davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-12-18
Greater Birmingham

Greater Birmingham is not mere matter of local pride, although local pride is apt to lead to greater public efforts and higher values It is of itself desirable, but Greater Birmingham has direct and substantial aGvantges tied up in it. for upon it's consummation depends the success of the efforts to secure $1 5G0, 900 federal aullding and sub-treasury These, together with the coming of the Steel corporation to this district, would more than keep away hard times from us no matter if such times tarried else where; they would advertise Birmingham far and wide and make things boom.
 There should be a full vote on Jan uary 6, for a large turnout of voters is needed. The moral influence Of such a vote will be felt, and it will enable the city to gather in adjoining locali- ties, until all With common purpose and common interests living in com mon valley are welded together in cna municipality.
 Let every citizen become n mission ary to his nelghbors to the end that full vote be ool,sd on the first Monday in January. Go to work at once. Find out how your neighbors stand and whether they are voters that intend to vote. Pull for a city that Will rank high among not only southern cities, but among cities anywhere, for city of over 100000 population has high standing in the world at large.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-12-18
WHITTIER,
From the New York World.

From the New York World
 John Greenleaf Whittier never could have been a Poet Laureate. His verse was not such as to win the wreath and his knee would not have bent to the DOW CT offering to bestow 1t. It was as a Poet Advocate that he set forth his rhymes in early manhood-for a freedom broad enough to include black folk as well as white. At next Tuesdays cele- brations of the centennial anniversary of Whittiers birth there will be conspicuous tribute to the poets services to the anti slavery cause in days when 1t took a large courage to be an abolitonist even in Massachusetts.
 Whittier was born poet to the extent that he had natural facility for rhym- ing. He was also born politician. His own county of Essex" writes Bliss Per " in centenary appreciation, Twas then, as as, now, noted for the adroituess Of its politicians, but at 25 John Green leaf Whittier could beat the best of them at their own game" Behind the poets politics, however, were always principles and convictions, never selfish thh. HIS HtSlUtSS was Ills lnSDlrdIlOn. His fighting numbers were platform ora tions in verse-argument denunciation and appeal in sounding rhyme.
 William Lloyd Garrison prophesied at the beginning of Whttiers career that the Amesbury singer would come to rank among the bards of his country.' The prophecy was fulfilled, and with good sea- son. For while there is no world sweeping genius in evidence in the Whit tier lines, and no surpassing, compelling poets vision of beauty, there are in his lyrics. his memories, his hymns and his stories in verse the effective forces of human sentiment and sympathy
 His poems abound in quotable lines. So long as there are pulpits devoted to the simplicity of faith there will be every Sunday creations from "The Eternal Goodness" On the whole, the tribute of the hundred years to Amesbury's rhym- ing Quaker is the tribute to a great and dauntlesS soul
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-12-18
Payment of Poll Taxes

The coming year is to be a voting year. A great national campaign will be ended by great national election. It is to be a warm campaign, probably hot one, and the democratic party expects every democrat to do his duty. The democrat who does not do it need expect no -postoffices and things at the hands of his victorious party, for the charge that he had not qualified him. self to vote would destroy any chances he might otherwise have to get fed eral job.
 And then there are to be other cleo tions, but if there were no elections at all every good citizen within age limit, whether a property holder or not, should be willing to pay poll tax toward the support of the public schools. No one should pay less to public education.
 It is none too early to keep this subject in mind. Poll taxes must be paid by or before February 1 in order to qualify the citizen for voting. The ballot box is open to all who pay the poll taxes assessed against them. The constitutional provision may have been uncalled for, but we must take things as they are, and the law as 1t stands calls for the payment by or before February of all poll taxes assessed and due since 1903.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-12-18

dark corners have been explored. The wildcat finanoiers have been checked in their mad career, if not altogether eliminated. Corporate emanagement has been largely vindicated. It Is better than many had dared to hope. The water has been squeezed out by the almost unprecedented decline in the prices of securities.
 A little patience and great deal of faith in America and American insti- tutions will soon suffice to lift the country out of the October rut and to start all on new upward course based on experience and the lessons of the last 50 days.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-12-18
Returning Prosperity

