davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1903-12-02
SOMERSET.
EAST FAIRFIELD.

Percy a. Kicker is at SkOWhegan as
one of the jury on the Terrio trial.
Mrs. Mary Dearborn of Waterville
recently visited at Alfred K. Nelson's
Mrs. Walter Hall and son, Leon; also
Mrs. Bert Ames were in Waterville
Saturday.
Miss May L. Bowman of Skowhegan,
recently visited at Ernest c. joys.
The school here closed, Friday after
| noon, after a term of eleven weeks,
taught by Miss Alice M. Tibbetts of
North Fairfield. Fifteen visitors Were
present. The following program was
given in fine manner. Song, Amer
ica," School: 1.-The Will and the Way
Katie Burrill; 1.-The Little Black Eyed
Rebel" Blanche e. Hall; Song, My
Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean," Blanche
E. Hall and Earle M. Palmer; THE
Young Letter. Writer" Carrie Gaylord
Song, Shy Cat" Blanche E. Hail;
Bird Trades" Ernest Gaylord; Little
Brown Hands," School; What Boy
Can Do Ernest Gaylord; Song, 1.-THE
Moon," Blanche z. Hall and Earle NJ.
Palmer; "Arithmetic," George Gaylord;
Jest fore Christmas John Gaylord j,
1.-The Counties School; Longfellow's
First Poem, Leon w. Hall; aunt
Dolefurs Philosophy" Earle M.
Palmer; "The Months of the Year
School: about Santa Claus" Evelyn
JOY; robin and Robert" Katie Burrll
and Bonnie Gaylord; "a Funny Thing,
Leon w. Hall; "A Little Speech" Rubie
Blackwell; THE Three Bells" School;
'"Tha nix sewing Day" Earle M Palmer
MERCER.
Mr.. George Burr passed away very
suddenly Tuesday, Nov. "a. He was in
his usual health and was at the post
office for his mail in the evening. On
arriving home he was taken with pains
in his chest and breathed with
difficulty. His wife helped him to re-
tire and went to a neighbours, a short
distance away to telephone for medical
aid, but when she reached home he had
passed from this to a higher life. Mr..
Burr who was a fine carpenter fell
from a building distance of thirty feet
in WateTvile in the fall and was hurt
as they thought, seriously at the time
He struck on pile of sand the only
thing that saved his life. Since then
he has had pneumonia from which he
recovered but had not been we'll
Death however. came unexpected to his
wife and she has the heartfelt SYM
pathy of her many friends. He was a
man very highly respected and his
friends were many. his loss will be
deeply felt as he has always lived in
town
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-19
FLoUR-MAklNG IN THE SOUTH.

From the Dixie Miller.
 One of the gratifying signs of these progressive times is the advancement of the fiour-making industry in the old southern states. The regions of coun- try that once lived on home grown corn bread and imported flour bread now raise their own wheat and make their own flour right at home in very many localities, and the number is constantly increasing.
 This change for the better is not manifested by the upbuilding of great Minneapolis-lile milling centers. In- deed, 1t is fortunate that it is not so.
 It is manifested rather in the broad ening of wheat field areas and the erection of numerous local mills that grind the wheat and distribute the flour among the people at home. No people are so permanently well fixed as those that produce their own bread, meat and vegetables; none so independent of combinations as the people who, in adultion to producing the substances of life, have in their midst the little local independent mills to grind their flour and meal. From present indications the old south will soon lead all other sections of the country in that happy, independent, self-relying condition that hurls defi- ance in the ugly octopian faces of sold and liberty-destroying trusts and com pines
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-19
LAW VERSUS LYNcHING.

