davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-07-11
THE GEORGIA PENSION SYSTEM

From the American Review of Reviews
 Georgia Is the southern state which has the most liberal and comprehensive pen sion system. From 1878 up to and includ- ing 1906 she has expended for this pur- pose 900, and her annual eXpen1i- ture is now between $900O0 and $1 OO0, ,0O0 a great annual sum for a single state of the south. Since 1896 she has had at the head of her system a commissioner of pensions appointed by the governor, and the development of her system has been In many respects. though on a smaller scale similar to that of the national system She began by expendlng in 1879 S70,5S0 Cor artificial limbs for disabled Confeder- ates. In 1889 she began paying regular pensions to disabled and diseased veter- ans. Pension provision was made in 1893 for the widows of Confederate soldiers whose husbands died in service, or after the war from disability or disease con- tracted In service. In 1896 indigent Con federate soldiers were admitted to her pension list In 1902 further extension of the pension laws was made for the bent fit of indigent widows of Confederate sol diers, though the soldiers death had no connection with military service The fol- lowing table shows the number of each class and the amount paid in 1906:
 Arno,,pt
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-07-11
IN HOTEL LOBBIEs
Mistakes by the Governor.


 of the value of one days rest in seven there seems to be no dispute. but 1t seems strange that intelligent men should as- sume such untenable positions in respe t to the enforced observance of Sunday said gentleman yesterday.
 Governor Conner, in his recent mes sage, referring to Sunday laws, says: The seventh day, the Sunday of every civilized people, a day which has come down to us from Sinai as a day of rest for maa and machinery, and we have the Divine declaration that this is the best of all
 Governor Conner did not make but three mistakes in this statement.
 First, the Christian Sunday did uot come down from Sinai.
 Second, there is no Divine declaration for the observance of Sunday.
 Third. the seventh day is not treated as Sunday either by the churches or the laws.
 Our statutes do not prescribe obsery- ance of the seventh day or Sabbath of the Bible, for the original act prohibits the doing of certain things on the Chris ton Sabbath or first day of the week, commonly called Sunday, and this law did not come down to us from Sinai, and Governor Conner cannot find any scrip tural authority enjolning its observance.
 Jews and those Christian sects who believe in the observance of the seventh day or Sabbath day of the Decalogue are now by law made criminals for the non- observance of the Christian Sunday.
 ''The first day was apparently chosen as a protest against the Jewish Sabbath of seventh day, and it's enforced observance as a divinely appointed day finds no war rant in the Bible, and if the laws in le- spect to 1t are rested on the grounds stat ed by Governor Conner, they are clear vio- latons of the guarantees of religious free dom.
 I do not quarrel with Governor Conner about the day of rest, but think he might base his recommendation on little surer grounds than those given"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-07-11
Our Philippine Possessions

The Anti-Imperialist League of Bos- ton puts out an appeal in which 1t says:
 "The absurdity of an enormous sacrifice of life and treasure to defend terri tory whose Inhabitants are discontented with their relations to the United States. are conditions which are deplored by the great majority of our own liberty loving citizens. This has become patent. A sale to Japan has been suggested In many quarters, as method of ping from the dilemma, but. to sell 100000 people and their homes to any one, Is clearly immoral and contrary to American prin- ciples'
 A sale to Japan could be based on a Filipino vote. The educated Filipinos know that they are not able to defend themselves against the western na- tions. or for that matter eastern na- tions. They know that they are not strong enough to stand alone, and the chances are very good that they would if given the opportunity, decide that Oriental rule Is better for Ori- entals than Western rule or Western domination of any sort would be- There would be nothing unusual or un- American in all this were it based on popular vote in the Philippines.
 The situation calls for action, but when the hour of action arrives it is seen that many stand in the way, in- cluding the Anti-Imperialist League of Boston
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-07-11
Mistake of the Railroads

