davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Spokane press. [volume] (Spokane, Wash.) 1902-1939, 1907-10-02
BURIED BY
LANDSLIDE

Ell PASO, Tex, Oct. 2.-Many
laborers were buried alive today at
the Mexican Central quarters near
Victoria in a landslide.
Nineteen dead and II fatally in
iured have been taken out and
there is no hope of rescue for the
others.
The Spokane press. [volume] (Spokane, Wash.) 1902-1939, 1907-10-02
CORTELYCU VERY BUSY

WASHINGTON, D. c., Oct. z
Reports of a clash between Taft
and Cortelyou presidential am
billions are again aiioat here. The
frieudliness shown Cortelyou in
Virginia was as distasteful to Taft
men as was Assistant Postmaster
General Hitchcock's activity. 1t is
rumbred Cortelyou is after the New
YORK. delegation.
The Spokane press. [volume] (Spokane, Wash.) 1902-1939, 1907-10-02

ice yacht lines, Is guaranteed to
make 30 miles an hour over smooth
ice. The strangest part OF the new
motor sledge is that it. is driven
by IAN aerial screw instead of get
ting its driving power from con-
tact with the ice.
The Spokane press. [volume] (Spokane, Wash.) 1902-1939, 1907-10-02

A pony belong TO r. c. Dilling-
ham was stolen yesterday from in
front of the residence at 2027 Riv.
erside av. The police were notified.
The Spokane press. [volume] (Spokane, Wash.) 1902-1939, 1907-10-02

LONDON. Oct. motoring on
the ice will be popular this winter
in England and on the continent. as
the result of n motor sledge. now
being made in large numbers. A
four-horse power motor attached to
light sledge, constructed along
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-07-17
BIRTHPLACE OF BOOK AGENT.

William E. Curtis, in the Washin gton
 Star.
 Hartford was the birthplace of the book agent. The name of the first man who peddled books from this city by subscription has passed out of tile memory of the oldest fnhabitant and does not appear in the local histories But somewhere during the carrier part of the ninteenth century an enter prising citizen of Hartford started ont with a sample copy and a blank book travelling from house to house and asking people to subscribe for the pub lication for future delivery. Nor Is it certain what book he pedded. Some of those who ought to know, believe it was the Cottage Bible.Y so called becapse it contained simple commen- taries and explanations as marginal notes. But whatever the book may have been, the solicitor was so sue cessful that his example was imme- diately followed by other Hartford hustlers. and an enormous business in book peddling grew up. with hartford publishing houses furnishing the goods. At one time the subscription book publishers of this city had fifty five thousand agents in the field, of fering from house to house through out the entire country the volumes that were printed here.
 Hartford has always been center of the printing trade. Websters Una bridged Dictionary was printed here. Mark Twains "Innocents Abroad" which was the first great success as a subscription book, was published and sold by subscription under the aus pices of a Hartford house. "Rou ghing It." his second success, was written here at the residence of his publisher to catch the wave of popularity that had been caused by the first. For many years, and until recently Hartford took the lead in the subscription book trade.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-07-17
OeplorabIe Jails

State Prison Inspector Bragg found here a county jail and two city 1ails in a most deplorable condition. Each and all are especially pronounced fit only for hogs to live in
 Prison Inspector Bragg announces his intention to remove one hundred prisoners to Mobile or Montgomery, and to keep on moving additional num- bers if any attempts are made to refill the county jail. This will be done for decency's sake. It will be done in the name of humanity. The county must stand the inconvenience, the expense and the shame of transfer of it's prisoners to other and decenter jails. The power of the state prison in- spector is ample, and he has courage fully up to his duty and his knowl- edge. He can not be bullied or coaxed into any compromises or delays. He will do his duty.
 What should the Board of Revenue do? It should secure definite plans and specifications and estimates, and on those plans, specifications and esti- mates it should call for a new refer endum. This would be no violation of the recent vote. That vote must be respected until 1t is changed by the people themselves. The Board of Revenue asked for a referendum on bond issue aggregating $5O0,00O. The law does not forbid a vote on bond issue aggregating S450,000 or $550,0O0 or any other sum, even if the words flor that purpose" are in the law. If the words in question are consid- cred legal bar seek to have those words stricken out by the legislature. The Board of Revenue should act. It should not sit helpless while State Inspector Bragg puts the county to heavy expense. A way out of present iail conditions can be found if the Board of Revenue will bestir itself.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-07-17
Concealed Weapons Bill

