davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-07-13
Telling Jokes.

two or three joke tellers of ordinary abll- ity are gathered together there is a lack of exuberant," asked man fond of d good story
 "Very frequently the laugh is not forth coming at a very amusing or witty point, The reason is that each has his mind triggered to fire off another one, pos sibly one he thinks better, so that the psychological connection is not made.
 You take an easy minded, jovial com- pany with one good story teller where all the others are attentive and enter tained and note the difference. Most any old moss grown incident or fabrication will pass when a good story will fall Hat where there Is mental preoccupation."
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-07-13
AMERICAN PLAYS LONDON LIKES
Three of MT. Frohman's Productions
 Have Been Financial Successes.

From the New York World.
 London-Of the fortunes of American dramatists and actors this season in Lon don MT. F'rohman had this to say:
 "Out of the eight or nine American plays I have recently produced in London three have been financial successes. They are 'Brewster's Millions,' Mrs. Wigs of the Cabbage Patch and The Truth Such an average would have been un- commonly satisfactory, even if all had been plays of English life by English playwrights. It goes to show that if play contains the elements of success for this country 1t will surely be accepted by English audiences.
 'Brewsters Millions succeeded be- cause 1t presented such a good picture of the quick, alert American. Its cen- tral idea of man working hard to spend his fortune in a prescribed time was orig inal to English audiences. It was doubt full whether London would understand the local application of Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch,' but the play won on the humanity of it's characters and story.
 Every element of success that l de- tected when Clyde Fitch first read me the manuscript of The Truth came out as I predicted. but in the wrong place. expected success for the play in Ameri- ca, but 1t failed. Here however, 1t was better understood and it succeeded
 MT. Frohman might have added that had his production of "The Truth been as well acted in New York as in Lon don it's success there would have been equally likely. All Americans in London who have compared Miss Marie Tempests performance of Fitchs heroine with the one given by Miss Clara Bloodgood in New York say that the former gives a totally different impression of the char acter. Besides, the play has been changed for the London run in minor retails, with the effect of greatly strengthening it's plausibility.
 'I have made production" continued Mir. Frohman, during the London season which, for the present shall be nameless, but which failed. I predict that it's fate will be similar to The Truth and that it will succeed in New York After the production Is made at home I shall be glad to talk about it, and give the reasons for my prophecy"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-07-13
A School In Clay Working.

Alabama needs to pattern after the state of Ohio and add to one of her state institutions a school of ceramics" said man conversant with the states resources.
 Here in our state we have all the clays needed for the production of the most ex- pensive class of tiling, decorations and architectural pieces in the construction of imposing structures. The field of cera- mlcs-clay making-in al lof its branches carries the finest of openings for men and women to command handsome salaries as superintendents or designers and mod eers and workers in the production of clay products.
 For those of artistic turn there is fascinating and highly remunerative field open in the exquisite art designs that arc used In decorative work on buildings, both interior and exterior.
 q see a firm of clay-workers in Peru offers a superintendent of those works 1925 per month in gold for two years
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-07-13

smooth as glass, and scores of whales were spouting about. Suddenly there arose on the port bow a mammoth whale. When it saw the steamer so close it at- tempted to dive, but the bilge keel evil dently struck and stunned 1t so that it was powerless to get away.
 'The suction held the mammal to the vessel. and it passed completely over 1t. The port propeller tore a great hole in its back, and in its death throes it lashed the water into crimson foam, its tail struck the rail with great force. nearly knocking over one of the negro deck boys.
 For several minutes after the whale passed astern 1t continued to lash the water It lifted itself partly out of the water and the great hole in its back was visible for an instant. The surface of the water was covered with blood for a great area.
 Gradually the whale quieted, and with in few minutes its carcass was float ing with the tide'
 One of the passengers said that the other whales seemed to understand that something had happened. for they started off toward the east.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-07-13

bales in any one of the first four re- ports and 5000 bales in any of the last six reports of the season. when the Alabama bureau is left free to con- pile and publish the figures at its pleasure.
 Both will work to weed out inac- curaies and errors, and if friction can be avoided no doubt the new plan will operate to give us more trustworthy returs from the ginners. The returns from the ginners are after all the re- turns that should be fostered and bet tered. They outrank in value the guesses of the agricultural depart ment, and if they are brought up to their possibilities they will soon drive into innocuous desuetude the rival estimates that Secretary Wilson sends out
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-07-13
Interest In Baraca Work.

