davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-04-19
Effect of the Primary.

The recent primary operated to merge the party of the populists with the democratic party, and the two are now one. Says the Geneva Reaper:
 Many former populists, seeing the ab- solute fairness of the new primary law, and having a desire to reunite with their old friends and neghbors. came In and voted In the primary. No questions were asked and no embarrassment fol- lowed. One old time populist remarked iocularly that "the democrats had been calling him a grand rascal long enough and that he was now coming back home,' and he did Many others came from different parts of the county"
 Under no other plan could this much desired consolidation of the white vote have been so efficiently and enduringly accomplished, for every populite who voted in the primary considers himself in honor bound to act with the demo- cratic party hereafter. He is a demo- crat, and as such he should be known and received.
 The consolidation of the white vote of the state is desirable. The only whites left outside of the democratic party are the republicans, and precious good care is taken by themselves to limit their number to the federal offices to be dealt out.
 The primary system becomes by the fact of consolidation impera- tive, because it keeps down fac tions and discomfort, and it gives all an equal voice in the control of the party. Factions and cliques are i'm possible under a primary system fairly conducted. The last legislature took the booths away, and it destroyed the secrecy of the ballot by requiring each ballot to be numbered and preserved, as well as the tally sheets. These devices of the politicians should be repealed The booths are great con venience alike in city and country, and the secrecy of the ballot is it's very essence. It Is not free ballot as long as rascals behind the scenes can examine every mans ballot.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-04-19
A CHICKEN HOME TO BOOST"

From the New York Commercial.
 Auditor Noble at Columbus, O., has re- ceved from Auckland, New Zealand, a $10 bank note issued fifty years ago by the Mahoning County Bank of Ohio, long since out of existence. The executor Of the estate writes that the bill was found in the effects of former Ohioan, and asks that it be converted into current coin Auditor Noble will present the bill to the auditor of the states office. The report of Auditor Gilbert shows that w.. s. Parmalee and others have on deposit in the state treasury a bond for s1O'0Oo to guarantee the outstanding circulation of the Mahoning bank 1t is expected that the redemption will be made easily. 9th CT old banks, the officers of which have deposited with the state treasurer secur- tiles in trust for the unredeemed circula- ton are: Commercial Bank of Cincin- natl, Dayton bank, Franklin Bank of Zanesville, Sandusky City bank and the Western Reserve bank. Their banknotes are seldom presented for payment
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-04-19
CAN'T MAKE THIS CATFISH EAT.
Aquarium Attache Has Backed His
 Brains for Months in Vain.
From the New York Times.

From the New York Times.
 If in all this city there Is a piscatorial expert who possesses prescription that will make catfish eat he will confer a great favor on the New York Geological society by communicating such knowl- edge as he possesses to MT. Spencer, who is in charge of the very big speci- men of the catfish family now on exhibi- tion at the aquarium. For nearly ten months Mir Spencer has been racking his brains for some plan that will make this catfish eat, but so far in all these months not mouthful has the cumbersome fel- low partaken of
 Since last July" said MT. Spencer yesterday, this fish, which Is a magnifi- cent specimen of the Mississippi cat. has been in a state of Information, and as yet he does not show the slightets sign of awakening to the fact that it is about time for him to take a little nourish- ment It Is a very unusual case of fast ing, since, unlike other fish who are hi- bernators 1t is apparently unaffected by the temperature of the water. Other hi- bernators will cease eating when cold weather seas in, and so remain until the warm weather reappears, but this fish quits at the most unheard-of tmes as is proved by the month of cessation in his case.
 Several times of late I've tried to make this fish eat, but no matter how tempting the morsel, from a fish stand point, he refuses to even notice 1t. and from present indications he stands a good show of going a full year without tasting a bite of food of any kind. How ever, he will eventually walks up to the seriousness of his predicament, and as he retains, so far as appearances show. his weight and healthy looks, there is little doubt but that he will be all right and make up for lost time when the day of fasting ends."
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-04-19

