davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-05-20
IN HOTEL LOBBIES
Birmingham Rails.

The papers, technical and otherwise, are still discussing the Tennessee com pany's large sale of rails to the Harrl- man roads, said prominent citizen. This transaction has given the Blrming- ham district a solid and far-reaehing ad- vertisement-the most substantial, indeed, since the present interests acquired con- trol of the Tennessee company.
 Charles Collett the distinguished engi- neer, widely known in metallurgical cir cles, in a letter to the Baltimore Manu- lecturers Record. says in part:
 Courage is so common an attribute of the Anglo-Saxon that eowardiee is a negligible quantity in making up our armies or considering our defensive re- sources. Every man is practically brave and yet we refuse to give him our fullest confidence in this respect until he has been tried in the fires of actual conflict. This is equally true of material things Every well-informed person has long known that the iron of the Birmingham district could be used as the basis for the manufacture of steel but how differ ent the district now stands since a large steel plant has been successful.
 The large order placed by Hartman with the Tennessee Coal Iron and Rail- road company concluded MT Collett, is but the public acknowledgment of a fact which was already known to many, that the district can and is producing steel rails which, cost and quality con- sldered, are superior to anything else on the market. The industry has received its final baptism of fire. This means that the Alabama furnaces will soon cease to be 'hewers of wood and drawers of water for the northern manufacturer, and will find a market for their output in their own vicinity; that 1t is possible to stand, should 1t become necessary, higher initial cost of productions; that the ore, the coke, the limestone and the labor may cost more than In the past and still leave larger margin of profit. And thus Is taken another step In the for ward march of the district,
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-05-20
Good Reads

A good mathematician might be able to make a calculation showing just about how much farm values in Alabama would be enhanced within the next ten years, if all the rough country roads were converted into good roads, but it does not require an expert in mathematics to tell us that greatly increased. If the matter of fairly hard and smooth highways in- volved heavy expenditures, one could account for the wretched condition of roads in most of the rural sections. But when government experts have demonstrated that road building Is simple and comparatively inexpensive there is no excuse for bad road any where.
 As a rule team of two horses can draw a load of only seven or eight hundred pounds over mud road, whereas the same team could pull something like ton and half over a hard roadbed. The economy of good roads, to say nothing of comfort, should cause every farmer to bestir himself in this movement that Is now being pushed by associations and in dividuals, official and otherwise.
 When the good roads agitation was first started many people regarded it as merely a fad; but all now see that it is a practical question of the high est concern. Public sentiment is be- ing created that will in time compel good road making. It Is everybody's duty to help along the agitation and 1t is especially the farmers duty to put his shoulder to the wheel, so to speak, and assist in bringing up to the standard the highway that he uses in transporting his crop from the field to town or to the railroad station. The railroad regulation problem, the labor problem, and the race problem are i'm portant but the country road question easily overshadows them. This and rural schools rank alike.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-05-20
New Rector Honored.

Tt was a high compliment the Episco- pal diocesan council paid the Rev. Dr. w. D. Evans, rector of the Church of the Advent, when it elected him a deputy to the general convention" said a gentleman who is not connected with the Episcopal communion.
 "The general convention is the national organization of the church and meets only once In three years. As only four clerical delegates, or deputies, as they are called. are sent from diocese, the rectors who are chosen naturally ap- preciate the honor. The next general convention meets in Richmond in October of this year, pr. Evans has been con- nected with the diocese only few months; yet notwithstanding that fact he was elected on the first ballot. and goes to the convention as chairman of the Alabama delegation. which is made up of eight deputies-four lay, in addition to the clergy"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-05-20
FACTS ABOUT THE SOUTH.

