davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-11-07
MEXICO AND JAPAN.

From the Mexican Herald.
 It is suggestive to consider the relations of Mexico to the new power in tie far east. Mexican diplomacy early made a notably liberal treaty with Japan, and that convention has been followed by a treaty with China. In a word, Mexico with great sagacity prepared the way for useful relations with the rising pow CTS across the Pacific. One can ina zine many new conditions in the Pacific ocean thirty years hence; Japan, with a power full fleet, will insist on keeping a balance of power there, and China, led by Japan will reinforce this demand. The friendly Oriental nations will desire the prosperity and independence of Mexico, a nation with racial base similar to theirs. Mexico opens her doors to Oriental immi- grafton, because she needs labor, and can assimilate the Asiatics better than the northern nations of the continent. Thus a new link is forged in the great chain which wise diplomacy began. It is well that Mexico should extend her friend ships, that she should enlarge her circle of relationships. She has her own des- tiny to work out.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-11-07
HOLIDAY BOOKS.
From the Providence Journal.

From the Providence Journal.
 It is not unnatural that the enormous number of new books published every year should be a subject of complaint Lovers of the best in literature realize the value of the classics and regret that these are neglected; and they also un- derstand that the ephemeral volumes of the hour do not, to say the least, assist in the preservation of high standard of taste. But 1t is easy to exaggerate both aspects of the question. This time of year is the busiest for the publishers and book sellers; and, although the demand for trash is abundantly supplied, the useful books, old or new, still make their way. The character of the specifically holiday publications has distinctly changed for the better in recent years, The gift book" still survive in an altered form it Is usually poetry or fiction accompanied with superfuous illustrations-but it has fallen to a minor place. The idea of some thing that will do for the library shelves rather than the drawing room table pre- vails with most publishers
 One consequence of this is an increased circulation for the classics which so many critics have fancied to be scorned, There are great writers 1t is true, who have not yet come into their own with the mass of readers. Perhaps they never will. No universal law can be prescribed even for the most intelligent, who are forced to pick and choose for themselves. and who need not be ashamed. after all. of preferring Wordsworth to Shelley or Dryden to Milton. And if the sincerest lovers of Shakespeare wish that his great contemporaries were more widely known, they may still console themselves with the knowledge that he Is "a bigger seller than Mir. Caine or Miss Coreuui. The ed- tions of his plays of every size and at every price can hardly be numbered. and the sales run into hundreds of thousands
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-11-07
The Stock Market.

Henry Clews in his Wall street letter of Saturday says:
 'sAs to the future of the market, grant ing all that has been claimed regarding the effects of a profitable harvest, of business improvement, of easy money, of increased railroad earnings and other favorable features, such as the activity in iron and copper, it must be recognized that these have been amply discounted. On their merits the majority of good stocks are really high enough, some in fact are too high, and bargains are scarce if not entirely absent. At the same time the speculative spirit has been thor oughly aroused and is being skillfully nursed by those who still have stocks in plenty to sell.
 The big banking houses are also in- terested in preventing any serious de- cline. There is an excellent investment demand for good securities, demonstrated by the rapid absorption of recent bond issues and affording bankers a desirable opportunity for carrying out long defer red plans The next few weeks may con seouently witness the Notation of num- Der of new issues if conditions continue favorable so that the operations or our leading financiers naturally make them as much averse to any important reac- tion as to any rampant speculation The market thus seems in an exceptionally satisfactory condition. having the double advantage of national prosperity and the restraining power of powerful bankers who are more vitally interested in legiti- mate and successful national development than in hazardous speculative enter prises'
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-11-07
PRETENDERS TO BRAZIL'S
 THRONE LIKE NEW YORK

