davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-07
High School Building.

The boom died away before high school building could be put up, and the upper classes of the public school system have ever since been tempora rily quartered in an undignifed, in appropriate and really insanitary building. The building is now out grown, and the students coming up from the grammar schools can no longer be accommodated in 1t. Three more rooms are imperatively needed, and the building was crowded in the year just ended to it's utmost capacity.
 If there is to be a greater Birming- ham, new building-an adequate, fit and proper bullding-would at once be a public necessity, a pressing and urg- ent need that could not be delayed with justice to all single moment. The city Is not rich in revenue, but sanitation and school room are two things all towns must have, be they rich or poor, and if Birmingham de- cides it must have high school build ing, ways and means will be found.
 We are building here in Jones val ley a great city, and many sacrifices are demanded from the early builders of all towns, and 1t is now our turn to face the music and build home for the upper classes in the public schools. The task is not light one, and it has been postponed many years, until post ponement has become reproach and source of weakness. It Is better to do our duty In this matter. It is our plain civic duty to educate the next generation. This duty has long been recognized, and we cannot do our duty In this regard unless we properly house the upper as we'll as the lower classes of the public school system It will be the duty of the next generation to edu- cate the succeeding generation, and so on to the end of time.
 Our duty involves the building of home for the high school All other cities have such homes, and Birming- ham cannot afford to be delinquent in this respect. Let us wake up to our plain duty. Let us meet 1t in manner that befits the prospects and probabili- ties of this city. Let us build for a generation at least, and thus we will put upon the next generation it's proper responsibility.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-07
The Press Club.

'sThe Alabama Press association will be entertained at Grand Rapids, Mich, on It's trip to Canada this year." said J. A. Rountree the secretary, yesterday. Continuing, Mir. Rountree said that he was Just in receipt of a letter stating that the members who go on the trip will receive every attention at Grand Rapids. The letter Is as follows
 Grand Rapids, Mich, June 8, 1905 MT. J. A. Rountree, Secretary Alabama Press Association, Birmingham, Ala. Dear Sir-Informed that your associa- ton, on the occasion of its annual out ing will pass through this city about July 15 next the opportunity for achieving re- suits which will prove, doubtless, mu- tually agreeable and beneficial, was dis eussed at the May meeting of the board of directors of Grand Rapids board of trade last evening.
 "A resolution was passed, unanimously extending an invitation to the membt rs of the Alabama Press association to make us visit of six or eight hours. when you go or when you return from Toronto, as you may elscr
 eve promise to do our best as hosts and we are positive that such visit to "The Furniture City of the Earth and the "Fling-Pin Peach Market of the World" cannot but prove a pleasure and a revelation to the representatives of Alabama.
 Trusting that you will place this mat ter before your association and that Hn acceptance of our invitation will speedily follow, I am, very truly yours,
 I'll. D. c. VAN ASMUS.
 Secretary
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-07
About Persons.

H. A. Richardson, private secretary to Mayor Drennen, returned yesterday from trip to Danville and other cities in Ken lucky.
 James R. Stewart of Kenelworth Inn, Biltmore, is at the Hillman.
 W. D. Knox of Anniston Is registered at the Metropolitan.
 Hamp Nisdom of St. Louis Is at the Morris.
 w. II. McCloy of New York is stopping at the Hillman.
 A. M Ramsay of Union Springs is at the Metropolitan.
 M. Hirscher of Montgomery is stopping at the Morris.
 W. U. wolmsley of Philadelphia Is at the Hillman.
 J. S. Daniel of Talladega is registered at the Metropolitan.
 Prof. Gustav Calman, for several years
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-07
Owl Cars on the Trolley Lines,

The Age-Herald fully appreciates the efficiency and value of the trolley sys- tenn that the reorganized company is establishing. When it is completed 1t will doubtless be one of the best as it is one of the largest in the south. It possesses and operates more miles of track than any other southern town, New Orleans and Atlanta alone ex. cepted New Orleans has 300 miles of track: Atlanta, 145 miles, and Bir- mingham 103 miles. We have a fine system that is being improved daily
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-07

