davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-09-08
OBITUARY OF THE LINER.

From the New York Mail and Express Every now and then we read the obit- uary of an "ocean greyhound" It is usually quite matter-of-fact, very brief and something like this paragraph, which tells of the passing away of the once fla nous Britannia, now undergoing dissec- ton for scrap iron at the German port of Bremen:
 She was a single screw, measured 5o04 tons gross and was 455 feet long. She was an expensive ship compared with some of the modern twin-screw, steel hulled passenger and freight carriers and the line had no more use for her
 That Is al No mention of her splen- did career, when, as one of the fieetest of liners, she carried celebrities by the ton in her stout bosom and her main saloon was gay each voyage with the presence of brilliant men and lovely women "The line had no more use for her."
 There is no cheap pathos in paying the tribute of a regretful word at the fate which Is Britannic's and has been that of thousand fleets of departed ships. NelsonS flagship, Victory, was nelu sa- cred; so was our own Constitutions and bits of the live oak of the rebel ironclad Merrimac are still like the inexhausti- ble fragments of the true cross. for sale by collectors Why did not the services of the Great Eastern. the precious mem- ories of the Brtannic, preserve them from utter and vulgar destruction? We ha annuated of almost every kind of work ing man or woman; stables luxuriously the thoroughbred horse smitten with age; doctors the injured cat or dog; makes parks of battle grounds, shrines of his toric buildings and cherishes in very rage for reverence all relics save those of trustworthy and beloved ships.
 In this harbor today there may be so many as a score of one-time famous liners. now degraded to the rank and service of the barge. Only the cup has saved America from the auctioneer
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-09-08
Interviews in Europe.

T doubt if there were ever so many fake interviews with any man as have been sent out from Rome and Paris, pur- porting to be statements from Cardinal Gibbons" remarked man who knows his eminence we'll Most of these all legged interviews have been absurd or their face. but they were of such seri- ous nature that they had to be denied The cardinal never goes into print to deny misstatements concerning small matters, and some times lets serious mis- statements go for the time. But some of the remarks credited to him recently were too much for him.
 Cardinal Gibbons is one of the most amiable of gentlemen and has always been accessible to reporters. Why edi- tors of great papers allow their core spondents to annoy him with their mis- representations is more than l can under stand"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-09-08
A GREAT MANS $7o FUNERAL

From the New York World.
 The statement in our cable dispatches today that the funeral of Lord Salisbury was limited by his will to a cost of $1O0 and actually cost. only s70 Is of import anee as we'll as interest. in planning for himself such modest obsequies the late prime minister of the British empire set an example which should have as great public usefulness as many of his achieve ments in statesmanship
 Lord Salisbury was one of the great figures If not one of the great men, of his generation, and some ostentation at his funeral could hardly have been censured. Yet many poor widow in New York squanders twice or thrice as much money upon the burial of her husband, though she may face want and hardship for the rest of her life.
 The love that dictates such sacrifices may be beautiful, but the false pride min gled with 1t is not Lord Salisbury set an excellent example, one that rich and poor alike should follow in principle.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-09-08
THE DANGEROUS PLUTocRAT

From the Spectator.
 Is there any real danger in the ac- cumulaton of great riches in the hands of one man? Can the multi millionaire be regarded in any sense as "a new peril?" Probably not. In the first place, the man who has amassed large sums of money himself seldom or never squanders it, He knows it's value too well; he must be a good business man to have become rich, and good business men do not play ducks and drakes with what they have hardly earned.
 There would seem indeed to be only one dangerous form of multi millionaire, and that is the man who used his wealth for political objects. He can, or he can try to, smash a constitution. He can organize and he can brbe. He can make men rich or poor. But he cannot do so everywhere, and he is not a danger to a state possessing sound legislature and governed by sound men. He might be a danger perhaps. to a ring-fence com munity such as South Africa contained before the war, but he could never be a danger in a community better organiz- ed The best men-the men who alone could forward or thwart his political pro- jects-would be neither allured nor fright enei by his money.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-09-08

Crescent at Cincinnati, is in the city. He visited the shops of the Alabama Great Southern yesterday.
 J. c. Moore, Jr., of Auburn. is at the Florence.
 J. w Lindsey of Trussville, is in town.
 s. F. Taylor of Bridgeport, is regis tered at the Hillman
 w B, Reynolds of Montevallo, is stop- ping at the Hillman
 M. T. Tolbert of Mobile, is in the city.
 Col. Bolivar H. Ray of Macon, Ga., who is member of Governor Terrell's staff of Georgia, passed through the city today en route from Montgomery.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-09-08
Numberinu the Ballots.

