davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-04-16
SeIectInu Text Books.

The text book commission and the sub-commission will both meet today in Montgomery, and important steps will no doubt be taken towards putting the new law into effect Both com missions are mado up of high.minded, patriotic men, and The Age-Herald has full faith that each and every commits sioner will endeavor to carry out the law fairly and fully. regardless of for mer opinions held by him.
 The bids will be opened today by the chief commission, but no award will be made until the sub-commission has had an opportunity to examine all books submitted and has rendered a report as to their respective merits. With the reported merits and the prices named and the bids before them the chief commission will proceed to select books to be used in the public schools of the state in the next five years. Scarcely any other act of state officers will be ol higher or deeper inn portance.
 The text book commission is ex- pected to reduce to material extent the prices of school books in this state Unfortunately it will have to enter into contracts with publishers when prices of materials that go into the compost ton of school books are high--perhaps 20 or 30 per cent higher than they were in 1897, and probably higher than they will be two years hence.
 The text book commission has been advised to select books of good qual- ity even though they may cost more in the first place. But such advice, if followed, would rob many a barefoot boy and girl of an education.
 The line should be drawn betwixt uuu pet"eSn. lie ChlluTSH ol tne state have been paying high prices for school books, and they are not hankering for more of that sort It is of course well 70 buy reasonably well-made books, in which matter as well as paper and cover are satisfactory, but no attempt should be made to secure books of the highest price.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-04-16
IN HOTEL LoBBIES.
Lumhsrmen Stirred Up.

Southern lumbermen are much wrought dred on lumber shipments by the rail roads, which went Into effect yesterday. John L. Raul has Just returned from Washington and Is quoted by the Atlanta Constitution as follows:
 While did not go to Washington as attorney for the lumber dealers. as was stated in the newspapers, I attended a friendly conference of the larger dealers of Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Ar kansas and Texas and certain traffic of- ficials of the lumber-carrying railroads. l can say nothing as to what occurred at rnls conference. but this much Is a fact; As yet the matter of increased rates has rot been brought officially before the in- terstate commerce commission.
 George s. Gardiner, president, and l. c. Enochs secretary of the Central Yel- Toy Pine Lumber association. are yet in Washington. Just what steps they will take in the matter of bringing the quos- tion of the legality of the raise before the interstate commerce commission l can't say"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-04-16
London,s Music Festival.

London has not as much musical att mosphere as Berlin, but yet great festi- vals never fail to draw crowds in the worlds metropolis" said a well informed musician.
 Here are the Beethoven works to be performed at a festival to be given there this spring: The nine symphonies; the principal overtures; the emperor con certo; the choral fantasia the triple con- certo for the piano, violin and cello, with orchestra; the violin concerto; the 'Kreutzer' sonata, the c major Rasoum- offsky quartette; the two romanzas for the violin; the septet; the string quintette; the piano trio in B flat; the Abseheu- licher' aria, from 'Fidelio,' and the song cycle, An die ferne Geliebte.'
 "Following the Beethoven festival will come one made up chiefly of Richard Strauss works
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-04-16
PROSPERITY IN THE WEST.
George Gould Believes It Will Continue
 For a Year.

Special to the New Orleans Times-Dem-
 ocrat.
 New York April 14.-After a careful survey of conditions in the west George j. Gould, who returned today from a two weeks trip over the Missouri Pacific and Wabash lines, is convinced that the present era of prosperity which the west Is enjoying will continue for at least another year.
 "In all my experience in the west" said MT. Gould tonight. T have never 1een wheat look as well as 1t does today It is a bit too early to speak of corn or cotton, but as the soil is thoroughly water-soaked these crops ought to thrive amazingly. The railroads won't have any trouble in moving the great wheat crop. but think we will all be short of cars in the fall if there is a big corn crop.
 "The physical condition of the western roads was never better than they are now. I went over the Missouri Pacific from St Louis to Pueblo ana down as far as Little Rock, Ark We are doing a great deal of grading and ballasting on this part of the system. and are mak- Ing other improvements so as to have the road In shape to handle maximum of tonnage at a minimum of cost.
 "All our earnings are going ahead Of the largest period we have ever had. We are comparing now with previous periods of heavy earnings, and we find that we are running ahead. l am speak ing of gross earnings, but we hope by careful management not to have the ex- pense account keep pace with the in- crease in gross.
 "I heard no talk of. money shortage while I was away. The banks are hold ing their own balances in their vaults, and they won't have to draw on New York for money to move crops. From what I saw I believe that this practice of drawing on New York, as it is called, will be an uncommon occurrence in the future. The western bankers have their own money to lend to t.leir own people, unless money should get so high in Wall street as to make it profitable to send 1t east. From all indications I can see a full year of prosperity ahead for the southwest and the west"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-04-16
About Persons.

