davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-09-16
ROOSEVELT AS A sToKER.
May Try Another Round at Firing on
 Mississippi Trip.

J. H. A. in the St. Louis Globe Democrat.
 It Is an open secret that when Presi- dent Roosevelt went down to the isth- mus of Panama to make an inspection of our canal work he took the keenest in- terest in every detail of the handling an1 the navigation of the war vessel on which he rode. He made that journey on one of our modern cruisers, and had tive more of them steaming alongside as con voys. It is also an open secret that the President visited the engine room, and, not content with quietly observing the stokers feed the fires, banteringly dared a member of his party to enter into stol1ng contest For sufficient moments to throw both the President of the Unl- ted States and his competitor into a pleb elan precipitation, they shoveled coal In the hold. This may be a hint to those who operate the steamboat on which the President will journey, and the shovel which he uses will then be preserved be- hind glass and mahogany in the main sa lon of the vessel
 MISS Bremerp WHO wrote OI Il li1p uoWn the Mississippi seventy-fve years ago, visited the men working at the fires, and she tells much of what the President may see if he does likewise
 "The immense engine fires are all on the lowest deck, eight or nine apertures, all in a row. They are like yawning fiery throats, beside each throat stood a negro, naked to his middle, who flung in fire wood Pieces of wood were passed on- ward to these feeders by other negroes, who stood up aloft n a large pen place between them, and yet another negro, who, standing on lofty stock of fire wood. threw down with vigorous arms food for the monsters on deck.
 "The negro up aloft on the pile of fire- wood began an improvised song in stan gas, and at the close of each the negroes down below joined in vigorous chorus It was a fantastic and grand sight to see these energetic black athletes, lit up by the wildly flashing flames from the flery throats, whilst. amid their equally fan tastic song, they kept time most ex- qulsitely and hurled one piece of firewood after another Into the yawning, fiery gulf"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-09-16
GlLDED ELEVATOR SOY.

From Harper's Weekly.
 When the multi-millionaire's son ar rived at the important age of H his in dulgent father called him from his play and expounded much knowledge of the beautiful world and it's many golden op- portunites The pouting offspring was cordially invited to work for his daily bread in the future, or to leave trail of dust in the rear. Dust without the necessary automobile did not appeal to the young man. so he accepted a position in his fathers twenty-three story office building.
 At g o'clock the following Monday morn ing he reported for duty and was placed in charge of Elevator No. 1.
 He looked rather uncomfortable in his hobby blue uniform embellished with two rows of brightly polished brass buttons and much glstening braid. His jaunty cap was made of excellent material, and bore the mark of fashionable natter despite the fact that the words "Ele- vator Boy" were daintily worked across it's front
 After adjusting a new pair of kid gloves and brushing few stray locks from his forehead the new employe walked to the door of his car and said, in a sweet tone. .tAscensinn.'
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-09-16
Panama Pronress

All are conspiring to praise the military engineers of the Panama canal. This may partly be because they are not posing. They do not brag. They do not even talk. They simply dig, and they dug so we'll in August that they have asked the Pres ident to increase the years appropri- alton to the extent of $8,000,o0 He has done so. and no doubt the compile ton of the canal will be hastened.
 The money is to be expended in actual removal of rock and dirt, in constructing the foundations of the great dams, and in relocating the Pan ana railroad above the water levels that are to be established In the form alton of lakes needed in the opera ton of the canal.
 August was very wet at the isthmus, ana yet Ine lililiioiJ 0hoiANSiD moved by steam shovels and dredges 1.274,404 cubic yards. This exceeds all previous records, and each sue ceeding month is expected to bring out still more satisfactory figures. The canal poison is beginning to surrender The canal is to be built, and the chances are that Colonel Goethals and his associates will finish 1t In less than the eight years named in numerous reports. All mistakes have been over come. and men and machinery are assailing the huge task with a grim determination to complete 1t. The country will certainly remember and honoy those who remain at their post until ships begin to steam from ocean to ocean.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-09-16
State and Local Taxation