"The interest which the young men of the different Baptist churches are taking to the Young Mems Baraca class is some thing remarkable" said a resident of West End last night, "and our West End church is no exception. The baraca class in this church has an enrolment of slxty-two members, and all of them are a fine lot of fellows. Just notice that sixty-two. If you don't appreciate it, just take a trip to the Sunday school room of any large church and count the young men there. If there are as many as twenty in it, you will find 1t looked upon as a flourishing Sunday school. You can then appreciate the wonderful show ing of the West End church, which is comparatively small
 This baraca class has begun the issue of a class paper entitled The Baraca Booster" The second issue is just out and shows up as a breezy little sheet of four pages. The editor is R. A. Love, Baxter Eastburn Is associate editor and John Worrell, business manager I. w. Broughton is teacher of the class, and his efforts for the upbuilding of the class are very much appreciated by it's mem- bers. The class president is Ben Huddles- ton, Charles Allen is secretary and John Milling, treasurer"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-07-13
Removinu the Dead.

Gradually the dead are being removed from the old Elyton cemetery" said leading undertaken.
 We have removed many members of some of the old-time families, as many as ten or twelve at one time. They are re-interred in the different cemeteries. In some cases there are very painful in- stances of only dust to dust as a small amount of dark substance with possibly some of the larger bones are all that we find.
 Not long ago we moved some of the victims of the cholera, and I was struck with the complete work of decay even 10 the wooden coffin, all was gone but a mere handful of dark dust
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-07-13
THE BIGGEST HORSE.

From the Kansas City Times.
 Nebraska Queen the largest mare on earth is a produce of the breeding farm of S. E. Sparks at Falls City, Neb. and is being exhibited in Kansas just now. MT. Sparks Is to the horse world what Burbank, the noted Californian, is to the world of vegetables and fruit It is his purpose to make two big horses grow where one little one grew before and he is doing it. He has raised num- Der of large horses, but none so large and perfect as Nebraska Queen. She is 201 hands high, Il feet Inches in girth S2 inches length of head, 42-inch shoul- der, 20-inch throat, 30-inch collar and weighs over 2SO0 pounds. She is perfect in every proportion. kind. gentle and in teligent, of beautiful color and is truly a model horse.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-07-13
BASS AND cRAWFIsH FIGHT.

Pipetown (Penn.) Cor. Chicago Journal.
 One of the strangest under water bat ties in the history of this section was witnessed yesterday by B. Radford, the champion bass fisherman of eastern Pennsylvania The trouble started in Red run, a stream that flows into Devils pool, favorite haunt of the black bass.
 Red run is filled with crawfish. Wal worth noticed that the fish were leapng about in unusual manner. Looking closer he saw the reason An army of crawfish was attacking the school of bass. driving them frantic by nipping at their tails.
 Of a sudden the fish all darted away in the direction of Devils pool, and for a few seconds everything was quiet Then the water was lashed to a foam, and dead crawfish flew in every direction. When the warden looked again he saw a magnificent eleven pound bass rise slow ly to the surface and turn over on it's side. Scuttling down the stream were a dozen or survivors of the crawflsh army, most of them minus their fighting claws.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-07-13
A FALSE STEP.

By Elizabeth Barrett Browning Sweet. thou hast trod on a heart; Pass, there's a world full of men: And women as fair as thou art Must do such things now and then.
  Thou only hast stepp'd unaware, tMalice not one can 'impute); And why should heart have been there In the way of a fair womans foot? St was not stone that could trip, Nor was it a thorn that could rend: Put up thy proud under lipl Twas merely the heart of a friend And yet, peradventure. one day Thou sitting alone at the glass, Eemarking the bloom gone away. Where the smile in it's dimplement was! And seeking around thee in vain, From hundreds who fiatter'd before, Such word as 70, not in the main Do I behold thee less precious, but
 more.'' Thou wilt sigh very like. on thy part "Of all I have known or can know, l wish I had only that heart l trod upon ages ago"'
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-07-13
Desirable Additions to East Lake.

''I have had a pen sketch made of oer- tain proposed Improvements at East Lake" said Manager Whiting.
 '"The plan is to throw an arched bridge across the lake, one end to be about where the boat house Is now located This bridge would be arched and have grand promenade brilliantly illuminated with booths on each side In the middle of the lake wings would project each way to be used for boathouse, for a dancing pavilion, palm garden and cafe, with bandstand near the center.
 These Improvements would cost up- wards of $15O00."
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-07-13
THE REAL WILD WEST SHOW

