davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-02-19
LETTERS TO EDITOR.
The School Book Matte

To the Editor of The Age-Herald
 On the 14th of February I took the lib- erty of sending you an article on Uni form Textbooks for the Schools of Ala bama with the request that the views therein expressed be presented to the people through the columns of your paper. This article was over my sig nature.
 In the editorial Liberty for the Book Trust" which appears in the issue of your paper for today, you refer to the author of the article that you review as President Murfee. To the people of the state this would probably suggest my father J, T. Murfee, who is the superin- tendent of the institute. As he is in no wise responsible for the views expressed by me, trust that you will publish this letter to remove the impression con cerning the author of the original article and person referred to in your editorial today Yours, very sincerely.
 H. O. MURFEE. Marion, Ala.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-02-19
OLD MINTs HISTORIC TREASURE.

From the Philadelphia Record.
 A careful lookout is being kept by the contractors in charge of the tearing down of the old mint, Juniper and Chestnut streets, for the cornerstone of the his torical structure, and any box it may contain, so that it's contents may be turned over to the Nationai museum at Washington. The request for the box, if any exists. was made of Felix Isman, one of the purchasers of the property, by Sec retary of the Treasury Leslie M Shaw.
 MT. Isman promptly accedsd to the re- quest, and notified the contractors to keep a strict watch for the cornerstone. At the same time he began an inquiry to ascer- tain something about the laying of the stone, but could find no authentic records on the subject. He found out, however, that the stone was laid at o'clock in the morning with Masonic rites, and is sup posed to be located in the northeast cor ner of the building. The workmen have reached the first floor level in the process of 6ismantling the building.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-02-19
TOAST AND MRS. LEHR.

From the New York Press.
 Mrs. Harry Lehr is persistent diner out and her pet stunt" this winter is having luncheon in Sherrys three times a week. Usually she is accompanied by Mrs. Orme Wilson Mrs Hermann Oel- rlchs ana Mrs John R. Drexel, and the four have given rise to a new vogue. They consume large quantities of toast. more than three racks being emptied at one luncheon. Except for the ready di- gestion of toasted bread, one scarcely can conceive a reason for this great fond- ness for it. Yet no sooner does Mrs. Lehr sit at the table than she calls for a rack of toast. Some persons believe she has started the fad for the benefit of Harry, who is becoming absurdly stout and to whom so plain a fare as toast will be a boon.
 Mrs. Lehr is nothing if not unusual Black frocks are another of her fads and she never wears anything but n gown of uninterrupted black. bit of relief? For Mrs. Lehr, never Whether tulle, lace or velvet, there Is always the same funeral severity In way. Mrs Lehr is distinguished in these black gowns, and there is enough compensa- tion in that to accept even the pain of looking almost 50 years old. Her sister, Miss Josephine Drexel, another extremist. has made spinsterhood fashionable, and her oddities in attire are waited for by her neighbors in Madison avenue. These eccentric Drexels have had remarkable success in New York, and are settled se curely in society.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-02-19
5o,ooo ELK HUNGER-cRAzED.
The Animals Invade the Jackson Hole
 country-Cattle Stampeded.

Salt Lake City, Utah, February 16.- Nearly 5O,0OO elk, unable to obtain food owing to the hard crust which has formed over the snow, are roaming over the Jack son Hole country in bands of from 2o0o to 25OO and are devastating the ranches attack cattle and men.
 The Thompson ranch was visited by a herd of $500 elks on Tuesday and fifty tons of hay was consumed in one night. Thompson took refuge in his house and did not dare to leave 1t until the band had moved on.
 Three cowboys from the Hooper ranch had wild ride for their lives on Tuesday and two big herds of cattle were slammed ed by a band of elks that acted as if they were mad. While the cowboys were rounding up the cattle for the night a band of 1000 elks dashed out of the timber. stright toward the long rows of fodder.
 The cowboys fired into the band and attempted to divert them, but the elks came straight ahead, snorting and bel lowing. In a moment the cowboys were between the cattle and the elks in a stam- pede. Spurred on by the elks, the cattle dashed across the valley and finally ran up the mountainside, three miles away, the elks turning off and continuing their flight along the foothills.
 The cowboys legs were gored and bloody and their ponies nearly killed The cattle were wounded in the clashes be. tween the elks and the stock The long horns of the stags cut the hides of the cattle.
 Hunters declare that there are fuIIv 5O,OOO elks in Jackson Hole but that unless there is thaw the herds will be vir- tually exterminated this winter.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-02-19
Drawn with a team of little atomies athwart mems noses.
 Romeo and Juliet.
Preparations for the Primary,