A national conference on state and local taxation is to be held in Colum- bus, Ohio, beginning November 12, and already twenty-sx governors have appointed delegates and it is believed every state will be represented. It's ob- ject is to promote greater uniformity in state taxation, and to consider in terstate problems connected herewith. The range of subjects that will be discussed at the conference will be wide, varied and interesting. Many governors will attend the conference and the Ohio newspapers anticipate good results from it.
 Delegates have been appointed for Louisiana and Tennessee, Kentucky and Missouri and twenty-two other states. Taxation reform Is broad subject. and each state Is trying to solve the problem in way that will not drive capital from its borders or discourage honest endeavor If reas- onable uniformity among the states can be promoted by the coming con- !. ference it will do valuable and long needed work.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-09-16
THE NAPOLEON OF OPERA

he is willing to pay. Still. there are great risks in his scheme which 1t tales cour- age to face. Has Boston, for example, that real love for opera which would make the coming of the famous singers profitable? For the cost will be heavy and there must be a sufficient number of high-priced seats if expenses are to be paid. MT. Hammerstein has been ve-y liberal with the lower-prced seats at the Manhattan. but of course he has to depend largely upon the revenue from orchestra and boxes. How many cities outside of New York have a large class of people willing to spend money in that way? This is the crux of the financial problem
 It is clear that if the plan Is to be tried at all, this is the way to try If. An enterprise like that of the Castle Square theatre In Boston succeeds be- cause 1t offers a good performance at very moderate prices. Audiences get all and more than they have 3 right b expect But if they pay on the Manhat- tan scale they will expect performances of equal merit. MT. Hammerstein pro- poses to give each city it's own company, but to move his stars" about from city to city. It is in a way an adaptation an efficient organization for the support of the great actor like Booth or Jefferson There will be keen interest in the working out of the project and earnest hopes for it's triumphant realization.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-09-16
VALJEAN AND COSETTE

mother and made her play. She called him father" and knew him by no other name. He spent hours in watching her dress and undress her doll and listening to her prattle. From this moment life appeared to him full Of interest: men seemed to him good and just; he no long CT reproached any one in his thoughts
 Although it is only a personal opinoin, we may fancy that at the point which Jean Valjean had reached when he be- gan to love Cosette he required this fresh impulse to continue in the right path. He mad just seen under new as- poets the wickedness of men and the wretchedness of society, but the aspects were incomplete, and only fatally showed him one siee of the truth the fate of woman comprised in Fantina, and public authority personfied in Javert; he had returned to the galleys. but this time for acting justly; he had drank the new cup of bitterness to the dregs; disgust and weariness seized upon him; the very rec ollection Of the bishop was approaching an eclipse, and though 1t would have per- haps reappeared afterwards luminous and triumphant, still this holy recolec- ton was beginning to fade Who knows whether Jean Valjean was not on the eve of growing discouraged and relaps- ing? But he loved and became strong again. Alas! He was no less tottering than Cosette; he protected her and she strengthened him; through him she was able to advance in her life; through Her he would continue In the path of virtue Oh, unfathomable and divine mystery of the equilibrium of destiny
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-09-16
MONEY sPolLs ACTORS.

New York Correspondent to the Pttsburg
 Post.
 Since Richard Mans1eld's death. much has been said about the long struggle which he had for recognition and the long fight which he made after that for fore, this small description of the modern aspect of success on the stage with the contrast which it provides
 When a young actor reveals signs of talent in a minor role. he becomes topic of public discussion. His name sud denly gains artistic and especially financial value. The managers see him out One says to him:
 Let me present you. Let us merge our interests. I will guarantee you a for tune. I will open the way for a town house, a country estate, an automobile A yacht, and in my hands you will find time for several months in Europe every summer
 Why rack your brains and your nerves with business cares? Let me assume that load. In your contract I will in- clude a clause giving you a private car, and you will play only in the largest cities. All you will be required to do will be to learn a new role every twelve months. Your season will be of thirty weeks. That will give you twentytwo week for play and you will die rich"
 The promise is kept. All spur to in- centive is removed. The player measures his success by his bank account. or his income. which Is more certain than the other. He has little Individuality and instead of developing that or growing out from it into a broader sphere of activity and accomplishment, the man. ager gives to a playwright and commands him to write play to compass the stars little pecuiarities. This condition, and not the lack of genius, Is said by some who have been close students of the drama to be responsible for tbe total ab- sence in the field occupied by thousands of single persons who can be accounted Mansfield's successor
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-09-16
BEAUTIES OF JAIL.

