davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-02-13

Washington. D. C., February 12.-The Nelson amendment to the department of commerce act establishes a bureau under that department charged with the duty of collecting data as to the business methods of all corporations supposed to be operated to control the price of com modlties.
 The Nelson amendment in full Is as follows:
 That there shall be in the department of commerce and labor a bureau to be called the bureau of corporations. and commissioner of corporations, who shall be at the head of said bureau. to be ap- pointed by the President, and who shall receive salary of S5000 per annum. There shall also be in said bureau A deputy commissioner, who shall receive salary of $500 per annum and who shall, In the absence of the commissioner, act as and perform the duties of the commissioner of corporations, and who shall perform such other duties as may be assigned to him by the secretary of commerce. an dlabor or by the said com missioner. There shall also be in said bureau a chief clerk, and such special agents, clerks and other employees as may be authorized by law.
 The said commissioner shall have power and authority to make, under the direc- tion of the secretary of commerce and labor, diligent investigation into the or ganization, conduct and management of the business of any corporation, joint stock company or corporate combination engaged in commerce among the several states and with foreign nations, except ing common carriers subject to "an act to regulate commerce." approved Febru- ary 4. 1887, and to gather such informa- tion and data as will enable the President of the United States to make recommen- dations to congress for legislation for the regulation of such commerce, and to re- port such data to the President from time to time, as he shall require; and the information so obtained, or as much thereof as the President may direct, shall be made public.
 In order to accomplish the purpose of
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-02-13
GATHERING SOUTHERN MOSS.

From the Pilgrim.
 Everywhere throughout Arcadia the moss trails in immense festoons from the branches Of the trees and by twisting the fork in one of these many pounds may be brought down at one time with but slight exertion. At the conclusion of the days picking the moss Is paeaed in bags and carried to the margin of the water, where 1t is buried. so that 1t will remain inundated.
 In q week or ten days the soft gray coating that covers the threads rots away The moss Is then taken up and washed, dried and packed once more in bags, when it is ready for market All this work is done by the women of the country. except occasionally a negro woman is hired to do the labor of bury ing, washing and drying. Buyers from New Orleans ride through the forests during the season. As soon as a cargo Is purchased. light sailing vessels come along gather it up and take 1t to port" where 1t is transferred to larger boats and shipped to New Orleans.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-02-13
CURED HIM OF SMOKING.

From the New York Mall and Express.
 Parker. for so many years proprietor of the famous Parker house, on Broadway, near Thirty-frst street, may be seen al- most every day around the Imperial at lunch at the Arena or somewhere in the vicinity of his old stamping grounds.
 His many years experience as a boni- face has endowed him with fund of "reminiscences. and the other day. while in a communicative mood, he was telling a friend how he gave up smoking. It seems that he had formed the habit of smoking fifteen cigars a day and spent most of his time at the cashiers desk and the cigar case.
 One day Governor Morgan, who was regular patron, stepped up to the desk to pay his bill saying at the same time:
 MT Parker, want to give you a word of advice. I am customer of yours, and as such you have no right to stand behind that desk and blow the tobacco smoke from your cigar in my face"
 That advice was given over forty years ago, and Parker has never smoked from that day
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-02-13
VEGETARIAN HUMOR.

From the London Express.
 Your wants will be promptly attended to, your pockets frightened, your weight increased and your appetite taken away at the shortest notice."
 Such was the alluring announcement in the programme of the vegetarian Yuletide festival and bazaar at the Memorial hall, Warrington street. on Saturday.
 There were some marvellous vegetarian specialties.
 Rows of outlets. pork pies and delicious looking preserved beef turned out on close inspection to be the willy work of versatile vegetarians. The pressed beef was made of lentils and carrots, the al- legged pie was full of nuts and the outlets were plasmon.
 The London Vegetarian association Is feeding 5000 children a week on three course one-penny dinners.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-02-13
Mar Cominn in Macedonia.

