davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-09-04
Secret Societies.

With the Elks owning a handsome home, the Masonic Temple nearly conn pleted, the Fraternal Temple soon to be erected by the Odd FelIows and the Knights of Pythias and a hall to be erected by the Knights or Co1umbus with in the next few years. Birmingham will make a better showing in the matter of secret order property than any other city In the south," remarked a fraternal cit izen.
 All the prominent orders here are in a fourishing condition They do benevo- tent work and afford an opportunity for pleasant social intercourse. Our English cousins used to laugh at the American tendency to multiply secret societies. They thought this country was run mad on the subject and 1t was predicted that the craze would some day spend itself But the American joiner becomes more and more in evidence.
 'In England the Masons and the For esters are popular and the Manchester Unity Odd Fellows are quite strong, but no other secret orders have been able to gain a footing in the mother country There are not less than forty orders in the United States, with large member ship"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-09-04
Building and Loan Associations.

There may be twenty or thirty home building and loan associations in Ala bama, and as many more in each other southern state. These slender figures show what slender hold this form of thrift has upon the south.
 The contrast with northern states Is marked. In Ohio there are 700 associa- tons which have 320,215 members. Think of that! Pennsylvania has 1233 associations in which are enrolled 319,- 459 members. We need not extend the list. Tn the entire country the mem- bership of building and loan associa- tions numbers of 1,631,04 members, and their assets foot up s600,342,56
 Here is a financial plan for the pro- motion of thrift which does not swell the funds that spectators and pro- moters can handle, differing in that re- spect from life insurance, but every dollar Is handled by neighbors and kept at home to be used in. thes erec- ton of homes in the home town.
 Alabama would gain strength if there were in every center of trade, in ey- cry village containing a thousand peo- pie. home building and loan associa- tion. The plan Is not a bit tentative. It has been in full operation about one hundred years, it's origin occurring in English towns. Philadelphia soon adopted 1t, and 1t has since spread to all parts of the country. The south Is less familiar with 1t than any other sec tion, although there are many associa- tions in Missouri, Kentucky and West Virginia.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-09-04
Helped the Needy.

"When I read in The Age Herald this morning that Dr. J. R. Smith had left s2O,000 to charitable institutions in Bir- mingham, I was in no way surprised" |" said prominent man who has known the deceased for many years. T see in his choice of charities to which he left money that same careful judgment that marked his actions during life. He showed that he knew the conditions thoroughly, and he left money to those institutions which were in need of aid.
 "The yearly donation of 5000 for five years to each the Hillman hospital, the Mercy home and the Boys Industrial school at East Lake will truly be God send to those institutions. St. Vincent's hospital has the support of great char ity fund behind 1t, and is not dependent on subscriptions to as great an extent as the other three institutions However. St. Vincent's hospital draws much of its maintenance funds from the charitable people of Birmingham.
 "Ths bequest of $5000 to Hillman hospi- tai will place that institution on a better financial basis than 1t has been in some years past, and will tide 1t over the financial troubles which threatened 1t q year ago.
 'In this as in other things, Dr. Smith showed that he had made careful study of the situation and knew where financial aid was necessary. He is a man who did a great deal of charitable work during his life far more than anyone will ever know. and before his death he provided for the institutions which he aided during his life.'
The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-09-04
Prospects at University.

"The University of Alabama will open next Wednesday with bright prospects" said Leslie Lodge of Tuscaloosa Many Improvements have been made in build ings and grounds. Woods Hall has been repanted and the mess hall has been put in admiral condition. In fact. so many changes have been made that the old students will be surprised at the pleasing transformation that has been wrought.
 "The outlook for attendance this year Is very bright. A number of alumni have signified their intention of being pres- ent on the opening day Tn order to start the year with a rush. These enthusiastic supporters will aid materially in awaken ing interest and in bringing new stu dents to Tuscaloosa.
 Tuscaloosa Is an ideal college town. It has a classic atmosphere that is con ductive to study and I am sure that there Ia no institution of learning In the coun- try that is more warmly loved by it's sons and daughters than the University of Alabama. When once a student falls be- heath the spell of college life in Tusca- loosa he has no desire to escape.
 'The work of enrolli'.g and examining new students will h- gin Wednesday morning. It is expected that there will be large party of alumni from Birming- ham,"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-09-04
Cuban Finances.