The bill of Representative Urqu- hart should become a law, for 1t would certainly operate to reduce the num- Der of pistol toters in this state. It says the offender on his first convlc- lion must" be fined not less than $50 and he must" go to jail for not less than thirty days. On a second con viction he must" be fined not less than $500, and he must go to jail not less than three months. He could not be turned loose on a payment Of fine for the obnoxious word 'or' does not appear in the Urquhart bill. Where the word Tor" appears there IS one law for the rich and influential ana another law for the poor and frlend- less. The Urquhart bill is not drawn on caste lines. It is just, impartial and needful bill. It should become law.
 The bill permits man to carry pistol for not exceeding thirty days by procuring a license. He must show the need of such a course, and he must pay fee. All trying circum- stances have been considered, and there seems to be no reason why the Uruuhart bill should not become law. The pistol toter would then be brought face to face with the county jail, and that is all that will make him disarm himself. He has long laughed at fines, but he would not disregard the county jail
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-07-17
THE UNITED STATES.

From the New York Sun.
 When I see the deserted shrines of your forefathers," Count Tolstoi is reported as saying to visitor to whom he pre- dicted the downfall of the United States, T think it will come more swiftly than the fall of Rome"
 Perhaps it Is unnecessary to point out to Count Tolstoi that one great differ ence between Rome before it's fall and the United States of today is that Rome had been cursed with several crazy Cae- sars, notably Caligula and Nero, togeth- CT witt: an ignorant and violent popu- lace. This combination accelerated the destruction of the empire,
 In the case of the United States the populace consists of some ninety mil lions Of sovereigns, mostly sane, mostly right sooner or later in their political judgments, and representing the highest average the world ever knew of con- servative thought intellectual energy and patriotic obedience to law
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-07-17
A WARNING AS TO CONCRETE.
It Must Be Handled Along Scientific
 Lines.

From the Pittsburg Dispatch.
 Collapse of the Bridgeman building in Philadelphia will again attract attention to the hazard of concrete construction. It that reinforced concrete must be handled along scientific lines, and with much care. Otherwise 1t is dangerous. The usual ex- planation of such accidents Is that sup ports have been removed while the work is green" That statement may explain, but 1t does not excuse. Mistakes of that sort should not occur. Concrete con- struction on ordinary lines is tedious ls the factor of safety is fully regarded, but no contractor has any right to try to make speed at the expense of security.
 One thing Is obvious. Concrete is a new type of construction. It must be followed cautiously until the factors of safety are absolutely determined. Stresses and strains must not only be carefully conl- puted. but ample margin must be given until experience fixes limits. Every en- gineer and architect Is aware of the treachery of improper mixtures in con crete, and It really seems this type of construction should be put under expert official inspection. General building in- spection is recognized as a necessity. Con crete demands something more than per functory supervision at least until ex- perience has reduced the frequency of such accidents as that in Philadelphia yesterday
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-07-17

tions thus far undertaken by the gov ernment have not resulted in the de- structlon of private monopoly. The trusts have evaded all attempts to regulate or restrain them.
 The government, therefore, proposes to ask far the appointment of receiv- CTS in cases Of private monopoly. The receivers would be expected to wind up the monopoiies and put them out Of illegal and condemned business. Receivers to wind up a trust is plan that has been suggested by the de- partment of justice, and it may be tried in the sui1 brought against the tobaccoo trust.
 But mer of the Hartman type or of the Rockefeller vintage are doing the country more narm than any other violatcrs of the antitrust law, and un- til they are brought to justice it is idle to expect much respect for the Sherman act in the public mind. The government should first catch in it's net the big fish.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-07-17
Effort to Restore Competition

