davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-01-19
Cheap Periodicals.

'I have often wondered said man who reads. how so many cheap publica- tions flooding the country manage to ex- st, and yet 2 little thought and ooserva- tion bring an easy solution. They are is- sued solely for advertising purposes. Ev- cry family receives numbers of shoddy periodicals every year, marked sample copies. The subscription price is usually 25 cents a year and sometimes as low as lt CT 15 cents. They are all alike in gen era. makeup and a glance through their pages shows them to be crowded by ad- vertisements The object of the pub fishers is to obtain as wide a circulation as possible so that the mere matter of subscription price Is trine.
 Although it is true that such period als can be gotten out at a minimum cost, there is certainly very little money in sending them out for 25 cents a year, if it were not for the advertisements. I feel sure that the heavy advertising pat ronage is the real source of revenue and V hat reading matter is furnished Is mere ly bait to catch the public. Yet some of these publications gre fairly interesting and on occasion have come across arti- cles well worth the trouble of reading"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-01-19
Teachinq By Mail.

HI have been greatly impressed by the great number of institutions now adver- Using in the periodicals to teach all branches of knowledge by mail,' said a gentleman yesterday Although l have a great and abiding faith in the United States mails cannot but feel somewhat skeptical regarding these short cuts to learning which are so enticlngly offered.
 'T have no doubt that a persevering young man could master even the most difficult science after a long and tedious course of study, by mail, but whether he can do it in three months is extremely doubtful. Especially Is this the case where certain associations and institu- tions promise to make a person full ledged journalist or novelist at short notice In the first place, such work de- mands natural talent and those who have made a success of it agree that years of patient toll and practical training are re- quired.
 ''Yet these mail courses have certain advantages which are not to be over looked and there must be money in the scheme or mall instruction would not spread so rapidly. Nowadays one can learn anything under the sun by mail, If the advertisements are to be believed. Some branches of instruction offered are so difficult to master under the direct su- pervision of a tutor that one cannot but wonder how a student ever succeeds in learning one of them by mail.'
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-01-19
Gates Alar.

.The numerous front and side gates at the homes of Birmingham people which are wide open in the night time seems to me to present invitations to thieves to walk in and ply their avocations'" said one who was discussing theft and rob bery
 Walk out in any part of the city where there are fences and gates and you will observe that it is the rule rather than the exception that gates are open. When cattle ran at large in Birmingham it used to be charged that the educated cows opened the gates; but not so now. It must be either careless servants or midnight wanderers in human shape that thus facilitate robbery. Moral; If you have a gate keep it shut or even locked at night"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-01-19
Iron Fences.

"There is a conspicuous absence of iron fences in the south" said travelling man. Although this style of fencing is the handsomest and most durable for all purposes, southern people do not seem to look upon it with great favor, Per haps one reason of this state of affairs is the fact that iron fences are rather ex- pensive even if they do last a long time. Another drawback is the constant need of paint These fences rust very easily end unless they receive frequent coatings Of paint soon get in very bad condition. And yet nothing adds more to the at- trao tiveness of public building or private residence than a handsome iron fence. It is safe to say that the man who originat- ed iron fences never reaped the golden harvest that fell to the man who invented the ba~bed wire fence, probably for the reason that one costs but q fraction Of the prize set upon the other
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-01-19
About pe,sons.