The city democratic executive com mittee has completed its plans for the holding of the all-important primary of March ?, and apparently it will be conducted fairly and honestly.
 It is to be hoped that the TOO quail. fled electors who have not as yet SC, cured ward registration will attend to that piece of business on March 2 for on that day practically all of them can be registered, as the following resolution adopted by the city execu- tice committee shows:
 "Resolved, That the term reasonable excuse provided for in the registration plan for registering voters on the day of the primary be construed to mean that any person, if he is a qualified voter be allowed to register if he was unavoidably detained. by business or sick ness out of town during the ten days of regular registration; if he was con fined to his home by illness or by any member of his family being sick"
 Nearly anybody can plead that he was detained" by one thing or an. other, and thus secure registration, and it Is important that there should be a full expression of the sentiment of the party on March 2, for the pri- mary is to all intents and purposes the election. It will determine who are to be the officers of the city dur ing the next two years, and action by the "700" is needed Let every one of the delinquents therefore get ready to go to the polling places on March 2, for at that time they can be regis tered and can vote, thus transacting at once two important pieces of public business, besides retaining in them selves the privileges of an American citizen.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-02-19

therefore say that the bill must be come a senate bill, and if it comes tc the house in reasonable form and az gregate it will be passed
 For the sake of Tuscaloosa and Florence The Age-Herald hopes the Alabama senators will expedite the passage of the bill in the senate. There are not two more prosperous cities in Alabama of the lesser sort than Tuscaloosa and Florence. The one is in the heart of the mineral belt, with excellent prospects of becoming an interior port, and the other is in the rich Tennessee valley, and it, too, may become an interior port. Both may therefore need custom houses, as well as room for other public offices.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-02-19
Woman Suffrage in the States.

In New Hampshire an election will be held on March 10 for the purpose of giving the electors of that state an opportunity to vote upon a constitu- tional proposition which will, if ratified on March 10, admit to equal right of suffrage all women of voting age in the state. An agitation in favor of woman suffrage has been carried on in New England many years, and the general tendency, it is believed, has been in favor of an extension of the privilege regardless of sex. Today women vote at school elections in New Hampshire, in Massachusetts and many other states. True, in 1887, when she had a limited electorate Rhode Island voted against woman suffrage, but it is claimed that the changes since 1887 have been favor. able in New England to the women, anu lue SlSCllOU III NeW ftampSnlre on March 10 will be regarded as an event of no ordinary interest. If New Hampshire adopts woman suffrage, full free and unqualified, the agita- ton will go on until perhaps the leaven leaveneth the entire union.
 Besides New England, woman suf. frage is strong in the far west. Wyo- ming has it, and so has Idaho, Colo rado and Utah. But all of these states are deficient in women, and it is be- lieved they are endeavoring to induce immigration on the part of women by offering them the privilege of suffrage. New England, on the other hand, holds more women than men, and they will adopt, if at all, woman suffrage on it's merits, and not as an inducement to immigration. No one wonders why Wyoming, for example, has adopted woman suffrage, because that state has but 37 per cent of women, when she needs 50 per cent,
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-02-19
Public Buildings and Grounds.

