davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-05-10

, of future appropriations. The first ap- propriation made by Congress to carry
 out the plans of the Endicott Board was
 $1,950000 for the fiscal year ending June
 30, 1SS9 From that date up to June 30,
 1896, the appropriations ran from s7l2,-
 00S.23 for 1890 to 300 for 1891 In 1896,
 shortly before the trouble with Spain,
 the appropriations were jumped for the
 year ending June 30, 1897, to s5,543,16S. For
 the next three years the appropriations
 were, respectively, 8,319, 09000 $9,954.340 46 and $10,S69, ,950.2S By this time June 3O 1 1S99) the war with Spain was over, and for the fiscai year ending June 30 1900,
 the appropriations were reduced to $3,-
 064, ,S02. For the fiscal year ending June
 3d,1907, they were only $1.624,000! Besides the appropriations as above
 mentioned s47,4 S99 has been appropri- ated for the possessions of states for for tifcationS, for gun and carriage manu- factories, for the maintenance of repairs,
 and for the purchase of ammunition. The
 harbors that have been fortified are Ken nebec River. Portland, Portsmouth, Bos-
 ton. New Bedford, Narragansett Bay,
 Eastern Entrance: Long Island, South
 ern Entrance, New York, Eastetrn En- trance, New York Hampton Roads, Bal timore, Potomac River, Delaware River, Cape Fear River, Charleston. Savannah, Key West Tampa, Mobile Bay, Missis- sippi River, Galveston San Diego, San
 Francisco, Columbia River and Puget Sound. In all 376 12-inch mortars, 9S7 S.
 inch 10-inch and 12-inch rifles, and 5S7 rapid fire guns have been installed The
 Taft Board estimated $50,s79,339 as nec- essary to build the defences of the home l ports.
 The strength of the Qualifications of
 the Pacific Coast, and details of what is
 necessary to complete the same, are as follows:
 SAN DIEGO. W Constructed or on hand: 10-inch guns 6 rapid fire guns; officers, 164 men. Necessary to complete: searchlights, | S99 GOO for fire.control system. $s99, 600 for fire<control system. COLUMBIA RIVER. Constructed or on hand: 10-inch guns, 3 S-inch guns, 17 rapid-fire guns; IS nor tars 12-inch; 10 officers, 240 men. Necessary to complete: 12-inch nor tars; seearchlights; "A officers, 1,613 men; s22O,O0O for power plant, $270,0OO for. fire control system.
 PUGET SOUND. Constructed or on hand: 12-inch guns, | 8 1O-inch guns, S-inch guns AS rapid-fire guns, 40 12-inch mortars; l searchlight; | 27 officers, 902 men.
 l Necessary to complete: ll-inch guns.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-05-10
The Ways of the Loan Shark.

From Harper's Weekly.
 The loan shark is the most insinuat- ing and relentless of all the scourges that live upon those of little means She defies all the laws and humanities, and maintains her terrible trade by the fears with which, by warnings and threats, she fills the minds of her vic tins. Let there be one moments re- taxation of the victims pledge to her, and she follows and hounds him until the full price be paid, year after year, if that be necessary, from place to place, or until flight or suicide shall have set him beyond the reach of her rapacity. And the pursuit is the same, whether for an unpaid half dollar or an owing thousand; the loan shark exacts the last dirty penny of her de- mands.
 The borrower is required to give nu- merous details as to his family history, his parents names, his marital condi- tion, two names of acquaintances in his place of employment. two names of personal friends, and two of trades people. After an interval of about two days he receives notice to call, when, if the inquiries have produced satis- factory statements, he is instructed to make over an assignment of his salary, and also to sign power of attorney in favor of the shark, so that, in the event of his leaving his present employers, a change can be made in the name upon the papers and the name of the new employer substituted. The bor- rover then receives a sum in dollars and cents.
 Should the money be repaid prompt ly, the borrower need not too soon con- gratulatae himself on his escape. The shark is simply waiting. She knows the tendencies of human nature. Some day the victim will come back To in sure this, the shark loses little time in sending a honeyed letter of thanks to the victim, suggesting future loans, and offering a commission for every successful one negotiated with the ex- borrowers friends through his agency
The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-05-10