The Cuban congress has passed a bill authorizing the borrowing of twen. weight million dollars to be applied in ll.o payment of pensions to the Cuban soldiers of the revolution. AS the revo- lution was fought to an end by the Americans and as the Cubans were not seen in a considerable battle it would seem as if the grant of .Arty-flve mil lions in 1904 should have been suf- fic,ent. It did not satisfy them, how ever, and they are to have twenty ei--t millions more.
 Such extravaganza in a people not more numerous than the people of 1--abama seems at first sight extrava. gant and in contravention of the Platt amendment. but Senor Quesada, the Cuban minister to this country, shows that the proposed loan is wholly with in Cuba's means. She has favorable trade balance of forty million dollars a year, and the island IS very prosperous The annual revenue of the government is thirty miuions a year, while the ex penditures are but seventeen millions Sns has a handsome surplus of rev enue on hand to be applied to useful works of internal improvement.
 The prosperity ol the island under tho new reciprocity treaty with this country enables the government to deal liberally vita the soldiers who enlisted to fight against Spain. How many oi them really did we need not stop to inquire. Some of them perhaps did. Nc doubt Cuba has a right therefore to issue more bonds to pay pensions. and uncle Sam will not call her to account under the Platt -hendment.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-09-04
MBlTloN IN KANSAS.

From the Philadelphia Record.
 Kansas Is expecting to thresh nearly GOO bushels of wheat and while this is described as "25. 900 less than full normal crop" 1Oo.00O,OO0 bushels is the ideal toward which Kansas Is struggling and which every spring 1t is confident of attaining, but which it has never reached. Four years ago 1t came within 100000 bushels of 1t; two years ago 1t fell about 100000 bushels short; five years ago 1t was 1S0O0.000 bushels short. In other years the wheat crop has been very much less than that of this year promises to be. Nearly every county reports some fields yielding thirty or forty bushels to the acre. If average yields could be brought up to such figures bread would be cheap and yet the farmers prosperous. Me- braska promises to yield 100000 bushels of wheat. harvest only exceeded three years ago
The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-09-04
Home Consumers Wakino Up.

Between the sale of American goods
 at lower prices abroad than at home
 and the danger of losing the great trade of Germany and perhaps of oth- CT countries, the standpatter who wants the last dollar that he can squeeze out of home consumers begins to be uneasy. He sees strong interests arrayed against him in various direc- tions, and he sees, too, that the Amer lean voter is beginning to get his eyes open to the iniquities of Dingleyism. Germany has bought in the past over two hundred million dollars worth of American products-what she will buy from us after next March remains to be seen. In the absence of reciprocity treaty it will not be over half of what It has been. Germany has adopted the
The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-09-04
Russia gets the cold end of sakhalin
WILD HORSES IN FRANCE.

From the Nineteenth Century.
 The small white horse of the Camargue (delta of the Rhone), now in number some 2000 only, wander about the seemingly boundless steppes at full liberty. They are captured from time to time and used to thresh the corn. These are supposed to have been first introduced by the Ro- mans and afterward by the Saraeens.
 But according to M. Huzzard, What ever their origin, whether foreign or native, tho horses of the Camargue to- day are the product almost exclusively of the influences of the environment in which they have propagated from time mmemorial."
 M. Gayot describes the horse of the Camargue as small, agile, good-tempered spirited, courageous. In the opinion of Professor Magne the horse of the Cam argue must live in wild state, and the first effect of improving the sanitation of the island will be the disappearance of its horses
The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-09-04