Steadily and with an eye to safety and soundness the banks and all other business concerns are beginning to put the recent financial disturbance behind them. All see and appreciate the essen tial soundness of the banks of the country. In 1893 over 500 banks failed, and the number of failures since Octo- Der 23 of this year could be counted on the fingers of ones hand. Savings bank depositors have withdrawn their notices of withdrawal All banks are getting ready for the cashing of checks and the resumption of business on a normal basis. The New York banks are still shy on the requirement of reserve, but each week brings them nearer the 25 per cent of cash on hand that the law calls for.
 The gross earnings of the railroads are still maintained, and new orders are to come soon to the industrial plants in all branches No doubt the volume of business will be reduced, but there will be enough doing especially after New Years Day to give employ ment to labor.
 Out of the stress and strain of the ast 50 da, s much good has come. The
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-12-18
TINY MASTERPIECES.

From the New York Tribune.
 An English paper has an account of a tiny boat made by an Italian and formed of a single pearl. Its sail is of beaten gold, studied with diamonds, and its headlight, carried at the prov, is per feet ruby. An emerald serves as it's rud- der and it's stand is a slab of ivory. It weighs less than half an ounce, and its price is said to be s5000. The Italians are adopts at minute work, for there are artists in Florence who will take particles Of stone and glass no larger than mus tard seed and piece them together on the head of a shirt stud with such nice ad- justment of delicate shades of color that flowers and insects are represented in perfect detail, with all the truthfuiness of nature An Italian woman has painted landscape in which appear a windmill, millers, cart and horse and passengers, with such diminutive neatness that half a grain of corn covers the whole com position,
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-12-18
Growth of Southern Cities.

"A large number of southern cities Will be in the same class as regard popula- ton when the next census is taken than ever before," said J. F. Adkins of Vir- ginia. Assuming that Greater Birming- ham will be in effect with something like 10000 people. I can count five cities at least that will range between 100000 and 150,O0o population-Richmond Atlanta, Birmingham, Nashville and Memphis. A Richmond census taken recently by local authorities resulted In finding 1l7,ooO peo- pie. Atlanta has, according to conserv- ative estimates, between 10000 and l12,- GOO; Nashville, 125,O0O and Memphis 1SO,- OOO. was in Mobile last week. It was my first visit in several years. I was glad to see the city moving both in popu- lation and commercial importance It's population is now estimated at 75,000. It is sure to become one of the greatest cities in the south. It cannot catch up with Birmingham in population, but 1920 will find it with considerably over 125, 900. Birmingham by that time Will have 100000 or more.
 ''In 1900 Memphis was the only southern city with the exception of New Orleans that had 100000 The census gave It 1O2 OOO Richmond had only S4,0Oo, Att lanta S9,OOO and Nashville 760OO. The next census, therefore, will show that those cities have been pushing right ahead
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-12-18
EVA. A CHRISTMAS GIFT.

Commander Eva Booth of the Salva- ton Army, has special reason to rejoice on Christmas day.
 'I was Christmas gift myself.P says she in The Delineator for December. One 25th of December the .snowflakes and came into the world together, and how ever much I loved the flowers and sun of other seasons, the snowflalles and have always been on specially good terms ever since. Ones birthday is one of the few things that no wish or will can change; but if had had my choice out of all the 365 I would have picked no other. For it has always seemed to me that Christmas should be the worlds brightest day, and I am glad that I hava SO real a share of it.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-12-18
Commodity Prices Declining

