davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-05-22
veaetabIe Men Have Patience.

'I have been very much impressed by the patience of the fruit and vegetable vendors who ply their vocation through the city" remarked a citizen last even ing. 'The itinerant merchants peddle their stock from door to door through the residence portions of the city, and ap- parently do satisfactory business. It Is quite convenient too, for the housekeep- CTS to have fresh fruits and vegetables delevered at the door. l saw one of these fruit vendors, an Italian. out on the South Highlands a few days ago. pushing his stock from house to house on a cart. He carried some unusually fine strawberries and seemed very successful in dsposng of them. Then there are the ice cream peddlers who do a thriving business, selling the little frozen blocks from the cart for 1 cent each.
 Pushing cart loaded with vegetables from house to house Is an humble occu- patton, but large fortunes have grown from such beginnings, and doubtless in a few years this man by energy and pa tience will have accumulated sufficient capital to establish small business"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-05-22
People Easily Excited.

"I was forcibly impressed by the fact that most people are very easily excited, said man on the corner last night. This afternoon about 1 clock Second avenue presented It's usual midday ap- pearance. While the people stirring about did not look sleepy-Birmlngham people are never drowsy-eveything was com parativey quiet and a stranger would have supposed that the town was taking lunch or enjoying a siesta.
 Part of the brick facing on the top of building between Eighteenth and Nineteenth streets fell 10 the ground, talk ing delapidated awning along. There was a great clattering of bricks. Every body woke up. One man was slightly injured, and a large crowd of curious peo- pie immediately gathered around him. About that time an eXcitable individual turned on the fire alarm. In a few minutes hose wagons, hook and ladder wagons, and fire engines were clatter- Ing up in rapid succession scattering the crowd In every direction and creating im- mense excitement. People ran out of the stores, others poked their heads out of the windows the emergency wagon of the Birmingham Railway, Light and Power company came pounding along and police men could be observed hastening to the scene.
 For about minute 1t seemed that we were bound to have 9 catastrophe. Ii was about the livest crowd you ever saw, and all the excitement was caused by a few bricks falling to the pavement"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-05-22
Now. love, In hs next commodity oi hair, send thee beard!
 Much Ado About Nothing.
Cost of the Primary.

The county candidates paid out in expenses nearly thirty thousand dol lars, and some are ready to say that such a sum is excessive. No law com pelled them to expend any such sum. The expenditures were wholly volun- tary on the part of the candidates. They may have been ill-judged but they came from individual pockets, and all individuals have a right to place their money as pleaseth them best
 one way only, and that way consists in bringing the public prizes down to reasonable limits. When we hang up prizes before the public, ranging from $10,000 to over $l00,000, there will naturally be many contestants, and these contestants will expend their money freely.
 When public intelligence and public action rises, these prizes will be cut down to reasonable proportions, and the difference will be handed over to the public schools. But at present public virtue is not equal to the task. The opposition wholly selfish though it be, is the stronger, and while it Is the stronger primary expenses will be high. They will be proportionate to the prizes offered to candidates by the public The people can cut down fees and perquisftes to reasonable sums but they refuse to act unitedly, and the results are before them.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-05-22
Crop of 1903.

Census bulletin No. 10 is at hand It covers the work of the gins in the present cotton year-the crop grown in 1903, and ginned in the fall of that year and in the winter of 1903-04.
 The Alabama crop grown in 1909 was 1,07S,519 bales of five hundred pounds each. No larger crop was ever grown in this state except in 1901. when the state crop was 1,10i, 227 bales. The crop of 1903 was turned out of 3,S76 active gins, the average product of the Alabama gins being 264 bales.
 The value of the Alabama lint js put by the census bureau at 357, 1892, 655, or about 12@ cents pound. The number of pounds was 471,979,076, ant
 me can do his own arithmetic
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-05-22
Cost of the War.

