davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-01-04
ProsperiiY Ahead.

Not even the pessimists are ready to predict any reversal in production transportation or trade in the first half of the current year. All concede that it's first six months will be highly pros porous. emulating the best months of 1905.
 The activity of the second half of the because 1t will be governed by the crop prospects that will begin to be- come manifest by the first day of July. At that time the output of the wheat crop will become known. and shrewd observers will have an opinion as to the corn and cotton crops of the year.
 Assuming. however, that its aggre- gate of farm products will equal those of the present year no prophet is needed to foretell the maintenance of prosperity to it's very close. This would follow as a matter beyond doubt or question.
 In the meanwhile railroad construc- ton will go on at an almost unprece- dented rate, and so will the industries, notably those of iron and steel The railroads will be crowded with traffic, 4ha ho,1,e ,,,;tl, nuStop,arc ond tha fa c- tories will be unable to fill orders.
 If speculation at home can be kept within bounds, and no great disaster occurs in Russia, the chances largely are that Prosperity with a big will stay with us to the last day of the new year.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-01-04
Politics in cullmsn.

''The coming campaign in cullman county promises to be one of the most interesting ever held there said gen tleman from the city of Cullman ycster- day.
 Besides the contest for sheriff, for which office four or five candidates have already announced, the most interesting fight will be in the race for the legis- lature and state senator from the Third senatorial district composed of the coun- ties of Cullman, Winston and Blount.
 Attorney F. E. St. John has announced for this place on the democratic platform but in card to the public he came out strongly in favor of the establishment of dispensaries in the counties which he desires to represent
 Tt is understood that Mir. St. John will have strong opposition on this ques- ton and the contest promises to be one of the most exciting ever held in this section of political sensations.
 Two candidates. J. x. Bright and J. E. Lcvans, have announced for the legis- lature, and 1t is understood that several others will announce in a few weeks and
The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-01-04
The man was noble, But with his last attempt he wip'd it out.
 -othello.
Fall Riyer,s Cotton Mills.

Over 100000 spindles were added in 1905 to the number in Fall River, city that held ten years ago 2,2OS,1S4 spindles and 51 ,446 looms. It has 70 cotton mills, and fully 2,500000 spin dies today, or about three times as many as there are in Alabama, and more than there are in any southern state.
 And Fall River is gaining instead of losing ground In one new mill built in 1905 were placed 69,000 spindles, and in another 42OOO spindles. The entire number of spindles added last year in Fall River was probably very near 15O,OO0.
 "The year (19O5) has, says the Providence Journal, "been a prosper ous one. Goods have brought prices which returned satisfactory profits, and the demand has been steady and nearly always in the sellers favor. The scarcity of help has been serious drawback to some of the mills, but every corporation in the city engaged in the manufacture of cotton goods showed good earnings, and number of mills which had gone steadily be- hind during the long period of depres- sion have greatly improved their finan- cial condition during the year. Tho business year of 1905 closed Saturday, and the new year opens with the mills sold up for two or three months ahead, a steady demand for all classes of goods and firm and profitable market for the product. Cotton is high. but upon this as altogether a serious mat ter. for the reason that goods will con tinue firm and readily salable at the present or higher prices so long as cot ton maintains it's present high level It is admitted that the prospects for successful year in manufacturing have not been better for long period
 If such results are possible in Fall hiver, one thousand miles away from the cotton fields and several hundred miles distant from coal mines, why can not even better results be achieved in Alabama? If Fall River mills are profitable why should not mills be profitable in Alabama? Cheaper cot- ton. cheaper fuel and cheaper labor are at hand here, and yet Fall River in stalls each year more spindles than we do.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-01-04
In the Railroad World.