dual tariff system, and we are to get the cold ena of it.
 What will Congress do about it] What will Congress do in the face oi a deficiency of about twenty million dollars in the first two months of the ficcal year?
 Dlngleyism has bound the home con- sr1er to a lot of monopolists. The home consumer is today at the mercy of the trusts that have been formed under the protecting wing of Dingley- ism, It Is the home consumer on the one hand, and the farmers who must sell the surplus of their great crops, that need relief
 It may take the form of maximum and Minimum tariffs. Russia, France, l.ain, Greece, Norway and Germany have adopted that plan, and so has Brazil. We granted France some tariff concessions, and this avoided some of the penalties of her maximum tariff.
 The dual tariff scheme is wholly in- defensible in principle, but anything tha. will start the electors to thinking about the evils and manifold robberies of Dingleyism will be useful, and 1t is possible 1t may prove the wedge that will upset the whole concern years hence when the primary system has reformed the United States Senate which is now the citadel of Privilege.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-09-04
SOME NOTED AMERICANS
 WHO LIKED GOOD LIQUOR

the democratic party was doing in the field of politics, and with that end in view selected two seasoned Virginia topers to interview Buchanan. then a sen- ator in Congress. get him drunk and in- duce him to talk. The parties met at the Astor house in New York. and short
 y after midnight Tyler's emissaries were both under the table and old Buck. in full possession of all his faculties and Presi- dent Tyler's political secrets. trotted off to bed.
 There is a story of the cellar of an- other Pennsylvania statesman. Simon Cameron. It is said there were several barrels of "cherry bounce' in there that had the effect to cause any member of the Pennsylvania legislature who drank of 1t to vote for anything General Cam eron told him to vote for.
 General Sheridan told a story of Bis- marck It was late on the day of Sedan. Bismarck and Sheridan had witnessed the battle and the victory, and both put spurs to flank and dashed for Blsmarck's quar- ters. Herbert Bismarck was there and his father asked for something to drink There was just one bottle of brandy in the place, a little more than fifth of a gallon. This was uncorked and the chan cellor put 1t to his mouth and drank and drank and drank, and when he had finish ed there was not drop remaining for his guest.
 When Stepen A. Douglas appeared at Nashville in 1860 he drank two full gob- lets of fine whisky just before he be- gan his magnificent speech: Fellow citi- zens, sixteen years ago today I was in Nashville, then, as now, battling for the success of the national democracy and contending for the correct construction of the national constitution Then I ad- voeated the election to the presidency of an illustrious son of Tennessee, and on that same day I received the plaudit and the benediction of the Sage of the Her mitage."
The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-09-04
ORIGIN AND MEANING
 OF THE TITLE "CZAR"

Poland and of Siberia, etc., Lord of Pskof and Grand Prince of Smolensk, of Lithuania, of Volkynia, of Podolla and of Finland Prince of Esthonia, of Livonia. of Courtland, of Karelia and of various other countries. Prince of the Territory of Nijni-Novgorod, Tchernigof, etc.. etc.. etc"
 The distinction between the title of Tsar and that of Emperor Is formal in this singular monument of barbarism. The sovereign proclaims himself Emperor and autocrat of all the Russians, without re- nouncing for all that the title of Tsar of Kazan. Astrakhan and other places This seems to show very cleally that the title of Tsar existed from very remote times in the east and that it Is quite distinct from that of Emperor.
 Some writers pretend to trace in csr- tain names of the Assyrian Kings incon- testable traces of this ancient designation. Nabonassar, Nabopolassar, Nabuchadn.- gar, Belshasar. etc.. are to be consid- cred. according to them. as compound names. the termination "sar' or "sor" signifying prince or general, and thus giv- ing origin to the title ''Czar." In this way, Neriglissar would signify Prince of Nerguel,' or prince favored by Ner- guel. (Nerguel was an Assyran idoD.
 Mickiewicz, sharing this opinion, pre- sents the Assyrians as forming part of the great Sclavonic family. He sighs at fhe idea of seeing his unhappy race sup porting the yoke of sovereigns daring enough to take title which reminds one of Nebuchadnezar, name in which he thinks to recognize that pride of which the Bible speaks. He remarks upon inc striking analogy existing between difrcr- CT t varieties of the name of this race ard the designation of slavery. From Serb or serve comes the Latin servus: slave, slavon, esclavon, from which comes the French escave. There is a grea. distance between this hypothesis and he origin which the Sclaves themselves attribute to their name, viz. slava, glory!
The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-09-04
The Business World.