The applications for the part of the Japanese loan allotted to England was covered twenty-six times over, and a French syndicate has taken the Rus sian loan. Germany did not look fay- orably upon the Russian loan, and that country was given no opportunity to invest -.aey in Japanese bonds.
 The placing of these loans has awakened inquiry as to the cost of the war. All recent wars justify the state ment that each belligerent is spending about a million dollars a day. On June the war in the Far East will have lasted 115 days, and the Russian finance agent at London admits that the Russian war expenses will by June be s125,0OO,OOO. and that the total outlay up to January i will be $25f,- 800 900. In view of the expenses in Japan's war with China in the Boer war. and in our war with Spain, this Russian estimate is too low. An army operating 1000 miles away from it's base is very expensive. Russia will probably expend between June 1 and and the end of the year fully $250,000- 900. and the borrowing of $200,00O000 at Paris will not carry Russia to the end of the year.
 Japan's expenses are lighter than Russia's in some respects, but her navy brings the total probably up to a million dollars a day. Besides her foreign loan she is placing loan at home, and she hopes to have funds to carry her to the end of the year. Ii is not easy to form an opinion about her expenses, because she Is so thoroughly Oriental in her customs and habits of living. Her soldiers live on rice and dried fish, and her forces have base near at hand All things seem to favor the Japanese.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-05-22

of the southside Baptist church. Pitts burg, is in the city
 c. s. Betz of Montgomery is at the Morris.
 G. T Rosson of Mobile is at the Hill- man.
 E. l.. Phckard of Johns is registered at the St. Nicholas.
 W. II. Woodward and ". A. Allen of Winston, N. C.. are at the Colonial.
 E. H. Marshall. a prominent business man of Anniston is at the Norris
 c. S. Hunt of St. Louis is at the Hill- man.
 F. Walker of St. Louis is stopping at tho St Nicholas.
 w W. Blair of Montgomery is at the Colonial.
 F. A. Anderson of Gadsden is in the city.
 George j. Stone of Anniston was in Birmingham yesterday
 Col E. II. Graves of Eufaula. colonel of the Second Alabama regiment, is at the Morris
 R. L. Sloan of New orleans is regis tered at the Hillman. 
 T. ". Conner, Jr.. of Republic Is at tho St. Nicholas.
 s. D. Murphy of Eutaw Is stopping at tha Colonial.
 s. A. McFadden of the E. Clearinghouse company, Cincinnati. is at the Morris.
 L. M Carpenter of New York is stop ping at the Hillman.
 W. E. Hall of Leeds Is registered at the Colonial.
 Col. Frank w. Copeland of Rome, Ga, is stopping at the Norris
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-05-22
From the New York Commercial.


 N MoNG the highly specialized agri- PD cultural pursuits the department of agriculture recommends the raising of drug plans-that Is, the plants from which some of the staple drugs and medicines are extracted. The bureau of plant industry is about to begin some ir- teresting experiments in this connection and to continue other cxperioents of the same kind that were begun last year. The project Is likely to become an inter- esting one for fancy farmers" and per sons fond of rural life who have little else to do Some of the officials of the agricultural department predict that 1t will become something better than a mere hobby.
 The department is already enabled to report progress. For example, the finest quality of opium capsules was obtained last year from immense peoples grown near the Puyallup Indian reservation in the state of Washington. The consump- ton of opium in this country Is not ex- tensive enough to attract large aggrega- tions of capital to this enterprise, but if persons In this country should find 1t pos sible to supply the home demand, they would reap the profits on an opium mar ket of more than s2,OO0,00 The irnporta- tions of opium last year amounted to S2.- $40, 436 in value. The opium poppy devel- ops finely in northern attitudes, where the peculiarities of climate are entirely favorable as they are in the Pacific north west.
 Four experimental stations were main tained by the agricultural department last summer for the purpose of finding out just what can be done in the way of raising drug plants for the market. Sew eral more stations will be opened next spring.
 Down on the Potomac Flats, near Washington, a patch of ground is under cultivation, and under the supervision or the bureau of plant industry experiments are being carried on with several or the standard drug-plants. In that ana otner places particular attention IS peing oe- voted to digitalis sage, summer-saVory' henbane. vale1ian, golden seal and stram- onium. A small farm was in operation all last summer at Dover, Massachusetts, where certain ledl QIu6S "StS Ae.'SS~ eN--~> actually marketed in Boston. The season proved too short for some of the plants, and it was shown that southern lati- tude was preferable. The high price of land and the cost of labor were also un- favorable factors. It was shown, how ever. that several leafdrug plants could be profitably raised, and some of the ap- cient notions with regard to the curing of the leaves were exploded.
 Licorice. it is maintained, can be pro- duced prcftably In this country. all though the experiments have not proceed ed very far as yet. The bureau of plant industry proposes to continue its work in this direction during the coming sum- mer There is "a growing demand for licorcie and it's compounds in the United States, and the importations already amount to about s.,ooc,ooe a year in value. The bureau officials say that ow- ing to the price which the licorice root
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-05-22

