davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-08-03
AuguSt Pleasant Month

August is usually the pleasantest of the summer months. The nights are cooler than the nights of July, and as a rule the days are not excessively hot. The last half of August is likely to bring a touch of autumn.
 Busy men who can afford only a short vacation usually take it in Au- gust, but, those who can regulate their own time would be wise to take their summer holiday in July, or even June. By going off for rest early they are braced up for August and the early fall. But the majority of men who toll in cities cannot indulge in a sum- mer vacation at all. They belong to the Stay-at-home club. Fortunate all such are if they live on the high plateaus in or near Birmingham. The famous mountain resorts have little advantage, in the dog days, over the homes of the people who dwell here abouts.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-08-03
AirShipS for War and Commerce

This is, it is plain, to be an airship on between the gasbag machines and the machines that are heavier than ar until aerial navigation is established The overcoming of the attraction of gravitation is big problem, but the inventive world is assailing it. Enough has been accomplished to attract addi- tional inventive genius, and the chances are very good that the birds will not long be permitted to hold q monopoly of transportation up near the clouds.
 Just at present the various govern ments are seeking something that is dirigible and trustworthy when it IS up in the air-something that will plo. mote observation in reconnoissances, and probably admit of actual war by the dropping of high explosives at great elevations. Germany is seeking at the hands of Count von Zeppelin gasbag machine that can be used in war. Our own government is testing both balloons and aeroplanes at Fort Myer, opposite Washington, and the hope is that the conquest of the ar Will be accomplished by an American. The experiments at Fort Myer will go far toward showing what progress has been made in this country.
 The airship experimenters encoun- ter many difficulties and many fail ures, but every failure is useful, and no one doubts that success will in the long run be achieved. Even now company has been formed to put on line of small dirigibles between New York and Boston. Each balloon will carry two passengers and the oper- ator. Only gasbag machines will be employed, and it is not certain that two passengers will be booked every day. The line has, however, been planned as the commercial beginning of a great revolution in passenger transportation.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-08-03
THE GRAVE OF LITTLE NELL

By Charles Dickens. From Chapters T
 and 72 of "Old Curiosity Shop"
 GA ND So sn the h.,s shs et . 1s .nS sns dav hSa and listened to with solemn pleasure almost as a living voice-rung its remorseless toll for her, so young. so beautiful, so good Decrepit age, and vigorous life, and blooming youth, and helpless infancy poured forth-on crutches, in the pride of strength and health in the full blush of promise, in the mere dawn of life-to gather round her tomb. Old men were there, whose eyes were dim and senses grandmothers, who might have died 10 years ago, and still been old the deaf, the blind, the lame the pal sled, the living dead in many shapes and forms, to see the closing of that early grave. What was the death it would shut in to that which still could crawl and creep above it
 Along the crowded path they bore her now, pure as the new1y-fallen snow that covered it, whose day on earth had been as fleeting. Under the porch where she had sat when heaven in its mercy brought her to that peaceful spot. she passed again, and the old church received her in it's quiet shade.
 They carried her to one old nook, where she had many and many time sat mus ing, and laid their burden softly on the pavement. The light streamed on it through the colored window-a window where the boughs of trees were ever rust ling in the summer, and where the birds sang sweetly all day long. With every breath of air that stirred among those branches in the sunshine, some trembling, changing light would fall upon her grave.
 Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Many a young hand dropped In It's little wreath, many a stif1ed sob was
The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-08-03
Growth Of the Electoral C0llA6A

In single century since Madison's s presidential term the electoral college has increased from 175 to 4S3. This growth is an index of the growth of the country-growth in population anu in new states. This year the electoral vote is larger by seven votes than it was in 1904. This increase is due to the admission of Oklahoma. In the Madison campaign of 100 years ago only thirteen states took part, while this year forty-six states will be rep resented in the electoral college. The popular vote of the nation in 1924 was but 352,000. This year the popular vote may reach 14,O00,000, and yet rne suffrage is no wider, if so wide, as it was in 1924.
 The election of 1924 is memorable because in it no man received a ma jority of the electoral votes cast The election of 1876 was a hodge-podge of partisan dispute and rancor, and in the end-the man that was not elected was put in the White House But in 1924 the election was confessedly in- conclusive. Andrew Jackson did not receive either a majority of the popu- lar vote or of the electoral vote, but he outran any one of his three oppo- nents. The election was thrown into the House of Representatives, where John Quincy Adams was elected presi- dent. The people took the matter into their own hands and Jackson was twice elected, and some say he could have had a third term.
 But the country was very small in 1924. Jacksons popular vote was 155,- S72 Adams, 105,921; Henry Clay's, 46,587, and William H. Crawford's, A. 2S2. Many state now casts more votes than the country did in 1924.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-08-03