or cooperation. Of course the escaped victim throws the letter away. He gets another; and then another When the holiday season is near his attention is called to the fact he or his friends will find small amount handy for the purposes of his vacation. These let ters follow eacn other month after month, always with some reasonable reference. In fact, it may be said that, once in the clutch of the money-lender, the victim is never free from remind CTS. He may have escaped, but the shadow pursues him. And, sooner or later, he generally goes back.
 But if the loan be not promptly re- paid the sequel of catrastophes comes like a succession of thunderbolts. Per haps he is a day or two behindhand on an installment merely through an in- advertence; he may escape with small fine. But let him fail to repay, violent tirade at the office of the violent tirade at the office of the money-lender, with threats and insults Next morning letter arrives, which says: ''If we are not paid by 5:3O this evening we will file papers and have your salary attached" An hour later he hears this threat repeated over the telephone. That afternoon a collector calls. Another letter arrives the fol. lowing day, and another telephone cali. Then comes the collector. And so the pursuit continues, until the debtcr. harassed and broken down by these opportunities, collects the money in any possible way or leaves his employ ment to find peace in some obscure place where he cannot be followed-or. as happens too frequently, he realizes that he is cornered and helpless and hopeless, and he kills himself.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-05-10
THE KING BUSINESS.
Numerous Drawbacks To What Looks
 Like an Easy Job.

From the Baltimore Sun.
 The Emperor of Germany is in dis tress. He is feeling the pinch of hard times and the poor old fellow asks the German Reichstag to raise his salary. His allowance now is only $4,502,770 a year S65O,O00 as King of Prussia. which is a sore of side line with him, and 8, 1852, ITO as Deutscher Kaiser, his regular working job To the man who is getting about S60 month this sounds like considerable money, but the Kaiser has raised large family, the boys never have done much in business and the daughters-in-law and other members of the family are living off the old man. So you see how it is.
 It worries the Kaiser whe'. fe 70 aets that Nicholas gets SS,0OOQQ9 year as Czaf of Russia, when Wilhelm has longer hours and does more wGrh for half the pay . Even the old Austrian Emperor, who Is too old to snjoy buying things, or wear ing or eating or drinking them, gets $4,7 GOO year, and is able to save money, having no boys to send to college and nJ girls to squander his cash on big l.ats
 The King of Italy, however, gets but s, 200 O00; but he must have macaroni for luncheon now and then. and live largely off fruit.
 It is surprising that England pays her King only s2,350,000 year. But then Ed ward is not so much O. King as Will liam or Nicholas, and the cabinet and Parliament run the country, and let Ed ward go around laying cornerstones. drinking at the watering places and let ting his light shine at the leading race tracks, At first glance it looks like there would be a lot of money in the king business. But, in spite of the fact that there isn't a great deal of competition, a king has to wear good clothes, stop only at the best hotels and smoke cigars with bands around them; so that the expenses eat up most of the profits. Perhaps that is the reason there are so few ca ndidates running for king this year.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-05-10