From the New York Herald
 Shocking and terrible as is the crime of the negro Spencer, who, In open day and on the threshold of the Court of General Sessions, shot and killed the chief detec- tive of the Anti-Policy Society, he Is given every safeguard that the law throws round a prisoner.
 The police protected him against the anger of the crowd which witnessed the cold blooded slaughter of his victim, and the court yesterday granted a delay of two weeks in his trial so that his counsel may have fair time in which to prepare defence. If one there be.
 Nevertheless his trial will be swift. and he will be dealt with as he deserves Without making invldious comparisons with any other communities existing un- der different conditions. It may be re- marked that the respect shown for the law in such circumstances is a credit to the people of New York, and that the deliberate, Impartial and majestic pro- gross of Justice is infinitely more impress sive in its effect upon evildoers than any blind outburst of fury in which the ao- cused is lynched or subjected to the say agery of mob.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-19
Traffic Officials.

c. B. Compton, traffic manager of the Louisville & Nashville. and T. c. Powell freight traffic manager of the Southern railway company, who had been in Mont gomery for several days in attendance on the slttings of Alabama Railroad Com mission arrived in Birmingham last night and are registered at the Hlllman MT. quarters in Louisville and MT. Poweu will leave at 4:l0 p. m. for his headquarters in Washington.
 Asked what he thought of the traffic rate discussions before the railroad com mission and what he thought the outcome woudl be MT. Powell said: "A number of very able speeches were made. The railroad men held their own we'll As to what the decision of the commission will be I haven't the most remote idea Rail- road men will wait patiently until July 1, when decision is to be rendered. filed some additional data with the commission just before leaving Montgomery"
 Vice-President Walter D. Hines, of the Louisville & Nashville. who made one of the most exhaustive speeches before the commission, passed through Birmingham last night on his way to Louisville.
 Vice-President J. M. Culp, of the South ern railway, had expected to spend last night and today in Birmingham but he was not feeling well and left Mont gomery direct for Washington by the way of Atlanta.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-19
Juvenile Court BilI.

It is certainly advisable to let the most populous county of the state lead the way in the better, or rather iso- lated, handling of bad children. If the plan prove helpful and valuable here, there will be little trouble in 1907 in extending 1t to other counties in this state. Here are more boys that need reforming than can be found in any other two, or perhaps three counties. The population of Jefferson will soon, in fact, equal that of any three coun- ties in the state, and Miss Way has selected with true vision the best o)unty in which to inaugurate her ex- cellent reform.
 But the passage of a juvenile court bill should at the same time be accom- panied by an extension of the East Lake reformatory. It is not creditable to Alabama to let that institution lag in contracted and wholly insufficient form. It does not pay the state to transform boys into hardened crim- inals when they might at East Lake be led into good citizenship. Humani- ty and true economy alike demand the extension of tho East Lake institution, thus bringing Alabama up to the Ten nessee standard.
 Miss Ways suggestion of juvenile court will stand by itself, for it would exhaust all possible methods of re- forming a boy before committing him to a public institution. It may be pos sible to find homes for some of them, although this Is somewhat conjectural. The proposed court would keep in touch with boy placed in private hands, and If need be 1t would com init him to the reformatory.
 This brings us back to the begin ming, namely, the need of a larger re- formatory. The one at East Lake is delightfully."- located. on fertile land, and the state cannot do better than to make 1t the home of all of her juven- ile offenders. It will do more towards their reformation than is probable or even possible at the hands of individ- uals.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-19

Middle Alabama district was recently summoned to Washington. and no doubt he left Washington well loaded with instructions to maKe the most of the peonage cases.
 No one will object to full execu- ton of the federsl statute directed against involuntary servitude in pur- stance of the Thirteenth amendment, but 1t is not creditable to the depart ment of justice or the President to ts-ke advantage of the cases, present or future, for the manufacture of polit- isll thunder for use in next years campaign. This is plainly the Wash ington intention. Otherwise the cases would have been left 10 the discretion of the district attorney to be managed as moonshine and other cases in viola ton of federal statutes are managed. The peonage cases, on the other hand, are to be specially and specifically pushed to the end that political capl- tai may be gathered from them.
 There is no occasion for special ac- tion on the part of the administration none whatever. Public sentiment in Alabama condemns peonage, and the tendency is to investigate the entire question of swelling sentences by means of heavy costs. The question will be aps to be considered by the legislature in September, and thor ough action at that time by the legis- lature would in fact take the wind out of the administrators sails. This nay be foreseen, and tlis may account for the desire to secure convictions be- fore the legislature meets. It is in timated, in fact, that trials of the in dicted will be speedily begun.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-19
Pannane in New York.

