davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-09-04
SAN ANToNIo's MAYOR.

From the Baltimore American.
 Tt is altogether probable that we have in San Antonio the most extraordinary mayor in some ways in the United States" said Capt. B. B. Harcourt of the Alamo City. ''To begin with, our mayor, the Hon. Bryan Callaghan, edu- cated in France, and a lawyer by pro- fession, has held the office continuously for the past 25 years, with the exception of one term, and then he was only beaten by mere head-that is to say, dozen or so votes.
 "He believes in what some call the 'wde-open policy of running town, and it is good fun to hear his campaign speeches in denunciation of the Puritans There are about 1900 Mexican voters in San Antonio and every mothers son of them will walk smilingly to the polls and cast his ballot just as Bryan Callaghan has instructed them No chief of Scot tish clan was ever revered or obeyed more unquestionably than do the swarthy descendants of Montezuma worship and execute the orders of cheir leader In addition, he always gets a big support from the liberal element of white cit izens who do not want any lid foolishness in town where the personal liberty idea finds it's maximum expression, and where the iquid-refreshment shops close not at all'
The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-09-04
HDathetic Yerm0DterS

The republicans in Vermont lost in the state election of last Tuesday larger percentage of votes than the democrats did and the minor parties did not make considerable gains. The entire election proves nothing except popular indifference. The republicans sent some of their best-known speak CTS into the state, and yet their vote was reduced per cent below the vote at the state election of 1906. The dem- ocratic vote was 3 per cent smaller. The campaign, in short, had an ap- athletic finish, although plenty of inter- esting issues were presented in it, and everybody knows the tariff is to be re- vised upward or downward.
 Unless the people in the contested states wake up in the remaining eight weeks of the campaign a popular yer. dict may be pronounced that will be construed by such men as Speaker Cannon and Senator Aldrich as re- actionary. The tariff would be revised to correspond with the campaign sub- scription list and the regulation of trusts and monopolies would be in definitely postponed.
 But eight full weeks in the fall sea son, when the air becomes braciY1g may drive away apathy to bring for ward wholesome American sentiment in favor of reform all along the line The Vermont election leaves the field open, and the democrats may begin a grand forward movement that will give them possession of it.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-09-04
Employment Offered.

The miners strike having come to an end the old men, with few excep- tions will be taken back by the oper- ators; there will be no cut in wages, and the miners will be asked to select a check weighman to weigh the coal at each mine. And the best of it is most of the furnace companies need miners, for the iron market is active and pro- duction will be increased, rather than decreased during the next three months.
 Those who thought wages were go- ing to be cut will be agreeably sur prised to find the operators agreed on maintaining the mining rate for the present and of advancing it just so soon as business improvement will jus tify it." said a man in touch with the industrial world. If the price of iron continues to advance it will not be great while before the mining scale will be advanced.
 "The strike proved to be a terrible mistake on the part of the miners; but now that it is over the large operators are going to make a special effort to keep in close relation with their men and see that they have no possible ex- cuse for grievances.
 "The Alabama Coal Operators asso- ciation is composed of able and public spirited men. They are taking much interest in their organization and can be counted on to stand together for the good of the district as well as the own good They will make the open shop policy in Alabama as popular as it is in West Virginia, and that is saying a great deal. Since West Vir- ginia established the open hop It's coa! production has increased fast and it will continue to increase.
 with peaceful conditions in Ala bama obtaining once more business Is properous. The retail trade alone has improved, it is estimated, 75 per cent since Monday. The lesson of the strilS e has been learned by those who were misled by irresponsible agitators and there will not be response to another call out for some years to come. All will go to work now and make up for lost time"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-09-04
A DOG OF QUALITY.
om the New York Press.