there are so many more than fine coun- try houses.
 Boston IS a fine city. with an atmos- phere that seemed to us quite peculiar to it. The people seem older there, some how, than in other cities we have visited and the Bostonians seem very proud of their history.
 Chicago Is big and bustling, but it ap- pealed to us less than either New York. Boston or Philadelphia. We were there for the horse show, and fine show 1t was"
 Yes" said Prince Antoine, i've saw there the American harness horse on his native heath and he Is a fine animal You know we have been importing Amer ican harness horses to Austria, and trot- ting races. American style, are feature of our sport"
 "We found it rather hard" resumed Prince Louis, getting on in Chicago. Some times we couldn't we'll understand the vernacular, that Is the vernacular of the streets and the cars and the hotels. They use 50 many Americanisms there what you call slang and we call patois-- we could not understand 1t. They are difficult your Americanisms.
 Prince Louis is 26 years old and Prince Antoine 23. Both are fair haired, blue eyed, about feet 10 in height and well set up. Both speak English with only a slight accent, as they do French, Span ish, Portuguese, German and Hungarian. Louis was born In Brazil and Antoine in Paris, where their father and mother are now living. Louis is first lieutenant in the Fifth regiment of Austrian hussars, and Antoine, lieutenant in the Sixth.
 It is a mistaken notion that the young men are of the line of pretenders to the throne of France. They are. rather, pre- l tenders to the throne of Brazil. Should the empire ever be restored in Brazil, the elder of the two young men, Prince Pierre d'Alcontara, would be the heir to the throne from which Dom Pedro was driven. The whole family is now banish- ed from Brazil. but Prince Louis thinks that the restoration will come some day.
 ''The people of Brazil" hs said yester- day. were much better off under the em- pire than under the republic, and the country was more prosperous. For ex- ample: In the last year of the empire the standard of value In Brazil was 27 cents, gold It went down to cents and now 1t Is 12 cents. Our friends there, who may of course. be prejudiced, say that the people will ask for the empire enc day. When they call, our house will answer"
 The father of the young men was a cousin of the late Compte de Paris and they are second cousins of the Due d. i Orleans.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-11-07
IN ARDEN.

By Ella Picton. So you've never been in Arden, never
 breathed the haunted air, Heard the horn of Amiens ringing blithe-
 ly through the forests fair; Never read the names engraven on the
 oaks that fairies knew Never been in Shakespeare's Arden?
 We'll so much the worst for you! Will you tell me that you have never trod
 an Arden of your own, Where were rainbow mists, and fairies,
 and wild roses scarcely blown; Where ones wishes all were granted!
 An, you dare not answer No, For you, too, have lived in Arden, long
 ago. long, long ago. Now, the gates are shut and bolted-the
 Death Angel keeps the key And no ray of fairy sunshine ever reaches
 you or me. Yet be peace with that fair woodland;
 thither come no storm nor snow; Be it's coverts green and goodly, as we
 left them long ago There no tempest ever mutters; there
 dead hopes bud our again; Bud and bloom as fresh as ever under
 April sun and rain. There we know our lost lives finger,
 young and beautiful and gay. In that happy wood of Arden. whither we
 have lost the way.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-11-07
New York and Philadelphia,

New York city contains a greater population than the thirteen colonies did at the end of the revolutionary war. It's registered voters number 6S7,661, or more than those in half dozen of states of average size.
 But the size of Greater New York need not trouble us. What does con- cern us all is the contrast between the registered voters of the boroughs of Manhattan and Bronx--old New York and Philadelphia. In the latter the republicans have opened the door to all possible election frauds, whereas in New York republican legislature watches the democratic metropolis closely and rigidly. Here is the result:
 Registered
 Population. voters,
 1900. 1904. Philadelphia 1.2ss,097 SsOs4S New York ................ 2,050,507 391 02l The Philadelphia Record does not hesitate to say that the registration of one vote for every three of population in it's city invites fraud and protects 1t as It was intended to do. The regis tration in Manhattan and Bronx bor- oughs is full to limit, and yet but one vote is registered out of five of population The Record puts the fraudulent registration in Philadelphia at 130,000. The laws of Pennsylvania are framed by republicans to foster anu cover up ballot box frauds. Per sonal registration is not required in Pennsylvania; it is in New York.
 Chairman Penrose is boasting that Roosevelt and Fairbanks will carry Pennsylvania by 315,000 plurality. The figures could just as well be carried to a round hs.f million under the loose- jointed laws of Pennsylvania-laws de. vised to promote frauds at the ballot box and to hide them after they are committed. No other state is so rot ten in election machinery as Pennsyl- vania, and no other state has such arbitrary bosses, and no other state inoulges in so mucL corrupt legislation. The cities of Pennsylvania are the rot tenest in a country and period char aoterized by corrupt city governments. This is republicanism in the concrete.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-11-07
Carl schurz.

