davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-11-11
WHAT WE TRADE ON.

From the Saturday Evening Post
 It semes to be a kind of treason this fall for planters to withhold their cot ton from market in the hope of forcing higher prices. Not only is money tight; but at this writing foreign exchange Is rising, involving a threat of gold exports. We must depend principally upon cotton. which Europe will buy In great quanti- ties, and which runs into money very fast to overcome this menace and turn the tide our way. That, in view of such a public need, planters should hold cot ton for merely personal gain is truly rep rehensible. We read that the banks gen erally will keep them in the path of duty by refusing to extend loans on stored cotton
 A similar situation arises every fall. Cotton makes nearly one-quarter of our total exports. Much more than any thing else it is what keeps our trade with the world going. We must, each year, hurry out the great staple in order to meet our balances in Europe. The function of the cotton industry in financ-
 ing our foreign trade Is so important, indeed, that one might almost expect to see bill in Congress-introduced by a gentleman from Pennsylvania and backed by the stand-pat league-forbidding planters to withhold a single bale that was ready for export.
 We have marvellous resources in ore and fuel for the steel industry. But we cannot trade with the world very much on them. Artificial prices made by the tariff, prevent that. Exports of iron and steel in all forms amount to only one sixth the exports of stuff produced on the farm. It Is the unprotected producer upon whom we must depend to settle for the articles we buy abroad Unpro- tected cotton and foodstuffs, comprising about 60 per cent of our total exports, enable us to do business with the world.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-11-11
Tennessee and the Gull

Senator Bob Taylor says the linking together of the Tennessee and the Warrior by canal would add im- measurably to the wealth and indus trial importance of both Tennessee and Alabama" and the hope in this dis trict is that east Tennessee will line LID solid behind her eloquent and pop ular Senator. If Alabama and east Tennessee pull together in this matter the government can readily be induced to build a canal 93 miles long con- meeting the two improved rivers, the Warrior and the Tennessee.
 Unlike the project of canal 300 miles long to the Ocmulgee across the red hills of Georgia, the Alabama-Ten- nessee plan calls for a canal but 93 miles long, to cost not exceeding S5.O00,000. The government cannot af- ford to let the two rivers go discon- nected, for short canal would benefit
 
 a vast inland district, a district too, full of iron ore and coal deposits.
 The Panama canal will force the linking together of the Tennessee and the Warrior, but they should be built concurrently, so that when the one is opened the other will be ready to fur nish it with traffic. From govern ment point of view, the Tennessee S, ould be turned directly to the gulf. It flows now into the Ohio, and south ern coal is not needed at its present mouth. The gulf and this district are the true markets for Tennessee prod ucts.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-11-11
More Liuhts Wanted.

There is nothing gives me such chill as to find a house In darkness where 1 purpose making a call" said a young man who visits in society. Whether 1t be for the sake of saving a few cents or that visitors are not desired, I don't know, but I am surprised to find so many unlighted hall lamps in the private resi- dences along the avenues in this city.
 This city Is none too well lighted at the best, and it would help to give it the appearance of life if people would light up their halls and front parlors on Sun day nights. I feel I am in & cold, un- social city, among selfish people, when 1 travel block after block along the streets and avenues in the residence district in the early evening hours on Sunday and find house after house in silence and darkness.
 Light is not alone 8 protection for people in the house, but it Is also a pro tection for the person on the street No robber will attempt to hold a man Up in the vicinity of house where the lights indicate that the inmates have not retired to rest. Storekeepers and merchants have found 1t to their interest to leave a light in their stores at night, and what is good in the store ought to be equally as good in the residence
 While speaking of lights in the city l should think that there should be an cleo tric lamp half way down each alley be- tween the streets. These alleys are hiding places for thieves and burglars, who crouch behind packing cases and trash boxes. A$2-candle power incandescent lamp would be enough to dispel the gloom so as to make the alley safe place for the policemen to pass through. If the finances of the city won't afford the em- ployment of more police, let us have more lights, and in this respect every citizen can help"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-11-11
ENSLEY-PRATT CAR FARE
Certain Conditions Pointed Out and ,
 Plan Suggested.

