davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-28
An Amusing Tolstoi Story.

An old friend of Count Leo Tolstoi, writ ing to the Novoe Vremya, relates an amusing incident which occurred in the novelists recent visit to the Crimea. A rich American arrived in his yacht, ac- companied by a party of friends, ana asked permissian to see the great Russian. who was ill, promising that they would be content with glimpse and would not trouble him with talk. Leave was grant, ed. Tolstoi sat upon his balcony, like a Buddhist idol" as he said, and the whole party of Americans defiled slowly and si- lently before him, taking their gaze as they passed One lady. however refused to be bound to the contract. She stood still for minute and shouted: Leo Tol- stoi, Leo Tolstoii All your noble writings have had a profound influence upon my life, but the one which has taught me tht most is your''--ffere. she forgot the name of the work. The sick author leaned over the rail of the balcony and whispered with a smile "T1e Dead Souls?' " "Yes, yes" she replied That book" said Tostei, was written by Gogol, not by me-"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-28

This opinion is based upon the early opening of the Warrior to slaekwater navigation the year round.
 To the grounds stated by Mir. Saward should be added the increasing iron output of this district. New furnaces are going up and old furnaces are be ing rebuilt, and the latest furnace prae- tice will soon be adopted throughout this district The tendency each year Is towards furnaces of larger daily capacity. The 300-ton furnace will soon be the standard size. This means a rising aggregate production of iron, and by the time the isthmian canal is opened the product of this district will be doubled. This calls for more coal and coke. Instead of 2,0O0 .000 tons of iron a year, we will then be produc- ing 4000,00O tons, and instead of 1O,- 900,000 tons of coal, at least double that amount will be demanded. This in turn means a doubling of the pop ulation of this district, and particularly of this county.
 Few indeed, even in this district, have sat down and thought out what the opening of the Warrior and the digging of an isthmian canal mean here among the hills of ore and coal in the heart of Alabama. Perhaps no one has exaggerated the effects of such great changes in trade and trans portation.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-28
IN HOTEL LoBBIBs.
Small Bankruptcy Cases.

Many petitions filed in bankruptcy seem to be of slight importance because the liabilities are very sman,' said a lawyer, "but often men of little means are driven to the necessity of taking the benefit of the bankruptcy law to relieve themselves of debts which they cannot meet and on which judgments are taken and parnishee proceedings are instituted.
 "The federal bankruptcy law is predi- cated on a recognition Ar the fact that honest men may become involved in debt and that they should be allowed to start anew with A balanced sheet In many instances men working on salary get into insurance and otber schemes and give notes which at the time of making they believe they can meet. Soufe unforeseen circumstance arises. however, and they are unable to take care Of their obllga- tions.
 "The creditor gets judgment and gar nishees the employer, who in many eases will discharge the man, at least until his financial matters are adjusted. The result is that the debtor must either leave the city, with the chance of heinz pursued to his new home by the creditor or appeal to the bankruptcy court This Is what brings so many small cases before the federal courts"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-28
Nearo Singers.

"I have always desired to hear the ne- gro melodies of the southland" said gentleman from the north, and now my anticipatons have been more than fui- filled. The sweetest untrained voices l have ever heard are thouse of the negro quartettes of your southern cities. l have frequently heard a small group of darl1ies singing softly on the street corn CTS and I always stop until the song is finished The tenors are the most effec- tive, although I have heard some very good negro baritones. In plaintive ballads they are particularly good Their voices seem more flexible than those of the white singers and I would rather hear good negro duartette any time than the best olio performers of the large minstrel shows. ae F5
 Another thing I have noticed is that the barbers, tailors, walters and other negroes employed indoors sing far getter than those who are exposed to the wealth CT and do rough labor. although there are a few splendid voices even among these. I suppose this is result of the better care the darkies who work indoors take of themselves"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-28
Ton Prices for Coiinn.