W. c. McGarthy of New York Is at the Hillman.
 ". o. White of Sheffield is registered at the Morris.
 James H. Foster of Tuscaloosa is stop ping at the Metropolitan.
 J. E. Rahm of Kansas City Is regis tered at the Hillman.
 John T. Beyer of Cullman is at the Morris.
 J. F. Curtiss of Blocton is stopping at the Metropolitan.
 George K. Ingram and wife of Florence are at the Hlllman.
 B. Turkheimer of New Orleans is stop ping at the Morris.
 W. H. Lawson of New York Is regis tered at the Metropolitan.
 B. F. Frasler of Rome, Ga, is at the St. Nicholas.
 J. A. Coates of Mobile Is stopping at the Morris.
 A. M. Willkie of Pittsburg is registered at the St. Nicholas
 Elias Haiman of Cleveland, vice presi- dent and treasurer of the Empire Flow company Is at the Hillman. His com pany owns the blow works at Ensley. This plant is being enlarged and equipped with the most modern and approved agricul- tural machinery, and Mir. Haiman is here looking after the Improvements.
 Louis Herzberg of Gadsden was in the city yesterday,
 George F. Ross, vice president of the Central Foundry company, was in the city yesterday.
 Charles F. Stevenson. a prominent pig iron man of St. Louis. was here yester- day.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-04-16
MORE NONSENSE ABOUT cURFEW. From the Philadelphia Inquirer.

In advocating the passage of a curfew ordinance Burgess Eek. of Birdsboro, no doubt means we'll We concede to hln what we have conceded to all the advo- eates of a revival of that ancient relic a desire to promote the morals of his im- mediate community.
 But if Burgess Eek has been correctly reported he has out-eurfewed all the other curfew people of modern times. He Is not to be satisfied with the arrest of all children caught in the streets after twi- light or 9 o'clock. but actually proposes that all grown persons who are not in their homes by Il also shall be run in! After which he will attend to the rest.
 Beautiful, isn't 1t, when you come to think 1t over? Your son and daughter, re- turning from an assembly, going quietly homeward at midnight, are to be arrested, or fined and imprisoned, because they did not go home before IL Or you, you of mature years and able to regulate your own conduct, play chess or cards or checkers, or talk too long over a book or a legal or surgical case, and in you go through the medium of the first poliee- man who sees you.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-04-16
HOW A RAILROAD MERCER
 ACTUALLY WORKS ABROAD

side, ten miles an hour faster, though British trains on other lines are about as swift as any. The Dover harbor board taxes each landing and embarking passenger 62 cents.
 The mayor of Maidstone calls freight conditions simply chaotic" Passenger conditions are worse than they were thirty years ago." Trains are on time because, another resident says, the com panies have altered their time tables to suit the pace of their trains."
 Local service Is paralized. The in- dictment of conditions which prevent the sale or letting of houses reads like de- scriptions of the local effect of the Brook lyn Rapid Transit monopoly. The trip from Reading to Folkestone, which used to take three hours, now consumes five.
 Ramsgate, a kind of Coney Island re- ports, through its mayor, Universal dis content" Fares have actually been raised to Hythe and Sandgate. other shore re- sorts, People in London actually pay &.25 for a second class return ticket to Ramsgate.
 Fruit and hop growers complain of bad service. No attempt is made to at tract traffic. To complaints the merged companies attitude Is that of a naughty csar.
 Of this policy behold the surprising re- suit: Electric lines are stealing the ''combine's" suburban traffic; Belgian boats get its channel business and since the union the shares have steadily de- clined, thus:
 1899. 1900. 1901 1902 1903. s. E. pfd :. ....112 9oA GA 55% 541s Chatham 2d pfd ..124 1OS 7O1h 64 6l
 Minnesota and Kent are a long way apart, but human nature is the same the world over.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-04-16
President Parry and Labor.