TO the Editor of The Age Herald.
 notice in your issue of the stb ;nst statement from MT Ford, of the Bir- mingham Railway, Light and Power company on the refusal of that oor,- pany to grant the request of the roe, dents Of Ensley and Pratt City for s- cent rare to those places. and among otber reasons was advanced one to the effect that the company sold tickets at the rate oi s@'oV TOT D book of tickets. AS this statement might be misleading to naor,a "ho are not familiar with the oopd;,ia,, attending the sale of these tickets would Ike to call their attention and also 'ia' oi MT Ford to the fact that while ucAets are sold at the above rate as ne states, he either forgot or else failed eo mention the fact that the conductora are forbidden to issue transfers to r.s- sehgers who ride on these tickets e. mat 1T the passenger resides in wvIar, or on the Tuxedo line at the Enslev end or the road, or at such a distance fro,, the Birmingham terminus as to necesst- tate ms or her riding to town in order 10 reach the Ensley car, the use of tbesa tickets would make the trip cost KS or cent more, instead of reducing if
 These tickets are no doubt a con Vehience to those who live neaf one end of the line and are able to aIiebt rom the car at their place of business put as there are a large number of people who reside at distance from one end or the other of the line. they are not so useful as they might seem. from Mr. Ford's letters
 If he will arrange this matter in so,,a way so that half the price of a. ticket and transfer will be accepted as opa fare either way, and allow the conductors to issue transfers to people riding on these communication tickets, he may rest assured that there would be no more complaints. Yours very truly,
 70. D. WILSON.
 Ensley November 1907
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-11-11
Credit Currency

John Dewitt Warner says in an ar ticle published in 1895 that in the panic of 1893 there was a scramble for cur rency which was begun and which cul- minated almost between morning and night. What occurred in 1893 is being duplicated in a modified form today, and it is almost certain that strong efforts will be made in the Sixtieth Congress which will meet next month to establish some changes in our cur rency system. It is abundant In ordl- nary times, but in an emergency IL lacks fexibility, and the people are seriously incommoded. Today they are utilizing various forms of exigency paper in lieu of currency that the government has neglected to furnish.
 Congressman Fowler has long ia yored a credit currency that VIII ex- pand and contract precisely as checks and QrattS uO III lllt hoiu VI oS''s s trade. He proposes to transform in an emergency bank book credits into hank note credits upon which cashiers checks to bearer can be issued, rms is precisely what many banks are do- ing today. The truth is, every civilized country in the world except our own' says MT. Fowler, has adopted the prin- ciple of a currency based on bank book credits.
 Another plan is that of the Ameri- can Bankers association, which favors an assets currency-that is to say, money issued on the basis of any col lateral bank may have on hand. Others, on the other hand, fear to trust all banks in so grave matter, and so they favor a central bank of issue, something similar to the great central banks that have been established in various European countries. The en- tire problem will be apt to be brought beeore Congress and some sort of cur rency reform may be the outcome.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-11-11
Meyinu the Cotton Crop