The recent arrests and indictments by federal grand juries of leading citizens of certain communities in Alabama for peon- age has generated a national discussion of the subject and incidentally displayed a remarkable amount of ignorance as to the nature of the crime and it's practical workings.
 Peonage is a word of Spanish-Ameri- can origin and is the logical development of the word peon, which means in Anglo Saxon a servltor, or more particularly a debtor held in a qualified condition of servitude by his creditor to work out a debt. This is made crime under the United States statutes, but is looked upon in much more serious light in the the practice has been in vogue for twenty years.
 While the practice of peonage has been committed in Alabama for many years by persons ignorant of the law, very few of the men who 1t is alleged are criminally guilty of such acts have gone quite so far as the eastern papers WOulu Aidhe IL dpptdIs
 In sections of Alabama, and in fact many of the southern states. where the planter Is dependent upon negro labor to work his crop, the practice of using the labor of negroes convicted of misdemea- nors Is quite common.
 Talapoosa and Coosa counties are just now furnishing the target for volley of protests from the north and in fact the federal authorities, and 1t might be well to explain the method in which tue alleged peonage Is conducted. Negroes, who are without money and friends, of their own color, are frequently convicted for minor offenses and fined a certain amount and sentenced to work a certain number of days at hard labor. Under the present fee system in Alabama the total amount for which they are held is sometimes more than twice as much as the original fine. This amount they are absolutely unable to pay. A white man whom they know is sent for and Is called upon to get them out of trouble. The white man thereupon confesses judgment with the court or in other words stands security for the amount of ...---------- popular teacher In the Birmingham High school, leaves today for Savannah, where he will take steamer for his home in New York city.
 M E. Duncan, general manager of the Southern Car and Foundry company, whose headquarters are now in Anniston, spent yesterday in Birmingham.
 C. E. Thomas, president of the Wimber- ley & Thomas Hardware company. left for Blount Springs last night to be gone about a week.
 W. c. Davis of Jasper is stopping at the Morris.
 A. Steinhart of Talladega is registered at the Metropolitan.
 B. L. Johnson and D. H. Johnson of Anniston are stopping at the Morris.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-07
Distinguished Artist.

Mrs. Griffin. the soprano. who will assist in, Miss Gockers concert next Tuesday night for the benefit of the Salvation army is really a very distinguished ar tist. She filled twenty-one engagements with the Thomas orchestra and was one of the principals in the performance of Beethovens Ninth symphony under Mir Thomas direction. Few singers have finer press notices. The leading papers of Boston and New York have praised her highly.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-07