The governor of Alabama speaks plainly of the mistaken policy of the railroads in resorting to injunctions In order to delay the will of the pea pie. The folly of the policy consists in the fact that it heightens and agra yates public sentiment instead of ap- peasing it. It renders a repeal or any modification of the railroad legislation of the state impossible, for all will say the new laws should have first been tested. In other states the rail roads have adopted the wiser policy. in Ohio the two-cent fare law was put in operation at once, and in many other states the railroads have de- cided that the better way consisted in frank, prompt and full acceptance of legislation. This is the course that should have been adopted in this state rather than a resort to a federal in junction tie-up.
 On the Fourth of July at Evansville, Ind, Governor Folk discussed this evil of the times He said:
 Important laws of the state of Mis- eouri are now embamed by the federal in- junction veto. In the course of years the court will probably hold they are valid, but they might as well be killed as to be chloroformed by injunction until their VI tality is gone.
 'The freight rate law of Missouri, en- acted two years ago. was a victim of one Of these ex parte injunctions, and the case is still pending. This law was amend ed by the recent legislature, and now a supplemental injunction has issued, put ting the new law to sleep
 "The same power kindly gave permis- sion to the state officials to enforce the new 2-cent fare statute for three months"
 If the general government is the agent, not the master, of the states then it should not paralyze state laws that public sentiment has demanded Aside from the legal points involved 1t is folly on the part of the railroads to say No" through injunctions to public sentiment, for by so doing they invite still more radical and adverse legislation. Public sentiment can not be conciliated and changed by adverse 1njunctions.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-07-11
~e-w-WFr

eschewed all those favors, preferring the happy home over which he had presided and the society of his friends. Never the word of adverse criticism was there when his business life, his social life and his political delving-help to others with po- lltlcal aspira tons were discussed. So it was that two years ago. when the demo- crats of Alabama were making the state house ticket for the current administra- ton, Henry Grays name for lieutenant governor was suggested, and found quick ana Instant favor. He was nominated, and he was elected. And tomorrow when the state legislature convenes an old Att lanta boy will be found yielding the gavel which brings that body to order.
 The people of Alabama" said Henry Gray yesterday afternoon at the Kimball, nave been extremely kind to me They have honored me beyond all expectations, beyond all ambitions, had I ever the thought of obtaining the position I now occupy. Proud? Yes. I'm the proudest man on earth. Who could be less so7 Twenty years ago unknown in that state, and today the second man in the state house in all Alabama. It was A gracious gift. It came to me when many citizens of the state were more in line for 1t. For get Alabama and its good people? No. never. Of course I did some work after had been put in the race, but my friends in every section of the state did more than 1 could have possibly done. It was my friends and not I who gave me that place of honor, and that position of dis- tinetion, and to them I shall ever be grateful. Birmingham? It's the greatest town in the south and every day it grows greater. And, why not when every resi- dent of Jefferson county swears by 1t just as the people of Fulton and the ad- jacent counties were wont to swear by Atlanta. It's that unanimity of spirit, of live of patriotism and of action which, after all, makes a town Yes, Brming- ham is for all time to come my home. Alabama Is too great a state to leave, unless one takes that same old familiar track to the grave, the last resting place for Alabamians and Georgians alike"
 Once newsboy for the Constitution, a. carrier of a route, a runner for the ad- Vertising department of the paper, but now
 Lieutenant-governor of the state, and by virtue of that position president or pre- siding officer of the state senate
 President of one of the largest and most successful banks of Jefferson coun- ty the county In which Birmingham is located.
 A citizen admired and respected from the Tennessee line to Mobile bay from Tuscaloosa to Opelika and from state line to state line Is Henry Gray, once a route carrier and a 10-cent ad checker on the Atlanta Constitution.
 And Henry Gray Is yet in that part of the thirties where shade keeps off the hot sun, and where refreshing showers take the place of great driving rain storms.
 But still I think of Atlanta All the pleasures of my pleasant home, all the honors my good Alabama friends have seen fit to give me cannot make me for get the happy, always pleasant days I mad in Atlanta and the Empire State of the South as you are wont to call It."
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-07-11
Marching Through Georgia