From the New York Evening Post.
 One of the meanest republican per formances of this campaign has been deliberate personal attack upon MT. Carl Schurz in a widely distributed appeal to the Germans with many well known signatures attached. Most of the men who actually signed it. we prefer to be- leve, did so as most people sign appeals and petitions-at the solicitation or friends and without stopping to read. But it ought to bring deep feeling of regret and shame to men like Arthur von Briesen, Jacob Schiff, Isaac N. Selig- man and Ernst Thalman to find that they inadvertently appended their names to the statement that MT. Schurz has "changed his politics as often as his res- idence," and that he "only had to pocket the reward held out to him for his tenn porary fidelity to a cause or a party" We say inadvertently appended, for no men realize better than those we have mentioned MT. Schurz's unswerving devo- ton to principle. no matter what it costs him in abuse and misapprehension. We are glad to learn from the Staats-Zeitung of today that a large number of the al- legged signers of the appeal deny having put their names to it; that others have written their apologies to Mr. Schurz, and that still others are keenly mortified at the position in which they have been placed by their own carelessness.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-11-07
Short-arm'd ignorance.
 -Troilus and cresslda.
For the Orphans.

The last great work of the lamented Father O'Reilly was the establishment of an orphanage at East Lake, and he lived to see it well filled with helpless little folks. Today it holds and cares for about seyenty-fye orphans, gath cred from all parts of the Birmingham district, from all denominations and from all classes of the white popula- tion. The tables published by Father Coyle show that in point of fact more children born of Protestant parents are sheltered there than of children from Catholic homes. The Sisters of Charity in charge of the Home draw no lines except those of need and suf- fering Creed is out of place when little child is hungry, cold or homeless.
 The Sisters get no pay-just plain subsistence. A few clothes and the table of the Home is all the pay they receive, and they stand ready to work increasingly and patiently and devot- edly for the children, and the good people of this prosperous city ire spective of creed should see that the Sisters are supplied with enough money to sustain the orphanage Monthly deficits should be abolished The Age-Herald asks every thoughtful! citizen to visit the orphanage at East Lake, where he will be wsrTnly vel comed. He will sec enough there to open his heart and his purse to the needs of an excellent and desirable institution. Father Coyle puts the value of the orphanage plainly before us, when he says:
 In an institution ike the orphange, the number of the children is constantly changing. Some times a mother is taken sick, her little ones are neglected, until the mother reeovers. Again, a house Is
 
 to be cared for until another home can be secured A husband loses his wife by death. What must he do with his child ren? Place them in the orphange at least for a time. Then a poor widow has to work to support herself. What can ren? Place them in the orphanage at care for? Cases like these are of con- stant occurance. Then, there are many children who have no parents.
 Birmingham would be incomplete without such an institution, and mod crate contribution monthly from Greater Birmingham would put it on q firm foundation, and render well-nigh one hundred children securely comfort able and happy.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-11-07
From the Brooklvn ragle


