do with
the case, and that the fact that the pro-
posal was written on a telegraph blank
was an accident. The court ruled that
everything on the blank should be read.
Reluctantly the plaintiffs counsel read
There is no liability on account of this
message unless the same is repeated and
then only on condition that the claim is
made within thirty days in writing" And
then after the signature. Yours love-
ingly, john" followed: IN, Bread
carefully the conditions at the top"
1t didn't take the jury long to render
a verdict
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1903-01-06
TO BE SHAW'S ASSISTANT.
Armstrong Youngest. Man to Hold So
Important a Position.
Washington Correspondence New Yorl
World

Washington Correspondence New York
World.
Robert B. Armstrong. private secretary
to the secretary of the treasury, who
will be appointed assistant secretary of
The treasury, will be the youngest man
ever holding this responsible position. He
will succeed Gen. o. L. Spauldng, the
oldest of the assistant secretaries of the
treasury, who is now In his SEVENTEEN
year. He will be in charge of the GUS
toms.
Mr. Armstrong Is only 81 years old He
has been connected with the treasury de-
partment less than a year, but during
that time has acquired a comprehensive
grasp of the details of the duties which
he will be called upon to perform.
President Roosevelt and Secretary
Shaw have not been entirely satisfied
with the manner in which the custom
houses at New York and other ports
have been conducted. General Spaulding
was not able to keep up with the con-
slant chickering's of officials. He realized
that it required a younger and more
energetic man for the place.
Secretary Shaw has been looking for
a successor to General Spaulding since
early in last July. A few days ago he
told the President he had found a man
for the place, and that it was Armstrong.
President Roosevelt's Partially to young
men for executive positions was at once
apparent We'll. let's appoint him." said
the President.
Before coming to Washington as the
private secretary to Secretary Shaw, Mr..
Armstrong was a newspaper man.
General Spaulding, who is considered
as an expert, will continue his connec-
ton with the customs department.
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1903-01-06
DISTINGUISHED DEAD IN 1902.
Year Just Ended Witnessed the Pass
ing of Many Notables.

From the Chicago Tribune.
In each annual neurology the list of ia
nous dead seems longer and the loss to
each department of the worlds work
greater than ever before This is only be-
cause in the close of a year names are
not so fresh in recollection as at its COM
mencement. The list for 1902 contains no
larger number of prominent names than
that of 1901, and yet, as will be seen, a
large number of conspicuous individuals
have passed away. some of whom in 1903
may be "a name and nothing more"
The world of politics and statesman
ship has lost Jean de Bloch, the torcati
Russian councillor of state; Cecil John
Rhodes, the South African empire builder,
whose work will long live after him; and
Thomas b. Reed, ex-speaker, whose par
liamentary record always Will be strik-
ing feature of American political history.
ROYALTY has been fortunate, for 1t has
lost hut one of it's representatives Queen
Marie Henrietta of Belgium, whose sor-
rOWful lie was elluSu III oNPsSiADNA' = 80
army and navy have lost one distinguish
cd ex-union and one equally distinguish
cd ex-confederate officer. General Franz
sipel and General Wade Hampton. and
the navy Rear Admiral w. P. Sampson.
Literature and the fine arts have lost
many eminent representatives. The liter
arv world will miss Frank r. Stockton,
the genial humorist; Bret Harte, the gen.
tie santirist and ideal short story writer;
Paul Leicester Ford, whose young life
closed in fratricidal tragedy; George
Douglas Browne, the English novelist,
who died on the threshold of a promis-
ing career; Edward Eggleston, the story
writer: Philip J. Bailey, whose one
noem. ..Festus' made him famous Emile
lola, greatest of contemporary French
novelist; George Alfred Henty. beloved
of boys and Mary Hartwell Catherwood,
the romance historian of the early days
of Canada and the west. Music has lost
Philippe Marchetti the Italian opera
composer; Camilla Urso, the violinist;
Heinrich Carl Hoffman an excellent Ger
man composer: and Benjamin Bilse. the
Berlin conductor. The art world will
mourn the loss of Albert Bierstadt. Jean
Joseph benjamin Constant. Jean Georges
vibert, James Joseph Jacques Tlssot, the
painter; and Thomas Mast, the famous
pioneer in cartoon work. The dramatic
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1903-01-06
With all the strength and arrnor of
the mind.
Hamlet.
Mr.. TunstaII for Speaker.

