davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-04-25
THE ONLY pAliY atwsPAPER IN AlAsAM 4
Highly fed and lowly taught.
 --AlI's We'll That Ends We'll.
The Chjldren's Zoo.

It goes without saying that the boys and girls of this city will uphold, pro- mote and plead for the proposed zoo in one of the city's pretty parks on Highland avenue. Every modern city has a zoo, and Birmingham is certain 1y not ancient and has no desire to grow into the class of ancients
 But beyond the enthusiasm of the children something more is needed some cold cash with which to buy an elephant and other animals from other lands, the more the better Every man who loves children, and who finds pleasure in seeing them pleased and entertained will surely aid The Age-Herald in carrying the movement that looks to the establishment of a Children's Zoo to success. Three thousand dollars could be wisely ex- pended for the benefit of the children in that direction. If the children's grown-up friends will come to their help in this matter, a handsome zoo can be installed by the time hot wealth CT is fully upon us.
 Help the city and help the children. Give the latter an additional place of innocent amusement. Add to the city's equipment, and above all else be whole-souled citizen who loves the children and who delight in giv. ing them wholesome and health-giying enjoyment.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-04-25
RoY's Reading Club.

"The Boys Reading club is getting ready to work on a somewhat more ex- tended scale," said one of the ladies who Is interested in the movement to better the condition of the newsboys and mes senger boys of the city. We intend en- larglng our manual training department in a short time and also raising money enough if possible to employ an instruc- tor oftener.
 There are now about thirty-five mem- bers in the club, and about half of them are members of the manual training classes. We have only room for eight boys al time in that department, but by enlarging it we hope to have room for fifteen at a time. and we also hope to enlarge our classes.
 "The club is now open morning, after noon and night It is hard work educat- ing some of the boys. but we are taking 1t by degrees and find that a number of them have improved wonderfully. Some who could not read or write a short time ago are now able to do both.
 We expect to give a picnic for the members of the club in short time, and this will be a very interesting affair. The club is accomplishing much more good than we at first anticipated and 1t has already repaid us many times for the work we have done to keep 1t running and to hold the boys We are giving them as much innocent amusement as possible. We will require about $50 to run the club during the summer and hope to get this amount"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-04-25
Cow Peas and Boil Weevil.

A correspondent of the New Orleans Times-Democrat urges the alternating of cotton and COW peas in every field infested by the boil weevil. The COW peas clear the field of the pest, and early and thorough cultivation must do the rest. The COW pea is also a nitrogenous fertilizer.
 The battle against the boil weevil must be waged on one or two lines The means of defence must consist of quarantine measures or else of rotas ton of crops, careful cultivation and a general hastening by fertilizers of the crop.
 No one has faith in quarantine meas ures. That is to say, in keeping the insect out of state by inspecting all cotton, cotton seed, hay and even grain brought in from an infected state. Mississippi and Louisiana are both acting on that basis, but neither expects to be able to confine the in- sect to it's Texas field.
 In the long run no doubt quanartine measures will be abolished, and the farmers will use COW peas or some other crop in rotation with cotton. Once assured of a field free from the insect, the task of growing a quick crop comes in. High fertilization, seed that germinates quickly, and the best of cultivation may bring bols that will open by or before Septem- Der.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-04-25
The Children's Zoo.

sl was very much pleased to see that the boys and girls of Birmingham had started a movement to have a geological garden, said a gentleman from New York last night. Nothing could be done that would be of more benefit and pleas ure to children than collection of ami mals in one of the public parks. It not only gives them an idea of the various kinds of wild animals, but gives them a desire to learn more about the distant parts of the world The pleasure alone will repay the persons who have con- sented to contribute to a fund to help buy the animals The most important of features connected with this zoo is the purchase of an elephant. One of the huge animals can delight more children In an hours time than all the other ani- mals put together. It Is a great sight in the Central park zoo in New York 10 see the children feeding the elephants and fondly stroking them on their i'm mense trunks. I sincerely hope that the movement will be a great success"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-04-25
CONGRESSIONAL TOURNAMENTS