The manufacturers now sitting in convention at New Orleans, engaged in scheming for profits, do not hang to- gether well. President Parry, for ex- ample, denounced without reservation or qualification all labor unions, while he had not word to say about capital unions. He exhausted his vocabulary apparently in denouncing the former, and had no words left to fit to the latter.
 But he was followed by Manu- facturer Post who believes in unions to such an extent that he desires em- ployers to aid in organizing them. He wants, in fact, an employees and em- ployers' union. He says, moreover, that "contemptible abuses have crept into the combinations of both capital and labor" and he proposes to elim- mate the bad from both, and he desires the convention at New Orleans to en- dorse his plan of sending out delegates to organize local unions consisting of both employees and employers.
 The policy of President Parry Is all most brutal in it's one-sidedness-in it's non-recognition of combinations on the part of capital, while MT. Posts plan is open to the charge of impractical bility. Capital and labor will undoubt- edly jog along side by side, each get ting hard rubs and not few scratches, and the only remedy in sight is hard sense on the part of the two forces. The Parry policy would widen the gulf between them at any rate, and If en- forced would lead to endless trouble and friction.
 President Parry admitted in his speech at New Orleans that capital killed two bills before the last con gress, one in favor of an eight-hour day, and one directed against govern ment by injunction. He gloried in the work of the associated manufacturers in the killing of the two bills, pro nouncing it far-reaching and historic. He complains of the power of labor in congress, and yet he admits that he and his associates took hand in the political game.
 The truth is, extreme and prejudiced addresses do no good. The thing most needed in all conflicts between labor and capital is common sense, and when that is present there is always some thing to arbitrate, and way Is always found to reasonable and valuable set clement of differences.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-04-16


 can.
 Copyright, 19o3 by W. R. Hearst.
 Mrs. Maybrick is to be released from prison next year. But why not at once? Or rather, why was she not released long ago? For that matter. why was she imprisoned at all? There are in- stances without end of judicial tyranny Of these the majority are classic. In modern jurisprudence there Is not one so revolting as this.
 Mrs Maybrick was tried for killing her husband; she was convicted and sen- fenced to death. Immediately the sen- tence was commuted to penal servitude for life on the ground, if you please, that the prisoner was perhaps innocent of the crime. but not of the intent.
 There you have an instance which we should call fine were 1t not fendish-of woman put away and put to work on charge which had not been shown. and of which she had not been adjudged, guilty.
 Better for her had the sentence not been commuted. In that event she would have died. But she would have died but once. Instead of which. each day has been a separate death since then, and that is fourteen years ago. Torquemada never did better. However he tried he could not have done worse. It will be seen, there- fore, how far superior is the law of mod ern England to that of inquisitorial Spain.
 But the point Is elsewhere, or rather 1t is here Maybrick was an arsenic eater. The local chemist had supplied him with the drug for years When Maybrick died the autopsy revealed it's presence. But there was no evidence whatever showing that 1t ~s~ administered by ...s wife.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-04-16
To Advertise Birmingham.

