davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1903-02-11

judgment, to cut much of figure in the
next campaign" shows that the import
ant element for which he is especially
entitled to speak really wishes the tri-
umph of the party without reference to
Bryan and Organism, and is willing to
do what is necessary to secure that
triumph. The first condition obviously
is to carry the state of New York. This
Judge Parker did in the election of 1897
by plurality of over 10000 the next year
after Mr.. McKenley had had a plurality
of 26S000. There is little room for doubt
that, had he been nominated last fall,
Judge Parker would have been elected
governor. This surely is a fair basis of
calculation for next year. 1t is an excel
lent sign that men of the ability, infiu-
ence and sincerity of Senator Carmaek
should take the view he does He puts
aside the idea of naming Mr.. Olney be-
cause Mr.. Olney comes from a region in
which the party has little to expect, but
the discussion of Mr.. Olneys name also
is in the line of recognition of the fact
that the party must face the present and
the future and turn from the past.
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1903-02-11
Autoaraph Album.

what has become of the old-fashion-
ed autograph albums which boys and
girls used to have a generation ago?'
asked a middle aged man. You never
see them nowadays. They are as scarce
as Wedster's spoilers, though no doubt
many of them might be found after dill
gent search In attics. For in their day
they were as plentiful as the engrav
Ing of Daniel Webster Addressing the
Senate or as the reproduction of Stuart's
Washington.
Some of them were really gorgeous af-
fairs in their red or blue plushcovers.
Others had punches of ripe cherries or
gay flowers embossed on them Silver
scrolls or crescents frequently decorated
the backs and now and then a girl had
one bound in real leather with Album
across the cover in silver letters.
1.-The beauty about them was their wide
variety They were to be had in all styles
and at all prices. A small boy without
any pocket money could usually save
up a nicke or dime with which to buy
an album for the little girl Nhe admired
across the school room. You could get
very respectable album, too, for ten
cents. 1t might not have gilt edges, but
its cover would be a dream. For a
quarter you could get one with beautiful
colored leaves scattered through IT.
leayes that you reserved for the names
of your special friends"
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1903-02-11
LETTERS TO EDITOR
The Barefoot Boy.


To the Editor of The Accelerate
During the constitutional convention
much time was consumed and much
money spent by the embryo statesmen
discussing the rights of the barefoot
boy"
Now that there is a real opportunity to
do him good the statesmen are dumb-or
'has the boy got shoes?
Salaries have been increased on a par
With states that are out of debt and have
TO barefoot boy. OF course, the latter
gets a benefit when some official gets
more pay than he bargained for. Then
there is a bill for a few good fellows to
have a drinking bout at st. Louis az a
cost of $4,000, but no statesman has
sought to amend the bill by providing
that the barefoot boy can sit on the fence
and see the procession go by.
Then another lot want money spent on
inducing foreigners to come to the state
and take up the land the barefooted boy
will want after while. Then another lot
want to spend a quarter OF a million on
the capitol grounds, so the barefooted
boy can feel good about it. The amounts
of money appropriated for what patriotic
men ought to do without until we give
the new constitution fair trial as 20
taxation, would build the barefooted boy
two hundred &C mforlable school houses
instead of the rude huts where he gets his
mite of education. Has the barefooted
boy champion, now there is money to
divide among the embryo statesmen?
w. r. HUUGHTON.
Birmingham, February 10, 1906
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1903-02-11
Building Needed.

cat a recent meeting of the directors
of the Young Mems Christian Associa-
ton, it was decided thorough and sys-
tematic canvass of the city for subscrip-
tions to the building fund should begin
on March 3, and there should be a
prompt response on the part of business
men," said a prominent citizen. Near
ly $4,000 has been pledged to the Y.
M. C. A. building, but at least $4,000
more will be needed before the work of
construction can begin.
"If there Is any one city more than
another that calls for a modern, attrac-
tive Y. NJ C. A. home, it is Birmingham.
A total of $4,000 would have been a big
amount for Birmingham to have sub
scribed four or five years ago. 1t does not
sound big today. Many of our people have
accumulated snug fortunes recently and
hundreds of them have thriven beyond
expectation. The only way for commun-
ity to prevent becoming sordid is for the
people who make money freely to con-
tribute a little of it to worthy causes
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1903-02-11
NEW ORLEANS TO BE A
GREAT CLEARING HOUSE