would still leave Arizona enough terri tory to take in Italy, leaving out Sar- dinia.
 As for the British Isles, we could stow them away in New Mexico and have to spare afterwards The dual empire of Austro-Hungary would be more diff ficult matter to deal with, and in order to give it elbow room we should have to devote the State of Colorado and Oregon to it and then borrow forty-three thous- and square miles from Washington, which would still leave Washington room in which to put the kingdom of Servia and have enough left over for fair sized state.
 The kingdom of Roumania could bt placed in Arkansas with about five thousand square miles to spare, and Bull garia would have more than enough room in Oklahoma.
 Turkeys possessions in Europe are about as large as Missouri, and Norway could be placed into the two Dakotas with lots of room left over. The pieces left over iron. the curious states and territories mentioned Sould be more than enough to make an area as large as Denmark and the other odds and ends of non-Russian Europe not mentioned. But if we did not want 10 spare so much territory in the western states and ter ritories we could economize by placing Germany, France, Italy and Belgium up in Alaska, and the British Isles could be distributed among the Philippines, Hawaii and Porto Rico.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-04-19
RUSSIAN TERRITORY
Constitutes one-seventh of the Globes
 Land Surface.

From the American Boy.
 Few persons realize how vast is the area of the Russian empire. Into that enormous country you could put all or non-Russian Europe and yet only take up little more than one-eighth of the czar's domains Then you could add the United States, including Alaska, and still have almost enough territory left to place Canada in. In fact, the Russian empire comprises one-seventh of the land surface of the globe.
 Though not comparable in extent or territory with the empire of the czar the United States seems of enormous area when compared with the European countries other than Russia. /
 The state of Texas alone would take in Germany, Greece. Holland and Switz- erland and still have room to spare. Bel gium would simply be lost In the Maine woods. In fact, youl could put two Bel eiums into the State of Maine and have A state left nearly as large as New Jersey.
 France could be slowed away up in Montana and Wyoming with enough territory left over to take in Portugal. Sweden would fit into California with lots of room to spare, and Spain would almost. but not quite. fit into Nevada and Idaho.
 To make Spain comfortable we should have 10 borrow about four thousand square miles from Arizona. but that
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-04-19
IN HOTEL LOBBIES
Street. Torn Up.

The streets of your city are always torn up," remarked a gentleman yester- day who is a frequent visitor to Bir- mingham. "The streets in every city are torn up at times. but 1t appears to me as If your streets are scarcely completed be- fore they are torn up by the electric gas or water works companies or by con tractors erecting new building, l suppose 1t is necessary but it would be great convenience to the people if more of this underground work could be done at one time.
 New buildings are going up and the adjacent pavements are reconstructed. New suburbs are being opened up, and new streets are in course of construction. Greater Birmingham is being drawn closer together every day and the public will have to put up with street excava- ton for some time to come. It is after all unmistakable evidence of growth and material progress"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-04-19
PIONEER POSTMAN.
He Had to nill Sixteen Wild Boars On
 One Trip.

From the Cleveland Plain Dealer
 In the early days of Medina county # became the custom for the men of a set tlement about thirty miles from the near est postoffce, which was Cleveland, to take turns In going once week for mail medicines and such light, compact sup plies as they could carry. The journey required a day each way. One pioneer while going towards Cleveland. found himself surrounded by O great drove of wild hogs, which swarmed in the forests at that time. They were little less dan gerous than the wild boar of Europe and Asia, and the volunteer mail carrier hur- ried to the upturned roots of tree which had been blown down. On the top of the roots he found safe perch, about fif~ teen feet from the ground, but he had little time to spare. Old boars champed their tusks around him and tired to scramble m the roots. He carried rifle. as a matter of course, and had plenty of ammunition, but he was delayed greatly in shooting his way to liberty by the fraud which was then often practiced by dealers in the percussion pills" used n old fashioned gunlocks. He was forced to trv nbout eight or ten of these pills" to fire his rifle once, because there were far more mustard seeds and turnip seeds in his stock of primings than anything elsei But when he had killed sixteen big boars the wild hogs fled and the long walk to Cleveland was finished withou. further delay.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-04-19
MT. comer's Party.