Nowhere will the need of a flexible bank currency be more deeply felt than in the chief cotton counties of the south. Possibly most of the distress" cotton had been marketed before the financial storm broke upon us on De- tober 23-not all of it, but most of it, leaving, however, the greater share of the crop on the farms to be sold when prices became satisfactory.
 Cotton calls for money. All the due bills and cashiers checks in the world cannot buy cotton bales. Every bale calls for cash on the spot up to its value, and there are few bales indeed that could be purchased by any make shift currency. Three-fourths of the crop is unsold, and at least $400, ,000,0 ,000 in cash must be furnished before the remainder can be purchased. Cash and an acceptable price are needed now in order to move the crop freely. A farmer who is not in distress, who is not harried by creditors, will not sell cotton this year below 10 cents. Some really expect to get 15 cents. The 15- cent resolve of the Farmers Union may cause the cotton that is in strong, independent hands to be held against all bidders for a satisfactory price.
 Two things are reasonably clear an increased amount of cotton will be held this year in the hope of getting upward of 10 cents for it on the farm, and, secondly, not a bale of it will be marketed until the cash is forthcom- ing. The problem is large one in this hour of currency scarcity, and it will perhaps teach the wildcat financiers to pull off their future panics when no great crops are ready for market. It is idle at any rate to offer the farmer less than 10 cents at the side of his wagon, and it is equally idle to expect him to accept anything but cash for his crop. The sooner the foreign spin ner and the New York middlemen ac- cept these basic facts the sooner per haps will the big crop be moved. The picking season has been exceptionally fine, and the cotton belt is today full of cotton bales, and a good many farmers are not worrying over bidders. They know the value of cotton and the worlds needs.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-11-11
HOW TO CURE INSOMNIA.

From the New York Amerlcan
 Sleeplessness or insomnia may roughly be divided into two kinds. In one va riety after several hours wakefulncss from the time the sufferer goes to bed he sleeps soundly for the rest of the night In the other. after some hours ordinary sleep he wakes up suddenly and lies awake the rest of the night.
 The first condition is much more easy to improve than the second. Careful study of such a case of insomnia will usually show that there is lacking either mental repose, comfortable body warmth, ficiently quiet sleeping room. Besides remedyng any deficiencies along these lines, all brain work should be prohibited for some hours before bedtime. An even ing walk. followed by a warm bath, with massage and rubbing of the skin, some times aids in woong sleep. A cup of warm beef tea taken just before re- tiring often helps the patient to fall asleep. With some people who are af- ficted with very lively imagnations. which refuse to quiet down at bedtime, a dim light in the room is useful.
 The faintly revealed familiar objects in the bed room hold the mind down to commonplace ideas and aid in soothing a too alert imagination. A gentle rhythm ical sound will also quiet the mind I have known cases of this sort of insomnia cured simply by having a soft, slow tick ing clock in the bed room.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-11-11
Estimating Crowds.

While few people have a turn for estimating the size of crowds remarked citizen, the great majority come far short of arriving at an approximate guess at numbers in mass. To many persons 1000 men in body will appear to be 2Oo0 or S000 Nearly every large theatre aud- fence is exaggerated in the average esti- mate, and as for circus crowds they are invariably over-stated by the ordinary ob- server.
 ''I heard a man say Saturday night that the Ringing Bros. took s5OOO0 away from Birmingham The fact is the total re- cepts of the show were less than $lS,OOO The Ringing Bros. give a great perform ance and usually draw record breaking crowds, but on this occasion, from one local cause or another the receipts were handed $600O in money to a Birmingham bank and took in it's place exchange on northern bank. The treasurer of the show said he did this especially to help local conditions, The Rnglings close their season Tuesday, when they pay off all the performers and employees in cash But for this fact the management would have left with the bank here much larger sum.
 The money paid out in Birmingham for provisions and feed for the horses and an- imals in the menagerie totaled about s3OO0 It is estimated that the currency brought to town by visitors who came to see the circus amounted to fully s3Oo0 Thus it is seen that the net drain on our local money supply was relatively slight"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-11-11
KILLED BY ANIMALS,

From the Washington Herald.
 Consul E. H. Dennson of Bombay quotes a report of the government of India which deals with the mortality from wild animals: ''The total number of per sons killed by wild animals in 1906 was 2OS4, as against 2051 in 1905 Wolves are reported to have killed IFS persons in the United Provinces. and in the Madras Pres idency tigers were responsible for the greater mortality reported, while a mad wolf in the Sholapur district. Bombay, caused 16 deaths. In Bengal the number of persons killed by elephants rose from nine in 1905 to Is in 1906, and a proposal has, it is stated. been made by the magis- trate of Cuttack for the organization of khedda operations in that district Tigers killed larger number of persons than in 1905 in Madras, Bombay, the United Provinces and Burma, and steps have been taken for the destruction of man. eating tigers in these provinces. Three man-eating tigers were destroyed in Sam balpur, Angul and Mandle in 1906. The persons reported to have died from snake bite numbered 22,S54. as against 21,797 in 1905. the increased mortality being as- cribed to high floods. which drnuA snakes into houses and homesteads.'
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-11-11