his size, strength and possible fighting power. Just so among nations. If other nations are strong in ships the United States must, in order to be fully respected, have many ships also. These ships are not needed to keep off invaders, for our isolation is sufficient for that purpose, but in order to pro tect our marine and our citizens Wsor- ever they may be, and the Monroe doctrine and our widely spread prov inces, We need ships These ships may never fire a hostile shot It is the possession and possible use of them that compels peace and induces re- spect and renders our position in the world commanding and secure This is the entire argument. We must match at sea the other nations if we desire 10 command their respect, and in that re- spect is peace and security.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-08-03
THE GIRL WITHOUT A HAT.

From the Washington Herald.
 We do not know-we almost fear to hope-whether it is the setting in of d new fashion, this charming custom of girls going about hatless, but, if it is, let us welcome it with exceeding joy. She is becoming ubiquitous, this girl without a hat, and in the street or on the street car, in the parks, wherever she may be, she adds beauty to the landscape and picturesqueness to the view.
 More welcome, too, will the new-old custom of the fair sex be if one of it's results is the dethroning of that awful monstrosity, the Merry Widow hat, that dire shape of straw that mows a swath of discomfort through our thor oughfares and which has added to the burdens of a torrid summer. Let us hope that the new style, of feminine bare headedness has come about through fe- male recognition of the eternal verity of the poet who declared that the crown ing glory of a woman is her hair It is better to look upon, thousand times, than either the mannish-looking sailor or the crushed strawberry combinations of fuss and feathers that so many girls disfigure themselves with. Let the girls remember how true the couplet of Pope:
 2 'Fair tresses mans imperial race en-
 snare,
 And beauty draws us with single hair" It may be that the girls who are brav- ing convention, declaring their freedom from the thralls of the miliner, and making life more beautiful by discard ing their hats, need encouragement For heavens sake let us all get together and praise the sex for its good sense. We should say. at a rough estimate, that the matrimonial chances of the girl without hat, as against the girl with Merry Widow" were at least a hundred to one, and that should help some, if it's truth can be proved. All hail to the sensible American girl and her crown of glorious hair. May the sunbeams kiss it into more perfect beauty; may the gentle winds tease it into more graceful curvesi A bas les chapeaux!
The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-08-03
MISS MANHATTANs SOCKS.

From the New York Press.
 After being laughed out of existence, apparently. when the idea was in tho bud half hose for women have come to stay. They're here because they're here, it seems, for no elaborate defense of them Is offered by their wearers. Whatever the reason of their being, they are worn by fair percentage of metropolitan women. They are '. little longer than those built for men, but they are emphatically socks and not stockings. As a rule they are held up by hose supporters similar to mans but a few women who persist in cling ing to femininity even in adopting masculine idea, wear garters above the knees with silken straps running down to the top of the socks. Practically all the half hose for women are of silk. and they run the gamut of the mora delicate shades, especially in pinks and blues, with few greens. There are tans, too, and two or three shades Of gray. Perhaps the most fetching are in black and white patterns with sharp contrasts. A chic Parisian conceit con sists of fine black and white stripes running with the leg, with bands oi black and white squares at the tops. Many of the socks are modelled on golf stockings, with calves initiating the turnovers of the Highland leg gear.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-08-03
We Have Bumper Crops.

'The crops in Alabama are fourishing and I see material prosperity ahead for our state,' said a gentleman last night who had travelled over a portion of the agricultural districts.
 Out in the farming sections the peo- pie hardly realize that the financial de- pression was ever here. The real bottom Of our wealth and general prosperty-the crops-is all right They are practically made and the farmers are safe. I am sure general prosperity will be on us before we know 1t. I have never been able to find single sound reason for the stringency we have undergone the past few months.
 Tn the hard times of the sos the farm CTS were in strengthened conditions. Many farms were mortgaged. farm lands could be bought for a trif1e, crops were short and sold for nearly nothing, compara- lively. Hard times were a pinching real ity then. But now the country is all right and Birmingham and the great min eral district is sure to enter shortly on the greatest era of widespread good times we've ever had. Today you can't buy a bit of really desirable real estate any cheaper than last year. In 1892 there was another story to tell"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-08-03
President Roosevelt and a Big Navy