Macedonia, lying next north Of Greece, contains about three million of people, and Salomea is it's chief mort on an arm of the Mediterranean. The district was freed from Turkish rule by the treaty of San Stefano, but Great Britain was bribed with the is- land of Cyprus to join Austria, and they succeeded in replacing Macedonia under the Sultan Macedonia is peo- pied chiefly by Bulgarians and Greeks who are attached to the Greek church, and there can be no real peace be- tween them and the Sublime Porte.
 The only trouble in the way is the disposition to be made of Constanti- nople, together with the jealousy and greed of .ne powers, but even if Mac edonia were freed there would still remain the province of Adrianople, which would serve as buffer state to Constantinople as against the rest of Europe. This province is perhaps 200 miles wide, and is fully wide enough to serve in buffer capacity.
 Be this, however, as it may, trouble is coming in the spring in Macedonia. Turkey is mobilizing ,000 Asiatics, and Russia is mobilizing her navy. Both sides are getting ready for war, and the belief in Europe is that Rus that England, now securely installed in Egypt, would again fight Turkeys / battles, nor would Germany, and France. is now Russia's ally; Italy will remain inactive, and Austria Is not a match for Russia, and the chances are therefore very good that Macedonia will be wrested from Turkey provided Russia is ready.
 The Turk, full of fanaticism, is a good fighter, and as Salomca is near Constantinople and Asiatic Turkey the war will, if it come, be bloody and de- termined. The president of the Mace. donian committee has advised rising against Turkey on April 1, and there is belief that the long impending crisis is at hand. Reforms of sub stantial and real nature cannot come from Constantinople, and Macedonia will probably attempt to give by rev olution what she cannot possibly ac- quire by negotiation with the Sultan.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-02-13
THE FALLEN CAMPANlLE.

From the Boston Herald
 The official report on the cause of the falling of the Campanie in Venice, as eabled to this country, does not appear to be consistent. The fall is attributed mainly to the cutting of trench near the Loggetta without proper precautions. It Is added that there was no subsistence of the foundations, which were found to be in excellent condition. How the cutting of a trench nearby, which did not at all weaken the foundations, could have been the main cause of the collapse of the tower does not clearly appear. Some further explanation is needed to make the report intelligible. The digging of a trench In Venice does not involve blasting operations to shake and disinte- grate a structure of this character. Some of the material used at various times in making repairs, it is said, had not cohered perfectly: but this Is not regarded as the cause of the fall Until further explana- ton is received the American people will remain as much in the dark as ever.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-02-13

'T agree most heartily with Secretary Root when he says that the negro suf- frage plan has been a failure. They have done nothing to better themselves. It was great mistake ever to give them the right to yote-or to hold office, and think the sentiment of the entire south and a great part of the north Is with me when l say it. They ought never to have been put on level with the white men, I would unhesitatingly support any legis- lation to disfranchise the blacks, and think they would be better off in that condition. If that were done, this would be one united country; there would be no sectional feeling, no north, no south, but just one government-a white man s government. Mind, I would entirely pro- tect the legal rights of the black-his property rights
 This is also evidently what Secretary Root would say and do. It was a mistake to put the negro on a level with the white man. It has proved a failure and the alternative-there is no other-is to push the. negro back into political servi- tude, and where race is thus subject ed it can never be sure of it's industrial freedom.
 The secretary catches to nicety the logic of his party's position as recently taken in relation to so-called inferior races. The one mistake of the republican party, as Senator Hoar sees it, if not a mistake, makes of it's whole previous ca- reer of forty years blunder of tremene- ous magnitude. Which shall it be-the mistake according to MT Hoar, or the mistake according to MT. Root of the Roosevelt administration? There is mistake somewhere Does it cover forty years of the party's work, or only about five years?
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-02-13
NEGRO PROBLEM FROM
 NEW ENGLAND VIEWPOINT