From the New York Press.
 Sam Bernard has dog. He isn't a beautiful dog. In fact, he resembles a cross between a goat and a baby hippo potamus. His owner accepted him as a gift from an alleged friend in a moment of temporary brainstorm. MT. Bernard and the dog were promenading Broadway the other day when they met Lew Fields
 What peculiar looking animal,' said MT. Fields, forgetting for moment, his dialect ''It is a dog?'
 "Is it a dog?" snorted MT. Bernard "Of course it's dog. It's very valuable dog. There isn't another dog like that in New York"
 T believe you" said MT. Fields. Where did it come from?''
 That dog" said MT Bernard proudly, "came from Peru"
 Whats his-er-its name?"
 q call him Quinine.'
 "Quinine, eh?''
 "Yes, because of his peruvian bark, '' replied MT. Bernard.
 moment later the clang of the am. bulance was heard in the distance.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-09-04
Lost In Birminqham.

Passengers on South Ensley car were treated to an incident today that im- pressed every one with the marvellous de- velopment of that section through which the line runs" said a citizen of Ensley yesterday.
 "A gentleman, evidently a stranger in town, boarded the car in Birmingham and was intently engaged in reading a news paper until the car was well on the way out toward Fa1rview.
 Then he was observed to become rest less and apparently uneasy. He looked first on one side the road and then the other, as if trying to locate himself. Then he called the conductor.
 Say, conductor, I have made a mis- take and taken the wrong car. l want to go to Ensey.'
 Everybody within hearing began to smile. You are on a South Ensley car,' said the conductor.
 Well, I'll be jiggeredr exclaimed the stranger. Three years ago I was as fa- miliar with this line as the ordinary pas senger here, but this is my first visit to the district for three years, and I must confess that I am lost. Panics and strikes seem to have no effect on Birmingham and its suburban territory.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-09-04
LIKE OLD TIMES.

From the Washington Herald.
 Shades of Deadwood Dick and Boomer ang Billy, the Bloody Boy Butcher of Bad Mans Gulch, what's this news we hear from Yellowstone park? B-r-r-r-r! A real, live bandit prowling about in that vicinity? What larksl
 We hope this is no sea-serpent story, put out for the purpose Of attracting vis- itors to that locality where the ordinary, everyday Yellowstone brigands known as hotel keepers, guides, etc., can the more easily get at them and relieve them of their surplus wealth. We hope, for the sake of all lovers of the picturesque and exciting, that the gentleman of the road herein referred to is the sure enough goods. We trust he is, when operating, garbed,S as becomes his trade, in fringed buckskin clothes. girt about the loins with rawhide belt attaching to numerous trusty six-shooters a-swing from the same.
 We scorn to accept as true such late advices from the front as tend to suggest that the hold-up story with which we were recently regaled is a fake. We be- ieve this development is the work of con- federates. We suspect it Is part and par eel of a deep-laid plot engineered at its entirety by some fertile-brained highway man yet destined to become known to fame even as imperishably as Is the late Jesse James.
 Whats the good of getting a story like this going, only to throw cold water on it the minute we begin to sit up ana take notice, anyhow? Not in u score of years or so has there been anything much doing In the bandit business out in the Golden West. Everything around the neighbor- hood of the Yellowstone has been decided ly on the blink and eke the pazzaz, as Hairtrigger Harry would say, for more moons than you would care to count. The war-whoop of the treacherous Sioux has become a memory; the dove of peace has long fitted unchallenged throughout all that land. And no sooner does some one get an old-time stunt started than some one else butts in and attempts to queer the show
 It is our purpose to stand pat, for the notion that something grand, gloomy and peculiar is about to happen along the Yellowstone. We don't propose to forego any of these delicious thrills if we can dime-nov stories in real life to warrant us in passing up without a struggle any, thing that looks promising.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-09-04
No Session of the Legislature

After doing two special stunts the present legislature will not be asked, 1t appears, to make it three times and out The state will stand the announce ment with fortitude and even compos- ure. No Legislation is imperatively needed, and the state can drift along until January, 1911, without incurring harm.
 If the annual product of 46 state leg islative mills were united there would be volumes enough to fill good-sized library case, and probably one-half of the vast output would on close analysis prove to have been unwise and unnec- essary. Americans overdo the law making business. Parliament alone makes laws for 40,O00,O0O of people in Great Britain, and it does not pass nearly so many laws as does the aver age American legislature acting for a million or two of people.
 The question of frequency of legisla- tive sessions will be passed on by the people at the polls on November 3, al- though the present quadrennial plan admits of frequent sessions whenever a governor is in a mood to call special sessions.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-09-04