to meet the requirements of the impre- sario. The works on costumes are made up by careful study of the great museums of the world. In almost every capital city in Europe one finds carefully pre- served some dress. armor and accoutre-
 ments of bygone ages.
 In the Cluny museum in Paris there is probably the finest collection of footwear that is to be found under the sun. It em-
 braces hundreds and hundreds of sandals
 slippers and shoes of all kinds and from all countries dating from before Christ, up to the high-heeled, round pointed dainty combination of leather which the fashionable woman of 1903 wears upon her pretty feet. At the Invalides there Is a magnificent collection of armor. In the Tower at London there Is also a beautiful collection and the same is to
 be found in the national museums in Munich, Dresden. Berlin and Vienna. It is from these sources that the theatrical
 armorer of 1903 gets his models. not only for the armor itself. but for the lances,
 arabesks, swords and all the other ac-
 coutrements and trappings which were
 used hundreds of years ago in actuality,
 but now serve only for decorative pur- poses, either in homes or to enhance the
 value of stage pictures. As a matter of
 fact the original wearers of these iron
 pots' must have been very uncomforta- ble.
 Another great difficulty which con- fronts the impresario even after he has got his costume plates, Is the material from which his costumer Is to make up
 the garments. It is not possible in most instances for the manufacturer of stage clothes to walk into dry goods shop and buy the material he needs directly off
 the shelf. In most cases very effective
 costumes represent the results of years of accumulatiouson the part of the ccs- tuner herself An odd piece of cloth
 here, a remarkable brocade there, curi- ous piece of satin that has been picked up goodness knows where, all blend in to- gether to make the effectively finished stage costume which pleases the eye even of the most critical. The wardrobe of a big operatic organization Is great dry goods store in itself. and 1t requires the services of many people to keep it in order Costumes will get dirty and they will get torn, so every large organization has It's force of women. all adopts with | the needle. who do nothing but clean and repair from morning till night. They are never heard of beyond the curtain line and the outside public never dream of | their exiSteuce.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-07
PEONAGE QUESTION HAS TWO SIDES AND
 FARMERS ARE NOT ENTIRELY TO BLAME
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be strange that he can not be trusted the same as the white man. This idea
 as gained ground in many of the northern newspapers is a display of ignorance of conditions that does the people of Alabama and the south a grave injustice.
 The plantation negro is not considered as rule. responsible man and in fact he is not. He knows nothing but to blow, hoe and eat. He depends absolute ly on the white man for support and to him the deprivation of his liberty at night is not nearly so serious a matter as his northern friends would suppose. The farmer, knowing the negro's ire sponsibility and being ignorant of the law in such matters, has followed the rule of necessity is the mother of in- vention" and has adopted the scheme of tract by making it impossible for him to break 1t.
 To show how the rule fails to work both ways, the writer knows of one lead ing citizen of an Alabama town who has lost large sum of money on a negro whom he depended upon to keep his con- tract. The negro was fined heavily and agreed to work two years if the white man would keep him out of the chain gang The money was secured and the ne- gro started to work. In the meantime the present investigation of the system in foI.a never been deprived of his liberty, but had been treated as any other hired man, heard of the indictments by the federal juries and promptly refused to work The citizen had no recourse. but submit- ted to the inevitable ana 1t is said had to act very careful lest his action in taking the negro from prison be investigated.
 While Alabamians in the counties re- fered to admit that it is manifestly wrong to traffic in free American cti- zens and imprison them for debt, they believe that conditions in the counties in question and the relations existing be- tween the white man and the negro in the farming sections should be consider ed before harsh judgment is passed by those who have never come in contact with the plantation negro of the south. - -- - caricature His meritorious career is henceforth shadowed by one colored H. lustration. A comic paper will tip the scales of justice, snatch the victor's prize from his extended palm and rob the ora tor of his choicest laurels A brilliant satire will mar the fortunes of the great est statesman; a laugh will turn the tide of political convention. Indeed, the joke Is fast becoming mightier than the pen. The orator has learned its value and even the clergyman resorts to 1t when he de- sires to stir the Tagging interest In his | flock lt furnishes sufficient excuse for the fmpertinence of children and in it's name the daily papers deride the highest national dgnitaries. What is the meaning of it's steady growth in power and what results may we predict from it's humor- ous tyranny? Is there a chance that our keen relish for fun may finally produce kind of humorous dyspepsia resulting | from over-indulgence unless with epi- curean discrimination we demand quality, not quantity. and stubbornly refuse to swallow other than that which should appease a wholesome. nay. cultivated ap- petite in jokes?
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-07
IN HOTEL LoBBIES.
Married in Texas.

P. H. Smith, president of the Eastern of Alabama railroad, and secretary of the Alabama Pyrltes company, led to the altar a few days go Miss Marie Louise Carter of Dallas, Texas. The ceremony took place in the Episcopal cathedral and Bishop Garrett offciated. It was very brilliant wedding and the bribe is de- scrbide as one of the most charming young belles of the south
 MT. Smith Is well known and popular in Birmingham society.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-07
Mark Twain.