From the Springfield Republican Qnd).
 The republican party as national or ganization has existed about forty-six years. It spent five of those years in ad- vancing the idea that the negro should be considered a man instead of property. It spent four other years In conducting great war for the Union and the aboli- ton of slavery. It spent eleven years thereafter in embodying the results of the war in three great constitutional amendments and reconstructing the re- bellious section on that basis. It spent twenty years thereafter in boasting of what it had thus achieved for human rights,
 Forty out of forty-six years of its life has the grand old party devoted to one great work, whose story Is told in the last three amendments to the national constitution And now the representative of republican administration rises in a public place and declares that this great work has largely proved a failure, and must be so recognized. Mr. Hoar has said that in all the republican party s magnificent career it has made but one mistake. Secretary Root now informs him and the country in effect that pretty much its whole career up to within four or five years has been mistake. And what a mistake in cost of life and treas ure!
 The thirteenth or first of the three amendments covering the chief life-work of the republican party abolished slav- cry. It is not stated by Secretary Root that this was a mistake. But the four- teenth amendment recognized the neces- sity of giving the ballot to the negro, if he was to be protected In his rights as a freedman and a citizen of the united States. It provided that when the fran chise was restricted against the negro by any state the representation of that state in congress and the electoral college should be cut down proportionately. The fifteenth amendment only recognized the same necessity but. instead of leaving the southern states free to deny the ballot to the negro on penalty of reducing their power in the national government, 1t pro- hibited any abridgement of the suffrage on account of race or color. If the ballot is necessary to insure the negro in his rights as a freedman, as was contended by the republican party thirty-five years ago. then the taking away of the ballot will leave all of the negro's rights as a freedman in jeopardy. It leaves him in grave danger of being reduced practically to a condition of servitude. Accordingly when Secretary Root says the fifteenth amendment is a mistake, 1t follows that the fourteenth amendment was mistake almost to an equal degree, and that the thirteenth amendment is not worth in- sisting on beyond assuring to the negro the forms, while denying to him the sub- stance of freedom.
 All a mistake! And voices of approval coming up from the south afe not few. Col. Edwin T. Taliaferro. a southerner doing business in New. York. expresses what seems to be the general view'
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-02-13
IN HOTEL LoBBIES.
The Saloon Problem.


 ''I never take a drink in barrooIn, but I know many good men who ao' remarked a prominent citizen, and pe- cause men who imbibe in a moderate oe- gree enjoy the saloon habit, will never vote for dispensary much less prohlpi- tion l am in favor, however, of reslFiet- ing the retail traffic in liquor We nave entirely too many saloons in Birh'ihs- ham to the square mile. l would Ike .o see the day when no saloon-keeper Wouiu be tolerated whose patrons were iii=oreu and besotted In other words T am Ill favor of licensing only such saloons as well-behaved, temperate men would pa tronlze.
 My idea about saloons will be regaru- ed as Impractical, no doubt but here IS one thing that might be considered en- tirely right and feasible-refuse to license negro saloons. Negro dives are menace to this community, and nearly every ne gro bar. no matter how well regulated 1t happens to be, is a nuisance. Ladies nave to avoid certain thoroughfares in the cen tral part of the city because negro bars are located thereon"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-02-13
All philanthropists go to Tuskege
CUBA.

From the New York Tribune.
 If this country really wants to repel Cuba and to drive her to the embraces of some other nation, let it frankly say so, and not complain or buster if it is taken at it's word. But if 1t wants to vin- dieate it's own honor and promote its own interests by fulfilling its pledges to Cuba and establishing with that island the re- iationship which it has insisted upon for so many years, it ought without further delay to put It's profession into practice. The administration has wisely and well marked out the way. It oniy remains for the senate to follow therein, with rati- fcation of the pending treaty
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-02-13

it is not liked by the Standard Oil trust" MT Richardson's denunciatlon of the Nelson amendment was ftlly justified, for it simply authorizes the President to procure information upon which to base recommendations and only "so much thereof as the Presi- dent shall direct" is to be made pub lic This is the sort of publicity the humbug amendment to the corpora tion bureau clause of the new depart ment bill provides for. It is really no publicity at alI. A very slight exercise of pull would pigeon-hole all such information, and the public would be none the wiser.
 The trusts will accept the Nelson amendment and be glad that the yex- ation is thus ended, ana when the Elk ins rebate bill is modified to suit them they will let that, too, go through tue house, and then they will proceed to exploit the country in the future as in the past. The Nelson and Ellins propositions are both inefficient-mere make-believes that will give the trusts no trouble whatever They were de. vised for that purpose, and they will
 
 be the sum of alleged antitrust legis- lation by the present trust-ruled con gresS.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-02-13
NEW PICTURES OF MARY.

