davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-20

places of business and of industry at 12 o'clock of each Saturday.
 The movement is one that every humanitarian should support, and in no country is it more needed than it is in this, where nerve and muscle and gray matter are exerted to the utmost. We make no mistake in welcoming in this country the new movement, and if the good sense of the country is not equal to it's acceptance. then perhaps the law should help common sense our.
 In this town, beginning today, many places of business will be closed ct noon, and IL is to be hoped that the list of such places will be largely in- creased before the heats of July and August are upon us. The Julys and Augusts of this latitude are not easily borne, and it win pay any employer of men who are shut up in store or office or mill, to turn them loose at noon on Saturdays. They would do more and better work on the other secular days of the week
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-20
COMMENTS CULLED FROM
 PAPERS HERE AND THERE

Although on the question of drinking the temperance people are fond of quot ing the enormous quantity of liquor con- sumed and it's deleterious effects on the human system, 1t Is seldom that one hears protest against water of the average healthful properties. However the New York Tribune says:
 Dr. Hamer in a report on aerated waters in London hazards the opinion that plain water is less drunk than formerly It depends on what is meant by formerly" Water was once in disfavor with the medical profession. Sir William Vaughan in his Natural and Artificial Directions for Health, pronounced that water ought seldom to be drunk" Another doctor ad- mitted that 1t might be healthy for chill dren, but not for men-"except some odd abstemious one among a thousand per chance, degenerate and of a dogglsh na- ture, for dogs of nature do abhor wine" Indeed, the recommendation of water as a beverage was the hallmark of the quack, and even Wesley. in his Primitive Physic," wrote of It with caution: Drink only water if 1t agrees with your stom- ach if not, good, clear small beer"
 Ornamental clocks have long been Q pleasing feature of all neatly furnished apartments. Of late years the fad for varied styles in clocks seems to be in- ereasing. An exchange says:
 Signs are beginning to be manifest that the clock is to be an item of much greater decorative importance than 1t has been during the past generation or so when it's utilitarian purpose. rather than its decorative possibilities have been first considered says the London Telegraph. This has not always been the case, as may be seen in the state apartments at Windsor Castle. or in the Wallace collec- tion, and in many other directions where artistic taste and rich and beautiful sub stances have been united to render the timepieces of bygone days among the most covetable of collectors treasures. There Is no lack of good models to follow as soon as public taste demands the same Improvements in it's clocks as 1t has done in It's silverware or furniture of the past decade or so, and in view of coming de- velopments the Goldsmiths and Silver smiths company, 112 Regent street, have added to their already extensive premises spacious gallery in which to display side examples from all schools of clock making. The typical English clock is set in wood and may range from the dainti- est framing after Sheration or Chippen- dale, with delicate inlaying for boudoir or drawing room, to the handsome tlme- piece for the hall in substantial carved oak or mahogany, with mountings of brass or the massive tall grandfather" variety, of which the dial-plate is often beautifully ornamented.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-20
HOW TO LIVE 100 YEARS.

New York, June 16-Dr John B. Rich, who is 94 years young and the oldest native New Yorker in the city, says be- coming a centenarian is as easy as roll ing off log to anyone who will take the pains. He instructed the Health Culture club last night on the secrets of perpetual youth, which he gave as the following;
 "Be good -natured; be clean; exercise; be comfortable; sleep in the most com fortable bed you can get; don't eat twice as much as you need, and don't eat food that will abuse that poor old muscle, the human stomach.
 'The greatest wonder he said, 'is not how people manage to live to the age of 100 years. but how so many of them manage to live for thirty-five years. They haven't time, they say, to take a little exercise. they haven't time to study the laws of hygiene and they put things into their stomach without a thought as to whether their food and drink are calculated to make good. rich blood"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-20
From the New York Times.

From the New York Times.
 @HOsE who find comfort in the ex- lCD pectation of living to great age
 are likely to derive satisfaction from the confident assertion of Professor Pfuger of the University of Bonn that fly increasing. In common with many persons of less learning, the German stu dents of the problems of human longevity are somewhat skeptical concerning the ages attributed to some of the patriarchs of Old Testament times. Professor Pfiu- ger seems to have good statistical grounds for his confidence In the lengthening average of human life. But like most of those who make a hobby of one line of in- vestigation, he seems to be able to per- ceive most clearly facts which support his preconceived notions >of the reasons for things He strongly dlsapproves of beer and tobacco. and 1t is not surprising to find that he attributes at least one third of the deaths recorded in Munich to heart disease due to beer drinking, and almost, if not quite, another third to smoking. Among the forty centenarians who have come under his notice there was only one smoker but nearly all of them confessed to a moderate use of al- cohol
 If 1t be true that the average human life is lengthening, the fact Is interesting, but it's interest is in nowise increased by speculations as to the reasons why some outlive their generations and near or pass the century mark. As a general truth 1t may be said that very few of these ex- amples of exceptional vitality have known or observed the rules which consensus of medical opinion would be likely to agree upon as favoring length of days. A majority of them have worked hard, lived poorly. and known all kinds of trouble. Not many of them have been
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-20
THE MoCKlNG BIRD.
By Paul Hamilton Hayne.