The Montgomery Journal wants a change, no matter what. Any change is better than no change. It antici- mates even a Conner party and Conner regime, for 1t says:
 MT. Conner, having ambition, haVins the courage, having the audaeity and the holdness to dare and to do, will endeavor tn carry out every promise he and his sr,ends have made to the people. This ,naans that the agitation which he has nrecipitated has merely begun, and the apht is on in this state. He will continue to keep up his organization to make 1t even stronger, and to that end he must exercise an influence in state politics. That he will, encoura ged by the forces he believes are behind him. and that appear to he behind him, exert that influence with an iron will may be accepted as a fact.
 JAS the Journal said few days ago. Mr Corners nomination and election. which will follow his nomination, means A reformation of party lines reorgan- ization of the party with new leaders ana a new order of things in this state. It remains to be seen whether the old lead era will be content to take back seat, or surrender to MT. Conner and become full-hedged members of MT. Comer's poli- tical forces after fighting him as bitter ly as they have done in the past cam paisn."
 The Journal predicts the coming of new leaders and new order of things. It would perhaps welcome change nr changes sake. But it's anticipa-
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-04-19
About Persons.

w. F. Aldrich of Aldrich, one of Presi- dent Roosevelts referees for Alabama, is at the Hilman.
 P. B. Pepperman of Dadeville is stop ping at the St. Nicholas.
 Henry F1tts of Tuscaloosa is at the Morris.
 G. B. Hobson of Richmond, Va. Is at the IIillman.
 Phil Painter. private secretary to Cap tain Richmond Pearson Hobson, is in the city for few days.
 II. P. Martin of Cincinnati is at the St. Nicholas.
 Colonel w. M. Lackey of Dadeville is stopping at the Morris
 w. A. Thayer of Montgomery is in the city.
 M. D. Block of Mobile is at the Hill man.
 F. H. Miller one or the proprletorS ol the Montgomery Journal Is in the city.
 John M. wingtield of New York is reg istered at the St. Nicholas.
 w. c. Davis. city attorney of Jasper, Is at the Morris.
 J. R. Rose of New York is in the city. J. M Blake of Selma and G. R. Little of Tuscaloosa are in the city
 The Rev. Dr. P. T. Hale of Owensburg, Ky, formerly pastor of the First Bap- tist church of this city and president of the board of trustees for Howard college, is in the city and will remain here for a day or two.
 The Rev. Father O'Brady is in the city. J. H. Fells, superintendent of the Cen tral Foundry company of Anniston is in the city.
 Captain Richmond P. Hobson was in Birmingham yesterday morning for few hours and received many of his friends. who congratulated him on his wonderful race in the Sixth district, notwithstand- ing the fact that he was defeated. It is understood that Captain Hobson has closed a contract to deliver several lec- lures in New England within the next thirty days.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-04-19
Soldiers Home.

The work on the main building of the Confederate veterans home at Noun tain Creek will soon be completed and then Alabama will have one of the best soldiers homes in the south," said Capt. J. M. Falkner. the other day.
 "Only about s500 is needed to put on the finishing touches We have at Mountain Creek fourteen houses, all told, and they are neat comfortable Fifty old vets are now at the home and more will be re- ceived. It is estimated that there are in Alabama today about 200 indigent vete- rans who should be cared for. Most of these will find their way to Mountain Creek"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-04-19
From the New York Sun.