The public buildings and grounds committee in the house has reported a bill appropriating over $6,000 ,O00, and in this bill are items of $7500 each for the purpose of buying sites for public buildings in Tuscaloosa and Florence. If the bill now before con gEaAs becomes law both of those Ala. 6ama towns will secure public build ings.
 But as only about ten working days of the session remain, there is doubt over the passage of the bill at all. The house fears the extravaganza of the luxurious senate. It fears that the bill will be loaded up with items in the senate aggregating $15,O00, ,000, or some similar amount. The house leaders
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-02-19
All or None.

The legislature should disregard the lobbyists who are gathering at Mont gomery for the purpose of having this or that town excepted from the pro- visions of the state uniformity bill. If the bill is good for one county it is good for all, and it Is an insult to Walker or Franklin to say that they need lower-grade geographies, arith- metics or readers than Birmingham or Selma-an insult that should be promptly repelled. Walker and Frank lin are entitled to just as good text l books as any other community in the state, and they should demand them.
 The chief object of uniformity would be defeated if the legislature listens to the new lobby. If the lobbyists have their way parent would be compelled to buy new sets of school books whenever he moves from town to country, or from town to suburb If a man who has six children in school removes from Bessemer to Bir- mingham, he would be compelled to buy six sets of school books at a cost perhaps of twenty-five dollars. The legislature. should not levy such un- necessary taxes on the barefoot boys and girls of the state, or their parents.
 Memphis, Nashville, Chattanooga and Knoxville are included in the ex- cellent Tennessee bill, and surely Selma can stand what Memphis does, and on pinch Birmingham also. The lobbyists do not propose to exclude Greater Birmingham, but by close vote the board of education asks to have Lesser Birmingham excluded. The majority of one in the board of education has made a mistake.
 The trouble is, the parents who buy school books were not consulted by the three members of the board of education who voted in the affirma- tive. The parents are almost unani- mously in favor of state uniformity, and the legislature should pay a great deal of attention to the parents of school children, and very little atten- tion to the handful of teachers who want for their own peculiar reasons state diversifcation instead of state uniformity.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-02-19
Southern Textile Company.

some announcement. concerning the plans of the Southern Textile Company which is a combination of about sixty cotton mills in the south, will probably be given out this week. said a cotton mill man. Regarding the cotton mill combine the Wool and Cotton Reporter says:
 "'The option of the Fries people on the Raleigh mill. which had been ac- cepted by the combine, expired February l. c. G. Latta, the president of this mill company, was one of the members of the Fries examing committee which passed upon the condition of all the mills
 MT Latta stated that as far as he knew. the merger proceedings were still intact, which was equivalent to saying that his mill at least would be willing to extend the time of the option. The ob- struction now 1t seems. is some unfore- seen trouble In perfecting arrangements with New York underwriters"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-02-19
SAMUEL SPENCER ON
 SOUTH'S PRESSING NEED

today. I am not disparagfng the legal profession. It is as necessary a part Of our civilization as any; nor am I saving anything against the university as to thai result; but 1t marks a most important fact, that the young men of the south have broken away, as they should. and have altered the existing conditions of their fathers and of their youth that the men of higher education must follow A learned profession.
 l can say from large experience cover ing number of years that do not be- lieve it is an exaggeration to state that there is not large corporation today in America that is not looking for trained young men which it cannot find It is A broad Held for their exertions, and it is A field as yet that is not fil1ed It opens an opportunity to them and demands ad vancement to you and to the state. That. 1t strikes me- is the most important les son, that can be taught to the state of Georgia today. l say it not in any sense of a teacher. It is not my part to play that role with this audience But being asked to take part in such a convention as this. an assemblage of men from every portion of the state, whose purpose in be- Ing here Is to rebuild that state develop her resources, I feel that l should not be candid to you if did not express what 10 me is the foundation conviction of this whole question.
 thank you for your attention to this, ana nope that the history of Georgia VIII be all that it should be and all that your illustrious speakers tonight have predicted for it.
 Immediately after MT. spencer,s ad- dress Governor Terrell moved that the convention tender to MT. Spencer a rising vote for his able and mueh-appreciated address which was enthusiastically done.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-02-19
THE LOAFER.