Richard H. Edmonds, in the June Uncle
 Remus' Magazine.
 Did 1t ever occur to you that all the gold mined in the woNd in 1906 was only little more half enough to pay for last years crop of cotton raised in the south ern states-and that this value was only one-third of the souths total agricultural product?
 Throughout the south. from Virginia to Texas, Is now heard the song of the optl- mist. The pessimist has been swept away by the great wave of prosperity. It has aptly been said that throughout the south Is heard "the music of progress-the whirr of the spindle, the buzz of the saw, the roar of the furnace and the throb of the locomotive"
 This advance can be better grasped by the simple statement that during 1906 the wealth of the south increased by s7,soO- 900 for every day of the year, Sundays included, or e total of s2eso, ooo,ooo. The actual increase in assessed values was $4,0le,47 .7ss. and this was on the aver- age of 70 per cent of the true value. The amazing magnitude of this gain of S7,- ssooooo day Is strikingly shown by a compdTiSOn Wltu Ine EhIo UL brpWLA III Great Britain, where, according to the London Express. in bemoaning the inabl- ity of that country to keep pace with the United States, the increased wealth is stated to be s70oo,ooo a week. In other words the gain in the south every day is greater than the present gain in Great Britain every week.
 The value of the south's farm products last year was $2,oOo,OOo.oOo, against ss,s12.- 100000 for the United States in 1ssoi and, of course, of that total of s2,200, 0o0, 900, s6e0,OOOO0o was in the south In other worlds the value of the south's farm pro- ducts last year was s4Oo, 100000 more than the total for all the country outside of the south. It may be accepted as beyond question that In this section Is to center the greatest industrial activities ever seen in Inis or any other country. This means a great increase in wealth, q great ex- pansion in the consuming power of the south The night is passed, The day of boundless prosperity has dawned,
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-05-20
WAS THERE A CORK?
From the Boston Herald.

From the Boston Herald
 The Herald referred recently to cork legs. Is 1t true that the inventor of the modern artificial leg was John Cork and that. wooden legs. made of elm or willow, were named after him, as the gibus or opera hat, crush, accordion, was named after one Gibus? The Minneapolis Journal would have it so, yet the derivation seems too easy.
 The new English Dictionary quotes with reference to "cork' used as an at- tributive or as an adjective, made of or with cork from a London newspaper: "A dark complexioned young man with cork leg" and puts the quotation by the side of some referring to cork sole. cork hat. cork belt, cork plate, etc. We know that the ancient Romans wore cork soles and that their women who wished to ap- pear taller than they were put plenty of cork under their shoes. Their women also knew false teeth. Did not Martial write: You use. without a blush, false teeth
 and hair,
 But Laela, your squint Is past repair.
 was tnere ever an artlnclal leg among them?
 Dr. Moreton, in treatise on the beauty of the human structure. insisted that if the calf of the leg had been prudently set before instead of being placed behind, 1t would have been better, for then the shipbone could not have been so easily broken Has any designer of artificial legs considered this question of comfort and aesthetics?
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-05-20
undernround Wires.

If the City Council passes the ordinance making 1t necessary to put all wires ex- cept the trolley under ground. I thing it would pay the companies affected to build a tunnel large enough to carry all the wires now in use and any other under ground systems that may hereafter be introduced.
 The city of Paris is often cited as a model in that respect. There the sewers, gas mains, water mains and wires are all laid in large turnnel to which ac- cess Is obtained through manholes sit uated at convenient distances. It is an unknown thing in Paris to see men tear ing up the streets to repair gas or water mains or put in new supplies, as is being done every day In this city.
 I don't. doubt but it would cost con- siderably more to build the tunnel than simply to make an excavation and fill it in again, but in the course of time something will have to be done to pre- vent the inconvenience to traffic which a torn up street causes. No street, no matter how we'll repaired, is as good aft CT being broken as 1t was before.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-05-20
sRouckT ON REVOLUTION.
What One Irishman Did for the Cause
 of American Liberty.
From the New York American.