Senator Goldsby's statement in ref erence to the election bill of the sen ate recess committee dc him and his associates on tat committee but plain justice. They desire fair elections, but they desire above all else to preserve the rights of electors. They object therefore to marked or numbered bal lots, because such mark. or numbers expose to prying officials and through laem to all others how each man in a precinct vote. The Bankhead cleo tion bill provides fo: marked ballots az a safeguard against dishonesty at tho ballot box; the senate recess, com mittees bill does not offer this safe guard because it desires to preserve above all else the secrecy and free dom of the voter.
 The question Is a difficult one, but the weight ot public sentiment cer- 
 tsinly favors 6 secre. and untram- melled ballot, leaving to time the need full safeguards agains. dishonesty at the ballot box. There may be pre- cincts in this state in which marked ballots would be useful, but surely such precincts are not beyond the reach of education and reform. The entire electorate should not be made to suffer the hampering indignity of marked ballots because there are here ana there rotten precincts.
 Ell. the pending bill with every other = provision that the human mind can devise which will mako the ballot hon. est, but leave it, both in the primaries and at elections secret, and therefore free. Do not thus put the poor man under the domination of the rich man, the weak under the ruls of the strong Leave all free when they go up to ex-
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-09-08
THE BIRCH TREE.

By James Russell Lowell. Ripping through thy branches goes the
 sunshine, Among thy leaves that palpitate forever; Ovid in thee a pning nymph had pris-
 oned, The soul once of some tremulous inland
 river, Quivering to tell her woe, but. ahl dumb,
 dumb forever. While all the forest, witched with slum-
 berous moonshine, Holds up its leaves in happy, happy still-
 ness, Waiting the dew, with breath and pulse
 suspended, I hear afar thy whispering, gleamy is-
 lands, q And track thee wakeful still amid the
 wide hung silence. On the brink of some wood nestled lake
 let Thy foliage, like the tresses of Dryad, Dripping round thy slim, white stem,
 whose shadow Slopes quivering down the waters dusky
 quiet, Thou shrink'st as on her baths edge
 would some startled Naiad. Thou are the go-between of rustic lovers Thy white bark has their secrets in its
 keeping; Ruben writes here the happy name of
 Patience. And thy 1.-the boughs hang murmurine
 and weeping Above her, as she steals the mystery
 from thy keeping. Thou are to me like my beloved maiden, So frankly coy. so full of trembly confi-
 dences; " Thy shadow scarce seems shade, thy pat
 tering leaflets Sprinkle their gathered sunshine o'er my
 senses, And nature gives me all her summer con-
 fidences. Whether my heart with Lope or sorrow
 trcmble. Thou sympathizest still; wild and un-
 quiet, I fling me down; thy ripple, like river. Flows valleyward. where calmness is, and
 by it My heart is fioated down into the land
 of quiet
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-09-08
IN HOTEL LOBBIES.
Front Gardens.

Charles Dickens said he could tell what sort of people lived in a house by the knocker on the hall door. but I can make a very good guess judging from the front garden" said quiet. observing man.
 When l see a weedy garden with an attempt to set out a few flowers in an irregular manner. right there I see the shiftless, unthrifty, untidy slipshodden family who poke around the house all day in old frowsy wrappers, talking in squeaky shrill voices and pestered with chickens and files.
 These people wait until dark to come out on the porch. by which time the younger members are fixed up to receive company and the elders water the flowers out of an old lard can
 These are the people who furnish par lors with upholstered dry goods boxes and to whom the installment man Is a weekly visitor. The garden is the refec- tion of themseves'
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-09-08

periodical which has f,view, done at one fell swoop. of thirty-three recen- vol umes of American poet.2 and we feil to notice in the list the names If several books which have recently attracted some attention. We are incline. to think that the number might have o,er expanded to fifty. There are gems II, the collection, beyond a doubt They ar. full nf poign- ant little touches, of audacious yearnings of tntimate tender surp;lsns. Perhaps one book out of the lot will be chosen by another generation for during honor; more likely none at all And for the rest it is all sweet jangle Of music now and aftef that silence.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-09-08
AIabama's Crop Last Year.