From the New Orleans Picayune
IF the south continues to develop In
the manufacture of textile products, of
which there can be no doubt, New Or
leans will become a great clearing house,
second only to New York" said Mr.. Jo-
seph X. choate of New York city, COM
mission merchant and exporter, in the st.
Charles yesterday.
1T is true that New Orleans is now
second to New York in exports. but 1t
must be remembered that a larger part
Of the goods shipped from this port arc
cleared from New York. If the isthmlan
canal is built the position of New Or
leans as port of clearing will be estab-
lshed."
Mr. choate was here five years ago He
says he finds tremendous development
END growth since then. He expects to
spend week or ten days in the city and
will then go west, as he is making tour
to enlarge his business connections and
to extend the scope of his export ship
ping. His house does large business with
Brazil and other South American conn
tries, and also ships through here for
China and japan.
The southern states have made ire
'nendous strides in textiles" continued
Mr.. Choate. Shippers find it much quick
er and cheaper to handle goods direct
from the southern mills. Savannah and
New Orleans are the natural points Of
export for these textile products. Goods
anufactured in all the intermediate
states go through either Savannah or
New Orleans, the greater part, l think
coming this way. The whole problem is
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1903-02-11

to get quick transportation to tidewater,
with speed and cost as the main consid-
erations. There has been such improve
ment in transportation facilities in this
section that goods can be handled through
here just as we'll as through the eastern
seaboard.
THE banks of New Orleans have suf-
ficiently great facilities to do all the bus
mess that would be required of them
with this as a great clearing port, but
they don't do it. But clearances are
constantly growing, and in proportion
with the increase in the amount of goods
proportionate decrease In the amount
of goods cleared from New York.
almost everything can be made in this
section, and there is no reason why the
manufacturing industries should not con-
tinue to grow.
There is no doubt about the possibility
of the south as manufacturing center.
1t is all a question of how big we can
make 1t. If only someone don't come in
and spoil it. there will be a continual
growth in manufactures and in direct
shipment.
Textile goods in the south are mostly
shipped direct from the mills to Savan-
nah and New Orleans, and from those
two points to the foreign markets, but
much Of this is handled from New York.
Just in the ten days before Christmas
New York bought and shipped from
southern mills over $3,OO0,OOU in sheeting
nd hot inc i,,
days, and 1t is nothing to what 1t ought
to be-
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1903-02-11
A Greek Church.

II am glad to know that the Greek
colony of Birmingham contempiates the
erection of a church here said a man
who takes an interest in ecclesiastical
matters. Their services are impressive.
and when l lived in Chicago it was a
matter of common talk that on the oc-
casion of their special eeremonials more
Americans than Greeks attended. The in
terror of every Greek church, l believe, Is
always very beautiful and great deal
of expense is attached to decoration.
I'm many cities of the Old world the
edhces of the Greek church are mag
nificent
THE dome of one cathedral alone has
$4,000 worth of gold work on it. The ca
thedral of Ste. Sophia at Constantinopie
is excelled in splendor only by st. Peter s
at Rome, and in antiquity it ranks high. .
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1903-02-11
POPULAR JINGLE NOT
WRITTEN BY MARK TWAIN

