davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-03-09

N OSTON, March S.-Miss Helen Kel- H1A Ter, the blind and deaf Radcliffe " student, who appeared before the committee on education at the state house Friday as an advocate of the reso- lutlon for the appointment of a commis- sion to investigate the condition of the adult blind, with view of establishing state industrial training school where such afflicted people can learn to be self supporting. spoke with rare eloquence.
 Miss Keller has only recently acquired the power of speech and though her words were heard all over the large room, they were unintelligible except to those very near her. Mss Sullivan, her teacher and friend, repeated them after her.
 Tt has long been my earnest desire" said Miss Keller that something should be done to help the blind to support them selves. It is terrible to be blind and be uneducated. but it is worse for the blind who have finished their education to be idle. Their very education becomes A burden because they cannot use it.
 All the knowledge they have gained in their school days can bring no happiness into their lives; indeed, have sometimes thought that their condition, before they go to school, Is happier than the state of educated helplessness in which the school leaves them. They think, think. think In the long days that are nights.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-03-09

which is considerably less than in either of the two years Immediately preceding. The average in manufacturing is reduced to sl1.2s7 against s12.6O1 last year, and in trading to s511 compared with s55l4 in February, 1902, and s5S71 two years ago.
 Analysis of the commercial morality for the month of February according to branches of business does not disclose any special evidence of unsoundness, ai- though few occupations were more un- fortunate than others The increase was comparatively slight, however. while, on the other hand, there were noteworthy cases of improvement as compared with the same month last year. In only two out of the fourteen manufacturing divi. sions into which these returns are sep arated were there extensive increases compared with last year. The chief rise was in iron, which was due to single large failure in New Jersey.
 There was also a considerable in- crease in manufactures of leather on account of one large shoe factory in Maine, In no case was there large increase in the number of failures, while below last years This was particularly notable In machinery, and would have been still more striking but for single heavy default in New York of a wagon wheel manufacturer. Other large de- creases in liabilities compared with last year occurred In woolens, lumber and liquors, especially the latter, which made a remarkably good exhibit this year. Of the miscellaneous manufacturing failures, which were neither unusually numerous nor costly, the heaviest losses occurred in brass goods and barium, both failures exceeding $1O0,O00. The largest number of failures in this division were provided by plumbers, blacksmiths and contractors.
 In trading classes there were large de- creases in number of failures in many cases. notably groceries, liquors and mis- cellaneous, while in no case was there any extensive increase. As to liabilities, however, the return was irregular, large gains in some cases being fairly balanced in others, and on the whole the net re- suit may be considered decidedly favor able. Liabilities exceeded a million dol- lars in dry goods, which is very unusual, but the increase is explained by very large failure in Michigan and another of considerable size in Texas. These two de- faults supplied half the liabilities of the forty-nine failures in this class. There were also much heavier liabilities than last year in liquors and clothing, but oth- CT increases were small, while improve ment appears in general stores, hotels, hardware, drugs, jewelry and miscellan- eous. In the latter class the losses were exceptionally light during February, and the number of failures was also decided ly small Defaults in this division were most numerous among confectioners. Of the third class two real estate brokers provided more than half the aggregate liabilities. Failures were less limited to the east in February than in the month preceding, the west providing a consider able share of the large defaults.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-03-09
ADMIRAL cRowNINsHIELD.