From the New York Sun.
 EN RS. LYDIA KINGSMILL COM I\Vl WANDER, in discussion of the race suicide ques- lion in the Independent, calls attentloh to a cause which is operating against the large family.
 It is the unwillingness of landlords in New York for example, to rent apart ments or flats to tenants who have large families. After many investigations into the subject, she finds that as rule New York landlords have decided preJ- udices against children" She tells of six real estate agents controlling the renting apartment houses in the upper west side of the town who practically refused to take more than two children, and plainly indicated that even they were not desired"
 As a consequence, in house on the Boulevard containing sixty families oc- cupying apartments renting from $400 to $500, there were only five children. In an- other. where the rents were higher, there were only six children in forty families In still another there was only one child among thirty-five families. Altogether and found that in the 4S5 families occu- pying them there were just 54 children, or only one child to every nine families.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-04-19
WHERE A LARGE FAMILY
 IS A GREAT ADVANTAGE

These were housese where the tenants were people who must have had incomes ranging from 5000 to $600O a year. But she found the same state of things in the less expensive fathouses. For example, the ianitor of one with fifteen flats rent ing from s16 to SIS a month proudly assured me there was not child in the house."
 Why landlords of costly flat and apart ment houses object to children Is obvious enough, and from their point of view the objection is not unreasonable. The wear and tear are greater when there are many children. A childless couple always has the preference, other things being equal The first question usually asked an applicant family is as to the number of children. A man whose brood is large has difficulty in hiring a desirable home in New York.
 The circumstances that landlords have adopted such rule of exclusion is proof that the number of families with few or no children is now great enough to furnish them with a sufficient supply of the sort of tenants they prefer. If fami- lies were not generally small, landlords would not be able to enforce the rule without losing the rent of their apart ments and flats.
 Mrs Commander has touched on mat ter of very serious social importance.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-04-19
uRALITE, A NEW INVENTION.

From the Dietetic and Hygienic Maga-
 zine.
 Have you ever heard of uralite? Prob ably not, for 1t is new invention. It is the invention of a Russian artillery officer and chemist named Imschenet- sky, and it's claim to distinction lies in the fact that it is absolutely freproof fUralite is composed of asbestos fibre with a proper proportion of silicate, bi- carbonate of soda and chalk. In a soft form a sheet of uralite is like an asbestos board when hard it resembles finely sawn stone and has a metallic ring. Be- sides being a non-conductor of heat and electricity, 1t is practically waterproof and is not affected by the acids contain ed in smoke in large towns which de- stroy galavanized iron. Moreover, it can be cut by the usual carpenter or wood- workers tools; it can be veneered to form panelling for walls or partitions; 1t can be painted, grained, polished and glued together like wood; it does not split when nail Is driven through it.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-04-19
UNITED STATES PEOPLE
 ARE THE REAL AMERICANS

handed their censorious brethren more than one back by calling the latter 'Praying Johns." "Puritans" and lastly Yankees" an Indian conception of the word English or of the French term Anglais Both virginians and New Englanders proved themselves true Americans when it came to fight shoulder to shoulder for national inde- pendence.
 The people of the United States are entitled to be named Americans for the strongest of reasons. They were the first in this hemisphere to think and to act continentally. At a congress of twenty eight delegates, representative of all the colonies except Virginia, New Hamp- shire and North Carolina and Georgia. held in New York October, 1765, Christo- pher Gadsden, a member from South Carolina, exclaimed in one of the de- bates There ought to be no New Englander, no New Yorker, no Virginian, no Carollnian known on the continent but all of us Amercans!"
 When the thirteen colonies finally or ganized for effectice resistance to Eng" land, Canada was invited to fall into line, and, failing to do so, was invaded. The invasion was failure as to imme- diate territorial results, but confirmed the title of the liberty-loving colonlsts to the name of American. It made them the promoters and defenders of liberty on this continent, ready to extend its blessings to all other peoples on this hemisphere, which it proposed to make the home and sanctuary of popular self government.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-04-19
GREAT RUSSIAN ARTIST
 WHO WAS LOST ON SHIP