1907, and the tendency is still upward despite the free use of concrete and metals in new buildings Forest con seryation thus becomes a national question-one really that touches na- tional development and individual needs.
 If a revision of the tariff operates to lengthen out our forest supply the p=-- pie of the south will not be apt to com plain, for no thoughtful southern man desires to see our forest wealth swept away in 20 years. Lumber from Mexico and Canada may indeed serve useful purpose if it checks the rate of south ern production There is still enough standing timber in the south to last 50 years if the cut be reduced until the product can be firmly held at satisfac- tory and advancing prices.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-09-04
Lumber Production 5the South

The lumber cut last year was not re- duced by the October depression to figures below that of the previous year The returns tabulated by the census bureau show that 28,S50 saw mills cut last year just about 4o,ooO. .oOO, ,OOo feet of lumber. Thirty-three per cent of this vast aggregate consisted of south ern pine.
 No one should take pride in the rapid disappearance of the forests of the south. As things are going lumber will soon be as scarce and high-priced in the south as it now is in the east or middle west. In 20 years our mag niflcent forests will have been swept away if the present pace of production be maintained.
 The average consumption of lumber per capita in the country has risen rom 250 feet in 1850 to 4s0 feet in
The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-09-04
General Stewards Successor

The late Gen. A. P. Stewart was a Chlckamauga park commissioner. and when Secretary of War Luke E. Wright returns to Washington it will become his duty to fill the place left vacant. If the President does not care to make a selection the appointment will be made by the Secretary of War. In that case it is reasonable to assume that an ex-Confederate soldier will be ap- pointed. Gen. Marcus J. Wright of Tennessee is an aspirant, and there will be perhaps other names suggested. General Wright has long served in the war department as a compiler of Con- federate data, and the volumes he has edited are today a source of informa- tion to students and writers on war subjects.
 Secretary Wright understands the situation from every point of view, and he can be trusted to find a successor to the lamented lieutenant general of the Confectionery who will be satisfac- tory to all.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-09-04
DRESS AND THE LITERARY MAN.

From the New York World.
 Something of a shock comes with a cur rent item, supposedly of literary interest, in which James Whitcomb Riley is listed among "best-dressed men," Probably 1t is the quantity of MT. Riley's homespun verse that is responsible for this emo- tional effect. Certainly the proof is abundant that no incongruity lies between a talent for letters. There is a legend that Tom Moore wrote much of his poetry with kid-gloved hands.
 Disraeli was an out-and-out dandy, given to corsets and satins. sporting once in his ante-political days purple trousers and a scarlet waistcoat. Dickens and Lord Lytton prided themselves on their effective attire. Dumas the elder affect ed loud designs in material for his gar ments and Gautier inclined to color and gorgeousness. Macaulay had closet full of embroidered waistcoats-a sartorial ex- pression, perhaps, of his fondness for roll ing rhetoric.
 It is true that not all these individual instances come under the head of exam ples in being well dressed. Some of them are more aptly to be classed as revela- tions of eccentricty, as were Stevensons $ wearing of a woman's sealskin cape, Bal zac's donning of the suit of a Dominican monk-for working purposes-and Samuel Rlchardsons posing at his desk in full nd Jio, riy It is not at all likely that MT. Riley is looking for notoriety through the med ium of his clothes. Doubtless he would agree with the lady who assured her bishop that the consciousness of being well dressed afforded her more comfort than all the consultations of religion.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-09-04
From the Washington Post.