The crop of 1902-03 was slightly larger than the crop of the previous year, but the crop in Alabama fell last year to 1,050,000 bales, as against 1,200000 bales in the previous year. Alabamas average crop exceeds a million bales, and if the picking season be long and favorable this state may this year make a nev record. About 10 per cent of the entire crop is grown in this state. The only states that raised more cotton last year than Ala bama were Texas, Georgia and Missis- sippi. The two last-named grew about 400, ,OOO bales more each year than we did.
 MT. Hester shows that we have in Alabama or soon will have, 7S9,3S4 spindles. These figures include 109, ,136 spindles in new mills not yet in opera tion. Gratifying as this increase is, Georgia and the two Carolinas are doing even better. South Carolina now has over three million spindles; North Carolina, over two millions, and Georgia nearly one million four hun dred thousand. The total number of spindles in the south is now S,24S,275 in TAO mllls. In the previous year there were 716 mills. and in the year before that 6SS.
 The mills of Alabama consumed last
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-09-08
Excursions to the Gulf.

Many people have wondered why the railways have not given the excursions this year to Pensacola, Mobile and New Orleans, which were so popular last year, said a man who always goes on such trips. T shall never forget the first of these. It was to Mobile and when the children saw the bay their delight was unbounded. Oh, look at all the water! was heard everywhere. These excursions were not alone enjoyable but they were instructive and served to teach the people the varied resources of the state. There were many men and women on that ex- cursion that I refer to who had never seen ship and had not the faintest idea of Mobile bay. I hope there will be one before the season eloses.'
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-09-08
THE ART OF THE ANClENTS.

From the New York Sun.
 Plutarch was writing his lives, s'T think they will be go'' he said, confidentially. "I shall advertise that they contain hitherto unpublished love letters v Subsequent circulation showed the wis dom of his scheme.
 Nero was executing a violin solo while Rome burned.
 I'm glad thought of this fire scheme he exclaimed, 'it will prevent them from calling me virtuoso!'
 Rejoicing in the titles of Monster and Tyrant. he continued his wild refrain
 Homer had just completed the Had.
 Tt will never go,' said his friends. 'There is not even one coon song in the whole thing.
 But" interposed the poet, remember 1t will be harder to translate than Scotch dialect.'
 Recognizing that here, indeed, was true genius, they hailed him with ac- claim.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-09-08

year 211,s04 bales, or about one-ffth of her crop. as against 1ss,O11 bales in the previous year. The North Caro- lima mills consumed as much cotton as the state produced, and the South Carolina mills are doing almost equally as well. Altogether 2,OOO,729 bales were consumed last year in southern mills, as against 1,9S7,9L1 bales in the previous year. The consumption of the two sections of the country is now equal, and the present cotton year will doubtless show that southern con sumption now exceeds northern con sumption. Alabama has 66 mills all told, or one less than her number of counties. What she needs now is a mill in every county, and this calls for the budding of about thirty new mills.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-09-08
Misdemeanor Conyicis.