Hest work exhibiting the curious attrac- ton toward the ghastly which he mani fested throughout his life.
 The artist saw much more fighting than most soldiers. In the Russo-Turk- ish war he was wounded so seriously that his life was despaired of He serv- ed as a volunteer with the Russian expe- dition to Samarcand He accompanied the British troops in the South African campaign against the Boers. and he took part in the expedition in China in 19OO,. AS soon as the war between Rus sla and Japan began he was hurrying to the front
 verestchagin made various visits to America and in 1887 showed in this coun- try his terrible pictures of the Indian mutiny, including the representation Of the blowing of rebels from the cannon's mouth perhaps the best known work he ever executed. This picture was also shown in London, where the word sen sation hardly conveys the immense im- presson 1t created.
 The exhibition of Verestchagin's pie lures in this city in 1902 gave an excel lent idea of the painters strength and weakness. The generality of the works shown were interesting on account of their subjects alone, but there were one or two canvases which showed clever col bring and chiaroscuro that 1t hardly seemed possible that they were painted by the same man.
 Verestchagin's personality was charming one Hhe made friends where ever he went, and. as might be expected, his stock of anecdotes seemed inexhaust- ible He was over six feet tall, with big hazel eyes and a patriarchal beard.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-04-19
A DOCTORS SIMPLE CURE.

From the London Leader.
 Somewhere upon British soil there is young doctor who has with in the last few days learned a lesson which should be invaluable to him in his flu ture practice. Having accompanied his betrothed to a theatre, while the house was in semi-darkness she sud- denly complained of feeling faint. The doctor took something out of his pocket and whispered to her to keep the tabloid" in her mouth, but not to swallow it. She did as she was told and soon felt all right again. The tab let, however, showed no signs of dis solving, and, in the end, being curious to discover what the tasteless, indiS- soluble substance that had proved so efficacious could be, she slipped the undiminished substance into ne- glove for future inspection. When she got home she took it out of her glove and examined it. It was a bone glove button
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-04-19
THE ONLY DAILY NEWSPAPER IN ALABAMA.
Lead-fac'd Envy In her loathsome cave.
 --2 King Henry VI.
The Aoe-HeraId Is In receipt of a

The Age-Herald Is In receipt of communication from Gordo, Ala, stat Ing that a party giving hls name as Fred T. Johnson Is collecting money on subscriptions to The Age-Herald and the New York World, representing himself as an agent for these two papers.
 The AsSHerald has no such agent, and takes this method of warning sub scribers and others to pay no money to this party on Its account.
 Any information furnished US where by thIs party can be apprehended will be appreciated.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-04-19

NN ANADIAN papers object to the
 S people of the United States call
 O ing themselves to the exclusion of all other inhabitants of the Western Hemisphere Americans" The colonial papers tax us with impudence for as- suming a name so gloriousy continental and comprehensive. The colonsts pro- fess great regard for all things British in origin or manufacture. The name Americans" applied to the people of the United States, is of distinctively British origin. In all the debates in the British parliament referring to the English colonies-America-the people of the latter were invariably entitled Amer icans Pitt and Burke and Fox so spoke of them. So also are the colonists termed in English official documents. and in the letters of British representatives on this side of the Atlantic. The British press, people and parliament still speak of the inhabitants of the United States as Americans. So, also, are we termed by French, Germans, Spaniards, Italians and Russians.
 The term Yankee has a mere local application It was applied by the Brit ish soldiery during the revolutionary war to all Americans, but 1t has never stuck except as a auip at New England man. nerisms Virginians were in colonial times the butt of their more prayerful northern brethren for seeming ungodli- ness. The New Englanders called the people of the Old Dominion "Rakehel- lies term certainly expressive of un- righteous ancestry. The Virginians
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-04-19
ARI-HM ETC.

Clifton Bingham in Pearson's Weekly. When I was ten and you were eight, Two years between us stood, We used to meet by Daddy's gate A stolen kiss was good. When I was twenty-quite boy,
 You still were my hearts queen, But grown of kissing somewhat coy, You see-you're quiet sixteen! When I was thirty, bronzed and tall, With sweethearts. too, in plenty I met you at the Wilson's ball.
 You told me you were twenty. I'm forty now. a little more
 Oh, Time, you ruthless bandit! But you-you're only twenty-four-
 I cannot understand 1t.