From America.
 The friends of Mary Anderson, now Mrs. Navarro, have just received the latest, photographs of that beautiful woman. They show still one of the most beautiful women in the world, and if the camera tells the truth the former his trionic star has lost not one particle of the great beauty which made her fame worldwide. Mrs. Navarro is still enam- ored of her English country life and is rarely seen away from her own home. London now and again for the theatre or a few days shopping. That is one of the charms of English life, one can live on the very border of the country and stu be in London in a few hours.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-02-13
DIxIE'S LAND.
Away down south in de fields of cotton. Cinnamon seed and sandy bottom;
 I .lx ..z.. L.. slxx.

Away down south in de fields of cotton. Cinnamon seed and sandy bottom;
 Look away, look away,
 Look away, look away. Den way down south in de fields of cotton Vinegar shoes and paper stockings;
 Look away, look away,
 Look away, look away. Den wish I was in Dixie's land,
 Oh-ohl Oh-oh, In Divie's land I'll take my stand, And live and die In Dixie's land,
 Away, away, away,
 Away down south in Dixie. Pork and cabbage in de pot It goes in cold and comes out hot:
 Look away, look away,
 Look away, look away, Vinegar put right on red beet, It makes them always fit to eat; 2,
 Look away. look away,
 Look away, look away. Den I wish I was in Dixies land.
 Oh-oh. Oh-ohi Tn Dixie's land I'll take my stand. And live and die in Dixie's land.
 Away, away, away,
 Away down south in Dixie.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-02-13
UNIFORM TEXT BOOKS.

From the Roanoke Leader
 The state uniformity bill is proving it. self a right lively infant on the hands of the Montgomery trained nurses just now. We hope 1t will continue to kick and to squall until its rights are recognized. From the Jasper Mountain Eagle.
 The uniform textbook bill has been fa- vorably reported by the senate committee. This bill ought by all ito become a law if 1t will reduce the price of school books, and judging from the way the book trust opposes 1t, sney evidently think it will. The way it stands now it costs as much or more to buy books than it does to pay tuition or clothe the child.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-02-13
So-CaIIed Antitrust Legislation.

The Nelson amendment was added and it is now law. Congressman Richardson of this state describes this amendment as an ultra dilution of an hypodermic dose; an artistically framed section to defeat the control and management of trusts; raving farce; and to help 1t along an effort has been made to make it appear that
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-02-13
REFLECTIONS OF A BACHELOR.

From the New York Press.
 An optimist is a man who has rainbow in the place where brains ought to be.
 In the horse race Of life every man plays himself for the favorite and tears up his ticket at the finish.
 When two people who love each other quarrel there is no harm done; the real trouble comes when they quarrel and don't love. sf
 Give woman baby, a romantic novel, and cook that will not give her notices more than twice day, and she is in a preparatory school for heaven.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-02-13
Bryan and Cleveland.

MT Cleveland may not be the next standard-bearer of the democratic party; l have no idea that he will be, remarked a stanch democrat. stranger things might happen, however l would gladly vote for Cleveland in 1904 and thousands more would rather have Cleveland than anybody else.
 But MT. Bryan's hostility to the ex- president continues. He lets no opportun- ity pass to insult the only democrat wno has filled the presidential office since Buchanan. basng his action on MT. Clevelands desertion of the Bryanized democracy in the last two presidential campaigns. Other Bryan democrats fnd it possible to sit at the same table with MT. Cleveland, but the Nebraska man will do nothing of the sort. He is implac- able in his resentment
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-02-13
M. 6 o. Stockholders Sue.