foundation of a rare and beautiful de-
partment of lyric verse. Then It took
possession Of the popular fancy ike a
nightmare, or, we might say, like an cpl
demic AS one of the historians of the
era has said: "It was the one touch OF
horse-car poetry that made the whole
world kin. The continent was one vast
eruption of verse" Men, women and chill
dren found themselves betrayed into re-
citing its mellifiuous rhymes when they
should be thinking of other things. It
pervaded the communities of the repub-
lie like an atmosphere; it enveloped the
land in an all-embracing wave. Among
Others Mark Twain was SO seriously af-
fected by the prevalent epidemic that he
was forced to complain of his ills to the
reading world, or to so much of it as
reads the Atlantic Monthly. In February,
1876, Twain printed an account of his ex-
periences under the title of "A Literary
Nightmare" An unthinldng public. glad
to find some name to attach to the par
entless lyric, at once hailed him as the
author of the verse; and from that day
to this, while he has observed a discreet
silence he has been credited with writ
ing the immortal classic.
My friend Bromley, impatient with this
persistent and stupid interpolation OF
one of the awards Of fame, wrote in the
April number of Scribner's Monthly 1879.
over the pen name of Wink elried Wolf
gang Brown, the true story of the incep-
ton and birth of the poem the gist OF
which ] have here given. In the begin
ming of that historical sketch he said: Il
shall trace 1t from the hour of its birth,
in car No. 101 of the Fourth avenue line,
in the dusk of summer evening in 1875,
to its simultaneous appearance in ths
February numbers of the Atlantic and
Harper's of the present year. The facts
then set forth have never since been
called in question. At this late date 1t
may be asked why this public parade OF
the true story should be made at all. The
enswer should be obvious to every cam
did mind. In future ages, when some de-
scendant of Bromley Brooks, Wyckoff or
Handy shall claim an entrance to the
hall of fame on the ground that one of
his ancestors assisted in the authorship
Of the horse-car poetry and thus founded
new department of verse, it might be
justly rejoined that as the ancestors of
the claimant kept silence while genera
lions of men in the nineteenth and TWEEN.
tieth centuries ascribed to Mark Twain
the authorship of the poem, judgment
against any other claim was now forever
scaled and delivered. Therefore, in the
interest of the truth of history, I enter
this my caveat,
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1903-02-11
1Et ONLY DAILY NEWSPAPER II ALABAMA
Assume a virtue if you have it not.
Hamlet.
Southern School Books.

The Southern Book concern, not
only offers to furnish school books to
the barefoot boys and girls OF Alabama
at one-half of present prices, but it
will supply our schools with readers,
histories and general literature in
which the south will not be slurred or
slandered These books have been
nrepared by the best scholars in the
south, and they are offered at one-half
of the book trusts prices
Who in the legislature is prepared
to say that the Southern Book con-
Germ. and all other book concerns shall
be denied hearing in order that the
book trust may go on four years TAX
ing from the children of the state
$3.50 900 annually in unjust and exorbi-
tant profits? Who? Let the people
have their names in yea and nay
vote.
The book trust and its assistants
have devised the county uniformity
scheme. 1t is the merest pretense. 1t
does not reduce the price of school
books. 1t is not uniformity at all,
because it permits the selection OF
sixty-six sets of books, always pro
yided the book trust does not bam-
boozle the whole number into the
adoption of its books at its own prices.
County uniformity is not uniformity
at all.
What the people want is the uni
formity and prices that Tennessee,
North Carolina, Louisiana and Texas
have secured. Textbook trusts bark
ers say that state uniformity is not
feasible-that it leads to corruption,
and the like. Ask Tennessee, or North
Carolina, or Louisiana, or Texas, If
this be so. Governor McMilin says
the text book law OF Tennessee is so
popular that no one asks. for its re-
peal. In the last election the question
was made plank in the state demo
cratic platform, and it was endorsed
by 10000 majority.
The names of the men who propose
to vote in the legislature against state
uniformity must be published. What
eyer else Is done, let us have division
in each house. Let the vote be re-
corded and made known.
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1903-02-11
"KNOW We THE LAND"

BY Lord Byron
Know We the land where the cypress and
myrtle -
Are emblems of deeds that are done In
their cline?
Where the rage of the vulture, the love
of the turtle,
Now melt into sorrow, now madden to
crime?
Know We the land of the cedar and vine.
Where the flowers ever blossom, the
beams ever shine;
Where the light wings Of Zephyr, OPP
press with perfume
Wax faint DER the gardens II Gull Iii her
bloom
Where the eitron and olive are faieest of
fruit
and the voice of the nightingale never Is
mute;
Where the tints of the earth and the hues
OF the sky,
In color though varied, In beauty may vie,
And the purple of ocean is deepest In dye;
Where the virgins are soft as the roses
they Irvine,
And all, save the spirit Of man, is divine7
IT'S the cline of the east; tbs the land of
the sun
Can he smile on such deeds as his chill
dren have done?
o. Wild as the accents of lovers farewell
Are the hearts which they bear. and the
tales which they tell.
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1903-02-11