Six of the seven members of the
Jefferson delegation will support Alfred
M. Tunstall for speaker. They do not
consider the fact that he is a local
railroad lawyer very weighty or very
convincing in the speakership race,
nor do they consider the instruction
of the county in favor of an elective
railroad commission as a matter that
pertains in any manner to the selec-
tion of a speaker.
Any man who thinks that Alfred NJ.
Tunstall would attempt as a speaker
to pack the corporations committee
against an elective railroad commits
sion does not understand his firmness
and independence in public office. He
ever has and ever will deal fairly with
the people of his native state There
is not a bit of evidence to the con-
trary, and the members of the Jeffer-
son delegation are acting correctly
when they disregard mere prejudice
and rumor.
Moreover Mr.. Tunstall could not, if
he would, block the legislation in ques-
ton, and he would not if he could If
majority of the house is in favor of
an elective commission, 1t will have
its way regardless of the speaker or of
any committee. 1t is not possible, as
all know, to prevent a majority from
working out its will, and it is childish
to assert that any man in the speak
80 chair can revise that will.
The Jefferson delegation will in all
probability solidly support Alfred M.
Tunstall. The sole dissenting member
; says that Eat present ne is in favor of
Mr.. Wood" thus leaving an impression
that he, too, may yet support Mr.. Tun-
stall, and The Age-Herald is confident
the delegation will cast a solid vote
for him.
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1903-01-06

enee to his oWn epoeii-iiiaAiis inFention,
'i -, - as now, Professor Bell was op-
,asad 70 the airship experiment that had
tes ~ nrlnciple a dirigible balloon. a ma
at,tne lighter than air, asserting that an
otrebip constructed on balloon principles
is hound to be a failure so far as any
practical results are concerned
ANY mechanical body lighter han
orr !" said he, lis bound to be at the
mercy of the wind, and is therefore un-
reliable The birds and every other form
Of living thing that flies are heavier than
air. and therefore have perfect control
over their movements. So must the air
ship be built.
1.-The kite principle will figure largely
in the successful airship. The pressure
of wind against surface must be made
use of. What is kite but a tethered
arship? My chief difficulty is to restrain
myself from building a machine. 1t is a
great temptation, but all of the failures
in the airship business are traceable to
the error of building on immature and
INFESTED ideas of what is needed. A step
in the right direction is the kite balloon. "
In his investigation of the aerial rrob-
lem Professor Bell has worked in con-
nection with Professor Langley of the
Smithsonian Institution, regarded as the
foremost authority in this country, II
not in the world, on all forms of air ma
chimes, balloons and kites.
Professor Bell invented the telephone
twenty-seven years ago, and has since
made many additional inventions of tele-
phonic accessories. He has also invented
simple method of condensing fog into
water in bottles by an apparatus fastened
to the side of fishermen's dories, designed
for the Newfoundland fishing banks, and
by which the lives of many fishermen
cut off from their vessels by fog have
been saved.
Professor Bells career presents one Of
the most remarkable Monte Carlo ro-
mances of quick fortune making. Just
before he made known his invention OF
the telephone he was teacher, on a
small stipend. in a school for the deaf
and dumb in Boston.
Within a few years from that memora-
BILE announcement his check was good for
millions and at Washington, city tc
which he had gone with worn clothing
and an empty pocket his home was a
mansion. Then, too, he had jumped by
one leap to the head of the scientists OF
the country, and was a raillionaire Phil
anthropst. spending money lavishly for
the betterment of deaf mutes.
His beautiful wife, accounted one OF
the most attractive women in Washing
ton. is a deaf mute, taught by himself In
earlier days
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1903-01-06
PRIMER SOLD FOR $500.
Teacher Bought 1t at Country Auction
for IL Cents.

Philadelphia Special to N. Y World.
An original copy of the lew England
Primer" which Is said to be even more
rare than those possessed by George w.
Vanderbilt and j. Pierpont Morgan, was
sold by Morris d. High of Johnston to
Dodd. Mead & Co.
Mr.. High, who is a teacher In the high
school at Johnstown, is native of Obey,
BerlSe county, and purchased the primer
for IL cents at public auction in a farm
house near his home in 1898. He received
$500 for the little book today.
Mr.. High received an offer from the wife
of j. Pierpont Morgan for the primer.
but the price paid b. Dodd Mead & Co.
was higher. The copies of the primer in
the possession of George w. Vanderbilt
were purchased several years ago.
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1903-01-06
Miss Mary VIII Run Down.