Henry Clews in his Wall street letter of Saturdays date says:
 "Already there has been moderate calling in of Wall streets funds by banks more particularly identified with mer- cantile interests. These banks find an increased demand for accommodation in their own particular fields; they find manufacturers and distributors making active preparations for a year of unusual activity and prosperity. This active and legitimate demand for money. being simul- taneous with the recall of funds from New York by the western and southern banks, could hardly have failed to pro- yoke acute stringency had the war set clement not been on an ex-indemnity basis. The money market is in these days of instantaneous communication a worlds market. London and Paris and Berlin and New York and other world funds like water finding a natural level
 Foreign bankers had been watching the peace negotiations with the view of pro- vidng Russia with funds for lndemnity and while Russia and Japan will both be borrowers in the near future their transactions are not now of the urgent description and will be conducted with view of securing funds on a favorable money market-which will not be for two months or so.
 'eThe net result seems, therefore, that money accumulated for the payment of possible indemnity will become in part available as a source of relief to New York; and the weakness of sterling ex- change indicates that with any substan- tial advance in money rates here British ard French money would promptly be- come available, with veiw of anticipat- ing the large exports of American pro- ducts. As already intimated, the mer- cantile prospects of the country for a year ahead are highly satisfactory, and the industrial situation is not less SO. Steel rail manufacturers have reaffirmed
The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-09-04
From the Washlngton Post.

From the Washington Post.
 K1N ENTION has been made of the IlVI fact that Governor Folk takes his whisky he might do worse It is effeminate, unwholesome and un- Christian to drink your whisky mixed.
 The Crescent warriors slipped their sherbet spiced
 George Washington drank the best liquor, and he drank it straight, and the same Is true of Andrew Jackson Jack son, however, preferred his rather young, and would drink it new from the worm
 On one occasion it fell to me to go to Madison county. Kentucky. and interview Gen. Cassius M Clay. The old lion met me at the portal and gave me hospitable reception. He showed me his baronial hall, his pictures, his books and his weapons.
 Then he fetched forth liquor The first was some brandy fifty-four years old. It was insipid, and the general only pro- duced it as a curiosity. Then he pro- duced brandy eighteen years old, and the gods of high Olympus never quaffted mightier mead.
 It was not until the King of Day had nearly run his course in the heavens that l mounted my horse to return to Rich mond, and I am nearly ready to say that that brandy was about the best liquor l ever partook of
 There is tradition that James Buchanan kept the best whisky of any of the Pres idents. I have read the statement that he had in his cellar at Wheatland enor- nous quantities of the best rye whisky in the world when he died. It was said, and the story was told with the precision and circumstantiality that gave it the impress of truth, that whisky-that Is, good whisky and such whisky as he drank-had no other intoxicating effect on James Buchanan than gentle exhil- aration.
 There was a story that John Tyler, when President, wanted to find out what
The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-09-04
PROGRESS IN MEXICO.

From Modern Mexico.
 In 1876 there were 71ss Kilometres of telegraph line in the republic of Mexico; in 1904 this had increased to 50.324. The receipts of the federal telegraph in the first year mentioned were ss3,sO2, which ir 1904 had increased to $1,5Os.74s
 In 1876 there were 564 kilometres of railway; in 1904 they had increased to 16,2S5.
 The total income of the Mexican gov ernment in 1876 was s19,0Ss. .15S; in the fiscal year ending March 30, 1905 sSl .091.O7s
 There were 720 postoffice in Mexico in the year 1876; in 1904 23O1.
 In 1876 the banking capital of the re- public was s5Oo.OO0; in 1904 this had in- creased to $100, 100000
The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-09-04
THE STREAM OF LIFE.
Arthur Hugh Clough

By Arthur Hugh Clough. o stream descending to the sea, The messy banks between, The fowerets blow, the grasses grow, The leafy trees are green. In garden-plots the children play, The fields the laborers till, And houses stand on either hand. And thou descendest still. o life descending into death.
 Our waking eyes behold; Parent and friend thy lapse attend, Companions young and old. Strong purposes our minds possess, Our hearts affection fill, We toll and earn, we seek and learn, And thou descendest still. o end to which our currents tend, Inevitable sea,
 To which we flow. what do we know What shall we guess of thee? A roar we hear upon thy shore, As we our course fulfill; Scarce we divine sun will shino And he above ms still.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-09-04
From the Boston Transcript.

