davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1905-01-23
Last Weeks Visitors.

There must have been fully 1000 strang-
ers in the city last week for the purpose
of attending Ben Hur' the Grand Opera
company and PaderewslSi's concert" said
railroad man yesterday.
Every road into Birmingham brought
large number of people to one or more of
the performances, and everyone had
country cousin in town to see the big
shows
II know that there were two or three
hundred tickets sold to out-of-town people
to each of the Ben Hur' performances,
and also that a very large number were
sold to the opera Thursday night
ut means a great deal for a city to
get these big theatrical attractions, for
people come from long distance to at
tend them and they usually come pre-
pared to spend all the money they have
In their pockets. | know of people who
came from Chattanooga, Columbus, Ga,
Meridian, Admission, Talladega and Mont
gobery for the Ben Hur' performances.
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1905-01-23
Up In Marshall.

1.-THE planters and farmers in my dis
trict are still holding to their cotton"
said j. H. Melgs. editor of the Marshall
Banner at Albertsvllle. last night. They
are also doing we'll up in that section of
the state, and things are prospecting.
II am en- route to New Orleans to at
tend the cotton convention. and 1 know
of a large number of people from the
northern portion of the state who will
also attend the convention. In fact sew
eral came down on the train with me.
1.-THE farmers are holding about third
of their crop. They received an average
of about cents for the two-thirds that
they sold, and they can easily afford to
hold what they have not sold until they
can get a good price for 1t. The farmers
are holding from two to twenty bales,
according to how many they made. The
northern part of the state has no kicks
about the conditions"
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1905-01-23
From the New York World.

From the New York World.
] the current issue of the Green Bag,
Bentley w. Warren discusses The
State and the Street Railway" with
particular reference to the examples In
state control afforded by Massachusetts,.
Among the points OF policy which Mr..
Warren brings out none can be more
interesting to New York readers than
those relating to capitalization.
The Bay State has successfully sought
to limit the profits of those providing
the service to a just compensation. The
earliest street railway charters prohib-
tied the issue of any share for less
sum, to be actually paid in, than the
par value OF the shares. Subsequent
special charters contained the same pro-
vision, which was re-enacted in the gem
eral law of 1864 The further restriction
was then added that the payment must
be in cash, and that the directors should
be personally liable for all debts until
they filed a sworn certificate of the full
cash payment of the companys capital.
These provisions are still in force.
In 1894 the legislature enacted a series
o. statutes, usually called the Ahtl-otoch-
Watering acts. These acts prohibited the
issue of any stock or bonds, whether the
issue was authorized by special statutes
or under general laws, without the ap-
p1oval of the railroad commissioners. and
only to such amounts as they might from
tin to time vote to be necessary.
They further provided that when stock
was isaued II should be first offered to
the stockholders at its market price, as
determined by the railroad commissioners,
should be sold at public auction, but in
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1905-01-23
Warm Contests in CONGRESS.


President Roosevelt and his party
are at loggerheads over the sacred
tariff and the railroad rate problem,
and the former meets obstacles at
every turn. Congress is packed with
Dingleyites and railroad men, and tho
leaders in both bodies do not a bit
relish the Presidents plain inclina-
lions over either tariff revision or
railroad regulation.
At this writing a compromise with
the, leaders-that Is to say, with the
famous firm of Aldrich and Dalzell-
seems to have been reached, whereby
tariff revision is to be postponed to a
more convenient season, but railroad
rate regulation must be attended 20
by the present Congress, or at any
rate in a special session of the next
Congress. The more the President
falters In tariff revision, the sterner
and the more Incorporating he be-
comes when he takes a stand ON rail-
road regulation. Opinions may diff
fer" says the independent Springfield
Republican, "as to the relative import
ance of the two questions-whether
the tariff is a greater force in the un-
Just concentration of wealth or the
unreasonable and discriminating rail-
road rate. But one thing Is very GER
tain-that the abolition of the unrea-
sonably high and the discriminating
railroad rate will do more for the pro-
motion of Industrial equality and a
Just distribution of the product of la
Dor. than such a modification of the
tariff as we are likely to get from its
friends
A revision of the tariff by Messrs.
Aldrich and Dalzell would be a
screaming farce. and It remains to be
seen what the President can wiring
from Congress In the way of railroad
regulation. The railroads themselves
favor anti-rebate legislation. but they
do not favor the proposition giving
the interstate commission power to
name rates and to put them at once
into effect, letting the railroads ad.
lust themselves to the new rates while
they are carrying appeals through the
courts. At present the Interstate COM
mission can neither fix rates, nor put
any rates into immediate effect.
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1905-01-23
Department of State,
Washington, December q, 1904