Father MeCafferty who died In Pen- sacola Sunday, was one of the best known and most highly esteemed priests of the diocese of Mobile. A number of priests of Birmingham and vicinity will attend the funeral, including Father o'Reilly, Father Meurer, Father Kelly and Father Galland The deceased was pastor of St. Miehaers church, Pensacola.
 E. NJ Dimore, southern general man. ager of the International Harvesting com pany with headquarters at Montgomery. is at the Florence.
 R. B. Cotter of Mound City. H.. is stop ping at the Hillman.
 E. K Marshall of Selma is at the Nor ris.
 J. K, Mcdonald of Eufaula is registered at the Metropolitan.
 Sam Blake of Konxvllle is at the St. Nicholas
 The Hon. T. E. Camp. probate judge of Talladega, county, is stopping at the Metropolitan.
 l.. w.. Reeves and H. NJ. Copeland of Atlanta are at the Morris.
 J. M. Cousins of searles is stopping at the Morris.
 Dr. C. J. Armstrong of Blount Springs is at the Metropolitan.
 W. R. Peacock of Selma, was an arrival of the Hillman last night.
 c. D. Woodruff, cashier of the Anniston National bank, is at the Florence.
 c. N. Avery leaves today for trip through North Alabama.
 T. A. King of the King Construction company of Louisville, Ky, is at the Metropolitan.
 s. G. Turner and F. E. Newcomer of Atlanta are at the Hillman.
 Judge S. W. Tate of Anniston. was an arrival of the Florence last night.
 L. Scott Allen and J. w Horne of Washington are at the Metropolitan.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-01-19
High School Site.

''The city council. in 1S90 think 1t was, had an option on the Sloss property, which is located on the corner of Nine teenth street Sixth fre present site of the First Methodist church and parsonage, as a location for high school building" said an ex-member of the board of education yesterday.
 q think the property was offered tc the city for s25, 900 but the authorities lei the option run out without consummatine the deal Later the property was sold fol s3o, 900 I understand This would have been an admirable location for high school the property being centrally lo cated. At the time the question of erect ing new building was being agitatet quite strongly. The high school was ther
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-01-19
Rural Free Delivery.

Out of 15,125 rural free delivery ca:- riers in the government service at the end of the last fiscal year, there were .139 in Alabama There should have been at least four times that number. Iowa which elects but eleyen--laena- bers of congress, had 14S4 routes in operation, and the pay of her carriers last year was s444,9S5. The pay of Alabama's rural carriers last year was $3S,640. If Alabama had kept step with Iowa, she would have had 1000
 rural free delivery carriers, and their annual pay would have been nearls. 34oO ,o00 There is no reason whatever
 why Alabama should not have proper
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-01-19

located in the old postofhee building on Third avenue and Nineteenth street
 Later the lot on which Major Tutwil- CTS residence now stands, fronting on Park avenue and extending from East Twentieth to Twenty-irst street. was of fered to the city as a site for the school at fair figure. The offer was not accept ed. however. and the city Is now wonder ing where suitable site can be secured for the school
 If a new government building is to be erected in Birmingham l am in favor Of the city purchasing that party property and converting the present building Into a high school.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-01-19
From the New York Sun.

\ TOiu lIe NeW IOTk sun.
 NN AROUSE De MONsTRIERs- I(VA formerly Mary ewend0lin Caldwell, a Kentucky beauty and heiress, one of the founders of the Catholic University of America at Wash ington and once the fiancee of Prince Joachim Napoleon Murat. has returned to America without her husband and is now in a critical condition in her apartments at the Buckingham. She is said to be suffering from a complication of diseases brought on by nervous derangement. She has lost her hearing and is almost totally blind
 Gwendolin Caldwell was born in Ken lucky, her mother being one of the fa- nous Breckinridge family of that state. When still a little girl she inherited from her father a fortune of S5,000OOO and at her mothers death few years later, inherited half a million more. She and her sister, the present Baroness von Zedtwitz were educated at the Convent of the Sacred Heart. Manhattanville
 After being raduated they went abroad to travel with their aunt, Mrs. Don nelly. On their return to America, Gwendolin went to Louisville, Ky, rented prepared to entertain Tn manner new to the people of that place.
 Soon after reaching her majority, Miss Caldwell through her guardian, Bishop Spalding, of Peoria, announced to the Catholic hierarchy her intention of en- dowing the Catholic University, and a council was held to consider the offer
 Such a project had long been consider ed. but sufficient funds had never been provided. Miss Caldwell donated the eighty-eight acres on the edge of the Capital City. erected three of the largest buildings including Caldwell hall which Is the largest of the present group, and provided for the maintenance of the university for three years, Her sister the Baroness von Zedtwitz, gave Caldwell chapel to the university,
 For this service Pope Leo XIII. be- slowed upon Gwendolin Caldwell dia- mond studded medal. which he struck es- pecially for her, and also conferred the decoration of the Order of the Rose, which distinction no other woman ever held.
 The young heiress went to Italy in 1887, and there met Prince Murat, who was thirty-three years the senior of Miss Cald- we'll and deeply in debt He was the grandson of Murat, king of Naples, and of Caroline, sister of Napoleon I. Napo- leon III. mad on numerous occasions paid the obligations of the prince.
 After their engagement was announced 1 prrpafaIions for a regal wedding were made, a trousseau fit for queen secured and the day for the ceremony set. The day before the marriage the prince and his legal representative and Miss Caldwell and her attorneys met to arrange the ante-nuptial contract. The prince in- sisted upon the control of the fortune. Miss Caldwell refused this. Then he os- fered to take half of it. This the Ameri- can girl refused. saying that she had in tended settling s25.ooo year upon her hus- l band. The prince wanted more. Miss Caldwell at once broke the engagement and returned to America.
 Upon her arrival here. she is said to
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-01-19
PEOPLE TALKED ABOUT