Every member of the legislature sHould read and reread the report of the president of the convict board, and especially the report of the physician convict inspector. Both deal with mat ters that are a shame and disgrace to tEis state. Both tel the plain, naked truth, and both call for change in the laws of this state. Neither is q bit theoretical, but both are based on facts seen and -ts daily committed.
 The misdemeanors or county con- victs are as a rule "grown-up children who have been guilty of nothing worse than crap shooting, fighting, carrying does not involve moral turpitude- thoughtless boys, both black and white. These boys comprise fully three-fourths of the county convicts, and they are k-1t at the outset in the county jails, which as rule are un- sentenced as rule by justices of the peace to long terms of imprisonment through the manipulation of the fee system. Ahe fines, says President Carmichael, are as a rule small and the costs large.
 This tells the whole story. The justice of tlo peace and the fee sys- tenn are at the bottom of a world of injustice to the FOOT and unfortunate, and Dr. Bragg's burning words should be read and reread in both branches of the legislature, and by every intel ligent and humane voter As Dr. Bragg says, our lawmakers surely did not in- tend that under the fiimsiest pretenses the unfortuna~es always among us she uld be forced to give up their lives to increase tl.c fees Of some official. Dr. Bragg shows that county convicts are as a rule convicted on frivolous charges, and that in the mines they die in despair, and are buried, says President Carmichael, Hike dogs in a dunghill."
 The state of Alabama cannot afford to let this state of things go on. The convict ins oectors ask for two reforms, as follows:
 "1. No court inferior to a county court should be permitted to try and sentence a person to hard labor for the county, for any offense.
 "2 No county should be permitted to hire it's convicts outside the county where convicted. This latter suggestion. it may be argued, would be somewhat difficult to put in operation and carry forward, but 1t would seem, when the case Is one of life or death, that the powers that be in the several counties, can be relied upon to devise some method of letting or work ing the convicts, which would be humane to the convict, and at the same time suf- ficiently stringent to realize funds enough to pay for his trial and conviction Work ing them in the county where convicted would put their inspection under the im- mediate control of the commissioners. or board of revenue and at such labor as they were usually accustomed to before conviction"
 It does seem as if humanity and a sense of justice would put through these two reforms despite any rings or lobbying that would pull in the op- posite direction. At any rate let some member cause to be read in each house the reports just submitted by Dr. Bragg and President Carmichael. From the depths of of their &earts they offi- cially expose the shame of this state. ------
 AIabama's Crop Last Year.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-09-08
About Persons.

ApOut FSISOHSs
 R. A. Dugan of Washington, assistant general manager of the Southern railway, reached Birmingham in his private car on No. 37 last night.
 Fl. c. Mordue, travelling freight agent of the Chicago and Alton railway. with headquarters in Atlanta is in the city. M. J. McDonough, chief clerk in the of- flee of the F. T. Wilcox commercial agent of the Frisco system in Birmingham. has returned from two-weeks' vacation in the north.
 B. r. Giles, president of the Central Female college of Tuscaloosa. Is in the city.
 John Knoll of Montevallo. is at the Metropolitan.
 John D. Keith of Atlanta, is at the St. Nicholas.
 G. Whitfield of Demopolis is in town. John Savage of Montgomery is stop ping at the Morris.
 r. A. Bloodworth of New Decatur, is in the city. G. A. Marquis is registered at the Nor ris.
 s. P. Kennedy of Anniston is stopping at the St. Nicholas.
 S. T. Walker of Selma, is in the city. M. c. Burtford is registered at the Metropolitan.
 B. B. Smith of Dadeville is in town. J. R. Ryan of Patton. is at the Hill man.
 Judge S. M. Adams of clanton. is in the ely.
 J. P. McCuen. superintendent of motive power and machinery for the Queen and
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-09-08
A BIT OF A LAUGH.
Certainly Annoying.

Certainly Annoying. From the Chicago Post.
 What do you consider the most aggra- vating thing that can happen to a man." It was only after a thoughtful pause that the other answered.: '"To have the hammock-rope break and let him down on his neck just after he has got comfortably settled with a pipe and a book" he said at last
 First Aid. From the Houston Post.
 Now" said the professor. suppose you had been called to see patient with hys- terics-some one. for instance, who had started laughing and found it impossible to stop-what is the first thing you would do?"
 "Amputate his funny bone" promptly replied the new student.
 Hardly Diplomatic. From the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Mrs. Fitz- -Bile-Of course I know you do not care for me. Why. you even for got my birthday.
 Fitz- -Bile-A bit of delicacy on my part. madam. did not fail to remember that you had come to the point where your birthday ought to be forgotten.
 RumpIed But Serene. From the Detroit Free Press. why. how rumpled your shirt-waist is Edithr'
 Dear me. and 1t has only just been pressed, too."
 Edith was quite as self-possessed as ever But St. John colofed deeply.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-09-08
Rriahs Newspaper Man.