most immediate result under the convict and contract system is more than pleas ing Other counties are rapidly falling in line and in a few years the state is promised one of the finest working sys- tems in the south. The general average cost of road construction in the state is given at from $29 to $40 per mile. The money for building roads is raised by col lecting a S3 communication tax from each person subject to road duty which is sup plemented by minimum ad Valorem tax on property. This latter tax averages less than one mill in all the counties of the state.
 For some years Louisiana has been ac- tive in the construction of good high ways, but more liberal state legislation is desired At the meeting of the legis- lature in May that body will be urged to enact more liberal laws regulating and providing for the building of good roads ir the state. The people of all classes in the state are waking to the great need of improved highways Ind it is almost certain that the legislature will take all advanced step at the coming session in this direction. Governor Blanchard writes that never before has so much public in terest been taken on the subject as now in the state. Governor Blanchard is talk ing an active part in the good roads agi- tation and will lead the fight in the leg islature for tLe proposed legislation.
 Though primitive methods are still the rule in a majority of the counties of Florida, a few individual counties are building excellent roads of clay and shell with convict labor. This work is being extended gradually and while the state has taken no active part in the work it is believed that growing public sentimen: is about ripe for general action.
 Good road building is one of the sev- eral live issues that are engaging che at tention of the officers and people of the newest state in the union, oklahoma. Governor Haskell writes thaic the legisla- ture is being urged to put the state con victs to work on the roGds and it is be- 'heved that this will bssdone immediately.
 Perhaps Tennessee was one of the first states in the south to realize the great importance of good roads and many of the most populous cornties are famous for their pike roads The work is being ex- tended to all sections of the state as rap idly as possible and the effective work accomplished serves as a valuable object lesson to ccher states and communities.
 It is a noticeable fact that wherever good roads are built refinement and edu- cation follow closely. Good roads bring better schools, with larger attendance, rural free delivery oe mails, rural tele- phone lines and all their attendant in- adences for the betterment of the con- dition of the farmers. The enhance mont of property values wherever good roads are built more than pays the bur den of taxation that may be imposed py
The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-05-10
Suicide Epidemic In Russia

St. Petersburg, May 9-The national misery and hopelessness of Russia are s.rangeiy proved by the epidemic of sui eide which increases every month siyt,, . suicides year was the average of st Petersburg five years ago. In 1904 it had risen to TO, in 1906 to $40, and last year to i96 The figures for the present wear are at the rate of 1000 per annum. which for total population of little over . million, is without precedent in any Eu- ropean country
The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-05-10

n,.yt MARRY, DOCTOR, or despair. lIllIl Don't do thing" till you
 see clearly what's best DIV aid of Flashlights on Human Nature, on health, disease, love. marriage and parentage. Tells what you'd ask a doctor, but don't like to; 240 pages illustrated, 25 cents; but to introduce 1t we send one only to any adult TOT postage. 10 cents.
 MURRAY HILL BOOK CO.,.
 129 l.. East 2Sth St.. New York.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-05-10

their construction and by degrees the peo- pie are learning this and are voting the burden upon themselves.
 l think I see in the building of good roads in the rural sections of the south the returning glory and the rightful su- premacy of this section in all lines of public importance
The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-05-10

? Pinch guns, Il rapid fire guns, 12-inch mortars; 27 searchlights; $51S,O0O for pow CT plant s36O,000 for fire-control; 199 off cers, 4,794 men.
 SAN FRANCISCO.
 Constructed or on hand IS 12-inch guns, 10-inch guns, S-inch guns, 39 sapid-ire guns, 56 Pinch mortars; searchlight; 43 officers 1894 men. Necessary to complete: ? 12-inch guns, s Pinch mortars; IS searchlghtts; 1s3 ,..;oA rs, 4569 men; $52S,00O for power plant, $S4,OOO for fire-control system.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-05-10
Prob ably.
From Judge.

FrOm Judge.
 First skeptIc-How do you suppose Noah could see during all that flood and dark ness?
 The Believer-He probably had arc lights aboard.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-05-10
Rare Coins Wanted

We pay $25.OO for dimes of 1884, S. Mint, s25.O0 for the rare half dollars of 1853; $5.75 for the quarters. $2 for gold dollars, common dates and from $1 to s30O.00 for thousands of other dates Keep all coined before 1880 and send 25c silver or stamps for 150 page Coin Book of over a thousand illus lrations listing all rare coins and stamps, and showing prices we pay. Ad- dress,
 Bankers Coin and Stamp R,
 Dept. D, Marietta, GNo.
Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1908-02-06
ON A SUBWAY ExPREss