From the Kansas City Star.
 N BTHOUGH the old west, with it's PO picturesque stage settings and &C., cessories, and It's still more pie turesque actors in the roles of white bandits and red marauders, of the traIl boss and his army of range riders, of the bad man." the scout and the vigilante, is dead and buried, yet once each year the corpse is galvanized into life again that we of happier generation may catch a fieetlng glimpse.af the good old times" that are gone 1# place of the resurrec- ton in Cheyenhe. and the occasion Is the frontier day celebration that has be- come a famous event.
 The greatest wild west show on earth" is the way the people of Cheyenne char acterize their three-day carnival. And even Buffalo Bill challenges not the truth fulness of the description. From the Sal ton sea to the Red river of the north and western ranges are canvassed to bring together the most skilled rope artists" the most daring riders, the most nervy e"bronco busters and the most lightning
 
 ing frontier Is capable of producing. In order that their mettle may be truly tried and tested, the wilest eayuses, the most unconuuerable outlaw" broncos, and the most untamable steers in the seventeen great stock-raising commonwealths are carralled, to pit brute force and instinct against the strength of human arm and the craft of human brain. For the time being all roads in the west lead 70 Cheyenne.
 This season Cheyennes frontier days" are appointed for uly 25, 26 and 27 More than 1000 persons and a still larger num- Der of horses and ponies will be put through their paces for the entertainment of the crowd. The average attendance at recent frontier day spectacles has been in excess of 25,OOo, and this year 1t is an- ticipated that all past records will be broken. From isolated points in Wyom- ing and Colorado COW punchers, sheep herders, ranchers and miners think little
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-07-13
Congratulations from Other States

Mir Bankheads service of twenty years in the House of Representatives has made him widely known, and from all sides congratulations come over his success in becoming almost unan- imously the democratic nominee for Senator. Nearly all of the editorial expressions include warm tributes to MT. Bankhead's qualities of head and heart, and if our senator-to-be patron izes clipping bureau he will receive plenty of pleasant reading on these warm midsummer days.
 The New Orleans Times-Democrat hits the nail on the head when it con- fines it's opinions to the primary "The decision of the legislative caucus" it says, "to respect popular will appears to be eminently wise. The contention that the primary was in no way in- tended to bind or influence the legis- laure, however innocent it's intent, had a sinister look to the outsider, who would naturally expect that, in state where nominations were made by the primary system, the popular wish as expressed at the polls would be supreme. In accepting and con firming the result of the primary for alternate Senators the Alabama legis- lature has manifested it's good faith and its respect for the popular will"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-07-13
ALABAMA PRESS

Alabama Beacon: The chronic kicker now has another opportunity to turn loose on the Alabama legislature
 Dadevi1le Spot Cash: Alabama and Georgia are consoling each other over the fact that the legislative bodies of boln states are in session.
 Eufaula Times: Astronomers claim to have discovered a fine new canal on Mars. It is great pity that we cannot find out their system and whether they dig them by contract or commission.
 Marion County News: The man who contends that a three or four months school in Alabama is enough for the poor and that the rich can have ten months, is either a fool or a knave. Giving nearly as much to three schools as to all the other schools is rank in- justice and is one form of legalized rob bery.
 Marion County News: Our esteemed contemporary, The Age-Herald, says:
 The Gunnells bill should be considered. on it's merits" We have read and re- read the aforesaid bill and if there is any merit to it we fail to find it. It is impractical, and if it should become law it would do more harm than good.
 Huntsville Mercury: The governor touched rather lightly on the child labor law. His recommendation that the in- specto- of jails and mills seek out those under age is placing an impossible task on this officer He takes occasion to issue a word of caution to the lawmakers that they do no harm to the little innocents while attempting to benefit them.
 Wilcox Progressive Era: The United States Senate is entirely too large a subject for the Conner coterie of states men t, tackle. They should confine them selves to their pet policies in minor af- fairs which have heretofore given them opportI nity of showing how small a man can sometimes be when he gets into big position.
 Lamar Democrat: Now that the legis- lature Is in session we expect something worth while at their hands. It is our opinion, and the opinion of others as well, that the legislature cannot do the work required of it in the remaining time allowed them by law. It therefore looks like 1t will be absolutely necessary for the governor to call an extra session and in view of this fact We believe it is his duty to so do.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-07-13
RECIPROCITY,
From the Youths Companion.

From the 1outhS' companion.
 A successful school teacher, who is loved as we'll as admired by her pupils says that during her first year of teach ing she received a little lesson which taught her what St. Paul probably meant by the 'foolishness of preaching
 In the middle of a term one of her pupils was obliged to leave school, as the family was about to move out of town When the teacher said goodbye to the little girl, who had been an intelligent and we'll behaved pupil, she felt moved to add few words of advice.
 If l never see you again. she said with much earnestness, T hope you will never forget to do your best wherever you may be. and whatever tasks you are called to perform, l hope you will always be an honest. upright woman, truthful and grave"
 Thank you" said the little girl, her round. eager face upturned to her teach CT. and I hope you'll be the same"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-07-13
From Recreation.