Two years ago Father Sherman started from Chattanooga to go to the sea by the route that General Sherman followed in the days of the civil war. Father Sherman was a chaplain of the United States army, and his pro- posed march was official, at least in good part. The criticism that arose induced President Roosevelt to call back Father Sherman and his military escort.
 The subject has come up again. The son of General Sherman Is no longer a participant, but thirty young officers from the military school at Fort Leav- enworth are marching through Geor- gia No one has any objection to study by anybody of military cam paigns, but no one can see why the Sherman line of unopposed march south of Atlanta should be so dill gently studied while the campaigns of Lee and Gen. Joe Johnston and For rest and Wheeler and Grant and Stuart and Stonewall Jackson and Sheridan remain unstudied. A fair proportion of the young army officers came from the south, and it seems to a man up tree that there are other campaigns of the civil war that could be proftably studied. But as things are going Sherman's march to the sea has monopoly and it is scarcely worth while to raise an objection to this new form of sectonalism.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-07-11

governor will not oppose the Gunnells bill, because compulsory education and rural high schools would be farci- cal if the counties do not have quail fled school superintendents Compul- sory education clearly calls for the passage of the Gunnells bill. Gov ernor Conner does not discuss in his special message the question of county supervision, but the presumption is that when he demanded compulsory education he also demanded county superintendents who know good school when they see 1t.
 The Gunnells bill is in line with the experience of the more progressive states, and it should be passed just as it stands. It is one of the most important bills before the legislature.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-07-11
Every man Is odd.
 -TroiIus and Cressida.
Three Constitutional Amendments

Governor Conner recommends In his snecial message the submission of two constitutional amendments-both ex- cellent and much needed
 The first relates to deposits of the states moneys in the banks. New York gets from similar deposits 21a per cent interest, and there is no req son why Alabama should not do as well or better. The constitution strangely forbids, and Governor Conner asks the legislature to submit an amendment that will permit the state to receive interest on it's deposits un- der the state depository bill. The bankers will scarcely have the hardi- hood to oppose so just proposition.
 The other suggested amendment re- lates to biennial sessions. Quadren- nial sessions are confessed failure, and the sooner they are abolished through the SuDSututlon or Dlenhldl sessions the more prosperous the state wA. become.
 While the legislature has in hand the constitution of 1903, it should re- peal section 96, which reads as fol- lows:
 "The Legislature shall not enact any law not ,applicable to all the counties in the sfate regulating costs and charges of the courts, or fees, commissions or allow ances of public officers
 A repeal of section 96 would suffice, and no investigation of the manner in which it was inserted in the constitu- ton need be undertaken.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-07-11
HON. HENRY B. GRAY

E. C. Bruffey in the Atlanta Constitution.
 Hon. Henry B. Gray, lieutenant -gover- nor of the state of Alabama passed the day in Atlanta yesterday. guest of the Kimball, and from his arrival in the early morning until his departure late in the afternoon he was the center of group of old friends from whom he separated near ly twenty years ago-in the summer of 'S7 to be exact in time-to make his home in the Magic City of the South
 Since that time-Henry Gray was d mere lad then, his twenty first birthday being passed in the Alabama metropolis the young Georgian accomplished great things in his life-has progressed from a novice in newspaper work, from an ini- tiatory student in the school of finances and from a kid in politics to a iournalls- tic graduate, to a bank presidency and to the lieutenant nt-governorship of the state of his adoption-a state in which his pride, his hopes and his ambitions socially financially and politically are eentered for the remaining days of his life. A bold, rotund figure, a well rounded face free from wrinkles time and worry bring, d head of gray hair heredty fetched him, mark Henry Gray a man of distinction in any gathering he may be either by aeci- dent or by design.
 Twenty years ago Henry Gray was d novice In newspaper work, and his days were put in on the business floor of the Constitution office From that floor he went forth in quest of advertisements. He was then kid, full of life, energy and loyalty to those for whom he worked. He was ambitions and ever busy. Naturally he was successful, so much so that when the Birmingham Age-Herald went afield for a good man in that line correspond ence was opened with Henry Gray. w A. Hemphill and Henry w. Grady were questioned by the Age-Herald about young Gray. Captain Evan P. Howell added his indorsement postscripting that indorsement by a letter Henry Gray pre- serves at his home in a frame. Henry Gray went to Birmingham. The town and the state, like the rest of the south, were just emerging from the dark commercial clouds then overhanging the south. It was not the most promising field Henry Gray Jumped Into. BuL Wlln lHdI energy, , with that determination and with that ever perpetual smile of happiness he ai- ways wore, and which time has not eff faced, he went to work. It was an uphill work. But Henry Gray measured that ascending incline and, nothing daunted started up the hill. There was nothing of the Jack and Gill about him. He never tried rolling down with his pail behind. He had started up and up he went. The top was reached, and then looking down upon those behind, showing his smile to those below, he dropped the newspaper field and went Into other lines of com mercalism. Conservative and cautions. ever close to a promise he may have made; 1t was not long before his word was as good as a bond. Banking att tracted his attention, and within time he became president of one of the lead ing and now one of the oldest banks In Birmingham, and president of that bank he has since been. Always pleasant, gen- ial and sociable, he was made the target of politicians, but for years Henry Gray
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-07-11