Miss Josephine Holgate of Olympia has been chosen state librarian of Washing ton. She first declined the appointment and was afterward induced to reconsider her decision.
 Jerome K. Jerome, who is called the Mark Twain of England has contributed to a number of American newspapers a numerous article which satarizes the vacuosties of being introduced.
 Alfred Austin, poet laureate of Eng land, nas prepared a feast for the public which Is entitled "A Poets Diary" Ced- tain newspaper paragraphers have been mean enough to ask who is the poet
 Edouard Lassen the composer, died re- gently at Weimar. Lassen was born at Copenhagen, April 1s 1880, and won sev- eral prizes for his works. among them the first grand prize in 1851 at Rome for his "Balthazar."
 There is a conspicuous silence in Ger many regarding the throat affection of Emperor William. There seems to be marked anxiety as to whether the kais- CTS illness is as trivial as the physicians would have the people believe it. John D. Long, ex-secretary of the navy, has been chosen president of the executive committee which has charge of the arrangements for the national en- campment of the Grand Army of the Re- public to be held at Boston next August.
 A Chicago man Is suing physician for GOO damages because the doctor burn ed his face with X-rays. Before treat ment the plaintiff had a handsome mus tache and beard which added much to his looks but now his beard grows only on one side of his face
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-01-19
COMMENTS ON MEN AND
 MATTERS OF THE WORLD

6 HE astute Londoner has decided NY that the blush is an error to be
 abated and it has been decided that this signal of embarrassment shall be seen on fair womans brow no longer. Accordingly certain wise scientists have established a school where women will be taught to so school theiS emotions that bushes will be forgotten. adies of diff dence will be required to read papers in public and will otherwise be kept prom inently before the eye so that they will gain boise and self command. If their training is successful the English woman will gradually develop into a sphynx who hides her thoughts behind her marble countenance and presents to the world a demeanor that Is never disturbed.
 It is quite proper that such school should be established in England where there Is marked self repression among all classes. The English father never kisses his son, nor does brother salute brother, and even among self repression Is noticeable. Of course this school will be no more lasting than a score of similar freak institutions that have been set up within the past few years. It merely serves to call attention to the great num- Der of such schools" we have nowadays. There are schools of expression, schools for memory, schools for walking, riding sitting talking schools where person may learn q thousand accomplishments for a moderate peeuniary considerations and a great many promise to instruct by mail Some undoubtedly are meritorious but it is safe to say that Dame Nature can justly and easily put quietus on the school for suppressing blushing.
 In some respects 1t is a great pity that literary patronage has departed with the age that gave it birth. If it were the custom now for people of wealth to re- move all pecuniary cares for the shoulders of their favorite poets or novelists it is quite likely that the quality of modern literature would be vastly improved. Per- haps after all this Is one of the very req sons why the great forefathers of litera- ture did so much better than their success sors. It is hard for poet to attend to creditors and keep the wolf from the door while at the same time giving his soul to the muses While some of the old fel- lows had a pretty hard time before they got a start 1t was only necessary for them to win the favor of a noble person. age of means In order to establish them selves on Easy street If John Lilly had not had his Burleigh it is doubtful if he would have written Euphues, and the same may be said of greater and later men of letters who came after him. Now adays a would-be poet or novelist has a hard road to travel before arriving at that happy state where publishers eringe obsequiously. Even then they are kept in such a continual stew that historical romance of the slush type is the best they can do. Now if MT. Rockefeller, MT. Car negie MT. Morgan, and other individuals who desire to pose as philanthropists, would adopt a small colony of literary folk and permit them to toll undisturbed by money matters we might soon have a second Elabethan age of literature right here in America
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-01-19
THE ALABAMA PRESS.