From the Chicago Inter Ocean.
Miss Mary OBrien of East Long
meadow, Mass. has recovered the power
of speech, which she lost when sixteen
years of age. or fourteen years ago, and
now she is talking so much that her rel
atives and friends are fearful lest she
may lose her reason.
Miss Mary evidently is trying to make
up for lost time, and If her relatives and
friends do not lose their reason while she
is expressing the sentiments that she has
been forced to withhold for the last four
teen years they need not worry about
anything else. When she has had her
say out she will probably stop talking,
or at least be content with talking only
as often and as much as those around
her.
1t is not difficult to understand that
she must have had a great deal to say
when her voice came back. The period
between sixteen and thirty years is that
in which woman takes on most of her
impressions.
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1903-01-06

Henry B. F. mcfarland, in the Washing
ton Times.
OF the great speakers, Reed had the
strongest hold upon the respect OF the
house He was as unlike Clay and Blaine
as they were like each other. He made no
effort to obtain popularity. He concealed
rather than revealed his personal attrac-
lions in public and disdained f1attery as
he did flatterers. In public life. and par
ticularly in the house of representatives,
he appealed only to the intellect and in
the most direct and striking manner.
He was literally the master of the
house, and ruled by the force of his will
and the strength of his reason, and not by
the arts of diplomacy or the wiles of the
politicians. 1t was understood, Of course,
that he was honest clear through, honest
In mind as well as In heart, and with a
strong sense of Justice or he could not
have had the admiration of the house.
1t was not until he made his revolu-
tionary rulings as speaker In the Fifty
first congress. on January 20 and 50, 1890,
when he destroyed filibustering by
counting enough minority members pres
that the country came to know him. He
had, by his ability as a rugged and brill
liant debater, as a fighting captain of
the republican minority, gained leadership
early In his congress career, and had been
his party's nominee for the speaKership
In two congresses before 1t gained control
of the house and he was elected speaker.
The house had learned that he was q
great man, and was not surprised by
his methods of making and enforcing the,
rulings which became Reeds rules But
the average newspaper reader only dis
covered Mr.. Reed when he read of the
camness, and, indeed, of the wit, with
which the masterfu speaker broke the
power of obstruction in the house and
made it possible for the majority to do
business.
1t shows what great man Mr.. Reed
was that he was able to hold his place
in public life in spite of his reputation as
a wit, and yet there is no doubt that that
reputation cost him dear. think no man
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1903-01-06
WHEELER LEADS HAPPY LIFE
Famous General Passing Retirement
With Daughter.
From the Chicago Chronicle.

From the Chicago Chronicle.
rigadier-General Joseph Wheeler vet
eran Of two wars. is passing his days at
his home at Wheeler, Ala, in the man.
ner of a typical southern gentleman.
Visitors would never suspect from the
quiet peace reigning in his home that he
was once warrior by choice. His home
life Is ideal, his daughter being almost
constantly at the side of the gray-haired
veteran Although she is a young wo-
man now, she seems to take as much de-
light In sitting across the arm of chair
with one arm around the old gentleman's
neck and listening to him talk of the VIC
tories of peace as she used to take when
a girl in sitting astride one of his knees
while he recounted bloodthirsty tales that
appealed TO her Imagination. The attach
ment between the general and his daugh-
ter provokes daily comment the father 8
slightest wish being sufficient to secure
for him anything the daughter can OBJ
tain to add to his happiness.
General Wheeler fought through the
civil war as a member of the confederate
army, commanding the cavalry corps of
the west. and becoming famous for dash
and daring. After the war he practiced
law and conducted a plantation. When
the Spanish-American war began he
Joined the United States army and COM
manded the cavalry division of the army
Of Santiago He commanded the Ameri-
can troops at the battle of La Guasimas
and was senior in the field at the battle
of San Juan. He was also senior officer
on the commission that arranged the sur
render of Santiago. He served in the
Philippines from August, 1899, until jan
uary "a 1900. He commanded the depart
ment of the Lakes, with headquarters at
Chicago, from June &c. 1900, to September
10, 1900, when he was retired. He was
born on September 10, 1896 His son, Jo-
seph Wheeler, Jr.. is now a member of
the army. In addition General Wheeler
served many years in congress since the
war.
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1903-01-06
To Sell Meals BY Slot Machines.

New York Telegram TO the Chicago
Tribune.
The automatic restaurant, whereby put
ting the requisite number of nickels or
dimes in the slot you can get dluacr.
highball. soda water---in fact. every
thing in the eating or drinking line In
the latest development in coin III the slot
machines, and restaurant TO exploit The
scheme has just been opened at $50 Broad
way near Twelfth street. One company
has been organized to run the automatic
restaurant for New York. This one is
only one of ten already contracted for.
The parent company in Germany has
just organized its American branch and
proposes to build all machines in the
United States.
Everything about the place is the en-
bodiment of cleanliness. AS there are no
walters, there are no tips. There is an
air of informally about 1t all that Is most
pleasing.
The automat is the invention of Herr
Sielaff, captain in the Kaiser's own reg
iment
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1903-01-06
THE INDIANoLA PosToFFIcE.