By Paul Hamilton Hayne.
 (At Night) A golden pallor of voluptuous light Filled the warm southern night; The moon, ciear-orbed, above the sylvan
 scene Moved like a stately queen, So rife with conscious beauty all the
 while, What could she do but smile At her own perfect loveiiness below, Chased in the tranquil flow Of crystal fountains and unruffled
 streams? Half lost in waking dreams. As down the loneliest forest dell l
 strayed. Lo! from a neighboring glade Flashed through the drifts of moonshine.
 swiftly came A fairy shape of flame. It rose in dazzling spirals overhead. Whence, to wild sweetness wed. Poured marvellous melodies. silvery trill
 on trill; The very leaves grew still On the charmed trees to hearken; while.
 for me, Heart thrilled to ecstacy,
 that flew Still circling up the blue. Till, as fountain that has reached its
 height Falls back in sprays of light, Slowly dissolved. so that enrapturing lay, Divinely melts away Through tremulous spaces to music
 mist. Soon by the ntful breeze How gently kissed Into remote and tender silences.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-20
FEW LONG LIVED PEOPLE
 HAVE LIVED BY A RULE

temperate in their pleasures or indul- gences. As a rule, they are found in aims houses or charitable institutions, with few memories save those which relate to misspent lives. Most of the very ola women have outlived large families or children, and been through experiences which made them look like Macbeth's witches before they had passed the prime of life. A New Yorker who claimed to be the oldest inhabitant, and whose claim was extensively admitted, in spite of some skepticism. celebrated what he said was his 106th birthday by breakfast at which a distinguished company gath cred. and lived three or four years there- after
 He was chiefly interesting as contradict ing every accepted rule of longevity He was. or said he was, veteran of the Napoleonic wars and all his life had been a soldier of fortune, carrying his mer- cenary sword into every war of his time. He had experienced every privation and hardship of successful and unsuccessful campaigning had been wounded severe ly a number of times, had been hard drinker from boyhood, had used tobacco immoderately for eighty years, for fifty years had been addicted to the opium habit, and had practiced every vice with which his wildly adventurous life in many countries had made him acquainted. But at the assumed age of 106 he was erect and in possession of all his faculties was able to eat a good breakfast empty his wine glass as often as 1t was filled, make a long, consecutive, and interesting speech when called upon, and enjoy the occasion thoroughly.
 Perhaps the most interesting fact to be deduced from individual experience Is that it is not those who give most heed to the prolongation of life who are most conspicuously successful in prolong:ng it. If Professor Pfluger is right in warming those who wish to live long against the thought or fear of death, we shalls have to look for our centenarians outside the membership of the Hundred Year club.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-20
Under the Dick Bill.

The Dick bill providing for the bet ter equipment of the national guards is imperfectly understood. It really makes no changes in existing law be- yond promoting the efficiency of the militia. It does, it is true, distinguish between the active and the reserve militia, but the federal constitution provides for the organization of all, and commits this duty not to the states but to the general government. The Dick act simply renders the mili- tia enrolled in the states the active branch of the volunteer service, the remainder becoming the reserve mili- tia. The right of congress to declare what is the militia Is unquestioned. It Is also unlimited. But 1t leaves the determination of the active militia to the states respectively.
 No state can in times of peace keep troops without the consent of congress. and congress in the Dick bill accepts present troops as parts of the active militia. It is illegal to have any troops in any state outside of the will of con gress. The President can call out any part of the active militia to repel in- vasion or to suppress rebellion for q term not exceeding nine months. The President must first use the regular army and navy, but if these be in sufficient then he may call out the active militia.
 The greater part of the Dick act relates to the better and uniform equip ment of the active militia. For this purpose $23,000 has already been placed to the credit of this state The duties of the active militia are not changed by the Dick bill If Alabama accepts the sum offered, neither the duties nor the control of the troops will be one bit altered. The governor of the state remains commander-in-chief of her militia, and until the militia Is called out by the President the gov ernor controls them So far as troubles in the state are concerned no action would or could be taken by the Presi- dent of the United States unless the legislature, if in session, requested it, or if not in session unless the governor requested it. If any troops should be required to be sent out of the state at any time, the direction by the Presi- dent would unquestionably come through the governor.
 The Dick bill, in short, simply recog- nizes as the active militia the present forces of the various states, compiling in convenient form the military law as 1t has long existed, at the same time granting benefits in the way of equip ment and supplies never before ac- corded to state troops. It should be accepted cordially by the Alabama na- tional guard, as it no doubt will be by tie militia of every other state.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-20
Saturday Half-Holiday.