'I wonder what has become or Marx Twain" remarked a gentleman yesterday. .'He seems to have completely dropped out of public notice. Perhaps the presi- dential candidates are attracting all the attention just now, but year or two ago the genial humorist was the most talked-of man in the country. Society made much of him on his return rom England, and he was wined and dineo everywhere.
 "The papers were always quoting his remarks on various topics. Now Mark Twain anecdote is never seen Tn the columns of the big dailies. It only goes to show how fickle is the public and ho" soon a prominent man is dropped Tor a new celebrity"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-07
REFLECTIONS OF A BACHELOR.

From the New York Press.
 There are exactly as many different ways of being fooled by a woman as there are women in the world.
 It seems pity that about the only way for man to learn what kind of women he ought not to marry Is to marry her.
 The harder man has to work to keep secrets about himself from his wife the easier 1t is for her to hide hers from him.
 Generally the devil calls on the same day that the man of the house has gone downtown mad because his breakfast was spoiled by the weak coffee.
 When you come right down to it. a womans way of showing her superiority over some other woman is being able to spend more money than she does
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-07
A PRAYER.

By James Russell Lowell God! do not let my loved one die, But rather wait until the time That l am grown in purity
 Enough to enter thy pure cline, Then take me, I will gladly go, So that my love remain below. o, let her stay! She is by birth
 What I thought death must learn to be. We need her more on our poor earth Than thou canst need in heaven with
 thee:
 She hath her winks already, I Must burst this earth shell ere fly. Then, God. take mel We shall be near, More near than ever. each to each; Her angel ears will find more clear My heavenly than my earthly speech, And still, as draw nigh 10 thee
 Her soul and mine shall closer be.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-07

to appear in court costume, and it has been voted him. No matter the subjects. the king must be 1t Public office is a public trust in the seeking. Public of- flee is private snap" in the reality.
 Yet, what is an additional $12o0 in salary to a mayor if he will earn it. am will ing that Mayor Drennen may have it and another twelve hundred added if he will but earn it. Now that you have your salary increased Mir. Mayor, due or not due as the case may be to bad acoustic properties of the hall where some alder men claim to have voted it to you when they didn't know for what they were vot- ing, let us drop the matter of how 1t was railroaded through. Keep on draw ing the salary and give the city intelli- gent service for it or else get out and We want better and cleaner streets, more policemen and more lights Don't talk city poverty my more in your mes sages- Be up and doing for the town. Add fifty per cent to its cleanliness and its peoples safety in their homes and we will not only endorse your salaried ap- plause of yourself but we will give you another fifty per cent increase next year.
 It is up to you Mayor Drennen to earn your increased salary and with it public applause. That you will do so is the earnest wish of
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The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-07
The Fear of Laughter.

From the Atlantic.
 Men who fear nothing else shrink from a joke upon themselves. Soldiers who do not finch before opposing guns dread to be made ridiculous Woe to the national hero who makes one trifing mis- take which may subject him to clever
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-07

H HIS Is a great old town we live in. k0 It Is productive of all things.
 When first came here and sec cured for myself a modest lot, and with the aid of an insurance loan company. built for myself home. asplred to have fruit orchard upon the twenty by thirty feet of vacant space In the rear. A friendly nurseryman supplied me with half dozen yearling fruit trees and my friend of presidential proclivities, in- eluding most things in Birmingham need ing a president, as well as fertilizer fac tory in addition. donated a peck of his fruit fancier's favorite." The trees were cherries. After digging deep holes, filling them with fertilizer and planting the trees with ceremony and pride. a friendly neighbor dropped in upon me to remark that no cherry tree was ever known to bear in the Birmingham dis. triet. "Plums are the things here, ' my neighbor remarked
 believe 1t now.
 In that hall where the board of alder men meet to dellberate--regardles of it's lack of acoustic properties-a plum tree has grown and borne fruit and the good mayor of Birmingham plucked the first plum in its luscious ripeness last Wednesday evening. This lovely plum sold in the open market-the first of the season-for twelve hundred gold dollars. It's value was but five hundred dollars less than the contribution to the poor fund made by the good mayor of Bir- mingham to persuade the generous people
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-07
A Hard Worker.