"A man who is not in the railroad bus mess, or even one who Is a railroad man, must have a mind that acts like kaleid- oscope to keep up with the various changes, as to which big system owns or controls some smaller line and where the various community of interests are. ' said a prominent railroad official yester- day.
 'I keep in pretty close touch with everything that takes place in the rail- road world, but frequently l am at & loss to know exactly how certain matters stand. Only the other day l picked up a paper and was reading about the friend ly feeling which existed between two railroads and 1t was news to me, ali though the community of interests had been in operation for some months.
 Any one who has kept track of the southern railroads and their alliances will readily understand what l mean. The Southern and the Frisco and the Illinois Central and the Central of Georgia and the Mobile and Ohio, in fact all the roads, have their offensive and defensive alliances, and a man has to be wide awake to keep track of them
The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-01-04
New Leader st the Senate.

Senator Aldrich. who represents in tie Senate Rhode Island and presum- ably John D. Rockefeller, has abdi- cated his senatorial throne and the new king is Senator Hale of Maine. The current of public sentiment has run against Mr. Aldrich. He is still, however chairman of the finance com mittee. which corresponds to the ways and means committee of the House.
 But the Senate majority has an in- side ring. It is the committee on com mittees. It controls the assignments to other committees, and dictates the general policy of the dominant party in the Senate, and therefore the Sen Hte itself Senator Hale is now chair man of the committee of committees. Aldrich was, but Eugene Hale is. The Maine Senator has served nearly thirty years in the Senate and his courage, luutptnuCutc anu tdpdCit9 diS lOl questioned by his party associates. He outranks now not only Aldrich, but Allison, Spooner or Lodge. The loss in quick succession by death of Sena- tors Platt, Hanna and McMillan, and the publication of Aldrich has brought Senator Hale forward, and he is today the leader of the Senate.
 His leadership pertains of course to the republicans only. He does not lead Alabama's two Senators, nor MT. Bailey, nor MT. Tillman, nor the rest of the minority, but he does lead the Senators who constitute the working political majority of the Senate, and his voice i'll that majority in respect to great questions is potential.
 ~ He is a better man than the deposed
The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-01-04
THE cLANSMAN" A HIT. Dixon, the Author, Issues Challenge to
 Rabbi Siverman.

Syracuse, January 1.-"The Clansman'' by Thomas Dixon, Jr., had its premier northern presentation at the Wieting Opera House this afternoon and evening.
 Two immense audiences witnessed the performance. and aside from the interest taken in Dixon's audacious handling of the negro problem, enthusiastic approval was bestowed upon the stirring scenes and situations with which the play abounds Numerous curtain calls greeted the climax of every act.
 At the end of the third act, after twelve curtain calls. MT. Dixon appeared before the audience and made a short address in which he claimed for his play that it had mission to perform in the north as well as the south, and he said he looked forward with eagerness to the New York opening ithe play at the Lib erty theatre, where he anticipated long and successful run.
 He referred to the bitter attack on the play by Rabbi Silverman in New York last Sunday, and said that he stood ready to withdraw "The Clansman" from the boards if competent committee decided that the rabbi was right in his contention. This was subject to the condition that if the committee should decide in Dixon s favor the rabbi must resign from the pastorate
The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-01-04
GRIM COLLECTION OF RELICS.
London s. p. c. c. Exhibits. Articles
 Used to Torture Children.