"The managers of the Frisco maga- zine have asked the local officials of that road to take up with Secretary Gibson of the Commercial club the matter of adver- Using Birmingham" said a man last night.
 "The idea is that the magazine should give more attention to the Birmingham district and tell the world at large more about the vast agricultural and mineral resources of Alabama.
 This is along the line of some sugges- tions made by recent visitors to Bir- mingham. Alabama Is not sufficiently advertised in the north. We don't blow our horn enough. The result Is that when our northern friends come down to visit us they are amazed at what we have and invariably ask why we don't take steps to make Birmingham a fa- mlliar word all over the country.
 There Is no more capable medium ot advertising than through the good graces of the railroads. Millions of dollars are spent annually by them in telling of vari- ous sections of the country along their lines, and Birmingham and Alabama do not get their share of space.
 "The Commercial club and the Board of Trade, as representatives of the busi- ness interests of Birmingham, should make the largest part of their expendi- lures and should devote most of their time to making the good points of the city and state familiar In every section of the country. And an excellent way to start is to get on intimate terms with the that enters the state and bring to their attention the mutual advantages that would accrue from giving Birmingham a prominent place in their literature at all times.'
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-04-16
From the New York Worlc.

From the New York Woric.
 That investors as well as the public have not lost much by the merger" de- cislon as to Northern Securities Is in- dicated by a timely description in the London National Review of railroad merger in actual operation.
 The two lines joined in this instance are the Chatham and the Southeastern, covering the same territory. United they have monopoly of large suburban business, and every person going direct from London to Paris must use their cars and may use their boats on the channel
 Both lines were weak when parlia- ment, four years ago, permitted a work ing union" between them in the hope that better service might result from monopoly than from competition. Fate has ruled otherwise.
 The law of 1899 includes secret gen tlemen's agreement" of 1865, so that kill ing competition. for a part of the traffic at least, has had long trial. Some of the results of a closer union are here summarized:
 The through service from the north of England to the continent has been abol- ished. Kent and Sussex are the only English counties that have no direct rail- way communication with Liverpool.
 Express trains from London to the continent start from fewer local stations in London.
 Steamboat rates are kept up to g for the twenty -mile channel crossing first class, and an apparently illegal charge of 25 cents is made for registering" lug gage that should go free. The lowest charge for a private cabin has risen from s2. 50 to s5. The fastest express to Folke- stone connects with train on the French
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-04-16
SONG.

By DAvenant. The lark now leaves his watery nest And climbing shakes his dewy wings, He takes his window for the east And to implore your light, he sings, Awake awake. the moon will never rise Till she can dress her beauty at your
 eyes. The merchant bows unto the seamans
 star.
 The ploughman from the sun his season
 takes; But still the lover wonders what they are Who look for day before his mistress
 wakes:
 of lawni Then draw your curtains and begin the
 dawn.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-04-16
MISSISSIPPI FALLING.
It Is Believed, However, That the Fall
 Will Be Very Slow.

New Orleans, April 15.-The Missis- sippi river continues to fall from Vicksburg to New Orleans, and the flood situation of the lower river Is therefore constantly improving. The gauge here today marked 19.7, a de- cline of two-tenths in twenty-four hours. This is more than half a foot under the maximum of the present hood.
 It is believed the fall will be slow but steady from now until the stream is again within it's banks. Much prog ress was made at Hymelia today, though some obstacles were encoun- tered at points where the SCOUT had deepened portions of the channel. With falling rlver the chances of closing the break are naturally increased.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-04-16
Real Estate Market.

While the real estate market Is still active and decided upward there Is no sign of an inflated boom," remarked a large property owner. "A week or two ago when big sales at good prices were reported many persons predicted that we would have an old-fashioned boom.
 "In view of general prosperity it would have been strange If prices had not re- sponded. The level of values had been entirely too low But I am glad the mar ket is not being boomed. A brisk, healthy trade in Birmingham dirt is all we want"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-04-16
DISTRIBUTING THE ENEMYs FIRE
From the New York Times.