Washington, December q, 1904.
My Dear Sir: l have just received your
letter of the 18th of December.
Your suggestion was correct. The name
of the boat was the Fashion" and the
name of the engineer was oliver Fair
child. l used the name of "Bludso' be-
cause they were a family of rivermen
whom | knew. had the story from Oliver
Fairchild's son, Henry Fairchild, who
was some years ago a cotton broker In
New Orleans. l do not know whether he
Is yet alive. Yours very truly,
JOHN HAY.
William A. Mcneil. Esq, 1914 Madison
street, Memphis, Tenn.
AS everybody knows, Mr. Hays pike
County Ballads" are classics. They deal
with American character as distinctly as
Homer's Had deals with Greek char
acter, and in our opinion they record
achievements quite as heroic, inspired by
much more noble motives. 1t was moth
ing but steamboat race, to be sure
nothing high and mighty. like an invad-
ing army sent to desolate a nation and
reclaim an clipping wife-just homely'
perhaps stupid. tragedy, in which the
actors were rude river men, who did not
know how to defy the lightning and were
incapable of sullxing in a tent or any
other place of habltation. But there are
people In this world quite dull enough
to think that Jim Bludso, when he held
that nozzle ag'in the bank" and sac
rifced himself for others, was as fine
a fellow as ever fought for Menelaus and
Priam, not excepting Agamemnon him
self. and who believe that 1t was nobler
to save the passengers of the Prairie Belle
than to have stolen a false adulteress.
Think of IT.
1.-THE fire burst out as she Cleared the bar
And burnt a hole in the night,
And quick as a flash she turned and MADE
For that willer bank on the right.
There was runnin' and cursin', but Jim
yelled out,
over all the internal roar:
I'll hold her nozzle ag'in the bank
Till the last galoots ashore.
Through the hot, black breath Of the
burnin boat
Jim Bludsos voice was heard
And, they all had trust In his cussedness'
And knowed he would keep his word
And sure's you're born, they all got OH
Afore the smokestacks fell
And Bludso's ghost went up alone
In the smoke of the Prairie Belle.
"He wern't no saint but at Jeddment
I'd run my chance with Jim
'I,ongside of some pious gentlemen
That wouldn't shake hands with him.
He seen his duty, a dead sure thing,
And went for it there and then;
And Christ amt a-gong to be too hard
On a man that died for men,
Maybe It's wicked to say such things
still worse TO thing them-but 1t 1t were
a question of camping out and bunking
with Jim Bludso or with Ajax, with
Tennessees Farmer or with Brian de
Bois-Guilbert. we'd take the American
evehy time and think ourselves ennoblec
by the choice Moreover, it seems to US
that heroism as conceived by John Hay
has advantages over the type one finds
in Homer
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1905-01-23
EXAMPLES OF HOW STREET
Rally STOCK Is WATERED

either case at not less than the par value.
At the present time the total capital
stock and Indebtedness OF the Massachu-
sets street railways is nearly $40 900.
of which $4,000 600 has been issued under
the highly restrictive provisions of the
Anti-stock- Watering statutes. OF the s4O.-
100000 issued before the passage of those
acts one-half was issued under the re-
quirements for an appraisal of the physi-
cal property Of the companies and for an
authorization by the board.
That these laws governing capitalize
ton have been effectual is sufficiently
shown by the United States census bull
letin of 1902 That gives the average
amount of stock and bonds per mile Of
street railway track in the whole country
as $o6.2S7, and the average in Massachu-
sets as only $3s,o67.
Other states containing American cities
of the first Importance show these aver
age amounts of stock and bonds per mile:
California, ssO,166; District of Columbia,
s165eOs; illinois, s1S5,5O7; Louisiana, s11S,-
313; Maryland $156.142; Missouri. $152, 206;
New Jersey, $14S,155, New York, $1T.5S2;
Ohio, $1l7, sos; Pennsylvania, s10s.267
The significance to the people of these
figures Is that the corporations must pay
Interest on so much of the capitalization
as represents debt and will strive to pay
dividends upon that part of it represent
ing capital stock, and that the supreme
court of the United States may hold that
they are entitled to earn dividends upon
ali their capital stock before they can be
compelled to either reduce their rates for
the service rendered or substantially to
improve the character of that service.
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1905-01-23
Compulsory Votinu.