Captain Hobson by no means stands alone when he expresses desire for a great navy. The president of the United States stands with him, as his recent Newport speech plainly shows. and public sentiment shows a similar trend.
 The theory of the advocates of a big navy is that peace can be rendered secure by a big navy only. Interna- tional agreement in relation to the size of navies is simply out of the question. Each nation will act from it's own point of view, it's own plans and it's own ambition. England, Japan and Germany are building more ships ev- cry year. France has naval ambitions also. So has Russia. So has Brazil. So,even, has Spain, not to mention It. ally and dozen other countries. We must take the world q it iss not as it should be.
 The big man is respected because of
The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-08-03

heard. Some-and they were not few knelt down. All were sincere and truth ful in their sorrow.
 The service done, the mourners stood apart and the villagers closed round to look into the grave before the pave ment stone should be replaced. One called to mind how he had seen her sitting on that very spot, and how her book had fallen on her lap, and she was gazing with pensive face upon the sky. Another told how he had wondered much that one so delicate as she should be so bold how she had never feared to enter the church alone at night, but had loved to finger there when all was quiet. and even to climb the tower stair, with no more light than that of the moons rays stealing through the loopholes in the thick, old wall.
 whisper went about among the oldest there that she had seen and talked with angels; and when they called to mind how she had looked and spoken, and her early death some thought it might be so indeed. Thus coming to the grave in little knots and giancing down, and giving place to others, and falling off in whispering groups of three or four, the church was cleared, in time, of all but the sexton and the mourning friends.
 They saw the vault covered and the stone fixed down. Then, when the dusk of evening had come on, and not sound disturbed the sacred stiffness of the place when the bright moon poured in her light on tomb and monument. on pillar, wall and arch, and most of all Qt seemed to them), upon her quiet grave, in that calm time, when all outward things and inward thoughts teem with assurances of immortality, and worldly hopes and fears are humbled in the dust before them then, with tranquil and submissive hearts, they turned away, and left the child with God.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-08-03
From the Kansas c

From the Kansas City Star.
 N ILL shore lights, stiff harbor
 NXV lines, snag pullers and all the
 " attributes that go with river improvement and navigation change the essentially sullen intractable character of the Missouri river? Probably not But to one who has lived in river town it seems, fancifully, that such things are impertinent interferences with natural force that ought to endure unchangeabiy yariant-variant only to wilderness laws.
 Methodic. gleaming lights, swift, clear channels and careless boats sure Of police patrol may do very well for frivo- lous or servile streams. The Missouri snags are part of its tremendous mys- tery It right to be gloomy and turpld and treaeherously slow or sudden is one with it's mastery of primeval things. There is nothing more ghostly and su- pernaturally beyond all human control than this mighty river when night set ties down on it. The sea is so vast as to be not conceivable. At most 1t hints of the distances it reaches. The river can be visualized to the fancy, and Its mystery is enhanced by it's touch with common, understandable things. No other phenomenon of this great western land is really comparable in this quality to the river. Mountains and prairies for all that they may inspire of exaltation or wonder, lack the essential that the river has-motion, The thing that comes on ceaselessly and flows by as endlessly- it is a creepy. ghostly yet inspiring thing.
 But 1t is the night that emphasizes it. The river at night is the primordial, un- comfortable spirit. In the day time tt is prosaic enough. One does not wonder then that the fishermen and ferrymen and those amphibious hangers-on at wharves who never seem to work Tor a living on river or shore and yet live, somehow, well are as simple and unre- sponsiye to the subtler emotions as the catfish they peddle or the decaying boats they inhabit You can feel the rivers spell then if you will permit yourself to yield to it or consciously will to do so. But just as easily you can ignore the river itself and take shallow in- terest in the crazy boats or the fine boats. You can dribble about excursions and discuss the various kinds O. fishes that the riverside characters know all about, and you can even make the cu- rious discovery that these characters ai- most invariably have sore eyes
 But at night you do not need to force yourself, or let yourself yield to the rivers haunting influence. This spell forces itself on you. That houseboat family can sleep at night in one of their low, swaying boats, with the eternal sur- Rling of the water, the magnifying in- f,uences of the darkness and all the rest of the 'palpable obscure" mighty and oppressive about them appeals as most disheartening evidence that soul can become as sallow and unalert as body. The responsive spirit is awed and ter
The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-08-03
Fat Generals In the Army

