davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-10-02

the fee paid for performing marriage ceremony Is wholly dependent upon the generosity of the bridegroom, and there fore it may be a surprise to learn that in several states the law has hand in the matter In Virginia, for instance, the law says that a person who performs marriage Is entitled to a fee of $l, and that "any person exacting greater fee shall forfeit to the party aggrleVed $50. In West Virginia IL IS stipulaatein i,1 Idaho the fee Is fixed at 30. or any greater sum voluntarily given by the parties to the marriage.
 There are a dozen states and terri tories where no provision has been made for the joining of persons in wedloek by the Quaker ceremony or the rites ol other religious societies having peculiar modes of celebrating marriage Members of such sects, If residents of these states must therefore be married by regular minister or civil officer, on the other hand the laws in New York, Dakota and some other states are SC liberal that even marriages contracted by Indians according to Indian customs are entirely valid. No reference to odd forms of marriage in America would be complete without mention Of marriages among the Mormons. The Mormon | Church recognizes two kinds of mar l rlages temporal and spiritual. Under | the former the parties are united for this world only, while under the latter 1 the union is eternal
 In our up-to-date nation the business l of marrying is now taking place with l the other specialized activities Of this l strenuous age In many of the larger cities there are now clergymen who are not formally connected with any church. l but devote all their time to marrying and christening. One such marrying parson in New York city has united
 more than 10000 couples. Another spe- l ciaity in marrying is that of the minis ters who are to be found at the eoun- try's most famous Gretna Greens for clipping couples. and who often indulge in spirited rivalry to secure the privl- lege of uniting runaway couples.
 WALDON FAWCETT.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-10-02

references are tinged with humor. Two of the states-Pennsylvania and Georgia seek to act as aids to Cupid and for mally encourage marriage According to the law of the Keystone State, all marriages not forbidden by the law or God shall be encouraged" Thirteen of the states, most of them in the West, have done their best to give aid to the g 9ge that fo augns af o tracted beyond their borders, provided the runaway marriage has been per formed In accordance with the laws or the state or county In which 1t takes place.
 law fixes the ages at which young people may enter into the blissful state, and here again we find a wide range. In Idaho, Dakota and North Carolina the lovelorn youth may marry at the parents. but in every other state in the Union he must wait until he has passed his twenty-first birthday anniversary. On this point, as on many another in matrimonial matters, the girls have the best of 1t. A Dakota girl who has reached the age of b may marry with out her parents consent, and young ladies in Idaho and Maryland have only to walt the magic age of 16 In other states the age of freedom for members l of the fair sex ranges from IS to 2l years, but in most instances is fixed at
 Of course the whole aspect of affairs is changed if the parents stand ready to give their blessing. In Kentucky, Louisiana, Utah. Virginia, and West Virginia boys of 14 and girls of 12 may marry if they have the verbal or writ ten consent of their parents. In New Hampshire girls of IS may assume wifely duties if they but have the sane tion of their parents, and in large number of states girls of IA and 15 are accounted fitted to become mattresses of homes if they choose. Most of the | states have laws prohibiting the mar | riage of persons nearer of kin than second cousins, and in many instances the restriction holds good even though ] the relationship is founded on marriage
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-10-02

There is a wide difference in the cost of marrying, as exemplihed In other items. than in the ministerial fee and the cost of the bridal gown. In some of the states, such as Vermont and Rhode Island, it costs the prospective bride groom but 50 cents to secure marriage license, but In some Western states, such as Idaho, where girls are rarer jewels, and man should presumably be willing to pay any price for such a prize, the fee Is S. Moreover, fin some sections of the country the prospective husband must journey to the county seat in or der to obtain the precious document,
 whereas f, others any iowa clerk citn issue the official permit.
 Yet other evidence of how marriage is made easy in the United States is found in the fact that any minister, priest or preacher O. the gospel may solemnize marriages, and in many of of courts may off1ciate. In all save half a dozen states, too, justices of the reaco have the privilege of officiating at such a function. In some places the person performing a marriage ceremony Is 1e- quired to have personal knowledge or the Identity, names and residence Of the parties and this stipulation has. per haps, been responsible for more mud dies than any other requirement. of. the oddly assorted American marriage laws.
 In most of the states of the Union two witnesses afe required to be present at the solemnization of a marriage, put n some states a single witness Is sufficient There is still in force In Pennsylvania an old law which prescrlbes that l2 Wit nesses shall be present, but this, stlpu- lation Is seldom, if ever,, enforced. Per haps the strangest of all marriage laws however, is that in force in Tennessee and which provides that the validity oi a marriage shall not be affected by the omission of the baptismal name of either party in the license. and the use of q nickname Instead, provided the parties can be Identified. This proviso Is essen tial owing to the conditions prevailing | in the mountain districts of Tennessee, | where nicknames are in almost univer- | sal use among the young people. Most persons suppose that the size of
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-10-02
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BY wALDoN FAwcETT.