sum. The cotton seed of the crop
 amounted to 471,979 tons, worth ST.
 5O9,1 The total crop of 1903 in this
 state therefore stands at $64,901, $40. The crops of Texas, Mississippi and
 Georgia only brought more money. The cotton seed oil mills of the state, fifty-eight in number gathered 1885 bales of linters, worth $306,337, and they handled about 6S per cent of the seed crop.
 The greater part of the bulletin is devoted to the production by coun- ties. Dallas and Montgomery are the only counties in this state that pro duced over forty thousand bales, and Dallas crop is increasing faster than Montgomery's, the former standing in 1903 at 4S,5O3 bales, and the latter's at11,1 ,18S bales. No other counties :n this state approach these two, anl Dallas seems destined to stand forth as the champion cotton growing coun- ty of this state. It is to us what Sum- ter county is to South Carolina, and Burke county to Georgia.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-05-22
PRAISE FOR ALABAMA.

From the Selma Times.
 MT. Frank " Evans, who is writing a series of articles on Selma for the Bir- mingham Age-IIerald. is in the city for a few days.
 'The state of Alabama Is in a most prosperous condition" said MT. Evans T have been travelling through the state north of Montgomery since November l. visiting nearly every important point and writing facts for publication as they pre- sent themselves to me. The rapid de- velopment of the state is wonderful, and l hardly believe our people appreciate in full measure the strength of the po- stion held by this great state. We must all recognize the fact that agriculture is the true basis of Alabama's wealth. that without these farms and these far mers the state would be poverty stricken and yet do not underestimate the value of our mines and mineral wealth. or our manufacturing concerns. They are aux Hilary to the general progress, and are adding annually tax values and wealth to the people engaged therein. We Bir- mingham people are not the alr of Ala bama, and we do not claim to be. We depend much upon agriculture and with out it would be but an oasis in a desert
 Birmingham Is prospering as never be- fore and the Age Herald is it's. prophet foretelling daily the future of a state of which it is, indeed, proud, and upon which southern prosperity depends. Take the great waterways of Alabama, the gulf coast the railways and the rich agricultural, mineral and timber lands with a people energetic, industrious, in- telligent and hopeful. and that means the Alabama of which the Age Herald and the whole press of the state, daily and weekly speak.
 Selma is one of the greatest of ali Alabama towns and cities, and it seems to me that she has future hardly dreamed of by her most enthusiastic citi- zens. The Psnama canal means g. still greater Selma, and those who here invest and cling to her possibilities will sure ly enjoy a rich reward. Yours Is a city of substantial strength, both naturally and by the wisdom and strength of a public-spirited people. anxious and able to cope with every condition and cir constance that may arise. Alabamians in all parts of the state are proud, in- deed of Selma"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-05-22
IN HOTEL LoBBIEs
Man Behind the Gate.