From the Washington Post.
 N VERY interesting report has just V been made to the secretary of state by Consul General Gotts- chalk of Mexico City, who has found a surprising interest being taken in Ameri- can books and magazines throughout the central and southern portions of Mexico. In the capital city of Mexico, where there are over 5000 resident Americans and a long list of English-spealing residents, there are several stores devotedf to book selling, which supply the merchants in the minor cities of Central and Southern America with American books and period icals.
 Whether 1t is on account of cheapness or not is not stated, but in the territory under consideration American books and magazines seem to have entirely sup planted those published in Great Britain The only real competition to American magazines seems to be some cheap paper back novels which are imported into Mex ico from Spain.
 The consul general states that in one large book store in Mexico City there was
  store received some 5000 American week. ly ands daily papers, selling 90 per cent of them. It received 2350 American mag azines, of which it sold 95 per cent. This same store showed sales of American books last year; Miscellaneous, 3O00; cur rent fiction, 4O00; standard authors. 1000; technical books including books on games and books of travel 5000. It is said that these figures probably represent two- thirds of the entire sales of American books and periodicals in Mexico City. The demand for American books and period icals is constant but limited, but it is found that an increasing number of Mex jeans are buying American magazines and technical journals.
 It Is curious to find that America should be making headway in pushing it's litera- ture among the Spanish-American people; for the taste of the Spanish-American.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-09-04
VISION OF BELsHAzzAR

By Lord Byron. The king was on his throne,
 The satraps thronged the hall, A thousand bright lamps shone
 Der that high festival. A thousand cups of gold,
 In Judah deemed disine- Jehovah's vessels hold
 The goddess heathen's wine! In that same hour and hall,
 The fingers of a hand Came forth against the wall,
 And wrote as if on sand: The fingers of a man.
 A solitary hand Along the letters ran,
 And traced them like a wand. The bhonarch saw, and shook,
 And bade no more rejoice; 5 All bloodless waxed his look,
 And tremulous his voice. Let the men of lore appear,
 The wisest of the earth, And expound the words of fear,
 Which mar our royal mirth.' Chaldea's seers are good,
 But here they have no skill; And the unknown letters stood, Untold and awful still. And Babel's men of age
 Are wise and deep in lore; But now they were not sage
 They saw-but knew no more. A captive in the land,
 A stranger and youth, He heard the kings command,
 He saw that writings truth. The lamps around were bright, The prophecy in view; He read 1t on that night The morrow proved it true. ''Belshazzar's grave Is made,
 His Kingdom passed away, He in the balance weighed,
 Is light and worthless clay, The shroud. his robe of state. z His canopy, the stone; The Mede is at his gate!
 The Persian on his throne"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-09-04
WHILE AWAY FROM HOME.

Birmingham people who are leaving home for vacation trip should have The Age-HeraId follow them and thus keep informed about what is taking place In the city and state during their absence. The Age-Herad will be sent to them at any address at the regular price, and the address will be changed as often as desired.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-09-04
ONLY A WOULD-BE.

From the Chicago News.
 Priscilla-There goes that naughty Mrs. Van Horn. She claims to be a prominent woman.
 Penelope-Promnent? Pooh! Why, she cannot boast of even one camera being smashed when she appears in public.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-09-04

John T. Harden. commercial agent of the Queen and Crescent railroad, with headquarters in Atlanta, spent yesterday in Birmingham.
 
 J. H. McAllister of Chattanooga, com mercial agent for the Norfolk and West ern railroad, was a busy man in Birming- ham yesterday.
 J. W. Weiss of Mobile spent yesterday in Birmingham.
 ". H. Rogers of the Birmingham Paint and Roofing company left last night for Houston, Tex, where he will be in charge of the American Paint and Iron company as president. He will not however, sever his connection with the Birmingham con- eern.
 T. J. Bray of Pittsburg, vice president of the Republic Iron and Steel company, is in the city.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-09-04
REFLECTIONS OF A BAcHELol

From the New York Press.
 One touch of fashion makes all women freaks.
 When man has a good disposition it s because he's afraid of his wife.
 The only thing experience teaches is that it isn't worth anything after you learn 1t.
 It's rude to stare at woman. but it's positively Insulting to act as if she were not worth staring at
 A girl can have tpore happiness sleep- ing with mans photograph under her pillow than he can spending $10.000.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-09-04
The Terminal Station.