There is no question but that the United States is now in advance of any other nation in the development Of the submarine boat, both for use in war fare and in the pursuits of peace. A submarine torpedo boat built in the United States has recently been sent to Japan, where 1t Is likely to prove one of the most valuable assets of the Mikado's military and naval establishment in the prosecution of the war in the Far East, and several leading European nations are also understood to be negotiating for the use of patents covering Yankee inventions upon underwater craft.
 The evolution of the submarine boat has been a most interesting one, and may be said to have extended over fully three centuries, even If no regard be paid to the rather vague assertion of some histories that Alexander the Great was once a passenger in a submarine craft, the character ot which, unfortu- nately is not described King James l. of England made trip in submarine boat built in London in 1864 by Hol- lander named Van Drebbel but the first craft which can rightfully be designated as a submarine boat was designed in I776 by a man by the name or Bush nell a resident of New England. This boat, which was designed l., to help the was primitive in the extreme, being pro nelied by oars, and was destroyed soon after going into commission by the shots from a British war vessel:
 Fulton. the inventor of the steamboat, wresfIed with the problem of submarine navigation and designed two different fvpes of underwater craft, ana numer- o,,s other inventors also tackled the sub feet. but all were alike unsgccessful. in 1887, however. Professor Tuck sv ina hs seid fo have ushered in the present era of submarine navigation. Not that this boat was marked success. put lt served to turn attention In the risnt
 Professor Tuck's boat was cigar shaped craft 30 feet in length, feet "ide and TIC feet deep. She was lighted Dy eiactricitv. and driven through the water hv means of a steam engine of l4-horse- nower The boat was submerged py let- ling water into tanks with which she was fitted. and was raised by means of a rudder which moved around an axis The crew consisted only of an engineer
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-10-02
Hot=Air an.

A fan that gives out, instead of cooling breeze. blast of hot air, has been invented by NJ. de Mare, Belgian The blades are of mica, on which are arranged resistance coils that are cleo trically heated to a high temperature. M. de Mare finds that compressed air absorbs the heat from the coils with great rapidity, and he accordingly in- closes his fans in a casing with an open ing through which the blast issues. He is thus enabled to pass through the coils a current which. when the fan Is al rest, would melt the thin wire. but which, when 1t is in motion does not even make 1t red-hot. The current of hot air issuing from the opening in the casing is said to be almost insupportabiy hot.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-10-02

and helmsman, the latter being stationed in a glass-inclosed dome which project ed from the upper surface of the hull This boat was never able to attain a speed of more than eight miles an hour when under the water.
 Atabout this same time British engineers were enthusiastic over the performances of the Porpoise. small electrically pro- pelled submarine boat. which was fol- lowed by other improved underwater vessels built by Nordenfeldt. The best of these British vessels was 121 feet in length and displaced 25U tons of water. the 1,000-horsepower engines with which she was equipped giving her a speed of fully l7 miles an hour when under the wa ter but although she promised so well at the outset, expectations regarding her were not fulfilled, and a few years later this giant of submarines was broken up and sold as junk. Apparent ly discouraged the British governmental officials. ceased to pay any attention to submarines for a number of years after this. Of late, however, they have again taken up the subject-impelled largely
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-10-02

creasing in numbers rapidly, while the opponents of this dangerous little under water craft have been proportionately reduced in number. Particularly has this been the case since Uncle Sam com nenced to build submarine boats on his own account.
 All of the submarine vessels included in the new fleet recently acquired by the United States government are or what are known as the Holland type; that is, they are of the style invented by John P Holland. The first Holland boat was built by rne inventor, but 1t so exclusively demonstrated it's mar vicious capabilities that 1t was pur- chased outright by the United States government and the. same general plans followed in the building of the other vessels. The pioneer craft, Holland by name, is now stationed at the United States Naval Academy, at Annapolis, for the instruction of the future officers of the Navy.
 in width and weighs in the neighbor- hood of Il tons. The electric storage
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-10-02