From the Washington Post
 Representative Underwood of Alabama has prepared interesting material for those wseacres around the Capitol who exude sapience on adjournment dates. Delying into congressional his tory, the Alabamian has brought forth the time of adjournment of every long session of congress since the civil war, all intended, of course, to indicate that republicans are now running away to escape passing much-needed legislation. The congress, its political complexion, and the day when the long session adjourned are shown in MT. Underwoods table, as follows:
 Thirty-seventh Republicans; Grow, Speaker; July F, 1862.
 Thlrty-eighth Republicans; Colfax Speaker; July 1, 1864
 Thirty-ninth Republican; Colfax, Speaker; July 2S, 1866.
 Fortleth-Republican Colfax, Speaker July 27 1868.
 Forty rty-frst-Republican Blain, Speaker; July 15. 1870
 Forty-second Republican,, Blaine, Speaker: June 10, 1872.
 Forty y-third-Republican Blaine. Speak CT. June 23 1874
 Forty-fourth Democratic; Randall; Speaker; August 15 1876.
 Forty-ffth Democratic; Randall. Speaker; June 20, 1878.
 Forty-sixth Democratic; Randall Speaker; June 16, 1880.
 Forty-seventh = Republican,; Keller Speaker; August 8. 1882.
 Forty-eighth Democratic; Carlisle, Speaker; July '. 1884
 Forty-ninth Democratic; Carlisle. Speaker; August 5, 1886.
 Fiftleth-Democratic Carlisle. Speaker October 20 1888.
 fty-hrst-Republican Reed. Speaker; October 1, 1890.
 Fifty-second-Dem Crisp, Speak CT; August 3, 1892.
 ty-third-Dernocratic; Crisp, Speak CT; August 2S. 1894.
 fty-fourth-Republican; Reed, Speak CT; June II, 1896.
 fty-ffth-Republican; Reed, Speaker; July 8, 1898.
 Fifty-sxth Republican,; Henderson, Speaker June !. 1900.
 Fifty -seventh-Repubican; Henderson, Speaker; July l, 1902.
 Fifty-eighth Republican,; Cannon, Speaker; April 2s CD, 1904.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-04-25
IN EVERY DAY LIFE ARE
 FOUND MANY HEROES

others unknown to them. Three very Eisvc rescues from water were attempt e1 by or 6-year-old boys. Thirteen cases were found of children who at- tempted to rescue persons from fire, three being of boys less than 6 years old. There wee two cases of boys who rescued chil- dren from being struck by trains. He says:
 N hen I came to estimate the cost to the long list of men, women and children who |, 6.rtook these varied kinds of res- cue. ! found an appalling catalogue or injuries concerning which it is obviously impossible to give accurate reports. More sadly definite is the roll of death. Of tne whole 717 one in every eleven lost his life in fl ying to save that of another ar. usually that one of stranger to L,n..
 Efforts to rescue the drowning gave the largest list of fatal results, chiefly because such attempts are the most fre- quent. Next in number came the deaths from fire, but the fatal results to res- cures from the rail were in proportion to their totality for the greatest Deaths from trying to stop runaways were few, but the number thus injured was large.
 'I like to add that In this long record of heroic conduct there were twelve at- temps to save the lives of dogs or cats or birds. not to mention more valuable animals '
 Discussing the motives that lead men to perform acts of heroism, Dr. Mitchell says:
 Having always been curious about this subject. I have many times asked men to tell me why they took such risks. Usually they replied that they did not know and were simply conscious that they must do the thing. One. man of unusual intelligence, said when thus questioned: I had a sense of queer mem tai confusion, and then l did it. l have never been able to feel that I had any conscious motive
 Tn the case of children the reply al- ways was: I don't know why. just had to do it. There something like the force of instinct in the act How strong was the impulse. how un- thinking the act, Is shown most strange ly by some of the cases where small boys who could not swim plunged into deep water to save the drowning" Dr. Mitchell then asks: Have children in the far past been like this? Or may we believe that it is the result of some thing contributed by generations of grad ual gain in altruistic tendencies? It can- | not be from education or precept or ex- l ample.'
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-04-25
UNCLE NED.

By Stephen c. Foster. There was an old darky, and his name
 was Uncle Ned, And he died long ago. long ago. He had no wool on the top of his head In the place where the wool ought to
 grow. Then lay down the shovel and the hoe, Hang up the fiddle and the bow; For there's no more work for poor old
 Ned,
 He's gone where the good darkies go. His fingers were long as the cane in the
 brake.
 And he had no eyes for to seel And he had no teeth for to eat hoe
 cake,
 So he had to let the hoe-cake be. One cold. frosty morning old Ned died. Massas tears they fell like the rain; For he knew when Ned was laid in the
 ground
 He'd never see his like again.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-04-25
Pursuit of Baldwin LYnchers.

III as he is, and distant as he is from home, Governor Jelks has all ready taken active steps to bring the Baldwin county lynchers to justice because the scene of the barbarsm is thirty or forty miles distant from rail- road or telegraph. Lynching has in fact been driven to the back districts where at times the people feel the need of a holiday of the Nero sort. They are even willing to fill a dead body with bullets in order to get it.
 If the sheriff of Baldwin county and the solicitor of the circuit of which that county is part do their full part, there will be no trouble in bring ing into court the men who have tram pied the laws of Alabama under their feet in the most inexcusable manner. A murder had been committed involy- ing no woman whatever. Governor Jelks has rendered, and stands ready to render them, together with the cir cult judge, all the aid he is master of as the chief executive of the state.
 He lies stricken with illness in a distant territory, where he is endeav. bring to recover his health, and he should not be distressed by the wretched outbreak of outlawery in Baldwin. He will not be if the local authorities do their full duty. If they connive at the escape of the lynchers our brave governor will see, in his present helplessness, much of his ad- mirable and efficient work against the lynching evil undone. The judge and solicitor of the circuit, and the sheriff of Baldwin county each have duties to perform in this case, and upon their action will now depend the decision as to whether the Baldwin lynchers shall be punished or go scott free. If they are punished the lynching evil will de out in Alabama; if they go unpunished this dangerous form of anarchy will thrive again in this state, and Governor Jelks' brave efforts will go for naught.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-04-25
Ship Canals Pay.

