davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-08-18
SOMETHING ABOUT MAN
 WHO WROTE "QUO VADIS'

unpretentious letter to a certain M. Henryk Sienkiewicz, who lives in War saw several centuries hence I have every reason to believe that if you ask him prettily he will arrange the matter without the useless complications of fur ther correspondence.''
 few years ago Warsaw celebrated the silver anniversary of Sienkiewicz's entry into the literary world. His fame had spread to Russia, and 1t is even said the Czar had the Poles books translated for him for a certain time every evening.
 The Academy of Letters at St. Pet ersburg was encouraged by this appre- ciation on the Emperor's part to send Sienkiewicz a letter of warm congratula- tion. Now, Sienkiewicz is an ardent Pol ish patriot as well as a literary artist, aa the event of the present week proved. and the receipt of this letter placed him in dilemma, for 1t was written in Rus sian. and the imposition of that language upon the Poles to the exclusion of their mother tongue is one of the things which Poland bitterly resents.
 Sienkiewicz had to reply. To have an- swered in Russian would have been trea- son to Poland; to have written in Polish would have been treason to Russia. He solved the difficulty by writing the re- turn message in Latin.
 Sienkiewicz's wife. Lithuanian lady of rank, died young, leaving him with two beautiful children He has been spending the winter months at Warsaw, where he is editor of more than one journal. Dur ing the summer Sienkiewicz has been liv- ing at his villa on the coast of Brittany. but his arrest prevented his usual sojourn there this year. Some of his most power ful tales are of the half-savage Bretons and their wild, picturesque country.
 Sienkiewicz is Polish to his finger tips, with the wit, artistic taste and pride char acteristic of his countrymen His mind is serious, judicial fastidious, clinging lovingly to the past He takes a keen in- terest in science, too but of late years has not been seen much in general so- ciety.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-08-18
THE KAISER TALKS SLANG.

From the New York World.
 President Butler and Dean Burgess of Columbia university, who have been the guests of Emperor William at Wilhelm hohe castle, are said to have enjoyed the glib way in which His Majesty interlarded his English conversation with "American colloquialisms," diplomatic term for slang.
 monarch who brides himself on know ing many things should not be averse to spicing his conversation with the fresh est slang. Slang has been dignifed by some of the ablest purists who sit in ped- agogues' chairs. Much of the street lan- guage of yesterday finds an abiding place in the dictionaries of today.
 Perhaps His Majesty felicitated the pro- fessors on the manner in which President Roosevelt "butted into" Russian-Japan- ese differences. He may have hinted that his neighbor the Czar, has got 1t good" and that 1t Is now "up to- Russia. He may have complained that the Japanese envoys are tight mits'' with the details of their proposals. And, applauding the spirit of President Roosevelt, he may even have clinked glasses to the senti- ment the Big Stick for yoursi"
 But how did Emperor William become initiated into the intricacies of the Amer ican vernacular? Did he learn them through Prince Henry of Prussia or from Fighting Bob" Evans who is nothing if not lurid in his conversation? Or from the prominent American society leaders with whom he has of late been associating?
The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-08-18
From the Pittsburg Dispatch.