The Saturday half-holiday is fast be- coming a worldwide institution. In England cotton factories are closed by law at noon, and in other mills work must cease early in tho afternoon In France early closing on Saturday has been recognized and enforced since 1899, and the Superior Labor Council is considering the bringing in of an act to render early closing on Satur- day compulsory. In Switzerland a bill is pending in the federal council providing that no work shall be done after o'clock on Saturdays.
 In this country nearly every city has adopted the practice, some extending it to all stores, shops and mills, and some limiting it's application to partic- ular trades or industries. The ten. dency is towards a complete cessa. tion of work at noon on Saturday dur ing hot weather at least, and this will probably lead on to the closing of all
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-20
GREATEST MERCHANT IN WORLD.

From the New York Press.
 Who is he? The list of great ones Is long, Possibly we shall have to yield the palm to Sir Thomas Johnstone Lipton. He is about the only merchant on earth who can afford to advertise teas by spending half million annually on a yacht design ed to capture the Americas cup. Over here in the United States we have syndi- cates of millionaires behind our defenders Lipton stands the racket alone He is worth s5O,Ooo00O. Twenty-three years ago he stood behind a counter waiting on customers. Thirty years ago he worked in the rice fields of South Carolina, and was so poor that he slept with the negroes in the woods. Today he employs 20O0 per- sons in his various establishments. and is the pet of the king of England. In 1906 he will be an earl.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-20
ABOUT RUNAWAY MATCHES.
How the Fond Parents Are Forced Into
 the Game, Willy NlIly.

From the point of view of competent observers the distinctive feature of the elopements of very young people, which are so common in American life. is that paradoxically enough, the parents of the contracting parties have so much to do with them.
 They are not supposed to have any thing to do in the premises but run away match brings them face to race unexpectedly with a series of emotions and experiences. A lad of nineteen or twenty and a girl of seventen mate Of A sudden with as little consultation of their parents wishes and as little pro- vision of thought for the future as If they were tenants of hen yard instead of ocupants of a world which for the best reasons has prescribed certain way, a time for doing things. Having found a clergyman to unite them, they go to a near by town or neighboring hotel and wait They have taken the irrevocable step, but they have no idea what to do next. There is where the parents step in.
 In elopements it is the privilege of the American parent to forgive his son or daughter, to welcome the runaway cou- pie back to his home, to give them the freedom of the house, to install them after A litle in a fiat of their own and defray the rent of it, to find the son-ln- law paying job and to instruct the danghter-in-law sufficiently In the rudi- ments of housekeeping so that she Will know when the kettle boils. Public opinion cheerfully supports the parent In these ltle overtures to his offsprings and inded. expect them as his duty. The runaways accept them as their right.
 All of which goes to show the complete and shameful abdication which some American parents make to their children. If ia wholesome doctrine that young people shall suit themselves in marrying and at the last resort. follow their own inclination and judgment, even when erence But the leadings of the doctrine do not justify them in contracting cland- estine attachments or in insisting on their own way immediately when the ob- lection of their parents is merely that they are too young and would better walt awhile or in declaring crowning dIsrespect to the father who begot and the mother who bore them and making spectacle of them in the eyes of the world by marrying without even appris- ing them of their purpose or giving them chance to look over the young person they are about to bring into the family.
 There is a fine old commandment which entolns Honor thy father and thy mo- ther." In few ways could a son or daughter more dishonor them than by foutIng or ignoring them at the most significant and intimate moment that life holds. There is good ground for all the bitterness that parent must feel at such a juncture-a bitterness rendered doubly acute by the reflection that his own needless trust and indulgent kind ness had brought about such pass and that it was his own blood that had turned away from him.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-20
HARD WORKERS THRIVE
 BEST ON HOMELY FOOD