lOll INeCIcdIlOlls
 H IGHT under the shadow of the !" Great Pyramid of Cheops, an
 hour away from Cairo, you will find at Mena a nine-hole course of fair length well laid out. What is surpris- ing to those who think of Egypt as a Mena is on a stretch of beautiful green turf, close to the Great Pyramid, which shows its shadow across the course, when in the afternoon the sun gets around to the west. The course has this peculiar ity. It is not always playable. For the last three months of the year the Nile Is in flood, and the land is under water, due to infltration, but by the first week in January Re water has receded suf- ficiently to allow the game to proceed. You stand near the Great Pyramid as you make your first drive, but golfers are not troubled with sentiment, and 1t is therefore doubtful if the proximity of this mysterious pile will seriously af- feet the tee shot. The putting greens on the Mena course are very fast and trlcKy. The largest hole on the course is the fourth-9OO yards-and with mud wall bunker close to the green. The vis- itor .s requested to wear rubber sole shoes. as the grass Is not very thick and nails would damage it.
 The Petit Caporal," who immortalized St. Helena by dining there, had probably never heard of golf, and if he had he would never have supposed that "perfid- lous Albion" would have carried the game to that far off island In the Atlantic ocean. Yet 1t was done and quite close to the house in which Napoleon lived and died, will be found the ninth tee. The longest hole Is 496 yards. and the course will compare favorably with the
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-07-13
REFLECTIONS OF A BACHELOR

From the New York Press
 If a man doesn't grumble around the house he's away.
 The average woman would rather have her husband swear than look 1t.
 What a woman likes about going to church is she can pretend she likes it.
 A man could never have a big enough income to afford to admit it to his poor relations.
 If she can't find any other excuse Tor doing it, girl will marry a man so as not to have him think she's heart less.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-07-13
Underground Drainage.

"The most recent experiments in tne cultivation of plants of any kind demon strates that tile underground drainage is the coming innovation said the truck man. "It has been demonstrated that this system is not only profitable to drain moist land but also to irrigate 1t by perforated tiling. It costs about s60 to tile an acre, but it lasts forever and the profits are more than sufficient to justify the outlay"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-07-13
Recruits Wanted.

''I know of no better signs of the times than that indicated by the difficulty ex- perienced by recruiting officers to get young men to manage the new ships,' said a business man.
 How can the war department or the navy department hope to draw from peaceful avocations the blood and sinew of this nation so long as harvest hands are commanding from $2 to $3 per day?"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-07-13
STEAMER KILLS BIG WHALE.

Boston Cor. New York Times.
 Passengers on the steamship Admiral Sampson, which arrived today from Ja- maica, witnessed an unusual spectacle yesterday when the fruiter rammed a monster whale and nearly cut 1t in two. Captain Henshaw stated he never saw so many whales as he passed along the coast yesterday. His story of striking the whale is as follows:
 Tt was 9:35 a. m. The sea was as
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-07-13
JAPAN, BEWARE!

From the Philadelphia Record
 It is a pleasing consideration that ths Pacific ocean is so vast that all the na- ves of the world can ride upon its waters without the least danger of coming with in range of each other
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-07-13

John D. Rockefeller did not collect the $90 due as a witness in Chicago, but he may have planned to let that sum offset the fine that will be handed him on August by Judge Kennesaw Mountain Landis.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-07-13
IN HOTEL LOBBIES
TreasurY Surplus.

Watch the slogan of the republican party in 19OS," said an observant demo- erat yesterday Ut Is going to be our large treasury surplus but it will not take with the common masses of the common people, who know that a large treasury balance is boomerang, and evil dence of an unnecessary burden on the people,"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-07-13
Brief Summer.

Tn one brief week summer seems 10 have made up for lost time hereabouts, said a weather observer. "This is de- lightfully cool day, and I do not look for anything like a continued hot sea- son this year. Heat may come, but 1t will not finger long. l speak from an observation of forty years in Alabama"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-07-13

The governor of North Carolina could not be induced to say to the governor of South Carolina, 'Tt is a long time between drinks" Both are teetotalers from the\ head waters of 7 eetotal creek.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-07-13
Strawberries and Temper.

Scientists tell us that strawberries pro- duce irritable temper" said a grower. "If that be true there will certainly be diminution of war-like propensities or pro- clivities this year, for the strawberry crop is short. It will require a mighty full crop to induce Alabamians to enlist for war against Japan or any other coun- ft.xy
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-07-13
PLENTY OF ROOM.

From the Washington Herald
 Japan should be careful about captur- ing the Philippine Islands. We warn that country right now that we will not take them back without a fight.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-07-13

Dr. Wiley says we should eat pie, and yet he wants all of us to live to be one hundred years old. As a pie ex- pert he is certainly pulling against his centenary theory.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-07-13

Japan has business sense. She has driven out the standard Oil and is con- ducting her own oil business from the well to the lamp.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-07-13

The pure food law Is accompanied by high prices, but the high prices would have come if the pure food law had never been passed.