From the London Pall Mall Gazette,
 There has recently been arranged at the offices of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children in Lon don a case of relics, and so unique and terrible is the story they tell of cruelty and torture that they might have be- longed to the dark ages instead of to the present day. In every case the things have been used in infficting torture on children. There is mudbespattered clog that was worn for days by child whose parents dragged 1t through the streets of a northern town. Externally there is nothing to suggest it's grim purpose, but from the sole three cruel nails had been knocked through so as to pierce the foot The evil scheme succeeded, and the mournful wall and haggard look of the little one extracted aims from the sym pathetic. which were pocketed by the cruel parents. Beside the clog hangs a belt with a heavy brass buckle, used to thrash girl of g and boy of ,. The buckle bears an embossed anchor, and so relentless were the blows inflicted that the boy for days bore the impression of the anchor on his body.
 Pathetic interest attaches to a place of heavy tarred rope. It was used by a vicious stepmother to thrash girl Il years of age. When the society rescued the girl her life was despaired of but with care and attention she partially re- covered. So terrible had been the cruelty Inflicted, however, that three or four times she sank again until no hope seemed left. Then there was a change for the better. and the girl is now well and happy. A clergyman figures on the blacklist, and is represented by long. heavy chain and paddock, by means of which he fastened his starving daughter to a bed. Memory of a notorious cruelty case in Totten- ham, where the culprit was sent to prison for three years, is revived by an ordi- nary travelling basket, in which two chill dren were found in a terrible state of destitution and neglect. Another chain and paddock tells of a step another and father. who fastened boy 8 years of age to a staple in the floor of a wretched room Daily from early morning until late at night the child lay chained like an animal hungry, dirty and i'll, until the law laid a stern hand on the man and woman Weighing four pounds, a formidable iron staple bears a card that indicates that lit was used to beat a child with, The grue- some collection is not without Its streak of humor. In a conspicuous position there is an iron man. resembling in size and ap- pearance the ordisary frying pan of do- nestle use, which is described as "a bath used by a family of eight persons But that is the only note of relief. Every other article tells some story of inhuman cruelty
The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-01-04
ALABAMA PRESS

Mobile Item Senator La Toilette is now in the proud position. influential and im- nosjng. of chairman of the Senate com mlttee on Potomac river front. Did spooner do this?
 Huntsville Democrat: Birmingham's can dldates increase with the new year. Who knows but the whilom Magic City may vet be Alabama's political vatican and her citizens may cross the Alabama and Tennessee rivers to kiss her great toe and sacrifice at her altar.
 
 Lafayette Sun: No better time since the war to shake off the shackes of mort gages that have manacied the farmers To- these many years. The farmer who fails to seize this opportunity to better his plans and escape high interest and mortgage prices might as we'll hang up the fiddle and the bow
 Montgomery Advertiser: That ancient expression, rich as Croesus" will have to be abandoned, If It is true that his wealth was equal to only about ten mil lion dollars of our money. Such for tune would have a decided thirty cents appearance to some wealthy Americans. It Is possible, however. that even ten millions was looked on as a respectable pile in Lydia some twenty-five centuries ago.
 Montgomery Journal: The resignation of President Mccall of the New York Life was made necessary by the disgraceful exposures made by the legislative investi- gating committee Mccall will soon be forgotten, but not so his strenuous ef- forts to care for the sacred funds of the policyholders by making contribu- tions to republican campaigns and buy ing up and corrupting legislatures and doing other things equally scandalous.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-01-04

it is expected that the dispensary will also form the main issue in this race.
 It is hard to tell just how my county will vote in the gubernatorial race. While cnllman gave Conner an overwhelming majority in the race for president of the railroad commission two years ago, 1t Is not expected that he will receive the same following in the coming election.
 Lieutenant Governor Cunningham has many personal friends and admirers in the county and | am of the opinion that cullman will surprise some of the Conner enthusiasts on the day of the electlon.'
The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-01-04
IN HOTEL LoBBIEs
Menfsvallo,s Water.


 'Monteyallo has one of the best water supplies in the state" said J F. Cooper, agent of the Southern railway at that place, who spent yesterday In Birming- ham, There is a creek about 8 feet wide and from two to four feet deep run ming practically all round the city and we have spring there that supplies the city with the purest of water.
 The water falls at Monteyallo are large enough to furnish lighting power for that entire surrounding neighborhood. A comparatively small expenditure would enable the people of Montevallo to have electric lights.
 "'rhe water power is also sufficient 10 run big mill or two. In fact large mill once stood on the side of the creek and the old buildings still remain on the bank. There was a dam across the stream, but only portions of 1t remain now. It has been washed away from time to time.
 "We have one of the finest towns in the state. The elevation is good and the drainage is natural and very effective. We have q large number of pretty resi- dences in the town"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-01-04
LoNDoN's SUPREME PROBLEM.
Physical Deeeneracy that Has Come
 About Trough Poverty.
From Everybody's Magazine.