"The really indigestible things are those which have little food value and make the stomach work for no profit but if it be worth the effort, food that is diff cult to digestion has a certain merit of it's own in that it exercises the organs of digestion"
 A convenient illustration of this lat ter point is furnished by certain con- tinental princelngs of a generation ago whom the court physicians were too care fully rearing upon spoon foods and the like, with the unlocked for result that their teeth decayed early from lack of exercise and their digestions suffered. A much more rough-and-ready regimen Is now preferred.
 Nature has means of compelling men to obey her. During the terrible Irish famine days, half a century ago, when by starvation or emigration Erin's peo- pie were reduced by two millions in a single decade, 1t was noted with wonder in New England households that recent immigrants liked potatoes only half boiled with bone in the middle.'
 This was habit merely Potatoes so cooked resisted longer the process of di- gestion and hence staved off the sensa- ton of hunger. though they provided no more nutriment. When the immigrants were fed on heartier food. no doubt pork and beans mainly. this craving for half, raw potatoes gradually ceased. Pork and beans have never been par ticularly recommended for college ath- letes, for two reasons: As most of the training Is done in comparatively warm weather there is less need of fuel-food. and as money Is no object when win ming is the end of the game. the muscle foods are provided in the most expen- sive form-steaks chops and roasts But pork-and-beans fed crew of lun- berrnen could row boat pretty we'll too l If they knew how.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-20
From the New York World.

From the New York World.
 THE governments issuance of a (0 certificate of character to pork
 and beans may not. but should, lead to "boom'' for homely dishes, at least for people engaged in hard physical labor.
 The experience of men at work in win ter logging camps Is the classic example of the value of brown bread and baked beans Lumbermen not only do very heavy work, but they are exposed for long hours to extreme cold. Both for muscle production and for fuel-heat they eat almost incredible quantities of pork and beans, coarse bread and cheap mo- lasses with such other delicacies as the .doctor"-so the cook is facetiously
 called-can be wheedled or bullied into prescribing.
 Along with this government report comes a medical word from London for foods not easily or quickly digested. Some one having started "bread-crust fad, the London hospital Is moved to remark: There is no doubt that this plea for food that demands some effort in the eat ing is not untimely in an age when every body seems to want to have his digestion done for him.
 For some people these predigested foods cause an absolute hunger dyspep- sia There Is nothing in them to stay the stomach, and the sufferer would prob ably be better. instead of trying to find something still more digestihle. to put 1 himself for a time on diet of brown bread and haricot beans.
 Not that either of these is indigest- | ible. though some might think the latter | was It is. indeed. difficult of digestion, ! but when digestcd the food-value is high
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-20
About Persons.

The following persons were registered at the Hillman yesterday: H. M. Burney of Atlanta. M. L. McRae of McRae, Ala. Wright Hunter of Savannah, G. M. In- gram and wife of Nashville. w P. Sparks of Georgia, N. D. Mcdonald and wife of New Orleans, Charles w. Hill of Tusca- loosa c. w Cantrell of Triton. Ga.; c. Auerbach of San Francisco, T. c. Thomp- son of Chattanooga.
 Col. W. c. Tunstall of Greensboro is at the Metropolitan.
 M. D. seligman of Montgomery is at the Metropolitan.
 Ira D. Pruitt and wife of Selma are at the Metropolitan.
 F. G. Bingham of Buffalo. N. Y, is at the Metropolitan.
 The following persons registered at the Morris yesterday: J. R. Yeatman of St. Louis. w. H. Kidd of Frankfort, Ky.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-20
MAYOR JONES A ROOF SLEEPER.

Toledo Telegram to the New York Press
 Mayor Jones is giving friends and ene- mies "the roof habit" Since he has an nounced the success of his experiment of sleeping in the open air, with mosquito netting about his cot, many persons with ailments of one sort or another are try ing the cure. Golden Rule" Jones does most of his sleeping on the roof of his house. He says;
 Before I began sleeping beyond the confines of a close room I was troubled with asthma and bronchitis, but this pure air treatment has completely cured me. I feel better than I did twenty years ago. There is little circulation of air in a room. no matter how 1t is arranged. A person cannot get too much pure air. 1t Is better than any medicine our physi- clans can administer.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-20
FORGE OF HABIT IN A COW.
Wades Through a Flood to Tank Of
 Water to Get a Drink.

From the Enid (ok.) Eagle.
 The force of habit was very forcibly illus trated by an incident last week at the pumping station of the water works at Enid. A tank stand just outside the building is kept full of water for the ac- commodation of passers-by and the neighborhood stock. A COW accustomed to drink at this tank came for her morn- ing drink. The valley was covered with water and stood within two or three inches of the top of the tank. but the COW went over the waste of waters to the tank Twice she stuck in the mud and appeared to be in danger of drowning. but by perseverance she finally reached the objective point. After drinking long and copiously she turned about and slow " made her way to land, apparently sat- isfied that she had done the only avail able thing to find water.