From the New York Times.
 correspondent who evidently has keen eye for analogies-and other .hihss' perhaps-asks why we have not comment ed upon the retirement of Admiral Sro"h- insbieId and the resignation or Lieut. ward as we did upon that of Captain ttobson We know of no reason except that we didn't happen to get around to 1t in the daily selection Of rew suplects from many, but now that our attention has been called to the admiral and his friend. we are not only willing to com ment on their cases, but shall rather en- ,ov doing 1t. As our correspondent more than intimated. voluntary retirement at this particular time and for the only cause known. was, for these officers, a most unsatisfactory manifestation of patriot ism. For years past Admiral Crownin- shield, as head of the bureau of naviga- ton, has sat in his snug Washington of- flee and worked what some have regard ed as capricious and arbitrary will upon a multitude of men, no inconsiderable number of whom were, to say the least of them, his equals in ability. He has said to them, "Go." and they went, to this or that ship or station, and when he said Come" they came. According to com mon report. their personal preferences as to the coming and going were not al- ways matters of deep thought on the ad- mirars part. That was all right-they shouldn't have been. But now, when an- other man is issuing the orders, the ad- miral grows resentful at the first evidence
 of what seems to him to be disregard
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-03-09
About Kniqhthood.

In speaking of George Meredith the great English novelist, who has just rounded his 75th year. a literary man says:
 The fact that he Is 'undistinguished by any title or honor naturally occurs to English journalists as a subject of com ment. But the sensible view prevails that Meredith would reject any title from mere knighthood up to so small peerage as might be allotted to him. This is prob- ably true and true, too, of Thomas Hardy, swinburne and Spencer. Such men are too proud, too conscious of the value of the fame their genius has secured for them, to accept empty honors. That there has been an extravagant bestowal of such questionable recognition upon English writers and artists in the last quarter of a century does not concern foreigners; but we democratic outsiders cannot help rejoicing that so many leaders in thought and the arts have escaped such honors, that so many have had the courage to re- fuse them.
 "Knighthood upon such a man as George Meredith would be a preposterous proceeding, though not more ridiculous than the occasional practice of American colleges of bestowing the honorary degree of doctor of laws upon successful soldiers, popular actors and prosperous mer- chants"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-03-09
FEBRUARY FAILURES.
A Much Better Showing Than Last Year-EspeciaIly in Manufacturing.

R. G. Dun & Co. report 10s0 commercial failures during February. with liabilities of s1O 9O7, ,454 compared with 1104 in the corresponding month of 1902. when the amount involved was s11,3 ,029. and 1924 in 1901 with liabilities of s1l,2S7,2i1. While the aggregate makes a very favorable comparison with the two previous years, the classified statement indicates even greater improvement in the two chief commercial classes. Thus In manufactur- ing there were 2SO failures for $S,S67 ,951, compared with 23S involving $49l5,015 last year and PIP failures for s4,s9s, TAI two years ago. So as to trading failures, 734 with liabilities of $45s2, 704 compare with 500 defaults involving s4,7S7 491 in 1902 and 757 failures for s4.144,S7s in February, 1901. It was only in the third division, embracing brokers, transporters other than rail- ways, and similar failures. that the state ment last month was less satisfactory than last year. Even here the number was the same, 66, but as to liabilities, s2,- 45s, 7s9 compared with only $1649,52s. al- though in 1901 the amount involved was $2, 443,5 ,597. In banking and other strictly financial lines the record was much more satisfactory than that of January, ' failures for s1,1S22o6 comparing with 10 involving s2, 45s95 while in February, 1902, there were but three failures with liabili- ties of only S145,O00.
 Commercial failures in February for the past ten years are compared below:
 19o3-10SO. s10907, 454. 1902-l104. s1l,S02. .O29 19Cl-1O24, s11,2S7,211. 1900-ss1. s9, ,ss1, ,O4s 1s9s-77O s9.O12,6O7 1S9s-1155, s9,5OO.64l. 1ss7--1l5S. $ls672,512. 1Sss-1163, s131sO. 451. 1s95-11s5, s11 ,9s4, ,26S. 1S94-1204. s14.751s11.
 As usual few very large failures pro- vided about third of the defaulted lia- bilities, and subtracing these fourteen the net esult is exceptionally satisfactory. the average amount of ind btedness to each. remaining failure being only s7l54.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-03-09
MISS KELLER SPEAKS
 WITH RARE ELOQUENCE,