From the Pittsburg Dispatch.
 N WAVE of sympathy will thrill Vv Pittsburg playgoers on reading the news of the punishment in- fiicted by the Russian bureaucracy upon Henryk Sienkiewicz, the Polish novelist, for being too free with his pen for auto cratic notions. That Is, the playgoers will feel the thrill when reminded that the writer with the difficult name Is author of "Quo vadis,'' which novel is the basis of the two well-known dramas. Quo vadis" and "The Sign of the Cross" Both of these tragedies have been pro- duced repeatedly on the Pittsburg stage. Not a few who have seen one of these pieces acted have yielded to the tempta- tion to read the novel and other works by the same author.
 Sienkiewiczs trouble recalls Utopian colony scheme in which he and many of his gifted fellow eountrymen were inter- ested. In 1877 this coterie of brilliant Polish writers and musicians conceived Brook Farm of New England About a dozen of the projectors, including Sien- kiewicz and Helena Modjeslxa, sailed from Havre. Being in pursuit of liberty, of course, they chose America for their home and they settled near Los Angeles, Cal. naming their community Anna Luni.
 As usual poetry and art proved shaky foundation for a permanent settlement. The attempt failed. but Indirectly it served an end far different from that con- ceived by the founders. Pecuniary losses spurred Mme Modjeska to study her first English role. She appeared in San Fran cisco in an English version of "Ad- rienne Lecouvreur."
 The failure of the Utopia also brought Sienkiewicz into wider notice. On his return to Europe his American sketches. adapted and translated for the Revue des Deux Mondes, were read and approved by Parisans, making a name for him be- fore the publication of With Fire and Sword" and its celebrated successors. in cluding Quo vadis.'
 An incident in connection with the serial publication of Quo Vads' in a Polish journal has been told. When the install- ment describing the explicitly of Lygia appeared deputation of sensitive young girls called upon Sienkiewicz to beg him not to let his heroine die in prison.
 .'It is a simple matter. this letting her escape" naively declared one of the young women. "Lygia has only to write letter to her fiance and he will see to It."
 Sienkiewicz smiled and requested his fair petitioner to compose such letter for him. A few days later he received this missive:
 My Dear Lygia: It seems that you ought to write to vinicius. but illness has probably enfeebled your epistolary pow CTS. Address instead the simplest, most
The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-08-18
ALABAMA PRESS

Lafayette Sun: The doves of peace are Is about all the newspapers know about It.
 Bullock County Breeze: Do not envy every man who owns an automobile. If you must be envious, consider the man who owns the repair shop.
 Talladega Mountain Home: Indemnity and reimbursement are spelled different ly, but they mean the same in the peace conference now in session at Portsmouth.
 Mobile Register: Perhaps the hotel keepers at Portsmouth are not doing the proper thing by the newspaper peo- pie now residing temporarily in that city.
 Montgomery Times: It's foxy bomb that ever gets close enough to the Sultan of Turkey to powder burn him even He is the monumental dodger of the cen tury.
 Guntersville Democrat: It is remark able that this scientific mosquito name  should be thrust upon us while we are yet in the throes of exhaustion from the fearful names of Russians and Jap anese.
 Collinsvile Courier: A thief is not half as injurious to community as knock CT. There is chance to catch the thief but there is no possibility of getting rid of the knocler. unless his hammer wears out.
 Union Springs Herald: Mir. Bryan says he will start on a tour of the world soon and will be gone one or two years. There are some politicians in this coun- try who are ready to sing: "I don't care if you never come back" Huntsville Tribune: It seems that Book CT T. Washington dlned at a prominent Saratoga hotel with the daughter of John WanamalSer, that the original John was also at the table. This may suit the taste of the famous John Wanamaker may be in keping with his ideas of SO cial propriety, but the same Is peculiarly distasteful to this people and their so- cial rights will be maintained regardless | of Johns example
The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-08-18
Unprecedented Crops.

The general business of the country is being greatly stimulated by the almost unprecedented crops in the west and thS fairly good crops in other sections said a financier.
 Prosperity through the land will con- tnue without a break until next spring. The Wall Street Journal points out the significant fact that the first transfer of currency to the west for moving the crop is made ten days earlier this season than was the case last year. The journal says;
 So far as the actual shipment of money Is concerned it makes little difference whether the currency sent west repre- sents western deposits withdrwn from eastern institutions or western loans called from eastern borrowers or the proceeds of loans made by eastern bank CTS to western producers. The money in each case goes from New York to various points in the west and this involves re- duction in cash reserves here.
 All this is very elementary. of course. but it seems necessary to make this ex- planation every now and then because of the frequent statement that the west is becoming so rich that it can finance the movement of it's own crops In cer- tain sense it is altogether true. The west has become powerful factor in the money market of New York by reason of its reserve on deposit here and by reason also of it's direct loans to New York borrowers upon stock collateral. unquestionaby it needs to borrow much less money from eastern capitalists to move the crops than in former years. What it needs to do now Is simply to withdraw it's eastern deposits and call Inf its eastern loans. But this operation in wolves precisely the same transfer of currency from the east to the west as if the money thus transferred represented loans made instead of credit withdawn.' :"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-08-18
Next Years Primary Race.