In November 55 prime necessaries were decreased in price, 36 were in- creased, and 15 stood unchanged The consumptive demand throughout the country was steadily lessened during the month, and price weakness re- suited. Such degree of price weak. ness had not been known in several years, and December promises to out do November despite the holiday de- mand. On July 1 Bradstreets high water mark was recorded, and the pre- vailing recession in prices began soon afterward, but it has a long ways to so before the low levels of 1896 and 1897 are duplicated. Were it not for the higher prices of breadstuffs the cost of living would today be materi- ally lower. Short crops in the north west render it well-nigh impossible to put the prices of foodstuffs down.
 The cost of living is invariably re- duced after money disturbance. After that of 1893 all prices were reduced fully 10 per cent. After 1873 prices were gradually reduced in the course of three years about 30 per cent, and after 1857 they fell within year IS per cent.
 No doubt similar movement will follow the October financial shake-up, but all experience shows that losses in prices are quickly regained after the effects of panic have passed away, and this holds true even in the import ant necessaries of life. Prices may go down in 1908, but in 1909 they may, if history repeats itself, easily go up again. The cost of living has not, in other words, gone down to stay down.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-12-18
Old Soldiers and National Aid
-Othelio.

In a reunited country-in a country made I'D alike of the Blue and the Gray-there would be a certain equity in A common care of all old soldiers. Congressman Hobson has introduced bill to that effect, but despite it's equity the Confederate soldiers are dis inclined to support it. Gen. stephen D. Lee, commander of the United Con federate Veterans, has in writing pro tested against the presentation of the Hobson bill.
 The pride of the soldiers of the Con- federacy has been touched by the bill, and there is feeling throughout the south that the care of the old heroes should be left where it is-in the hands of their own states. The states are able and willing, and no old soldier proposes to get in an attitude of de- pendence upon the power that crushed the cause for which he fought with all earnestness and sincerity. They prefer state aid to federal aid because with state aid goes sympathy respect and honor.
 The Hobson bill should be with drawn. Presented at the outset of a political campaign it would afford dem- agogues a new opportunity. 1t would do no good and it might do much harm.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-12-18
OPPORTUNITY.

By Walter Malone They do me wrong WHO say I come no
 more
 When once I knock and fail to find
 you in: For every day stand outside your door. And bid you wake, and rise to fight and
 win. Vail not for precious chances passed
 away.
 Weep not for Golden Ages on the wane; Each night l burn the records of the day; At sunrise every soul is born again. Laugh like boy at splendors that have sped.
 To vanquished joys be blind and deaf
 and dumb; My judgments seal the dead past with
 it's dead But never bind moment yet to come. Though deep in mire, wiring not your
 hands and weep; I lend my arm to all who say I CAN, No shamefaced outcast ever sank So But yet might rise and be again q
 man Dost thou behold thy lost youth all
 aghast? Dost reel from righteous retribution s
 blow? Then turn from plotted archives of the
 past
 And find the futures pages white as
 snows Art thou mourner? Rouse thee from
 thy spell Art thou a sinner? Sins may be for
 given! Each morning gives thee wings to flee
 from hell, Each night . star to guiAA th- f>et to Heaven.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-12-18
IN HOTEL LOBBIES
Some Weather Signs.

''The way this season has started off, would indicate rough winter said c. 5. Gardner of Blount county. "I am not an infallible weather prophet. but when November and December bring raw and dreary days with much cold rain, January and February are likely to be of the real winter sort.
 Had the usual Indian summer pre- vailed in the late fall and the early part of December, then hard winter would have been delayed until othe middle of January and winter as whole would have been delayed until the middle of we have had great deal of bad wealth CT, we have been fortunate in escaping thus far the severe blasts which have been felt in neighboring states
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-12-18
Like Finding Money.

'T think Uncle Sam lost ggand op- portunity to pick up a couple million dollars by not selling tickets to people who would like to have made the cruise with the fleet" said frenzied finan- cier. "The money would have nearly paid the cost of the voyage and would have proved to the world that both the object and the destination of the fleet are pa- ciflc.
 'The sum is easily figured out. There are 16 battleshps each capable of car rylng 12O passengers at $1000 each, making the tidy little amount of $l,92O,OO0. In these times of financial stringency every thing should be done to tempt the mil lionaires to pull their money out of the safe deposits, and here was grand chance thrown away
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-12-18
WHiSk BROOM ARTIST.
Only In Southern City Is He Found
 At His Best.