From the New York Times
 Admiral Bob Evans tells this one:
 Among the tackles of the American fleet that did the business at Santiago was an extremely pious chap-a lad from Vermont. We had been telling him all along that each day would probably wit ness the long looked for battle between the American and the Spanish vessels. When he prayed that night he placed special stress upon the plea that the ves- sel upon which he and his comrades in arms were serving might escape disaster. saying among other things:
 70 Lord! shield us from the shells and other projecties of the enemy; but if any shells and solid shot do come to our ves- sel, I pray thee that they may be dis tributed as prize money is distributed mostly among the officers
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-04-16
KINGS OLDEST SUBJECT DIES.
Mrs. Margaret Neve, Aged iii, Was
 Friend of Queen Victoria.

London, April 4.-Mrs. Margaret Neve, the oldest subject of King Edward, died at Guernsey this morning, aged i'll. In her younger days Mrs. Neve travelled a great deal. She spoke several languages and possessed considerable wealth. She had been widow for fifty years and, being childless lived with two nieces on a beautiful estate al St. Pertsport. She was fine needle woman and did much work of this kind after she had reached 100 years.
 Mrs. Neve and Queen Victoria ex- changed signed photographs and congrat- ulatory telegrams on their birthday an- niversaries.
 During the last year or two she used to walk about the estate to see her cat tie and poultry. Two years ago she climbed a step-ladder into a loft to seek something she wanted
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-04-16
REFLECTIONS OF A BACHELOR.

From the New York Press.
 Sick morals are the most contagious of all diseases.
 of himself needs 1t.
 The only thing that slanderers hate worse than the truth is the adage that every story has two sides.
 Some men are of such indecision that they can't make up their minds whether to kiss girl where freckle is or a dimple
 A man has pretty nearly lost all interest n domesticity when he ceases to growl about the way the cook broils the bacon.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-04-16
WHERE WE SKIN FEM ALL.

From the San Francisco Post.
 As an onion producer our state takes sixth rank. One would think we took first rank with bit over when trav- cling in the neighborhood of some restau- rants. New York takes first place, with an acreage of 6033, producing 2,l77,2n bushels We have 2207 acres that yield 514,859 bushels. It will indeed be sur prise to many that the Empire State can produce more onions, also job-seekers, than California.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-04-16
THE sroRk IS A JOKER.

From the New York Evening Sun
 The stork which is busy depositing trlplets all over the country at present is trying to turn the race suicide theory into a joke This is perilously near to Inzn ma insfe
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-04-16
ruskegee in MadIson Square Garder

Grover Cleveland and Booker T. Washington did not perhaps in Madi- son Square Garden on Tuesday night of this week add anything particularly new in relation to the negro problem, but both emphasized ancw the need of industrial education of the Tuskegee sort for the millions of negroes present and to come, and both recognized the
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-04-16
MRS. MAVERICKS CASE
 IS TERSELY DISCUSSED

It was shown merely that she could have administered it had she wished to. Whether or not she did so wish is be- side the issue. It was not on that charge that she was tried. Yet because of the supposltion that though she did not kill him she might have, for fourteen years the English authorities have held this American woman in jail.
 The holding of her has, it Is true, been or use to them. Mrs. May5rick has been a model and more. a missionary prisoner. Such Is the contagion of her goodness that women released from the hell where she Is go back and offer to serve her sen- terce. Which shows or seems to show that if there be no compassion in English law there is in human nature.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-04-16
A Ghastly Joke.

From Judge.
 'Ha, hal' laughed the first street rail way magnate who was going through his mail. Here's a funny letter."
 What Is it?p asked the second street railway magnate.
 "Oh, the usual bunch of complaints about the service" explained the first speaker; "but it is igned, A patron of twenty years standing!'"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-04-16
Kindergarten Union Meets.

Pittsburg, Pa, April 15.-Today's session of the International Kinder garten union closed with a meeting in Carnegie hall tonight. which was ad- dressed by Dr. William T. Harris, United States commissioner of edu- cation.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-04-16
Unnecessary.
From Tit

From Tit-Bits. a
 'I met the old squire this morning. and he tell me that Master Philip up in London ave been called to the bar. Called to the bar I says; from what I remember of Master Philip he didn't want much calling'