From the New York American.
 Just before sunset on the afternoon of the 18th of December, 174, Paul Revere jumped from his foam-covered steed in front of a house in Durham, N. H., rushed in and informed it's owner, Major John Sullivan, that two regiments of British regulars were about to march from Bos- ton to occupy Portsmouth and the fort in its harbor.
 In an instant Sullivan made up his mind as to what 1t was his duty to do, and within less than two hours by the old grandfathers clock that stood in his hall he had gathered his force and was ready for business.
 The party, 16 in number, boarded an un- wieldly sloop-rigged old craft and darted off down the river to Portsmouth. It was a clear, cold moonlight night and presently the crude masonry of old Fort William minding them of the fact that they were close on to their quarry.
 When within a rod or so of the shore their vessel grounded in the shallow water, and in silence they waded to land mounted the fort, surprised the garrison and found themselves victorious without the loss of a man or even of a drop of blood.
 Securing the prisoners, the patriots at once broke into the magazine, where they found 100 pounds of powder. The powder, along with 100 stand of arms, was put aboard their craft and taken back to Dur ham, where it was buried under the pulpit of the old meeting house in front of Major Sullivan's home.
 Six months later the battle of Bunker Hill came off, and 1t was this same pow der, captured by Major Sullivan at Fort William and Mary, that enabled the Amer leans to kill SC many of the British in that historic encounter. Powder was ex- ceedingly scarce in the patriot army, and Sullivan, anticipating that such might be the case, filled "old John Demeretts oxcart' with the powder he had buried under Parson Adams pulpit and sent 1t over the sixty miles of rocky road to Boston, where it was destined to do such good service in the cause of liberty.
 It was the news of Sullivan's capture of Fort William and Mary that precipated the Revolution. After such a daring deed Lexington was foregone conclusion.
 In the words of another, Sullivan was the first man in active rebellion against the British government, and he drew with him the province he lived in." In an ad- dress on the history of this part of New Hampshire Roy. Quint of Dover referring to the attack on the fort, said:
 "The daring character of thls assault cannot be overestlmated. It was an organ ized investment of royal fortress where the kings flag was flying and where the kings garrison met them with muskets and artillery. It was four months before Lexington and Lexington was resistance to attack while this was deliberate as- sault."
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-05-20
Fountain Gone Dry.

Some time ago a certain number or good people, mostly women, l am told, said a citizen yesterday, put up a drink ing fountain on the Watts building on Third avenue and laid on the water, but for some reason of other the water has ceased to flow and the fountain has gone out of business.
 Ut cannot be possible that the Birming- ham Water Works cut the supply off as the amount of water used would not be over few gallons day, but if 1t was done because the wate was not paid for, there surely ought to be enough philan- tropy among the citizens to subscribe the required amount and let meter be put in and pay meter rates.
 T have seen at least twenty people in the last few days try to get drink there and one case especially appealed to me in which l saw a woman who had young child in her arms twist and turn the hydrant in her efforts to get drink for the child. If there is to be no more water in the fountain 1t ought to be taken away from there, and not deceive people by false appearances"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-05-20
From the New York Mail.

From the New York Mail.
 N HERE are a good many pairs of NY lovers whose attention Is so com
 pletely centered each upon the other that they are utterly unable to see any one else in all the world, but we be- leve that a couple so engrosssd that they cannot see two millions of dollars, ae- tuaiy held out to them, may be consid- cred distinct rarity At least in this town and this generation. And yet we are informed, in a quite circumstantial way, that this is the case with one very remarkable couple-Mr. Edward H. Schwab and Miss Edith McGorray. These two happy people, who are soon to be married, are said to have refused to ac- cept a bridal gift of s2,0oO,OO0 from MT. Charles M. Schwab, the bridegrooms s elder brother, on the ground that such fortune would interfere with their plans for leading the simple life. MT. E. H. Schwab is a teacher in a college, and intends to remain one. For him and for his bride the meager compensation of a college instructor. and bread and cheese and kisses ,are enough.
 Probably the vast majority or Amerl- cans would make a brave attempt to re- concile the possession of $2,OOo,OOO with the simple life, if they were really booked for the simple life and had the millions offered them. It would be so easy to live on the bread and cheese and kisses basis, and "do good'' with the income of the s2,0OO,O00l That is the way the subject represents itself to the average American mind. Of course, it would not
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-05-20
Jamestown Popular