Have you an inventive mind? If so,
you have a fortune in your head-if you
only know how to get it out. Here's your
chance. Here are thirteen things the
world needs, for either one OF which it
will pay you a fortune;
A wall-papering machine.
A quiek-acting monkey wrench.
A rail joint without nuts and bolts.
A serubbing machine.
A cuspidor that will not spill when up
set.
A trolley that will not come off the
wire.
An oil can that will not explode.
A quick fire-hose coupling without
screw threads.
Combination ironing-board and step
ladder.
A music leaf turner.
A window lock and burglar alarm.
An envelope that cannot be opened
without detection.
A simple nut lock.
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1903-02-11
Valuable Manuscript Lost.

N. Kolkin, formerly Of Thorsby, Ala.
but now of Birmingham, is said to have
conducted some interesting experiments
with an apparatus for the detection and
complete study of wireless currents. He
has had an inferior device, which he
has used for several years and has ar
rived at some very definite conclusions
Many of his experiments are described
in a large manuscript volume, which he
had prepared for his own use; and this
volume which is valuable to him, but
useless to anyone else was missed from
his trunk few days ago and as yet
he has been unable to locate it. He says
he will gladly refrain from prosecuting
the person who took it If he will return
it and the papers accompanying it.
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1903-02-11
IN HOTEL LoBBIES.
En- Route to Palm Beach.

w. K. Bixby. president of the Ameri-
can Car and Foundry company and re-
Gently elected director of the Frisco did
not come to Birmingham yesterday as
was expected. private car owned
jointly by Mr.. Bixby and ". n MeMii-
Ian, chairman of the board of directors
of the American Car and Foundry com
pany, arrived with a party on board en-
route to Palm Beach.
In the party were Mrs. ". Northrup
Mcmillan, whose husband Is on an eN-
ploring trip up the Blue Nile; Mrs. Louis
Edwards of London, Mrs Thornberry and
Miss Thornberry of st. Louis and Daniel
McCou. The travellers are Mrs Mcmillan
guests.
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1903-02-11

By Noah Brooks IN the New York Sun.
" THE SUN of January %, while dis
coursing on Mr.. Du Val's rhymes on
bridge whist the writer says; "A
number of years ago. when Mark Twain
wrote his Punch in the Presence of the
Passinjare' jingles.'' etc. This is a mis-
statement. Mark Twain never wrote or
suggested a word or a line of the i'm
mortal classic alluded to. A generous
but misguided public has long credited
him with the honor of having written
the so-ealled horse-car poetry. Here are
the historic facts:
The late Isaac II. Bromley and myself,
chums and intimate companions, were ac-
customed to ride down town from our din
ing club In, one of the Fourth avenue line
of horse cars every evening to our nightly
toll. Bromley was a member of the
Tribune editorial staff and I was similar
ly engaged on the Times One evening
while l was DOING in a corner of the car,
my chum surprised me by exclaiming
Its poetry, by George. Brooksl it's
poetry!" Startled into wakefulness by his
enthusiasm, l asked where he saw poetry.
Pointing to the printed instructions to
conductors, posted over one of the win
dows of the car. Bromley said why.
don't you see? The lines are all the same
length, and all begin with capital letter.
Doesn't that make poetry?"
There was no resisting this argument,
and we began to polish the poem at once.
One of u.s. feeling that there was a sense
of incompleteness about the hymn, sup
piled the closing line, eAll in the presence
of the passlnjare.' which gave complete
ness and roundness to the whole. So it
then ran:
The conductor, when he receives a fare,
VIII punch In the presence of the passin-
jare
blue trip slip for an eight-eent fare,
A buff trip slip for a six-cent fare,
A pink trip slip for a three-cent fare,
All in the presence of the passinjare.
The chorus, Punch, boys, punch Punch
with care!" etc, was added by Mr.. w.
G. Wyclxoff, the scientific editor of the
Tribune. assisted by the late Major M.
p Handy. Next 1t was craftily hidden
away one night in the solid matter" Of
one of the inside pages of the Tribune,
without any signature or other indca-
ton of his associated authorship. Then
the trouble began. The newspaper press
of the republic lighted on the, work
with its usual avidity. First it was sim
ply copied as a bit of literary fiotsam
and jetsam, then it was parodied, imi-
tated, set to music and hailed as the
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1903-02-11
STATE NEWS ITEMS.