MT. Conner Is enthusiastically a candi- date for governor. He has raised a standard, and upon that standard are the words-"Georgia rates" MT. Conner will keep that standard we'll to the front, thus perhaps giving shape and form to the battle of next year.
 At present a square stand-up fight between MT. Conner and Dr. Cunning ham seems probable. The former is no doubt willing to fight the, field, and the field may be pr. Cunningham, or 1t may be multiplicity of asoirants.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-08-18
PRETTY FAIR FOR A STARTER.
rom the New York Commercial.

From the New York Commercial.
 A youth was engaged as junior clerk by a firm of lawyers and by way of filling his time and testing his worth on his first day he was told to write letter demanding payment of debt from a client who was long in arrears. To the great surprise of his employers check for the amount arrived the next day. They sent for the young clerk and asked him to produce a copy of the letter which had had such an astonishing result. The letter ran as follows: Dear Sir: If you do not at once remit payment of the amount which you owe us we will take steps that will amase you"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-08-18

The scope and nature of the field has not been determined.
 The campaign Is in the ehrysallH stage. however, and long winter and an extra session of the legislature may materially change it's aspect, At pres. ent two aspirants are trying to see which can be the more radical on the railroad rate question.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-08-18
de Eunlak Surprised.

'I am surprised at the amount of build Ing going on in Birmingham said E. A. de Funiak. general freight agent of the lines of the Louisville and Nashville south of Decatur, yesterday. T have been quarantined in Montgomery for some time and have not been to Bir- mingham in several weeks.
 Now that am able to come to the city I find buldings going up in all di- rections, structures that are handsome and substantial
 Another Improvement I notice is the electric signs on the streets. They light up the city and improve its appearance, especially at night. l think the signs liven things up in the city.
 ''This is a wonderful city l would rather live in Birmingham than any city I ever saw because one feels natural inclination to hustle and work while in Birmingham. When I get off the train in Birmingham I naturally step faster and feel busier.'
The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-08-18
DOUBLED INITIALS FOR PLURALs
From the Boston Transcript,

From the Boston Transcript.
 Under the rule that the initial letter of a word is sometimes doubled to sig nifty the plural, bb would be proper abbreviaton for barrels. Probably some one, unfamiliar with the rule and think ing the abbreviation too concise as 1t might be mistaken for an abbreviation for boxes. bundles, bags, or butts. made 1t bbl. for one barrel; and then. still ignorant of the rule. added an for the plural, making it bbls. for more than
The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-08-18
TO A CHILD.

Sophia Jewett, in Scribner's. The leaves talked in the twilight drear
 Hearken lne tale they told How. in some far-off place and year,
 Before the world grew old. l was a dreaming forest tree
 You were wild. sweet bird That sheltered at the heart of me
 Because the north wind stirred. How. when the chiding gale was still,
 .--en peace fell soft on fear, You stayed one golden hour to fill
 My dream with singing, dear. Tonight the selfsame songs are sung
 The first green forest heard; My heart and the gray world grow young To shelter you, my bird.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-08-18
REFLECTIONS OF A BACHELOR.

From the New York Press.
 woman's idea of heaven Is five parts wavy hair and five parts q good figure.
 useful thing about automobiles Is all the new cuss words you learn when they won't work.
 There are more foot pounds in a mules heels than in little tact, but they can't do as much.
 When a man goes to the race track nc always tells his wife he was at di- rectors meeting unless he won.
 A woman thinks she has splendid disci- pline in her house when her husband nas to hunt only fifteen minutes for his um- brella before starting to business.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-08-18
KANSAS ETIQUETTE.
From the Atchison Globe.