A great many persons are in favor
Of primary election laws that are com.
pulsory in the council of every party,
leaving no discretion whatever. The
constitution Of 1901 forbids compul-
Sory primaries. and public sentiment
must therefore do what the legisla-
fure cannot do, and 1t is unmistak-
ably equal to the task. Public senti-
ment in Alabama on that subject is
well-nigh unanimous. and SO 1t is IN
MI the other states in the cotton belt,
There being no exception whatever.
But Governor Folk goes beyond a
compulsory primary by declaring in
favor Of compulsory voting. The
state" he says. -"is entitled to have
each citizen vote in order that the
result Of the election may be the just
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1905-01-23
ALABAMA POLITICS.
New Decatur Correspondence of Memph
Commercial-A

New Decatur Correspondence of Memphis
Commercial-Appeal.
Hon. John Wallace. ex-state Senator of
Huntsville, was in the city today on his
way home from Montgomery, where he
went on political business of an impor-
tant nature. Mr. Wallace is personal
friend of Acting Governor Cunningham,
and is acquainted with all the leading
democratic politicians of the state as
well. While in Montgomery Mr.. Wallace
had a long conference with Governor Cum
ningham.
''Who, in your opinion, Is the logical
democratic candidate for Governor of
Alabama?r asked your correspondent of
Mr.. Wallace.
"Iieutenant-Governor Cunningham is
the logical democratic candidate for Gov
ernor," said Mr.. Wallace, with know
ing look He was a most potential factor
in the great struggle for constitutional
reform and he was most strongly in ia
vor of our present suffrage restrictions
on the right to vote.
mo man can defeat him in primary
election: and to order other than that
would be an invitation TO bolt in Ala
bama Governor Cunningham will prove
the strongest man before the people of
his state
mo man in the Tennessee valley can
defeat Governor Cunningham; he was
born and reared to manhood in Lawrence
county, where his name is a synonym
for craftsmanship patriotism and chiv-
airy. and his erstwhile constituents are
ger to honor him.
1.-The race for United States Senator
would not cut any figure outside of the
call of the executive committee for a
nominating primary. Governor Gu wing
ham would refer the matter of I APP
pointment of United States I tAtor,
in the event of vacancy. TO thu Seople.
and he will abide by the verdicc Of the
sovereigns of Alabama"
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1905-01-23
About Persons.

D. Z. Deasey of Jasper is at the Morris.
Fred P. Wilson of New York Is at the
Morris.
L. C. Gould Dolive is stopping at the
Morris.
L. Levy and L. Stein of Chicago are at
the Morris.
Charles A. Buck of Reading, Pa, is at
the st. Nicholas.
]. P Hackney of Charlotte, N. c.. is
at the st. Nicholas.
]. R. Cradall, Jr., of Macon, Ca, is at
the Hillman.
H. L. Bennett of Pell City is at the
Hillman.
H. L. Flynt of Guntersville is at the
Metropolitan.
J. B. Kennedy of Jackson. Tenn, is
at the Metropolitan.
Ogden Wright of Chicago is at the
Colonial
James w. Moore of Florence is stopping
at the Colonial.
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1905-01-23
THE FOUR WINDS.