is A case of pconage was recently de- veloped in New York, where an honest Italian had married a pretty girl only IS years old. This occurred last Oc- tober and the prisoner laid in jail un- til last week, when his case was heard In court and he was acquitted. Before his acquittal he executed a paper which involves peonage as follows:
 New York. Hume 1o 19Os-Upon demand, which hereby submit, l promise to pay to my counsel. Phil Waldheimer, the sum of s250 for services rendered and to be rem dered. in defending me upon the charge of abduction. and hereby mortgags my life until the full sum is paid
 "$25c. ANTONIO IRONE."
 True, he was acquitted. but he owes Lawyer Waldheimer s25O, and his life is mortgaged for the sum. If this be not peonage in it's extremest form, kthen we have no peons in this state Let the administration therefore hurry its land and naval forces to New York to head off the dreadful institution, installation and inauguration of the evils of peonage. Irone, honest Irone, has mortgaged his life, and Lawyer Waldheimer is probably not an angel with fun grown wings.
 But the administration will do noth- ing of the kind, because the case is not susceptible of political manipula- tion. It cannot be turned and twisted on the stump, whereas anything in re- lation to the handling of the negroes in the south may be asserted a thou sand miles away with effect and full credence. Irone cannot therefore be come a hero. He must be content to work out his debt to his lawyer, when he will again become free man, and he and his pretty bride, then of law full age, will settle down to American privileges and American citizenship. At present, however, he is a peon, but northern peons cannot be utilized in political circles.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-19
The Y. M. c. A.

'"rhe Y. M. c. A. is to be revived and put on an active basis again. said member of the board of directors yester- day. The new secretary. Mr. Jackson, who comes from New Orleans, will push the organization, and judging from his record in Y. M. c. A. work he is the man above others that we need now. Since the Y. M. c. A. here became dorm ant, after having to give up its quar- ters in the old church building that stood on the site of the Hotel Hillman, Bir- mlngham has grown considerably. and Mir. Jackson will have no difficulty in enrolling hundreds of young men. We should have a membership of seven or eight hundred before the end of the year.
 'grhe Y. M. c. A. will have an attrac- tive temporary home in the Webb house on Twentieth street. We hope to begin work on our permanent building on the Webb lot some time next year. With the good start we have made on our building fund 1t should not be a very difficult matter to raise the balance of the money needed"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-19
Joseph KIIaour's Dive.

''rhe old saying that truth is stranger than fiction is well illustrated by story told by Joseph Kigour, of the company to be at the Bjou next week. said travelling man last night. T heard him tell 1t in Atlanta last week. and 1t was really a strange coincidence.
 During the Worlds Falr at Chicago Mir. Kilgour was manager of a theater in Chicago. He was a very popular man, member of all the clubs and somewhat of an athlete. While at one of the clubs on a hot afternoon 1t was suggested that they play a game of water polo. This was agreed to and a guest of the club was introduced to Mir. Kigour and several members. The guest joined in the game, and as he was coming out of the water at the end or a spirited game he announced that he had lost d very valuable ring.
 "The members of the club told him not to worry; that it would be found when the water was drawn off the following morning. MT. Kilgour, who was an ex- pert swimmer, suggested that all of them dive for the ring, which they did, not ex- pecting tc find It. Mr. Kllgour made a second dive and found the ring in ten feet of water
 He brought 1t up and gave 1t to the owner, who mentioned that 1t was very dear to him, as his wife had made him present of 1t. It was a peculiarly set ring and MT. Kilgour asked some ques- tions about it. He asked the guest if he did not marry Miss Blank and when the latter replied yes Mr Kilgour re- marked that he had met her and remem- bered the ring. 4
 Later some friends were asking MT. Kilgour why he was so inquisilive about the ring and he stated that 1t had beeen made for him. and given to him by a young lady to whom he had been en- gagged at the time. When they agreed to disagree he had given it back 10 her. Mir. Kilgour then remarked It was strange that I-of all men should have found that ring at the bottom of a lake Later the guests wife visited Chicago and she and l4r. Kilgour met again, but nothing was eN CT said about their previous friendship CT he ring"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-19
COMMENTS CULLED FROM
 PAPERS HERE AND THERE