From the Atchison Globe.
 It is pretty good sign that a man Is the boss if he sits around home in the evening with his shoes and stockings off. A woman likes everything around the house to be neat, and a mans bare feet are built on such plan that if they were scrubbed with sapolo, rlnsed in rose water, powdered with rice flour. and a baby blue ribbon tied around each toe, they wouldn't look neat In the parlor.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-08-18
ALWAYS sALuTEs PoE's CRAVE.

From the Baltimore Sun.
 A story is told of Leo Wheat, which is not only an Indication of the charac- ter or the aged and at one time famous musician, but shows that he, like many other southerners-and yankees, too has reverent respect for the memory or Eosar Allan Poe. the poet. whose body lies in Westminster Presbyterian churchyard
 It is said that every time Mir. Wheat passes the spot whether on foot or rid Ing he raises his hat in veneration for the poetic genius.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-08-18
THE PREACHERS SCHEME.
From the Atchison (Kan.) Globe.

From the Atchison (Kan.) Globe.
 A preacher, to be popular, has to ad- mire plain and pretty babies alike and an Atchison preacher, who Is fussy about being truthful has this way of handling the plain babies. He says if you like the little red, squirmlng baby from Its proud mother, hold it out at some distance from you, and. looking at it sut>gly, say In hearty tone, Well, this is a baby" the mother will be perfectly statistical
The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-08-18
THE GEAR IN SMILE.

From the New York American.
 Now and then passengers on one of the Atlantic liners report having sight ed a polar bear on an iceberg drifting south. Slowly and inevitably the bears refuge melts and crumbles beneath him as the current carries it into warmer wa ters. Inexorable fate has the helpless. stranded bear in her grasp; and just so fate has in her grasp the Czar, adrift upon the crumbling berg of autocracy.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-08-18

Russell Sage is s9 years old, and says he hopes to live until he reaches par" If he does he will be centen- marian and considerably richer than he is now
The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-08-18
LAW IS NEEDED.
e Washington Post.

From the Washington Post.
 There should be a law prohibiting the publication of the pictures of those Tag gart children in connection with the nauseous details of their parents divorce trial
The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-08-18

Secretary Taft wants fres trade be- tween the United States and the Phil ippines, but he does not say that Nell son ". Aldrich's consent has been ob- tained.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-08-18

Some fear is expressed that John D.. Rockefeller may go broke because Standard Oil has paid him only B. 400 ,00O in the past three months.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-08-18

Professor Moore denies that he has served up showers to the just and the unjust on grating terms. He says he has treated all impartially.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-08-18

The house In which President Mon- roe died has been destroyed by fire. The New York Mail remarks that the doctrine is uninjured. But, is 1t?
The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-08-18

The Taggarts are making army life appear almost as lively and jovial as life at Newport even when monkey din- ners are occurring.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-08-18

Blount Springs leaped to the fore front of politics without an effort. It was born to be political.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-08-18

An Oyster Bay man is reported miss ing. The Oyster Bay man-Theodore Roosevelt-is still at Sagamore Hill
The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-08-18

The Hotel Wentworth at Portsmouth is equal to the occasion, for it has raised the price of mixed drinks to twenty-five cents.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-08-18

Norway voted secession through all most unanimously. Sweden had no friends at the polls or among the bosses.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-08-18
IMPROVING TIMES.

From Brooklyn Life.
 Darling, it seems to me that you are more beautiful every time l see you.'' "You must come and see me oftener, Jack"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-08-18
SETTLING.

From the New York Herald.
 Chicago paper says when a mans married he settles down" Maybe-out there. Here he begins to settle up"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-08-18

Yellow fever in New Orleans is nc more fatal than typhoid fever in New York.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-08-18

''F. and F." stand for Filth and Fever" It Is combination that New Orleans is fighting.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-08-18

David R. Francis is willing to take the democratic nomination in 1908. He proposes to pull Missouri back into lire.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-08-18

Rudyard Kipling is said to be an ex- pert at carpentering. His verses don't prove it.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-08-18

The Russian people fear the autoc- racys parliamentary scheme has a string tied to it.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-08-18

A newspaper writer makes a plea for Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Trunks, with the object of correct ing baggage smashers. There is room for it.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-08-18