A. B. Williams of the Greenyille (S. O News was in town yesterday He came with his cousin, John Skelton Williams, president of the Seaboard Airline, who was in Birmingham on q tour of inspec- tion. MT. Williams made his first big reputation in newspaper work as the cor respondent for the New York Herald in Liberia.
 He has for a year or two been connect ed managerially with the Richmond News-Leader, still retaining his control of the Greenvile paper He is one of the brightest newspaper men in the coun-
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-09-08
LONDO.l AND NEW YORK.

From the Chicago Chronicle.
 During the nineteenth century London grew from a city of SOO'OOO people to one of 6500, ,OO0-that is increased eightfold New York increased from 60,O00 to 3,5oO'Ooo, nearly sixtyfold. London Is now increas- ing II per cent in a decade and New York 95 per cent, or twice as fast. If this rate should hold good for fifty years more New York would have over 15,0OO,OOO popu- lation and be 100000 ahead of London.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-09-08
REFLECTIONS OF A BACHELOR

From the New York Press
 If you can't be great man, try to be next to one.
 Where there's so much temper there must be some fiery hair
 The man who takes himself seriously is huge joke to everybody else.
 They call him best man at the wedding because, he gets the best of that bargain.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-09-08

The late lamented century added full decade to the average duration oe life. Gan the present century exceed that record?
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-09-08
NOT ALWAYS UNLUCkY.

From the Pittsburg Press.
 Thirteen men who have been divorced from one Indiana woman are still alive to tell of the fact, and yet they say the number is unlucky.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-09-08

The Hon. John H. Wallace and the Wedowee Star are pulling might and main in double harness for four years more for Grover. It's a strong team, well-matched.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-09-08

From the Chicago News.
 It Is almost as hard for some men to live up to their reputation as it is for others to live theirs down.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-09-08

Congressman Bankhead and The Age-Herald are touring the Warrior locks, and pretty soon our coal and pig iron will be doing likewise.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-09-08

Bogota is much disturbed over the canal situation it has created. It be- gins to think it cannot wag the United States dog.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-09-08

Postmaster General Payne acts promptly when an Addicks senator asks him to remove a woman post master who has given entire satisfac- tion five years. Great is pull" espe- cially of the Addicks sort
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-09-08

The Chicago papers seem to think that the Yates vice-presidential boom needs not a bandwagon, but hearse.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-09-08

Some of the lynchers at Danville, IL, who tried to break into jail, are now in that jail trying to get out of it.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-09-08

May Goelet is about to annex an impecunious or rather mortgaged duke, and yet she is the envy of her sex.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-09-08

The Colombian senate is trying to repent without sacrificing it's remark able dignity.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-09-08

The vernacular of the Rev. Sam Jones is very spectacular.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-09-08

Secretary Shaw's list of pet banks IS becoming longer every day.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-09-08

The peepul will have an inning next year, but the trusts expect to cut It short .~
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-09-08

September Is making a good record as cotton opener.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-09-08

Wall streets convalescence is hin dered by frequent relapses.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-09-08

Miss Goelet is advised to cache her gold before she becomes duchess.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-09-08

MT. Kipling's long silence may mean that something good is coming.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-09-08

Senator Morgan still thinks silver ra has some rights as a money metal.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-09-08

Fashion puts more clothes on the shelf than actual wear and tear.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-09-08
The harvest moon is not fully rip
HARD WORK.

Bulgaria is trying to stand pat.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-09-08

4. D. Glass and R. J.. ONeal are the only authorized travelling representatives of The Age-Heraid in its circulation de- partment
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-09-08

Daily and Sunday Age-Herald.. ...... $500 Daily and Sunday, per month........ 70 Sunday Age-Heraid, per annum..... zoo Weekly Age-Herald. per annum..... 100
 Subscriptions payable in advance.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-09-08

No communication will be published without It's authors name. Rejected manuscripts will not be returned unless stamps are enclosed for that purpose.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-09-08

Washington Bureau Age-Herald. 1421 c Street. N. W.