Mobile, February 12.-Argument was heard here today in the suit of the non-assenting stockholders of the Mo bile and Ohio Railroad company, to have the sale of the Mobile and Ohio to the Southern Railway company set aside. Chancellor Stone Devers of the Meridian chancery district came here to hear argument. W
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-02-13
Grave Robbinq Trial Ends.

Indianapolis, Ind, February 12.-Ar- guments in the Dr. Alexander grave robbing trial were completed this aft ernoon. The court adjourned to meet tomorrow morning at g o'clock, when the instructions of the court will be given and the jury will retire. A yer dict is expected tomorrow afternoon, if one is reached.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-02-13
PICTURES OF MRS. NAVARRO.
om the New York American.

From the New York American.
 Amount received by plaintiffs. s2500oo. Amount claimed by plaintiffs s6,000, GOO. Plaintiffs contention = that Mrs. Fair died last.
 Defendants contention-that Mrs Fair died first.
 If Mrs. Fair died first, her husbands estate goes to his sisters. -
 If Mrs Fair died last, her husbands estate goes to her blood relatives, as by surviving him she was heir to his vast estate
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-02-13

this section the said commissioner shall have and exercise the same power and authority in respect to corporations. joint stock companies and combinations sub Ject to the provisions thereof as is con- ferred on the interstate commerce. com mission in said "act to regulate con- merce" and the amendments thereto in respect to common carriers, so far as the same may be applicable, including the right to subpoena and compel the attend ance and testimony of witnesses and the production of documentary evidence, and to administer oaths.
 All the requirements. obligations, lla- bilities and immunities imposed or con- ferred by said 'act to regulate com merce" and by Ian act in relation to testimony before the interstate com merce commission" approved February Il, 1893, shall also apply to all persons who may be subpoenaed to testify as witnesses or produce documentary evi- dence in pursuance of the authority con- ferred by this section.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-02-13
Guests at White House.

Washington, February l2-The President and Mrs. Roosevelt had as house guests tonight Mrs. Sargent Mrs. George c. Lee and NIT. and Mrs. w. Austin Wads- worth.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-02-13
The Militia.

"of the 1O ,000 men of militia age none are armed or even organized ex- cept the regular army of 65,000. and the National guards of l25 0OO said a mili- tary man. Tn the Spanish American war 1t took about two months to mobi- lize the militia. If the pending legisla- tion of this session goes into effect that may be done more promptly in the fu- ture. But at the best the force which the United States has to meet any sud- den emergency is less than ? per cent of the vast number so widely advertised.
 The fact is that this sum represents and probably overstates the raw mate rial that the country has to make sol- diers of. If the United States were att tackled there Is no doubt that it could rely on the services of millions of it's citizens But it would take the better part, if not all. of year to fit so vast an army for the field. If half or even a third of these millions were to train themselves at home to be expert rifle shots, like the Boers or Jackson's men of eighty-eight years ago, their readiness to repel an attack on the United States would be immensely enhanced
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-02-13

President Roosevelt is still conf- dent, although the Hanna ex-slaye pension bill has been before the col ored population a week
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-02-13

Campaign committees are not poll lists, and it is erroneous to act on that basis.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-02-13

Battles are still fought near Ma nila, and the irreconcilables still de- mand that very natural American arti- Gle, independence
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-02-13

The new department of commerce is to be put in charge of George B. Cortelyou, whose popularity is un- bounded.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-02-13

The Hague tribunal does not get much business because it does not ad. vertise.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-02-13

The devil wagon is stiIl getting in it's murderous work despite fines ana statutes.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-02-13
-He oELy DAILY NEWSPAPER " AlAs,aA

A combination and form indeed, where every god did seem to set hIs seal to give the world assurance of a man.
 Hamlet.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-02-13

A recess until September will en- able our legislators to consider fully their shortcomings.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-02-13

General Uribe-Uribe may be playing possum, for surely he would not kill himself when Uncle Sam is about to hand him $3,000,000.