They have been taught to aspire, they have read books; perhaps they have tasted the higher education.' and now they are sent back from school, often to poor homes. with nothing to do, ex- cept to contrast with bitter longing the school days. full of books and music, with the hopeless, inactive present. The education was dehght and a privilege, but for what have they been educated?
 T remember the distress of many blind people l have known, who. after finish ing their education, could find no means of supporting themselves because no one helped them to find positions in which they could turn what they had been taught to practical use. The greater their ambition to do useful work the more cruel their disappointment often receive let ters from them and the cry of their de- spair is in my heart as I speak.
 ''If this commonwealth will establish A commission to place the blind in positions of self-support, it will be doing three things-helping the blind. relieving itself of the burden of caring for them. and setting an example for other states.
 sAlready Massachusetts has delayed too long in work In which she should lead It is not higher education that the blind need, 1t is not Greek and Latin, but an industrial training and some one with influence and authority to help them to a place in the industrial world"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-03-09
AN AMERICAN WOMAN
 KILLS A HUGE TIGER

Jungle with drums and horns, driving six buffalo In front of them, and made hide ous noises. After about half an hour, when the beat was nearly up to my tree. l saw what l first took for a deer glid- ing through the high grass and bamboo, when suddenly an opening revealed. huge tiger to my astonished gaze He was going full bat, so I saw it was a case of then or never, and although it was very blind shot let blaze at the van ishing stripes as they flashed through the bamboo
 "A roar and rush told me the monster was hit, but I could see nothing, as the jungle was so dense. When the shikar came up told him where I had fired and got down, and with loaded rifles we ap- preached the spot where, about ten yards from where I fired lay the very finest monster I ever saw and his great striped body did indeed look like slain king of the forest. The shikar and I all but hugged in our excitement, and when the beaters came up our hurrahs and jubi- lant exclamations brought Timmins tumbling down out of his tree. and his joy and pride quite touched me. The monster was indeed glorious with his ten feet eight inches spread out to their full, his gums rolled up showing his enormous teeth and his skin in it's prime, and, ohl so beautifully yellow and black.
 T had already shot three bears, two partners and tiger, besides all sorts of deer and other smaller beasts, and when I saw that monster lying there slain by my own hands it was the proudest and happiest moment of my life, and I shall never forget the feeling of exultation.''
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-03-09

Russia comprise many vessels that would be of little value in actual war fare. They serve well enough in peace times, and perhaps would be useful as auxiliaries in war, but they would not face the enemy with any prospects of success. 0
 The United States is also keeping up with the procession, for it has vessels under way in the shipyards that will have a tonnage of 300, ASA. against 406,0OO for Great Britain, 213,OOO for France and 100, ,0O0 for Ger many. Uncle Sam will soon be Q good second to John Bull, and the Anglo-Saxon flags will be seen at least round the world.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-03-09
THE TEXT BOOK BILL.

From the Bessemer Herald
 If the Alabama legislature had done no more than pass the uniform text book law during its stay in Montgomery it would have done a grand work, for there is no question that so strongly appeals to every home every class and every condition as the one of purchasing text books so the children may be kept in school. The outlay is a heavy one and many parents are unable to send the little ones to school simply because there is no money te buy new books But with a law of uniformity, and good for q num- Der of years the different members of the family may use the same books and save the heavy tax that yearly fell when school opened A few may object for awhile, but the great masses of patrons directly interested will rise up and bless their law makers for protecting them in this all important matter.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-03-09
eoRMAN REDUx.