Cotton which sold few years ago at cents pound is now selling at about IS cents, and the wise men are asking themselves, Is not this too high? In 1s9S-99 middling uplands sold down in New York to 47s ceuts a pound. Such cotton is now worth in New York over 13 cents.
 It should be remembered that the present crop will be 100000 bales, record that has been twice exceeded only, once in 1S97-9S, and again in the following year The excess in either year was less than 300,00O bales. The crop of 1902-03 will be fully II ,00O, 900 bales, and yet the price of cotton goes up to 13 cents.
 This shows beyond all reasonable doubt that the consumption of cotton in the world Is overriding the produc- tion of the staple. Three-fourths of the worlds supply is made in this country, and 1t is fast becoming a matter of doubt as to the fullness of the supply. Other countries grow some cotton, but not in one of them can the
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-28
Ten Years Hence,

F. A. Saward CT New York Is perhaps
 the leading coal expert of the coun- try. At any rate, he Is tbe chief writer on that subject, and in the Manufac- turers' Record he shows that Alabama coal will have the whip handle when the great demand growing out of the construction and opening of the Pan anna canal springs up. He shows in brief that the opening of the Warrior the year round to slackwater will en- able Alabama coal operators to place coal in Mobile at the freight of coal from Maryland or West Virginia mines; that the Mississippi river route from Pittsburg is 1900 miles longer, and is closed half of each year by ice or low water. He shows further that the veins of coal in Alabama are of the best thickness for economical working-that the labor is contented and plentiful as a rule. He therefore thinks that Alabama coal will drive all other coals out of the gulf markets so far as the new de ana growing out of the isthmian canal is concerned.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-28
THE SOUTHERN PRESS.

 Nashville Banner: It Is in order for the Rev. Newell Dwight Hills to preach sermon on Wilmington. Del. and explain to his audience where the town is located.
 
 Louisville News: Andrew D. White be- lleves that the young men of America should Joe trained to hold office. The medication of the idea of letting go once in a while would come nearer meeting the actual need.
 Dallas News: One of the dlccouraging considerations about the postoffice de- partment scandals Is that the working of this very department is the chief argu- ment of the government ownerships. Of course the men who got the rake-offs are still in favor of government ownerships.
 
 Memphis scimltar. Colomhia's Congress vii ratlfy the canal treaty if the con gressmen can agree upon a division of the $10 OO0 GOO to be paid Colombia by the United States. According to report there are more grafters in the congress at Bo- gotta than there are in the postoffce de- partment at Washington.
 
 Savannah Morning News: Ireland does not belong to England. after all. A Chi cago University professor declares that the papal bull which turned the Emerald Isle over to Henry II was spurious, null and void. Having been apprized by so high an authority of their freedom all the Irishmen now have to do is go ahead and oust the illegal holder of their island.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-28
ALASKA'S PROGRESS
 AND POSSIBILITIES

From the Philadelphia Public Ledger.
 This great northern territory-so vast that one, even though he has travelled extensively over 1t, can scarcely grasp It's limits-fs fortunately coming to be better known and consequently, better understood by people of other sections of the world. Yet there is still good deal of ignorance abroad regarding this curi- ous and marvellous section of the coun- try To the easterner this Is all the more surprising from the fact that. while in the east one feels hedged in by civiliza- tion, here. even though the well known centres are rapidly growing in point of building and increase in population, there is still the feeling of vastness, when one stops to think of the great areas yet unpopulated
 Much has been written of Alaska; much has been left unwritten. One must live here to know the country, and if one has watched the steady and remarkable pro gress made in the centres during the past half dozen years so much the better decidedly wrong impression seems to- have gone abroad regarding Alaska's agricultural possibilities There are, of course portions in which agricultural op- erations cannot be carried on, but the fact seems to have been overlooked that in the northern interior vegetation grows with more than tropical luxuriance under the twenty-four hours of summer sum light, and that all kinds of vegetables, save the most tender are grown freely there every year. One should see the great and beautiful meadows of natural grasses growing to a mans height in summer in order to fully appreciate and comprehend Alaskas agricultural possi- bilities.
 There Is at this time every reason to expect that the Council City and Salmon River railroad to be known as the North Star Line, and now in course of construc- tien, will be in full operation as early as August 15. The new line, as is perhaps known to the people of the east. is to extend from tidewater at Salmon City, which is only thirty-eight miles east of Nome. and to run about fifty miles via Salmon river to Council City. Docks are already in course of construction at the mouth of Salmon river, where there will be derrick outfit sufficient to handle anything up to thirty tons weight The North Star Line, when completed, will make accessible and open up the richest mining section in the world.
 Reports come to your correspondent from Prince of Wales Island that one of the largest copper working companies in Alaska is greatly extending it's work. The Alaska company will shortly. put in a copper -blast furnace and smelter. with daily capacity of $50 tons. It Is expected that the company will be in shape for smelting ores by the first of the year. The section of the island where the smelters are to be constructed Is one of the richest in minerals in Alaska. It is said that there are several hundreds of thousands of tons of ore in sight of the mine which ista magnetic chalcopyrite.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-28
Historic Picture.