From the Brooklyn Life.
 Do you ever work hard?" asked one of the examining committed
 Do ever work hard?" rejoined the mil lonaire. evidently a little hurt; why, sometimes I work as hard as if was only getting dollar day"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-07

Andrew Garnegie's check for s1,500.- 900, with which to build a peace pal ace, has been received by Hollands minister of foreign affairs. Andrew is business every time.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-07

The Montgomery Advertisers at tempt to hand og to Grover Cleye- land the Alabama delegation is too ridiculous for more extended comment. Alabama prefers some one who is not heavily handicapped.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-07
A Woman's Book.
From Judgl

From Judge.
 "The Gray Cloak is romance with a voltage that thrills and holds. Women who begin at the hinder end of the book will be held spellbound to the beginning.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-07
Making a Resular Study of It.

From the Harvard Lampoon.
 Judge-Well, old man, have you begun to look for an opening In the world?
 Giggs-Oh, yes; several-I'm taking geology.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-07

Secretary Hay seems to think Am. bassador Mccormick talks too much with his mouth. He cannot overwork his brains, for it is not known that he has any.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-07

The legal status of the mayors new salary may be confusing and doubtful. but his monthly check is not at all clouded. It calls for three hundred dollars"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-07
No Wonder He Couldn't Find Them,

From the Pennsylvania Punch Bowl
 R. E. Morse-Marriages are often made in heaven, they say.
 D. Vorse-Well, I've often thought this thing we call marriages wasn't the real article.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-07

Sir Thomas Lipton is coming over in two yachts and two steamers manned by 170 men. Free advertising is some what expensive after all.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-07

The administration and Secretary Hay is up against the Kishineff outrage and half-civilized Russia.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-07

Ambassador Mccormick is dividing his time in this country between "sas- siety" and puffs of the czar and the loyable and humane Russian people.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-07

Miss Braddon is about to publish her sixty-fourtn novel, and she is not think ing about reforming.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-07

The Chicago papers fear that their governor will not lose his return ticket when he gees abroad
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-07

MT. Roosevelt has decided not to make more than eight speeches a week during the hot months.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-07

Russia has lost her bland manner in the face of Keshineff
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-07

Senator Quay proposes to retire from politics, thus leaving Pannypacker, an orphan, in peck of trouble.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-07

Lulu Hadley, the Indiana chamber maid, will soon do her parl in elevat- ing the vaudeville stage.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-07
BY BOHEMIAN c. euLeER.

fines and fees. The negro then agrees to work certain number or months or years. as the case may be, until he has made the amount good. At first glance this would seem a perfectly legal coE- tract and 1t Is, so far as it goes. It is the only way In which the white man can protect himself and at the same time 1t keeps the negro from prison and gives him employment which tends to improve instead of debauch his mind. According to the best authorities a case like the one mentioned Is not violation of the law and can not be termed peon- age in the technical sense of the word
 This practice of confessing judgment for prisoners within the last few years has developed into a regular business and this is where the trouble arises Persons who have been accustomed to the system, innocent of any wrong doing have enlarged on the practice and it is not an uncommon thing for one farmer when he has done with the laborer's services to turn him over to a neighbor for stipulated amount and the neigh Dor holds him until the fine and fee has been worked out. The negro often tiring of his long contract, has been known to violate his word and leave for parts un- known. To prevent this loss of labor and money farmers have been known to im- prison the negro at night to prevent violation of the contract by leg bail. This under the law is peonage and is, according to authorities, clear violation of the federal statutes which say that no citizen of the United States shall be deprived of his liberty for debt.
 There are two sides to the question and while the negro may have to undergo the humiliation of being locked up at night, it must be remembered that the farmer has a considerable sum of money at stake and has no security whatever ex- cept the prisoners word that he will not violate his contract. While the negro is irresponsible. the farmer Is liable to the court and must pay the fine and fees whether the negro works out his time or not.
 To persons who are unfamiliar with the Alabama plantation negro it may