Very few persons have any concep- ton of how many different forms of marriage ceremony are In use in Amer ica or what widely divergent legal re- quirements hedge about Cupid's con tracts in the various states of the Union. More marriages are solemnized in the republic than In any other country in habited by English-spealking people, and yet Uncle Sam is woefully behind some of the other powers both with regard to the restrictions thrown around the most important ceremony of life and the precautions taken to properly record each sealing of the bands of wedlock.
 lowance of individual preferences Is found in that absolute liberty of thought and action which is at once the pride and heritage of every citizen of the United States, and particularly in that liberty to exercise her own sweet will which is claimed on all occasions by her majesty, the American girl-and, as every person knows, the American girl Is the ruling power at every Yankee we'd ding. But, whatever the cause, the fact remains that in the United States today two persons may be joined in marriage by practically any form of ceremony that may De devised. Half-civllized people from far-off climes are permitted marriage rites of their native lands, and. on the other hand, there are in vogue among free-born Americans prac- tices and customs that are very nearly if not quite as strange as those which have had their origin in out-of-the-way hooks of the globe.
 As result of our liberal governmental
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-10-02

by Yankee success in the feld-bqt our English cousins appear to be fated to make little progress in this branch or naval navigation, their latest discour- agement being found in the sinking of one of their submarines and the drown ing of all her officers and crew.
 Probably no other subject has ever produced more widely diverse opinions among United States naval officers than has the question of the value and use fulness of the submarine boat Many officers are firm in their conviction that with Uncle Sam Judiciously employing a large fleet of submari2- boats 1t would be practically impossible for an enemy to successfully attack any of our prln- cipal seaports by water. On the other hand, there are other well-informed off, cers who have mighty poor opinion of the submarine. These latter base their objections largely upon the all legged difficulty of having a submarine craft keep to course when submerged so as to discharge torpedoes with ac- llevers In the submarines have been ii-
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-10-02

counties scattered through two dozen different states the court records of marriages have been destroyed by fire or otherwise, so that were a citizen of plicate marriage certificate, he would have all kinds of trouble to secure 1t.
 Not a few of the states of the Union have embodied in their statutes defini- tions of marriage, and some of these
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-10-02

found In the fact that a marriage may take place either under license or the publication of bans.
 In some of our states no records whatever of marriages are preserved. Less than half of the states of the Union provide for returns to some state officer of the marriages celebrated. and only a very few states make marriage registration compulsory. In this con- nection it may be noted as an inter-
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-10-02

steers the vessel when she is running awash, Is protected by armor more than three and a half inches in thickness, so that the lookout Is well sheltered from stray bullets. Each of these submarine boats carries a crew of five persons.
 WALDON FAWCETT.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-10-02

policy there are now in use in the
 United States fully three dozen different forms of the marriage ceremony. How ever, there is one grave flaw in Miss Columbia's marriage system in the total inadequacy of the marriage records. need of uniform marriage laws, to se- cure which Congress has recently taken the initial step. Strange as it may ap- pear, very few of the Nstates of the Union have any registration system by which marriages are recorded. Licenses are granted on various bases and under various conditions, and as result 1t is found that in some states the number of licenses issued greatly exceeds the number of marriages celebrated, where as in other states the records would in- dicate that the number of marriages celebrated had greatly exceeded the number of licenses issued. Indeed, in some states, such as Maryland, these opposite conditions will be found to prevail in different counties of the same commonwealth. The explanation is
The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-04-06
TO CREATE A CLASS
OBJ ECTIoN URGED AGAINST
 THE HoAR BILL.
Minc rity Report Signed by All Dem ocratic Members of Senate Com mittee on Judiciary Pre-
 sented by MT. Bacon.

Washington, April 5-A minority report on the bill introduced by Senator Hoar to provide for the protection of the Pres tdent of the United States, was submit ted to-day by Senator Bacon from the Committee on Judiciary. Senators Pet tus, Culberson, Blackburn and Patterson, all Democratic members of the commit tee. also signed the report.
 It states that the title Is misleading and tends naturally to enlist the sympa- thy of all Americans and secure a sup port which the bill would not receive If 1t was known generally that It's provis- ions are extended to all of the cabinet officers and all foreign ambassadors and ministers to the United States. The pur- pose of the bill the report said, is to set apart these four dozen men as a su- perior and distinct class. entitled to a higher degree of protection than other officials, citizens and inhabitants of the United States.
 The minority members of the commit tee. they say, yield to none in their de- sire to protect the President and pun ish the enemies of the government and social order, but in the accomplishment of this laudable desire, we are unwilling to put upon the statute books a law that will invade and destroy the most valued principles of Republican institutions, which will take from the States their rightful Jurisdiction over crme, which they have never surrendered to the gen eral government; which will overturn the recognized policies and procedure of a hundred years. and which, not content with the provisions respecting the Pres ident. sets apart some forty-five or fifty other men as a separate class. whose per sons shall be more sacred in the eye oi the law than others of the SO,OOO, 600 inhab- itants of the United States"
 The report cites paragraphs of existing laws and sections of Supreme Court opin. tons as ample for the protection of the person of others than the President ol the United States. It Is declared that tht Jurisdiction conferred upon the Fedora courts in the first section is in violation of the constitution of the United
The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-04-06
NEARING AGREEMENT
FRANCE AND ENGLAND WILL
 SIGN TREATY.
New Covenant Will Clear up Many Points Which Have Been in Controversy Between the
 Two Nations.