From the Boston Transcript.
 nEN MONG the prisoners taken in "R the battle of Narya. there was
 one who was astriking example of the revolutions of fortune. This was the eldest son and heir of the King of Georgia he was termed the 'Czarafis. a word signifying prince, or son of a Czar among the Tartars. as In Muscovy, for the word Czar signified King among the ancient Scythians from whom these peo- pie are descended, and was not derived from the Caesars, so long unknown to these barbarians." In such terms Vol which is not without interest at the pres ent time (see Charles XII, Book D.
 Opinions upon this point vary greatly. The resemblance of the word Czar to the word Caesar (Kaiser in Creek has led some to think that the Russian princes assumed this title as the sovereign of Germany did that of Kaiser" as the equivalent of the title of Emperor. It is even related that at the commencement of the twelfth century, Alexis Commenius, who was then reigning in Constantinople
  Monomachus, sent to him an ambassa- dor with presents, and caused the im- perial crown to be placed on his name proclaiming him Caesar" or "Czar" of Russia.
 It is certain that the pretended identity of these two titles becomes, very doubtful when one learns that petty chiefs of Tartar hordes bear the title of Czar, so that on this point Voltaire may have been right in asserting that the Oriental nations had known and used the word Tzar or Czar from a very remote period The doubt only increases when one reads the formula which precedes all royal proclamations in Russia:
 We, by the grace of God, Emperor and autocrat of all the Russians of Mos COW. Kief, Vladimire, Novorod, etc., Tzar of Kasan, Tsar of Astrakhan, Tsar of
The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-09-04
SOME MEAN MILLIoNAIREs.

From the Chicago Journal.
 To the average man that racks his brain to make domestic ends meet on $10 or $15 week there is something startling in the light recently thrown on the life and habits of MT. Samuel Dunlap, the acto- genarlan millionaire, who died a few weeks ago in London.
 MT. Dunlap's housekeeper declares, among many other strange things, that during forty years this owner of millions purchased only one suit of clothes. a cheap pair of gray trousers, and two over coats; while four straw hats, at shil- ling each were all the head-covering re- quired for sixteen years.
 Once a month the housekeeper cut his hair; and that his locks should not be wasted she had orders to stuff mattresses with them. When his frock coat be- off its tails and converted 1t, for several years further use, into a jacket; while her master would never have his shoes blacked or his clothes brushed for fear of wearing them out.
 When G. G. Solodovnikogo, the Moscow millionaire, died short time tgo, leav- ing his many millions for charitable pur- poses. it was stated that for years he had lived in a dilapidated two-story house. surrounded by rotting furniture. and with out servant of companion. During the day he wore a tattered dressing gown, al- most as old as himself and, with an in- come of at least sl,25oOo0 a year, he h. r-
 M. Paul Colasson, one of the wealthest men in France, known to fame as the "Parisian hermit" lived for twenty-sev- en years exclusively on ekks and bread, supplied to him twice a week by an old servant, the only human being he ever consented to see. Until some time into the '7Vs M. Colasson led the life of rich and fashionable map. but when his nephew, a boy of IA, to whom he was de- votedy attached, was burned to death at a fancy dress ball he shut himself up in his place and spent the rest or his life miserly reciuse.
 After James Tyson, the Australian souatter, had amassed several millions he still dressed as shabbily and fared as plainly as when he could not lay hands on a sovereign. His. dress was shabby suit of ready made clothes. his watch chain was a bootlace, and his food pre- cisely the same as wheen he was plying a scythe on farm. It was his boast that never during his long life had he en- tered a theatre or public house, worn white shirt or a glove or washed himself with soap.