Nan Patterson is reported to be mixed up in new scandal. She is in- corrigible.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-08-18

Fairbanks is becoming. ie is said, hardened to another term in the vice presidency, which Is next thing to noth- Ing.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-08-18

Oyama Is waiting for the word Ego" and be will then make the Russians get up and get.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-08-18

In the baby census the south makes a better showing than some other parts of the country.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-08-18

The figures of the baby census sup port President Roosevelt in his anti suicide doctrine.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-08-18

The peace enYoys are considering the proposed terms clause by clause. and thus far no claws have come in sight
The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-08-18
SAME AS HOT AIR.

From the Atlanta Constitution.
 The atmosphere" of most recent American novels is hot atmosphere.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-08-18

The north wants the anti-mosquito campaign carried on regardless of sec tional lines.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-08-18

The dove of peace does not need any credentials.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-08-18

The peace conference Is almost as slow and uncertain as debating SO ciety in rural district.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-08-18

A favorite name for Alaskan towns is Fairbanks. The eternal fitness of things is thus maintained.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-08-18

Our native mosquitoes should be en. couraged to expel the foreign stego- myias.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-08-18

The Black Crook is to be revived. Did you ever slip off to see "The Black Crook?"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-08-18

Fight, gentlemen of England; fight, boldly, yeomen; Draw, archers, draw your arrowe to the head. Spur your proud horses hard, and ride In blood: Amaze the weIl<In with your broken slaves.
 -king Richard Ill.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-08-18

Russians should be taught That an annual bath at least is important.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-08-18

Some of the innocent culex may be- come innocent bystanders in this war against the stegomyias.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-08-18

The bugbear of an extra session has been successfully chased away, and congressman are breathing easier.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-08-18

The backbone of the summer is still intact and ready to do business.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-08-18

Soiled army linen is being washed in public at Wooster, O.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-08-18

Mme. Stegomyia does not under stand what grudge the country has suddenly accumulated against her.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-08-18

Baron Komuras size Is not at all commensurate with his importance
The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-08-18

washington Bureau Age-Ierald' it2t street, N, w.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-08-18

A Pittsburg man who claimed that he was at the head of a 20.O0O,000 corporation was arrested on the charge of obtaining money under false pretenses. He was un- able to furnish $500 bond and was sent to jail. That's high finance.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-08-18

Marshall Field of Chicago, sets an H. luminating example to his fellow million aires by paying taxes on $730OO, GOO of real and personal property without complaint. He has never made himself conspicuous by his facility in misstatng facts to tax assessors and seeking to avoid his obli- gations to the community in which he resides.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-08-18

The sports at Saratoga who are proud of their achievement in lifting the lid' appear very tame in comparison with the late Nero of Rome, Italy, who lifted the lid so high that it was not put down again until Trajan ascended the throne
The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-08-18

The girl who spells her name Mae" is bad enough; the young women who perpetrate "Sadye," "Marye." "Mayme," and "Effye" are unmentionable. but the girl who desecrates one of the sweetest names In the language by converting Alice" into 'Alys" is about the limit.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-08-18
A. GAY THING.

A. GAY THING. When he was wooing her he called The girl his little love, And swore she was the apple of His eye-his turtle dove. When they were wed she changed a lot And oft stayed out at night. While she was not a turtle dove She was "bird,' all right.
 PAUL COOK
The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-08-18

Eastern business office. rooms 4s to sn inclusive, Tribune building, New York City; western business office, Tribune building, Chicago. The 2, z. Beckwlth Special Agency, agents foreign advertis- ing,
The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-08-18

The fifth annual convention of the Ken lucky Funeral Directors association Is being held at Louisville. The report that a resolution had been adopted pledging support to the feudists of the state is erroneous.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-08-18

No communication will he published without its' authors name, Reelected man uscripts will not be returned unless stamps are enclosed for that purpose.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-08-18
SOME YouNG ONES.

SOME YOUNG ONES. Oh joyi Oh. ectasy! Oh, what Is this I hear? We're going to have some broilers 'mong The chorus girls this year.