Mobile Register: General Reyes, de- parting declares that MT. Hay is line gentleman. Same to you, General Reyes
 Mobile Item: Baseball will have for midable rival the coming summer in pol tiles, and like the baseballists. many a politician will be knocked out by fly on his home run.
 Huntsville Mercury: There are some people like the mule who saw on the bulle- tin board, Japan and Russia about to scrap" and soliloquised thusly: Well if 1t comes to a showdown, I'll have to take sides with both parties,
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-01-19
REFLECTIONS OF A BACHELOR.

From the New York Press. ----1s 1issfsTn nIdK1s the money ana money makes the man.
 Maybe the good wouldn't die so young if they weren't so lonesome.
 A rich man never has to worry whether he will be welcome when he goes to call on his poor relations
 You will notice that even careless woman Is very careful about the looks of the clothes she lets lie about careless ly.
 You can most always tell what a giris designs are on man if she worries for fear it is too heavy load for him to support a few sisters.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-01-19
SOMETHING LEFT UNDoNE.

By Longfellow.
 Labor with what zeal we will
 Something still remains undone; Something uncompleted still
 Waits the rising of the sun. B the bedside, OF the stair,
 At the threshold, near the gates, With it's menace or it's prayer,
 Like a mendicant it waits. Waits, and will not go away:
 Waits. and will not be gainsaid By the cares of yesterday
 Each today is heavier made Till at length the burden seems
 Greater than our strength can bear Heavy as the weight of dreams, Pressing on us everywhere. And we stand from day to day.
 Like the dwarfs pf time gone by, Who. as. Northern legends say.
 On their shouldersl held the skz.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-01-19
IN HOTEL LoBBIES
Maj. John G. Harris.

Major John C. Harris of Montgomery passed throug Birmingham yesterday on his way to Tuscaloosa, where he will be the guest of Camp Rodes. Confederate veterans, and the Soldiers Memorial as- soeiation. and today-the anniversary of Lees birthday-will deliver an address. Crosses will be conferred on such ex- Gonfederates as are entitled to them. Major Harris will, on Wednesday even- ing, lecture before the young ladies of the Central Female College on Manners, Culture and Dress" He, was an officer in the Twentieth Alabama Regiment, c. S. A
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-01-19

Special to the New York World.
 Louisville January 15.-A fifth son was born today to MT and Mrs. William Le- roy. Their other children were born as follows:
 January Ia, 1900 George M. Leroy
 January 15, l90l P Ashton Leroy
 January 15, 1902 Peter Leroy
 January. h. 1903, Alexander Goldsbor- ough Leroy.
 The Leroys live in Owen county. Mrs. Leroy was a Blue Grass belle, being a member of the noted Hardin family. Her husband is a stock breeder.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-01-19