"I recently saw a most interesting old picture" said a gentleman of Athens yes terday. Tt is owned by Capt. J. M. Rus sell, tax collector of our county, and is pen and ink sketch of the home of the Rev. Samuel Meadow, located in Dickson county, where in 1S10 the Cumberland Presbyterian church was organized.
 "The residence Is very pretentious affair for that early period and the most remarkable thing about 1t to the present generation is the roofing. She house is covered with boards and they are held In place by ridge poles, fastened down at each end by wooden pins. All the out houses are covered in the same way. Just where in Dickson county, Tenn, this resi- dence is located is not known, but there the great organization now known as the Cumberland Presbyterian church was born. The picture was made many years ago by a Doctor LarlSin of Clarksville. Tenn, and is very handmosely and artis- tlcally done"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-28
LOSSES OF LIFE AND PROPERTY.
Nearly 1000 Victims of Flood, Tornado
 and Avalanche.

From the New York Tribune.
 This year, although less than one-halI of 1t has passed, has had a remarkable record for loss of life by disasters, some of which have been of unique character. Landslides, floods, tornadoes and coll- sions on both land and water have con tributed to the loss of hundreds of lives.
 On January 27, near Westfield, N. J., an express train dashed by the block signals on the New Jersey Central railroad, and crashed Into a local train, causing the loss of 23 lives and the injury of far greater number of persons.
 On February 19 a heavily loaded trolley car in Newark. N. J., got beyond the con- trol of the motorman and ran down sharp incline, coming in collision with the engine of a Delaware, Lackawanna and western train, causing the deaths of nine persons, nearly all of them High school girls.
 On March 20 a collision occurred on Long Island sound between the Fall river frelghter City of Taunton and the pas senger steamer Plymouth, off Fishers is- land In which six persons were killed and over 500 were in peril
 On April tornadoes wrought destruc- tion in Arkansas and Alabama, nine per sons being reported killed in the former state and twelve In the latter.
 On April 20 the side of a mountain slid down on the town of Frank, in South western Alberta, Canada, causing the death of fifty-six persons and property loss estimated at $i,50O,000.
 On May 30 and the following days floods caused great loss of life and property on the Kansas Missouri and Des Moines rivers The loss of life at North Topeka and Manhattan. Kan, was first reported frn laa Rattth ha1f of number; twenty-five lives were lost In Kansas City, Kan, and dozen in Kan sas City, Mo-, while in these cities and in Des Moines, as well as many smaller places, there were thousnads of persons made homeless. The property losses in Kansas were estimated at $17OOo0OO. and the damage to crops at $5,00OOO0.
 On June 1 a tornado swept over Gaines ville Ga. causing loss of about 100 lives and property damage estimated at half million dollars.
 One June a cloudburst at Clifton, 8. C., caused the loss of fifty-eight lives and property damage to manufacturing yil- lages of $3,50O,OOO
 On June thirty-five lives were lost by the rush of waters when levee broke at | Granite City, Ill.,, on the Mississippi river, and great damage was done at other places in the vicinity of St. Louis. Thirty more lives were lost the next day, when an embankment broke and East St. Louis, H., was two-thirds submerged. On June IA the latest of this series of disasters befell Heppner, Ore. in the shape of a cloudburst. which. it is esti- mated, caused the loss of the lives of no less than 600 persons, with great property damage.
 To the list of disasters of the year must be added the property losses due to the ( -ts-. tl. in the Adirondacks, White mountains and the Catskills, due largely to the excess slve drought that prevailed for nearly two months.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-28