these causes the annual income of prac- titioners has been greatly eurtailed. The Chicago Tribune points out that this would not be a convincing explanation, as the same overcrowded conditions are to be met with in both the ministry and the law. Perhaps doctors become so fami- liar with death and suffering that they regard 1t callously and so have less hes- tation in destroying themselves. Then again they know the effects of all poisons on the human system. Figures show that a majority of them commit suicide with drugs.
 The Chicago matrons might take a lesson from the ladies of fiowery Japan re- garding divorces. In the year 125O the wife of Japanese regent obtained per- mission from the government to rescue wives from cruel husbands. The sanctuary in the temple of Zen. a new sect of Buddhism at that time. was set apart for fleeing wives. Once across the threshold of this Temple of Divorce" they were safe from all interference. The Temple of Divorce" was a supreme umpire in all matters matrimonial until the beginning of the present reign.
 From Classic Boston comes a wall of horror. On last Saturday night one out of every 600 men in that town over 20 years of age was drunk The records of the police courts reveal this startling state of affairs. According to the esti- mates at least 5000 men should have snent Sunday in the cooler" This is perhaps the first time that attention has been attracted to Boston for its drinking pro- clivities, the Hub of the Universe" pre- ferring to be noted for other things. Per haps the Boston police are in the habit of making unnecessary arrests, but any way the citizens of that cultured town are greatly shocked at the disclosures.
 Newport has set a new fashion for women to wear their hair, and those with lengthy. tresses are thanking heaven for the manner In which they have been blessed" A few days ago a well-known society belle appeared on Bellevue ave- nue with her golden locks hanging down her back. Her friend thought she looked well that way. and the other girls who have hair enough to thus display it are adopting the style. This works a great hardship on the ladies who have been ac- customed to wearing neat little bangs with their real hair and nobody the wiser. On this account 1t Is probable that the innovation of the society girl will not prove lastingly popular.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-19
IN HOTEL LoBBIBs.
The Coal situation.

T have no idea what the miners and operators will do in their joint scale con- ference next week." said a railroad offi- eial. "but I imagine there will be no pro- longed strike, if inded there is any strike at all. There may be suspension of work for little while in July. but this often happens.
 ''The stocks of coal in the yards of the railroad companies and the industrial companies, big and little, are larger than usual this month and the coal market is dull A stoppage of a few weeks would allow thes stocks to be reduced which would naturally improve the market sltu- ation.
 The feeling between the operators and miners was never more harmonious than at present, l understand. The miners will doubtless press their demands for an eight hour day, and if there is any serious ob- staele to the signing of a scale before July 1 it will probably be on this point. While the iron market continues to sof- ten, the bushes of the country is still good and I predict that before the end of JuEy, if not sooner, every coal mine will be worked to it's full capacity"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-19
TEMPERANCE CAUSE
 PROMOTED BY SCIENCE