The canal age is returning, and Ship canals at least are projected yearly. This is largely due to the fact that well-located ship canals are prov ing profitable The income of the Suez canal is well known, and it bids fair to rise to even higher figures. The Suez canal is, however. exceptionally well placed, as our Panama canal will be. and the two do not constitute a sufficient answer to the question, Do Canals Pay?"
 The Manchester canal does however. It is an extension of the Mersey, about forty miles long. It is twenty six feet deep, and it cost just about $75,O00,000. It was opened in 1894, when the years tonnage was but 6S6,- 15S. It's traffic has steadily risen year by year, each year showing an in crease, until 1t stood in 1903 at 3,554,- 63e tons, or just about six times the tonnage of the opening year. The canal is now ten years old, and steps are being taken to deepen it to twenty-eight feet, and to build more locks.
 Tho canal has made Manchester a rival of Liverpool, and the latter is hastening to deepen her docks, and to improve in every other way her facili-
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-04-25
IN HOTEL LOBBIES
New Orleans Capitalists.

party of capitalists of New Orleans, including Hart Newman, spent yesterday in Birmingham They are interested in the Birmingham Railway. Light and Power company and in company with President Jemison, General Manager Emery and Superintendent Harris rode over the street ear lines in private ear. Mr. Newman visits Birmingham fre- quently and remarks the growth of the city every time he comes.
 New Orleans is growing more rapidly now than at any time in it's history said MT. Newman last night. "and Bir- mingham's strides are greatly in evil dence. New Orleans and Birmingham are pushing ahead faster, perhaps, than any two cities in the south great fu- ture for Birmingham is certainly as- sured "
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-04-25
QUEER WILLS.
om the New York Commercial.

From the New York Commercial.
 There have been many British will makers more eccentric than MT. MacCaig, the Oban banker whose last testament will shortly come under the consideration of the Edinburgh court of session. Mir. MacCaig. 1t may be remembered. left in structlons in his will that gigantic statues of himself his brothers and sisters, a round dozen in all, should be placed on the summit of a great tower that he had commenced to build on Battery IIill. near Oban-each statue to cost not less than f1.000
 much more whimsical testator was Mir Sanborn. who left e1000 to Professor Agassiz to have his skin converted into two drumheads and two of his bones into drumsticks. and the balance of his for tune to his friend, MT. Simpson. on con dition that on every seventeenth of June he should repair to the foot of Bunker Hill, and. the sun rose, beat on the drum the spirit stirring strain of Yankee Doodle.
 Mir. Snow left a sum of money to an eminent K. c. "wherewith to purchase a picture of a viper stinging his benefac- tor" as a perpetual warning against the sin of ingratitude.
 It was a rich brewer who bequeathed e3O.O00 to his daughter on condition that on the birth of her first child she should forfeit E20o0 to a specified hospital, f4- GOO on the birth of the second child, and so on by arithmetical progression until the H3O,Oo0 was exhausted.
 Sydney Dickenson left geo. 000 to his widow, who appears to have given him a bad time during his life, on condition that she should spend two hours a day at his graveside fin company with her sister. whom l know she loathes worse thnn she dneS myself -
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-04-25

ties as a port Boston already has a line to Manchester, and no doubt other cities will establish direct lines to the heart of Lancashire.
 The Manchester canal is earning over two million dollars a year, of which nearly a million dollars is net revenue Manchester is well pleased with it's huge investment, and the in dications now are that the canal will by the end of another decade meet the interest on its bonds, and earn even dividends on it's capital stock.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-04-25
TO RESTORE THE SPHINX.