From Everybody S Magazine.
 At Millbank, London, on the Middlesex side of the Thames, half a mile above the Parliament buildings. is a group of substantial fiat houses built and owned by the London county council. The archi- lecture is good. air and light are provided for the courts between are paved with as- phalt, everything is clean, well ordered, quiet eminently respectable. In front is little strip of park where the children play. On Sunday, July 2. at noon there came through one of the asphalt courts a young man, little boy and young wom- an carrying baby. They were dreadful to look upon, all of them clothed in drop ping rags, emaciated, tallowy and un- clean. The woman had a vacant face and next to no chin; the man had sloping shoulders one higher than the other and stopped. The boy reproduced and exag- gerated the physical defects of the man and the woman The man slowly led the way down the court. singing. l have never known thing more grotesaue and horrible. He was singing Rock of Ages, not to the inappropriate air of Abtis to which it is usually sung in America, but to the tune used in the churches of Eng land. 1t was not that his voice was feeble, or wailing or pathetic. What struck every attentive listener with kind of horror was that it was not the voice of a human being.
 They walked very slowly down the court and looked up at the windows. Two or three were opened and some halfpence were thrown out, perhaps five. And thus. singing in this frightful fashion they took their rags and their misery out of sight.
 They were the problem of London. those four and they stood before the best am swer that London has yet been able to make.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-01-04
BlRMINGHAM'S BUILDINGS.

From the Gadsden Journal.
 Birmingham is certainly to become a city of skyscrapers. Hardly is one tall building under way before others are pro- jected. Three years ago the first one was completed, the Woodward, and since then two more have been erected, the First National bank structure and the Title Guarantee. All these were nine Or ten stories, but now work is begun on a. fif- teen-story building and plans are being made for one twenty stories high And there is much talk of two or three more. among them a fifteen-story hotel. This is getting up in the air some for city credited with less than 5o,oOo by the last census figures.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-01-04
The Rural Telephone.

"The part played in our modern social and business life by the telephone and the possibilities of this potent agency in the near future are wonderful" said a gentleman in the lobby of the Colonial hotel last night.
 "The cities and towns not only have extensive local systems with long dis tance connections, but this modern con venience is being extended to the rural districts in many sections of this state.
 "In many communities of the north the telephone has already become an indis- pensable institution to many people living in the rural districts, but the extension of the telephone to the country is compara- lively new in Alabama. Now, however, that the introduction has fairly begun the spread of the system will be rapid.
 "Fights for franchises between the Southern Bell Telephone and Telegraph company and independent concerns in several of the counties fin the northern part of this state has led to the building of many lines into the country.
 Several of the northern cities in the state already have a network of tele- phone lines that give the farmer living ten and twenty miles from any railroad or town an equal advantage with his city brother. and it is said that the rate charged for this service is as cheap and in some instances cheaper than the rate charged in the cities.
 "There are great possibilities and many advantages in the rural telephone system and I am of the opinion that the day is not far distant when the entire state will be connected by a complete system of telephones.
 "The telephone is a popular convenience to the farmer who. in his isolation, readily appreciates the quick communication 1t gives him with his neighbors and the resultant protection afforded
The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-01-04
New High School.
ton

The completion of the new high school building at a cost of $150,O00 is an event of unusual importance. Per. haps there Is not better high school building in the cotton states. There are not many in the country and Blr- mingham is justly and reasonably proud of 1t.
 This town would be still more for tunate if it had also ample accommoda- tions for it's pupils in the primary and preparatory grades below the high school. It is a melancholy fact that only one-half of the children of this city are in it's schools. Only one-half can find seats in them. We lamentably lack primary schools.
 Now that we have a fine high school building, ample in dimensions and ex- cellently conducted every possible ef- fort should be made towards an in- crease of ward schools up to the needs of a rapidly increasing city. We need twice as many schools as we have at present, for only one-half of the chill dren listed in the last school census are today in the city's schools. This Is a sad fact, but it is best to know and to face the situation as 1t actually gfande
The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-01-04