From the Washington Herald.
 A story Is going the rounds about lawyer who, realizing his criminal clients had a hopeless case, induced them to plead guilty. He told them of the advantages of prison; how they would be taught a trade, and could make extra money by overtime; how they would be educated, and, altogethe CT made the attractions of the place seem so glowing that other prisoners in jail also pleaded guilty so that they might reap these advantages. As a matter of fact, quite a good deal of excellent work has been turned out in jail Oscar Wilde wrote his best poem in Reading jail. John Bunyan wrote The Pil- grim's Progress" there, and Cervantes wrote part of Don Quixote" in the same peaceful quiet. Because Defoe was locked up for his pamphlet, "Th e Shortest Way With Dissenters," he found time to lay the plans of Rob lnson Crusoe" Leigh Hunt wrote Rim ini" in Jail. and Sir Walter Raleigh, dur Ing the imprisonment in the tower of London. turned out his History of the World" Tasso and Silvio Pellico both found the air of a jail conducive to lit- erary endeaVor.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-09-16
From the Providence Journal.

From the Providence Journal.
 Is MT. Oscar Hammerstein to be the Napoleon of opera? He is laying 4 plans of truly Napoleonic scope, and some persons are already predicting that he will meet his Waterloo. If these plans are carried out, not only New York and Philadelphia, but also Chicago, Bos- ton. St. Louis Washington and Cincin- natl will have opera houses of the first rank. with scenery, orchestras. choruses and conductors of their own, which has lain upon every American city except New York of inferiority in musical culture to the European capitals. Certainly the scheme Is worthy of praise and encour- agement. There may be a disposition to exalt operatic music above it's due place, but that it has an important place in forming the public taste is undeniable. Nor is there any necessary antagonism between the establishment in eommun- fly of an opera house and a symphony orchestra.
 Mr Hammerstein's plan seems like a dream; but MT. Hammerstein Is no dreamer. Everyone predicted failure when he opened the Manhattan Opera House. but out of the nettle, danger, he plucl1ed the fioweE-- safety. And he Is not one to rush ahead without first examining care fully the ground. In Philadelphia hts investment In real estate has been ju- dicious, and he doubtless will not begin operations elsewhere until he is able to get the property he wants at the price
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-09-16
Southern Prosperity.

M B. Oberdorfer of Richmond, who represents one of the large shoe houses of Virginia is registered at the Hill man. He travels extensively and is well known in the trade from the Potomac to the Gulf of Mexico.
 T find business very good said MT. Oberdorfer. "'rhe south is wonderfully prosperous these days and it is a pleasure for the commercial man to meet his cus- toners.
 in many of the communities l visit find people stirred up over the prohi- hition question, l am not drinking man myself, and it wouldn't make any differ ence to me If every county in the south went dry But if the saloon is closed in Birmingham. Nashville, Chattanooga and Memphis will be gathers at this city's expense. It will be a big thing for Nashville My native town, Char lottesville. Va. has gone dry. Staunton about forty miles distant, is wet and the latter town is supplying old Charlottes- vile with liquor. There seems to be about as much whisky consumed in Charlottes- vile as before it voted down the sa- loon.'i
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-09-16
WATTERsoN ERePTs.
Has Something to Say About Pro
 hbition.