certainly no revision of an oppressive tariff.
 The truth is there is no agreemnt as to the extent or the manner of applying Federal control to corporations, nor is there any understanding as to the methods of currency reform. Both are disputed difficult problems, and neither can be passed at an extra ses- sion or hurried by it. There is really nothing Congress can do in an extra session, for no emergency measures are needed
 Agitation of any sort, political or financial, would be hurtful at the pres ent time, and perhaps by the first Moe- day of December, when the first ses- sion of Congress is to be begun, the way to normal state of the currency of the country will appear. Quiet and freedom from agitation is the better medicine at present, and this perhaps will be our good luck if Congress does not meet and things go along with no further outbreak of wildcat finance.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-11-11
THE TETRAHEDRAL.
pr. Bells Attempted Solution of the
 Problem of Mans Flying.

c. H. Clandy in St, Nicholas.
 It is queer thought that grave and famous scientists sometimes betake themselves in dead earnest to the child hood sport of blowing bubbes-not for sport, but to study some very difficult and hard to understand problems that trouble their learned minds. Perhaps 1t is even queerer to see man whose name is known the world over for his learning, his inventions, his wonderful mind and his earnestness in the pursuit of knowledge chasing after a queer look ing kite and noting its behavior, and doing this, too in the most serious man. ner.
 For it is a serious matter, this scian- tific kite flying, and the work as it is done by pr. Alexander Graham Bell, the famous inventor of the Bell telephone and dozens of other useful things. is a task which he hopes will some day result in a practical solution of the most baffling of riddles, how Is man to learn to fly?
 That a plane surface of not too great weight properly held at an angle with
 
 up is fact known to every boy who ever begged rags from mother for the tail of his kite. The problem of flying" is to get kite big enough to stand the strain. steady enough to fly without dan ger and stable enough to fly without a cord and to alight without destroying itself
 f
 10 square feet surface would lift 10 pounds in certain wind, a kite of 20 square feet would lift 20 pounds and 80 souare feet 30 pounds, and so on But, unfor- tunately for this easy solution of the problem, when two or more kites are added each to each they lack strength. and to get the strength more weight must be put into the frames and in crossbars and braces, so that when the kite gets very large-indeed, large enough to lift great weight-lt weighs as much as 1t will lift! To make a kite which would grow stronger as it was made larger-a Kite the lifting power of which would increase just as fast as the weight and which would be just as strong (in pro- portion) big as it was small-was the first step in Dr. Bells problem. This has been done within wide limits, and the re- suit is kite called by the hard name of tetrahedral
 The tetrahedral kite flies easily. It will rise from the ground without a mans having to run with the cord. except in the lightest of breezes. It will fy in A dead calm If pulled fast enough. It has no tall and needs none. But 1t flies more steadily in some shapes than in others and better with the cord at one place than another, and these also are special problems that will have to be worked out tO obtain tho hest reSulfs
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-11-11
Colonel Estill's Death