It is reported that $40 bales of cotton
were sold in Selma Saturday at ga cents.
basis middling, and there are rumors of
even higher prices. Offerings are rare,
Ensley Herald: Blaekman, caricaturist
on the Age-Herald, is giving to the pub
lie some very fine cartoons on his ma
jesty'' President Roosevelt and with a
few more like Walter the newspaper
would put the President out of business
so to speak.
Much speculation is going on in Mobile
concerning the identity of the Felix" of
this years carnival Three names are
whispered but which is the one is yet
an uncertainty. AS to the queen, 1t is
public secret that the royal crown Will
be worn by one of this years most popu-
lar debutantes.
Gadsden Times-News There was never
a time when Gadsden needed more houses
than now. Good dwellings rent at good
figure and the commoner sort are eager
ly sought after. There are many people
coming here to work, but they are leav-
ing their families behind because houses
cannot be had.
The false work and large part of the
iron work of the second span OF the
Louisville and Nashville railroads new
bridge at Selma was washed away Sun
dty morning the river having risen on
account of the remarkable heavy rain
fall. The false work had just been put
into position. and about twenty-five feet
of trestlework had been placed when the
flood came The river is very high and
the work on the bridge is gravely de-
layed. Other material besides the bridge
work was lost and great damage was
done.
Admission Hot Blast: Oscar johnson,
! alias Bone Johnson, a drunken and des-
perate negro character, was shot and
| killed in the Woodstock furnace stock
house last night by Mr.. f. c. O'Rourke
after a desperate hand-to-hand encounter
in the which the negro fired three shots
| at Mr. ORourke. 1t seems that Mr..
| ORourke and johnson had misunder-
standing recently and the latter went to
the furnace last night evidently for the
purpose of killing Mr.. O'Rourke, who Is
| stock house boss.
Mobile Herald: Some two or three
weeks ago the merchants on Dauphin
street unanimously signed petition to
the board of public works asking that
Dauphin street be not torn up to lay
sewers until after the Mardi Gras carni-
val. The petition was practically acqui-
esced in by the board, but contrary to
the wishes of the merchants on the
street named work was begun last week,
and from the way it is now progressing
| 1t well be almost next to impossible tie
get the street in proper condition for
the carnival, which begins two weeks
| from today.
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1903-02-11

reports from existing companies, but
such reports, if called for, would be
held as graveyard secrets. The other
provisions of the bill relate to the en-
forcement of the present Sherman bill,
and there is nothing in any part of it
that Mr.. Rockefeller would care enough
about to induce him to send dictatorial
and offensive kilograms that would
surely prove boomerangs.
The truth is, the entire business is
of a grandstand nature from beginning
to end. No real control of the trusts
is possible until the ports are opened,
and the trusts are compelled to face
goods made in other countries. As
long as we maintain our Dingley
Chinese wall, the trusts will carry
prices up to the tariff limit and the
consumers in this country will be ex-
plotted for dividends upon watered
securities.
1t is idle to talk about control of
trusts while the blessed tariff stands
intact for nothing can be done that
will take away their power over prices
under that scheme. Duties made the
trusts possible, and duties render them
today impregnable and greedy and
dangerous. The Littlefield bill, passed
by the house, is a good bill SO far as
it goes, but no bill can afford material
relief while the tariff remains UNI
touched
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1903-02-11
Hard Luck.

Talk about hard luck said a joker,
81 had an experience the other day which
actually exhausted my vocabulary Of
profanity. I was on Pullman and met
friend who gave me dollar cigar. L
put it in my pocket and looked forward
with good deal of pleasure to smoking
it. After awhile l went back into the
smoking room which was deserted and
settled down to enjoy my dollar smoke.
had just lighted the cigar and had
taken about a half dozen delicious puffs
when a travelling man came in and sat
down, took a cigar from his pocket and
asked me for light Not having a
match | politely handed him my precious
weed. He kept it an uncomfortably long
time in lighting up and when he had
finished deliberately thew 1t in the Gus
pidor, took a common ten-cent cigar from
his pocket and said, Here have a fresh
one "