By John Davidson. l hang about the streets all day,
 At night I hang about; l sleep little. when I may,
 But rise betimes the mornings scout, For through the year I always hear Afar, aloft, ghostly shout My clothes are worn to thread and
 loops;
 My skin shows here and there. About my face like sea weed droops My tangled beard, my tangled hair; From cavernous and shaggy brows My stony eyes untroubled stare. I move from eastern wretchedness Through Fleet street and the Strand; And as the pleasant people press I touch them softly with my hand, Perhaps to know that I still go
 Alive about a living land. I know no handicraft. no art,
 But I have conquered fate; For I have chosen the better part.
 And neither hope. nor fear, nor hate. With placid breath on pain and death My certain aims. alone 1 wait
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-02-19
President Samuel Spencer.

One of the busiest men in the country is Samuel Spencer president of the Southern Railway company. but he takes time to discuss in an exhaustive way one of the souths greatest needs = men trained along industrial lines,' remarked a corporation official. MT. speneer's ad- dress delivered in Atlanta Tuesday night should be widely read.
 Everything that MT. Spencer said was true, and he was brilliant and forceful in the treatment of his theme. President Spencer is a college-bred man and he made it clear in his speech that he valued the higher education. but he wisely in- sisted that the majority of young men of the south should be taught how to do practical work as well as how to use their brains
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-02-19
Isidore Newman's Loving Cup.

One of the most highly esteemed men In all the south is Isidore Newman of New 1 Orleans, and his many close friends Tn Birmingham will be glad to learn that he was the recipient of the Picayune's loving cup rendered for the most meritorious public benefaction during the year just ended. MT. Newman donated a sum sui hcient to establish magnificent training school in connection with the Jewish Or phans' home. and 1t was on the basis of this generous public gift, amounting to about $40. GOO, that the award was made The committees report was unanimous. The donor is a phllanthropist whose pub lie benefits to New Orleans have not been few.
 The Times Democrat says editorially:
 "In what he is, as well as in what he has done. MT. Isdore Newman represents a great deal that is highest and best In citizenship His life has been one of worls-work that originated in honorable ambition and in a sincere desire to live worthily and to improve the condition of his fellowmen. His labors have at length been rewarded with remarkable success; his intelligence his energy and his in- tegrity have won for him position in the foremost rank of men of wealth in this section of the union. For many years he has been recognized as one of the most wisely charitable citizens of New Orleans, giving, as he has, large amounts of money to the development of the city in upbulld- ing ways. His latest donation-the amount of $400OO to establish a training school in connection with the Jewish Or phan's home, to be open not only to bene- iciaries of that institution, but also to the orphans of the Independent order of B'nai B'rith of the states of Louisiana, Mississippi Texas Alabama, Arkansas, Tennessee and Florida, and to one hun dred other pupils, irrespective of religious mmunion-furnishes what might be called the keystone in the arch of his many gifts to charity. It is, indeed, char acteristic of the donor, refecting, as it does his generous temper, his tolerant disposition and his catholic spirit.
 Quite apart from the personality of him who has this year received the Plea yune's loving cup, the award is especially notable by reason of the Iact that, in two successive years, this high honor has been paid to citizens who have contrib uted to the educational development of the community. The significance of this point may not easily be magnitied. It fur nishes unmistakable evidence that the heart and brain of the south are stirred by the crusade against ignorance that is now making In this section of the union"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-02-19
A PARIS CAKEWALK.