production be much extended. whereas an assurance of 10-cent cotton would carry production in this country to high figures.
 There is but one fact that all admit, namely, an eleven-million-bale crop will no longer carry cotton below 9 cents, and 1t is more than doubtful whether such a crop would force prices below a general 1O-cent level. A twelve -milllon-bale crop must be grown before prices will seriously recede, and the largest crop ever grown was but 11,274,000 bales.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-28
THE SHELL.

See what lovely shell, Small and pure as a pearl, Lying close to my foot, F'rail, but a work divine, Made so fairly well.
 With delicate spire and whorl, How exquisitely minute. A miracle of design!
 What is 1t? learned man Could give it clumsy name. Let him name it who can, The beauty would be the same. The tiny cell is forlorn. Void of the little living will That made it stir on the shore. Did he stand at the diamond door Of his house in rainbow frill? Did he push, when he was uncuries A golden foot or a fairy horn Thro' his dim water-world? Slight. to be crushed with tap Of my finger nail on the sand, Small, but work divine, Frail, but of force to withstand. Year upon year. the shock Of cataract seas that snap The three -decker's oaken spine Athwart the lodges of rock. Here on Breton strand! :
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-28
Can This Be True?

Said a prominent photographer yester- day: Few people there are who know how their friends-even the most inti- mate-lool. Of course they have some general Ida of their physiognomical char acterstics, but when 1t comes to what they really look like not one man in thousand knows his best friend. He re- cognizes him through some peculiarity in dress or physical differentiation. It is well within the possibilities that if asked to describe his sweethearts features he could get no further than to say she had a wart on her nose or was cross-eyed In other words 1t Is the tout ensemble that is familiar, and individual character istics, of minor nature escape the mo- tice of most people,"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-28
Postage on Manuscripts.
the Providence Journal.

From the Providence Journal.
 The postal laws of the United States are in the main liberal enough; but 1t would be strange if they were not open to Improvement Indeed, since the ser vice Is under government control and is not primarily a commercial enterprise the post office department may very prop erly be expected to make concessions that would not be asked of private cap ital While some of the demands made upon It's resources-as. for example, the carriage of cheap books as second class matter-may be of doubtful utility, others are worth favorable consideration; and when the Society of American Authors asks for the carriage of authors manu- scripts at the rate of two ounces for one cent 1t has the practice of other countries as a precedent. In fact, since the United States belongs to the Postal Union, a manuscript may be sent from an Ameri- can to a foreign post office at lower rate than is charged between American post offices. This is an inequality which the society thinks should be remedied; and it therefore proposes to urge upon the next congress an amendment to the law giving American authors the benefit of the low rate.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-28

carrying copper. There are, however, al- so bodies of gold bearing quartz in lesser or greater quantities to be found at these mines.
 The first consignment of cable which% the government proposes laying between Cape Flattery and southeastern Alaska is on it's way to Haines Mission, from which port it is to be taken up and paid out of the cable ship Burnside The ca ble has been shipped in three huge reels, carrying a total length of about twenty miles and the consignment Is expected to reach Haines Mission in few days. when the work of laying the cable will immediately be begun.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-28
About Persons.