1, who have lost the stars, the sod
For chilling pave and cherries light,
Have made my meeting place with God
A new and neither Night
Have found a fame where thunder nils
Loud cayerns, tremulous and these
Atone me for my reverend hills
And moonlit silences
A fgment in the crowded dark.
Where men sit muted by the roar,
I ride upon the whirring Spark
Beneath the city's floor.
In this dim ornament, the stars
Whiri by in blazing hies and tiers;
kim meteors graze our dying bars.
Amid the spinning spheres.
Speed. speed until the quiverine rails
Flash silver where the headlight CLEANS
AS when on lakes the moon impales
The waves upon its beams
Life throbs about me, yet ] stand
Outgazing on majestic Power;
Death rides with me, on either hand,
In my communion hour.
You that meath country skies can pray,
Scof not at me-the city clod--
MY only respite OF the day
Is this wild ride-wlth God.
Chester Firkins. in the February Atlantic
Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1908-02-06
RARE AFTERTHOUGHT

THE woman upon whose extraordi-
nary story the bruce case was
n built has confessed that she COM
mitted willful perjury. Not since the
Tichborne trial has there been q
claimant episode like the bruce af-
fair, which has interested and excited
all civilization. The bruce drama
ended in an anti-climax. Here in
this dungeon vile have been immured
for years and years" says the hag-
gard prisoner in the burlesque. AHA!
A thought strikes me. Mayhap the
window is unfastened." "opens the
window. Exit.)- Why the bruce liti.
giants and the authorities did not in
the FIRST instance investigate the
charge that bruce was not in his cot
fin is a question that viii be answered
when we know the explanation of "why
is a mouse when it SPINS" 1t is toe
bad that the stern moralities require
that Mary Robinson should be pun.
ished for perjury. She has added tc
the gayety of nations and has KEPT
the whole world interested and
amused. with slight variation Of
conditions, she would have been a
great novelist.
Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1908-02-06

way of such step it is better to learn
them now, than to discover them later
When they might prove costly.
But the so-called mobilization would
be a small affair in comparison with
similar maneuvers in European coun-
tries. The regular army i'm the United
states at the maximum of enlistment
Is limited by the act of 1901 to 100000
men. 1t has never in time of peace
peen recruited up to those figures, and
It's present strength is only about $4,000
officers and men. Some thousands of
these are on duty in the Philippines:
others are stationed in Cuba and Porto
Rico and the remainder are distributed
among score or two of military posts
IN the states and territories. So only a
rev thousand men could be included
IN the proposed mobilization. At the
same time those few thousand regulars
are the men that would be required in
California, Oregon and Washington in
the event of menace from across the
Pacific, and it would be well to as
certain by practical test how rapidly
they can be dispatched to this coast.
The movement might not be as easy or
simple as one might at first suppose,
since the force to be modified is scat
tered among many posts, some of them
hundreds of miles from others. On this
account 1t may be a rather difficult
task to concentrate rapidly on the Pa
cific coast the soldiers that would be
needed here in the event of war An
experiment of that sort would doubt
less be worth the trying. 1t could
hardly fail to teach some lessons that
would be of value, should 1t ever be
necessary to send troops on short no.
tlce to this coast to meet an emergency.
Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1908-02-06
CLEAR. CRISP AND CLEAN
THE NEW POLITICS

TIME phrase is former Governor
Pardee's. Here is g. thought for
Il the thoughtful. The new politics
will endeavor to establish standards
that have hitherto been unknown in
the game. They have been the exelu-
sive property of reform leagues and
similar associations which have been
sneered at because they were not prac-
teal Why are they not practicalY
The old-timer would reply, with
curl of the lip, Because they won't
recognize conditions as they exist
Purity in politics is an iridescent
dream"
Practical politics meant an appetite
for office that had to be glutted at
all hazards, even at that of wreck OF
conscience. To the victors belonged
the spoils, to the victims the spolia-
ton, and the victims were the tax
payers. The old politics thought OF
everything in terms of dollars and
cents. BY pursuing such and such
course what revenues could be yield
ed to the party Golfers? BY making
such and such deal, what results
could be achieved in securing perma-
nent control of certain offices that con-
trolled power, patronage and-dollars'
Always dollars. In the darkest day
of the old politics a party without
spare funds-"not to be accounted
for'-couid not do business in the
United States. The machinery which
was devised skillfully in order to safe
guard the liberties of the republic and
protect the ballot box was used TO
thwart the aims which originally
brought it into existence.
AS the Forty Thieves could not con-
duct mastery campaigns without
leader, there was always a boss who
kept guard in the Sesame cave while
the hooters went out to fulfill his in
structions. The pioneers of reform
Jared as i'll as did Ali Babas unfor-
tunate brother in the story. But AL
Baba. outwitted the thieves, and, with
the aid of a bright, clever woman, put
them "out of business" If the story
were not so old, one would think that
it had been invented in order to il
lustrate or satirize certain modern con-
ditions But every fable has had its
application ever since the world be-
gan. This shows that human nature
is unchanged and Interchangeable, and
that similar causes produce similar re-
suits in all ages, subject only to va
riations caused by local and temporary
conditions and environment. This is
only another way of saying that two
and two equaled four when Cain and
Abel first began to "do sums" But
despite the essential sameness OF
things, the old order changeth, yield
ing place to new, and the new politics
will not be an iridescent dream, but a
blessed reality.
Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1908-02-06
DIVORCE MANIA