From the Louisville Courier-Journal
 The editor of the Courier-Journal had a dream the other night. He dreamed that ne died and was whsked off to the regions below. Old Nick met him at the outer door and extended a most horpit able welcome We've been looking and waiting impadently for you says he. Some of the boys were begintng to be afraid that you were not coming, but that they would keep you in the shop above; but l told 'em to cheer up. You see 1 know that sometimes they take pity on LIS and send us a good man. Why your friends'n be truly delighted
 Who's here?" was timidy asked
 "They are all here" said Satan. There's old Grover and John G. Car lisle and Teddy, and"
 "Got any Kentuckians?"
 Plenty of 'em There's Governor Beck ham and Col John Whallen and Aaron Kohn and Richard Knott-why, bless youl when I get tired of whooping em up and want a little recreation, leave Dick in charge and feel perfectly safe the fire won't go out till I get back
 Then we entered The place was fitted up elegant-just like the Buckingham the atre, with summer garden attachment, which they called the Red City. Lum simons stood at the gate taking tickets, ''hooray," and said, You pass in free"
 It was a fine sight inside All sorts of people and politics and religions, demo- crats and republicans. and Methodists and Preshyterians and Episcopalians. From every bough swung a crook, or thief. Some were marked Louisville" and few "Fusionist"
 Here" says Satan I've reverse the earthly rule. We honor perfdy and phari- saism above all things, because they are so energetic and send us so many re- cruits. Common politicians we string up to dry
 But, your santaic majesty, where is Mayor Bngham?" was asked.
 Oh" says Satan, "hes a Baptist"
 What has that to do with it2"
 Don't you know" says he, with kind of awe In his tone, that the Baptists are very exclusive congregation and don't like to be mixed up either in their drinks or their damnation with other denomina- tions? Come with me and I'll show you"
 Then he led his wondering visitor through long, dark corridor which he said was called the Vale of Prohibition, to a small, well-lighted vestibule hung round with portraits of Lorenzo Dow and Tom Watson and Hoke Smith and Car rie Nation-"She's a Kentucky girl" he said triumphantly as we passed her-and then he lifted up a trap door and point cd to a pit blazing with light-"There Hre the Baptists,' says he solemnly, fin close communion.
 We looked, and sure enough, 1t was as he said, there they were holding long run convention. every man of them a rednosed angel-with Dr. M. P. Hunt presiding. the Rev. James Van Arsdale in the act of offering a set of resolu- tions, the purpose of which ran. "Well make Kentucky as dry as hell, and Maine"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-09-16
Studying Prohibition Wave.

Harris Dickson of Vicksburg, who ar rived In Birmingham Saturday, left yes terday afternoon for Anniston. Mir. Dick son is a prominent lawyer and a bril- liant writer. He is also a politician Ia the best sense of the term He took an active part in the reform movement in Vleksburg and on the success of the cru sade against dives and the lawless class was appointed police judge. In accept ing the office he made a sacrifice. but did this cheerfully as a matter of civic duty.
 MT. Dickson Is student of sociology and his articles that have appeared in the Saturday Evening Post of Philadel- phla have had wide reading.
 At the request of the editor of the Saturday Post l am preparing an article for that paper on the prohibition wave in the south. I am familiar, of course, with the prohibition in Mississippi, and am now to study conditions in Alabama and Georgia l can readily understand that the situation in a great iron center such as the Birmingham district has to be viewed from a point of view different from that of agricultural and purely mer- cantile communities. But here, as else where, l find that nearly all citizens who are opposed to prohibition are in favor of strict regulation of saloons. We have very, strict regulation in Nicksburg. Our city was formerly known as one of the worst, but since we rescued 1t from the clutches of the whisky ring it is now a model city 1 am a temperance man. but so long as saloons remain thoroughly regulated in Vicgsburg, I could not bring myself to vote for prohibition
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-09-16
INDECENT SOUVENIR CARDS.