From the Memphis Commercial-Appea
The trouble at Indianola, Miss, which
has resulted in the closing of the post
office at that place. is most regrettable.
1t is a pity that it could not have been
avoided. 1t is pity that it should have
been brought to such an acute crisis. 1t
has ugly features to it. The Cox woman
was appointed six years ago by President
Harrison. She was a. negress then as
now. She was reappointed two years ago.
Her husband is a man of means. Her
own character is exemplary. No protest
against her appointment was heard. She
was acceptable to every one. Leading
democrats Endorsed her and went on her
bond. Leading democrats still are her
friends and defenders. The opposition to
her is of recent growth.
1t is not necessary to believe that only
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1903-01-06
THE WHITE REPUBLICAN
MOVEMENT IN THE SOUTH

color here and men of another color there.
In fact, the ir---ession left upon our
mind is that he has decided to ignore the
race question altogether and to proceed,
so far as his lights illunine the way, by
the standard of strict impartidlity. But
Just why white men of CT -racter and
substance should be disheartened in the
advocacy of a principle because negro
gets some trumpery office, or why his
zeal should be cooled because he fails to
get the office himself, we cannot even
in agine. much less explain.
Tta wIdte republican movement at the
south, provided it be a movement in
spired by intelligence and dignity, does
not depend upon the Presidents favor or
recognition. As a matter of fact, if the
leaders \ the case be sincere and self
respecting, the propaganda were far bet
ter off without it. An organization which
has to ay court to what are called the
national leaders, is a mighty poor con-
Germ. State organizati 9 worthy OF the
name should have the leaders paying
court to tn n. We do not think the Pres
ident is wise in ignoring the race ques-
ton in distributing Off. and emolument
at the south. He would not yenture upon
a similar course in New York or ONO
for instance, and everybody knows It.
But that is neither hei nor there. Ii
the southern republicans, outspoken or
intending, wish to make their influence
felt as a free in the equation of their
sections destinies, they must dismiss the
very thought of office; leave Washington
out Of their calculations; address them
selves to unselfish and patriotic ends. The
national leaders will come to them,
in that event, not to dictate, but to sue.
And in our opinion, if the southern re-
publican movement means no more than
a struggle for federal place, it need not
occupy the thoughts of serious men for
the smallest fraction of a moment.
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1903-01-06
Matrimony in Wabaunsee,
he Kansas City Journal.

From the Kansas City Journal
1t is noted by the Westmoreand Re-
corder that marriages are growing fewer
in Mabaunsee county. 1t finds that the
decrease is not the mere happening of a
single year. but that steady per cent.
of decrease is shown through a period of
years. For example, the number of mar
riages in 1900 is given at ninety-two. for
1901 at eighty-three, and for 1902 at sixty
two Here is a decrease of more than %
per cent in two years, and If the ratio
of decrease should continue without vari-
alton. the year 1912 would witness but
four marriages in the whole county. The
Recorder says 1t is at a loss to discover
the reason for this condition, but really
the cause is patent. Wabaunsee is dis
tinctively an agricultural community. All
the daughters of farmers are great heir
esses. The proud spirit of the young men
of Wabaunsee will not permit them to
wear even the appearance of wanting to
marry money.
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1903-01-06

and it is peculiarly a subject fit for
consideration by The Hague tribunal.
But China cannot carry it to that court
unaided, and the United States does
not deem the present time favorable
for urging recourse to The Hague.
When the subject becomes more
imperative no doubt China aided by
the United States will ask that the
disputed point be referred to The
Hague, and it is difficult to see how
the powers that extorted the immense
indemnity can 1ecently refuse to &C.
cept so fair a proposition.
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1903-01-06
BELLS WORK ON HIS PROBLEM.
Said Two Years Ago Balloon Prnci-
Pile Was Wrong for Flying.

From the New York World.
When Alexander Graham Bell asserts
that he has accomplished any certain
thing the scientific world accepts his
statements without question.
Professor Bell has been investigating
and experimenting in the matter of aerial
navigation since 1893, employing himself
thus during the greater part of his sum-
mer vacations spent at his country home
at Cape Breton. Nova Scotia. AS long
ago as the fall of 1900, Professor Bell ex-
planned to a correspondent for the World
the theories upon which he was working
with respect to aerial navigation; theories
that, according to his statement of yes
terday have been proved correct.
Professor Bell then said that aerial
navigation would mark an epoch in the
history of the worlds progress. just as
did the steam locomotive and the steam
propeller. modestly refraining from refer