c. A. O'Ferrall of Tallassee is at the Metropolitan
 Walter Nesmith of Vernon is stopping at the Metropolitan. G. w. Weatherford and wife of Mont gomery are staying at the Metropolitan
  G. G. Brantley of Savannah is at the Metropolitan.
 Dr. and Mrs. W. R. Ward of Tusca- loosa are staying at the Metropolitan.
  E. Pearce of Mobile Is registered at the Morris.
 A. J. McGarry of Florence Is staying at the Morris.
 G. w. Dryger of Greensboro Is at the Morris.
 c. c. Nesmith of Ensley is stopping at the Morris.
 c. c. Heard. sr.. of Langdale Is regis tered at the Morris. Mir. and Mrs. J. G. Hoilenbeck of At lanta are at the Hillman. Mrs A. J. Woods of Shilbyville. Tenn. is staying at the Hillman. R. M. Falkner of Montgomery is at the Hillman.
 wm. F. Worcester of Washington is staying at the Hillman. ,rr rxr..Al,i,,sr nf Chaffio1a is rooirto.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-28
Colombia and the Canal.

The suggestion that the two northern Colombian provinces. Panama and Cauca, will secede and form a new republic, is unwarranted by the situa- tion or the facts in the case Colom- bia Is not a federation of sovereign states. It is not republic of tho Uncle Sam sort It is a republic mod eled on French notions and French ideas. It consists of nine provinces or departments, namely, Antioquia, Boli- var, Bayaca, Cauca, Cundinamarca, Magdalena, Panama, Santander and Tolima. These provinces have an area of 504,773 square miles, with a popula- tion of 3,87S, 900. Cauca stretches from Panama and the isthmus along the Pacific coast to Ecuador, being by far the largest province in the republic being in fact over one-half of the re- public containing as 1t does 257, 7,462 square miles, but good part of this vast space, almost the size of Texas, lies on or along the Andes. It is a province of great mountains and not few volcanoes. In Panama province there are 31,571 square miles. The two provinces contain a great many square miles of territory, but only 90O,0oO people, or less than one-quarter of Colombia's population.
 These nine provinces do not possess a shadow of right to legal secession. They have no Independent govern ments. Their governors are appointed by the general government, and they have no law-making powers. The gen eral government attends to all that. Bogota, the capital, has no railroad connection with the coast. It lies about two miles above the sea, and mule train transports one over the mountain passes that must be travelled after leaving the Magdalena river. The country is largely undeveloped, and it's entire income does not exceed $36,- 000,000 year. Besides the Magdalena river, there are about 400 miles of rail road in the districts near the sea and in Panama, and the Magdalena flows through vast rubber forests. The for eign commerce of the country is not large. All in all 1t is by far the most backward country in South America, being still ruled by the church.
 It seems improbable that such a country would refuse a gift of $10,0OO,- 900, and at the same time jeopardlza the construction of canal that would perpetually enrich it. It seems i'm, probable, and yet li is wholly possible that the treaty will not be ratified. If it is not, some hidden reason must exist for such unreasonable and almost incredible action. Some money in- fluence must control votes that would otherwise be cast i2 favor of ratifca- ton. If 1t Is a conspiracy formed by the intercontinehtal railroads the fact should be brought out and made known to all the people.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-28
The Absent-Minded Professor,

From the Chicago Tribune.
 His little boy had stopped to look at the wreck of milk wagon that had been upset by a trolley car.
 "Come on. Rodney" said the absent minded professor. who was afflicted with that peculiar mental malady with the scientific name "There is no use In cry ing over milt spilk. What are you laughing at, my son?"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-06-28
THE ALABAMA PRESS.

Anniston Evening Star: In Kentucky bullet holes worn upon any part of the body still continue to be in style. Those in the back appear to be the most fash ionable.
 Mobile Register: Chicago negroes think 1t Is about time to take up arms to defend the blacks from the attacks of the whites. We have heard of no decent blacks that need defending
 Mobile Herald: The President has in- strueted the attorney general to probe the postoffice scandals to the bottom. The trouble is that the President needs an att torney general who is the real article.
 Montgomery Advertiser: It Is not to be wondered at that members of the ad- mlnistration are getting away from Washington. They speak of it as a vaca- tion. but we suspect it is for disinfec- ton.
 Huntsville Herald: It is claimed that the contract the state has made with the pub fishers of school books will save the peo- pie who have to buy school books at least 50 per cent. Yet the president of our State Industrial association tells us to let the corporations and trusts aione.