The man behind the gate at the union passenger station has a hard position to iiil' said a drummer. "As you know, 1t is against the rules of the railroads en- tering Birmingham for any person to pass under the shed who does not hold ticket on some outgoing train, but everybdoy does not know that and I have often seen the gatekeeper have great difficulty in impressing the fact on strangers.
 Tonight l was standing in the station waiting for my train when an old lady and her daughter came up to one of the gates. It seems that the daughter was going away and the old lady was there to see her off. As I expected, the gate keeper halted the old woman. The daugh7 ter stood just inside the railing while her mother tried to induce the gateman to let her pass. The old ladys pleading was in vain and after obstrueting the way for several minutes she withdrew, with tears in her eyes, while the daugh- ter went Oh to her train. A maid is em- ployed to accompany. women without es- corts to and from the trains, but that did not suit this old lady and she was very much aggrieved oyer the affar.
 Every day the gatekeeper has ordeals like that to face and it must make life a burden. Often some irate man who wants to escort his wife to the train gets furious because he is not permitted to enter the ear shed. More often invalids and crpples have to be put on the trains and 1t is hard to prevent their rela- lives or friends from going under the shed to say goodbye.
 However, 1 think the rule preventing other than prospective passengers from passing through the gates is a very good one. for 1t has undoubtedly been the means of preventing many accidents The railroads are compelled to make some kind of provision like this to shield them selves from innumerable damage suits. What Birmingham needs is new sta ton, constructed like those to be found in many large cities, where passengers do not have to cross the tracks to get to their trains and all the trains back up to the station platform.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-05-22
MUCH FRUIT EATEN.

From the New York Tribune.
 One of the many proofs of the vastly increased consumption of fruits among the American people is seen in the fact that in 1899 a little more than million punches of bananas were exported from Honduras to the United States. In 1903 the total exceeded 100000, and consular estimates put the probable aggregate in 1904 at 100000. And imported fruits of many kinds have fallen off in price as the years have gone on The variety of diet within the reach of families of moderate means in this quarter of the world is gratifying to note, and the Yankee table as a rule is more bountifuly spread for this generation than it was for the ma iority of our ancestors
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-05-22
REFLECTIONS OF A BACHELOR

From the New York Press
 A little girl has the same admiration for a crib as boy has for a big baded jacknife
 There is nothing pakes woman feel so proud and a man So foolish as to read old love letters.
 A good many women have a hard time recognizing the mighty big difference be- tween ignorance and innocence
 Every woman would like to be a royal princess long enough to cut her next door neighhpr dead who has had two new hats in three months. It's nice refreshing rest from busi- ness for man when he comes home to crawl around on his stomach under the house to see if there is leak in any of the plumbing.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-05-22
FROM THE ROME REPUBLICAN.

From the Milwaukee Sentinel
 Ye editor recently took occasion to
 publish faithful account of a meeting
 of the Watercraft Sisters, including a
 graphic description of some ferocious in.
 fighting between Sisters Claudia ana , Ligea. The latter is much incensed, and sends us this gentle greeting: ITO The Editor of the Republican,,
 have read your report of our meeting. By the shades of Caesar, thou art indeed
 sorry caitiff. During the Nones of
 March herd of fanatics are to be feA to Nero's lions, and that you may bs
 one of the victims is my heartfelt prav.
 er Yes. I thrashed Sister Claudia. ant even so would I knock off thy plebeiaa block if thou vert to cross my path The gentle Ligea goes on in this strais until her paper gives out. In her excites
 mert she misspells several simple yordsl
 among them ''puerile," getting the ..es before the 'u." That Roman lady cou1A
 misspell word of Latin derivation Ia indeed a shock to us.
 Ye editor is not a fighting man. Wa have ever favored arbitration if we oo,,td
 do so without losing our dignity, and we feel no hesitancy in saying that Sister Lfgea will never see us personally if we see her first.
 The Watercraft Sisters will give anothep
 boxing show next week at the amnhithe- ater.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-05-22
WHERE GREEK cuRRANTs GO.

Report of Minister Jackson from Athens.
 The currant crop of 1903 was about the same as that of the preceding year, 2cS,oooooo pounds of entrants being ex- ported up to the end of January. 1904. Engiand was still the best customer ,hav- ing taken more than 115.OOO,OOO pounds. The share of the United States increased slightly tto about 9oOOo.ooo pounds) while that of both Holland and Germany de- creased by about 30 per cent, giving the United States the second instead of the fourth place
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-05-22

ing and the seeding Of spring wheat as well as the growth of cotton and the maturing of winter wheat. The season has been untoward, but there Is still room for recuperation and i'm provement. The average of all crops has been reduced but perhaps the losses in acreage will be made good by better cultivation under more favorable skies. More heat and more rain are needed on nearly all parts of our broad country, and Alabama is not a bit exceptional The south eastern and northern counties of this state are especially dry, and a warm rain would be welcomed in every county of this state.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-05-22
BRAH MA.