(. H. White in November Harper's.
 This innate. uncomfortable ,.aving of the negro for rhythm is nowhere better eXemplified than in a colored barber's manipulation of an ordinary democratic whiskbroom. You may think that you have been whisked in New York, but the best of our bootlicks and barbers assistants merely brush your trousers from the knee down, with a few conven- tional, cold movements. and perfume tory pass at your collar Their whsking is at best a calculating, soulless business proposition. But in Charleston all this is changed. To be sure, your negro begins brushing you with sordid end--the tip in view; but the moment he begins prelude with his whisk on your coat lapel his work. like that of the artist becomes labor of love- He loses sight of it's commercial possibilities in it's tech nlcal resources. In his hands it is ma nipulated until it becomes vehicle of expression and takes its place among the instruments of percussion.
 If you show even a. moderate interest in the skill with whi&l the colored ap- prentice drums the dust out of your cloth ing, the proprietor will leave his customer with his face buried beneath a sea of suds, snatch the whisk away from the boy with ''Go way, chile" and reveal the possibilities of the implement Your collarbone will be approached with ca priccioso movement that will soon shape itself into an allegro non troppo as he reaches your shoulders. In the variegated srhythms that follow in quick succession you unconscously formulate well-remem- bered airs. As he reached my ribs. for an instant he was agitato. and thought I traced Schumanns delightful "Tll ne'er complain"-only for a moment. for he had shifted to elaborate double syncopa- tions. This time the tempo was unmis- takable-"I don't care if yo' nevah come back,"-but doubtless realizing the inap- propriateness of the selection he drifted gracefully into a delirious and exquisite bit of ragtime. drumming as he whistled in @ faint pianssimo, Every li'l bit helps" softly hissing the melody after the manner of a groom when he uses tha eurry. ,op,b oli. A horse.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-12-18
THE EDITOR WAS IREFUL.

From the Philadelphia Inquirer.
 Into the sanctum of the editor came the poet -.FA
 q have here" he said, "a little poem, entitled Ode to an Onion.
 The editor glanced up from his work and eyed the intruder wearily.
 Young man." he said, it is a strange coincidence that only last week a poet called with an ode on the same subject As no one claimed him." he added meditatively, we ourselves had to pay his funeral expenses"
 "Ah," said the poet, then that is why you have piece of crape on the back of the door"
 sir" said the editor frigidlys ,'.sthat is the office towel!"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-12-18
WHERE DOLLS COME FROM.

From '1n Santa Clauss Workshop" by
 Rene Bache, in The Circle for Decem-
 Der.
 Doll making did not become conspicuous as an industry in the Thuringian moun- tains until the middle of the 18th century, when citizen of Soneberg brought from London a doll which was regarded as a great curiosity. It had come originally from China, and it's head, legs and arms were movable. This furnished an inspira- tion to the ingenious Thuringian toy makers, who promptly improved upon it. Up to that time they had made dolls only of wood and leather, but soon they evolved the wax head-at first a crude article, the wax being applied with a brush, but later brought to high perfec- tion, thanks, it is said, to an accidental discovery. A man engaged in making the heads dropped thimble into his pot of fluid wax, and, on taking it out, found 1t covered with a smooth and beautiful coat of the substance. He was not slow to seize the idea. the result being the adoption of the dipping process. the final touches of color being put on with a camel's hair pencil. Later on the nov able eyes and closing lids, to feign sleep, were added and the fleece of the Angora goat was substituted for human hair in the making of wigs. holding its color and curl much better, the doll as 1t is known today, thus assuming it's final and highly artistic form.
 Dressing the dolls after they are made has become an industry in which num- bers of women and girls are employed For the small, inexpensive dolls, little chemises, finished with a ruffle of lace around neck and arms, are made by hun dreds and require no skilled labor for their construction.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-12-18
Sunday Closing Abroad.