Paris April 5.-Foreign Minister Del casse had long conference today with Paul Cambon, French Ambassador at London, relating to the Anglo-French treaty, settling several long pending issues principally in regard to Moroc- co, Egypt and Newfoundland. M. Cam bon will return to London tomorrow, and 1t is the expectation that the treaty will be signed toward the end of the present week.
 The main points are settled, but there are some details capable of causing delay For instance, the New Foundland govern ment does not wish the French fishermen to retain the right of catching their own bait off shore However this Is, con sidered a minor detail and not likely to affect the general agreement. France surrenders her sovereignty over the New Foundland shore and receives an indem- nity The latter is two fold, for French individuals giving up property along the surrendered shore; and second. for the French Governments relinquishment of It's own sovereignty The reports cur rent setting forth the amount of the in demnity are inaccurate, as 1t is the pre- sent intention to submit the amount of indemnity to The Hague tribunal
 Morocco will figure9 in the treaty and dCCOTQlHB IO Itc NiCWB MiAl Dc the most important subject Spanish objections at first seemed to threaten this portion of the treaty but 1t Is now perceived that Anglo French interests fin Morocco are entirely distinct from Franco-Spanish interests. spain's inter ests are political Those of Great Bri- tain are commercial. Spain seeks the partition of Morocco so that she may control a portion of the country. France opposes the partition. believing that the future of the country depends upon It's unity. Great Britain has no territorial ambitions. in Morocco and therefore the treaty will safeguard her commercial rights and ensure against fortifving the coast opposite Gibraltar. Therefore Spain will adjust the political future of Morocco, but the indications are that the present treaty will so strengthen the French position that her north African empire eventually will stretch westward to the Atlantic.
 The Egyptian agreement does not affect Great Britain's protectc~ate over Egypt, being confined to the admission of Egyp- ton debt, Great Britain having a large latitude in disposing of the surplus with out the concurrence of France. France gets improved facilities in reaching Lake Tchad and other points in French Cen tral Africa. This concession Is a partial return for the surrender of her sovereign ty over the New Foundland shore.
The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-04-06
WILL cURTA1L OUTPUT.
Fall River Cotton Mills Will Reduce
 Production.


 Fall River. Mass, April 5.-Twenty of the corporations in this city engaged ir the manufacture of print cloths. controil- ing sixty-five mills, have entered into an agreement to curtail production by shut ting down two days a week. The action is due to unsettled conditions in the cotton and cloth markets.
 The curtailment will begin next Thurs day and will be continued indefinitely. The announcement did not come as a complete surprise. Manufacturers. with few exception, have expected a curtail- ment as soon as the warm weather ar rived, and some of them say they would have reduced the output during the win ter had they not been afraid of their op- eratives being in want and seeking em- ployment elsewhere. The curtailment Is the second general one in this city that has occurred since the cotton market be- gan Its upward movement year ago last winter. Last summer large part of the machinery was idle and the outlook at present Is that similar state of affairs will prevail for several months this year.
 Among the plants that will close Thurs day are the Border, City, employing 1125 hands in its three mills; Rink Philip, .1;20O in four mills: Merchants. No. B. 50O; Os- borne, two mills 750: Sa gamore two mills, 1000; Union, three mills, 1,O00 Wampa- noa. three mills. 80 operatives: Chase. two mills, $50. and Flint. 600
 In other plants, owing to existing con- tracts, curtailment will not begin until the latter part of next week. The three mills of the Stafford corporation, employ ing 800 hands. will continue their curtail- ment. In addition to these plants the three mills of the Bourne Company, in Tiverton, employing 800 men, are now idle