 N HE fine and dignihed performances 9Y of "Parsifal" in English which
 Henry ". Savage's company is giving at the New York theatre throw a vivid light on the fondness of a consider able part of the New York public for humbug and false pretenses in their gab ble about "art" Last year this work was given in German at the Metropolitan opera house for the first time outside of Bayreuth The opposition of the Wagner family, who thus saw their monopoly invaded was natural and sincere, but it was worked up in this country with a skill that would have done justice to Vincent Crummles or to that Crummles in real life, the late P. T. Barnum. Even clergymen and bishops were hauled in to throw fuel upon MT. Conrieds advertis- ing fire "Parsifal' became the topic of the hour. The performances were under those circumstances, an enormous suc- cess. People stood up literally by thou sands for hours to witness it. and wo- on them by the mad desire to be in the mob. The performances were good. They were given in as exact imitation of the customs of Bayreuth as was possible. even to imposing a dinner between the acts upon the attendants. The enter prise was credtable in every way to MT. Conried. and there is no desire to dispar- age him or the results he achieved. But with the enormous audiences which he drew at almost prohibitive prices, a stranger would have believed that there was a deep-seated desire in this city to hear "Parsifal," and love for Wag- ner's music which amounted almost tc worship. That impression prevailed even among experienced theatrical managers and MT. Savage's production of the work Is one of the results.
 As to the extent of this devotion tc Wagner and "Parsifar' that manager is likely to be undeceived. He is giving
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-11-07
SOME CAUSTIC REMARKS
 ON NEW YORK HUMBUG

performances that compare very favora- bly, with those at the Metropolitan. If his singers are less famous his stage pictures are much more beautiful and illusory. his chorus sings with better tone and tune. his stage management is quite as impressive as that at the Metropolitan and his auditorium is small enough so that delicate effects are not swallowed up in space. Above all the work is sung in English, which makes 1t possible to follow it without libretto or long pre- vious preparation, and the prices put the work in the reach of music lovers of moderate means. Under those circum- stances a. stranger would have expected to see the theatre packed to suffocation Ire price which thousands paid to stand in the Metropolitan will command a good seat for these performances. But while the theatre seats are we'll filled there are no standees and no evidences of ex- citement in the attendance. That is be- cause MT Savage is giving "Parsifal' and leaving out the humbug. The Wag- ner family has not uttered a protest no clergyman has cried, Spare us the blood" over this English representation of the Grail, there has been no hubbub of ad- vertisement Boston, which is really mus ical, took up this performance as eagerly as New York did to those in German. That is in part of course because the work was new there. but also because Boston knows music. New York knows fashion. It will flock wherever its petted darlings of the Society columns" are to be seen, whether it be to "Parsifal" a horse show or an automobile race. Where i those notables are absent the throngs which live on false pretenses of culture and refinement will not trouble them selves to be seen. There ought to be genuine music lovers enough in New l York to make these performances of 1 "Parsifal'' a success, without the rabble Of humbugs who follow in the wake of 1 fleeting greatness. This is the oppor- tunity to make a real acquaintance with the work which Wagner called his mas l terpiece.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-11-07

Out ot 137 votes so must be secured Ii Judge Parker is to be placed in the White House. The landslide of 1900 must be repeated, but it must be turned into the democratic canyon this time if the hopes of the democracy are to be fulfilled.
 The pest hope of the democratic party lies in the confessed harmony that is supreme in the party. Not since the days of Samuel J. Tilden and Gro yer Cleveland has the party been so well knit together and so confident of victory. Democrats who stayed at home in 1896 and 1900 are focking to 1dard, and the men who fol. lowed William Jennings Bryan through two hopeless campaigns are standing up to Judge Parker, following in that respc MT. Bryan himself If to a solid democracy be joined the inde pendent vote of the country, no one
 ed despair of carrying at least part
 he twelve contested states.
 most hopeful combination il
 to be New York, West Vir
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-11-07
WORDS OF SYMPATHY.

From the Mobile Register.
 The death of Mrs. E. ". Barrett, wife of the editor of the Birmingham Age Herald, brings grief to the friends of that estimable woman. She cast a be- nign influence over an extended radius and was endowed with virtues which en- deared her to a very large number of people in this state and throughout the south. MT. Barrett is assured of the sincere sympathy of his colleagues of the Alabama press in his bereavement.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-11-07

g.nia, Delaware, Indiana, Colorado, Ne vada. Utah and Montana-7s votes Two more votes are needed, and we may get them in Wyoming or ldao. We may get them in New Jersey or Connecticut. Even Little Rhody may 20 democratic as she has done in the last two years.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-11-07
NATIONAL POLITICS.
Hobson In Wheeling.