BY C. H. Luders.
Wind of the North.
Wind of the Northland SHOWS.
Wind of the winnowed skies and sharp.
clear stars
Blow cold and keen across the naked
hills,
And crisp the lowland pools with srystal
films,
And blur the easement with glittering ice.
But go not near my love.
Wind of the West,
Wind of the few, far clouds.
Wind of the gold and crimson sunset
lands
Blow fresh and pure across the peaks
and plains,
And broaden the blue spaces of the
heavens.
And sway the grasses and the mountain
pines.
But let my dear one rest
Wind of the East.
Wind of the sunrise seas,
Wind Of the clinging mists and gray.
harsh rains
Blow moist and chill across the wastes
of brine.
Aud shut the sun out, and the moon and
stars,
And lash the boughs against the dripping
caves.
Yet keep thou from my love.
But thou. sweet wind!
Wind of the fragrant South.
Wind from the bowers of jasmine and Of
rose
Over magnolia blooms and lilied lakes,
And towering forests cone with dewy
wings.
And stir the petals at her feet and kiss
The low mound where she lies.
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1905-01-23

These figures do not include losses
through sickness, nor does 1t include
losses In small battles. The total loss
es of each, included the killed, wound
ed and deaths in hospitals from Feb
ruary 8 to the fall of Port Arthur must
have been fully 100000 men on each
side, or 100000 in all. If we put the
total numbers employed in the two
armies up to January 1, at one million,
we thus see that the loss in year OF
active operations was 20 per cent.
This is a high percentage, and it Is
not probable that it was exceeded in
the Far East In the calendar year Just
ended.
The losses of men on the two sides
have not perhaps been greatly unlike.
If we include the loss of men captured
or surrendered, the balance in favor of
the Japanese is heavy, for $4,000 SOL
diers and sailors were surrendered at
Port Arthur alone.
The Russian daily expense bill Is
fully double that of the Japanese, be-
cause one is 1000 miles away from a
base, and the other is on the sea and
near the home exports. The former,
too has surrendered or destroyed
works and ships at Dalny and Port
Arthur that cost over two hundred
million dollars. To say that Japan
cannot stand the pace is to shut ones
eyes to ascertained facts. 1t is Rus.
STA that cannot stand results arising
from an immense expenditure of men
and money.
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1905-01-23
Anarchy in ST. Petersburg.

A reign of terror exists in the cap
ital of the Gear, but at this writing no
one can say what the outcome will
be. At present the Uhlands and Cos
sacks are loyal to the Gar and the
bureaucracy but the infantry regi-
ments, presumably recruited nearer
st. Petersburg, refuse to fire on the
people. The uprising against the abb
solute monarchy of Louis XVI. and
his crowd of mobiles became feasible
because the army refused to fire On
the people The king had only his
Swiss guards Privilege was at its
heigth, filling the land with corruption
and extravaganza, and the masses
were kept in poverty until life in the
lowest class became well-nigh insup-
portable. The people were aroused by
a band of active, bright men, led by
voltaire, and the army did not block
the way to a complete reversal of the
social order.
What will the Russian army do?
This is the pivotal question at this
writing. If the army acquiesces in the
movement of the reyolutionists-fo
they are no longer mere strikers-the
end of autocracy and bureaucracy in
Russia approaches. Upon the action of
the army in Russia much depends in
this crisis.
The Russian revolutionaries lack,
however, leadership-at least they
lack leaders that rank up to Yoltaire,
Rosseau d'Alembert, Montesqueu,
Diderot, Robespierre, Marat and Dan
ton. Father Gopon is a priest of the
Greek Orthodox church. He Is no
doubt an honest and capable man, but
it is not claimed by his friends that
he has the intellectual vigor, the fire
and the magnetism of the leaders of
the days that upheld in Paris the third
estate.
But revolutions are not instantan.
eous in their operation. The French
revolution was begun in 1888, and
Louis XVI was not executed until
January, 1898. The movement In St
Petersburg may proceed by slow
stages. The country is very large, and
the masses are sluggish and not bit
alert-scarcely intelligent. 1t is more
than probable that the reign of terror
in st. Petersburg will be overcome,
but the blood shed and the feelings
aroused will lead on to other efforts on
the part of the people, and in the end
autocracy will go down In Russia Just
as 1t did in France little over one
hundred years ago. Russia possesses
no constitution, and France had none
in 1889. A country in which the peo-
pie have no voice in the government
is country In which security and
contentfnent and honest government
are known only by their absence. The
uprising in st. Petersburg does not re-
late to wages, but to the general so.
cial condition o. the people, and to
the utter denial of participation In the
government to the governed. Privilege
Is as characteristic of Russia today as
It was Of France in 1889, and 1t may
well be that 1t will be ended in the
one country very much as 1t was in
the other.
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1905-01-23
Hotels Crowded.