Col. J. H. Estill, who passed away at his home in Savannah Saturday night. was one of the best and truest men in the south. He had been pro- prietor of the Savannah Morning News for nearly 40 years and had been prominent in the councils of the dem- ocratic party, not only in Georgia, but in the nation. He was chairman of the democratic state executive com mittee in 1882 and a member of the national democratic committee in 1892. He was twice a candidate for the gub- ernatorial nomination.
 Col. Estill had gallant war record; was wounded at the first battle of Ma nassas and returning to Georgia was among the bravest of the young Con- federates who opposed Sherman in his march to the sea. Few newspaper men were so popular as he, and for 20 years he was president of the Geor- gia Press association. Cherishing the fondest traditions of the old south, Colonel Estill was a splendid type of the resolute and patriotic leaders who helped make the south of today what it is. His death will be widely la mented.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-11-11
THE TENNESSEE PURCHASE

acquire a good property at a low price as it came along. It does not appear that it was charged at the Morgan con. ference that the United States Steel mag mates were endeavoring to discipline syndicate that had the temerity to invest in a rival steel property. On the con trary, the intimaton is that the Steel corporation, with it's whooping surplus of .O0O is playing the role of a helping hand society-is saving from a worse financial fate those who have raised lance in rivalry. Thus, while there is good business in the buy, the Steel corporation getting at probably less than par stock for which the syndicate paid up to 166 there is a savor of pro- tecting benevolence In the transaction
 The late Abram S. Hewitt was able to draw not little satisfaction from the belief that the only way that a trust could endure was by being a good trust He argued that if a trust, having gained complete or partial monopoly, began to misuse its power by skinning the pro- ducer from whom it bought raw ma terial or the consumer to whom it sold it's finished product, it sowed the seeds of it's ultimate destruction. So far the Steel corporation seems to have been man. aged not altogether contrary to the Hew- itt doctrine. Its present strength-mak- ing it a bulwark in times of financial stress-is thus calculated to encourage those within other big corporations who are dimly struggling to unite foresight and intelligence to resist the lure of present high profits, not because of al- truism. but because in the long run self restraint will pay.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-11-11
Milton H. Smith and Golf

"I was surprised to learn yesterday" said a man who has been to Montgom- cry, that President Milton H. Smith of the Louisville and Nashville railroad, is 72 years old He swings along the street so vigorously and is so full of energy that l thought him much younger man. l am told that Mir Smith at tributes his excellent health largely to golf playing. He is confined so much by office work that the air and exercise that one gets on the golf links are of great benefit to him. and he plays a great deal"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-11-11
TREND OF MODERN MUSIC

ical history of Russia has affected her music-made it sad and mopotonous?"
 There is a similarity between the Po- fish and Russian dance music?"
 No, not at all. Polish dance music has several rhythms, as many as six. Of course 1t has also the sadness. but it is not so lhopeless it has spirit and hope and Imagination; above everything it has i'm. agination. All Oriental music has a sini- lar minor note, but the Magyar or gypsy dance permeates through 1t all."
 Though M. Paderewski had pointed out the inefficieney of modern music, he had established the fact that the concert pub. lice was the only discriminating one in musical knowledge, notwithstanding the opera-goers and the comic opera devotees
 He was at work on a new opera hut beyond admitting the fact he had notbiny to say about it.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-11-11
No Extra Session

It should be matter of general con- gratulation that an extra session of Congress is not to be convened. A body made up of men who have an eve single to 1908 is not a body that Is apt to inspire public confidence, and confidence is what is lacking in this financial crisis. Neither party in Con gress will do anything that will mill
 tate against it next year. Neither side will therefore be inclined to do anything positive or reformatory lest lt make some enemies. The real, underlying business of the long session of the Sixtieth Congress will be to maneuver for position in the approach Ing Presidential campaign. From a Congress of that nature no reform lurrency measure could be expected,
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-11-11
EARST.
From the New York Times.

From the New York Times.
 When Mir. Hearst ran for mayor. with no entangling alliances, he was beaten When he ran for governor, in alliance with the democrats, he was beaten. When he put up his chief agent and manager for sheriff in alliance with the republic an local machine. his candidate was beaten. Yet Mir. Hearst's candidates for the court of appeals. for whom no one voted with any hope that they would be elected, or for any reason except a desire to stand up and be counted, re- ceived in Greater New York. one of them S7.sS2 and the other 9l,S46 votes. That is a fact, despite the variegated assortment of failures to which Mir Hearst has been subjected, that must be reckoned with