believers in the American home
X will be grateful to Judge Smith
- for his refusal to grant a divorce
to a couple who after almost thirty
years of married life had at last found
that they could not get along together.
1t is bad enough to Sc young persons
who have hardly given the matrimon-
ial yoke a fair trial rushing to the
courts to be rid of it, but it almost
makes one despair of human nature
to see grandpa and grandma attempt
ing to cheat their pledge to live togeth-
er till death do part. Civilization will
never tire of John Anderson, my 10.
and his helpmeet. 1t will never weary
of Darby and Joan-"Darby, my own,
always the same to lis old wife, JOAN"
But the spectacle of Darby and Joan
trying to be rid of one another, of
John Anderson and his spouse invoking
the aid of law to sunder their COM
partnership, must forever be revolving
to the true manhood and womanhood
of the United States.
Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1908-02-06
BUILD A STOCKADE

TF THE city officials decide to build
new Jail instead of contenting
4 themselves with more economical
and equally satisfactory measures of
relief for overcrowded prisoners, the
minute the more expensive proposition
is made the way will be indicated for
program of expenditure which cannot
be viewed with equanimity by those
wh6 are familiar with processes by
which city funds are scattered on prof.
ects that seem to offer plausible or
reasonable excuse for free financiering.
To treat the building of a new Jail as
feasible and Immediately practicable
scheme will be equivalent to proposing
that the city should be called on for a
bond issue when it's bonding power is
already being strained to the utmost on
account of that vitality important pub
lie enterprise, the Owens river water
supply project.
Moreover, like everything that is in
the nature of municipal undertakings, a
Jail building opens up opportunities
more or less easily available, for graft,
which will Immediately be attractive to
the kind of people who cannot make
distinction between graft and legitimate
business opportunity, and willingly
mistake the former for the latter. To
avoid the provision of fresh chances for
the predatory and at the same time
to reach a satisfactory solution of the
problem presented by the overcrowded
city Jail, a stockade should be built
To talk about large, new, expensive
city Jail as the only cure for over
crowding in the old-one is to rush from
one extreme to another. The stockade
project would limit the opportunities
for jobbery in site selection and pur-
chase, and besides would afford the
quick relief that is needed, as the wall
could be finished in month.
Moreover, while it is we'll to be hui
rnanitarian, the new arrangements for
prisoners should not be made with such
elaboration that it will be advertised
that Los Angeles is preparing a pleas
ure bower of elegance and ease for the
undesirable citizens who flock hither in
the winter months. The stockade
should be in proximity to a robust
rock pile, which should be marked by
constant, unremitting activity. If it is
rear the railroad, as is suggested, then
let high fence be built, so that the
| incoming tourists first impression of
| this city will not be derived from the
stockade. the inhabitants of its reser-
walton and the activities which will
characterize their segregation from So
ciety.
| The winter birds of passage flock here
regularly and it is only for brief
period of the year, that which is married
by inclement weather in the east, that
the problem of penning up muscular va
grants and keeping them out of mis-
chief becomes urgent. The workhouse
that is proposed may" be finished in
ninety days, but stockade could be
completed in a few weeks.