Rhode Island Senator He is a stand batter. but no one has ever accused him of representing in the Senate a special interest of the Standard Oil sort. He is as honest and upright as a standpatter can well be, and that is something in his favor. He will en- deavor to perpetuate the power of the Senate-the oligarchy-and he will be able to do a great deal in that direc- tion
The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-01-04
Richard Mansfield.

After all" said Manager Douglas, Richard Mansfield did not slight Bir- mingham any more than he did Memphis, Nashville or Atlanta, for he played in none of them
 For reasons best known to himself he preferred new route this year. He played on Monday night in Montgomery, on Tuesday night in Macon, on Wednes- day night in Savannah, and he goes to New York, stopping at the coast cities He is to open in New York next week.
 "The great artist seems to desire to spread his fame evenly over all parts of the country, and Birmingham will not have a chance this season to see him in Don Carlos
 By and large he probably draws big ger audiences than any other American actor. The contest for drawing power lies between him and Maud Adams, and the patron who pays his money takes his choice as to their comparative artistic power"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-01-04
LONG AGO.

'y Christina G. Rossetti. In the bleak midwinter Frosty wind made moan; Earth stood hard as iron, Water like a stone; Snow had fallen, snow on snow. Snow on snow; In the bleak midwinter Long ago. Our God-Heaven cannot hold Him, Nor earth sustain; Heaven and earth shall flee away When He comes to reign; In the bleak midwinter stable-place sufficed The Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ Enough for Him, whom cherubim Worship night and day, A breastful of milk
 And a managerial of hay; Enough for Him. whom angels Fall down before, The OK and ass and camel. Which adore. Angels and archangels
 May have gathered there, Cherubim and seraphim Thronged the air But only His mother
 In her maiden bliss. Worshiped the Beloved
 With kiss. What can I give Him, Poor as I am? If l were shepherd. I would bring a lamb; If 1 were wise man, | would do my part: Yet what I can I give Him Give my heart.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-01-04
REFLECTIONS OF A BACHELOR.

From the New York Press.
 Give a man a good daughter and the world can have the beauty.
 A pretty girl is always pretty, but much more so when you are telling her so.
 The grafters will have to stop stealing when there Is nothing else left to steal
 It's awful hard to get used to doing the good things your wife tells your children that you are always doing
 You can do more to get girl to listen to you by sending her a little bunch of flowers than you can by reading her all the sermons that ever were preached
The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-01-04
HONEST PEOPLE.

From the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
 In a street car in Cleveland the other day young man suddenly stopped and picked up something from the floor After looking at 1t a moment he asked in a loud voice. Has anybody lost a five dollar gold piece?" Instantly a solemn man at the front end of the car rose, and, walking back to the young chap, said: "Yes. l have lost a five-dollar gold piece" and held out his hand. We'll" said the young man, here's five cents inst picked up toward it"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-01-04
HOW DALLAS WILL VOTE.

From the Selma Times.
 The Opelika News is the wisest paper in the state. It is not acquainted with a dozen men in Dallas county, and yet 1t professes to know how majority of the voters of this county stand on the sena- torial question. When the primary comes off and the vote is counted old Dallas will be found practically solid for John T. Morgan.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-01-04
Distinguished Pianist.

Harold Bauer, the piano vituoso who will give recital at the Cable hall Jan uary F, is esteemed as one of the great est performers of the world said local musician. He gave concert at the Jefferson theatre few years ago under the auspices of Benjamin Guckenberger, and many musicians who heard him said he surpassed even Paderewsld
 MT. Bauer is at once brilliant and solid and his programmes are always varied and pleasing. No music lover can afford to miss hearing Bauer"