By Ralph Waldo Emerson
 If the red slayer thinks he stays.
 Or if the slain think he is slain, They know not we'll the subtle ways
 l keep, and pass, and turn again. Far or forgot to me is near; Shadow and sunlight are the same; The vanished gods to me appear;
 And enc to me are shame and fame. They reckon i'll who leave me out;
 When me they fly, I am the wings; I am the doubter and the doubt, And I the hymn the Brahmin sings. The strong gods pine fer my abode,
 And pine In vain the sacred Seven; But thou. meek lover. of the good.
 Find me, and turn thy back on heaven
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-05-22
Women as kleptomaniacs.

'It Is remarkable how strong a hold Kleptomania, or the inclination to take something that does not belong to them takes on some women." said an old citi- zen yesterday. .I"When a woman does com mi. thsfts she is worse than man. She will take things of no valueA I was told yesterday that not long since a young married woman while out walking entered a room and carried off nearly everything in 1t, including a small diamond pin and a hand worked centerpiece. When trace of the things was found she returned them but still 1t shows what an attrac- ton other persons things have for some women. It IS, indeed, unfortunate and I believe there ought to be some kind of q school CT reformatory for kleptomaniacs. I believe 1t is a disease"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-05-22
Two Pessimlsts.

From the Chicago Tribune.
 The familiar strains of "Anona" came faintly to the ears.
 Music said the man with the baggy trousers, lis only refined dissipation"
 The man in the mackintosh listened more closely.
 ''No.' he said Music Is refined tor toure. That's a graphophone.''
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-05-22
JAPAN's GREATNESS.

From the Philadelphia Ledger.
 The Japanese treat their servants as they do other members of their households, and everything is serene The greatness of the Japanese will not depend upon the way they battle with Russia-they have solved the servant problem.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-05-22

In the Illinois republican conven- tion It was the machine against the capitalists. Lowden. who is trying to defeat Yates, Is son-in-law of the late MT Pullman.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-05-22

Every now and then some hopeful scinetist arises and says that the mos quito pest in New Jersey is doomed to destruction, but the long billed birds are not in the least disturbed.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-05-22
PAYS TO ADVERTISE

From the Dothan Siftings.
 The Age-Herald seems to think that Jim Dandy meal is a tiilSing illustra- tion of the adage that 1t pays to adver- tise"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-05-22

Minnesota man is running for governor because he was born in Min nesota. In kansas his qualifications for office would consist in his being born somewhere else.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-05-22

The Rev J. Addison Henry of Phila- delphia deplores this babeless era and says that the cry of the child is drowned out by the ring of the tele- phone. He might have added that the trolley car, the steam whistle and other conveniences or civilization are also more effective than nursery noise
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-05-22

Chicago is preparing to send it's lunatic patients to baseball games in the belief that the excitement of the sport will relieve the excitement in their disordered brains.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-05-22

A woman and her husband, residing in New York state, killed forty-eight feet of black snake, which was dis turbed by opening a bureau drawer at their summer home. The next con tribution of the season is now awaited.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-05-22

As a Pullman son-in-law Lowden of Illinois seems to think he is entitled to the best berth in the state car. But Governor Yates does not think so.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-05-22

Harvard Is enjoying a pertinent verse recently unearthed from the Bible: Now the sons of Eli were sons
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-05-22

The man who edits the Carnegie hero list will not find time to go fish ing in
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-05-22

Colonel Watterson is in St. Louis throwing up Notifications against a stampede to Grover Cleveland in the July convention.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-05-22

Gold exports do not trouble the country a bit. We have got billion of the stuff on hand
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-05-22

In Chicago summer cars are re. garded as tentative and probational only. They are even misfits in Ala bama in the night or early morning air
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-05-22

With the assistance of baseball, watermelons and Georgia peaches we will be able to worry through another summer