 From the Wheeling Registet of Nov. f Capt Richmond Pearson Hobson, the hero of the Merrimac," delivered at the Carroll club auditorium last night the ablest and most effective speech on national issues heard in Wheeling dur ing the campaign. His explanation of the tariff, md his advocacy of the demo- cratic position In favor of a revision, was particularly lucid, logical and convincing. His arraignment of Roosevelt for usur- nation of the rights and powers of the legislative department of the government. and his fiagrant disregard of the const- tuition was scathing. He spoke from the standpoint of a good citizen, rather than A partisan, arG his speech was notably free of bitterness and abuse. He was always earnest and forcible, at times elo- ouent. His speech differed from that of Charles Emory Smith in that Hobson presented an argument, while Smith dealt merely in high-soUnding generalities. Smith asserted and denied Hobson did both and ir addition, proved Smith play ed to the galleries; Hobson appealed to the intellect.
 The two types do not represent the difference in the men, but they are fair illustration of the difference in the campaign methods of the two parties.
 Captain Hobson was given a splendid reception. The meeting considering the fact that the first announcement was made in the papers yesterday morning was little short of remarkable. The marching clubs, headed by Meister' band, gave a short parade, and when the l column reached the Carroll club, the au- ditorium was already packed to its great est capacity.
 Captain Hobson's personality is mag netic. He is of athletic build, and SC splendidly proportioned that his height Is not apparent until he is surrounded by a crowd There is about his physical ap. pearance much to suggest the splendid training given by Uncle Sam to fit hi' sons for service in the army and navy Eis face is smooth, and within few years he will be bald. His voice i. strong, and the feature of his deliver, which is most impressive, is his earn egtness He indulged in no sarcasm oi ridicule, and told no jokes. His style O delivery Is somewhat like that of VII liam J. Bryan. After he had spoken { few minutes. he had control of his au dience and robody left until he had com peted his speech, at about 1O:2o o'clock.
 He made no play for the exclamation of his audience but the enthusiasm wa very pronounced.
 After the meeting scores walked up t the platform to shake hands with tn speaker. His right hand was injured but the left was kept busy for fifteel minutes.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-11-07
Parker the Winner.

A great many people pin their faith to the New York Heralds election forecasts but if the Herald conceeds It's inability to tell how New York state is going next Tuesday, how can it predict with any de- gree of confidence how any other doubt ful state Is going, or who will be elected President?" remarked M. Well.
 The Herald gives Connecticut, New Jersey, West Virginia and Indiana to Roosevelt. It might on the same principle give New York to Roosevelt, as those states are easier for the democrats to carry than New York. The way it looks to me and the way it doubtless looks to the Herald, Parker will get New York, and if Parker gets New York he is elected, for the same sentiments prevail in Connecticut, New Jersey, West Vir- ginia and Indiana as prevail in New York.
 T feel now just as I did when I made my forecast for The Age-Herald on No yember 2. Parker is to be the winner"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-11-07
Visit the Woods.

'I spent a few hours yesterday morn- ing in the woods, and enjoyed myself" said professional man yesterday after noon. That is one of the finest things in the world, and all of us should, when ever we have an opportunity, take a stroll through the country. Around Bir- mingham the woods, especially at this season of the year, are beautiful.
 ''If you want to have an hour or two of real recreation, go over toward North Birmingham. Board a Twelfth avenue car and go out to Twenty-ninth street. In three minutes time you will be right in the woods, and if it was not for the noise of the furnaces and railroads nearby you could easily imagine that you were in the country fifty miles away from this hustling city of ours.
 "Go to the woods, and take off your coat and throw up into the trees, and knock down some hickory nuts. You will enjoy it and the exercise will do you good Then two or three ripe persim- mons will not hurt you, and they are fine now. Get one or two young boys to go with you, for they can show you where the best nuts and the largest persim- mons are. If you can, get a dog to fol- low you along. He will add to the sport"