From the New York Tribune.
 'If you want to see something scream ingly funny said Capt Joseph Watson of Pittsburg at the Holland house yes- terday, "go to Paris and see party of professional dancers go through an Amer ican cakewalk' I was in Paris in De- cember, and, with a number of other Americans, I was invited to a dinner and musicale at the home of a well-known French diplomat In honor of entertain going to give us something real Ameri- can. Late in the evening 1t was announced with great deal of pride that there would be an American cakewalk. l pricled up my ears and thought that I was about to get a real taste of home, but it was not the case. A Paris cake walk is as much like the real thing as an Allegheny river stern wheeler is like an ocean liner. In the first place, instead of the rollieking, jig-step music that sets your feet a-tngling. the music was toned down, made slower and smoothed over. Then the dancers were odd. They were blaekened up, and wore costumes that were a marvel. They were as far distant as could be from the real thing. Then the dance started. It reminded me more of stately minuet than anything else. Instead of walking for the cake, they danced, paired off and went through quadrille movements. Of course, we all told the host how fine it was, and how natural, but the next time I am invited to a Paris cakewalk I won't get a bit excited. They have simply no conception of the negro dancing and cakewalking'
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-02-19
Death of Frank A. lapham.

Frank A. Lapham. who was general sales agent of the Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad company up to last July, died of heart failure at his home in New York yesterday. He was sitting on the edge of the bed, talking to his wife, who was i'll and was eongratuating Mrs. Lapham on her improved condition when he was suddenly stricken dead. He was supposed to be in perfect health, and at the time of his death was general sales agent of the Lackawanna Steel company. His age was B years.
 MT. Lapham was well known here and was exceptionally popular. His son, F. B. Lapham, is at present in the employ of the Tennessee Coal Iron and Railroad company as chemist and he left yesterday for New York immediately on receiving word of his fathers death.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-02-19
PRESIDENT TO MRS. eALLAupEr

From the New York Sun.
 President Roosevelt attended the Gal laudet-Cockrell wedding breakfast follow Ing the marriage, and he appeared to en- Joy the event more than any other guest He shook hands and talked with every body In the most informal way and cracked jokes while he ate salad from plate which he held in his hand as he passed around among the guests He cut the brides cake and maoe a pretty little speech to the bride. After he had offered his felicitations on the marriage, he said to the bride:
 And l want to congratulate you on your choice of a father. l am glad that don't live in Missouri, for if I did I know that I should vote for Senator Cockrell, even if he does belong to the op- posite political party"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-02-19
NOT SUBJECT TO DUTY.
Struggled Goods Can Be Forfeited, But
 No Duties Collected.

Washington, February 1S.-Attorney General Knox has given an opinion to the secretary of the treasury in which he holds that prohibited and smuggled goods are not subject to the payment of any duty in addition to forfeiture.
 The attorney general also has held that the treasury department may re- lease cigars when packed inTiolation of law on payment of fine equal to the duty when in the opinion of the secretary the importation does not in yolye fraud
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-02-19
IN HOTEL LoBBIES.
Mardi cras Traffic.

This Mardi Gras traffic is bothersome after all," said a railway official.
 Just as we were getting our freight business in good shape here comes all this extra passenger business to break into our plans
 Extra passenger business is a good deal like an old farmer up our way used to say about the circus. He always claimed that two circuses coming to town could do more harm 10 the crops than whole season of grasshoppers. lew days of Mardi Gras frolc can break into our freight business more than whole season of regular scheduled trains run ming on time.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-02-19
REFLECTIONS OF A BACHELOR.

From the New York Press.
 Every man craves fiattery from his superiors; he gets it from his interiors.
 It takes a woman to have her hand squeezed and protest she thinks she is putting on her gloves.
 The man who takes no pride in his an- cestors Is not likely to have his de- scendents take any pride in him.
 Men learn more about the fashions from strange women in a windstorm than in the bosom of their own family.
 It is the man who leaves his wife every morning in wrapper and curl papers that can't believe his eyes when he meets her in the street.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-02-19
Ice Men to Meet.

Chattanooga, February 1S.-F. O. Ret tig of this city, president of the South. ern Ice Manufacturers association. has issued a call for a meeting to be held ir Atlanta February 25, 26 and 27. Papers on topics of interest to makers of ice will be read. An attendance of 200 is expected