From the New York Tribune.
 project Is on foot in Alexandria for restoring the sphinx near the great pyra- mid of Ghizeh to its original condition. Thick layers of soil completely cover the head of the monument, while the lower parts are obscured by aecumulatons of sand. It is proposed to clear all these aecumulations away and to clean the head completely. When the work has been completed the sphinx will once more appear in the grandeur of it's original proportions.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-04-25
COMMENTS ONMEN AND
 MATTERS OF THE WORLD
N 1cHARD B. sEwELL. man D typical of the old south, died
 - recently at his home in Raleigh,

R lcHARD B. sEwELL. man '" typical of the old south, died
 - recently at hls home in Raleigh, N. c. As the old man lay on his death- bed Harry Boykin. once his slave, lee hIe old darky. who is himself on the verge of the grave, stood by with tears in his eyes to bid "Marse Dick good bye During the last illness of MT se- well his former slave was devoted at- tendant in the sick room and it is relat- ed that he died murmuring the name of Harry" When the funeral was held the pail bearers were all former slaves of the dead man. It is seldom indeed that such striking incidents recall to memory the days that are gone by The affection of "Old Harry for "Marse Dick was of that quality often read about but faintly remembered by the younger generation who were boys and girls on the old plantation.
 The old saying, Limited we stand, di- vided we fall" could be applied very ap- propriately to Joseph Weber and Lew Fields, the impersonators and comedians. who have won international celebrity and earned a mint of money under the firm name of Weber & Fields. The partner ship has been dissolved but the public continues to speculate on the future prospects of these two men. whose names have been synonymous with laughter since their first venture as eo-stars in fun-making. It is probable that Weber will continue to manage the mu- sic hall in New York and Fields may play in a new burlesque theatre to be built for him by several Brooklyn busi- ness men, However. one cannot but have a misgiving that the fortunes of these two comedians will not shine so brightly now that they have parted as they did in the old halcyon days when Weber & Fields could charge anything for nothing and have the public pay glad ly. It Is often the case in the funny bus mess, as in other professions, that two heads are better than one.
 The Flatiron building is probably the most talked about structure just now in the whole world. There was a time when iue bfOohlyH DiluBe, the SIaIue or nD- erty, E1ffel tower. the leaning tower of Pisa, and Westminster abbey were often mentioned but all these wonders of the builders art have been cast in the shade by the towering, gawky, edifice so appro- priately called the Flatiron building There are more unique ventures matched in that huge colossus of steel and more accidents happening about it's base than any other building in the country. It's towering height seems to dominate the nations flock of skyscrapers so complete ly that one almost forgets that there are other and larger structure in New York as well as in Chicago. In addition to it's unique name, its great height, it's old proportions and it's central location the Flatiron building is said to snap in gale like a whip, but it is probable that only a few imaginative newspaper writ CTS have ever heard the report.
 The students of the University of Geor- gia have agreed to play no more baseball games on Memorial day and have set good example that should be followed by
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-04-25

the southern states was as follows:

In 1863 commission was appointed by the secetary of war to examine and re- port upon the condition of the recently emaneipated freedmen of the United States. This commission ascertained that the free colored persons of Louisiana in the year 1S6O paid taxes on an assessment of $13,O00,0OO.
 That statement is hard to believe, and yet it comes from an official source. AS mentioned above, the negro population of Louisiana at the time was 1s,647, which would indicate an average for each col ored free person property holding of s700 in 1860. Granting that this average was maintained throughout the south the free negroes of this section owned property at the beginning of the war aggregating $15O.000,0OO.
 We have no means of proving this, as the census reports of 1S60 obtainabe in this city do not give any information on this point; but the Louisiana exhibit is, at least, significant.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-04-25
REFLECTIONS OF A BACHELOR.
9 New York Press.

From the New York Press
 Men don't get half as tired of being married as women do of not being.
 A man is old when he discovers his wrinkles: woman when somebody else discovers hers.
 4 girl calls them stockings when she shows them to another girl, hose when she doesn't to a man
 Au optimist is a person who. if he were falling fl ten-story building would be happy because 1t wasn't twenty.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-04-25
MINERS AND OPERATORS.
le Rlocton Messenger.

From the Blocton Messenger.
 Some prominent miners and business men of the district have expressed the belief that there will be no trouble at all this summer in making satisfactory con tracts between operators and men. More cordial relations between the two have never existed before, If appearances count for anything
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-04-25
THE NEGROES WEALTH.
colored People Have Less Than They
 Did in 1863.

From the Richmond (Va.) Times.
 Giles Jackson made an interesting state ment before the congressional committee on industrial arts end expositions in his plea for an approprIation for a negro ex- hibit at the Jamestown exposition. But the exhibit Is not so fiattering. to the negro race as might at first blush ap- pear According to Jackson's statement, the negroes of the United States own farms and personal property valued at $2sS. .oOOoOO. The negro population is now about 100000 so that the property hold ings of the negro race as above are about $26 per capita.
 In 1860 the number of free negroes in
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-04-25
Horrible Brute.

From the Philadelphia Press.
 "Whatr demanded ner mother, you haven't left your husband?"
 Yes sobbed the wretehed young wife. The nsulted me-insulted me horribly"
 How? What?"
 I've were just having a little spat, and all of a sudden he said: oh, you women! You're all alike"