IN the study of the "ethnic factors in
 the population of Boston, by Dr. \ Fredrick H. Bushee. drink Is de- scribsd as a chief cause of both poverty and crime, more especially among the Irish, English, Scotch and Americans, and most of all among the Irish. Not only is there more drunkenness among the Irish than among other nationalities, says Dr. Bushee "but drunkeness and crimes resulting directly therefrom con- stitute a large proportion of the Irish misdemeanors.'
 report of the proceedings and con clusions of the Sixth International Prison congress. held at Brussels in August. 1900. made by MT. Samuel J. Barrows, the com missioner for the United States, and just published by order of our congress. con tains debate on the relation of alcohol ism to crime, which confirms the con clusions of Dr. Bushee as to the evil po- tency of drink. Dr. Masoin, permanent secretary of the Belgian Royal Academy of Medicine, opened the discussion with a report on the subject in which he point ed out that statistics In different coun- tries show differences In the ratio of crime attributable to alcoholic intemperance, but that in all 1t is large. As an im- mediate and essential influence on crime. drinking exceeds any of the other recog- nized causes. Occasional intoxication is A preponderant cause more particularly in emotional crimes and misdemeanors and in those against morals and offences against the person; but. obviously. 1t Is much less important as stimulation to offences which require preparation, such as theft swindling, forgery and embez- element.
 Among the conclusions adopted by the congress was a suggestion that fin dii- ferent countries. making allowance for latitude, climate and temperament, the maximum degree of alcohol contained ili fermented liquors should be ascertained with view of establishing a line of de- marcation between alcoholic and non-al- coholic drinks and to show the relation between alcoholism and crime and to fur nish basis for comparative statistics"
 A third discussion of the evil influences of alcholic drinking, recently published by pr. Robert Jones, the medical super intendent of the Claybury Lunatic Asy- ium, at London, is made tpe bash of an
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-19

article by the Medical Record of New York, in which alcoholic intemperance as cause of insanity is treated specifically. pr. Jones shows from public statistics that of the 10000 certified insane persons now in England and Wales alone, alcohol is assigned as the cause of the insanity In 2l,o per cent. of the males and s.5 per cent of the females. Of those remaining in the asylums at the present time, he believes that lat the lowest computation there are no less than 10, 300 males and $500 females who are mentally decrepIt through the effects of alcohol"
 Dr. Jones finds. as to age, that ssthe period of greatest incidence to the per- nicious effects of alcohol corresponds closely with that upon which falls the greatest mental strain,'' or that men be- twen twenty-five and thirty years and. again, between thirty-fve and forty are more susceptible to alcohol than those of any other age.
 In commenting on the conclusions of the English insanity expert. the Medical Record expresses the opinion that ..ner haps the assertion that drink is the most potent cause of mental disorders would now pass without cavil;'' for unoues- tionably the brain Is the organ which IS most dlsastrolsly affected by excessive indulgence in alcohol; although other or- gans may be seriously injured. the ont come of the habit is more freouentlv mental dissolution"
 The necessity for severe measures for the protection of society against so po- tent an evil is now recognized through. out civilization. Almost every country or the world, says the Medical Record. 'ls taking up the drink question: '.alarm- ed at tho inroads which the unbridIed consumption of alcohol has made and is making into the prosperity, health and morals of their people" "Alcohol,'' said pr. de Boeck, Belgian insanity expert, the Brussels International Prison con gress, lis violent poison to the nervous elements,' destroys them when taken in large doses. or by a slow death when taken in small but often repeated. quan- tities;' and the only way of lessening the frequence of crimes and misdemean- ors engendered by alcohol is to forbid the sale of alcoholic drinks or to raise the price to such an extent as to place them beyond the reach of the mass of the peo- pie"
 We do not make these quotations as presenting any novel facts or opinions, but merely to show that at present the temperance cause Is receiving far more powerful impetus from science and from medical inquiry than it can get from the emotional propaganda of the Worlds Woman's Christian Temperance Union, now in session at Geneva in Switzerland, the organization which. on Thursday. re- elected Lady Henry Somerset es It's ores- dAuA
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-19
TO A BUTTERFLY.

I've watched you now a full half-hour, Self-poised upon that yellow flower. And, little butterfly, indeed I know not If you sleep or feed. How motionless.-not frozen seas
 More motionless. and then What joy awaits you, when the breeze Hath found you out among the trees.
 And calls you forth again. This plot of orchard-ground Is ours: My trees they are, my sisters flowers; Here rest your wings when they are
 weary; Here lodge as in sanctuaryi Come often to us, fear no wrong;
 Sit near us on the bough. We'll talk of sunshine and of song, And summer days when we were young; Sweet childish days. that were as long
 Astwenty days are now.