1.-THE hotels of Birmingham are full
to OVERLOOKING" said Bert Clifford of the
Morris hotel last night 81 know that
every day we are full and sometimes
we are having to send people to the
other hotels Things are beginning to
have the same appearance In hotel circles
that they did year before last when peo-
after night"
For a while people kept away from
Birmingham when the minerS strike was
announced, and especially drummers with
certain lines, but they are coming more
regularly than ever now, as they seem to
realize that the strike is not hurting
business very much"
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1905-01-23
REFLECTIONS OF A BACHELOR.

T
Nearly every man would like TO pass
Judgment on trusts from the inside
Some of a woman's clothes tell the
truth about her figure. and some a lot
more than the truth.
A girl Is very clever 20 act as II she
didn't have such things when anybody
happens to mention a leg.
There Ia something very deceptive about
tho way girl can make you think she In
looking the other way when she almost
winks at you.
Men get an excited over whether the
flag has been insulted by mob In Central
Africa as women do over whether the
new minister ought to wear red necktics.
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1905-01-23
Stock Market.

Henry Clews, in his Wall street letter
of Saturdays date, says:
.'The stock market situation just now
IN one that demands much caution. There
are powerful cliques ready TO take adj
vantage Of good business situation and
to manipulate first one stock and then
another. endeavoring by repeated adj
vances to secure larger following and
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1905-01-23

thus create an active market. II nothing
interferes they will probably succeed,
since there is little II any antagonism as
yet from other large operators.
But there are other facts to be re-
nembered. Stocks have been steadily
passing from strong into weaker hands;
and the big banking interests are not
actively committed to the long side. They
believe that all the strong factors in the
situation have been amply discounted by
present high prices; all the good news
about increased dividends, etc, having
been known to Item for weeks past.
Anti-railroad. antitrust and anti-tarin
agitation do not promote confidence.
Moreover, the situation abroad requires
watching"
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1905-01-23

Some people in the woody west are in
clined to rank George AIDE above Shake
speare, but this puts them up against ex-
Professor Briggs, and It puts George AIDE
up against the hairless Rockefeller, and
George may object.
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1905-01-23
Losses in the Far East.

So far as information can be gath
cred from official information the
losses of the two combatants in the
chief battles and movements of the
war are nut IS follows.
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1905-01-23

Alton B. Parker and D. Cady Herrick
are mere lawyers In New York City, and
in the crowded streets they are undis-
tinguishable from tramps possessiong
shapely overcoats
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1905-01-23

Champion Jim Jeffries is transforming
through the small towns of the north
west. He goes where full houses await
him. He is not hunting for fame but dol
laro
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1905-01-23

II the troops refuse to fire on the strik-
ers at st. Petersburg the duplicate of the
French uprising in 1883 will be at hand
again. Russia needs an uprising of some
aort
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1905-01-23

The grand dukes are much In evidence
In the strike at St Petersburg. If the
strikers gain the upper hand the grand
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1905-01-23

George Cortelyou and Elmer Dover have
been given the pick of federal patronage.
and they are hesitating between choice
NUNS
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1905-01-23

Senator Burton got a new trial In the
United States supreme court by the GUS
tomary vote of to l.
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1905-01-23

Resolutions favoring the reduction of
cotton acreage are intended to apply in
the next county or state.
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1905-01-23
WHO Is Jim RLupsO?

From the Washington Post.
In last Sundays issue of the Memphis
Scimitar this question is finally set at
rest. The photograph of note from Sec
rotary Hay is given, and 1t runs to this
effect:
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1905-01-23

Judge Swayne Is no more guilty morally
than the congressman who collect mileage
when riding on passes.
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1905-01-23

Mrs Chadwick does not object to high
bail provided the court will let her go
out and hypnotic some more bank presi-
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1905-01-23

Governor Pennypaclzer writes himself
down bigger ass than the cartoonists
are capable OF doing.
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1905-01-23

rather 6opon mas been communicated
by the ecclesiastical machine but not by
the people.