"Work on the Terminal station is in the finishing stage" said man of artistic taste This splendid building will be completed probably by next spring, and when it is finished it will be by far the most beautiful structure of it's kind in in the United States.
 Tt is designed by MT. Mayre, the ar chitect of the Atlanta station, but, owing to typographical advantages here, our
The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-09-04
FRESH JOKE.

| From the Chicago Ne xs.
 What will you have, sir?'' asked the fresh clerk in the general store.
 ''Er-bub, have you any we'll buckets?'' drawled the old farmer with the straw behind his ear.
 '"They are all we'll buckets. Didn't think we handled any sick buckets, did you?''
The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-09-04
REPLIES,

'Never marry. man until you've seen him drunk says matron to a maid in novel of Chicago society. Some of the Chicago maids couldn't marry a man unless he was drunk.
 "On with the dance'' exclaimed the master of ceremonies. But this being Salome dance, don't put anything on"
 Everything is lovely in Panama" says a Philadelphia paper. The pickings down there used to be lovely.
 A man who is "on" to his job is all right, so long as he doesn't keep trying to Convince you of the fact
 When a consignment of beer was un- expectedly delivered at the residence of a South Highlands matron she thought something had happened to her husband and tainted dead away PAUL COOK.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-09-04
MERE TALK.

MERE TALK. The summer crowds are coming home From mountain and from shore, Declaring that they want to roam, An. never, never more. They talk about the sum it cost To spend a while away, The golden-freighted time they lost From business, and ssay Vacations a delusion meant For none but wights of wealth, Who do not sigh OCT every cent It takes to purchase health And while the late vacationers So doleful thus appear, The wise man listens and infers They'll do the same next year.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-09-04
STIRRING TIMES.

What was the excitement over at the Hobbledy residence?"
 "A bee managed to get into the bath room through the window blinds while Hobbledy was taking a bath"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-09-04
LITERATURE IN MEXICO

especially in books of fiction, turns en- tirely to France. good deal of Spanish fiction is read. but the popular taste seems to run largely toward the emotion al class of French novels, which for the Mexican market are translated into Span ish It would appear that very. little Is known-fn MeXico-or cared about, per- haps = of American classical writers. American fiction of the modern school is little in demand, and of our classics, Ed gar Allan Poe seems to be away and above the most popular Other American works of contemporaneous interest that have grown popular among the Spanish Americans when translated into Spanish are Mrs. Stowe's Uncle Toms Cabin" and, in recent years, the books of Presi- dent Roosevelt. Says the consul gen. eral:
 q have no doubt that a great many works of modern American fiction could be successfully translated, and marketed here, but these should be invariably of the emotional kind. The habit of reading magazines and periodicals in homes is not at all general and very little could be done in the way of monthly magazines or translated American fiction. It should be borne in mind by American publishers that few Mexican ladies do any reading, and that for some years to come there will be little demand here for the class of literature which finds it's best market among American citizens"
 One great bar, of course, that will al- ways exist against the widespread prog ress of our literature in Mexico is the language; for almost every young Span ish-Amefican learns to read French from his textbooks at school, while English is regarded as quite a separate accomplish ment. France and French literature stand to the Spanish American mind for ele- gance, refinement and culture; we, on the contrary, are regarded as a hard headed, phlegmatic and emInently prac- tical race, from whom they may learn much of industry, but little of art. 
 our interests against competition, a meet iJ1o or hoo rd
The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-09-04

MT. Roosevelt will go to Africa in order to keep from being consulted on public business. It is remarkable case of public confidence.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-09-04

King Edward goes to the spot when he wants to extend his diplomatic tri- umphs. He has thus far been surpris- ingly successful.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-09-04

The word Marathon" has acquired such vogue in New York that man Is now said to be Marathon on Union Pa cific or cotton
The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-09-04
HIS SOLE REASON.

From the Baltimore American
 Friend dnterestedly)-Are you going into business for yourself?
 Business Man (sarcastically)-Oh, mol am going into business to make the world purer, better and happier.