MT. Hartman" says Commissioner Lane in the report of the interstate commerce commission, summarizing the results of the Hartman inquiry, may journey by steamship from New York to New Orleans, thence by rail to San Francisco, across the Pacific ocean to China, and, returning by an- other route to the United States, may go to Ogden by any one of three rail lines, and thence to Kansas City or Omaha, without leaving the deck or a carrier which he controls, and with out duplicating any part of his jour ney." This monopoly in transporta- ton is to be stopped, if stopped at all, by legislation forbidding one railroad to buy lhe securities of another rail road either directly or indirectly.
 The stirling of competition In oil or other articles of commerce can not be reached in that way, and the govern ment is considering a new plan for bringing to taw such violators of the Sherman antitrust law. The prosecu-
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-07-17
SHARK rows STEAMER.
A Big Man Eater Dragged a Vessel Through Water Until He Was Shot.

From the New York American.
 A shark that lowed a 5000 ton ship seven miles, chimpanzee that helped navigate liner, as well as divers bird and snake stories, passed in at quarantine yesterday. As they have not yet gone through the Nature ake Clearing House at Washington, they are of course merely set down here for what they are worth.
 As to the shark: The good ship Alleghe- ny of the Atlas line with 23,000 punches of bananas aboard, was cutting the blue wa ters of the Caribbean at ten-knot clip. It was the forenoon of June p, and the ships company voted not of the monster of the deep that lowered near when from the throat of the human calliope in the bow came shrily:
 Man eater off the port quarter"
 All hands at once mustered at the rail and manned the things which it was meet and proper under the circumstances to man.
 A hook was baited with a side of beef and, attached to the largest hawser on board 1t was heaved overheard. With a gulp the tempting morsel was swallowed by she shark. But when he realized what had happened, and that stout hook was lodged amidships with his dinner, the true character of this ungrateful monster came to the surface. With loud roar he snap ped his jaws shut, clinched his fins with determination and darted away, dragging the ship after him at a pace greatly ex- ceeding the speed limit.
 Where the good ship Allegheny might have brought Up is only to be guessed at. But just when all seemed lost, something got the matter with the sharks steering gear, and as he halted to adjust 1t all hands on board heaved nightly, and, swinging the towline around a winch, by a little ofside play brought the shark close to the ships side, where a broadside from the port gun ended its life,
 When the carcass was brought aboard the ship 1t was found to measure more than 15 feet But the crew yesterday ad- mitted that the body may have been stretched little in the mighty effort of towing the ship. It weighed at least 800 pounds.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-07-17
A BUMP MEASURING MACHINE.

From the Philadelphia Record
 An intricate machine which measures the bumps on a persons head and then delivers circular setting forth the phrcn- ological description of the victims charac ter is one of the latest devices for wiling the dimes from the pockets of amusement seekers. They are very interesting ma chins and attract big crowds who delight In seeing the man-who- to know what-his-char put the mouse trap contrlvance over his head and allow him self to be fastened in. So thick were the crowds about one of these machines the other day that a policeman notified It's operator he must tell each group that gathered to beware of pickpockets. This the exhibitor of the bump machine faith fully did all day, only to discover in the middle of the afternoon that his own pockets had been relieved of $47.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-07-17
MY LADY NICOTINE.o
Our Annual Tobacco Bill Enough to
 Erect Thirty Buildings Like Capitol.