From the New York Sun.
 The Hon. Arthur P. German returned to the United States senate day before yesterday after an absence of exactly four years.
 During that time a good many things have happened within the democratic organization.
 One thing that has not happened is any depreciation in German stock at the senate end of the capitol His demo- cratic associates there welcomed him at the same time as a new recruit and as a veteran of eighteen years previous service.
 The value they put upon his political sagacity, his wide experience and his strategic resourcefulness was promptly shown yesterday by their unanimous selection of him as leader and chief chairman of the democratic caucus and by virtue of that office general manager of the party's national inter- estS.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-03-09
Cut Flowers.

q noticed some time ago stranger in Birmingham was quoted as saying that 1t was a shame that place whleh uses as many cut flowers as Birmingham does has to ship them all in said H. M. Scales.
 "Flowers are being grown in this valley that cannot be excelled anywhere ana we grow a lot of them. too You would be surprised to know that home grown How CTS are getting more popular In Birmins- ham every day They are not only larger and have prettier coloring but they VIII last much longer than the shipped goods
 Roses, especially, are easily damaged by shipping. The slightest bruise to the petals will cause them to become dis- coored and they cannot be so well packed that they will not wilt to certain extent.
 Home grown roses ought to last some times for three weeks, but few shipped ones ever look nice week after they are bought"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-03-09
North Carolina Fighting Liquor.

North Carolina has fallen into line with Tennessee and other southern states which have been fighting the liquor busi- ness," said Raleigh man at the Morris. "A bill which passed it's final reading last week before the general assembly prohib- its the manufacture of alcoholic liquors in the state. The business may be carried on in incorporated cities and towns, put local option is given to the towns, and urban sentiment is said to be hostile to the trade in every respect.
 The bill was offered by man who made no secret that it was meant to -e- stroy the dirtilling industry. The wave of temperance reform has swept over number of southern states, and now the old North State bids fair to sacrifice the whole distilling industry. The move ment is quite a remarkable one"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-03-09
A TRANSLATION.

By William Drummond of Hawthornden. Ahl silly soul, what wilt thou say, When He whom earth and heavens obey, Comes man to judge in the last day; When He reason asks why grace And goodness thou would'st not embrace. But steps of vanity didst trace? That day of terror, vengeance. ire. Now to prevent thou should'st desire, And to thy God in haste retire. O, with what grief shall carthlings groan. When that great Judge, set on His
 throne,
 Examines strictly every onel On that great day, at Thy right hand, Grant amongst Thy sheep may stand. Sequestered from the Soatish band.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-03-09
LILLIAN F. CURTIS. staff cor respondent of the Chicago
 Record Herald. in a letter from

XN LILLIAN D. CURTIS. staff cor W respondent of the Chicago
 w Record Herald. in letter from Washington, tells of the shooting of the largest tiger ever killed in India by an American woman. The heroine of the ex- ploit Is Mrs. Donnett, wife of an English army officer on service in India. daugh- ter of John H. whitehouse of Irvington- on-the-Hudson, and related to the White house family of Chicago. Mrs. Donnett has been spending December and Janu- ary with her husband and party of friends hunting his game in the Chanda jungle of northern India. in the midst of 12,O00 square miles of forest reserves abounding in all kinds of savage beasts and other big game. She has killed two tigers, four partners, four bears, eight boars and several other wild beasts, while the rest of the party killed nine other tigers and a corresponding num- Der of less dangerous animals. Mrs. Donnett's first tiger measured ten feet eight inches In length and Is the largest ever killed in India, This entities her to a bounty offered by the British govern ment. Her second tiger measured eight feet four inches. In a letter dated Jan uary 12 last, this extraordinary young woman describes the event and her sem sations in simple but graphic manner. She says:
 We heard a tiger had killed a lot of deer in piece of bamboo jungle about six miles off. so Timmins (her husband) and I got about forty beaters together and took up our positions near an open space, while the beaters went into the
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-03-09
oerman Army slqnaI Corps.

"The signal corps of the German army has for a long time been seeking light that it could use for signaling in daytime as well as at night, and it has found such a light In acetylene gas mixed with certain proportion of oxygen, which is three times as powerful as limelight, said a scientific man. Tt can be used in daytime, even when the sun Is shining, for signaling a distance of five miles, and at night for fifteen miles,
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-03-09
From the New York Times.