I Paris is perhaps the greatest city in the world for producing wild and goddess 1 societies On Christmas day the Free Thinkers celebrated what they were pleased to term a Civic Fete,p or "Hu- man Christmas and gravely stated to 1 the world that they did honor to no special divinity but were simply eelebrat- ing just because they could do so and desired others to see that a Christmas without Christ could be as merry withal as any other. From such numbers as Dawn, the Christmas of Light Spring. the Christmas of Nature" and
 'The Revolution. the Christmas of Jus ice" it may be readily surmised what style of entertainment was afforded.
 1 Theological judgments in literature sometimes present queer complications. For instance the Rev. Dr. Leavitt of Ewing college has come to the conclusion that such ancient masterpieces as the Ilaid, the Odessey, and Virgips Eneid are highly immoral According to this learn ed divine "all these pagan classics leave a stain on the purity of our literature" Although his cloth entities him to re- spect it would really seems that pr. Leavitt is striving to surpass certain Chi cago professors in freakish notions. Truly such a belief is so refined and sublimated. so free from all earthly contamination that the average person cannot see the point at all. It is interesting to conjec- ture just what the doctor meant by mod l ern literature" Compared with the stately lines of Homer the efforts of Al- l fred Austin compel a laugh and If mor- 1 alitv is to be debated there is the prob- 1 lem novel, of which "Sapho' Is a fit rep- resentative. The only trouble with mod- i, ern literature is that it is so immeasur- | ably beneath ancient literature in many respects as to cut very poor figure, in- deed. Dr. Leavitt says that the Bible should supercede ancient classics and he | reduces the Ilaid to ''the story of man running away with another mans wife" which is certainly a hard indictment. pr. Leavitt should pause to consider Un- l til modern authors can surpass their pre- decessors pagan classics" are very much needed for examples to less talented age.
 Some wise person has discovered that the label on a bottle of wine is no guar antee of it's contents. In fact it is so easy for vntners to paste on any label they desire that the temptation is entire ly too great to be resisted. But the cus- tom of pasting bogus l@bels on wine bottles for the purpose of deluding the public is an old one. In the early stages of wine making in California no one dreamed of trying to sell the product of his vats in America. It was deemed im- possible and accordingly elegant French labels were used in abundance and the wine was sold readily to Londoners who never suspected that they were quaffing any other than the best vintage of sunny France. But so long as the wine Is equally as good as the brand it pretends to be the public has no real complaint to make In fact many connoisseurs who pride themselves on their taste are unable to distinguish the difference. F. c.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-01-19

to go higher each year, and American mills will soon drive out all foreign cements.
 The Alabama cement period is near ly due, and in the course of five years at least fifty mills will be erected on navigable streams amid our wealth Ot cement rock
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-01-19
ALABAMA NEWS.

The dredgeboat Jumbo. which sank on the outer bar of Mobile harbor during dredging operations. and resisted all at tempts to dislodge it. was blown to pieces Sunday by diver employed by the Unit ed States engineering department. Dyn- amite was found necessary in order to clear the channel.
 Gadsden and Anniston are busy specu- lating just now on the outcome of Captain Elliotts controversy with the receivers of the Southern Car and Foundry com pany. Captain Elliott recently purchased the Anniston plant of the company, which is one of the largest industries of the kind in the south.
 Selma citizens are disturbed over the great number of suspected dope cases which have occurred in the city during the past few years. A number of mysteri- ous deaths have never been satisfactorily accounted for and public sentiment favors a rigid enforcement of the law against the dives where it is believed that dope has been administered.
 At the annual meeting of the directors of the Mobile cotton mills, which was held last Friday night the following officers were elected: Murray w. Dunlap, presi- dent and treasurer; J. A. Waters, vice president; John Douglas, secretary A dividend of per cent was paid for the year and the mills were reported in a prosperous condition.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-01-19

The administration has that Hanna feeling, and the New York World sug- gests a trial of radium.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-01-19

MT. Hanna, aided by MT. Heath, has produced his well-known call for a republican national convention.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-01-19

The republican presidential cam paign is now marking time, and there is more Mark in it than anything else
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-01-19

Mayor Mcclellan, who was on the spot, says he was born natural citi- zen of the United States.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-01-19

A New York man committed suicide rather than submit to an operation for appendicitis. He preferred to do his own killing.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-01-19

The worlds stock of cussedness must be reduced before Tho Hague court will become popular.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-01-19
SOUTHERN PRESS.

Florida Times Union: Attorney General Knox has been telling congress what he has done against the trusts. It certainly needs telling.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-01-19

General Uribe- Uribe has chartered a transport. He intends no doubt to take his name along.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-01-19

Korea does not admire western methods or western civilization, not even when they come seeond-handed from Japan