From the July Scrap Book.
 On My Lady Nicotine the people of the United States spend twelve times as much cash as they spend on the min isters of Gospel. Our tobacco bill, an- nually. is double that of our bill Tor pub lie education or for the furniture in our houses.
 We pay more money for the fragrant weed than for sugar. Every time we spend 10 cents for bread, we hand over four cents for tobacco.
 All the gold coined In this country last year would fall short of covering our smoking account by nearly $100,o00,0OO for we spend yearly for cigars. cigarettes, smoking and chewing tobacco, and snuff more than s300,0O0000
 The money paid by Americans for smoking equals the amount paid for shoes for our S0Oo0Oo inhabitants. Smokers burn up an equivalent in currency 150 times the sum burned up In fireworks. The vast fortune that we swap for the com fort of smoking, chewing and snuffing would build thirty great structures like the national capitol at Washington.
 Each year we smoke nearly S,0O0,000 000 cigars, cheroots. stogles, and all-tobacco cigarettes, S,5OoOOO0oo cigarettes, with pa per wrappers and consume 300,000000 pounds of smoking and chewing tobacco and snuff.
 Every day we smoke 22, ,oOo, GOO cigars and 1000o. .000 cigarettes, and either smoke or chew 300 tons of tobacco. all of which costs SS0oO0o. Every minute of the six teen hours a day that we are awake we make ourselves, poorer by $S00-for 23,O00 cigars 10000 cigarettes, and half ton of plug and fine cut.
 It is estimated that there are 1S,O00- 600 devotees of the weed, or about as many smokers as voters. This estimate is based on the assumption that one per son in each six of our population Is buffer of smoke.
 When the bill for $500 100000 Is divided among the 13.000,000 smokers. the smok- ing habit doesn't look so purse-brealdng. after all. For the amount spent by each smoker is only about s23 each year or lass than SO cents week. And yet the yearly sum lavshed on this narcotic herb by any one of thousands of men would build a comfortable country house and support a bed in a hospital besides.
 Eight billion cigars a year, Could man smoke fifty cigars day. he would have to live more than 100000 years to consume all the cigars smoked by the nation in twelve months.
 In length, cigars average four an half inches. Laid end to end the 5000 Ooo.OOO would make a brown streak little short of 70,0O0 miles. Cut in half and made Into two perfectos or panatellas, the man of earth could. from either of his two cigars, blow smoke directly into the face of the man in the moon. Placed end to end in 16O parallel rows they would floor a bridge across the Atlantic from New York to Liverpool and floor 1t tight T, too.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-07-17
HYMN TO THE NIGHT,

By H. W. Longfel1ow. I heard the trailing garments of the
 Night
 Sweep through her marble halls! I saw her sable skirts all fringed with
 light
 From the celestial walls. I felt her presence, by it's spell of might. S.oop O CT me from above; The calm, majestic presence of the Night. As of the one I love. I heard the sounds of sorrow and delight. The manifold, sofe chimes, That fill the haunted chambers of thd
 night,
 Like some old poets rhymes. From the cool cisterns of the midnight
 air
 My spirit drank repose; The fountain of perpetual peace flows
 there
 From those deep csterns flows. O holy Night, from thee I learn to bear What man has borne before Thou layest thy finger on the lips of
 Care, And they complain no more.
 prayer,
 Descend with broad-winged flight, 1ie welcome. the thrice-prayed for, the
 most fair, .--.s -s tae hest-loved Nightl
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-07-17
IN HOTEL LOBBIES
REFLECTIONS OF A BACHELOR.

That's what makes me remain bachelor" said man seated at a table in a popular restaurant. That youngster has kept these two women and the man busy attending to his wants, and the little chatter-box has been running the whole conversation to suit himself
 Tt used to be proverb that little boys should be seen not heard but now the little boy is seen. heard and felt and always to the annoyance of everyone but his proud parents. There's nothing in the world like better than well behaver child, but that species Is fast disappearing and in it's stead we find the precocious little imp aged or B. the terror of visitors.
 Much as I detest such children, l cannot forget that 1t Is not altogeth CT their fault. They have never been taught better, they have been allowed to grow up without a vestige of pa rental control; ill-reared, illmannered and wi1lful to the last degree. Parents seem to forget that their children are reflections of themselves, with this difference that the parents are able to hide their bad manners In public but the children are sure to show theirs. Probably the best way to remedy the nuisance would be to commence with the parents and give them few lessons in the art of rearing children so that they won't be the zane of life to men like me-
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-07-17
Standard Oil Fines

The Standard Oil company of h. diana has been found guilty of 1462 violations of the Elkins law. It ship red oil from Whitney, Ind, to St. Louis by rail, and 1t accepted from the railroads rebates or discriminating rates. This was a clear violation ot a clear and distinct law.
 When John D. Rockefeller was called into court he exhibited a good lack of inlormation, but he did know that tfe Standard Oil company of New Jer- scy controlled the Standard Oil com pany of Indiana. It was shown that while the latter was violating the Elkins law the former was earning over 10 per cent on an outstanding capital of S9S300,0 900,
 On these facts Judge Landis will mass when he names on August the fnes that the monopolists in oil must ray. The object of fines is to keep th, men or the corporations fined from repeating the offenses for which they have leeh found guilty. Will fine keep the Standard Oil com pany from maintaining it's obnoxious uractices pf stlfling comDetition In oil and it's by-products? This Is the real question that will present itself to Judge Landis. He will certainly say tha. nothing short of the maxi mum sum mas any possibilities of good in 1t, and the maximum would be $29,- 100000, which would be a new record in court fines.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-07-17
PEARY'S LAST POLE TRIP
Frederick Boyd Stevenson in Harpers