From the Chicago Tribune.
 It is high time that the police be- come active in regulating the evils con nected with the craze for souvenir postal cards. Notwithstanding the at tempts of the United States authori ties to prevent the transmission of Inn proper pictures through the malls by daily confscation of hundreds of in- decent cards the sale of such articles goes steadily on.
 It is difficult matter to prevent the sale of objectionable pictures, but 1t ought to be easy to prevent their ex- posture in store windows or In racks where they may be examined freely by all. The cards offered to a curious public are of various kinds. Some of them are artistic in design, represent ing some famous building or bit of landscape. Some of them are comic rep resenting a situation usually silly and of low tone, but with nothing indecent about it. Others are vulgar and vile, displaying nude figures, or suggestive scenes or bearing some words of double meaning.
 It is the cards or this last men toned type which must be kept out of sight even if dealers are immoral enough to be willing to make money by their sale. The police have abun- dant power in the matter. There should be a vigorous and immediately effec- tive campaign to ch eek the rapidly growing evil. That many of these cards are sold in the small shops ire quented by school boys and girls makes the need of prompt action all the more apparent
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-09-16
THE RAVEN SUPERSTITION.

From the P. T. o. Weekly.
 King Edwards meeting with the Elm peror Francis Joseph at Ischl recalls the many sorrows of the older royalty. The many misfortunes which have be- fallen the Hapsburgs have often been foretold by the bird of evil" the raven. and the Emperor has, therefore, a jus tifable horror of that bird When his majesty accepted the Austrian crown a Night of ravens passed over Olmutz, and sent a shiver through his support CTS. Before the illfated Maximilian started for Mexico a raven followed him and his wife through the grounds of their castle of Miramar, and flutter- ed on the princess train. When King Mfonso's mother, then an archduch ess, left her native country for Spain a raven escorted her to the railway More remarkable still, huge raven flew into the face of the late Empress Eliza beth the day before she was murdered at Geneva.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-09-16
PUCK.

By James Whitcomb Riley. O it was Puck! I saw him yesternight Swung up between a phlox-top and the
 rim Of a low crescent moon that cradled him. Whirring his rakish wings. with all his
 might, And pursing his wee mouth, that dimpled
 white And red as though some dagger. keen
 and slim Had stung him there, while ever faint
 and dim His eerie warblings piped his high delight; Till l, grown jubilant, shrill answer made, At which. all suddenly, he dropped from
 view: And. peering after meath the everglade. What was it. do you think. l saw him dof I saw him peeling dewdrops with a blade Of starshine sharpened on his batwtng
 shoe
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-09-16
Our Daily Bread

Food, clothes and shelter are the three necessaries of life, and of these the most important is food. It is daily necessity, and to most peo- ple three times daily, therefore any thing that appertains to the supply and price of this daily necessity is always worthy of attention.
 It is universally admitted that the cost of living is greater today than at any previous period in America when normal conditions prevailed. The market quotations of prices of flour, meat, fish, vegetables and fruit show an increase in many cases equal 10 100 per cent, or in other words, dou- ble what they were six or eight years ago. Retail grocers are selling ar ticles of food. such as canned goods at prices that almost stagger the customer, and yet it is purely mat ter of pay it or go without, the in voices are produces to justify the in crease. Out of this condition natur- ally arises the question: Why is food dearer?
 One of the reasons assigned, and probably one of the best is the move
 ,f a1A fra, hA try to the cities The farmer is the pro wider of food and he must depend upon the help he can secure to raise a crop. The demand of labor for pub lie works has increased the wages paid to unskilled workmen who come from the country and leave the farmer short handed This reduces the sup ply of food and consequently leads to a raise in prices.
 But not only is the supply reduced; the demand is also increased, Every man who leaves the country helps to reduce the supply, every man who
 
 comes to the city increases the de- mand and this rate of progress will continue until the cost of living in the city forces the unsldlled laborer back to the country.
 A noticeable feature in connection with the question of the cost of liy- ing is the fact that the pereentaage of marriages is higher among the resi- dents of the country than in the cities, a fact which proves that the higher wages paid in the cities does not en- courage the assumption of responsibili- ties which the high wages would seem to justify. The opportunities of city life are great for those who have the ability to meet it's requirements, but the farm life offers a competence and an independence which far out weigh the struggle for existence in the city.