The Jamestown exposition will at tract large crowds this summer In spite of the gloomy reports sent broadcast over the country week ago. The exposition buildings are not completed and will not be before July. This means that the exhibits are not installed and that the early days of the show are disappointing from a worlds fair point of view. But was any important exposition ever ready on time?
 The Philadelphia Centennial, the largest thing of the kind in this coun- try up to 1876, was grand success, but the exposition was not completed when the opening time arrived. The last worlds fair in Paris was opened sev- eral weeks before the exhibits were set up. The Columbian worlds fair at Ll.cago was not ready for the early visitors. The same thing happened at
 
 St. Louis. If the Jamestown exposi- ton is in good shape in six weeks from now the management will be doing rel atively better than most of the others.
 In the meantime the historic fea- lures of the celebration are in pro- gress according to the official pro- gramme. Thousands of people filled with sentiment and patriotism have gathered on Jamestown island within the past week to listen to instructive and animating addresses and have reveled in the old colonial atmos- phere.
 AS has been frequently remarked the i exposition feature of the Jamestown celebration is after all secondary. The historic scenes and the naval and military reviews are of first interest. Expositions of extensive scope may be seen from time to time in other cities, but within few miles of Nor
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-05-20
TURNED DOWN $2,OOO,OOO

be necessary to spend all that money on oneself. Love in a cottage could stin he enjoyed The opportunity to do good is something that no one has a moral right to miss. Everybody wants to do gcod nowadays.
 Is 1t possible that this young. counla to whom we have referred know better4 Has some divinity revealed the fact to them that they would rapidly tire of lead- Ing the simple life if they had s2.ooo Ooop Why if they accepted the prodfered for. tune and put 1t away somewhere to do good, their plain bread would soon srov, moldy, and their cheese would becoms a subject for suspicion, and even their kisses would pail. There is no ono on earth who can really reconcile zrast wealth with the simple life. except the miser, and does not the word ''miser- able," derived from him, fully cover f1s condition?
 / Miserliness is not sweet simplicity of life; it is the very idolatry of wealth, Something quite different is the true thing. To be neither wretchedIy poor nor wretchedly rich; to be fed with the plain food that Is convenient for a. plain man or woman; to despise wealth as corrupter of the heart; to be con tent with plain living and high thinking; to be a stranger to cupidity, to dishon- esty, to fawning-all this is a part of the only bill of fare that real happiness will ever feed on. But when, before now, was there marrying couple of American youngsters, in sight of a pile that might be theirs, who had ever found that out?
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-05-20
A SMALL, SWEET IDYL.

By Alfred Lord Tennyson. Come down, o maid, from wonder moun-
 tain height; What pleasure lives In height (the shep-
 herd sang), In height and cold, the splendor of the
 hills? But cease to move so near the heavens,
 and cease To glide a sunbeam by the blasted Pine. To sit star upon the sparkling spire; And come, for Love Is of the valley,
 come, For Love is of the valley, come thou
 down And find him; by the happy threshold,
 he, Or hand in hand with Plenty in the
 maize, Or red with spirited purple of the vats, Or foxlike in the vine; nor cares to walk With Death and Morning on the silver's Nor wilt thou snare him in the white
 ravine, Nor find him dropt upon the frths of That huddling slant in furrow-cloven
 falls To roll the torrent out of dusky doors But follow; let the torrent dance thee
 down To find him in the valley; let the wild Lean-headed Eagles yelp alone. and leave The naonstrous lodges there to slope and
 spill Their thousand wreaths of dangling
 water-smoke. That like a broken purpose waste in air; So waste not thou; but come; for all the
 vales Await thee; azure pillars of the hearth Arise to thee; the children call, and I Thy shepherd pipe, and sweet Is every
 sound, Sweater thy voice. but every sound Is
 sweet; Myriads of rivulets hurrying thro' the
 lawn, The moan of doves in immemorial elmss 1 And murmurinK of iunumerable bees, al
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-05-20
THIS MAY BE TRUE.