Frederick Boyd Stevenson in Harpers s
 Weekly
 AN ILL he make it?
 NNV l asked him this question the
 W other day. He turned in his chair and looked at me. The muscles in his face half relaxed. Peary seldom smiles.
 ''I hope to make it. he said, quietly. This will be my last attempt l believe it will be successful
 Despite the softness of his voice one felt the conviction of conquest. He gave no promise. no hint of the breaking of the Far North record in 1906. when he d. vanced within 200 miles of the goal. There was no boosting of past achievement; no speculating on future glories.
 Peary Is perhaps better qualified than any other 'in this quest of the pole. He began it twenty years ago, and on each of the seven journeys he has made to the Arctic zone he has been pushing farther and farther north. In his heart is the con- fidence of success on this eighth journey.
 The beginning and the end of a polar expedition may be expressed in one word, said the commander. That is food. It is not the cold, it is not the exposure but the failure of supplies that wrecks the enterprise Three things are actually needed for food in the north pemmcan- a dried meat that can be made into soup -ship-biscuit, and tea. Tea is a stimu- lant, so one can get along without that: ship-biscuits are luxury, so one can get along without them; but pemmican Is a necessity that one must have in the Are tic region"
 But a man who confesses to have eaten raw dog with a relish may not be gener- ally considered as purveyor of tempting menus.
 "Dog meat?" Peary repeated. Why, one who can eat hog meat or craves the del- icacy of Limburger cheese can have noth- ing to say against dog. To be sure, the hind leg of an overworked dog is little tough and rank sometimes, but a man who has eaten mutton stew in a cheap restaurant cannot complain, nor is he apt to complain when the gnawings of his appetite attack him with the temperature 70 degrees below zero. The dogs readily eat their comrades when they fall by the way. and this, to a great extent. solves
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-07-17

the problem of feeding the animals. have considered the question of taking dog biscuit with me on my dash to thu pole; but while the Siberian dogs will cal it, the dogs which I use on my expeditionl practically all wolf-will eat nothing nu meat"
 How about alcoholic drinksg' I asked
 The answer came decisively:
 No man can drink alcoholic liquor wht goes to the north. It would mean deatt to the man and a menace to the expe. dtion
 And smoking?"
 "The man who is dependent on his cigA or his pipe might better remain at homo Why, I should as soon think of taking man who had to have piece of pie eveI so often. The personnel of your men is the first consideration. Upon them dee bends everything. In the first place, they must be of cheerful temperament and mol subject to fits of the blues, and every man must understand in advance that he must meet the greatest hardships and self-de@ nials He must be willing to suffer cold and hunger, to forego sleep-in a word to De ready lO Sdcrllce HIS lle, IT neeu be, for the success of the undertaking"
 Have you found such men?"
 He nodded.
 "Yes; for the most part they are the same men who went with me before. can trust every one of them under every circumstance.
 Peary has been so long in the Arctic game that the question Of dress for the north has ceased to concern him, While on his sledge trips he sleeps in the open air on the ice in a sleeping bag of fur, clad only in an undershirt. When hs arises he hastily pulls on a pair of draw CTS, which have frozen during the night. His trousers and socks are filled with snow, but he puts them on undaunted, and quickly thrusting his feet into a pair of kamiks, or shoes, also filled with snow and ice and pulling on a big fur overcoat, he Is ready for his days journey.
 "One does not mind the cold in the north, said he. '"The temperature ranges from 50 degrees above to 75 below zero, and if a man takes care of himself he need suffer no inconvenience on account of the weather There is really no dan- ger of freezing to deatn in the Arctic zone.