Not only is the tendency in the large cities of the United States toward a better observance of Sunday, but there is quite reform movement in respect to Sunday closing in the towns and cities of continental Europe" said club man.
 'I have been reading about the move ment in Germany and have been sur prised to find that six important towns in Prussia have adopted a law which closes beer gardens on Sunday or course, Germany will never agitate for proht- bition of the beer and wine traffic, but the fact that drinking places can be closed in that country one day in the week shows that the reform wave is spreading. Sunday closing is now live issue in France"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-12-18
THE COUNTRY

Montgomery Advertisers Some of the Virgnians are already putting on long faces over a threatened shortage in the peanut crop.
 Atlanta Journal: A Pennsylvis.la man committed suicide with a safety pin. Next we shall hear of a. mans choking to death on an accident policy.
 Mobile Item: It might be only ease of prestoi change, after all, and Teddy shedding his old habiliments, reappear in the toga of United States senator.
 New York Herald: One of those Colo rado third termers, appropos of the Presidents decination, says, Caesar thrice refused a crown" How news does travel!
 Spokane Spokesman Review: Uncls Sam has bought 75O.o0O cigars for the Pacific fleet. The man behind the gun is also pretty handy it appears behind the cigar.
 Norfolk Virginian and Pilot; A ken lucky horse-breeder has named his most promising young racer "Elastic Cur rency" Unfortunate christening! He had as well have called him never arrives"
 Louisville Courier-Jo ournal: An observ- ant contemporary in South Carolina says Jeff Davis II. resembles Jeff Davis l.. in that he has two legs. True, but they differ radically in that Jeff Davis l. had a head
 Washington Post: Says the Fort Worth Star: There never was a man whose presence in any enterprise or business or working capacity was entirely ndis- pensable.'' How about the patient at an operation for appendicltis?.
 Washington Herald: "In Cleveland ninety-six heirs are fighting over a sl00OO farm. with the assistance of ten lawyers" says the Bristol Herald-Courier. Prob lem; How much will the heirs owe themselves when the litigation is ended?
 Mobile Register: The London Punch (prlnts a cartoon showing President Roose- velt on q rocking-horse and clad in full armor. The cartoon Is labelled "The Stationary Crusader" and under it is the line Follow mel or S5,OOO words to that effect" It is not often that Punch $ wit takes so stinging a form
 Washington Herald: One of two things will have to be adopted; either the gov ernment must pay the expenses of the next campaign, or the big corporations accustomed to subscribe must be permit ted to carry their offerings to an old stump in the woods and leave them there while the solicitors stand with their backs turned about a mile down the big road.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-12-18
THE HON. JEFFERSON DAVIS.

From the New York Sun.
 Now comes the Hon. Jeff Davis of Pea Ridge. Ark, who bulges in npon us with the winds of all the Ozarks pent up in his surcharged midriff. He has sworn 10 his constituents that he will make the mnions of the octopus shiver in their socks. He intends to transform the Hon. Ben Tillman into lifelike representation of three lead dimes.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-12-18
eALvEsToN's cAusEWAY.

From the Engineer.
 The Galveston bridge and causeway which it is proposed to build as a high way and railway structure leading from the mainland to the island upon which the city stands will be nearly two miles long. The causeway will be about 5000 feet long. and the widths provided for various purposes are 50 feet for steam railways. 15 feet for electric interurban roads and 8 feet for highways The bridge will be 20O0 feet long and 63 feet wide and will be of renforced concrete arches, with a draw span of 100 feet
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-12-18
The Iron Market,

''The iron market remains quiet and sales are few and in small lots only, said President J. c. Maben of the Sloss- Sheffield Steel and Iron company T see that President Guthrie of the Republic company names $1S.5O on a No. 2 basis as the price at which the market will open in January, but our company Is hold ing it's iron at $14 I am told that some companies are claiming to be keeping the price up to S15. Just how the mar ket will be at the opening of the New Year, is hard to tell"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-12-18
REFLECTIONS OF A BACHELOR.

From the New York Press.
 You surprise a girl not by kissing her. but the way you do 1t.
 Some men are so rich they can afford to pay alimony as well as run an auto mobile.
 When woman doesn't mind having big feet she doesn't really expect you to be- 1ieve her.
 There is hardly anything man will spend more money on than trying to get something for nothing
 You can tell girl who was born red headed by the way she never has to go to the drug store to keep 1t up.