From the New York Times
 @-HE decay of Bible reading has been (CD so common theme of late, and
 has seemed to most commenta- tors, including ourselves, so deplorabie, even from the exclusively literary point of view. that one would be glad to believe that the decay itself had been rashly as- sumed rather than established. It has been said, with confidence, that Biblical allusions were no longer understood in general society" or fin ''promiscuous audience" as they once were, and that people" no longer read the Bible. In fact, most people do not really read any thing. A Shakespearean allusion not Of the tritest Is at least as sure as Biblical allusion of going astray when promiscu- ously exhibited And, in fact, no single persons experience can suffice, on such point, as the basis of safe generaliza- ton. The basis, to be trustworthy, must be statistical.
 We have, and can have, no statistics of Bible reading. But we have some most in teresting and trustworthy statistics of Bible publishing and Bible selling. In the case of any other book, we should as- sume that the best selling book was the most read Why should not we equal ly assume that about the Bible, and all the more because. or If, what may be called the social conpulsion to read the Bible or to own the Bible has diminished. The more 1t diminishes the greater the probability that those who acquire Bibles read them. That the publishing of Bibles is as good a business as ever Is strongly indicated by the fact that the principal Bible publishers of England ana Ameri-
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-03-09
REFLECTIONS OF A BACHELOR.

From the New York Press.
 A woman stops insisting on having her way when you insist on her having it.
 Nobody can hope to get into good socie- ty who doesn't call ones salary one's income.
 In the spring people either have house. cleanings or fall in love or get into some other trouble.
 Every time bank informs woman she has overdrawn her account she gets mighty suspicious about the honesty of the cashier.
 Every handsome woman is sure her husbands best friend could not help falling in love with her if he did not haze too much respect for her.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-03-09
Failures In Canada.

R. G. Dun & Co. report 103 commer- cial failures in Canada during February against PA in the same month last year, while defaulted indebtedness reached $665,- ISL compared with $1,094,774 a. year ago. The improvement occurred in trading fail- ures, which were sS for $519,SS1 against 1O7 year ago involving s9Oo974. Tn the third class also losses were unusually heavy last year owing to an elevator de- fault which provided most of the S157 900 liabilities. This year losses in this class were only s11,9 300. On the other hand, there was a considerable increase in manufae- turing liabilities, $l34500 comparing with sS6, 800, although in number there were but IS against 15 in 1902.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-03-09
ELEPHANT LARGER THAN JUMBO.

London Cablegram to the Toronto Mail
 and Empire.
 According to the Daily Mail MT. Bos- tock has bought the London Zoos big gest elephant. lingo. and will transport lately. lingo was a baby when the ele- phant Jumbo was shipped to the Uni ted States. He is now twenty-two inches taller than Jumbo was, and is still grow ing The price paid is not known, but 1t Is said to have been four figures in pounds.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-03-09
LAPS BUILD FOR ROCKEFELLER
watertown (N Y.) Telegram to the Phil

Watertown CN. Y.) Telegram to the Phil
 adelphia Press.
 William Rockefeller, the Standard oil millionaire who has made large pur- chases of land in the Adirondacks, near St. Kegs lake. is erecting two cottages the like of which were never seen in America. He recently imported Japanese to build two beautiful Japanese cottages near the lake for use in summer. All the work is done by Japanese under the SUI pervision of a Japanese architect. The cottages will cost many thousands of dol lars. Even American nails are discarded.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-03-09
Miss Roosevelt Pleased.

"The courteous treatment accorded Miss Roosevelt not only by the southern peo- pie, but by the newspapers of the south, is a matter of much satisfaction to the Presidents family and friends" said Washington man. "She speaks in the warmest praise of southern hospitality. She said she expected to have a pleasant time in New orleans. but the hospitality excecded her brightest expectations.'