until the weary and discouraged author in sending 1t to Punch requested that if 1t should be rejected the verses should be thrown into the waste basket, as he was tired of them.
 And the monument over his tomb, erected by public subscription, is in- scribed with no other record of his achievements than He Sang the Song of the Shirt
 To return to Thackaray, it Is known that Dickens curtly refused his applica- ton for employment to Illustrate Pick wich." Then, after the failure of his ambition to become an artist, and after the loss of his fortune in an ill-advised newspaper venture, he wrote Vanity F air" This novel was hawked among London publishers for months before it's merits were recognized.
 Rudyard Kiplng was curtly dismissed when he offered Plain Tales from the Hills" to a firm of publishers in New York, before its appearance in England
 Going farther back, we find John Lath- rop Motley mortified by the rejection of his brilliant Rise of the Dutch Re- public," the manuscript being returned with thanks. The first volume of Carlyle's French Revolution had already been declined by the same eminent publishers before Betty, the Housemaid" lighted the parlor in John Stuart Mills home with the manuscript, and up the chim- ney with a sparkle and roar went the French Revolution" thus ending in smoke and soot, as the great transac- tion itself did more than 50 years be- fore.
 Francis Jeffrey. the omniscient critic and despotic editor, contributed six ar ticles to the first number of Edinburgh, and scme of them are believed to have belonged to the category of declined with thanks"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-07-11
THE GIRL FROM SMITH,
From Golfers Weekly,

rIoHl tOllleTS w eekly.
 Instruction in the sense of humor seems to be an important adjunct of edu- cation at Smith college. Smith has slang of it's own and a distinctive trick of exaggeratlon which outdoes the thieves batter of Princeton and Cornell. When Smith girl gossips- she prefaces her remarks with the request that you ''be as the tomb" When she is fatigued or bored she says simply: T irk,' and when classmate suffers from influ- enza or hearache the Smithsonian misses tensely:
 Hush, my dear, Molly is stricken!' The most commonplace announcement thrills her to the bosom's core" she is 'as one stricken with palsy" her soul stands agape." A Smith college girl stood eruption of Vesuvius. The monster was casting his flames to the zenith while the ashes of destruction hung murkily over the sea. Words could not express the ludid, grandeur of the scene until the Smith college girl plucked a gem from her vocabulary. Vesuv' is looking rather natty this morning. she sighed. From the Washington Herald.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-07-11
Alabama and the Panama Canal.