The army is full of idiosyncrasies, social, political and even financial. There is no pretense of consistency in army regulations. They are made to hit those who lack "infiooence," and to about well loaded up with wealth or powerful friends.
 A case of this kind has just been de- veloped in Maj. Gen. Frederick D. Grant, commanding the department of the east. It is unnecessary to say that he is son of ex-President Ulysses s. Grant, who is scarcely outranked in republican minds by even Abraham Lincoln. General Grant was ordered, as were all other officers, to take this year the horsemanship test. In other words, he was ordered to cover ninety miles in three days in order to prove that he is still fit for active service in the field in case of war. He tried it and failed. But he will not be placed on the retired list as mere colonel would have been, because he was ex- empted from examination by a surgeon after his effort to take the ride of nine- ty miles in three days. It is but fair to say that no general officers are at present examined by the surgeons, whereas colonels and all below them in rank are examined and are summa- rily retired if the reports of surgeons call for it.
 No one can see why a general should not prove his fitness for active service as well as a colonel, but it is scarcely necessary, or even possible, to unravel. much less to undo, the eccentricitics of army distinctions. An army con- manded by fat generals, of whom Gen. eral Shafter of Santiago fame is an example, can hardly be an efficient army, and yet the rules of the army promote that very condition.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-08-03
Vocal Artist at St. PauI,s.

Mrs. E. J. Putnam of Atlanta. formerly or Blrmingham, sang a classic piece an 70 Salutaris"-at St. Paul's church yesterday. It was a great treat to mem- bers of the congregation who had lis- tened to her a few years ago when she was solo soprano. She was in excel lent voice and sang throughout like an artist. Her high notes were never clearer or sweeter, and in her middle register she was wonderfully rich.
 The last mass services were full of in- terest. The Rev. Father Pierceall was celebrant, and the Rev. Father Cos- tello was preacher. The former succeed ed the Rev. Father Shultz as assistant pastor in June. In his vestments, of- ficiating at the altar, Father Pierceall bears striking resemblance to the Rev Father Kerrigan, at one time attached to St. Paul's, but now principal of the Mo- Gill institute in Mobile.
 Father Costello is temporarily attached to St. Pauls. After October his of fieiai residence will be at the presbytery of the church of Our Lady of Sorrows of which the Rev. Father O'Kelly is pas tor; but he will spend most of his time in the mission field. He ranks as one of the ablest public speakers Tn the diocese. AS one who has heard him twice said last night, Father Costello is at once elo- qusnt, logical and intensely plain spoken. He is great preacher"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-08-03
LoNDoN's MIDNIGHT SUNSETS.

From the Chicago Inter Ocean.
 London-For several nights London CTS have been enjoying the splendid spectacle in the northern heavens which has generally been regarded as an un- usually fine display of aurora borealis
 Many persons have been reading newspapers without artificial light at l o'clock in the morning, and some of the cloud effects.in a bright glow of red and yellow light have been ex- tremely beautiful. The phenomenon has been observed in Germany as well as all over England.
 Sir Norman Lockyer, the eminent as- tronomer, does not, however incline to the theory of the aurora borealis. He thinks these midnight sunsets are merely due to refraction.
 This Is just the time of the year." he said, when we may expect remark able phenomena. because the sun is not very far below the horizon at mid night.
 "I have had no report today of any considera ble activity on the sun, and I saw nothing auroraI last night, all though I was looking out for it.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-08-03
"MARcELLE."

By Frank L. Stanton. There is no sweeter place to dwell Than here-Marcelle! Could angels love you half so well As I, Marcelle? There's not in heaven an angel bright Could match your living eyes of light! God grant I'll never say goodnight To you. Marcelle! What stories sweet hath heaven to tell To you. Marcelle? What echoes where their anthems
 swell,
 Like yours, Marcelle? There-where Faith makes gilded
 dome For all the shelterless that roam, What like your kiss when l came home, To you, Marcelle! All sorrows which the day befell Seemed faint, Marcelle! I only knew you loved me well. Marcelle-Marcelle! A cabin door was home to me, And in your Loye's simplicity Earth sweeter seemed than heaven.
 could be.
 Marcelle-Marcelle! Against Goc's love should rebel If you, Marcelle. Should break of Love the magic spell That made Marcelle! God would have nothing for me There. Where shine His angels, crowned and
 fair. Save your bright eyes and golden hair. Marcslle-Marcsllsi
The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-08-03
Mostly Theatrical,

During the prohibition campaign some of the orators made calculations and presented figures to show how much money would be saved if saloons were put out of business" said an old citizen. One of these proh hibitionists asserted that the money spent in Jeff ferson county for liquor would build a sky-scraper every month. I have long been an advocate of local option, but was never prohibitionist But if I thought that prohibition would build so many steel frame office buildings would join the water wagon brigade. All such figures and arguments as those to which I allude are absurd and mis- leading. One might as well say that if people would stop drinking coco-cola and limeade and stop smoking cigar cites there would soon be saved money enough to build sky-scraper.
 Yes, it would be easy enough to ac- cumnlate wealth if theory were turned Into practice. We have had prohibit t1on in Birmingham over six months ana the only sky-scraper in course of erection this year is being built by man who was radically opposed to pro- hibiton" \