From the Chicago Chronicle,
 -t Is said that a few weeks ago two women who sat down In park near each other to rest after being engaged all day In looking at hats, confided to each other the particular troubles that impelled them to move from the flats they then oeeu- pied. A few moments later one of them asked the other where she lived, and then the fact came out that they lived in the same flat building, and that each of them was moving to get rid of nuisance chargeable to the other. This may or may not be May moving yarn. but 1t ought to be lesson to all discontented tenants. If they are annoyed, let them ask themselves whether they do not ana noy others.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-05-20
Humane Society

Few institutions in Birmingham are so deserving of support as the Hu- mane society. It was organized only four or five years ago and in a very quiet way has accomplished much in behalf of poor dumb animals, especial ly horses ill-used by their owners or drivers. It has been handicapped by lack of means and lack of practical CO., operation on the part of the public. Our citizens are generous in con- tributing to funds for the relief of suffering humanity. Benevolent institu- tions of various classes are main tained, partly by private donations and partly by county and municipal aid. This is as it should be. But compara- lively few persons have done any thing for the prevention of cruelty to ami mals
 The Humane society has an ener- getic, faithful and intelligent agent in L. A. Bonnie, but his efforts would be more effective than they are, had he larger support from the police de- partment and ampler police authority himself.
 The city makes no appropriation for the society, but the mayor and alder men will be asked soon to vote a small sum in aid of the good cause and it is hoped the request will not be refused.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-05-20

It is hard to tell which of the two men is held in greater contempt Corey, the president of the steel trust. who forsook a good wife and forced her, in self-respect, to sue for a divorce, In order that he might wed an actress, or the Rev. John l.. Clark, the minis ter who performed the marriage cere- mony a few nights since. The United States Steel corporation is not gov erned by sentiment or affected by ordinary questions of social ethics, but if Corey can hold his job decent folks will not cease to wonder.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-05-20
BIRMINGHAM REAL ESTATE.
'om the Nashville Tennessear.

From the Nashville Tennesseari.
 Birmingham real estate" said Ben Mulkey, a Louisville travelling man. "is on the boom. It Is not experiencing a paper balloon boom, but one that has been forming for years. Property that two years ago sold for a little or nothing Is today bringing top notch prices. Resi- dence property is scarce. and to buy a downtown site one must part with a goodly sum- Suburban property Is being sought by people from all sections of the country and Birmingham Is fast becon. inG most important citys
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-05-20
HOTEL MEN AND HOTELS

carry on the honest old tradition of gen- uine inn-keeping. We are travelling peo- pie. We knock around a great deal. Wa are all apt to need all the comfort and solace we can get in the process. And there are many of us who look wistfully for the kind of inn of which Shenstone's famous and pathetic lines were written: 
 Whoe'er has traveled 1ife's dull round,
 Whereer his stages may have been,
 May sigh to think he still has found
 His warmest welcome at an inn.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-05-20
REFLECTIONS OF A BACHELOR.

From the New York Press.
 Girlish happiness seems just what you love till you are married to it.
 When girl isn't crazy to look pretty it's because she thinks she does already.
 One of the hardest things is to be known as good fellow and have good habits.
 The more money you lose at the races the more you won't lose in some other fool way.
 woman feels ashamed of living in the country unless she calls it her summer residence
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-05-20
WET IN TEXAS.

From the Houston Post
 The Alabama paper which announced that 1907 is to prove a great year for Baptists over that way will kindly take note that Texas, also, is having a lot of gully washing rains this season.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-05-20

State Commissioner Wilkinson of Alabama is to give most practical in- dorsement of Congressman Hobsons education work in the Sixth district. He will wisely copy it.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-05-20

New Orleans by saying that she would celebrate the opening of the Panama canal with an exposition has acquired a reputation for optimism that covers the country.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-05-20

It is reported that the preacher who married Mf. and Mrs. Corey has decided to return the wedding fee. However, the free advertising he got is a valuable asset.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-05-20

Mrs. Hetty Green is developing a fondness for dress. If she is looking around for another husband she will find plenty of men willing to take the job