When the Panama canal shall have been eompleted, Alabama will reap rich reward, but not more than she deserves caid citizen of Birmingham yesterday. The south has taken prominent position in tho work from the beginning, and Alabarla has lead the south.
 For sixteen years the late Senator MorgaD agitated the transisthmian project and forced action thereon. At first he foughts single, however, but finally he won recruits In both branches of Congress, and fropl the executive department.
 "On the canal commission and in charge of the ,sanitary department Is pr. Gorgas of Alabama, and of the army engineers in chaSge are Maj. w. L. Seibert and Maj Chester Harding, both of Alabama.
 "Cthgr southerners on the work are Col. G9orge w. Goethals, chief engineer, of South Carolina, and Maj. David B. GaillarQ of the same state; also on the commission are the following southerners: Ex-Senetor Blackburn of Kentucky and Jackson Smith of South Carolina.
 Maj Chester Harding, above referred to, is an Alabamian. though he Is accred- tied to Mississippi. He is a brother of Presiderht Harding of the First National bank of this city, was reared at Tusca- loosa, graduated at the University of Alabama, and was appointed to West Point from this district. under compeu- tive xaImination, by the late Congress- man Jadnes NJ. Martin. If he happened to be b9rn in Mississippi 1t was not his fault.
 s,-rba shOuth Is di0pipe tha ditch
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-07-11
Another Hair.Raisino Story.

"The stories printed in The Age-Herald about the happenings with dead per sons calls to my mind an instance in my home county" said a former citizen of Lowndes.
 Miss Bird H.. a very handsome girl about IS or 17 years of age, had supposedly passed away after long at tacN of typhoid fever. She apparently expired in the night and was prepared Tor burial by her friends. Breakfast was armour ced and all the persons present went downstairs to eat something, 1eav- ing ah intimate girl friend of the young lady to be with the body. In few moments those downstairs heard fearful scream and the next thing they knew the girl attendant had fallen down the stairs and broken a limb.
 investigation showed that the subject O. the proposed funeral had raised up and asked for something.
 She is living today, a married wom- an In Iowa"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-07-11
Educational Matters

Governor Conner desires to see high schools established in every county of this state, and he also desires to have compulsion applied to every parent or guardian until every child in this state is sent to school Both of these rec concentrations are excellent. They are in the line of true progress. They will give Alabama in the next genera- tion a superior citizenship. Both strike at the alarming degree of illiteracy in this state, and both should be put in the form of statutes.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-07-11
REFLECTIONS OF A BACHELOR.

From the New York Press.
 A pretty sure way not to be good husband is to be married.
 From twenty to thirty a man seeks honor; from then until he dies comfort.
 A girl is never sure she couldn't love man just to be able to think so.
 A persons morals are like his best clothes-to be worn on special occasion.
 The trouble with giving money to char fly is you haven't any chance to get even with anybody the way you have after . horse trade.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-07-11
Filth as NeqIIaence.

"Ts there such thing or such per son as a press agent for the city hall7' asked a citizen of Richond Place. "If there is he is certainly persistent in lis efforts for sanitary improvement, for every day he tells us through the press to iclean, up The idea Is a commendable 0ne, and I indorse it, but l want to say that my premises arc kept clean. I have trash and garbage placed in receptacles preATribed by the city and not a garbage wagtn has taken 1t up in the past three weeks
 '11 my neishborhood, garbage wagons are Just about as frequent visitors as po- licenIen-about one visit per month"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-07-11
south is digging the ditch. :"
Fire-Proof Homes.

Ut is d matter of surprise that more people do not build fireproof homes, said an architect. They do not in the ent. cost any more than the firetraps, when we, consider the saving through years in the matter of insurance.
 A fireproof cotta"e is as much a neces- sty as more pretentious building when we see the rapid construction of wooden cottages literally damned up against each other in many instances, it is a wonder that there Is not more loss of life from this cause. You remember the sad fate of the street car men caught In a frame boarding house like rats and burned while sleeping"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-07-11
Avondale and Greater Birmingham.

Avondal& will not be unwilling to en- ter Greater Birmingham on fair and equitable basis" said an official.
 "Yod knoW Avondale owns a park that tooay would bring s1ooooo in cash read fly. We hafe s2o,ooo worth of municipal property in laddition and are going right ahead improving our streets and side walks and building sewers. We have only s6S,0OO of Bonded debt so you see we would haJe a decided credit balance on this showing"